Four-patches stitched

Slowly but surely I'm getting there. Wherever 'there' may be!

The quilt top is shaping up nicely - I have stitched all the four-patches and feature blocks together. I really like the colour combination. I have bought some yellow homespun for the border (same as the yellow squares), which I hope will help tone down the 'blueness' and bring out the yellow and green a bit more. I've also bought some hot pink homespun for the binding, which I think will bring it all together.

Must get some time this week/weekend to try to get the whole thing assembled, if not finished! Nothing like being ambitious is there? 

Cheeky monkey

Before I finished the quilting, Romily started showing a strong interest in what I was doing. I showed her some of the 'pictures' on the quilt (trees, stars, ladies) and she really wanted to get her hands on it for a proper look. I wouldn't let her, as I am not quite ready for sticky hands to be all over it, so I didn't give it to her. She didn't throw a tantrum to my surprise...then I turned away for a second and put the quilt down on my chair. I turned back to find this --->

I think she likes it!!

Crazy colours!

So here are my four-patch and feature blocks all laid out for sewing. I'm pretty happy with how the colours have worked out together. Boy it's bright though! All the books tell you that babies can only distinguish bright colours and that pastels, while pretty, don't do much for the babies.

My plan is to stich these together and then I'll add quite a wide plain yellow border. Then I'll bind it in hot pink. The backing fabric I've chosen is lime green, so it should all look good. I hope!

I'll try to get the blocks sewn tomorrow night, as we have my father-in-law and his companion arriving Friday afternoon for a four-day visit, so I won't get any quilting done this weekend.

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I do have some news though - I have finished quilting Romily's quilt!!!!!!! Oh my goodness I was beginning to think I'd never finish. I'll trim it and take some photos and post them later in the week. I'm going to have to take the whole thing into the shop so they can help me choose fabric for binding. And help me work out exactly how much I need - I am so hopeless at calculating these things :)

I am really happy with how it's turned out. It's far from perfect but I am happy that a) I finished and b) that I think the way I've quilted it really adds to the texture of the quilt and helps tie all the sample blocks together as a cohesive whole. It's a bit 'bubbly' in places, but only a little so probably only I will notice it's not as smooth as it could/should be. I certainly wasn't going to unpick it! 

A little girl!

How wonderful - it's a girl! Di had a little girl - Alexandra Diane last Thursday and here's a photo of the beautiful little thing - with lots of hair! Her brother was also born with a big mop of dark hair. Hooray and congratulations to the whole family.

I've pieced all the blocks and laid them out. Once I've downloaded the photos onto our other computer and transferred them to this one I'll post some photos. At least I know now that I need some pink binding! 

Computer is broken oh no

Well the computer is stuffed - that's a technical term apparently. I can still get online, but I can't download any photos or get anything on or off the computer other than by email or CD ROM.

So, we'll have to buy a new one shortly, which is an expense we could well do without. Oh well.

On the positive side of things, I am very close to finishing the hand quilting on Romily's quilt. Just two thirds of the border to go and trim and bind and it's done. Yay!

Am desperately waiting to find out how Di and the new baby are - the baby was coming via caesarean yesterday. C'mon, c'mon, where's the email? I am terrible at waiting to hear news like this!!

Hope everyone out there in blogland is doing well and you all have a great weekend.

Offline for a while

Our computer has apparently had the carrot. It had a meltdown early this week and when we got it going again none of the USB ports would work. It's currently in with the technicians, who have no idea what the problem is, so we may end up having to buy a new computer. Bummer.

Until we're back online at home it's going to be quiet around here! I'm posting this from work and I don't think I'll be very popular if I spend all my time blogging :)

A glorious weekend in Canberra

Beautiful, hot, spring weather all weekend. How perfect! Yesterday was hot - 30 degrees celsius - and windy, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We were headed back to Floriade, but diverted when I spotted a petting zoo being set up on the lake foreshore. We made a quick turn and five minutes later this was the scene.



And all for free! Romy didn't quite know what to make of all the animals, but she soon took an interest. She'll love it in another year or so, I'm sure!



A lazy-ish day today. A milder 21 degrees and sunny. Spent a little while outside in our courtyard this morning. So lovely now it's done. Romy in her swing, me pushing and the the sun shining. It really does not get any better than that :)

But now, off to start cutting squares for the baby quilt. My friend's baby is due in two weeks! Better get a wriggle on :)

Busy, busy, busy

Yikes! Where the last week go? It just whizzed by. I didn't get on here all weekend - my parents and brother came up from Melbourne for a visit and we had a great time getting out and about with them and Romily.


