A little bit of Tour de France in Australia

Very exciting news that Aussie rider Cadel Evans (above) is heading for a podium finish in the Tour de France! It's the first time an Australian will finish in the top three - as long as he doesn't fall off his bike on the final stage! I'd watch every minute of the race if I could, but, alas, it's on in the middle of the night Australian time. I have been staying up a bit late this past week to watch an hour or so, enjoying the marvellous scenery and being astounded that those whippets of men can ride their bikes high up into the Alps and the Pyrenees - having spent several weeks in the region back in 2004 I know what those roads are like - they are even occasionally tricky to drive up!!

I also loved watching the scenery flash past when they were riding through the Perigord and Dordogne areas, knowing that that is where Dordogne Clare lives. What a beautiful place in the world - now I know why she's living there!

In other news, my copy of the latest Ottobre magazine arrived. I think it may well be the best magazine in the universe! Only shame is that there is as yet, to my knowledge, no Australian importer of the fabrics they use. And the price of postage from the EU to Australia is prohibitively expensive. We have very little choice in quality printed knit fabric here, which is a real shame, as I would love to make all of Romily's clothes for her (if I actually had the time, that is!). If anyone knows of an Australian supplier, do let me know. I've found www.fabrichound.com in the US, but it seems a bit silly to be buying European fabric from the US and then having it shipped here.

To answer a couple of comments on my last post:
- I have not yet made the bag from the pattern I bought - the picture is the one that comes with the pattern! My photography is not that good...yet!
- The bag doesn't have a zip, but it does have a tab/button closure on the inside.

The weekend is scooting by very quickly - we had a lovely day here yesterday - sun shining, sky blue - still not far off freezing, but nice enough to head outdoors. We went for a family bike ride around the lake and it was lovely (although a cold cross-wind is not so nice). I always feel so good after a bit of leg-stretch and lung-pump! But it's Sunday afternoon already and I've done no stitching. Hoping to get some done after lunch - Romily is finally asleep, after battling her nap for more than an hour. Many hugs later she's finally conked out. Thank goodness!

Another little project

Thanks for all the lovely comments re my outrageous fabric choices!! Now for something completely different...if you love beautiful florals and simply gorgeous but simple sewing projects and fabric that would be absolutely stunning in quilts, head over to Grand Revival Design and check out Tanya's range of fabrics.

Then visit the Projects & Ideas page - I bought the pattern for this fabulous bag (left). I've never made a bag before, but this is the one to get it all started! I have some thermal lined fabric I'm going to use, as I really need a lunch bag for work - at the moment I'm recycling plastic shopping bags from the supermarket - not the look I prefer! I bought the pattern from the fabulous online Australian quilting fabric store Quilt Fabric Delights, as well as some freezer paper and a lovely soft pink Kona fabric. Very speedy delivery too!

No stitching this week, but I did get all that Kaufmann/South Sea Imports fabric washed and pressed, ready to go. Boring but necessary!

I am feeling much better - still a little vague and chesty, but much improved. Let's hope my health continues to return, as I have the most unbelievably busy month coming up at work, as well as Romily's 2nd birthday to celebrate on Sunday week. Phew! I am tired just thinking about it.

I will leave you with this gorgeous sunrise photo I took this morning. There were all kinds of gorgeous pinks and tangerine colouring the sky. It was a lovely way to start the day :)

Some serious eye candy!

Oooh how exciting, my order from equilter arrived! Thanks OzCountry Tracey for the tip-off :) I am planning to make a 'big girl's' quilt for Romily for when she moves into a single bed next year some time.

As you can see from my wild, fresh and funky fabrics, I may have to buy a couple of more subtle background fabrics, as I don't want the effect to be too riotous!

And, as you can also see, Bashka has adopted the fabric as his own - as many quilting cats seem to across Blogland!

