My boy . . .

thereon hexagon

My fleeting fling with Hexagons is over!
I really didn't like this quilt design when I took it over
... but it grew on me ...
so last Sat I met with this group of ladies again ...
a consensus was agreed : "Lighthouse Quilters"
Jan started a Flickr group too ...
I'll add some images when I have a moment!
Named partly for the Lighthouse buildings at the
Ashburton Uniting Church
We shared lunch & chatted lots ....
.... everyone had binding to hand sew to complete & away they go!
Great morning ....

Hexagons!

Saturday week ago .... my how time flies!
Met a lovely group of ladies who spent alot of time last year
making quilts for people who lost their precious possessions
in our Victorian bushfires Jan '09
Jan organised this
& workshops were held & lots of fabric & blocks were donated!
Awesome team effort!

Bron ... who found my blog ...
(above: working hard on an i-spy quilt!)
who is also in our R&A Block Swap ...
has been involved as she personally knows Jan ...
Anyway with so much fabric remaining they have been
working on making some quilts for the
Royal Children's Hospital 'Very Snugly Quilts' ....
Met at the LightHouse,
Ashburton Unity Church
....which for a different reason I have a fondness for .... .....Working with my father, as his Interior Designer
I specified all the colours etc for the
Church Hall Renovation about 5 years ago!Anyway I went along & joined in!
They had been working on a grouping of
Hexagons that had been made & appliqued
to blocks as a donation ....
Now I need to say that the Hexi's were fairly poorly constructed ...
So I volunteered to machine applique them - or they will probably have fallen off the quilt!
16 Hexi Fowers made of 7 Hexi's each!
Hmmmm - I didn't sew about each center Hexi
... but that still adds up to 96 Hexi's
.... with 6 sides on each
= lots of stopping & starting
.... was glad to have my new machine that
has that simple yet lovely feature that you can
set your needle to stay down when you stop!
My old machine doesn't have that!

Now the Hexi's also were a little odd in regards to fabric choices!
But as the day went on I can say that I
developed a certain 'attachment' to this
quilt & have been determined to turn it into something nicer!
So I've added some new Hexi's appliqued on top of the old centers
with a more 'i-spy' theme
.... & I have spent the time to hand quilt some stitching
about the whole shape & I think it looks much improved!Better get my skates on to finish it for Saturday!Still a small amount of machine quilting to do
& the BINDING!!!!
(You know how much I don't like actually doing the binding!)
I will take a photo of the whole quilt when I have finished it!But
I can tell you now ....
I will never be interested in making a whole quilt from Hexagons!
They are well out of my system!

But this quilt has a little place in my heart
even though it is nothing like what I would make!
All good ... and someone will love it I am sure!Some of the other quilts at different stages!

New Baby ....

Born last week ..... so tiny! 7lbs
Clara Isabella
(Naden & Ray's new baby girl!)
.... Welcome to the world!
A quilt for her ... whipped up in a few evenings!Love those HST's ...
Backing is green - so not 'too' pink!& whooot hooot!
... a couple of little embellished suits!... got this quilt together so quickly
I forgot to take any photos until
I was sewing on the binding!So cute! Thanks for my 'cuggle' (as Oscar would say!)
yesterday little Clara!

Lately ....

I've been making Oscar another winter jumper,
(like the one seen here!)
just slightly longer body & arms
to get us through the next growth spurt!
You can see I've managed the front & back ...
... as I mentioned,
amazing what you can do without access to technology!
Pattern is from Debbie Bliss 'Baby Style' .... size 3!
Check back at a later date to see Oscar's modeling ...Did some 'thrifty' shopping last week ...
amongst other great finds was this super cute
abacus ... one bead is missing so if Oscar only learns
to count to 59 I will blame this!
But with thoughts of other potential knitted items for my boy
... flicking through Debbie Bliss' ideas
... here's a shot of another blondie and .....
when you look carefully .....
almost the same abacus!
timing ...!!????

