I like to clean!

You may not realise at first glance, but yes that is a toy vacuum cleaner! It is in fact a Miele brand toy, an exact replica of our real appliance. Just a pity that it's not a working model!

You missed a bit Daddy!

Romy does seem to love the feather duster - and becomes quite distressed when we try to put it away!

Oh yes and we are encouraging this behaviour! Isn't it lovely at this age where they want to 'clean, clean?'

(No border on Wonky Geese. Realised the fabric I had picked out was wrong, wrong, wrong, so have ordered some bright yellow plain fabric from www.fabricshack.com - let's hope my experience is as good as Jenni's.)

Quilting is d-o-n-e!

Click to enlarge all photos - but don't look too closely!

Hooray! I stayed up a wee bit late last night and finished the freehand fans on Campbell's Wonky Geese. I am consequently too tired tonight to do the binding - it will have to wait until Wednesday night now.

I am very happy with how the quilting turned out - at first I was a little worried about combining machine quilting with hand quilting, but I think it really works with this quilt. The machine quilting was my first non-straight-line quilting, and I'm pretty happy with it too.

Brave me showing the back view!

I am looking forward to getting the binding on and finished and delivering to baby Campbell who is now five months old! Ah well, you just can't rush these things :)


A good weekend here. Very quiet - a trip to the zoo yesterday and Carl took Romily on a bike ride, with new bike rack on the car and new kiddie seat on the bike - they both loved it. I am still very tired - I was in three different cities with work last week and all the travel caught up with me. I've finally managed to catch up with all the blogs I subscribe too - although I didn't leave as many comments as I would have liked. Just not enough hours in the day!

I have a very busy week coming up - I'm losing a day and half of productivity to get some mandatory training done, so it compresses an already busy week into three and half days. I'd better be on the ball from minute one tomorrow morning!!

Ersatz pin cushion

Lots of very talented crafters out there have been posting over the past six months or so about the fabulous pin cushions they've made.

Well mine is obviously not up there, but it's recyclable, which makes it nice and green. Actually, it's nice and brown. It's chocolate!

I find that my pins stand up beautifully in it when I'm at the machine. I can't keep my pins loose with a curious toddler around, so they have to go back into their packet after every use. So, all I really need is a temporary pin cushion. And then I get to eat it afterwards! The best of both worlds methinks :)


Campbell's Wonky Geese is coming along really nicely - I am on the last three-four fans, so should be able to get the binding on either tomorrow or Monday night. Woohoo!

Balloon! Flying!

We took Romily to the Canberra Balloon Fiesta the weekend before last, which she just loved. All morning it was: 'Balloon! Flying!!'


When we got home we could see the balloons from our balcony and lounge room windows, so she was very excited to watch them glide past in slow motion. Then quite a few of them landed in a nearby paddock, which she could also see, so then it was: 'Balloon! Down! Land!!' on repeat for quite a few hours later.


We love the fiesta, as you might have guessed and I also enjoy photographing the balloons and the people there watching them - it's quite challenging taking good shots in such low light. The colours are fabulous of course and this year it was the most perfect dawn and gorgeous autumn day. it certainly is worth getting up at 5.40am to see the multitudinous balloons all take off within minutes of each other. A lovely start to the day!


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Thank you to everyone who left such lovely comments on my last post about Campbell's Wonky Geese! I am having such fun playing with colours and textures. I don't think I'll ever be a master at piecing, but I do love to experiment, so it's lovely to receive such great encouragement!

The hand quilting on the quilt is coming along nicely. I am almost half-way around, so the quilt should be ready for binding by next weekend at the latest. I wonder if I can get my machine serviced by then?

I went and had a cuddle with Jack today - he is one day old. Thank goodness my friend had an elective caesar - he weighed in at one ounce under 10pd!!!! (That's 4.5kg for my Aussie and Anglo friends!) Crikey! He is just darling of course. A lovely big healthy baby. Cluck, cluck, cluck!

I bought him a gorgeous little outfit as 'part one' of his present, as no doubt he won't get his quilt for at least another month - probably two! Unfortunately I have to take it back, as I bought size 0000 and he is too big! We'll swap it for a larger size tomorrow and 'represent' the present!

Wonky geese with borders on!

I knew from other quilters with cats that this was bound to happen!

Finally I can post some quilty photos! As I mentioned, I got the green border on Wonky Geese, as planned, but when I looked at the top, I felt that the green had really subdued the rest of the quilt, and I also realised that the top just wasn't big enough. So I thought I might put another border on. That's when I discovered I didn't have quite enough of the orange with gold flecks fabric that I used on the inner border. What to do? I didn't really want to introduce a new colour, but I did want to lift the 'bright factor'. So I went down to my LQS and tried to find some more of the old fabric, but of course they had none left.


