Dinos and darlings

 A pressie for a nephew/cousin, made with love by (mostly) DD1 & DD2 and (a little bit ) me - pattern by Melly and Me 'Dilbert'

We tweaked it a little (ie can Never follow a pattern to its end, so we wing it!)
Scales much much bigger than pattern states, cos I don't have teeny tiny fingers to be able to turn such pieces inside out - who does??)

I am actually shocked, yes shocked that the inner piece, when finally sewn together, does produce this 3d shape.

I have no clue when it comes to 3d patterns - that's the best reason why I stick with quilting!!

A tradition much loved and asked for is the building of a gingerbread house!
Totally too much sugar!
Totally unnecessary!
Totally wrong hemispheric inference of snow topped roofs!!

But we don't care!  We all get a side to do:

DD2 long thought over picture - I rather like the sleeting of snow look amid the giant butterflies. The 'less is more' approach is really a good thing!

DD1's side - clever bird feathers and shutters and window boxes:

The completed business:  Love the little map of Australia to the side - not posed I promise!!

A very merry Christmas day to everyone out there - thanks for reading and watching and caring about me and  the silly stuff I make - my heart goes out to you and yours and hope that you feel and know and give Love, the best way you can!

I have a little hole in my heart this Christmas - my darling girl Sabrina was put to sleep on Monday.  She was 16 1/2 years old!! - a fantastic Abyssinian cat with not a mean bone in her body, who loved a cuddle and a head rub more than anything else in the world.  I loved her very much. She will be greatly missed.

Twinkles and birds....

 Despite the almost constant rain, rain, rain.....

Our street does some good lights......

We did some good smells (hehe  i mean orange and clove ones...)

We did some good relaxing....

We transformed a beloved chair....

We did some good sewing (I say we but it all D2's artwork)....."Gigi" (complete with beret) says hello....

We found some beautiful birds in a tree....

We are loving a blue and bird theme this year....

When is Summer coming????

I love to wash

Washing is my favourite job to do around the house and this has made it just so much better!!!!

It has a see through lid, so I can watch my washing swirl around    and     around - very mesmerising! 

Hubbie and I have been washing all weekend, just so we can stand around it and smile.

Whirly Girls are Go!

 Do you remember this little bird I showed you awhile back?

One became many....

Many became a million....

The Whirlys were quilted in a really fun squiggle.....

and covered a child....oops not truly a child....but one who has become a TEENAGERrrrrrrrrrrr!

The back - my all time favourite toile......

On a dull Summer day????... not great lighting for true subject exposure, but you get the drift....

The TEENAGERrrrrrrrrr hiding...

more hiding......

ah got you!.....

no way Mum!......

 ...we are running!!!....

The masterpiece gets dumped on the bed.....typical TEENAGERrrrrrrrr!

Lots of v.v. gorgeous and sweet TEENAGERrrrrrrrrrrrs!

Cake made by moi - chocolate shortcrust pastry filled with choc ganache and covered in very grownup chocolates.....oh my it was good!

I think the recipe is from here (can't quite remember...called the Forest Gump Tart cos 'life is like a box of chocolates'..... loving this range of cookbooks by Valli Little- great photography (not the bare minimum I find Donna Hay photos contain) and yummy yummy stuff - simple but good, easy ingredients and fun! What more could you ask for?

SIT in Sydney

No, don't sit in Sydney, but Sew It Together in Sydney!! I have my flights booked - oh yeah!!  I'm shouting myself a 3 day trip to the land of the flying cockroaches (yes - they would fly in through my window!!) and the giant spiderwebs across footpaths with the beautiful creature smack in the middle ready to say hello to you, Up Real Close!

Hehe - these are just a few lovely memories I have of living in Sydney for nearly 4 years.  As newly weds, hubbie and I made the great adventure up north (not that far really!), packed up our very few belongings in a trailer and moved to the great unknown (to us).

We loved Sydney - the bush throughout the northern suburbs, the trek to the stunning beaches, the iconic sights in the city.  Didn't love the humidity wearing stockings on a hot train, didn't love the lack of a Good Coffee, didn't love the house prices or the commuting.

Didn't love family being so far away when our baby was born and we promptly said Goodbye and Thanks for the Memories.

Hey - don't let me put you off with words of various insects and not-quite-Melbourne-coffee, SIT will be fantastic-o!!!

Sheridan has gathered some spectacular sponsors, some great shopping stops and workshops, and I am looking forward to it all!!!

Please Come - I would love to see you there!  We could share??????????????

 (I don't snore)

A (slightly) broken but still pretty spiderweb

Do you see an 'oopsy' or maybe a 'whoopsy'?  Kelly's spiderweb block has 2" strips of modern fabric (I got bright spots) to be sewn as second last piece in corner of each 1/4 piece.......I did the 2nd sew bit right, but not the 2" bit, soooooo they don't even touch!!!!

Kelly was not miffed though and "loves a bit of quirk"

Okay pal - here it is!!

This was so much fun and super duper easy to make - foundation papers were not consulted at all, not that I would know what to say to them if we were to have a conversation. Maybe others do. 

Christmas is Coming and I'm Trying To Not Panic.....is the title of my next post.

Did I say I loved colour?

Colour Bricks!!

My (blog-finished) Colorbrick Quilt-along Quilt - for our next School Fair Silent Auction.

Thank you to Rachel from Stitched in Color - her Quilt-along was a joy to read and sew with - lots and lots of hints for beginners to get the most out of their sewing, and a super easy but really really effective pattern!!

I still have many steps to go to complete this, but....it's not due til March '11, so I can leave it til then, yes??