WISP Finished

I have officially finished my first project for the year and now qualifiy for the first month of the year long challenge that I am participating in. See the sidebar on your left.

I cut these out last year when I was making the curtains for our windows and didn't get around to putting them together. So I think that counted as a WISP (Work in Slow Progress)

Just in case you are wondering what they are: DOORSTOPS. ..










I have made them out of leftover curtian fabric and I made one for the hallway, main bed and Sam's bedroom doors as these are the ones that tend to slam shut in the wind.

I got the idea from this tutorial: http://allittook.blogspot.com/2008/01/pryamid-door-stop-tutorial.html
It was quite easy, except that I forgot to put the little pick up thingy on the top but I don't need it. I will just kick them out of the way.
So, hopefully this is a worthy entry for my first month. I have about another 6 or more things on the go that I will be trying to get at least one finished each month to qualify for the WISP challenge and also to help me with my pile of procrastination projects.

ON A FAMILY NOTE:
Everyone here is well, Sam is growing and a real little character now. New baby only has 10 wks until it is due. Marcus is off fishing today, hopefully he will get a few more days in before the baby is born as I think I will need his help quite a bit once it comes along. I worry about poor Sam and how he will cope at having to share me after all this time.
I have been very busy tidying up the spare room so that if we have visitors they can sleep in there instead of in the Lounge room.
Oh and very exciting news. I have had my very first Wholesale order for Soap. I am a bit excited, also a bit worried. It is getting quite busy and I am trying to keep my stocks up so I can have a month or so off when bub comes.
Later.

Ending Procrastination

Yes I admit it, I am a procrastinator in alot of things that I need to do every day.
I don't usually make a New Year's resolution but thins year I am making one.
I will make a very concerted effort to end my procrastination. To do this I am putting in place a number of projects.

1. Last year I bought and read this book: "Speed Cleaning" by
Shannon Lush. She has a number of books out and I have found them all quite interesting and helpful. I am doing my best to follow a routine based around her theory and am finding that it is very helpful and I am having to spend less time on the housework. I promised myself that I would do this as we have moved into our new house and it will be hopefully easier to maintain a new house if I keep up with my routine. I also love the way she uses alot of natural alternatives in her books.

2. I have joined a group of bloggers that will hopefully help me get in a little more creativity each month. It is very low stress with no real deadlines except that I want to get at least 1 project finished each month. It can me as small or large as I like and I really believe that I can do this. Information can be found here: Monthly Challenge
I have added a picture link on my sidebar to remind me and let everyone know that I am taking this very seriously.

Now I am also hoping that these 2 things will help me feel a bit more organised after I come out of hospital from having our next baby at the end of March.

So ,yes, as a friend told me recently, I do like to keep busy. I do also have my soap business that is going really well but I am trying to get heaps of stock built up so that I can have a few months off once bub comes along.

Now all I have to do is figure out which one of the many UFO's I am going to do for January. Probably Sam's quilt as I want it finished to put in the local show at Jingellic and Tumbarumba.

Merry Christmas Update

As per usual I have been a very slack blogger. I have an excellent excuse though... in between having a very active toddler, a thriving soap business and a few other things I haven't had time to think about blogging.


Firstly I have some pictures of Sam that were taken this month. The first one is very cute and the picture I put on the 2 christmas cards that I sent out. Yes that's right I only sent 2 out this year, sorry everyone. I didn't even pose him for this, he just decided to get the hat out of his toybox one day and I managed to get some cute pictures.


























The 2nd and 3rd picture is Sam with Marcus and I in the Shearing shed. We did a bit of shearing at the start of the month. Sam loves to visit the shearers and try to sweep the floor.






























The last is something that happened when we had a super hot day a few weeks ago. I put some water in a bucket thinking he may just stand in it and get cool but I ended up having to take all his clothes off as all he wanted to do was sit in the bucket. I don't know how he fit in it but he managed and was quite happy to stay squashed up in the water for about 40 mins. He is just like me in that respect, loves the water.