We are all well and truly on the road to recovery, which is a huge relief! Fortunately Carl wasn't as sick as Romily and I were, so we are all feeling much better, with residual coughs and runny noses the only remaining 'issues'. We hope that by the time the weekend is out we are all back to 100%. I have Monday as a holiday (just because), so it's a lovely long weekend for us. I hope to get some more work done on my Starry Night project and get all this lovely new fabric washed and pressed ready to go. I have drawn up my own pattern, based on some simple Japanese blocks that Fairybread Jenni posted a photo of some time ago. This is going to be my 'long-term' project, which I'll work on over the next 12 months or so.

Starry starry night

No, not Van Gogh (although I have seen the original (copy above) in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris and it is a stunning piece), and not Don McLean (although I do like that song - and even more now that I know it was written about/for Van Gogh), but Christmas stars!

Following Anne's stars pattern (which she so kindly sent me), I've been making nine of these lovely little stars over the last couple of days. I won't tell you exactly how I'm going to use them, as at least two of the recipients read this blog! But I'll be sure to post photos on Flickr so you can see the projects before Christmas! (And my family can not look if they don't want to spoil the surprise!)

My little helper

I described the stars as 'little' for a good reason - despite Anne's pattern saying the unfinished size for each star would be 9.5", mine are only 8" unfinished! I wasn't quite sure what I had done wrong, until I worked out that I had sewn the bits together lining up the edges pre-stitching instead of working out how the even edge would be formed after stitching, so that when pressed and opened out, the edge wasn't even, it was a quarter inch short. So I ended up losing quite a bit of star when trying to match up seams, etc.


A beginner's mistake, but one I'm not too fussed about, as for this project, 8" unfinished is just fine - a half inch border will be added to each star (1" unfinished) to frame it, so the finished size with the frame will actually be 8", which is pretty much spot on for what I've got planned. I like the stars as they are, so there won't be any remaking. :)

Scrutinising mum's work

Another silly mistake - when cutting the bits for the star, I got a bit carried away and sliced straight through a piece. I didn't realise until too late and I had cut through all nine layers! A bit of stabiliser on the back and some micro-zigzag stitches and I made a pretty good fix. One that will hardly be noticeable by the time the whole project is stitched and quilted. I hope!

Am still feeling awful and so is Romily, although she seemed to be a little improved today. Poor Carl has a 'tickly' throat, so we are hoping that he's not getting it too. Very hopeful anyway.

A cowgal's gotta have a hat!

And the hat was finished this week too. And it was as big a hit as the coat :) This was a great project - the first time I've ever made any kind of jacket, so working out the self-facing bit was very cool indeed. I had never looked at how my shirts and jackets were made before, but now I'm checking them all out. Very ingenious!


Oh and the red you can see peeking out from the cuffs and collar in the previous post photos is not piping, it's actually contrast I put under the collar and inside the cuffs - I thought it would look good and it all worked out well, with matching buttons and all! My mother is quite gob-smacked (aren't you mum?) that I have discovered this crafty bent - I was useless at craft in school. But I had a harridan of a teacher who scared the bejesus out of me and totally discouraged any creativity. So a big raspberry to Mrs Ogilvy!


We we are an unhappy household here this week. I have been off work for a total of three days this week with either the flu or a very nasty head cold. I went in this morning after a day and a half off and by 11.30am I was feeling dreadful, my boss took one look at me and said 'go home'. So I did. Poor Romily is much worse than I am. She was pale and her eyelids were at half-mast all afternoon. She spent most of it in front of the telly, watching the Wiggles and Teletubbies. I got lots of fluids into her and managed to spoon in most of a one-egg ham and cheese omelette into her tonight, so she's getting enough sustenance. Let's hope she has a good sleep tonight and is better tomorrow. Me too for that matter! It's no fun being sick and being sick on the weekend just adds insult to injury really.

While feeling awful, I haven't been so sick that I couldn't make a start on my new project though. Only I will remember this post from last year! I bought some Christmas fabrics and had good intentions of making gifts for last Christmas, but it just didn't happen. It is this year though! I'll post some in-progress pictures next time round (with a warning to my mum to not look!).

Bring on the weekend and the road to recovery!

Cowgal Romily

Home from work sick today. Blergh, blergh, blergh. In between bouts of nausea, sore throat and headache, I managed to get some more work done on Romily's coat and got it finished. I love it - so does she! It is a bit too big, so it will be perfect for next winter, although it may get an outing or two this winter since I think she looks so cute in it.

