Merry Christmas All!

Hope you all had a lovely day yesterday, celebrating with family and friends.

As we do every year, we spent the day at my mother's. Last year we started a new tradition, and we meet her for Church first. At 9am. It's about a 40min drive. So we don't get much of a sleep in.

It was a lovely day and naturally I took no photographs, despite actually remembering to take the camera with me. Miss R scored very well and was particularly rapt with the Justin Bieber book and the Justin Bieber cd that hasn't actually been released in Australia yet. Well done Auntie R and Auntie E!!

My sister seemed to like the quilt I made her, which was also much admired by my aunt, so I can see a new quilt recipient on my horizon.(I made the Wedding quilt for her daughter.) I asked what colours she liked and she said "maroon" - which could be a little tricky....

I was going to add a photo here, but I realise it's still in the camera, Miss R wants me to rip the cd's she got, and Mr G is champing at the bit to head off to Victor, so I'd better leave it here and get myself ready.

Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

It's here! It's here!

Had to drive all the way out to Wingfield to collect it as I missed the courier yesterday. So far I've managed to wind the bobbin, do straight stitch, change feet and do the best free motion quilting I've ever managed before - worth the money just for that!! LOL

I suspect it will take me a long time to learn all the features of my "sewing computer" but will be picking the brains of the lovely Theresa. When are you doing your free lesson again????

Random Stuff

• I'm on holidays for the next 2 weeks. I'll go back to work after New Year's for 4 days, then off for another week. This week is busy with car service, physio, hair and dental appointments but we've nothing planned after Christmas Day. Bliss......
• Yesterday I was rather naughty and bought a secondhand Bernina Aurora 440QE on eBay. I paid a little  more than I wanted to, but it was still a bargain compared to new. I'm hoping there will be a cheque under the Christmas tree to help pay for it, but I will be selling off my Janome to help cover the cost.
• I've been asked by a couple of workmates to make quilts so that will keep me busy for the next few weeks. One is for a baby girl - still plenty of pink in the stash! - and I'm not sure what the other will be yet. I've told them I'm happy for them to just pay for materials, but if they insist on paying me for my time, then I'll suggest they buy a gift certificate from either Pink Chalk Fabrics or Fabric Shack.
• Miss R got her report today and I'm very happy with it. She's mainly C's and B's with a D for maths but she rated HIGH for effort in all but 2 subjects. That, to me, is more important than the grade.
• We had friends over for a BBQ last night and because it was so windy and cold, we ended up rearranging the house to fit everyone inside instead. We like the new arrangement so much, I think we'll keep it. So the family area and the dining area will be swapping spaces - unfortunately not until we move the fridge into the kitchen area and it WILL mean a new couch but I think it will flow much better that way.
• Am off for a nanna nap (ie pretending to read a book while I 'rest my eyes') and then to put the binding on the quilt for my sister for Xmas. Pics soon.

Update - Vegie Patch

Hard to believe Mr G planted the vegie patch only 3 weeks earlier......

Just to refresh your memory, here's before:

 

School Pride....with a Touch of Envy

I was raised in a small community in the Adelaide Hills, known for growing apples and pears (although known as much for growing grapes these days). My mother's family came from England and settled there around 160 years ago, and many of the 'old' names are related to me in some way. I've always felt incredible pride that my family have such a long association with the area, and have always wanted to live there, but alas, I married someone who grew up at the beach and he finds the winters in the Hills too cold (wuss!!). Couple this with the fact that there is no subdivision as it's a water catchment area, so most properties come with a hefty price tag to go with the vast tracts of land.....anyway, it never happened. My younger brother bought a house up there a few years ago; he maintained his connections with the area even when living 'down on the plains' and is a member of the local cricket club, the CFS and is President of the School Council.

My mother has been heavily involved in the community for as long as I can remember. She started working as an SSO at the local school when I was in Year 5 - she and my younger brother started school on the same day. She retired 30+ years later, but has maintained ties with the school and even managed to hand her job over to her daughter-in-law. Still goes back to relieve every now and then and  I believe it is also mandatory that she hands out the prizes every Sports Day.