So I am sorry to everyone that didn't get a christmas card. I know that I am slack but I am thinking of everyone and hoping that you are all safe and well.

Have a very wonderful Christmas and safe New Year.

Doll quilt swap

The quilt that I made for the Essential Baby Doll Quilt Swap #2 has finally arrived at its destination.

So... now I can put up a picture of it for everyone to see.

The quilt was made for Adds who is a very talented quilter. She requested something to put on the wall next to her sewing machine. I hope that this met her colour requirements also. The embroidered words read: "Choosing & Cutting, Piecing & Stitching, Tacking & Quilting, Binding & Dreaming". It measures approx 16" square and has some pretty ribbon to use to hang it.

Doll Quilt Swap

I am sooooo lucky, I was allowed to open my parcel this morning for my
Essential Baby Quilters Doll Quilt Swap #2 and inside was this lovely creation from the very talented AJ . By the way this picture does not do it justice at all.


















It also included 2 pieces of fabric from the Amy Butler collection. I have never owned a piece of Amy Butler but have always looked and admired from afar so I feel like christmas has come early today.
The quilt has a beautiful folded fabric effect in the centre of the squares and the quilting is lovely curves to match the folding. The Fabrics are a bit more green that can be seen in the picture and the colours are just perfect.
I cannot thank AJ enough for all the hard work that must have gone into this quilt.





Now that it is Friday I would love to show a picture of the one that I sent to Adds but I am not sure if she has recieved it yet so I will wait until I am sure she has.

Sneak Peak

This is a quick look at a project that will be in the post by Friday.

I have been working on it for about a month and only have to quilt and bind it then post it to the (hopefully) happy receiver.

I also still have to give it a wash to get rid of the pencil marks.

I know I am not the best blogger but I am just so busy at the moment with heaps of soap orders and looking after a very active toddler. I will try to be better, I truly will but with another baby due on 25 March I may also just stay the same...

Sam Loves Mum's Custard

I have been very slack once again and not updated my blog for absolutely ages. As I have not been doing much sewing I have decided to show a photo or our little - or not so little anymore- guy.

Here is Sam enjoying my home made custard, it is my Mother in law's recipe and he just loves it.

And just because we love him so much here is another one, he is just obsessed with hats and sunglasses, which we think is a good thing with summer coming up. We just laugh and laugh.

Another lovely wedding

Well once again I have not been sewing as have been extremely busy looking after Sam and Marcus, but, last Saturday we went to another wonderful Wedding.



We made a dash up to Sydney to go to my cousin Peter's wedding. It was yet another beautiful ceremony and very fun reception. The bride looked absolutely radiant and big Pete looked very handsome as per usual. The DJ was really good and we danced the night away and everyone had a great time until we got kicked out at closing time.

This is Peter and Lucy taking over from the DJ.

16 Months on 6 August 2008

I thought I would do this update while my internet connection is working well.

Tomorrow is 6 August and our little guy will be 16 months old. How amazing that it has gone this quickly. He is walking, running, making lots of animal noises and starting to say some words.
Here is a list: Go, No (of course), Up, Oh Dear, Bath, Car, Dad, Mum, Yum, Pa (Grandpa), and this is the strange one he says Ratbag, it's really funny. He is very independent and likes to feed himself as you can see above, he does a pretty good job really.

We had some lovely rain in July and there was actually puddles for a week so one day when Sam and I went out walking he discovered them, boy did he have a great time.


As for us Marcus is busy feeding the Sheep and Cows. I am busy looking after the Ratbag and trying to get a bit of sewing done.

Half my stuff is over at our new house which we should move into next week so I am just preparing for a colourwash hexagon quilt that I have decided to make with a heap of charm squares that I had left over. The squares are 4" and the hexagons will be 3" and there will be about 100 of them or so of all colours and I will be hand piecing them.

Table Runner Swap received

I just got this most beautiful creation in the mail. I am a very lucky girl.