Romy was in great form and even showed off her new toddling abilities. She's really starting to get confident about walking and just toddles off when we're not watching - suddenly, she'll be over the other side of the room and still on her feet! Before we know it she'll be running!


On the weekend we made it to Floriade, Canberra's annual flower festival. It's based on a tulip festival in the Netherlands and we go every year. It was my Mum's first time - she's wanted to go for about 10 years - and she just loved it. It was perfect weather and not too many people were there when we arrived - it was just lovely.


It was so good to have some of my family here - even just for a few days. I really do miss them a lot and it's just so wonderful to see them rather than just talking on the phone.


Thanks for all the positive comments on my quilting :) They've been very encouraging. I'm looking forward to getting started on the quilt for the new baby too. I did buy a little more fabric for it last weekend, including the backing, which is a very cool and groovy lime green splatter fabric. Perfect for a baby to snuggle! Now just got to find some time to get cracking!

Pfffft

Well I have been very slow posting on here lately, haven't I? I have been feeling pffffft - Carl and Romily have both had horrible head colds and I finally succumbed on Friday afternoon - just in time for the three-day weekend we just had! Grrrr.

Fortunately I was not nearly as sick as Carl and Romy - they are both still 'enjoying' the water works emanating from their noses, while my symptoms have pretty much disappeared. I think my immune system received a huge kick earlier this year when I had the flu for 8 weeks so I'm getting off lightly this time.

Despite all of us feeling quite under the weather, it was actually a beautiful weekend. The sun shone, it was warmer than it's been for a long time and the birds were out and about. So we decided to head out too and take our minds off feeling blergh.

Carl took this photo of Romily and me on our balcony just before we went out on Sunday. Romily smiling for the camera as usual ... not!


Quite a bit of quilting was done over the weekend. I am very happy with how it's coming along. Not quite half way there, but am nearly finished with the stipple quilting, which has been going slower than a month of Sundays!

That's enough rambling from me. Might go try to catch up on a few blogs before I hit the sack.

A new baby!

It's not me! No, despite being not a little clucky, it's not me that's pregnant, but my good friend Di. She's having her second and it's arriving on 26 October - a month from today! It's very exciting. I say 'arriving on 26 October' because that's when the c/section is planned. Di had a very difficult labour last time and her obstetrician recommended not risking anything this time and going straight to the caesar option. I think that's wise.

And exciting! She doesn't know whether it's a boy or a girl - she's got a lot more willpower than me - I didn't find out with Romily because I wanted a surprise, but with baby #2 I will definitely find out. There's too much to plan!!

Anyway, I have decided to make a quilt for Di's baby #2. And since I don't know whether it's going to be a boy or girl, I chose some beautiful gender-neutral brights: lime. aqua and yellow. I got a mix of plain (with a bit of texture) and patterns - I learnt a good lesson there with Romy's quilt project - you can have too many patterns!

I'm just going to do simple four-patch blocks and no sashing, interspersed with block-sized feature fabrics - especially the cats - I'll bind it in either blue or pink - once I know whether she's had a boy or a girl.


I'm hoping to finish it in about six weeks - I know that's slow compared to some quilters, but I don't get all that much time to quilt!

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And thank you for all your lovely and encouraging comments. I am enjoying quilting Romy's quilt. I just wish that I'd been able to finish it in time for her to use this year. But with the weather heating up, it'll have to go into the cupboard until next year - fortunately she'll still be in her cot next winter!!

Oh my goodness she's so slow!

LOL...the hand quilting is going slowly...but I'm pretty happy with things so far. My stitches aren't as fine as some others' (Finn, Tonya, Judy, Joyce you know who I'm talking about), but I'm learning how to get better as I do it. Nothing like learning on the job!

Here's how it's coming along. I have mostly outline quilted. I think I'm going to stipple quilt the background of the cream coloured blocks, including the applique blocks, which I haven't yet started. And I bought a wavy pattern stencil for the borders. Now just got to work out what to use to mark the fabric!

Any tips on how on earth you go about stipple quilting and marking up the fabric would be greatly appreciated :)

Classic food-faced toddler

Well this blog is turning into 'All about Romy' or 'What Romy did next'!