My family has had 4 generations attend this school - my grandparents both went there (you only married a local back in those days), my mother, my siblings and I, and my nephews. When I started in 1970, there were 2 classrooms - the Little Room was Years 1-3 and was taught by Mrs Chandler and the Big Room was Years 4-7 and was taught by Mr Chandler. That's the Little Room pictured. There was probably about 40-50 kids at the school. I have such fond memories of Primary School; there were 4 of us that went through from Yr 1 to Yr 7, but at one point we had 7 in our year level! Sure it was hard when there was only 1 other girl the same age, who was a total bitch AND was a distant relative but it also taught me the benefits of not holding a grudge, knowing when to stand up for yourself and when to let things slide and getting along with all age groups. I'm not sure if having your mother working at the school was an advantage or a disadvantage, but generally there was far more good than bad. The original school buildings were pulled down and a new school built in 1981/82.


Yesterday, the local school celebrated 100 years, and had organised a celebration involving an afternoon tea (2-5pm) followed by the traditional end of year concert (school parents only). Mum had done an enormous amount of work organising this and asked Miss R and I to come for the concert part. My nephew was graduating Year 7 and this would end our family's current association with the school (except for SIL still working there, of course). So we got there for the tail end of the public celebration which was a huge pity as I didn't get a chance to catch up with many people at all. While I had trouble recalling some names (faces were familiar), it seemed that everyone I spoke with knew exactly who I was! Seriously, have I not changed AT ALL since I left the school??? Apparently the family resemblance is strong.....

And this is where the touch of envy comes in. I always thought that MY children would go to that school. I'm a big believer in the benefits of small schools. I am happy with the school that we have chosen for Miss R; for an R-12 school, it is small and it does encourage a sense of community. But when I watched that concert last night, at how confident and articulate those kids were, at the ease that the 4 graduating Year 7's spoke about their school experiences, at how funny and theatrical my nephew was in the play celebrating 100 years of education at PPS, at the strong community spirit....I choked up and realised how much I miss being a part of that small community.

(See the tall man in the black? My grandfather. I didn't inherit his height.)

I've got ideas for blog posts running around my head

and I may get around to blogging some of them, but right now, I'm too tired and it's too hot. The bugs & flies have been bad lately, so we've had the bug zapper on, but Anzac the Neurotic Dog HATES it and barks at every single zap.Yes, every.single.one. Do you have any idea how annoying that is.....especially at 2am??? So today I am tired. But the neurotic dog gets to live another day.  :-)

Book Review

There are heaps and heaps and HEAPS of quilting and patchwork books available out there and I try to be a bit discerning over which ones I buy. I've been on a self-imposed ban lately....I have enough fabric stashed away to make another 10 quilts and plenty of books & mags, and there are also a plethora of helpful websites for inspiration. But I've worked some overtime recently and decided to reward myself with some quilting supplies, and today this book turned up. Unfortunately it sold out really quickly at Book Depository (my preferred online book store) so I ended up buying it through Amazon instead.

Well, can I just say, it is AMAZING. I think I want to make every single pattern.

Off to read some more.

Vegie Patch

Mr G planted the vegie patch last weekend.

Hopefully we haven't left it too late.
Here we have potatoes, strawberries, corn, tomatoes and lettuce.

And here we have lettuce and cucumbers....more tomatoes maybe....might be more but I can't remember them all now.

Mr G is the one with the green thumb, not I.

Finally downloaded some photos from the camera

and now that I'm home from (a) taking Miss R to her drama class, (b) filling up with petrol as I had only 45kms left in the tank (assuming the display is accurate) and (c) racing off to the Scout AGM, I'll show you the finished blue log cabin quilt I started many, many months ago. I plan to give it away for Xmas, so it was pinned but not quilted until quite recently. Turned out well, if I do say so myself.  :-)

Busy, busy, busy

You know, for a brief moment, I thought I'd try that whole "blog every day for a month thing". And then I came to my senses.

Observations from a Dance Concert

Well another dance concert over and done with! Mr G had his 30yr school reunion last night so, while I initially intended to volunteer back stage again this year, I thought Miss R should have at least one family member in the audience, even though she was only doing tap this year, so only appeared twice.

So these are my observations from last night.....

