hop skip jump

taking photos of quilt tops is not my strong point

But I've given it a go anyway, if only to prove to myself that I have actually seen my sewing machine in the last fortnight. Blogging and answering emails are also areas that could use a lot of attention from me at the moment. Sorry and sorry again. How do other bloggers keep on top of their email? Do you?!

Reasons for my absence include:
- We have been demolishing and cleaning out our huge and decrepit garden shed. Filling skips! I do love a skip.
- Interstate visitors.
- Two small children.
It doesn't sound like much when it's written like that, but there you go.

Yesterday, I stole a couple of hours, locked myself in my sewing room and finished the Flock of Triangles quilt top. There are a few, ahem, 'problem areas', but I'm generally quite happy with it. I would really like to back it with the japanese train print, but Superbuzzy is out of it in this colourway. Perhaps a solid red?

Just read this post back and it's all over the place. Much like my head at the moment. Too much time spent with hard rubbish and not enough sewing, probably. That's sure to do it.

bibs for the boy

Henry has hit the dribbling age. I knew we were in need of more bibs, but the situation got desperate the other day when I started fishing around amongst Audrey's dolls' clothes in search of something to keep it all under control. The aim was to just use what I had in my stash (tick!), and to just whip up a couple quickly on a quiet night. But once I got started, I went officially bib crazy and started cutting out appliques of silly little dog sketches and the like. I even roped Audrey in the next morning to draw with fabric pen over the linen ones so I could embroider them.

I realised too late that linen is completely impractical for a bib - one spot of dribble and it'll look like crap. But these ones, of course, are my favorites. I'm usually not into names on clothes for kids, but when my 4 year old writes her brother's name next to a cute picture of a snail? Ack! I couldn't help it.

(ps - so sorry to everyone I owe correspondence. The birthday celebrations last week took their toll. I'll get back to it very soon).

smitten (again)

Today, I'm smitten with this girl's bedroom from the new edition of Inside Out magazine. This is pretty much how I'd like my kids' room to look (project kids' room is still ongoing) - from the chalkboard table (love that idea, next weekend I'll be painting our tattered old ikea children's table top with chalkboard paint) to the hand knitted blanket at the end of the bed. And the poster! I've just looked online for a reproduction of that gorgeous vintage poster for Audrey. All I can find are the originals, which start at about $1200. Yikes! So that's not going to happen, but what a great poster.

On the same note, I'm finding Blosem' Kids series, Open House, so inspiring when it comes to decorating with kids in mind. I would need very little encouragement to set up camp in Eliza Gran's beautiful home. No problems at all!

two weeks and tomorrow

Almost two weeks without posting and this is the best photo I come up with? Sheesh. I've been a shocking blogger. Without boring you with the details, Matt turns 40 tomorrow (happy birthday my dear, if you read this!) and on the weekend we're having a breakfast shindig for about 30 adults and 10 kids. We must have been on some kind of serious newborn baby induced high when we decided that we could cater for that many people with a new baby in the house. (Thankfully he's an easy going little guy, but still!) So, in between worrying about whether we're going to have enough food and attempting to make the house presentable, I've been baking. I broke my rule of never cooking something for guests that I've never tried before and made this:  Bill's Fig, apple and sunflower seed bread. I doubled the quantities and it made two huge loaves. Hope they taste ok - they smelt incredible when they were baking. Let's hope that's a good sign.



Speaking of tomorrow, Henry turns 4 months old. It's going too fast!