I have no quilting to show you. It's painfully slow doing only an hour or two each evening - that combined with not really knowing what I'm doing or what pattern(s) to do!!

So here are some more photos of my daughter, who is still learning to feed herself :)

1) Spaghetti



2) Lamb casserole!

Click to enlarge - it's worth it!!

No angel

Just to prove she's no angel - this is her cracking it because I wouldn't give her the camera!

And more cute photos of the pigtails!

Okay, enough indulgence now. Better go have a shower or something at 8.30 on a Sunday morning :)
 

Pig tails!

Yes, I couldn't resist. Romy's first pig tails. Her hair really isn't quite long enough, but she was a willing participant :)

Note the brush she's carrying around - it's almost bigger than her head!

 

Budding photographer

She just loves the camera. Will not leave it alone - even if it's in its case. She even takes photos - usually of her leg! She's been playing 'where's Romy?' with her dad in this photo :) 

Vegemite Kid

Does she look like she's been caught doing something she shouldn't be? Yes she does! But no she wasn't. Just my cheeky monkey daughter :)

And yes, that is vegemite covering her face from cheek to cheeky cheek!

She walks!

Wow - Romily stopped screeching today, cut a tooth last night and took her first steps today!

I was so happy when she walked towards me tonight - there was barely a peep out of her all day, and her fourth front bottom tooth made its appearance last night. What a turn around from yesterday. Thank god.

And thanks for all the tips - especially Judy! I don't think I'm ready to resort to the glass of water trick - just yet :) 

The three of us

We had this family portrait taken in July - just before I went back to work. 

Steve Irwin & Peter Brock

Two Aussie legends died this week.

Steve Irwin - better known to many Americans than Australians - died on Monday while snorkelling during filming of a new television documentary for a show to be hosted by his 8-year-old daughter Bindi. He was stung by a stingray and died almost instantly. Read more about it here.

I wasn't a huge fan of Steve Irwin, but freely confess that I thought he was great at what he did and was a genuine family man. It's very sad for his wife Terri and his two kids. Son Bob is not that much older than Romily.

But I was a huge fan of Peter Brock - a legend of Australian motor sport. I watched Brocky win the Bathurst 1000 V8 supercar race more times than I remember - as quite a young girl. I used to sit there on the couch with my Dad and brothers watching those cars zooming around the track - I've even driven that track in a hire car when I was in Bathurst on a course one time!

Brocky was 61 and had had a good innings - but it was such a shock to hear he'd died in a car accident during a rally - he'd done similar races thousands of times.

Two of Australia's most famous men dead in one week. What a shock.

What to do with a screaming child?

Well, although she looks angelic in photos, I am at my wit's end with Romily at the moment. She screams. Squeals. Whatever you want to call it. At the top of her lungs. A real ear-splitter. It gives me an instant headache and sets my jaw. I cannot stand it and there is nothing I can do about it. I am not going to smack her when she screams, as that would just make it worse. I'd feel guilty and she'd think hurting someone is the right thing to do. But oh my god I find it impossible to cope with. I try to be mature about it and shut it out, but it's like a knife through my brain.

I took her out of the house this morning, as she doesn't seem to do it much when we're out and about, but of couse today was different - she screamed a fair bit when we were out too. She unfortunately fell asleep in the car and had a grand total of 7 minutes sleep. I tried to put her down this afternoon, but she just won't sleep. I can't leave her in the cot either, as she just gets hysterical and screams and screams and screams - she would do it for over an hour. She is stubborn as hell. So that's it for today. Seven minutes of sleep is not enough for a 1 year old. The rest of the day is going to be horrible. Fortunately Carl is in charge of Romily this afternoon.

The screaming started when I went back to work. I realise it's what they call separation anxiety and that she's unhappy with me for not being here, but I find it so hard to deal with on the weekends that I'm looking forward to going back to work on Mondays. I do not like feeling this way and I find it very upsetting.

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On a happier note, I have done quite a bit of machine quilting on her cot quilt. Now comes the 'by hand' bit. I've got a good idea of how I want to do it, so now it's just a matter of getting organised so I have it all ready to go in front of the telly tonight as soon as Romily is asleep in bed.

I also discovered a new patchwork shop in Canberra yesterday - it's massive! I knew the shop was there, but I always thought it was quite small and pokey, so I hadn't been in. I popped in yesterday and could not believe their range of fabrics! And they are a bit cheaper than the other shop I frequent. Too bad they're on the other side of town! I might have to make the pilgrimage a bit more often now though :)

I bought some stretchy printed fabric today - I'm going to make Romily some pyjamas. She's grown out of her sleepsuits (all-in-ones with feet), and they don't seem to come in bigger sizes. So it's time for big girl PJs!