I spent about an hour checking out various fabrics and found that a lot of them were too bright, the wrong orange or yellow, or just the wrong finish. Then I found the most incredible fabric - it has been dyed a couple of different colours with gradations in between so that they melt together. Perfect! When I put the second outside border on, I wasn't quite sure, but when I stood back and took a look, I decided I really loved it!

Bright enough for you?

I am now hand-quilting the freehand fans (although I've only completed one so far!), which should take me another week or so. Then to bind and deliver! Campbell will only be four months old. Ah well! At least he'll have it in time for winter.

Then to make a start on the new one - the baby is being born this Friday, so I'd better get cracking. I haven't yet decided what quilt to make - I have been trying not to jump ahead and to finish this one first!

A reasonably quiet day was spent today - we vacuumed upstairs and down and mopped as well. This is a big undertaking in our split-level house with rampaging toddler and crazy cat in tow! We had a short outing to the park too, where Romily had a great time flying high in the baby swing and pretending to come down the slide but at the last minute balking. She thinks it's the funniest joke in the world!

Back to work tomorrow - at least the weekend will come around quickly this week!

Oh my goodness - hoorah!

The new computer is here! Can you tell I am just a little bit excited? And I have finally been able to download some photos. Hoorah!

Muah muah muah kisses for my new PC :)

Here's a photo of Romily with her grandparents when they were here a month ago (has it been that long?) - she is adorable, non?


More photos to come tomorrow. It's a public holiday and day off work here in Australia. It's ANZAC Day. For those of you who do not know the legend of the ANZACs and the birth of Australia as a nation - not as a dominion of the British Empire, you must visit this site. It is a day of spiritual significance for most Australians - even the most die-hard atheists! We remember the bravery and courage of those brave men and women who embodied the spirit that we today call 'Australian'. We will remember them.

A two-headed puss?

No, not really. A photo my mum took of Bashka last time she was up here.

New computer arrives on Monday. Old Mac is busted, so we had the techs retrieve all our old data and once it's loaded on to the new computer we'll toss it. And this laptop we're working off will become Romily's computer in a bid to keep her away from the new one. We're almost certain that she is the common denominating factor between the two computers breaking within a short space of each other! She just loves pushing the buttons and 'typing'.

Quick update

Still waiting for a computer to turn up! In the meantime, I've finished machine quilting Campbell's Wonky Geese quilt - now to the freehand fans.

Also the two books I ordered from Amazon have arrived. Might go open the parcel right now.

We are all well. I haven't been sick in over two weeks, so that is a good sign. Let's hope my immune system is on the road to recovery! Must've been all that chocolate I ate over Easter!!

Still waiting

Well we bought some software we hoped might fix our Mac computer, but to no avail. The computer is now back at the shop with the technicians, who will take 3-5 days to even look at it. The good news is that even if the computer is cactus, they'll be able to salvage all of our image files - which, sadly, I hadn't backed up for quite a while.

Thank goodness that at least will be possible, as I would be very upset if we lost all of the photos I've taken over the last few months. Let this be a lesson to me. And to you! PLEASE BACK UP YOUR DATA NOW!!

The laptop that I am writing this post on is also broken, as you may recall - the USB ports are fried, so I can't download anything from my camera. But, the good news is that we've finally ordered our new computer, which should be here within the week. Romily won't be allowed near that one and she'll be quite disappointed. We'll let her bash this laptop about though, as it's now worthless. It can be 'Romily's computer'! Hopefully she'll be happy with that.

In the time I would have spent downloading photos and editing them, posting on here, etc, I've been quite productive! I have almost finished machine quilting the centre panel of Campbell's quilt. I'm just doing a very loose overlapping wavy line up and down and across and back again. I can't remember what it's called! I'm having a little trouble with my machine again - I'm having that thread bunching on the bottom problem - but after doing some research on the Internet, I've discovered it's not in fact a problem with the bobbin, but with the top thread. I think I'll change my needle over and see if that helps. If not, it'll have to go in for a service - but not until I've finished the machine quilting on this quilt!

Then I'll hand quilt some baptist fans around the borders - I've never tried it before, but I'm going to follow Tonya's tutorial, now hosted on Bonnie's Quiltville.com website. Looks easy enough - let's hope it is in practice!

