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.

A new monthly Challenge

One of the ladies from the Southern Cross quilters group has decided to set herself a challenge and has asked anyone that wants to join in. I really like her idea and have decided to try and join in. I don't know if I will get them done every month but I will certainly give it a try.

http://stonehousequilts.blogspot.com/

Every month she is going to draw a word out of a box and we have to make a small journal size quilt with our interpretation.

This months word is "CONNECTION"
Should be interesting.

Here's hoping.
Bec

Quick Catch up

It has been a little cool this weekend so we thought Sam should wear his Great Grandad's nice warm balaclava. He looked happy enough that's for sure.

As for the rest of us we are still waiting for all this rain they keep forecasting. The grass is still green but it will turn brown any day now with the warm days and the wind that won't go away. It's good for my washing but not so good for the feed.

Sooooo much sewing to do and so little time. If I had my way I would just sew and sew and sew. Sam is pretty good and I get a little bit done every few days but wishful thinking that I had all day, everyday to sew.

I have had a chance to make some soap. You may think this is a little crazy but I have been trying to get around to it for ages and finally made a batch of Coconut and Olive Oil, 2 weeks ago. Then this weekend I made a batch of pure Olive Oil Soap. I am using the real Cold Process method and making it from scratch. So far so good, it has turned out o.k. It won't be ready for use for another 2 weeks at least and then I may be brave enough to make a batch with some essential oils in it, that is when it gets a little more tricky and more things can go wrong.

You may ask why I would want to make soap when I can just buy it from the shops.... Well I am glad you asked. I don't like the way that things are made. I think that there is too much manufacturing in all the products that we buy and after doing extensive reading before starting to make soap I see that it is not that good for you anyway. They have taken out so many of the good oils and it is a very inferior product. But then I have always had a bit of an environmental streak in me. I have always preferred to use a more "Natural" product if I can find it. My very good friend Michelle calls me the "Earth Mother" As I use cloth Nappies on Sam and don't use any chemicals in cleaning and washing and I don't use soaps or anything on Sam. I think that the Soap will also make a nice addition to my Christmas Presents this year.

Anyhow enough babbling.

Bec

Making Quilts and Baby photo's

Well I have been flat out this week, cutting out my next few projects. I have 6 quilts to make, although not all of them have to be made now, I am trying to get all the cutting out done. Here is a photo of how I have organised myself. I have labelled some snaplock bags and put all the cut out pieces in them, it makes it easier. The thing in the middle is my Moda Jelly Roll, I am so in love with these, they have the most beautiful fabrics.

Sam is grown so fast, here are the latest photo's that I took this morning especially to post here. He is not quite sitting up on his own yet and I had to keep propping him up but he is getting really tall and so funny, he is wearing his little red Flannie and his wool long soakers that I made out of an old jumper.

Sam can say Mum, Bub & Dad but he doesn't really know what they mean yet. He loves going for walks and being outside and laughs at the dog when it barks. We took him to his first Bull Sale a few weeks ago and he was having so much fun, squealing, laughing and waving his hands at all the noise that we thought he was going to buy a Bull.

SEWING!!! 24.8.07

I have finally got some sewing finished. I am pretty proud of myself, but there is still so much left to do. I have made a portable little bed for Sam. It is not too thick as we have to take it with us on a plane but it can be padded up with the spare blankets in the Motel room. Sam doesn't move once he is asleep so the sides are not rigid but I just wanted him to feel cosy.

Of course Toby had to be in one of the photos.

Bec

EB Quilters Doll/Teddy Quilt Swap

I am very busy getting ready to sew a whole heap of projects at the moment. A couple of them are a surprise so I can't mention them here but I am also about to have a go at a couple of Nappy covers, being the Greeny that I am I only ever use cloth Nappies on Sam and need some more covers.

I am also about to particpate in a Small quilt swap for a Doll or Teddy with my friends on the Essential Baby Quilters Group...