Absent ...

... have you missed me?!

Had a few 'technical issues' ....



I'll report back with what I've been up to ....
... no internet or email
.... makes for more than usual busy social days, day trips & more creative, productive evenings!
That whole story of when you don't have something you realize how much you use it!
Miss it!

Tunnel ...

STEP 1:
Paint wonderful colours all over a huge piece of paper & let dry .... some time later have Mummy cut out lots of heart shapes ...



STEP 2:
Using a laminating sheet ... open out, position your hearts faced downwards, sprinkle all over with confetti & glitter if you're game!



STEP 3:
Get Mummy to position the laminating sheet so that it goes through the 'tunnel'
& comes out the other side all glossy & stuck together!



STEP 4:
Only Mummy is allowed to use those sharp scissors so she needs to cut the hearts out again .... but leave lots of that cool confetti!

STEP 5:
Hang up as a mobile & use special stuff called 'blu tac' to stick the hearts all over the window!
Cool!

Red & Aqua BLOCK Swap 2010 No4

Our latest Block Swap ... Again I missed my opportunity to photograph those cute little half square triangles that some of the others are swapping & collecting .... Katherine can you lay yours out, photograph & email for me please!!!??? Ta



These WG's are so so cute too! I just love them! We seem to have a few more reds than aquas this time but it will balance out in the end I figure!

I am 2!

In the last little while I turned 2 & had an awesome party with all my friends & family!
(The USA family of course were amiss!)
We had a really fun party that my Mum organised called a "Honk your Horn" party!

.... now if you know the train-tastic kids show 'Chuggington' you will understand!

We had a great time with the box trains that Mummy 'made' into all the different 'Chuggers' .... Matambo, Wilson, Puffer Pete, Brewster & my favourite, Koko!
I coloured one in with my KPa ...

Daddy said that we were really lucky having such a gorgeous day ....
the sun shone, the kids played .... Mummy made them special neck - kerchiefs!
So we all looked like train drivers!

Lots of great activities & games to play .... everyone had their own 'Badge Quest' to do ....

Whooo wooo!






So we 'Rode the Rails'
& all 'Honked our Horns'
.... I loved my Birthday Cake ...
... Toot Toot!

The 50 Mark ....

So I decided to do x2 draws for my Owl-y cutn'pasted Wendy designed Stationary!
Why? ... you ask = Because I now have 50+ followers of course!


Draw 1 - Yay ... the lucky Miranda!
(New Friends from Melbourne Modern Quilters!)
Draw 2 - Double Yay ... Bronwyn!
(Friend from our little local Red & Aqua Block Swap!)
AND
Remember I said I'd do another draw from those who'd left me lovely messages from last week!

Draw 3 - Whooo Hooo! Care
(Bloggy Mate from the USA who I have not met in person but is a really lovely person & who the whole "i spy" thing started with!)

Thankyou for all your lovely comments!
I wish I could click my fingers & have a weekend away creating lovely things with all of you guys!

Celebration Giveaway .... 50!

To Celebrate 50 Countries .... people who have visited my blog!
I'm giving away a bulk pack (20+ pieces!)
of 'Owl-y' stationary ...
DESIGNED BY ME!
All very cute & a gift for some lucky person!So leave me a message
& in it tell me what you'd create if you had a
whole weekend away from your everyday life!

AND
if we reach 50 Comments then I will hold a second draw for a 2nd pack!
AND
You can also leave a 2nd comment if you are a follower or become one!
AND
you can leave me yet another message
letting me know you've linked in & blogged about my little giveaway!
AND
if you have left a message on one of my posts over the last few days
then I'm holding a surprise draw for another 'Owl-y' pack!
Lucky people!
Join in!
I will do this Draw on Thurs evening Melb time!
Cute! Cute! Cute!

Family ...

Here's baby Verity with her Whirly Gig throw quilt ....