I still have the hat to make, but thought I'd post a photo of the most gorgeous little cowgal in my life.


The pattern is McCalls #M4961 in size XS for anyone who wants to know!

Sure is quiet around here

No crafty pictures to share, so one of my gorgeous Romy bear will have to do!

Well I am a recalcitrant poster of late. One post a week doesn't seem like much, but I just don't get the chance to do it more often than that. That combined with the fact that I work 40+ hours a week and have a very-nearly-two-year-old to entertain when I'm home!

I delivered the little kitty to Molly on Saturday, after Romily finally agreed to let go of her! I had to keep telling her that it was Molly's kitty and that hers was safely at home.

I have put the other two bears aside for the moment, as they're not due for delivery until September, when it's the twins' birthday. After making a big fabric purchase online at equilter.com (thanks Tracey for the inspiration!) for a single bed quilt I want to make for Romily, and after drawing up a design for the Christmas projects I'm going to start soon, I decided to make a start on a cute coat I am making for Romily. She probably won't be able to wear it until next year (it might be a bit big, as it's a size 3-4), but it is going to be fabulous. It has a matching hat too. I can't wait to finish it and have her try it on. I'll be sure to post a pic, as the fabric is just the best :) The pattern has been relatively straightforward so far, but I'm up to the collar and facing, which looks a little tricky!

I am sick again. Oh my goodness. And no, Tracey, I am not 'up the duff'! It's a headcold and I had to come home early from work today with a fever, shakes and dizziness. Now I have a very sore throat and have been sneezing off and on. Fab. Ah well, let's hope it's a quick one.

A thank you and another finish

First of all, a big heartfelt thank you to Anne who very kindly and generously shared with me her simple stars pattern. The very gorgeous Anne also sent me a darling little pincushion, which is truly gorgeous - and much needed. I ate my chocolate one! Thank you Anne :)


And I finished the second Kitty, who will be soon going to live with Molly, who is just over a month old. I am happier with the face this time around, but I thank you all for your kind comments on the first one I showed!


Life continues on here - I have managed to catch some kind of tummy bug which is making me feel blergh, but it's not making me feel really ill, so it's not too bad - and we're all busy little beavers. Hence I have very little time for blogging. Seems to be going round lately!

Softies a deux

'Two little softies, sitting in a tree, h*u*g*g*i*n*g'

Okay, so making little stuffed toys is making me go a little gaga. But they have been fun. Apart from the eyes! I am not good at eyes. The pattern calls for buttons, but with under-3s it stipulates to embroider the eyes (as buttons could be pulled off by enterprising babies/toddlers, eaten and choked upon). Oh dear - my stitchery skills leave a lot to be desired.

However, I am not getting hung up on the details - the kids will love them. Romily is already madly in love with her kitty.



I put Kitty on the rail of her cot last night and when Romily woke up this morning the first word she said was 'kittyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy'! Kitty has been carried around all day, given 'food', been put to 'bed' and been hurt ('ow, poor Kitty') and then kissed better ('all better'). A success :)

(Black Bunny's eyes are not embroidered, as you can see. They are bits of felt stitched tight through their centres)

Black Bunny will go to his new home this weekend when we pay a visit to baby Jack. The other three softies will be finished hopefully over the coming week (or two). I am dreaming up my next project and have drawn up an initial design. Lots of HSTs - haven't done them yet, so it should be fun. I hope!

No monkey business...

...but plenty of funny bunnies, pretty kitties and brazen bears.

My little softie buddies are coming along - they are all made and stuffed - but so far remain faceless and nameless. They're also not completely dressed - I've ties, scarves, hair and other bits and pieces to make and appliqué onto the bodies.

They're all destined for different homes, except for the two bears, who are going to my nephews for their birthdays in September. I think I'll probably have finished them by then!

