Wildcraft Farm

LET'S GO TO SHEP

I think I'll spend tonight sharing about my fun day, spent with 4 lovely ladies.

Libby Richardson (Girls Day Out Quilt, Artsmart Cottage), Catherine Baynes (Willow Valley Store) and myself are all bound for Shepparton in October.  Today we had the chance to meet up with 2 of the owners of Anam Cara for lunch, a chat (very long and animated actually) and to show them our project plans for their  PATCHWORK SEWJOURN.

I've had some reminder emails, sorry I know I planned to put this on the blog last week, but here are the details if you would like to spend a gorgeous day in the country with us.

 

PATCHWORK SEWJOURN

Saturday 25 October, 2008 - Shepparton

10am-5pm

$110.00 (book for a table of 10, and pay for only 9 places, 1 free)

THEME FOR THE DAY:  Take Time To Smell The Roses

Get together for a day of fun, food, frivolity with the girls (no husbands, no children, no housework).  Anam Cara Patchwork are proud to invite you to meet the following designers on the day

Libby Richardson - Artsmart Cottage

Janet Rowe - Wildcraft Farm

Catherine Baynes - Willow Valley Store

Who have all been busy designing around our theme, especially for our guests.

The cost includes yummy morning and afternoon tea and a delicious lunch.  Gift show bag, including patterns and kitted projects - plus separate demonstrations put on by each designer showcasing a variety of skills for you to incorporate into your stitching.

Full details of the event are available direct from Anam Cara, so please contact Rhonda, Debbie or Julie on (03) 5823 5448, or email: anamcarapatchwork@bigpond.com.au

Here's a snap I was able to get of Rhonda and Debbie ... when they weren't talking

 

It's so nice when a chatterbox meets more of her kind!

This is the second time Libby, Cath and I have met up (although Cath and I have become really great friends this past year, it's great to have someone to share your ups and downs with who is in the same industry), the 3 of us don't seem to run out of things to talk about (always a good sign), and we were all excited to see what the others had created - the best bit is they are all different, but I'm sworn to absolute secrecy.  I do know that we all want to sit in on each other's demonstration - so far I think we've decided to have adjoining rooms on the Friday night so we can stay up all night chatting and sharing.  So just before we departed I asked Rhonda for a quick snap of "Huey, Dewy & Louey", to which they all said "You're gonna put this on your blog, aren't you????".............................Yep!

 

MMMmmmmm, never let someone take only one photo of a group, guaranteed one of you is going to look like a dill (but then it's my blog so I suppose I don't mind looking like piggy in the middle).  I had my glasses on as I had a "real headache" starting in on my drive off the mountain ... but all the chatter seemed to have soothed my throbbing head, see chatting is good for your health!

Okay off to watch the 2nd last episode of West Wing, I'll be all a twither again in an hour!  Take care, hope you have some chance for a good girly chat in your day, Janet xxx

 

Need A Little Inspiration?

Hi There ... ooohhhh I'm all a twither, just watched the 3rd last West Wing episode, it's my intellectual TV indulgence (have seen them all once before, just feel mildly intelligent if I get even a little of what they are saying).

So here I am in the cold room wanting to catch up.  My great consecutive posting record went out the door with the sick child.  No she never made it to the Book Week Dress Up Day last Friday (just one less Hermoine Grainger in the world), but a few days recouperation has seen her fighting fit for all the nasty bugs around this week.  The one thing I hate about winter.

After a few emails, then a lovely long chat with my friend Helen I felt the need to do something creative today.  Had lots of orders to go out, stock to make up, customer phone calls ... I just needed a quick 5 minute play (because Helen's first email of the day hoped I would get some stitching fun today - ha! no chance).  Instead I got the opportunity to indulge a little when I did a delivery of Quilt Cards to Sandra at Foothills.  I needed to get some base fabric to use on the bonus projects that will come with the "Made With Love" Block Of The Month Program - when I got home I threw a couple of things in the mix, am hoping over the next few days this little patch will grow ...