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We had a lovely Easter - stayed close to home, but went out every day. Sometimes just the three of us (which is my favourite way to spend a day), sometimes with other adults, and other times with lots of kids around. Romily was fabulous fun, and although she doesn't yet 'get' Easter, she certainly got the hang of the Easter egg hunt and then eating the booty! She had her first ever chocolate, and - no surprises here - loved it!! She'll be allowed a little piece or two here and there, but it won't be a regular thing until she's old enough to know a little goes a long way. Of course her mother never really learnt that, so I might be kidding myself!

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Sorry I haven't been getting around to everyone's blogs much lately. So busy and then so tired when I'm not busy. Let's hope I can find some motivation to get back out exercising again and build up some energy stores.

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And let's hope that by the time I post next I am able to share some photos!

Hippity Hop Happy Easter

Well I missed my 200th post! Happy 201 posts to me! LOL

What another busy week. Flew out to Adelaide (in South Australia) Tuesday night for a meeting on Wednesday. Late flight back last night meant I didn't get home till nearly 10pm. Am feeling very tired today, but fortunately we had an early knock-off and I came home an hour early. Some of my lovely new colleagues brought me chocolate Easter bunnies - I did feel bad that I hadn't returned the favour but they said it wasn't expected, they just wanted to wish me a happy Easter. Did I say how much I like my new job? Tis wonderful to be appreciated!

And it was wonderful to see Romily, and of course Carl, the morning after I returned from Adelaide. I don't like going away for work anymore!

We are sticking close to home for Easter, although we have something planned for each of the four days of the break. All pleasurable though!

Romily will have her first Easter egg and therefore first piece of chocolate on Sunday. I think she will like it! She won't have a clue what Easter or the Easter bunny is all about, but she does know what a bunny is and everytime we take her past a shop window that has an Easter display she points and shouts excitedly 'bunny, bunny'! Next year, it won't be 'bunny' but 'chocolate, chocolate' - ah the innocence of babes!

For those of you with slightly bigger children, check out this cute website. I must confess I had fun colouring in the bunny!

Still no joy on the computer front - we are ordering our new pc over the weekend, but the Disk Warrior software for the Mac hasn't arrived yet so I still can't download any photos - it's driving me nuts! I have some great photos on the camera that I want to see bigger. I am not good at waiting apparently.

Anyway, Happy Easter everyone - if you're on the roads please do drive safely.

Luddite post

Well bad news on our Mac - it won't restart using the installation disk, so we have quite a serious problem. There's some software that will probably fix it, called Disk Warrior, but it's out of stock everywhere until the end of this coming week. So, I won't be able to download any photos until then. Unless our new computer, which we are ordering this week, is available before we can fix the Mac. I have heaps of photos to download from the wedding, from my parents' visit to Canberra and of Campbell's quilt, aka Wonky Geese.

Speaking of Wonky Geese, I have made quite a lot of progress! I have got the borders on and the whole thing basted with safety pins, ready to quilt. I am dying to show you a photo of it, as I realised after putting the first border on that the top was too small, so I added a second border in the most unbelievable red/orange/yellow fabric. It sure is eye-popping. I really like it though! Will post a pic as soon as I can.

Of course I'm now a little flummoxed as to exactly how I'll quilt it - it will be on the machine, as I unfortunately don't have time to hand quilt it - two more babies due in May! I may try a meander with monofilament, as the quilt is so busy/bright, that it doesn't really need more colour. But I'm a little nervous, as I've never done freeform quilting on the machine. Well there's got to be a first time!

We've had a lovely, relaxed weekend. My neck/shoulder is almost 100%, the antibiotics I'm on have done the trick and I am just about over the sinus infection/head cold, and I am feeling the best I've felt in ages. Romily and I have had two great outings together this weekend and she's been a little angel. We had morning tea at a cafe this morning, and she sat on the chair opposite me. We shared a piece of orange and poppyseed cake and we each had a drink - me a cappuccino and she a 'babycino', which she calls 'cino, cino'. It was just the cutest. I am totally in love with my little friend - she's just gorgeous and such fun to take out and about. She waved and said 'byeeee' to the waitstaff as we were leaving and everyone in the cafe was smiling at her. I had one of those wonderful mummy moments. Ahhh.

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Over at Fairybread Quilts, Jenni has been discussing the outrageous price of quilting fabric and books in Australia. I popped into my LQS on Friday night to pick up that great fabric I used for the border and tried not to chafe at the $22.50/metre price tag. I will be checking out some US online stores like the Quilt Shack and a few others for future orders, as I just cannot afford the prices here with the number of quilts I plan to make this year. I was also inspired by the discussion to see if I could find a copy of a book I saw in the LQS - 'It's okay if you sit on my quilt' by Mary Ellen Hopkins. I found a copy for sale on Amazon - while I was there I also ordered 'Machine Quilting Made Easy' by Maureen Noble. I got them both for less (including postage) than I would have paid for one at my LQS. Amazing!

