That monkey's looking at me

Look! Thanks for all the encouragement, friends; I actually pulled the quilt top off the railing and into the arms of my sewing machine.
Not finished yet, but soon.

Creases and Fuzzies

Have you ever tried to watch a movie with subtitles while doing the ironing?

I have and it was quite an experience! No I did not burn myself, but I did add quite a few creases into hubbie's shirts, which made the whole process longer than necessary.

Amelie is truly lovely; quirky, funny, insightful, interesting and unexpected. I have seen it many times so to do the ironing while not exactly knowing what the actors are saying was compensated by the very French accordian music and the lyrical sounds of the language.

Oh I wish I looked like Audrey Tautou; I love her little polka-dot dress and little cotton cardi; her bob hair-cut - out and all flicky, then tamed with little clips.


I did promise to blog about my list of crafty things to do:

Sorting through my local op-shop I found heaps of old fur (real or not - don't know) collars - they are transforming into little fuzzy creatures for the school fair craft stall.

Love the safety eyes - have to get more huge ones! I want to give them names and a character blurb - I think that makes them more adorable. For eg. This is Gertrude; she loves hair product and lolly snakes and she would love to compete for the Guiness Book of Records for the longest time of not blinking.

This is a picture of my Funky Monkey quilt, hanging now on the rail, to remind me to baste it and then quilt it and then bind it and then finish it! Procrastinator, that's me.


Edit: I say procrastinator because the dang quilt has been hanging there (under other quilt tops) for nearly a year!

Binding video

Thank you Bangor for the tip for binding quilts (your Blogger profile doesn't allow me access to your blog, so I am thanking you here)

I viewed: www.allpeoplequilt.com/video/howtovideos.html
and clicked on the video for Binding for a No-show seam, in the How-To screens. Unfortunately my computer's speakers are not working for this sort of video, but, I could understand it quite clearly anyway. I will go over it again (hubbie is working on the sound issue), but it seems to be just like joining the seams when you make the initial binding strip - could it really be that easy? Have I been making mountains out of molehills? Gee, visual cues make such a difference for me - can anyone interpret what that means for my brain?

I love the presenter's 'bowl cut' hair (it reminds me of a geography teacher in High School who always wore her hair this way and had a funny lisp, so, poor thing, was always snickered at - gee, teenagers can be cruel)

Oh No, More Kaffe

I have found this most delicious material from Glorious Color - Kaffe Fassett's 'official' fabric website: this is Lotus Leaf Pastel. I love the muted icing tones and am thinking of using it as a basis for maybe a Snowball Quilt - a stalwart pattern for Kaffe. He has made gorgeously rich ones, but I think I will go for a icy theme; pale pale blues, mauves, pinks, stone as the snowballs and maybe either a palest vanilla, or pick a favourite colour for the snowball corners.

I have realised that when looking online for material, particularly if you want a certain colour, look on ebay and online shops to see what's there, but most importantly, go to the designer's website for the proper name of the style. This fabric is called Pastel, but I have found many other sites with the wrong naming of 'Pastel' for his other Lotus fabric; it may have pastel colours but is not its true name!

My head is spinning - I have a Funky Monkey quilt to baste and quilt and bind before School Fair in March; various crafty project for Craft Stall such as furry creatures made from fur collars from op-shop, tissue travellers, totes, patchwork cushions etc; I have cut out pattern pieces for a shirt, other Kaffe quilt pieces, ironing board cover to make, kids' twirly skirts on request and the list continues; do I really need another project?

OH YES!

(I will post about my list things at some point! Promise)
(Maybe after I start my Snowball)

I woz picked

Thanks Emma of Ballarat Patchwork for picking my name out of a hat for...........


Amy Butler Bag giveaway!



I shall try and do it justice - I may need to employ services of ultra good bag maker such as Thornberry, to, um, read the pattern - is that okay Lara?

OMG this is my third post for the day! I seem to be stuck to this office chair! I have loved being online and getting posts and returning posts all in one day though! Maybe others are stuck to their chairs and procrastinating about their craft, just like me?

Pippi Longstocking

Discovered (thanks Whizzme) that Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren has been reproduced with Lauren Child as illustrator - Yes! Yes! and Yes! I love this Swedish article (posted by Whizzme) titled 'Swedish rebel and feminist rolemodel' - I knew I liked Pippi for a reason! (Although never really thought of her as a feminist as such; but she was and is always the epitome of girlpower; free, strong, funloving, adventuous, kind and cheeky. She does rebel against the didactic authorities of how a child should behave, especially a girl child! Why not encourage our girl children to be strong and wild? My favourite part of her was that she could carry her horse; strange way to get around, but the idea of reversed roles has always stuck in my head.