The bunny (big ears) is going to baby Jack, who is around two months old, and one of the kitties is going to Molly, who is about three weeks old. Romy will get the second kitty. She'll be beside herself when she sees them all - I'm not letting her touch them, as I want them to go their new homes clean! No sticky lolly fingers thanks very much :)

These have been quite fun to make, but I'm also looking forward to starting on the next quilty project. I think it'll have to be the Christmas table runners I was going to make for last Christmas!

Birthday treats

I was truly spoilt yesterday - and thanks for all your birthday wishes.


I had a lovely long sleep-in and then Romily helped me open my presents. We then had a lovely afternoon together, with the day topped off by my favourite dinner - roast chicken with roast pumpkin and potato and some token greens. Then the cake!


Romily was enraptured with the idea of cake and candles, but got a bit scared when it came time to blow them out. We might have to practice a few more times before her birthday in August.

I also received some gorgeous scarves, socks and beads from my parents and brother and sister-in-law. My present from my other brother is being shipped from Amazon next week and I can't wait to get it. I'll post about it when it arrives.

Carl and Romily also gave me Richard E Grant's latest book - The Wah Wah Diaries. Can't wait to read it. I love him! Not as much as I love my husband, of course!

Da na na na na na na they say it's your birthday...

...And it's my birthday too yeah! (apologies to The Beatles)

That photo is me at two years of age. Nothing like Romily, apart from lots of hair!

Dear god how did I manage to become 36 years old? I cannot credit it. Ah well, it's been a busy three and half decades that's for sure. And one more year of being in my 'mid-30s' - I guess it's not all bad when you look at it that way!

The best present I've received today? A sleep-in - a proper sleep-in. That is, Carl took Romily out of the house when she woke up this morning and I slept until 9.30am. This is the first time in nearly two years. Hooray and happy birthday to me! I am waiting for them to come home to open my other presents. Romily was trying to hand them to me last night - she's cottoning on to the whole birthday, cake, candles and presents idea! She'll be beside herself with excitement tonight with the cake and candles. Darling Carl has even made my cake himself. What a beautiful man :)

Oh and my first Ottobre magazine arrived yesterday. Perfect timing. All those projects! Very inspiring too.

Have a great weekend everyone :)

Romy Bear

Romy Bear is one of my many terms of endearment for our little cherub. Very fitting apparently, as she went gaga for the first softie I'm stitching - a little bear. We've had a lovely, relaxing weekend, slow enough for me to find a couple of hours to getting my softies project started.

Here is the first bear at the 'just-stitched', no-stuffing phase. Looking a little bit flat!


And here it is after stuffing, with the Romy tick of approval! I still have to stitch on the details, including the face, but Romily was in no doubt that it's a bear.


Here is a bunny in the same 'outfit' - he'll be going to a different home to the first. I then have three more to do, which may have to wait until the weekend, as I have a horrendously busy (short) week coming up at work. My boss is on leave for a week and I'm 'it'! Fortunately this added responsibility coincides with the finish of my probationary period, which I passed with flying colours - in fact my boss asked if he could clone me. I guess they're happy with my work!


I got all domesticated today and baked some vanilla crunch biscuits. They are very crunchy and very yummy. Romy helped too, which was just lovely. She is a good helper and likes 'turning' (stirring). Long may this phase last too.


Rom is definitely on the mend, which is good. Two days of toddler grizzle is about all I can 'Romy Bear'!

Back to work tomorrow. Best get an early night tonight. Who knows what the week may bring.

Enjoying some time out

I've been forcing myself to read again. For pleasure. A chapter each night before sleep. It helps clear out the day's activities from my mind. I am also a little less stressed these days now that I have a job I love, albeit a very busy job that requires some high octane activity, so I find I am happier reading and not so fidgety. I stopped reading for a while there because I just wasn't enjoying it and couldn't find a book I liked.

I tried very hard to read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which came recommended to me by my darling husband. He thought I'd appreciate it, having been in the army and all. I tried, and tried, but I just could not get into it. I gave up after about 10 chapters. I just didn't like the style it was written in at all and who needs to be thinking too hard at the end of a long, tiring day?

