It's been cold & wet this winter

so furry little creatures have to have a little help to keep warm.

and when the sun DOES come out, it needs to be soaked up as quickly as possible.

Some Recent Finishes

There hasn't been a lot of stitchery happening around here lately but I have managed to get a couple of WIP's finished.

Firstly, a baby quilt for my niece.

I am a little worried about this one as I didn't prewash the reds. I don't usually bother prewashing and have never had a problem with colour running but these fabrics were from Spotlight and I'm not quite as confident that they won't run. Not sure if I should try 'setting' the colours before I hand it over.

Secondly, the Port Power scrappy for a gorgeous Aunt and ex-neighbour.

I particularly love the scrappy back.

I've done these scrappy string blocks as backs on a couple of quilts now and just love them! Once I've built up some new scraps I'll be adding to the collection.

And finally a glimpse of the quilt I'm currently quilting. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through so should be finished by the weekend. Although I haven't picked binding yet.

Next on the agenda are 2 WIP's that I need to baste and quilt, but I think I might start something new first. I find I get very sore shoulders if I spend too long quilting, so think I need to have a break before I start the next one.

I'm Alive,

life is still busy and one day I'll get a few moments where I'm not too tired to string a sentence together.

I have had a couple of quilt finishes to share but haven't bothered getting photos yet. It's on the agenda for the weekend.

My mother has recovered and is currently cruising through Canada with my sister. I think Mum's recent hospital stay has made my sister a little nervous though....

Mr G's cousin is - hopefully - on the mend. That has been a complete rollercoaster ride with many prayers being said. Actually, not sure if I've mentioned this.....about 6wks ago, he contracted a streplicoccus infection - apparently the bacteria lives in all of us but if it enters your bloodstream - watch out! His wife was told 2-3 times to say goodbye; so many organs had failed with machines keeping him functioning that the doctors thought he couldn't possibly pull through. The news keep going from good to bad...latest is that he should be home by the end of the week but I think we're all still on tenterhooks. He'll be off work for months while he recovers...life just isn't fair sometimes.

Homework continues to be a major issue for Miss R; her complete lack of organisational skills is letting her down badly. I'm meeting with the school and Catholic Ed next week to try and get an NEP; basically I want her to complete all assignments but not the incidental homework each week. The science teacher, for all the right reasons, is emailing me twice a week detailing all the Miss R hasn't completed and I'm feeling the pressure! Don't think it appropriate to scream "leave me alone!!!" It is affecting our relationship though - feel as if all I do is nag about homework and concentrate on the negative....none of us are happy! (Well, Miss R is very happy with the social side, just not the academic side!!)

Well my brief update has turned out quite lengthy but I have to dash now to get Miss R fed before she heads off to Scouts.....

One Direction Obsession

This is a story of love and devotion. Love and devotion by a 14yo girl and love and devotion by her mother.

A couple of months ago British boy band One Direction announced they would be performing in Australia, but alas, only concerts in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Miss R has been a HUGE fan of them for almost a year, so really, really, really wanted to go. In case you have been living under a rock recently and don't know who they are, they came 3rd in the UK X Factor in 2009. They are very pretty and sing a very catchy song.

Being a sucker (aka good mother), I dutifully lined up at the computer on the morning tickets were released. I'd already worked out that the Melbourne concert was in the school holidays and I had already secured that week as leave (I've mentioned before my difficulties getting leave in school holidays) so it seemed doable. And for some reason the gods seemed to be smiling down on me because I managed to get 2 tickets to a concert that sold out in 3 minutes. Yes, you read that right....all concerts sold out in THREE MINUTES.

Miss R was a little late to school that morning, ecstatic in the knowledge that she was going to see her idols live on stage. During the course of the morning, various class mates received text messages from their parents to say that no, they were unsuccessful, no tickets were secured. Many girls cried with disappointment.

I have a lovely internet group of friends; we started out as sellers of kids clothes on eBay and have been together as a group for close to 10 years now. Our little toddlers are now teens and some have adult children - one is even a grandmother. We've met up a few times over the years but some I only know through cyberspace. Several have One Direction obsessed girls and were keen to get tickets in their home state. All missed out. See, the gods really were smiling on me that day.

