Progress

Progress has been made on Bella's quilt. It is back from the longarm quilters and I am beyond thrilled. I LOVE the pattern. It has prettied up my simple strip quilt beautifully.

The past few nights have been spent handstitching the binding. Three sides down and only one to go!
While the quilt is made of thrifted vintage florals, I decided to use a new fabric for the binding. Just one from my stash...a kona solid in a bright teal. I think it does the job nicely.

I am also throwing in some kids making! I promised Bella Boo I would show n tell her cool new shoes. I picked up some white sandshoes from Big W for about four dollars something. She had so much fun decorating them using some coloured Sharpies. It was such a good value project. Cheap, cheerful and kept her busy for ages;) And best of all...she really loves them. I think she did a great job!

Linking up with Our Creative Spaces.

This week

• I stitched up a string or two of bunting to brighten up the caravan.

The middle fabric came from the original curtains. I wanted to keep a little piece for nostalgia. I have a cushion in the pipeline as well. I was making a zippered cushion and after breaking the needle twice, I remembered I was supposed to change to the zipper foot.

• I dropped my vintage sheet quilt in for some fancy machine quilting. I chose something in less than a minute. I can't even remember what the pattern is. I was in a big hurry and if I ponder the patterns for too long...well I am terrible at making decisions about these sorts of things.
• We made a trip to Sydney for our big girl's health review at CF Clinic. I would love to say we passed with flying colours but not this time. Sigh...That is the rollercoaster that is CF. On a happier note, we stayed the night with special friends. There was wine and Japanese take away. And a lot of nattering. 

  

• Another cloche was hunted down this week. The little one on the right. $4.00

• Daffodil Day. Thinking of all those that are fighting their cancer battle. Thinking of those who battled and survived. And those who didn't. Thinking especially of our Baz who's life was cut short by cancer.  Of my gorgeous sil and niece and nephew who were all ripped off. 

• The boy played his last game of soccer for the season. Hello Saturday morning sleep ins!

• A birthday present was stitched up for my big sis. I used some beautiful Echino fabric. 

•  Some Sunday afternoon making outside. Warm enough for some to wear a tshirt.

•  My hyacinth is coming along nicely. You know I chose a bulb from the box labelled 'purple'. 

And there you have it. Some snippets from the week that was.
Did you have a good week too? I hope you did.

Making lately...

This week I cut into my stash of vintage sheets to make a strip quilt for Boo to take on our upcoming holiday. We are heading away on a little adventure in our caravan. It is a simple strip quilt and I am thinking about getting it professionally quilted because it needs a bit of fancying up and if I am honest, I really don't have the time at the moment. I figured if the quilting is complete then I could handstitch the binding on the road.

Also on the cutting mat is a little beach skirt for Lulu from some thrifted chenille and some vintage sheet shorts for the boy. I was thinking jarmies but he said board shorts so now I am thinking about pockets and how to make them...or not.

 And because I need that gratifying feeling of actually having something completed...some gift tags ;)
Quick, cute, fun to make and useful! Winner winner chicken dinner!

Despite the grey skies and chilly days we are still having here, I can see a glimmer of Spring.
Yes. It's on it's way. I am very glad about that!

Ta-Dah!

A while back I picked up this little side table at the local Vinnies.

 

Well, it finally received a little bit of TLC. I had intended to paint it white, mainly because I am terrible at making decisions about this kind of stuff but I went out on *a sudden freakish fancy* and painted it grey. With a little splash of neon.

* Whim noun. 1. an odd or capricious notion or desire; a sudden or freakish fancy

PS Darling little Dixie the owl was made by the lovely Mardi. You can see more of her quirky stitched creations in her etsy store Dudley and Grace.
PSS I perhaps should have included a bit more of the deer decal in the photograph.
Wall decals by Love Mae. LOVE Love Mae.

Linking in with Ta-Dah Tuesday(on a Saturday) at Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping!

Sewing on a Thursday

It wasn't on my agenda today but I was waiting for some paint to dry-literally, and I decided to make a little skirt for Lulu. Much like this one, wouldn't take more than 45 mins. Lulu chose some vintage sheeting from the shelf and I set to work.

I decided to have a go at something new (to me) so I made a ruffle for the bottom. It is rare that I sew with a pattern.  I tend to work things out as I go, mostly because I am too impatient to follow a pattern. There was a bit of quick unpicking. Pfftt! It's never 'quick' is it?! Anyway an hour and half later I had a completed skirt. Hooray!

Part way through it became evident there was too much fabric in it for Lulu. I mentioned it was going to be too big for her and thank goodness she said 'we'll have to give it to Bella cos she's big'. So Miss 10 has a new skirt waiting on her bed to try on after school. Funny thing is she's not so much of a pink floral type. I predict she will team it with her red converse boots to make it more her.

So now I am off to do some painting and maybe tonight I will sew another, much smaller skirt!

Linking in with Creative Spaces. 

Weekending

A bit of an impromptu night away. Sometimes the best kind, I think.
No plans. No expectations. Just being together.

We went walking along the river. We skimmed rocks. We collected firewood. We played 'Uno'. And 'Guess Who'. We played at the playground. We watched the sun go down.

We spotted possums. Four, one with a baby. They were very bold, sniffing around our feet and peeking in our rubbish bag. We toasted marshmallows and sang songs. There were sparklers too!

 This morning we peeped out our door to see the sun rising. It was cold. Oh so cold but oh so beautiful. I hauled myself out of my warm sleeping bag to take a photograph.

A little later the rain set in. The kids and I sat in the car while the Mister did the last of the packing up.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Daisy's Sweet Tomato Relish

Hello! I made some relish-my first time! It turned out great so I thought I would share the recipe with you. Sort of. I did add a bit more here and there and tasted as I went.
It is loosely based on a recipe that was given to me by a school mum. It's actually her mum's recipe and I first tasted this relish when I bought a jar of it at our school fete last year. It was such a hit at our place that I boldly asked for the recipe.

2kg ripe tomatoes
(I used an assortment of roma, vine tomatoes and cherry tomatoes because that is what  had on hand)
250g brown onion
1 1/2 tbls curry powder
1 1/2 tbls dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups sugar
1 tbls cornflour
white vinegar to barely cover.

Place tomatoes in boiling water and then peel off skins. Cut into pieces.
Cut onions.Place tomatoes and onions in pot and barely cover with white vinegar.
Boil for 5-10 minutes.
Mix curry, mustard, cayenne and cornflour  into a little bit of vinegar. Mix into thin paste.
Add to pot along with sugar and boil for 1 hour, checking and stirring and making sure it does not stick.

Bella LOVES this relish! She is loves it on a meat and salad sandwich, she eats it on toast, she loves it with crackers and cheese and last night she ate it with sour cream and chicken sausages. Yum!

It makes a nice quantity so be sure to pop some in a jar and share it with a lovely friend.