So I ditched it and picked up Saturday by Ian McEwan while transiting through an airport last month. I read it in about a week - more than a chapter a night! I really enjoyed it - let me tell you why. It felt real. It felt like a story we could all relate too. It had characters that weren't entirely sympathetic but also very believable. I can't tell you how many books I've read where I get to the end and think 'as if'! The world created by McEwan was clear and familiar, although it is set in London. I've been there twice, but not to the area in the book. The front cover image helped a lot! I put it down very satisfied, although I did know where the story was heading, so I might mark it down a little for lacking in suspense. I must confess that it did get my hear racing nonetheless!

So, if you're after a contemporary novel, set in post-September 11 London that tells a good story about a very believable and flawed man, then I recommend you give it a try.

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Today was spent shopping and then decluttering. The first half of the day I enjoyed, although I do get a little down going to the shopping centre and finding just about all of my favourite stores are having sales and I can't afford anything that's a luxury right now. I did, however, manage to replace my torn and worn 15-year-old dressing gown! I also bought a couple of hooded velour jackets (hoodies) for Romily, who has outgrown all her size 1 hoodies, and some cute tights. I absolutely love shopping for her.

Then this afternoon we got serious about finding homes for several piles of books, papers and clothes that had been accumulating in our lounge room. It must have been the day for it as Tracey over at Ozcountryquiltingmum spent her day doing pretty similar mundane tasks!

While sorting out the clothes pile (Romily's clothes that are being 'retired' and some of my maternity and breastfeeding clothes), I discovered (to my embarrassment) a huge mending pile. Whoops! I guess I know what I'll be doing for the next few weeks in front of the telly! :o

Yes that is indeed lipstick

Okay, so when you hear the words 'more cream, more cream' and you forgot to put your handbag away out of reach, you had better be worried.


Yes that is indeed lipstick.

She looks so proud of herself, the little minx! She wasn't actually trying to put on lipstick, but face cream. I guess all those tubes look the same.

This is the third time. You would have thought that mummy would have learned her lesson by now...apparently I am a slow learner. Fortunately it was a freebie lipstick that was trashed this time.

Romily is going through a real 'I want to be like mummy' phase - she tries my shoes on all the time, tries to put my stockings on, wears my clothes, including scarves, gloves and hats, wants to wear my beads/jewellery and is always after me to put cream on her face. She's not even two yet!

No stitching this week, although I did wash and iron the fabric for the softies. I will try to get this project underway this weekend.

We have a long weekend here starting tomorrow - it's the official celebration of the Queen's birthday - yes the Queen of England is also the Queen of Australia. We all bless her majesty on the second Monday in June, for we get the day off! Her real birthday is in April, but the public holiday actually has nothing to do with that! It's to celebrate the monarch's birthday, whenever their actual birthday may fall! Trust Australians to find a holiday where there's none!

Early birthday present!

My birthday is coming up in a big rush (in a couple of weeks) and I was browsing around today in Blogland and came across Ottobre, which I've often heard of, but have never actually seen. I was so impressed with what I saw, that I subscribed!! An early b'day present from moi!

Some of the projects in the latest edition are stunning and I have such a desire to sew, sew, sew for my gorgeous Romily that I can never have enough inspiration!

Some of you asked me why I iron my quilts before I present them! I guess it's just to even out any bumps the formed in the washing machine and to make sure the binding is sitting flat and nice before I wrap them up as presents. No one ever told me to - I just thought it might look nice :)

I don't have the iron very hot and I don't 'squish' the quilt flat, just smooth out the top really.

Fabric for animal friends

I went fabric shopping on the weekend, for the little softies I'll be making over the coming weeks. I didn't buy 'proper' quilting cotton, but the next grade down, which is much cheaper (obviously). I'm pretty confident it'll be just fine for this project though - and I loved the colours and variations. I'm making five kitty/bunny/bears, so it should be fun mixing and matching the colours/patterns. Should be!


