One baby quilt (nearly) finished

So here's the panel shown in the previous post, sewn back together with a hotchpotch border in between the animals.



I find it interesting to see this quilt with just the first border sewn on. Frankly it's a bit "in-your-eye" at the moment but I think it will all "work" when the next border goes on. Just shows you that you should choose any borders all together and not one at a time. (well, I'm hoping that is what it is going to show you, and not just that my first border was a bad choice!! :-)

The builder is pretty much finished in our 2 story area and my daughter swept up 2 garbage bags of saw dust and shavings from the floor. Glad we don't have the carpet yet!

Hope you're having a great week!

Hoping the dust settles soon!

Hi there! Just thought I'd quickly check in and let you know I'm still here. I would love to be able to show you some crafty stuff I've been up to but alas there is none to show.

Seven years ago we started on an extension for our home. We really wanted it to match the rest of our 1930's house - in which we had strippped, stained and varnished all the skirting boards, architraves and windows. So we were building this grand extension and then I fell pregnant with bub no.3. I wouldn't say he wasn't a planned pregnancy, but after some difficulties with falling pregnant with no.2, and expecting to have to do all the charts, dates etc for another bub, for us to suddenly have a baby on the way when we had an 7 month old baby was a bit of a shock!And so soon I was 8 months pregnant, with a half finished extension (and not much money left), living in a unit and I suddenly decided I needed to get back into MY house. So we moved back in, naively thinking we would finish our building off as we lived in it.Yep, delusional. Three kids under 4 and extensions to finish...as if that was ever going to work!


Six years passed and we lived with no skirting boards, no picture rails, no architraves (and no doors!)

About 18 months ago we finally got all the timber necessary and started the long process of staining and varnishing.

Then in the last week we were speaking to a builder who, fortuitously for us, had a job fall through and was availabe now! Eeeekkk! Suddenly furniture needed to be removed, rooms were re-painted, kids found other places to sleep. And the dust...oh the dust is everywhere!!

But the end is in sight..I hope...

But on a quilty note, I bought this panel..and some matching fabric...

..to make a quilt for a new niece or nephew that is arriving soon.

If I was smart I would have left well enough alone and just put borders around it. But I'm never one to take the easy route (apparently), so I've cut it up and now I am trying to sew it back together into a reasonable looking baby quilt.

I'll let you know how it goes!
Have a great week!

Giveaway

Check out this new giveaway at Just a Bit Frayed ...

Wouldn't it be nice to win some of those bits of loveliness! (in particular numbers 22,23,25,26 and 30!)

But I'm typing this very quietly, thus increasing my chances of winning (insert a , just slightly, evil laugh here....)

Have a great week!

Boo's Quilt

So...doesn't time fly when you're running around like a chook with it's head cut off?? Weeks pass and there seems very little to show for it, besides more washing and ironing! sigh...

Anyway, I once mentioned my other son's quilt so with the thought of chooks in my mind (what a great segway!) here is Boo's Farm Quilt. I am a member of an online quilting group and a couple of years ago we made row-by-row quilts. For those not in the know, that is when a person makes one row, then passes it on to each of the group, who join a row they make, turn by turn, and it returns with many rows - pretty much just needing borders and quilting!

So here it is...


Here is a close up of row's 1 -3. Pumpkins made by yours truly, Tractors by the lovely Sue F, Sheep by Toni.


And here is rows 4-6.


Barn by Jane, Piglets made by me (but from a pattern by Anni Downs) and Dogs by Jewells.

I wish I could take some decent pictures of the quilting that Jo, from Rosella Quilting, did for me but the good camera is out of action. The kids love it as in the quilting is hiding roosters, ponies, pumpkins, sheep, wheat etc etc..

And I just thought I'd pass on this great website called Wordle that my Gorgeous Girl came home with from school. You just type in some words and it makes art that includes all the words on your list - great fun! Can imagine making one that includes all about your family and sticking it on the family room wall...

Have a great week!

Anything tickle your fancy lately??

(a random feather that flew across our back cement)

The kids have been playing handball on the back cement to fill in the school holidays. Obviously the stakes have been raised as no longer do you get sent to "dunce" you get sent to....


I think it might be time to get back to school and back to learning some spelling...

Have a great week...

Squishy Fruit Recipe 2 - Banana Bread

Ingredients
2 tabs butter/margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2-3 ripe bananas - mashed
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp bicarb
1 1/2 cup SR flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mashed banana. Mix the milk and bicarb soda in a separate bowl. Add the milk/soda mixture alternatively with the flour. (ie. a bit of the milk, then a bit of the flour, stirring in between.)

If you prefer not to have 'chunks' of banana, then you can stick a mixmaster through the mixture to make it more smooth.

Cook in loaf pan for 40-50min in moderate oven.

Hint - if you suddenly find yourself with 10 bananas all over-ripe at the same time, stick some in the freezer. You can freeze them peeled or unpeeled. (the peel goes black but the inside fruit is fine!)

Random Quilt Story

There's been no crafting, quilting or creativity around here this week at all. There's been a gastro bug, irritable children and an absent husband. Also impending visitors and deadlines.

Fun week, all in all! (yep sarcasm...that's the lows I've stooped to!)

So as I've nothing new to show you I thought I'd show you a quilt that spends it's life on our guest bed.


It began as blocks I had made at a sampler quilt class. I struggled through templates, hand applique etc etc and when I finished the blocks I played around with setting, hit a mental block and stuffed them, frustratedly, in the cupboard.Several years passed and I happened to mention them on my online quilt group - offerring to give them away to anyone who would take them so I long as I wouldn't have to see them again. (along with the blocks when metres of bottle green material for the sashing...what was I thinking!!??)

Well the lovely Caz said she would have them..and I never thought of them again. However, she got them together - changed one of the blocks that wasn't "working"-got it quilted, then bound it and sent it back to me!! Out of the goodness of her heart. A complete surprise. What a friend!!

And I love it. The blocks that I hated ended up looking pretty good together, I think.

Some quilts are quilts, and that's all. And some quilts are quilt's that give you a warm fuzzy feeling every time you see them, and this is one of those. How great is that??!

Have a great week!