Thank you to the very talented Kylie for this lovely Table Runner, the colours a so soft and pretty and will go very nicely on the timber table that we will be using when we get into our new house, and the Prarie Points are very cute. It is beautifully madea and it will be on our new table all the time.

Late Birthday Fat Quarter Swap Picture

I am lucky enough to be part of an online quilting group on the EB Website. About 15 of us have organised a Fat Quarter swap this year and what happens is that on your birthday you get 1 fat quarter from each of the others. We had the opportunity to give suggestions as to what fabric we would like and some people are generous enough to throw in a few extras as well.

Here is a picture of my lovely loot. It is a bit late, my birthday was on 5 June but they didn't all come in time and we went on holdays a few days after that anyway.


Thank you to all the lovely girls. If you wish to know more about the lovely ladies, please visit their blogs, you will find they are a very kind and talented bunch.
http://joystitch.blogspot.com/
http://the-humming-cat.blogspot.com/
http://sampaguitaquilts.blogspot.com/
http://www.gomama-sewing.blogspot.com/
http://patchwork-of-mini-grey.blogspot.com/
http://pugglelogic.blogspot.com/
http://www.waterfallcascade.blogspot.com/
http://craftedbykylie.blogspot.com/
http://kyliesstitchnsew.blogspot.com/
http://ajsantics.blogspot.com/
http://www.snailblazer.blogspot.com/
http://xenabonjovi.blogspot.com/
http://mandsnest.blogspot.com/
There is also 1 more, Cylie. I can't seem to locate her blog at the moment but will update when I do.

Wedding Rings & other things

Well the big trip to the USA is over and we had a lovely time.

My little brother is now married to the most beautiful (inside and out) lady called Mary.



We spent 2 weeks in the very hot and steamy Baltimore before the wedding and it was just lovely to see my little Bro after 2 years and to get to know Mary. We shopped alot, Marcus and James went Fly fishing and we did alot of walking. We have all come back with a bit of a tan, including Sam who has the brownest legs.

We got to meet all of Mary's family and close friends as well as alot of the wonderful friends James has made since he moved there. Mary has a wonderful circle of family and friends that have welcomed James with open arms and we have no doubts that he will be well cared for as long as he remains so far from home. They were very welcoming to all our family, they entertained and fed us very well. A special thank you to Mary's parents and The "Versace" family (ha ha ha), who put on a couple of special dinners for the whole tribe.

It was also time to catch up with 3 of James's oldest friends. Dane who he has been friends with for 20 yrs was his best man, he now lives in the US and has a wife who is expecting their first child. Mark who he has known for about the same amount of time and his wonderful girlfriend Rosie who we all shall miss but especially Sam and Dan who he has known for almost as long. They all came to share in the celebration and it was made all the more special because of it.

Then there was all the family, Mum and her 3 sisters, Uncle Big B, Dad & Sonia. It was just a rocking time had with all the gang there.

I am sure that James's family (especially his Aunts) will be the talk of the town for quite some time.

The wedding ceremony was the nicest I have ever been to (except for my own of course). It was a full Catholic ceremony in an old church that has been restored to all it's glory. I have never enjoyed a church service more.

I was in absolute raptures when all of a sudden lifting the roof off with the hymns there was a quartet of singers up in the balcony with the pipe organ.

The wedding present that I made for them was a huge success. A queen size Double Wedding ring quilt made using 2 Moda Jelly Rolls. It took me 6 months with a bit of blood, sweat & tears (no exaggeration).




The Happy couple on their wedding day in all their finery and their quilt.

10 mtrs of Binding

I haven't shared anything crafty for a while but this is one of the final steps to finishing a project that I have been working on since since October last year.


The edges of the quilt are curved so I have had to make my own binding cut on the bias and there had to be approx 9 mtrs of it.


So here is what it looks like all nicley rolled up and waiting to be sewn onto the front of the quilt. I can't show you the front... yet... but the binding is sitting on the back to show you the quilting that has been done to it. Those of you who have seen the pics of the front will know which quilt I am talking about.