• I just don't get hip-hop. A bunch of 8-9yo girls posturing like they want to have a street fight is just wrong on so many levels.
• It may well be as boring as bat shit, but the girls have worked hard for this all year so do you really need to play with  your iphone constantly?? And this was both parents....Dad I could perhaps understand but the mother as well? Just plain rude IMHO.
• No way did it look like Miss T had had a baby just 4 weeks ago!
• Dozens and dozens of raffle prizes but we didn't manage to win anything.....and yet 3-4 people won more than one prize??? How does that work?
• How do they make the bras look backless? I could tell the older girls were wearing them, because I could see the clear strap over the shoulders, but nothing at the (low) back. I spent most of those dances trying to figure it out.
• One little girl in the classical group was hilarious! She spent the whole dance pulling faces - but I don't think she was even aware that she was doing it. At first I thought she was yawning, then counting silently but I think that was how she was concentrating. Too funny!

So there you have it. I went thinking it was my last ever dance concert but on the way home, Miss R informed me that she wants to keep doing tap next year, and maybe pick up jazz again (if there is a Junior team; she struggled with Inters which is why she dropped it after first term). Oh joy!

Day Surgery.....and other medical updates

No, no day surgery for the human occupants of this household, but the youngest doggy member spent yesterday at the vet's having his teeth polished and his nails clipped.

 

Fortunately it wasn't as bad as we had anticipated and he didn't need to have any teeth extracted. (His breath was so appalling we figured there had to be a rotten tooth back there somewhere!) So it only cost just over $300 instead of just over $600. Phew! I was imagining a conversation along the lines of "yes, Miss R, I know you wanted a DSi for Christmas, but look, hasn't Neo got lovely shiny teeth??? Now go play with your lump of coal."

In other medical news, the blood tests showed that Miss R has a slight iron deficiency which may well account for her constant tiredness, so she's now on iron tablets. To help with absorption, she should also eat plenty of fruit. Hah! Miss R has NEVER eaten fruit.....we heard rumours once that she had eaten watermelon but I think that story is on par with the one about the Loch Ness Monster. I believe it is a sensory issue...she doesn't like the texture so who cares about the taste. Any attempts to get her to eat fruit are met with a staunch (and unwavering) "I don't like(insert type of fruit here) ". Short of prying her lips open and forcing her to chew, I can see no way of increasing her fruit intake. Apparently taking the tablet with a glass of apple juice (the only juice she will even contemplate) is better than nothing, so that's what we'll be doing. 

The GP also took a look at her acne-riddled forehead and put her on antibiotics and a cream to help clear her skin. The rash-like acne has only appeared in the last 6-8 months and - according the hairdresser - is due to her oily hair. (Which I tend to believe as the acne is also all over her back and chest.) Colouring her hair when she's older will help as that tends to dry the hair out. Miss R seems pretty oblivious to the acne, so I didn't want to make it an issue, but the GP said that it would be better to clear it up now before it gets any worse. I don't know quite how I feel about this - on the one hand, I'm happy to do anything to make Miss R's life easier, but on the other hand, I can't help thinking that it's a bit of an over-reaction, given that she's not yet 13. I've canvassed a few opinions from other parents of teenagers - some for, some against - but am still mulling it over.

Well, Miss R is due to be collected from her dance rehearsal - concert is next week - so I'd better be off.

Swoon!

Poor Miss R has to have a blood test so Mr G took her around the corner to Gribbles first thing this morning. The nurse had a very tricky time finding a vein (just like me!) and the poor love ended up passed out in the chair........no blood though, so she has to go back and try again tomorrow morning.

Then Mr G took her over the road to the nearby Hungry Jacks where she passed out again....not a good morning for her!!

Long Weekend

And it also coincides with Hard Rubbish collection in our council area. So the footpaths are full of dross (as Mr G refers to it) and the streets are full of cars with trailers, as people cruise around dredging through the rubbish looking for......gold perhaps??? I tell you, it's like a professional racket......the car pulls up, 2 men hop out and throw anything they deem worthy onto the growing pile in the trailer on the back. A part of me is happy - one man's trash and all that - but mostly I resent that most of the stuff ends up as scrap metal. Ideally, I'd like someone in need to take those bikes, not someone who is just going to strip them down. And I'd be MUCH happier if they didn't come trawling around at 4am!!!!

Not much left in our pile but I forget to take a photo yesterday.

And the baby quilt is now complete and all boxed up ready to give to the recipient. She doesn't start her maternity leave until November but I think I'll give it to her next week regardless. I hope she likes it; personally I think it's GORGEOUS.  :-)

 

I've cross hatched through the half square triangles and then "stippled" in the border. As the border is very geometric, I've stippled in straight lines using my walking foot, which looks very effective! The hearts fabric on the back is from Ikea and so cute. I've tried to make it gender-neutral, but unfortunately it is a little 'boyish' but I was influenced by the fact that she already has a boy. I really don't think it will matter if this one is a girl though.

