Angering the pinning gods

Ive been working on my brown / green / blue quilt and managed to get to the point where I start sewing large strips together. Being lazy, I decided to bypass the pinning process and get straight to sewing. I matched them nicely and stitched one continuous line to the end of the strips. And then I see this:

Why?! So, me being alittle on the stubborn side sew two more strips together. I figure ive just lined them up wrong. Nope, another uneven join. Ok Ok I'll pin them and I get an almost perfect match at the bottom.


So then I have to do this, my most hated task in sewing.

Cant figure out why though. I matched them up perfectly and yet they come together uneven. Obviously Ive angered the pinning gods.

Snail mail rocks
Recently I participated in a fabric swap. This is where you email your name to some unknown person and that someone somewhere in internet land sends you back the names of others who want to swap fabric too. It was fun, and I cant wait to see what the others have sent me. I have received one parcel (thanks Tara) with this inside:

What to do with this beautiful fabric.... I decided to use it on a notebook my sister had asked me to cover. Now some of the fabric looks like this:

I think its purdy :)

One mans trash
We currently have a hard waste collection going on ... well its not due to come around for another week but people are putting their items out. This morning, as we drove out to take the kids to the zoo this is what I saw across the road:

They need alittle TLC as they are alittle tarnished but with a good polish and re-upholstering of the cushions (they STINK of cigarette smoke) they will be ready for the girls rooms. Now all I have to do is thrift little dressing tables that match!

Last but not least..

A little card made for a lovely friend


Miss G was sick and unable to go swimming so while baby A and daddy went, we did some magic wand conjuring :)

Have a great week!

Im honoured!

So much has happened in the past few days that I have to sub-categorise this post!

Fantastic news
I got a wonderful call today from a dear friend. Her and her partner of many years have finally decided to set a date and get married (after a 4 year engagement and a gorgeous little boy) and she's asked me to be her witness!! Im really chuffed and excited to have been asked.
She and I met when hubby and I bought our first house. She was our next door neighbour but we didnt meet until we got our dog, LIbby. Libby used to run up and down along the gate when she heard her and neighbouroonie (as we now call each other) took to talking to her. I guess 'roonie made friends with Libby before we did!! I cant remember the first meeting but we became really good friends quickly and when the fence had to be replaced, we decided to put a gate between our properties so we could have the dogs (she had a dog Jack who became our dog too) run between the two backyards and we could visit without having to walk on the street :). Libby and Jack were pretty much inseparable and if they hadn't been fixed, i'm sure there would have been puppies everywhere!

A few years went by and she moved (temporarily) to another state so we looked after the cats and Jack. Then she fell in love.... with a man in the service which meant that she moved away. We were all very sad. Jack stayed with us for a year or so and then 'roonie, having settled into her new home with her new man, came and took Jack.
It wasnt the same without 'roonie next door which is one of the reasons we decided to move. She rented her place to the tenants from hell (one of many) and the house we were in just wasnt big enough for the next step in our lives (kids) so we moved. She is still interstate. Ian, Libby and I miss her terribly. I wish she was back in Melbourne but alas, home is where the heart is and she's now at home.. .and getting married!!

Craftiness

I've started (and hope to finish tomorrow) a present for my second oldest niece. She is the most amazing artist. She sits for hours and draws pictures good enough for the pages of a manga magazine. I'll have to ask her for a picture or two to put up. Shes only 12!! Here are the materials that im using for her present. Ofcourse, as she reads the blog, I wont put any pics up of the finished article till Wedesday (tuesday being her birthday).


Ive also started to do some embroidery again. I used to do alot of cross stitch (another thing roonie and I used to do together) but that has fallen by the wayside as Ive become obsessed with sewing. A few weeks back I was lying in bed and for some reason, the thought of embroidering little red riding hood popped into my head. A few days ago, whilst reading a blog by Chaletgirl, I was once again inspired by her embroidery and I just knew I had to pick up material and embroidery floss once again. Its only half completed but Im really enjoying it. Its not as neat as Chaletgirl's embroidery but I havent done much backstitching so Im pretty happy with it so far. Im not sure what Im going to do with it yet. Maybe a cushion, a library bag or I might just get a smaller embroidery hoop and hang it on the wall in one of the girls rooms.

Weekend
Finally (the post is almost finished I swear! As a family, we did alot this weekend. Im not surprised that the kids went straight to sleep tonight.

Saturday morning we went and saw the The Giglees (put your sunglasses on before you click this link!) then had a wonderful lunch at the Gasworks Cafe with hubby's brother and sis-in-law and 3rd oldest niece M.

Today I dragged hubby and the kids off to the Melbourne Showgrounds Farmers market. There wasnt a huge number of stalls (and a surprising lack of fruit which I was after) but we did find some of the tastiest, crunchiest grapes around. Here is a pic of baby A crunching away...


and offering mum some...


Even Daddy got a treat. He picked up this old Atari and a huge box of games from the naturestrip (one mans trash, another mans treasure) and spent some of the afternoon (while the kids were sleeping) "testing" the games and console.


Then off to visit some of my oldest and dearest friends at their new place (and to check out her sewing machine which Im considering buying). Phew!