 

The green stripe fabric and cream/red spot are from Foothills - an impulse buy that I think will blend with all the colours of the quilt really well.  The ric rac I got last week, if I told you where, I might have to kill you (only joshing), but I really must stress that you should keep your eyes out for bargains in the most unlikely places, silly people who don't know the real value of some scrummy jumbo ric rac (cost $1.25pm) - I keep those long cylinders (from cling wrap) for things like this, they are great for rolling on quite a few metres and if I'm careful I make sure not to get any twists or folds that I'll only scream about later on.  The buttons are the glorious ones for the Quilt, the 2 threads were used for all the hand stitching - hint, I like to roll my perle 8 threads onto spools as well, as you can see the green is about to get loose and messy - I've thrown away too many metres of thread in my time due to the frustration of knots in my sewing bag, the spools just make life easier (mmmmm, wonder where you get spools from, oh yeah, moi!).  So hopefully all this stuff is the start of 4 gorgeous projects, I started sketching ideas during the West Wing ... I do get ideas from some of the craziest places.

Which leads me to my hints for today - where to get inspiration? 

You don't need to be a designer to get inspiration, sometimes those of us who love to stitch need to mess it up a little.  I'm not a stitcher who necessarily makes quilts, wall hangings, pillows etc.  I'm a little more practical ... I like things with some function and they will fit into our "farmhouse" (insert here, not the tidiest home on the road).  So I was thinking of some places I go or things I do to clear my head and get new ideas ... here are, in no particular order, things I like to do:

Visit antique stores, junk shops, garage sales, tag sales, thrift shops, Op Shops (Oxfam  or  Goodwill), just poke around and see what they have.

Take a class or workshop in an unrelated subject, maybe scrapbooking, leadlighting, beading or jewellry.

Roam around art supplies stores, pick up tubes of paint in colours you would never think of using together, flick through thick linen paper stock in a rainbow of colours.

Drop in to a scrapbooking store, or 2.  I find that no 2 stores are usually the same, it's great to go to stores that are off the beaten track, they usually tend to be the more creative ones.  Flick through stickers, rubber stamps, hole punches, printed pages, ink pads - I dare you to try and come out without parting with any cash!

Take your kids or grandkids to a large toy store, one of those big ones, wander around, then take them to an old fashioned store with handmade creations.  There is an amazing shop in Sassafras called Geppetos, lots of handmade puppets and wooden toys, DIVINE (then you pop up to the sweet shop, then across to Ripe for a hot chocolate, then to the teapot shop to roam around there, then to one of the many antique shops .... oh what the hell, just spend an afternoon going up and down the street, that whole town is creative).

I've kept sketchbooks for decades, I refuse to throw them out.  I'll regularly flip through to get ideas, sometimes they will spark a memory of something else.  Old childrens books, even old craft magazines and books that you own, or flick through the ones you find in bundles for .10c at the Op Shops.

These are just a few of the things I like to do, and you know if you don't get anything out of your visits, at least you'll have had a little ME time, I think we all need that sometimes just to clear our heads.

Major find for me today was a saying I found amongst some I collected about 15 years ago, it is so ME ME ME.  I absolutely have to use it in some way, I can't believe it hasn't caught my eye before, maybe my head just wasn't in the right space to clearly see it.  I'm off to write it up in big letters and put on my Wish Board, watch this space to see if anything comes from it.

Oh yeah, I've been a little busy this weekend, trying to get up to date with my blog, I finally started to add some entries into my photo albums, I've nearly got all the Quilt Card Collection in now, and I've made a start with quite a few stitcheries in the Kit In A Card Collection.  The "Made With Love" is just waiting on the final quilt photo and the quilt label, next I need to start putting the various accessories on.  It's a work in progress - I'll get there eventually.  I have found a kind fairy who is helping me upload my stitchery pattern, hopefully before the end of this week.