Vespa Quilt finished....Baby Quilt almost done

Mr G's Vespa quilt turned out really well. The back is an Alexander Henry print in black, and I've used the same print in red for the binding. The binding is machined stitched which saves so much time (I hate hand sewing with a vengeance!). I'm still having trouble pinning the layers tightly enough so they don't pucker when quilting in straight lines so to get around this, I've outlined each square on the front individually, then quilted in straight lines a 1/4" from the seams on the border. Took a while, but looks good....sorry it's a bit hard to see in the pics.

And here's the orange & blue Baby Quilt I've been working on for a workmate. I've used the Ikea hearts fabric for the back and am just finishing off the quilting.....looks fantastic, if I do say so myself.  :-) Will show that one off more when it's done.

Next project is to quilt the blue log cabin quilt that I pinned months ago and finish the scrappy quilt. Haven't thought beyond that, but there is a stack of fabric just waiting to be utilised somehow. So many patterns out there that I'd love to try!

Virus

Can you hear my PC sneezing???

I discovered yesterday that both the older laptop and the desk top PC's have a virus.....but they've been infected by different things. I suspect they have come from Facebook somehow as that was the only site that Miss R went onto. Anyway, poor old Lappy was so badly infected that I had to remove everything and reload the Recovery Disk. I can't get the desktop completely clean though; it keeps being re-infected by a downloader called SillyDl EWW, plus a couple of other malaware nasties that CA picks up but can't seem to get rid of completely.

I will just have to throw myself onto the mercy of my guru brother. After 5 calls to him last night, I'm at a loss as to what more I can do. Now that Lappy is looking ok, I'm going through and changing all my passwords, just in case. I'm also really annoyed with myself as I bought a portable hard drive thingy weeks ago to do a complete back up but never got around to doing it. Guess it's only fitting I get a virus with the word "silly" in it.

So when transmission is back to normal, I'll upload photos of the finally finished Vespa quilt and the little baby quilt I'm busy making for a workmate.

Uh-Oh

The other morning I was talking to Miss R while she was in the shower (probably along the lines of "hurry up! you've been in there long enough!!) when I happened to look up and spied this.....

It seems we have a leaky roof.

In other "uh-oh" news, Miss R's camera refuses to turn on, despite the battery being (supposedly) fully charged. But is it the camera or the battery that's the problem???

And in even more worrying "uh-oh" news, Mr G's mother is back in hospital in Qld. Has been for the last 2wks but didn't want to worry Mr G so we only found out last night. She has a wound on her back that refuses to heal, she's in the public system which doesn't seem to cater for quadraplegics, is dehydrated but not on a drip because "when she gets thirsty enough, she'll drink" and refuses to eat the hospital food. It doesn't sound good but not sure what we can do from here. It's difficult not having the full picture.

But to end on a positive note, yesterday Miss R hiked from the Torrens outlet at West Beach to the city wearing her new hiking boots and there were no blisters.  :-)

I didn't win.....

and even though I didn't really expect to, I'm still feeling a little disappointed.

2010 Royal Adelaide Show – Competition Results
OPEN ART & CRAFT

ROYAL ADELAIDE SHOW QUILT COMPETITION
Class 1221 Quilt, made by one person, any size. Handquilted.
1 1306 Margaret Kretschmer
2 1315 Pamela Seppelt
3 1314 Pamela Seppelt
Class 1222 Quilt, made by one person, any size, machined quilted
1 1334 Heather Ridley
2 1331 Susan Grant
2 1333 Roma Crowhurst
4 1316 Norreen Atkinson
Class 1223 (made by more than one person) Hand or machine pieced. Hand or machine
quilted. Hand or machine appliqued.
1 1340 Fleurieu Quilters
2 1345 Robyn Inverarity
3 1343 Lyn Yarwood
4 1346 Ms Cookson Scotch Reception Class 2010
Class 1224 Quilt or Wallhanging Challenge,
1 1360 Heather Ridley
2 1352 Jill Christian
3 1358 Zara Zannettino
4 1357 Zara Zannettino
Class SP BEST NOVICE QUILT EXHIBIT
1 1328 Kate Pitt
Class SP QUILT DISPLAYING THE BEST USE OF COLOUR
1 1334 Heather Ridley

Update to My Angry Post

I had a brief meeting with Teacher L (I should have packed my angry eyes!) on the Friday and then a longer one last Tuesday, which also included the classroom SSO, who has known Miss R since Reception.