I thought I'd also post a couple of photos of my increasingly wacky daughter, who is now firmly a Vegemite lover. (For those of you who don't know what Vegemite is, it's an 'Australian delicacy' - a condiment/spread you can put on toast - it's savoury and a very little goes a long way. Not many non-Australians are fans, but most Aussies are raised on it! It's made from yeast extract, among other things, and is chock full of Vitamin B. A bit like Promite or Marmite, but not at all sweet. You can see from her cheeks that she's pretty keen!

(Gotta love those blue peepers!)

I dropped Wonky Geese around to baby Campbell on Sunday. My friends just loved it, so I'm very pleased I made it for them! Campbell promptly had a little milk spew on the quilt, which horrified his parents, but made me giggle. I told them that it was his now, and he could do what he liked with it. His mum looked very relieved when I told her the quilt is machine washable!

I got a little bit clucky (again) today, when I went to visit my friend, who's in hospital with her brand new, one-day-old gorgeous little bundle of joy Molly. She is so sweet and I had a cuddle for about 20 minutes. Heaven! No quilt for Molly though - my friend is a bit short of $$$ right now, so I opted for baby clothes instead. Molly will also get one of the softies. I did have fun buying baby clothes again - they're so little and gorgeous.

I'm off to Melbourne yet again tomorrow and Friday for work. Then overnighting with my parents on Friday night and back to Canberra on Saturday. Little wonder I'm so tired all the time. My doctor is sending me for a battery of blood tests next week to see what's going on with me - I haven't been quite right since I had food poisoning/gastro at Christmas time, so he suspects Glandular Fever (mononucleosis) post-viral fatigue. Ah well, who knows what it is - hopefully I'll start to feel 'myself' again some time soon!

Wonky geese is finished. Finally!

Ta da!

Only took six months!

Haven't ironed it yet. It washed up well this afternoon. I am very happy with how it turned out. Will deliver it tomorrow after it's dry and ironed. I hope it gets a lot of use.

No quiltmaking for a little bit for me - I am going to be making a couple of 'patchwork' bunnies (like this one), kittens and bears (like this one) from a pattern designed by Hillary Lang from Wee Wonderfuls instead!

Hope you're all having a good weekend.

Old Macdonald Had a Farm

We had a lovely time at the farm, until, that is, Romily, Carl and I all came down with colds and Romily woke up crying at 1.30am Saturday night, having vomited lunch and dinner all through her bedclothes, including the quilt I so lovingly made her last year! I spent half an hour scraping it clean and rinsing. Gross. So, we called it quits after lunch on Sunday and came home a day early, leaving the rest of my family to spend another day hanging around with the lovely animals, gorgeous scenery and way too much food!

Carl showing Romily what pedals are. And Romily deciding they're way too complicated! This is in front of the guest accommodation.

Oldest of four nephews Zach with my sister-in-law Jacinta

Romily is one plucky little kid. Here she is patting the 'nice horsey'.

Grandma and auntie Jacinta help Romily feed one of the two abandoned lambs being hand reared by the family

The toy bikes and tractors were a big hit with Romily and her twin cousins Cody (on the left) and Darcy.

All the littlies enjoyed patting the animals - large and small. Guinea pigs on the left and black dog on the right.

Afternoon tea in front of the campfire. The cake was a big hit with Romily, as you can see from the telltale icing sugar on her nose!

With Uncle Bill.

And Tim Tam the deer.

Romily was a clingy little thing all weekend. No doubt due to her cold. As endearing as 'Mummy...hug' can be, it wears a bit thin after 48 hours straight!

Hay rides in the back of the ute were a hit with all the family - big and small!

Romily playing hide and seek in a cupboard in the shearing shed.

A budding farmer on her tractor?

And I rode a horse for the first time in my life! I loved it. It was so much fun. I don't look too bad do I? (That hand is the farmer, who stayed pretty close!)

A portrait of my brother Bill.

And yet another photo of the very adorable Romily :)

Eeeieeeiooooh!

Colds are receding, drugs are a wonderful thing, and it's back to work tomorrow.

The yellow fabric arrived from Fabric Shack - hooray. They even threw in a couple of freebies. Now I can get Campbell's Wonky Geese finished. Just in time, as the new Australian Quilter's Companion May issue arrived today, chock full of inspiration for the next project!