I hope you have an inspiring Tuesday, I'm off to have lunch with Cath & Libby and the ladies from Anam Cara - I'll put final details of their retreat up tomorrow night.  Take care, Janet xxx

PS - If you would like to read some fun memories about being "10 years old", pop over to Cath's Blog to see what some have written.  She has a competition going ... you might just read something about yours truly that I would NEVER write here! 

BONUS KNITTING PROJECTS Are Todays Hints & Tips

Day four's post is a little earlier in the evening, my sick child has just had a setback, we really thought she just needed a day at home ... tomorrow is dress up day at school, we've spent the day discussing what she would wear.  I've plaited little plaits all over her hair (to take out tomorrow with the home of crinkly hair), pulled out some black leggings, black little skirt, white collared shirt, black tie (old one of Farmer Rowe's I can paint yellow and maroon stripes on), a grey cardigan with stripes around the wrists - and a bolt of black fabric to run up a quick cloak ... yes she was to be Hermoine Grainger of Harry Potter fame.  She's made the grown up decision that I shouldn't bother making the cloak, if she actually makes it to school she won't be there too long, so I don't need to worry, just as long as she has her wand.  Somehow I don't think she's going to get there.  Poor Kid.

So I thought it only fitting that tonight's tips come from her friend Bethany, who is also home sick, and from Jessica herself.  Both items were made by the girls, and I think they did a great job.

First is 13 year old Bethany's ... well I'll let you guess

 

The thick green circle is my little graphic addition, trying to point out the gap in the seam line, got any ideas?????

 

If you guessed wrist warmer .. take a bow.

They are fantastic, I want a pair.  Bethany knitted them for Jessica's 10th birthday present, she did an amazing job.  I've been told by the Mistress of Knitting that she cast on 30 stitches, used 2 strands of wool (the 2 colours) and just did plain (knit) stitch until it measured about 9 inches long.  Then she used a large eyed needle (see next photo) and sewed up the tube, leaving a gap at the end for the thumb, then sewed the last little bit up.  They are "sew" great that you can actually quilt, stitch, machine sew, drive, hold kids hands walking across the road, get money out of your purse, answer your mobile phone, turn on your MP3, take photos ... and keep warm at the same time.

Depending on how fast a knitter you are (I'm not, and you don't have to be any good at it) I'm sure you could knit these in one or two evenings.  And believe me they are toasty warm, you could make them in lots of fashionable colours, even embellish with buttons.  By the way I tried to take the photo to show you my most prized bracelet, not the gold one, the elastic band one with Jessica's photo inside.  I picked it up from the photo shop in Belgrave for $6.95, I think they are by Memory Makers, you just slot in your favorite little picture.  Jessica had about a dozen little school photos along a border that I had no idea what to do with, and they fit perfectly.

Okay, tip 2 comes from my darling Jessica.  About a year ago she had a stab at knitting (ouch), wasn't that great, so she lost interest.  My Mum decided to teach Jessica to knit a couple of weeks ago, she showed her how to do it, then told her to hold the needles whichever way felt comfortable to her, and off she went.  Mum cast on 10 stitches in this soft blue wool (bought the easy to use bamboo needles, perfect size for Jessica to learn on) ...

 

Except for casting on and casting off, Jessica knit the entire scarf herself, and had a ball.  She sat up in bed knitting, would knit in the car, would knit while Mum would read Harry Potter to her, and she did a great job.  Now you may be wondering what the darker blue wool is about a couple of inches from each end, Jessica "invented" hand warmers.  She turned up just enough on each end, then stitched with the darker wool and needle shown (I don't know why she didn't use the same colour wool, but if I got too pedantic about it, it would've spoilt her fun), she can fling it around her neck and walk along swinging her hands in the warmers, or she can wrap around her neck and pull one end through the other loop for a neck warmer - too cool.