Bec

A Game for some lovely photo's

I got this idea from AJ. & Helen's. blogs and few others that I frequent.

Here is what you do.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

1. Rebecca, 2. linguine, 3. My Dream Vacation..., 4. ♫ YO Yo yo, there's no place like a green penthouse... so i told the genie i wanted to be well hung. ^o^ ♫ nah... wildlife from singapore♫, 5. Matt Damon, 6. If Life Gives You A Lemon , Make Lemonade, 7. My Dream Vacation..., 8. Molten Choco Marshmallows - Doux Crepes, 9. the singer, 10. Thank you to all my flickr friends, you ROCK! Happy Sunday all~, 11. Call of the Raven (formerly Nature's Special Effects), 12. Untitled

Isn't it great.

Sam's birthday and general news.

It has been forever since I last updated and sooo much has happened.

The most important thing is that on April 6 Sam turned 1. It was a lovely day with just a few close friends and family for a BBQ and cake.


Here is Sam enjoying his cake that his grandma made for him. It was a chocolate and walnut cake by request of husband.

This is another classic from the day. This is a Andrea who is the daughter of husbands best friend. She is 3 going on 30, just sooo clever and very cute as you can see.

Other than that we have had a little rain lately but not enough yet.

I am totally snowed under with Uni assignments which are all due on 30 May and then I have an English exam on the 11 June.

The best news of all is that in 4 weeks we leave for the USA. My brother is getting married on 28 June and I cannot wait. I haven't seen him since he left for the US 2 years ago and I am sooo looking forward to meeting his fiancee.

Oh, I am also back playing netball, this is good but also very sad but oh well that's the way life goes.

Can't think of anything else for the moment.

One more thing.

I have the best husband in the world, he is kind, caring and so wonderful.

Bec

Ournie Valley Soap is now open for business

I have finally opened up my little soap business for sales.

If anyone is wondering where the unusual name comes from it is the name of the valley where I live.

The soap is all handmade by me in my kitchen, with all natural ingredients. It is made from scratch, none of this premade base business.

So if you want to purchase any of my lovely soap just follow the link on the right sidebar.

By the way, we have also had some rain which is pretty exciting, alot of weeds have started to grow unfortunately, but it's a start.

Tales of the Intrepid Snake Hunter

Well after my heart has finally stopped beating like it is going to jump out of my rib cage.

I thought you would all be interested to know our news...

This is our 3rd summer in this house and I have never even seen a snake in our yard or heard the birds doing their snake alert chirping. So imagine my surprise.

I opened the door from the kitchen to the laundry and heard something move in among a few things over on the far side of the room. Now we do get the odd tiny lizard but it sounded a bit bigger than that so I decided to investigate, I thought it may just be a mouse or something. I grabbed the broom and gave the bag and the rolled up rug that was on the floor a good wack and nothing happened.

I grabbed the bag (Marcus's football training bag) and flipped it over and nothing happened.

I almost left it at that but thought I had better just check under the rug. I had already moved it about a bit with the broom but grabbed an edge and picked it up. Well didn't my head spin when a Brown Snake thudded onto the floor. Thank goodness I had been leaning towards it and not standing right next to it.

You can just imagine how quickly I jumped backwards into the kitchen. Shut the door, grabbed the tea towels and rammed them against the bottom of the door and ran to the phone to call my in-laws who live 100m across the paddock. Marcus is usually up there working and he usually has lunch up there but he was out right then. So Bev and Ian came across to help.

Poor Bev, all I could say when she answered the phone was "There is a snake in my laundry... it's Bec"

I paced around the house until they came, bringing shovel and morale boosting smiles. It took us nearly half an hour to find it as first we had to get everything off the floor of the laundry and it had hidden itself behind the washing machine. So Ian hunted it out and pinned it down with the broom. I then held the broom while he bashed it on the head with the shovel.