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day in Australia - yes, we are out of step with the rest of the world!

I would like to wish Carl a happy Father's Day. He is such a great dad and Romily adores him. He is so calm in the face of screeching. I can learn a lot from him. He is my rock, as cliched as that may sound. So, Happy Father's day my love.

Carl with Romily on Father's Day last year

I also want to send a big hug to my dad. He is one of the greatest men on earth. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful father. He is a very sincere, warm-hearted man who loves my mother and all three of us children with all his heart. He is a fantastic 'Huppa' to his five grandchildren and I just wish we could see more of him - he lives in Melbourne - an 800km drive from Canberra.

Me with my Dad on my wedding day in 2004

What a fortunate person I am to have these two wonderful men in my life. I am blessed. I can only hope that Romily is similarly lucky in love - I know she is fortunate to have Carl for her father.

Weird bony bits

As you might be aware, dear reader, my darling husband Carl is taking some time out from the army and is at home with Romily. This means that he is also responsible for running the household - a chore he familiar with, as he lived by himself for 10 years. He is doing a really great job with Romily and they are having a fine old time together.

He has also been doing a good job with cooking dinner for all of us every night - although he would agree this has become easier since Romily started eating what we're eating. No more massive vegie cook-ups. Carl discovered a recipe for chicken loaf (meatloaf, but made with chicken mince) in one of our many cook books and thought it would be nice to make it for dinner on Wednesday night.

We sat down to dinner and tucked in. After a couple of mouthfuls I asked, 'Carl, what are the crunchy bits?'. 'Caramelised bits on the top,' says he. 'Really?' I said. 'It seems to be all through it'. Upon closer examination it was found to be bone! I asked where he'd bought the chicken from. 'The butcher.' 'Well,' says I, 'You'd better keep a bit of this chickenloaf and take it back to him tomorrow - this is terrible. They must've got some bone in the mincer - it's all through it!'

We each ate another couple of mouthfuls and then looked at each other and decided that we just couldn't pick out all the tiny bits of bone. We had a sandwich each for dinner instead and we gave Romy some extra vegies.

I asked Carl the next day if he went back to the butcher. 'Yes,' says Carl. 'What happened?' 'Nothing,' says Carl - a man of few words! 'What do you mean?' Then he showed me this!!

A lovely day

We had a lovely day yesterday. We choofed off to Old Parliament House to see Mrs Prime Minister - an exhibition about Australia's Prime Ministers' wives - which was closing today. It was quite interesting, with lots of things to look at, including some of their dresses, coats, hats and shoes from the 30s through to the 80s. Our 'first ladies' aren't nearly as high-profile as those in the US or the UK for that matter. But most of them do charitable work and lots of diplomatic work - especially over gazillions of official dinners.

After lunch at the cafe we wandered off through the adjacent gardens and Romily had a fine old time pulling up the grass and playing with twigs. It was a gorgeous day and we took full advantage of it.


This is a tree out the front of our place - as you can see, spring is just around the corner. This is good, as I am very ready for some warmer weather!


I am so glad we went out yesterday, as it's cold and overcast here today. Hmmm. Methinks that's perfect weather for quilting! I'd better get started this afternoon before thoughts of Monday morning interrupt my weekend.

Stompin' pants

A toddler's got to have stomping pants! These fluffy, baggy pants I made for my twin nephews' first birthday, which is coming up in one week's time. I just finished them last night. I also sewed some letters onto the collars of some long-sleeved t-shirts to match the ones I stitched onto the backside of the pants.

They are very similar to a pair I made for Romy a while back. I hope the boys get some wear out of them. They will look so cute!


I made a flying visit (literally - I got on a plane this morning and flew back this afternoon) to Sydney today for work. We had a big awards day at one of our sites and dear old me had to go to take the photos. Now, I'm not the world's best photographer and the camera is not all that brilliant. I don't know why they are too nervous to have a professional photographer do the job! It would have cost less than it did to fly me up for the day and we would have had some great shots - not just workaday photos like I've taken. And I could have got some real work done! Oh well, it was nice to get out of the office for the day.

But thank goodness it's the weekend. Yay!

I hope you all enjoy yours :)