The knitting in progress is her next project, 15 stitches this time, a scarf for me.  I think I bought the wool at Lincraft last year for about $2, very cheap entertainment, she's been sitting up knitting today during her bouts of feeling better ... who needs computer games to keep the kids entertained?

I've actually spoken to the art teacher at Jessica's school, she wants Jessica to bring in the 2 items when she returns to school, the plan is to start a knitting group in the art room for rainy days.  Get the kids and teachers to teach each other new skills, even pom pom making for the little ones (her school is Kindergarten to Year 12), I've suggested getting some Grandmas and Mums to come in and teach the kids some knitting or crochet .............................. sorry just had a laugh break, I kept typing crotch, somehow didn't look right!

I would like to thank the 2 sick girls for their wonderful creative work, I hope you get something out of it (even to pass on the idea to a friend).  I have a list of more tips and hints, but I think I'll leave them for tomorrow - need to go cuddle my girl.

Take care, Janet xxx

(PS, thanks for the lovely emails today, they made me feel a little loved during my nurse maid duties ... Bev wanted me to add that the Crisp spray I mentioned in the last post can get slippy if it lands on your vinyl flooring, so just make sure you keep it on the fabric.  She also had a tip for cleaning irons, I'll add that one to our list before the week's up - thanks Bev x).

DAY 3 OF FREE STITCHERY, HINTS & TIPS ... who'dv thunk it?

Wow, 3 days in a row, I'm on a roll of consistency here ... and still I have more things to share.  But behind the scenes I'm really trying to work out how to upload a surprise for you to stitch, so I'll just do that duck thing ... swim gracefully on top of the water, and paddle like mad underneath.  Did that make sense?  It's been a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggg day, started at 5am picking up vomit off my daughter's bedroom floor (cream loop and pile, not so great to clean), did you know that if you don't make it out of bed in time and just lean over and "it" drops from the top bunk bed - it bounces?  Neither did I, let's just say that WON'T ever happen again.  But now I have a sicky, she tried school for the day, but came home very upset knowing she was too sick for horseriding (you really know she's sick if she thinks she's too sick to ride), been ill all night, so tomorrow I think I'll be a nursemaid ....... I've sooooooo much to do, but Mummy duties come first.

So once again I have pictures of my hints.  Anyone who has been to a demonstration or teaching day with me in the past 10 months will be in on my latest love.  I love it so much I have 2 on standby just in case I run out of one, or the nozzle gets bunged up ...

 

It's "Crispy" my spray starch, I wasn't sure if it is known as something else overseas, that's why I felt the need for a picture.  I use this to demonstrate some special items when I'm with a large group of like minded ladies, but it has another everyday purpose.  If you spray some of this on your fabric then iron the fabric flat - it is much easier to cut on your cutting board with a rotary cutter, also gives a perfect edge so when you are doing lots of piece sewing, you rarely need to use pins and the edge runs right along my quarter inch foot on my sewing machine, so all seams are pretty near perfect.  When you do a stitchery and you have no interfacing on hand, spray starch on and press beforehand and you'll have a slightly firmer fabric to hold on to - if the thread colours will easily show through I still use interfacing, but a light colour or tone on tone will often be fine ... I could blab on about ALL the wonders of "Crispy", but I'll save them to share another day, maybe I'll see you at a retreat one day????

Okay my next tip is ...

 

If you want to save your marriage, or your clothes ... make sure you have your own iron for the sewing room.  I only needed to have a little bit of vliesoflex on my good iron to ruin my husbands best white shirt, even trying to scrape it off when cooled still left a mark.  They are so cheap to buy these days, I think I got this one at a local supermarket for $12 (a cheaper alternative to the lawyers fees).  My second part of this hint is my wonderful portable ironing board.  I picked this up at a Hardware store for $15.  It folds flat to take to a friends house in the front seat of my car (when we all sew, there can be delays waiting at the ironing board), if my workroom floor space is limited (insert "untidy" here) I have even balanced it ontop of some magazines, it also sits easily on my worktable, plus I took it camping (in the caravan) on our last holiday.  It stores flat against the wall when not in use, but also makes a great extra table when I need MORE space ... definitely a great investment.