I gave Teacher L several handouts on Asperger's that I've found particularly useful (and had highlighted the behaviours that applied), some reference material and discussed what I thought would be issues. It seems that neither Teacher nor SSO really saw these behaviours, which means that

• they really don't know my daughter at all,
• Miss R is very, very, very good at masking her difficulties (which I already knew) or
• She has made so much progress over the past few years that she is now able to cope in the classroom

I suspect that it's a combination of the above. Teacher L had nothing but positive things to say about Miss R and I'm sure she was completely baffled as to why I was so upset. (I could just about hear her thinking "Sheesh, all this over one bad evaluation!!) I don't think she's ready to concede that she let Miss R down by not giving her enough support & direction, but hopefully she will be more aware of the need to give specific instructions and guidance in the future. If nothing else, hopefully I have heightened her awareness. So I'm happy again......for now.

***********************************************************

I've been busy over the past week making window coverings. We have 7 high windows down the north side of our house that are designed to catch the heat in winter and let it escape in summer. Problem being that if we don't cover them at night, then all the heat escapes and naturally it's been one of those things we hadn't gotten around to. Mr DIY knew he wanted canvas frames, he just couldn't find anything off the shelf that was the right size(or price) so was going to make frames himself .....so waiting, waiting, waiting. And this winter has been COLD. Anyway, last week we were at the Art shop at Harbourtown and discovered that you can buy wooden frames that lock together...perfect! And cheaper than buying the frame with the canvas. I'd bought curtain material from Spotlight over 12 months ago but it wasn't quite wide enough, so I've added a strip of material and voila!!

To help with insulation, it has a layer of calico - that faces outside so fading won't be obvious - then a layer of Sisalation - the foil stuff builders use in the roof - and then the lined material. They sit on the wooden window frame.

So in winter, they'll go over the window around 5pm when it starts to cool and come down in the morning to catch the heat during the day. And in summer, they'll go up during the day to keep the heat out, then removed at night to let any heat escape. So one step closer to a house that won't need heating or cooling!

Now if only I can get the pelmet boards up so I can start making the curtains......


ETA: Theresa, unfortunately we couldn't find more canvasses the same size as the ones you offered us and Mr G has a thing for symmetry, so no hurry to get the others out from behind the wardrobe.  :-)
Why don't you see if the school can use them??

Don't ever stand behind me in the checkout queue

Because it doesn't matter which aisle I pick, it will be MY checkout that has the 16 price checks......or the paper roll will need to be changed on the till....or the person in front will have their card declined.....or the supervisor will need to clear the notes/top up the change.....you getting the picture??

Today the woman in front of me dropped a Glade scented candle on the floor, so the checkout girl decided to close the checkout while she called someone to sweep up the small amount of glass. When she looked at me and said I would have to move to another checkout, I KNOW that I audibly sighed and rolled my eyes, looking like an absolute uber-bitch. But it was an involuntary action....because this stuff happens to me ALL THE TIME. And I had already debated about which checkout line to join because all had a just one person with a similar amount in the trolley, but naturally by the time I was asked to move, every other checkout had another 4 people lined up.

I don't know quite what it is about me and the supermarket checkout but me and the planets are never quite aligned......

So very angry

This is a HUGE venting post, so please forgive me....

I am incredibly angry with Miss R's teachers. We go through this sh*t every year....year starts well as Teacher gets to know Miss R and her problems and quirks, then by Term 3 the cracks are starting to show and things very rapidly go downhill until we get to Term 4 and we're all just praying for the year to be over.

At the beginning of this year, I met with Teacher M (in the classroom Mon & Thurs) and Teacher L (in the classroom the remaining 3 days but fresh out of teacher's college) and explained that I wasn't going to be harassing Miss R about completing homework. Basically I wasn't going to be making MY life a misery (as per the years preceding), that Miss R has other commitments after school 4 days/week + dance on weekends and I felt these were incredibly important and would be maintained, so homework wasn't going to be our priority. However, if they emailed me the details of the homework that needed to be completed, I would ensure that this happened but the rest.....if it got done, then it got done. Both teachers seemed ok with this. I've been emailed ONCE by Teacher M, back in March.

