Cot quilt

I have been busy making a cot quilt for our first grandchild, due at the end of May. Its a boy (apparently!), so went for something not girly, pink or flowery.

I used an overall Baptist fan type design in a multi coloured thread.

Here is the back view

I used a rather cute Paddington Bear fabric that I got from Hancocks on sale and chose some assorted scraps in matching colours for the triangles.

Now I just have to do the binding (I HATE bindings). While I am on a roll, I will load up another baby quilt (this one is definitely pink) that I have had lying around for ages and get it quilted for the Bushfire appeal.

Then I need to go and make a lemon meringue pie - my traditional Easter sunday dessert - I have no idea why, it just is! With roast leg of lamb for the main course. Aaahhh - life is good!

Glow in the dark eggs

I can't find my camera, which is annoying - I think one of my girls borrowed it and didn't give it back - grrrr - my pet hate - usually it is my hairdryer.

I have been busy patchworking - I got the two bushfire quilts off to Victoria, and completed a queen sized top which my daughter Clare has claimed - I did promise her a quilt for a wedding present, but was a bit busy before the wedding doing the dresses!

I have another two or three tops on the go. I spent a good part of the weekend cleaning out some of my 'stuff'. We will be putting the house on the market later this year, so I have to have a huge declutter before moving. I am going to clear out years of accumulated stuff that I thought I needed at the time.....you know how it is. Also, I think it really is time to decide what I want to do and FOCUS. So I will rid myself of all sorts of things that I thought I would like to do, and maybe exprimented with for a while, but then decided I wasn't really interested, didn't have the patience, the fad passed - you know how it is. So watch this space for details of a mega sale in the second half of the year - if you live locally and can come by of course. If not, well I think I will have to put together a couple of blog giveaways so some of my stuff can go live somewhere else in the world!

Work is very, very busy - anyone who works for the government will know what it is like in the lead up to the Federal budget - not just crazy, downright ludicrous.

Autumn is definitely here - a real nip in the air.

My middle daughter had her baby shower last weekend - I forgot to take pictures. Her favourite gift, and a huge hit with mothers to be at the moment (apparently), is an egg - yes, an egg - check it out here.

Depending on the colour, it tells you whether the room is too hot, or too cold, or just right for baby! Imagine. In my day, you just looked at the baby! But then the babies don't come with an inbuilt night light, so there you are - the wonders of the digital world. Makes me wonder how our babies ever made it successfully to adult hood without all those gizmos and just their mother's good sense to guide them.

Bushfire quilts

I got the bindings on a couple of quilts for the Victorian bushfire survivors. The purple and green one is a big lap size, couch type quilt, and the other one is queen size. Now just have to check in with the southern cross quilters list about where to send them.

That is one of my very silly miniature schnauzers in the bottom photo.

Weekend away

We had a wonderfully relaxing long weekend away at the coast. The weather was perfect. Despite that, a small boat capsized as it was crossing the Bar at Narooma. The sailor seemed to walk away okay - at least he was able to walk to the ambulance. The boat was another matter. Here are some of the locals trying to recover it on the beach.



The next day we went for a walk and had a closer look. Hmm - don't think that will be sailing the seven seas again. A graphic reminder of how powerful the sea can be - even in seemingly benign weather.
This little one just seems to have decided to lie down and age gracefully on the shores of Lake Mummaga.


My mind is very much on the sea at the moment. One of the reasons we went down was to check out our place - this is the current house - perfectly horrible - an owner builder job from the early 1980s where everything was done on the cheap. It is being demolished in a few weeks to make way for our 'retirement' home. We did a walk through to see if there was anything at all worth salvaging - three CFL light globes! That's it.


The outlook from the block of land is wonderful - that is our backyard in the foreground. We will be able to go asleep at night to the sound of the sea. There is something magical about that. We arrived late on Thursday night, after I had flown back from a work meeting in Sydney, tired and frazzled. Yet just walking on the sand and hearing the gentle, endless sussuration of the surf lulled me into a very mellow mood.


I love the textures and colours on this old boat shed, down on the flat at Narooma. It used to have a registration number on the side, but it appears to have fallen off into the mud flats somewhere.

For the past three or four years, the locals have been building a wonderful bike path along the foreshore and headlands from Dalmeny through Kianga to the Narooma boardwalk. Here is a picture of me whizzing down the path from Yabarra point. Our house is in the group in the centre of the photo, nestled among the spotted gums. (Click to enlarge)

On a quilting note, I have been finishing some bindings on quilts to donate to the Victorian bushfire families. I HATE doing bindings, which means I have a cupboard full of quilts that are all quilted, but just need bindings to finish (no, I am not joking!). I gather that they particularly want queen sized quilts for couples. I happen to have one, so that is in the process of being bound. I have a couple of smaller ones ready to go too. And a top that I am enlarging to make it QS. Trouble is, I have dismantled my home quilter as part of trying to get this house packed up and ready to sell, so not sure how I am going to get that top quilted and ready to go, but I will worry about that later. I will post pictures of the quilts as soon as they are done.

Pink Project

A while back I posted images of some scrumbles I made for Prudence Mapstone's pink project.

The auction has opened for bidding - check out the items here.

Couple more wedding photos

Couldn't resist - the 'official' photos arrived yesterday. A family shot, and a lovely one of the bride and groom setting off together on their new life.

While we were in Melbourne I went to the Ian Potter gallery at Federation Square, to view the Rosalie Gascoigne exhibition. Her work features recycled materials, such as wood, corrugated iron and old pieces of lino.

Many of her pieces reminded me of quilts. This one reminded me of the colour wash style.

It is made from old bits of lino.

This one is very reminiscent of log cabin blocks.

and this series made me think of waggas. A very interesting exhibition, well worth a look. It is on until 15 March 2009.

Wedding

Luke Campbell and Clare Metcalf - married 21 February 2009

Well, it was worth all the effort, of course. The Wedding was wonderful - very emotional and just lovely. My three girls.

This shot is a bit far away, but the wind blew Clare's dress out just as I snapped it - I like the effect! - click on photos to enlarge

I have lots of other photos from the trip, including the Rosalie Gascoigne exhibition, which was great. But now I am tired and want to sleep in my own bed, so will post more tomorrow.