My third hint is one for the kid in you ...

 

I'm sure we've all played with crayons at some stage in our lives, you can easily pick up a little pack of 12 at the supermarket.  But if you go to the discount or Dollar shops you can find the big packs (I also have a couple of sets of 112 colours), they are only a few dollars a box.  Next time you trace off a stitchery, have a look to see if you can add just a little colour somewhere, maybe a heart in red, pink flowers .... just about anything.  Give the fabric a good press first, then (after doing a colour test on a scrap of fabric), gently colour in with a crayon, not hard, just soft rolling action.  When you are happy, get a pice of grease proof kitchen paper (or even photocopy paper will do) and gently iron over the crayoning, lift to check it has melted into the fibres, if you need to re-iron just make sure you don't put the same part of the paper down otherwise what you have melted off onto the paper will iron on to another part of your fabric.  Then stitch as usual and you have added a little colour .. what an original.

*** I need to mention that the colour of the crayon is not always what it appears, so always test your colours first before putting on your precious fabric.  Also, you can build up colour by just adding more after you have ironed, you can even blend colours ***

Another thing I have done with Jessica and her friends is to masking tape calico (around all four edges) onto some cardboard and get them to draw and colour something they really like.  They then run out to play and I get busy ironing their works of art (but just like I mentioned above, don't be afraid to get the kids back in to go over their colouring if it's not dark enough).  I get a couple of metres of black DMC thread and a needle and then wrap up in a little bag.  When the Mum comes to collect their daughter I hand them over a parting gift.  Usually over a cup of tea, if the Mum doesn't sew, I'll give a quick lesson in running stitch (much quicker for the non-sewers) or back stitch - showing them with a lead pencil where to sew around the colour blocking.  Then they can just put in a frame, or if adventurous, make a little cushion for the child.  I've converted quite a few non-sewers over the years, if you only give them single thread running stitches to do, I haven't had a failure yet.  Plus the bonus is that the wax makes the fabric firmer so no need for interfacing or even a hoop.  Imagine if the Mums were stichers, they could go to town with all the lovely stitching possibilities.

I hope these hints have started planting somes seeds in your creative brain.  I love to share ideas, but if you have any I'd love to hear from you.  I know quite a few of you are shy and prefer to email me directly rather than leave a comment, either way, I'd love you to share.

Have an amazingly creative Thursday, I hope to fit something in during my "Mummy and the Sickie" day.  Take care, Janet xxx

PS - I just got final details about the retreat I'll be at with Libby and Cath in October, so if you want to see my "Crispy" bits and pieces in person, I'll give you all the details tomorrow.

FREE STITCHERY, TIPS Etc. Day 2

Well I am so pleased that day one of our week of Hints & Tips was so well received - I have actually left my dear husband on his birthday to come in here (to the cold room) and make sure that Day 2 got uploaded on time.

He and Jessica are reading Harry Potter together (I think it's book 5 now), so they are snuggled on the couch under quilts, in front of a roaring fire, the dog at their feet - so don't feel too sorry for him.  He did VERY WELL on the pressie front, and "he thinks" he has full control of the remote control for the TV tonight, men and remote controls, it's a very sad thing!

Okay, so my first tip for tonight originally came from a guy I met in a paint store about 15 years ago, I then read an updated version in a "How To" magazine, and I've tweeked it for the Quilting industry.  Do you have anyone in your life that lives overseas, interstate, or some distance away - maybe a relative, great friend, even a blog friend ... and some day there is a chance you may make something for them, either a full quilt, applique cushion or stitchery, well wouldn't it be great it you knew that the colours you selected fitted in their home perfectly?

