More progress

True to the promise I made myself I have been busy attempting to finish projects.

I've finished oldest sons pillow.... finally

My hexagon quilt is on the way to being a a quilt top.  I am very slowly sewing the rows together (by hand....yes Auntie Meredithe you read right.... by hand).  I have also been working on the mariners compass that is now about 6 years uncompleted.  I am also knitting a wiggly scarf (no not the children's wiggles) but the BHG/Spotlight pattern.....will put pictures up soon.

A few months back we planted some carrots and capsicums and peas.  Not sure what really happened there with all the produce but I am happy to say we now have some carrots almost ready to harvest.....even if they are unique in shape.

I've also been book shopping.  I saw this excellent book and fell in love and just had to have it 

I found the book here

and I also saw this book in one of my craft magazines and just had to have it as well.   Both have been put with the rest of my other craft books (and yes Auntie Karen....in height and colour order ;-))



I found the book here



Inspiration

Another dance concert has been and gone and E has progressed so much in a few months. 

It is tradition to receive flowers at the end of your performance.  Well on this particular crazy day in "our house of Chaos" we had a very busy schedule (when isn't it?).  E had a very special birthday party to go to (otherwise we would not have gone) and it finished at 1.30pm.  Her concert was at 2pm and yeap you guessed it they were no where near each other.  So after dragging my crying daughter away from the fantastic fun birthday party early...dressing her in the street...doing her hair and make up on the curb, having her yell at me because I was pulling her hair..(all the residents were twitching their curtains by this stage)...I had to leave the purchasing of the flowers up to my BAM (fingers crossed that he bought nice pretty flowers)....and he didn't let us down.

I loved them so much that I am using them as inspiration for the next quilt I have decided to make.  I just love Trish Harpers quilts and I just love Ballarat Patchwork. 

In August Trish (no blog or web site that I know) is teaching this class  (Georgetown Turnaround)

here

at Ballarat Patchwork.....well how could I say no!!



Yo-yo's

Yo-yo's mean different things to different people

to quilters..they mean

to kids..... they mean

to me....... they mean

and they are hard to get if you don't live in South Australia.

So on my last trip to Adelaide I bought many packets.

WIP

BC (before children) I was a production manager for a pharmaceutical manufacturer and each month I needed to measure my WIP-work in progress.  WIP cost's money and the more WIP you had the more money you were carrying and the more pressure you received from the financial controllers.

Thankfully I don't have to measure my WIP when it comes to my quilting projects and thankfully there are  no financial controllers as I think I this venture would be non-viable as my WIP is huge.

However this is the year for getting my WIP (UFO's) reduced.  This month I have made some serious progress.

I have finished Eee's library bag

 

 I have finished Eee's pillow for her bed

I have finished Jjj's pillow for his bed  

 

The hexagons are still on the go!!! 

I'm still here

It has been a big few weeks.  E turned 5 and we had 23 five years old for her birthday party.  I have only just recovered and now we have end of year dance concerts and a long list of her friends birthday parties to attend.

I made her a rainbow cake.

I made her a banner and Pom Poms.

I didn't make bunting but I did decorate the marque.

I made all the food and  my BAM was the entertainment.....he came as a clown.

I have done lots of sewing.  My hexagons are nearly all together..then I have all the white hexagons to fill in the gaps to the border.

I have crocheted heaps of hexagons for my crochet rug and I have nearly finished all of the cushions for the children.

I have the design of my next quilt worked out and I have identified the next UFO in my collection that will get worked on once the hexagons are finished.

I have also been knitting a scarf.  Pictures of that one later.

Sundays BIG Lunch

Mothers day is today and we have just been out for the biggest lunch ever.  Well that is how my barrel (once a tummy) is feeling right now.  We have had a banquet and this one has not left me wanting any more food for months.  Soup,Thai salads, curries, noodles and fish. 

Yesterday my BAM said I could sleep in if I wanted...well someone should have told my 5year old as she wanted to open presents so Mummy needed to be awake to do that.  She had been busy at Kinder and Childcare and wanted to show me.  I loved her hand made cards the best.

The boys gave me an art canvas with their hand print on it and they made the best cards for me as well.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my sewing girls and we spent most of the afternoon chatting.  It was one of those days where very little sewing happened. And to top off a great day I spent the evening watching Spooks on the ABC and finishing off the hexagons.  I am getting excited now as I have nearly finished all the diamonds.

E's 5th birthday is next week and things are really busy here.  I have made her birthday banner and the pom poms and now need to see about making some more bunting for her party.

Our Easter Break

Because we had the extra public holiday this year we drove to Adelaide and stayed with Auntie Kate.

To make the trip a little easier we stayed over night in Horsham.  The kidilinks were so excited.....  they were "going on a holiday".  That was until we left Horsham on Day 2 ...the excitement levels changed as they realised they were to have another day just like the one the day before.  I think they asked "how much longer every 2 kms".  With 400 of them to go it was going to be a long day.  Thankfully we had the DVD.

Easter Sunday Easter Egg hunt

The weather was amazing.  I only packed for cool weather so I wore the some summery clothes for about a week (washing each night).  We went to the beach everyday.  One day we forgot all towels and changes of clothes so we had to raid the car and make do with what we found.  Because I am so organised and never run out of anything there were several options....each was workable..though not very coordinated. 

We had yiros on the beach for tea.....couldn't stomach Fish and Chips (trying to eliminate trans fats ....though I am sure the yiros has then as well).  Here we caught up with Auntie Darlene at the beach with all her boys. 

We went to the Zoo (with Auntie Cathy) and saw the Pandas - Funi and Wang Wang. But the big hit was the flamingos.  They were chatting to us and the kids loved it. 

We went shopping in Harbour Town (where oldest son decided to have a tantrum in the mall for about 40 minutes). We had long lazy lunch with friends on Easter Sunday. Caught up with Auntie Julie for coffee. We went for lots of walks and practiced our acrobatics

It was all really lovely.

We got home yesterday and I am still unpacking.

Whilst away I started to organised for E's 5th birthday party . We are having a rainbow party.  So I took the time and went to the "S" shop  and got rainbow fabric, streamers and materials to make banners and pom poms.

I have started to piece together my crochet hexagon quilt.  I cant believe how fast it goes together.  I will definitely be putting this on on my bed. I have a long way to go though before it is finished.