Now for those who may go cross at the cruely please don't bother. Come and see me when you've been bitten by and Eastern Brown Snake and then we'll talk. I have never been bitten and don't ever want to but we live 1/2 hr from the nearest hospital and it would be touch and go for and adult but it Sam got bitten it would probably be fatal much quicker.

I don't know how long it had been in there and I am still scratching my head trying to figure out exactly how it got in there. I have plugged up the 2 possible places.

I am still thanking the fact that I obviously have some kind of 6th sense and hadn't let Sam into the Laundry to play with the shoes today as I often do when I am in the kitchen. I think I got in while I was over at the in laws having a cup of tea this morning and then when I got back I was making some soup to stock up the freezer and for some reason had kept Sam in the kitchen with me, he was in the Laundry when Marcus's Dad came to deliver our post but I took him out when I went. He usually plays over where it was and ohh.... I just can't believe our good luck.

Enough. I am still feeling a bit panicky just talking about it.

Bec

New Years News

Well it has been ages since I updated my blog, bit things have been sooooo... busy. Christmas and New Year have come and gone. It really felt strange this year. I was so busy leading up to christmas that it didn't even feel like christmas. Sam didn't really understand what was going on but he had a lovely time among all the paper. He got some lovely presents from the family and Marcus and I didn't do too badly either. I got the final Harry Potter book which was all I wanted and I have already read it 2 times. I loved it!!!!

I have been madly making soap as the Gift shop in Town has said that they will buy it off me. I don't know how it will sell but I have been making a few extra batches just in case. It takes them 4-6 weeks to cure and I would hate to run out. If it doesn't sell we will always use it and it makes a great present. I am still sticking to 4 simplish recipes. I don't want to be too adventurous when I don't have the time. The 4 recipes that I use are easy enough but make lovely soap.

I have been managing to fit some sewing in in short spurts. I have done a couple of dolls quilts as presents for 2 little girs (Gemma & Andrea) that turned 1 and 3 in December. I am still working on another really big difficult project that I can't tell you about yet. I have made a trial run of a dress that I will be making to wear to my brothers wedding in June also.

I am pretty organised for our bit trip to the USA. All our flights are booked and our accommodation so I don't have to worry about that.

Here also are some photo's of Sam. It has been so hot here lately, we don't have Aircon so I have had to let him run around in his birthday suit. He still does these funny headstands too. We call them his "Yoga moves Downwards Dog". I can't believe that he is 9 months old already.

Quilt for Canada

Here is a quick pic of a quilt I made for a baby that has just been born to friends in Canada. Her name is Jane Lilly Speir and I hope that she likes her gift. I have made it quite large so that hopefully it will alot of use for many years to come. Each square has a different shape quilted onto it and then her name in one. The back is a lovely pink polar fleece. I have put Sam onto it to show the size. I think I measures about 43" square so it will be good for a lap quilt when she gets bigger.

Catching Up

So much has been happening since my last entry.

Firstly our little man got Baptised on Sunday 4 November. It was a lovely ceremony, Sam was such a good boy (as per usual) he was having a lovely time splashing his hand in the font while his head was getting wet. Then he tried to eat Rev. Ken's finger. It was a lovely day with just some close family present and then a lovely lunch back at the farm. Mum couldn't be here because she lives so far away but she was in our thoughts and she will be here on Monday for a few days. Here is a picture of Sam in his Christening gown. He is the 4th generation to wear it. It belongs to Marcus's mothers Family.

Here also are some pictures of my latest handiwork. The first is a bag I made for a swap I was in. It is double sided with a lovely plain Autumn fabric on the inside. I made it for the lovley Helen (press her name to see her lovely handiwork). My skills are no-where near as good as hers. She is so very helpful and Friendly though.

Next is a picture of a small quilt that I made as part of a Doll Quilt Swap. It was for the daughter of Kylie. It measures about 23 inches square and it is the first time that I have made pinwheels. I really enjoyed a smaller quilt as I can make somehting I have never done before and it doesn't waste too much fabric if you get it wrong.