Since this term started, I've been getting weekly notes from Teacher M that Miss R hasn't been completing her spelling/grammar homework. I gather she wants me to write a note each and every time. I emailed her after the first note but am yet to receive a reply.

Today I see an evaluation from Teacher L for a presentation that Miss R had to give on Ancient Greece. She had to work with another girl, the topic was Discoveries & Inventions. I gather Teacher L allocated the partners and the topics. The evaluation was appalling and the written notes at the end were scathing.....basically saying that Miss R did not do her share, the presentation was poorly prepared and presented and it was clear that the girls had not worked as a team. So I asked Miss R about it and her version of events goes something along these lines.....

• the other girl decided that she was doing Inventions and Miss R had to do Discoveries
• Miss R asked me for help (I had no idea of the details; I assumed it was for a project) and it was really difficult to find any Discoveries that Miss R could put into her own words. Most of them were far too complicated for her to explain.
• Miss R approached Teacher L for assistance but was ignored
• the other girl offered no assistance so Miss R was basically left to her own devices.

All of this I could be ok with except for one thing. Miss R has a learning disability. Miss R has a language disorder. Miss R has Asperger's Syndrome. Miss R could have achieved something if she had been given just the tiniest amount of support!!

I showed Mr G the report and he just about had steam coming out of his ears.The bit we find so very offensive is that Miss R was marked particularly poorly in 2 areas.....language and eye contact. FFS! This child has a language disorder and Asperger's. This child finds it incredibly difficult to articulate in a concise and coherent manner and the classic signs of Aspie's is that THEY CANNOT MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT. If this teacher had done even an ounce of research, she would know that.

I am very, very close to sending yet another email addressed to Teacher M & Teacher L and cc'd to the ILP Co-ordinator, the Middle School Co-ordinator and the Principal. The email will read something along the lines of  "Dear Teacher M & Teacher L, Miss R will not be completing ANY homework until she is given the classroom support that she needs and that the school is funded for."  Wonder what kind of response that will get?

Guess I will be scheduling a meeting with the teachers sometime soon. Might wait until I am a bit calmer though.

PS The saving grace of all this? Miss R is actually very happy and doesn't seem to be bothered by the poor grades. Each day when I collect her from school and ask how the day went, the response is always "Good". This is the first year I've been getting a consistently positive response to that question....

Thinking of Tassie

I'm thinking we might plan a trip to Tasmania next year. I've never been and have always wanted to go. Only Virgin Blue fly direct from Adelaide these days, which begs the question, should we drive to Melb and get the boat over, or should we do the fly-drive thing? And which is the best time of year? I'm thinking April, but maybe September?

So many decisions....

Ow! Ow! Ow!

So yesterday afternoon, instead of a peaceful few hours of reading the paper and creating more of these....

I instead had to help Mr DIY build this....

and subsequently I can barely move today AND I have a blister on the palm of my right hand.

I think it would be cheaper to supplement the income of some strapping young uni student than pay for the physio I'm going to require over the next few days but at least we are one step closer to a finished yard.

Strangely addictive

While waiting for the fabric to turn up for the back of the Vespa quilt, I've started paper piecing my string quilt. How addictive is this??? Once I start, I can't stop until the whole block is done, and it's just amazing to watch this:

turn into this:

I've made about 18 blocks so far and am aiming for 48 in total (6 blocks x 8 blocks) but may just keep going....

Quilting Updates.....

• Have been busy churning out blocks for Mr G's vespa quilt

which have turned into this

• Ordered a gorgeous quilt label for my cousin's Wedding Quilt from a delightful lady on Etsy

Quilt front and back...it's absolutely huge! Measures 81" square - the largest quilt I've tackled so far.

• Stocked up on Kona solids when Pink Chalk recently had cheap international postage and am planning a scrappy string quilt, something along these lines

• Fabric Shack are also having cheap international postage until July 31 so managed to snag some more Tufted Tweets.

• Blue courtyard steps is basted and ready for the quilting process. 

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Mr G was out the front doing some work on the storm water last weekend (yes, been here over 18mths and still haven't done the storm water properly. Poor dogs have had to learn to swim this winter!!) when I heard a car stop and voices. Peered out the window, didn't recognise the car but thought nothing of it as Mr G is the 'g'day guy' and complete strangers will often stop to talk.