Well it's off to work again tomorrow - but a short week as we break on Thursday afternoon for Easter. Hooray! Four days off in a row!

All's well but computer(s) broken

Busier than all get out here. Not a lot to report except I had a great time at the wedding I went to on the weekend - did pull a muscle in my shoulder/neck doing too much dancing(!). But I can't show you any photos because now our Mac is not working and I can't download any pics for the time being. Hope to get it fixed in the next day or so. Until then, I might try to get some more work done on Campbell's quilt and might finally have something to show.

A great night out

Wow I am so behind in my posting! I am still sick, although have been diagnosed as having contracted Sinusitis (a sinus infection following the head cold I had last week) - perfect! Am now on antibiotics and hope it clears up soon. It's been revolting. Really. Anyhoo, I am not feeling sick anymore, but still have sinus-related headaches and face pain and am blowing my nose every ten minutes or so. I won't go into the details. You really don't want me to!

I hope I am much better by tomorrow, as I'm driving up to Sydney by myself tomorrow (three hours) for a friend's wedding. Yes, I'm going stag, as Carl will stay home with Romily. It's really too difficult to find a babysitter interstate and we'd need one for the ceremony and then one later for the reception. It's a much better solution while Romily is so young for me to just go by myself and have some 'Lily time'. I am treating myself and staying in a plush hotel for the night and then will do a spot of 'big city' shopping before heading home on Sunday afternoon.

But that's not what I want to post about! I want to tell you how much Carl and I enjoyed our night out last Saturday. My parents flew up from Melbourne to babysit Romily for us and of course to see some more of their fabulously nutty granddaughter! Carl and I took ourselves out on a date - which we haven't done really since she was born - and went to see Cirque du Soleil's Varekai show. It was truly spectacular and the best night out I have possibly ever had! I just loved it - it's the kind of show you could go and see four or five times and not see the same show twice! There is so much to look at, absorb, take in, it was just astounding. And they had the audience in the palm of their collective hand from minute one. It was spellbinding.

Here's a blurb from their website:

Deep within a forest, at the summit of a volcano, exists an extraordinary world—a world where something else is possible. A world called Varekai. Varekai means "wherever" in the Romany language of the gypsies. Set in a mysterious forest of fantastical creatures, the show combines gravity-defying acrobatics, evocative music and otherworldly sets and costumes to tell the story of a winged youth who falls to earth and who strives once again to reach new heights. The show introduces acts never before seen in any other Cirque du Soleil show to tour Australia, including the technically stunning Icarian Games and Russian Swings.

What a great night out (in spite of the many drugs I had taken to help me get through the night). I strongly and heartily recommed you go see the show if it comes to a town near you!

Sick again

Yes, I'm still alive - barely. I have been sick as a dog yet again. Am starting to wonder whether I haven't managed to contract glandular fever or something, as I have been sick around six times since Christmas - most unlike me. I usually have a very hardy constitution.

I have been too sick to do any work on wonky geese - too worried that I'll slice and dice myself with the rotary cutter. And I've been busy to boot - what with visits to Melbourne and starting a new job, etc. I turned up to the first day of my new job sick and tried valiantly not to breathe or sneeze on anyone. Then on Friday I had to go back down to Melbourne for the day for a branch meeting and to meet my interstate colleagues. Let's hope I haven't infected them all. Things are looking positive - my new boss is lovely and very level-headed and even-tempered, so that's a good start! Today is a public holiday in Canberra (it's Canberra Day apparently), which is very fortunate as I was so sick this morning I would not have been able to go into the office. Let's hope I'm much improved by tomorrow morning, as I really do not want to have to call in sick in my second week on the job.

As I mentioned, I took Romily down to Melbourne the weekend before last to visit with family and friends. Here's a photo of her with my parents - affectionately known as Grandma and Huppa. My Dad's nickname came about when his eldest grandson couldn't say Grandpa - it came out as Huppa and it's stuck. It suits him though! Romily says it 'Uppa', which is pretty close. She also says 'Anma' for Grandma - who was tickled pink the first time she heard Romily say it!

Romily with her grandparents

We also went to the Baptism of my friend's daughter Alexandra - for whom I made the blue, yellow and lime green cot quilt. Alexandra is an elfin like little thing, who was agog at all the people smiling at her all day - she's such a good little baby and quite gorgeous too.