So years ago this guy I met in a paint shop told me to take a few extra paint chips home with me, after FINALLY picking the exact shade of blue I wanted to paint our old home's interior walls.  Funny, it looked like white to me, but when I saw it in a 6 colour intensity swatch (the colour at it's lightest, up to darkest depending on how many squirts they put in the white paint at the store), I realised that they were very unique in their shading.  Anyway this guy said that when it came time to selecting drapes and carpets it would be handy to have some spare paint swatches in my bag, to ensure I got a complimentary colour.

So here's the tip - get your Auntie, friend, Grandchild, whoever, to go to their local paint shop and select some swatches that would easily fit in their home, ask them to send you a set in the post.  Then when it comes time to make their birthday/Christmas gift, just pull out the swatches and select fabrics and threads that are complimentary.  If you end up asking quite a few people to provide these for you, just hole punch at the top of the swatch and put them on a keyring with the person's name on the back.  Whenever you find a great bargain or some fabric, just pull out the paint swatches and see if you have any matches.  It's a bit of a variation on Day One's tip with the DMC threads, but this one is for the people who feel more comfortable going into a paint store.

Okay tip number 2 is something I can actually show you - I've quickly taken a picture to make it easier to imagine.

 

If you look along my inch ruler you can see that these frames are very small.  I picked them up at a garage sale for less than a $1 each.  I have quite a collection of frames, just waiting for the perfect project to pop inside one day.  Check out opportunity shops (Oxfam shops), garage sales, clearance sales, car boot sales, school fetes - you will be amazed what you can pick up for not much cash.  Don't worry about the colours, you can always paint, sand, stain or wax to compliment the project inside and the room it will live in.  They make great gifts, who wouldn't love a gorgeous stitchery inside a frame, ready to hang.

My next tip - okay looks like there will be 3 tonight - is for those of you who have little people in their lives, children, grandchildren, neices/nephews, neighbourhood children, students etc.  If they are far away from you, ask their parents to organise this task for you, or if you need to entertain some children on a rainy day, here's what you do.

Ask them to draw some pictures of things that they like, things they are good at drawing and something that you might like to "keep on the fridge".  I asked Jessica to do this just after she started school (age 5).  I had been tea staining fabric and she decided to tea stain some paper.  Once it was dry I asked her to just sketch a pretty picture she would like me to keep in my workroom to remind me of her when she was off at school.  This is what I was given, and has stayed on my noticeboard these past 5 years.

This little piece of paper is one of the most precious things in my workroom, I'd be devastated if I lost it.  So the next stage of this tip is to either trace it to make a master, photocopy and play around with the size, or scan onto your computer and resize to suit your needs.  Then as a gift to the child, or to their parents, simply pick a colour thread and turn it into a stitchery.  This can then be finished into a little cushion, or here is my idea for Jessica's picture ...

 

It just about fits inside the frame without even resizing, I'll just tidy up the flowers inside the dress, make sure the wings meet the body .. not too much because I want it to remain HER design.  If it turns out well these could easily be replicated for gifts for family members come Christmas time, maybe done as a redwork it could be a piece they bring out each year for display.

You could of course keep a small library of drawings collected through the years and then turn into a memory quilt with little stitcheries scattered all over a scrappy charm quilt.  If I was a Mother who didn't sew and a neighbour or friend gave me one of my child's drawings as a stitchery - okay there wouldn't be enough tissues in the box for the tears of joy.  It's such a simple thing, you have the talent, so go out and look for your next design, the artist may just be about to race home for school.

Hugs to you all, talk to you tomorrow ... Janet xxx

PS - I've decided to give away a stitchery at the end of this week, anybody know how I can upload the file so you can easily print off?  I'm sure it's simple, just not 100% sure of what to do.   TTFN (ta ta for now, in Tigger talk - sorry our new baby guinea pig is called Tigger and we've been TTFNing all afternoon!).