When I went outside later and asked him what it was about, he told me that these 2 guys had pulled up and asked when we were demolishing our house as "it was the ugliest house in the suburb". (I think there may have been a few expletives thrown in for good measure.)

Now, not only was I gobsmacked that anyone would be so RUDE, I was also deeply offended that anyone could possibly think ours was the ugliest house.....I mean really, have they even LOOKED at all the nasty little units that have popped up in recent years??? Ugliest house....I don't think so!! Would love to know what they live in!

(Unless of course they were referring to the unfinished fences and yard - then they might have a point. It is a little Steptoe & Sons.....)

Oh the Cleverness of Me!

See what I whipped up last night?

This is one of those small ironing boards from Ikea. I've had it for years - bought well before Ikea came to Adelaide - but rarely used it as the foam wasn't very thick and it felt like I may as well just use the table instead. But I've decided it would be quite handy to use when quilting (sometimes the big ironing board obscures my view of the TV) so I bought new thick foam/wadding stuff, cut it to size and then attempted to put the original cover back on.....and the drawstring cord snapped! Bugga!

Initially I just bought new cord from Spotlight, then realised it was a bit too thick to feed through the binding. Then I had a light bulb moment....I'll just make a new one!I'd bought this Amy Butler fabric online not realising that it was home decor weight rather than quilting, so it was perfect for this little job. Just had to make some new binding from Kona Ash, which matched perfectly and voila! A gorgeous little ironing board cover.

Now off to make some blocks for the Vespa quilt so I have an excuse to use it....

What I did in June.

After 6 months of looking at diesel Hyundai i30's, I've bought a Honda Jazz! Snap decision but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. So far am very happy with it.

Painted the walls and then installed the old kitchen cupboards in the laundry. Laundry looks sooooo much better now although haven't found a home for everything just yet.The sink is in, and no leaks! Must take a finished photo though....

While I was painting, I figured I may as well paint the hallway too. And the feature wall in the lounge didn't take long either.  :-) Just have to work out which prints are going on this wall.

Went to see Shrek Forever After and Toy Story 3 - both in 3D. (I'm a bit over the whole 3D thing actually; didn't detract but neither did it really enhance either movie.) Both were good but Toy Story 3 was just lovely.....a fitting end to the franchise. And even though they have left it open for more movies, I really hope they leave it there. Loved, loved,  LOVED spanish Buzz!

It went together really quickly, but actually quilting the Wedding Quilt has been a slow process. I'm machine stitching the binding....think it will turn out ok. And now my thoughts have turning towards the next project - dog coats! But not quilted ones....

And naturally there has been the usual round of drama classes, Scouts, netball, maths tutoring etc etc etc.... School holidays start next week, and Miss R will be away for 4 days in the first week on a Scout camp (cold and wet, I imagine) and Mr G will be home with her the second week. Wonder what July will bring??

The Wedding Quilt

I'm making a quilt for my cousin's wedding. I always think of her as a young person - I was a teenager when she was born; that makes her around 30 now so I guess she's officially an adult! Anyway, she's getting married in July so even though we're not invited to the wedding (in Sydney), I decided to make her a quilt in a desperate attempt to reduce my stash.I ask my mother to make gentle enquiries into the bride's fave colour and the response was green. Now you may recall that I made Mum a lovely green quilt for Xmas (which I'm happy to report she does actually use now that the weather is cooler) so I assumed that my green stash was sadly depleted and subsequently bought a few more bits and pieces when in Melb for the Quilt Convention. But when I actually checked my stash, I had HEAPS of green! LOL Isn't that always the way??

In the end, I decided on a palette of green, grey and black, and once I decided on a pattern, it came together surprisingly quickly.

I only started sewing it together last weekend, and last night I basted it ready to start quilting today.

I especially like the back....I've used an Ikea fabric with houses on it; the centre panel in the white colourway and the grey colourway around the edges. I thought this was appropriate given that the happy couple have just bought their first home together. I'm even going to sew a label onto this one.....something simple like their names and wedding date.

I've been procrastinating about getting started while I think about the 'how' of the quilting but now that Miss R is in bed, I'll go stitch the first rows.Hopefully there will be 'finished' photos soon.