So in a complete act of selflessness, I offered my ticket to my friend's daughter B. She lives in Melbourne, the girls had only ever met once but B had missed out, as had all her friends. And while I felt sorry for B, I also thought it would make Miss R happier to share the experience with someone her own age, who was equally obsessed and wouldn't be constantly singing the wrong lyrics and asking "which one is Louis again???"

So on Saturday I flew to Melbourne just for the day (more on that later) and then on Monday morning I flew out again with an excited Miss R. We stayed at the Mecure Treasury Gardens and the price was right, the rooms were lovely (if a little small) and it was close to the venue. We did a little shopping (strangely nothing for me) and Miss R finally got the Vans she's been harping on about. We then met B and I took the girls to get something to eat but they were too excited so we wandered down to the Hisense Arena.

Apparently the concert was AMAZING.

The security was fantastic.....everyone had to file through barricades to get inside and you could only get past a certain point if you actually had a ticket. The concert was all seated so I was confident the girls would be safe. Unfortunately the downside of not being able to get inside the arena without a ticket is that I had to stand outside in the cold for 3 hours.....and it was cold. I hadn't anticipated that, so hadn't dressed warmly enough, even with a cardi and a jacket and Miss R's jumper wrapped around my neck as a scarf. Hardly a fashion statement but I didn't really care.

And it was all worth it to see the beaming smiles at the end.

(There has been some discussion in the media about whether this One Direction obsession is healthy. Personally, I just love to see Miss R happy and engaged with something she can share with classmates. The boys are wholesome and harmless. That may change - they may do a Lindsay Lohan - but for now, I'm happy to indulge.)

Bugger!

I had typed a huge post.....accidentally deleted it and am now too tired to try to recreate it.

I'll try again later but here's a potted history:

1. Easter
2. School holidays
3. Plumbing disaster at holiday house
4. AQC in Melbourne - fly over for the day
5. Fly back to Melbourne 2 days later for One Direction concert
6. Get a text message while at Adel Airport to fly out that Mum has been hospitalised
7. Mum thankfully is ok

I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with more details.  :-)

Swoon - 1 Block Down, 8 To Go

Well after procrastinating for what seems like forever, I have finally cut and made my first Swoon block and am well on the way to finishing my second. The first block :

seemed to take forever while I puzzled over the directions but once I worked it out, it was easy peasy to put together. (I think sometimes it's better to sew WITHOUT the tv on in the background...). I rarely do this, but for this quilt I am using fabrics from the same line - Kate Spain's Terrain which I fell in love with and ordered about 12 different fabrics. I'm pairing each pattern with a complimentary solid and have decided to make some with the centrepiece patterned and some plain. I've had the fabric put aside for months - seriously, before Christmas - but kept putting off cutting into it. But as a complete aside, I decided to make a quilt for my SIL's birthday coming up later this month. She likes blues, pinks & purples, so I pulled out fabrics in those colours from my stash and started thinking about patterns etc.....and then realised that the fabrics I'd put aside for the Swoon quilt were in blues, pinks & purples (with some orange & green thrown in). So it seems to make perfect sense to make Swoon and give it away! Won't be ready in time for her birthday but I don't think she will mind.

In other sewing news, I made another baby quilt which didn't go quite as smoothly. I used this pattern from the Moda Bake Shop which was so easy but my machine must be due for a service as it kept skipping stitches when I came to the actual quilting. I had planned to quilt with straight lines but ended up FMQ as the 'skipping' was less obvious (but I still ended up unpicking and redoing sections). I realise that I didn't get a decent picture but I've used some Little Red Riding Hood fabric that I had put away. Ive decided that there is little point hanging on to treasured fabrics - it's bought to use and there's always something cute on the market! The FMQ was probably the best I've done so far as I made a concerted effort to keep it large and loose and not cross lines.

Backing from Ikea; they really do have some cute fabrics!

I will be dropping the Bernina in for a service on Monday, so I hopefully get it back by Easter for some serious Swooning.

Pretty little baby quilt

I used a charm pack of Little Apples for this cute little baby quilt. Simple straight line quilting and cute Ikea fabric on the back. Theresa is right; a quick finish is very satisfying.