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.

Yesterday was my anniversary.....

12 months ago, Theresa and I visited Hettie's Patch, I bought a stack load of fabric and a new obsession was born.

Edited to add - I meant to blog this yesterday but was too busy putting together another quilt......photos soon.

News in Brief

• Miss R is at a Leadership Scout Camp until tomorrow afternoon. Mr G is working. Don't quite know what to do with all this blissful time to myself.  :-)
• We're heading off to the Gold Coast on Monday. Back on Saturday. Only doing one theme park - 2 day Dreamworld pass - and tossing up between a day in Brisbane or a trip to Mt Tamborine. Also visiting Mr G's birth mother who, it seems, lives very near Ikea, so no prizes for guessing where we'll probably end up.
• Had a Learning Review this week with Miss R's teachers. They gave her a really good report which was fabulous to hear. Of course there is room for improvement - she needs to be more organised and needs to speak up more when she doesn't understand - but overall she seems to be keeping up with her peers. From comments made, it seems that they keeping her learning difficulties in mind when assessing her, which is good to know. Things seem to be going well socially as well.
• Having to watch my sugar and fat intake is having an impact on the scales. Won't know for another month or so whether it's had any effect on my sugar and cholesterol levels, but clothes are feeling a teeny bit looser.
• We've been endeavouring to get our 2 dogs to sleep in a crate at night, rather than in our bed. Mainly because they don't always want to go out the doggy door in the middle of the night, and I'm tired of cleaning up messes in the morning (not every morning, but enough to be a nuisance). The older dog has taken to it easily, but the younger one starts whimpering at anywhere from 1am to 5am. I never did enjoy having broken sleep.....
• Watched this week's episode of Lost and bawled my eyes out. Like sobbing, not just a bit teary. (Bit embarrassing really.) Don't know now whether I can face the last few episodes, but as I've been watching since the beginning, I have to persevere. And no, I have absolutely no idea what is going on.
• Have decided that the quilt I'll make for my cousin's wedding will be green with grey & black but haven't decided on a pattern yet. I was inspired by this quilt.
• And now I'm off to wash the dishes and vacuum the floors, ready for the housesitter.

Quilt Fair, Melbourne, Sat 1 May 2010

Theresa, Clare and I flew to Melbourne yesterday to go to the Australasian Quilt Convention.We had an early flight out and a late flight back. It was a great day! By the time we caught the SkyBus into Southern Cross Station and caught the tram out to the Royal Exhibition Building, it was right on 10am when the doors were opening. And we left about 15mins after the doors closed. I was amazed that we spent the WHOLE DAY there but there was just so much to see. We went to a couple of the seminars but the rest of the time was spent browsing the many stalls, looking at the beautiful quilts (some not so beautiful IMHO but everyone has different taste and I could still appreciate the amount of work that had gone into each one) and looking for a bargain. Clare was on the hunt for some Kaffe Fassett fabric and she did find some, but alas, a fat quarter wasn't enough.I didn't intend to buy fabric, as I have plenty in my stash, but bought some Prints Charming FQ's that are hard to find now, and some green for my next project but really didn't come home with a lot. I did buy a small cutting board and a gadget for sewing mitred corners when binding (rather than folding the corners) but I'll have to have a little play with that before I decide if it was a good buy or not.

I'm really looking forward to going again next year.

This morning I've had a lovely time checking out the websites of various exhibitors. And I really, really, really want a long arm quilting machine with stitch regulator - but that's a mere pipe dream......