FREE STITCHERY HINTS & TIPS WEEK

Lately I have had the wonderful opportunity to share some tips and hints with some fellow stitchers, via email, replying to those leaving comments, phone calls and chats with my customers (store owners).  So I decided that I would go through my bulging file of tips and hints and share some of these with you for 7 days straight.  Some you might think are wonderful (I hope), some you may have heard of, and some you may think aren't ones you will do anything about, BUT, you never know if that useless bit of information could be something you can pass on to someone else one day (who would find it of benefit)!

So for Day One I thought I would give you a tip about colours ... of course my tips HAVE to come with a story, it just explains it better.

I bought a new lounge suite (that was already 50 years old) at a clearing sale a few years back.  It was my first time bidding at an auction, I was like a woman possessed, I WAS GOING TO GET THOSE 2 CHAIRS AND 3 SEATER COUCH, NO MATTER WHAT!

After purchasing this amazing furniture for an ultimate bargain price of $400, I found out that the owner had had the whole suite re-sprung, new duck down put in and handmade tapestry fabric flown in from Italy to have it all re-upholstered 20 years earlier, and then it sat in "the good room" and was rarely used - I love hearing stories of my great finds.  ANYWAY .... I wanted to make a quilt for the room the furniture now lives in, but there are so many colours woven into the beautiful print it was too difficult to define exactly.

So one day I struggled to take one of the chair seat cushions into Mrs Martin's Quilt Shop - Karen and I both laughing at the absurdity of what I had done (duck down it bloody heavy).

Fabric after fabric was layed across the cushion, but it was just too hard to find something. LIGHT BULB MOMENT .... I went into the DMC thread room, lay on the floor with my cushion, and just grabbed skeins of thread and lay them all over the pillow (with the promise to put them back in the right spot afterwards, don't you hate it when people don't do that).

Finally I came up with 9 skeins that were a perfect blend.  I left these with Karen to give to the tutor of my quilt class, who had promised to select suitable prints for my scrappy quilt, based on these threads.  She did a great job, working purely with the coloured skeins that I have continued to carry with me for years.  Whenever I want anything for the room - paint, frames, rugs, lamps ... anything, I just pull out my skeins and see if they tone with the colours .....

Now I think That's A Great Hint, try it in one of your rooms you want to redo or decorate, get a group of threads for each room if you want, I'm sure you will enjoy the purchasing just a little more (and it's surprising how many sales people you meet who have quilter's in their families that think it's a great idea they must pass on).

Ummmm speaking of that quilt, did I ever finish it?????? I think it's in my Work In Progress basket, at least I know the colours will not be dated when I finally get around to finishing it.

Speaking of scrappy quilts.  I have finally uploaded all the individual blocks of MADE WITH LOVE, check out the photo album on the sidebar.  You will find one odd looking picture, it's NOT of the quilt.  It's actually the quilt on my audition board, many many months ago, but I plan to finally show it off at the end of this week.  Plus the gorgeous label I designed.

Well I'll see you tomorrow for more tips (sorry this one was a little long winded, they won't all be like this, might get the chance to put in 2 tomorrow ... well I can't promise they won't be wordy!).

Have a wonderful day .... Janet xx

Birthdays & Buttons

August has turned out to be a very busy month, and I think we are only half way through.

My gorgeous baby girl decided not to take up my offer of remaining a single digit for another year, instead opting to turn 10 - or should I say THE BIG ONE OH!

