Glad I ran out of time!!

You can see from the cardboard cut out of Prince William that the pattern was of his regular RAF uniform but he wore a red uniform, so I am glad I ran out of time. I can knit him now in the correct uniform!

Kate is finished!!

Here she is finished!! Her hair is a bit weird but I know she will look a lot better is real life but it has been fun making her. Had I had more time I would have gone all out with the glitter but this will have to do as the wedding is only hours away and I want to give her to my sister in law before it is all over.

Royal Wedding

My sister in law is a keen royalist and very excited about the royal wedding. So I thought I would make her a Kate Middleton as the pattern was in a local magazine. Here she is before she was finished.

One not to eat!!!

Don't you reckon this looks like a mushroom that Alice of 'Alice in Wonderland' might have tried?? I guess the look of them should warn you that they aren't really edible. However, there were some purple ones out there in the forest that looked lethal to me but are apparently quite delicious.....................go figure!!!

Knitting & Fungi

Yesterday I spent the day in Daylesford at a 'Fungi Workshop' run by Alison Pouliot, a local fungi expert. It was a great day which included a field trip to a native eucalypt forest and an 'exotic' pine forest. I couldn't get over the vast number of fungi and the variation in type etc. We do have edible fungi but we seem to have more poisonous ones. I can not say that i would be super confident in my ability to recognise and select 'safe' fungi. I have only done a small amount of sewing but I have all but finished my knitted vest, I just have to sew it all together. Now all I need to do is focus in the quilt bindings........................

Binding......work for Easter

These are 4 of the 5 quilts I need to bind. Actually I have 2 more but they are not so high up on the priority listing. They don't look too flash here but they will when you see them finished! I love doing the hand sewing but I really procrastinate over sewing the bindings on with the machine. Anyway, I thought that Easter was a good time to focus on finishing some things. My plan is to try to get the bindings sewn on today and then spend Easter doing the hand sewing. It remains to be seen. I figure if I make a public committment on my blog then I am more likely to be focussed on actually doing it!! I will keep you posted.

Gracie the Wonder Cat!

Here is our Gracie, the 19 year old tabby cat after she has been at the vet's to have her matted coat brushed under a mild anaesthetic. She looks absolutely fabulous and it is clear she feels 100% better. She is a bit of a warrior cat, feisty with quite challenging behaviour but today she even let me pat her and brush her coat. Hopefully she will start to groom herself again so we don't have the oldest Rastafarian Cat in the neighbourhood!

Library Bag

I thought I would make a library bag for the older sister of the baby for whom I have just finished the quilt top. These are the fabrics and aren't they just the best fun??

Quilt top almost finished

I joined all the blocks together today and though I would really like to put a border around this quilt, I don't want to uy any more backing (pink chennille) So I think with the exception of some very simple in the ditch quilting and a binding, it is finished.

A walk in the Park

Today we walked at Dendy Park, so this was a much shorter walk that we usually do. It took us less than half and hour but due to other committments we didn't do 2 circuits we just went and had coffee in Centre Road, Bentleigh. These are some of the lovely leaves turning colour. They look great mixed in with the lovely Australian natives.

Progress to date

This is part of the work I did today. I decided to make 48 x 6" blocks, so I am on my way. These quilts are heaps of fun. As you can see these are just laid down to give you an idea of how the blocks go together, but it will be quite different once it is sewn together.

Fabrics for a baby girl

What do you think of these for a little baby quilt? A friend had a baby girl last week so I think a little drunked's path quilt in these fabrics with a chenille backing will be fun (and quick)

Autumn

The Persimmon leaves are changing - it looks great.

Jinny Beyer and the One Man Lord of tthe Rings Show

Progress to date:

This is corner block number 3 of 'Georgetown in Baltimore'. As you can see it is still in progress but it has been a fun block to do. I have been trying to finish too many projects, so I am now tryig to focus on this particular quilt because I have the least to do on it.

Yesterday I had a huge day!

Firstly, I had the opportunity to go with my lovely sister in law to hear Jinny Beyer speak on colour (I am sure she spells it color - but what can I say - I spell it colour!) This was at the Bay Quilters group in Beaumaris. It was fantastic, there were heaps of people, there probably about 120, which was a lot squeezed into the local library hall. Jinny spoke for 2 hours with lots of audience participation and much fun was had by all. The main side effect of this for me is that now I have even more quilts I want to make.

Secondly we went to see Charlie Ross do his 'One Man Lord of the Rings' show at the Playhouse in Melbourne in the late afternoon. If you get a chance to see this - go it is hilarious. We have previously seen him do 'Star Wars'. You do need to have read the book or seen the movies but it is very funny. He is very talented. I would be hard pressed to pick my favourite character from his rendition but it might be a toss up between the leader of the Uruh-hai Orcs (the one who kills Borimir) and Smeagol/Gollum - just fantastic.

Though another problem I have after a really interesting day like that is that I get so overstimulated I can not sleep. Never mind, it is nice to have the chance to do/see such terrific things!

Finally a dishwasher that works

I know I am spoilt but I love a dishwasher that works. Our dishwasher has been broken for about 3 months and we have been washing by hand. This is nice as it creates opportunity for discussion when you do the dishes together - however, the down side is that not everyone is enthusiastic about doing the dishes full stop. So I relented and got the repairman in. The bad news was that the dishwasher was not able to be revived and a new dishwasher had to be purchased. The new dishwasher is being installed as I type and I am looking forward to clean dishes and less mess in the kitchen!

Clancy the rowing medalist!!

Here is Clancy wearing my son's recently awarded rowing medals!!

Wednesday

Today was lovely, I had a wonderful day sewing with friends. Well, I mainly talked but I did get a bit more of my Civil War Bride done. I have sewn her too far to the edge of the block but I think she will just have to stay there and I will alter the placement of the flowers and leaves.

Four corner blocks finished!

These are the four corner blocks of my "Georgetown in Baltimore'' quilt. I had done 2 some time ago but I was glad to finish these today whilst I waited for the dishwasher repair man. The bad news there was that the dishwasher is terminal and a new dishwasher is required.

Clancy has a haircut!

This is our adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Clancy. Today Clancy went to the pooch pamper parlor and had a short back and sides haircut. Here he is in all his glory! He is an old dog but to us he is just as wonderful as the first day he arrived at our home.