Baby Alexandra with Gabriel, Aaron and Diane

We did have a great weekend and it was so good for Romily to spend some time with her grandparents, aunt and uncle and four cousins, as well as some of my cousins and their children. It was exhausting though, and I think I'm paying for it now. Let's hope this dreadful head and chest cold recedes soon and leaves me feeling good as new again. I don't think I can take much more of being sick this year.

Romily with her four cousins - or 'boys' as she calls them all collectively!

Wonky geese!

So, taking advice, the working title of this quilt is now 'Wonky Geese' a la Gwen and Freddy. Very liberating!

I am loving the colour combo - and I again thank Patti for the inspiration! (See the purple and green quilt she made for her beautiful granddaughter Sophie here)

I sewed like a demon last night and got the purple panels made, attached the inner border to the centre and then sewed the purple panels all round. I have some gorgeous green print fabric for the outer border and then I have a reddish/brownish/orangey fabric I'm thinking of for the binding. The backing fabric is a jelly flannel - bright orange and I'll be machine quilting with purple variegated thread. No doubt I'll look back at these bright baby quilts in 10 years time and grimace at my colour selections, but, in the meantime, I really love them!

All the animals in the zoo

Carl and I took Romily to the zoo yesterday - I have an annual pass, so we only have to pay for Carl if the three of us go (kids under the age of two get in free), so it makes for a lovely outing - if the weather's not too hot. Which it wasn't. It was just lovely. We only usually get around half of the zoo, as Romily gets pretty tired after an hour and a half - those little legs have to take many more steps than ours!

We had a great time, and, at 19 months, she is becoming more interested in the animals, is able to spot them more easily, and knows some of them from the books we read her. It is becoming a more and more enjoyable excursion.

I also took my camera and had a bit of a play with the telephoto lens and took some okay shots of some of the animals in the zoo - I thought those from outside Australia might particularly like to see some of the Australian natives as well as some of the exotics.

Snow leopard (who looks like a big version of Bashka!) - definitely not from Australia!

Koala

Emu

King Cheetah (okay, so obviously not native!)

Tasmanian Devil (and funnily enough he was spinning around and around like the cartoon character!)

And my very own Romy Devil, with her keeper, er I mean father!

Professional chapter closed

Phew! I finished working yesterday at the company I've been employed at for more than the past two and a half years. I had around 14 months of leave without pay during that time so it's really only 18 months. However the last six months have draaaaged, being employed in a less meaningful job since I returned from leave after having Romily. The position I had been in before I went on leave was exciting and strategic and professionally satisfying - it was moved interstate and I didn't want to go. The job I had upon returning to work was boring, cyclical, unsatisfying and unchallenging. Not what I look for in a job!

I also suspect, although can not prove it, that my boss found me a little difficult to manage, as I don't take rubbish lying down. I think she was happy to have me in a job where we had little interaction. So it all added up to me being very unhappy at work and not using my skills, knowledge or qualifications. Therefore I had two choices - deal with it or find another job! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have done just that :)

I am going back to work at the Department of Defence as a public servant (known as a civil servant in the US) in a job that sounds like it will be much more suited to me and I will be much suited to it. Let's hope so anyway! I have a week off before starting the new job and I'm planning to make the most of it! I am taking Romily down to Melbourne this weekend to visit friends and family and leaving Carl to have nearly three days of peace and quiet where it's just him and the cat!!

I am also going to Gymbaroo (Toddler Kindy) with Carl and Romily - I haven't been since I went back to work and then Romily wasn't walking. It should be a lot of fun to watch her participating in all the activities fully.

On the stitching front it's been very quiet. Too tired at night to do any. Hope to get a little done over the next couple of days and then I'll have something to show you.

In the meantime, another photo or two will have to do. We took Romily to the Australian National Botanic Gardens last weekend and she had a great time wandering around the place. So did we.

Gorgeous Eucaplypt

Carl & Romily with a lovely copper sundial

How could you resist this face?

Byeeee!

Water Dragon - can you see him?

The kid and the cat

Nothing quilty or crafty to show you - have made a start on the purple flying geese, but haven't got a lot to report! Thanks everyone for your kind comments on my 'wonky' geese - I am letting go of that perfectionist side of my nature and agree that the angles not going all the way to the corners won't be a problem once the quilt is done.

For anyone who wants what looks to be a great speed piecing 'recipe' for flying geese, I did what was suggested and Googled 'flying geese pattern'. Up popped this website with an excellent 'no waste method' for making Flying Geese. Well worth a surf around the whole site :)

So, as I have no other photos to show, how's about some of The Kid and The Cat? They are getting along just fine and Bashka does a good job of tolerating an over-exuberant toddler!