As an only child I must confess that we let her have whatever she wants regarding celebrating her birthday, luckily for us she's not the least bit spoilt or greedy so we don't come off too badly.  This year it was decided that a RollerSkating party would be the featured event, which was a bit puzzling as she had only started skating less than a month before at her friend's party.  To ensure she didn't fall flat on her butt (the whole time) we arranged for my darling sister Tara (who is such a fancy skater she has her own runner/skate shoes) to give her a quick lesson at an arena off the mountain, the week before Bindi's party, mmmmmm didn't go too well, but she did get to bring home Tara's skates to have a practice during the week, one too many "butt to the floor" stops and the skates were put away with the thought that she'd just hang out skating on the carpet at the party.  So imagine my shock when she came home from the party begging to have one of her own ... she was now madly in love with skating (something obviously happened at the party!).  So for the next 3 weeks she practiced every night on my sister's skates (sad to admit that her feet are now nearly as big as Tara's and mine).  The screams could possibly have been heard vibrating on the surrounding mountains when she opened her main birthday present to find a pair of white roller skating boots with red wheels.  She practiced in her own boots for the rest of the week, then last Saturday 2 car loads of excited 10 year olds (and a Mother and Grandmother who desperately needed earplugs) headed down to the Rollerama Arena.  Whoever thought of having walkie talkies between the 2 cars travelling down off the mountain should be put in a car with squealing 10 year olds as punishment!

So here is my 10 year old on her actual birthday about to blow out the candles on her favorite "French Vanilla Slice Birthday Cake" that our local baker makes especially for her each year.

Then someone said, "don't spit on the cake" ...

 

In my photo box of favorite pics I would rather these candid pics of Jessica just laughing and seeing how happy she is, rather than a posed sweet portrait - this one may make it to the wall gallery I think.

This one is of the 2 best buddies, Jessica and Bindi who were very kind to stop for a moment so I could take one pic ... the rest are all of them plowing around the arena in the distance.

 

During the week before the party, Farmer Rowe said he would come down and have a skate too, but only if I did - yeaaah right!  I actually have skated in my distant youth (the ones that you strapped on to your shoes), not sure about him though.  So my Sister met us at the arena to give a hand to the "wall huggers", then started to nag me to get my skates on.  I picked up the wrong card and handed over what I thought was a voucher for skates, but the guy gave me rollerblades, I came back to my Tara holding these huge boots and asked her if she thought I could try these ... the b*&^h laughed at me and told me to go and get something I could actually skate in!  So after a few attempts at getting the right size I was off, with Tara holding my hand, I managed to stay up the entire time.  I should point out to those of you who have never skated with me before "anyone?", I do have a tendency to be vocal with little shrieks and loud oohhs and aaah and yikes whenever I feel a fall coming on ... so needless to say when someone rear-ended me and skated on, Farmer Rowe actually caught one of my shrieks on film ...

 

Go into your bathroom, get someone to kick you hard in the back of the heel and see if you can't create 3 instant chins when you yell!!!!!!!  I thought about not showing this photo, but it tells the story of who I am, a Mummy who got on some skates and thrilled my daughter by skating around with her, her friends and her favorite Auntie - Daddy didn't make it onto the arena, apparently something was sore!

Getting back to my other life ... you know the stitching one, I am pleased as punch to show off a quick snap I took of the buttons I designed for MADE WITH LOVE (my debut BOM quilt, for any of you who haven't been following it's progress).  I'm seriously thinking of creating them in different colours and offering separately from the quilt 'cause they are just sooooo cute (as a button).

 

I wanted them to have a "handmade" look about them, not mass produced - I think that together, Teresa and I have done a pretty good job.  They are made from resin, which I understand are more "washable" than porcelain, I've named them Snuggle & Wash (because first you snuggle them, then you can wash them ... okay I think I'm offically too tired that even I think my jokes are getting CORNEY!).

Farmer Rowe is back tomorrow, he's been Slalom Skier Extraordinaire this week, I sometimes forget that he's not 24 anymore, he might ski like a pro, but there are aches at the end of the day, apparently they all sit around the lodge at night comparing wounds and aches, which hurt more because they keep laughing at each other.  As long as he's had a good break (not a leg) that's all that matters to his little family waiting at home, who really needed him tonight when the "U thingamey" under the sink started leaking when the dishwasher was on ... I can be many things, but I leave the handman stuff to others.

Off to bed I think, loads of work to do tomorrow, then it's down to celebrating Farmer Rowe's birthday ... will August never end!

Have an amazing Friday, wherever you are .... Janet xxx