I have loved Lauren Child for ages: we love Charlie and Lola's book: 'I will not ever Never eat a Tomato'; moonsquirters are de riguer in our house and also 'That Pesky Rat' and 'Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Book' are absolute favourites! I love her collage look of combining photo/drawing/font and the postmodernistic way of taking formal elements of a book; text, picture, and page and turning them literally upside-down, inside-out and round and round!

Found an online Aussie shop with stock! Check out this

Happy Anniversary to Us!

16 years ago I married the most wonderful man and we have had a very happy life together. I was only 20 years old, hubbie 23, and I often say that we were just babies, but, would not have done it any other way. (I have put up a few kissy photos, if that's okay, because we still like to kiss, especially in front of the kids, just to grose them out!)

Some Kaffe-binding love

A few comments about my Mum's Kaffe quilt has given me food for thought - thanks to Lara, Jodie, and Louise! Thanks so much for the encouraging words - they stay with me particularly when I struggle with the project.

The Binding: I never even think about the binding until it is necessary to put it on. I often use the backing material as the binding (hence, using same range fabric), but both Jodie and Louise asked what I would do as the binding and I found it interesting that two people asked the same question.

Do others consider this piece of the quilty puzzle as essential as parts of the quilt top itself? Is it another border of the quilt, or just an edging for completion? Do you use a different pattern to highlight the rest of the design or one to blend in?
Rarely do we hang our quilts on walls in order to see the whole at one time - mine love to lay comfortably crumpled over a couch end, or on a little person asleep, so the binding is not always seen.

How wide do you make your binding and do you have a fail-safe method of joining the two ends?

I usually do a 2 and 1/2 inch wide binding, and then do the 'tuck-in' method of joining the ends, but there are always lumpy bits which I pretend are not there! Try as I might, I have not found a really clear explanation of doing the other method (45 degree angle cut and sew). I have such an issue with instructions and diagrams -I have to re-read them 100 times over and even then, I'm just not sure! does anyone else have this problem?

Edit: I don't make my binding finish as 2 and 1/2 inch - I start with that width and end up with aprox. 1 inch wide - give or take.

Talking about Kaffe - have you seen the new range? Very William Morris inspired - Oh, to have to buy more fabric - what's a girl to do? Both of these images are from Sew Mama Sew.

No compute

Due to apparent 'excessive' downloading, our computer is soooooooooooo sloooooooooooooooow. Til the end of the month no less! Never happened before and believe me, won't be happening again!

This is how my computer time is at the moment:

Waiting, waiting, waiting, is something happening? anything? waiting, waiting, waiting, yes, I see some movement, no I was mistaken, yes, the page is coming, so is Christmas, waiting, waiting, waiting, arrrrrraaaahhhaaarrrrraahhhhhharrrrrrraahhhhhhharrrrrrrraahhhhhhhharrrrhhhhhh!

I put that little bit of written noise to show how patient I am (not)! Acutally that was the exact noise I made at my hubbie for doing this to me. See, I said, how annoying that is?


Fell-in-love with this little find at oppe shoppe - a sheet and 2 cases! So sweet, and so much to work with.
I want to decorate/desecrate this little number - it is crying out for yo-yos? applique? ribbons?
Mum's Kaffe quilt in progress - I'm still nervous about it - are the colours gelling yet or will it take the final stitch to prove.
This is the backing fabric - I always like to get the backing with the top fabric - they must coordinate and this is usually easiest by buying from same range. (fuzzy pictures don't do justice)

Heart beats

I'm loving visiting my blog at the moment; I get to see Rochester again (don't worry hubbie - you're still my darlingheart and always will be - but a girl can dream can't she?)

Home and outing stuff

Please excuse the very fuzzy picture of New Year Eve over Melbourne city - just a little too much bubbly for me and the photographer, methinks!

I haven't posted for a while because I have been mesmerised by Jane Eyre - the latest BBC drama - Oh so good!
Probably my favourite romance of all time and this production has excelled in revealling its austerity and passion. The Cast are fantastic; OMG Rochester! Jane! played by Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. The music, the scenery, the tension, the passion- I can't rave enough!
Characters such as Aunt Reade, spitting out her hatred, even as she dies, was played brilliantly by Tara Fitzgerald.
I watched this 2 disc series so much I can almost recite the script - I think I need a rest. My family are starting to roll their eyes at me.

Day trip out to the country of Kyneton (1 hr and a bit drive northwest of Melbourne) - we picked a very hot day (aren't they all so far!) to go and explore this little dozy town - the best bit was discovering the river walk with the trees swaying - little piece of heaven.

This cluster of trees caught my eye - did someone plant them like this or are they a family?

Never really liked yellow and grey together, but if nature says yes, who am I to argue.

I loved this and promised to blog it! Everyone say Ahhh!

Oh, Loved this also! Book Seat for hubbie for Christmas - this made me laugh! I wonder what he is reading?

My gorgeous white aggies, and my gorgeous white Adirondack chair - love love