Here are my swap answers

1. What colours do you like? Any but I have a little boy so maybe no pinks as it will be for his Teddy's

2. What colours DON'T you like? Army Green (khaki), too much black.

3. What style of quilt do you like best? (Abstract, arty, traditional, modern etc.) Any

4. What techniques and trimmings do you like? Applique, embroidery, yoyos, foundation pieced blocks, rik rak, lace, ribbons, buttons...?Any

5. Is there anything you DON'T want on your quilt? Not that I can think of.

Hopefully this makes it nice and easy for my partner, I am not a fussy person and we will be happy with what we get.

Bec

Bag Swap Answers

I am in an online sewing group http://http://members.essentialbaby.com.au/index.php?showforum=105 and this month a few of us have chosen to do a bag swap, hopefully I can make a nice bag for my person. I would hate to let the group down.
Here are my answers to the Bag swap questions.
1. How big do you like your bags to be - small/medium/large? Rough measurement you like? I would like a medium size bag, maybe around about 30cm or so long, I have little ones and big ones already.
2. What sorts of things do you want to carry in your bag? eg. essentials only (purse, phone, keys etc), craft stuff, nappies, toys to keep kids amused? Daily Essentials when I go to town.
3. Do you prefer shoulder bags, backpacks or clutch bags? I prefer shoulder or backpacks
4. Dressy or casual? Casualish
5. Colour preferences (also state whether you like pastels, brights or muted tones). somewhere in the middle, not too bright but not too dull.
6. How do you like to carry your bag? I for example like over the shoulder or across the body but I know some people who are happy to carry it in their hand (by the handle). I don't mind how I carry, it depends on my mood.
Bec

Family Update 13 Aug 2007

Good news from America.

My little brother James got engaged yesterday. He and Mary have been wanting to get engaged for about a year now and they finally got the o.k. from her parents as my brother has finally got his permanent position at his work.

Congratulations James and Mary

I can't wait until I get to go over there for the Wedding, hopefully mid next year.

Also just quickly, here is the latest photo of Baby Sam, taken last night after his bath. He loves it when I get him out of the bath and wrap him up in one of the nice fluffy towels that my mum bought for him. Sam is also looking forward to going to America for the Wedding.

No sewing yet. Soon

Bec

Sunday 15 July 2007 Sewing & Sam

I actually got some sewing done today. Sam is teething at the moment and is going through about 5 bibs per day. So here his today's handywork. Not too exciting but I had some nice thick towelling material that was nice and bright. I copied a pattern off another big bib that I like to put on him. Appliqued some nice bright fabric on the front and taadaaa.

Also here are some really cute pics of Sam in an outfit that my someone knitted for him. Isn't he the cutest thing you ever did see.

Bec

Sam & Rain Update 4 July 2007

So things have been pretty good here lately. We have had a fair bit of rain and the ground is finally soaking up and getting a bit muddy. Unfortuately the rain is a bit late for the grass to grow too much because it is so cold now but at least the water tanks are full and the dams are starting to get water back in them.

Marcus has been very busy cutting wood for the fire to keep us warm in our old draughty house, they are only feeding the stock a couple of times a week now because there is a little bit of grass on the ground, we won't see any serious grass until the spring but it's enough for now.

Sam is growing so quickly and is babbling away in baby talk, he already loves to have a chat so I can't wait to see what he is like when he can actually say words. He will be 3 months on Friday, time has certainly gone so fast.

This is a photo of him dressed up in a Tigger suit that we were given by a lovely couple who had a little boy before us. The hat and mittens are a bit big, I don't think they officially go with the suit but he looks so cute don't you think???

This is a photo of Sam and I in the bath. I thought I had better have one of me seeing as how I put one of Marcus in the bath with him. I hope this doesn't offend anyone.

A big HI to my James and Mary in America. Wish I could have visited with Mum but maybe next year. Take care both of you and Jimmy stop working so hard.

That's all.