Aren't these beautiful. I can't decide which is my favourite.
Maybe when I'm retired and my children have moved out of home I'll have time for this sort of needlework. But by then my eyesight and steady hand will have fled.
These are from two little Japanese craft books I picked up in Tokyo last year.
I have a new kitchen toy and I'm loving it. I haven't bought a new kitchen gadget for many years. For me, having to cook children's meals every night has taken the shine off being in the kitchen. Not any more. I haven't been this enthusiastic about cooking since Will and I moved in together.
This machine combines the function of about 15 kitchen appliances, plus your stovetop. You cut, chop, mix and cook your ingredients in the one bowl - brilliant.
With very little effort I have made chicken stock, potato and leek soup, chicken curry, banana and choc-chip icecream, porridge, frothy hot chocolate, my Nana's famous shortbread - all in the first 24 hours.
If it sounds like I'm bragging I'm not, because the machine did it all for me. I just pushed the buttons and stood back and watched in amazement.
Yesterday I spent the day food shopping and stocking up on lots of pantry items - things I haven't cooked with in years. I dragged out all the old spice jars from the back of the pantry and started again, filling them with new, fresh quantities.
This weekend I want to make ministrone, wheat free pizzas, pineapple and coconut icecream ... the list goes on.
I don't know why, but last night at around midnight I felt compelled to make this doorstop.
It probably had something to do with the fact that I kept seeing this gocco printed linen scrap every time I opened a certain drawer of supplies. And then yesterday I found the lovely linen tape that makes the handle.
So there I was, in the wee small hours, feeding rice through a tiny hole in the seam, while the rest of the family was sensibly asleep.
It was very quick to make and a nice way to use up scraps of linen. I went to bed happy.
I spent this morning cutting coat orders.
Seven of these little bundles will be waiting for my Wednesday seamstress so I can finish my recent coat orders. Cutting is not my favourite job in the world so I podcast local breakfast radio shows for company.
Oh, and speaking of cutting, you might enjoy this short doco on Savile Row.
I spent half the day in a queue in Spotlight. Well, it seemed like half the day. While I was waiting for my number to be called I spied this oatmeal wool flannel (photographed under a little stack of lavender sachets that keep my stock smelling sweet).
It's not 100% natural, so I won't use it in the range. I thought it would make a cute softie. I might try making a little Hop Skip Jump monkey from the Softies book.
I can't decide what to do with this quilt top. This is the one I referred to in my last post - the paper pieced top that has been a WIP for a while.
The problem is I still love the design, but I'm not mad about the fabric I used. I started the quilt, just to see if I liked it, without really putting much thought into the fabric. So it sort of limped along until it got to this point. I pull it out every now and then, do a little on it, then lose interest again.
This quilt is more about the quilting anyway I guess, so it will improve when I get around to that part of it. For now it's got tea stains, vegemite toast marks (thanks to the boys) and corgi footprints across it. So it's looking pretty uninspiring. I can't bind it until I've done all the stuffing, and I can't wash it until I've done the binding.
I guess it will just limp along a little more, in between other projects.
For me the colder weather always brings with it the urge to stitch. I've got itchy fingers; I want to start a new project but I'm not sure what it will be yet. So I've dragged out my big box of fabrics to find some inspiration.
I've also been inspired by Moonstitches to unearth a project from last winter that didn't get very far.
I would describe feathered star blocks as extreme quilting - not for the faint hearted. The first feathered star quilt top I made was paper pieced. Thirteen stars! That took two years. I'm trying to speed up the process this time around by machine piecing the star blocks.
Last night I finished another block - two down, eleven to go. I like the precision involved. But they can be frustrating if you don't get the seam allowance exact. The second block is slightly larger than the first. I'm not sure what to do about that. There might be a few discards along the way. The worrying question is, how many star blocks will I have to make to get my matching thirteen?
I've also prepared two little parcels of Liberty scraps to go to some inspiring bloggers. One is off to Japan, the other to Norway. Some of the scraps have been in my stash for over 15 years.
It will be a quiet weekend for us this time round. Will returns from overseas tomorrow so he will be adjusting to Melbourne time. I plan to get started on some new books. This is what we have chosen for our next three book group reads. Some good choices there.
I'm currently enjoying this book. I had my nose buried in it during the quiet patches at the Red Hill market last weekend and I was surprised by the number of women who commented on it and who were also reading it.
Canberra was so much fun! There's nothing like a quick break to put a spring in your step. I loved catching up with Trudy and chatting to her face to face. Her gorgeous husband made a delicious pasta and then we chatted some more over sweet treats from a favourite French patisserie.
The range showing was good fun and I met some lovely new customers and met some existing ones face to face. Coats were the hit of the day (which is not surprising given Canberra's brisk mornings).
We even had time to stop off at the Bison headquarters on the way to the airport. I blogged earlier about this beautiful brand. We visited the owner of the business in the workshop. I was all goggle eyed and full of questions. I love seeing a craftsman at work.
This delicious array of pieces is a special order for a boutique hotel in Canberra.
The beautiful thing about the Bison range is that all the colours are so divine - it's hard to choose just one.
I stuck to my favourite colours and managed to find some room in my luggage for a few pieces in dove grey and ice blue. Yumm. What a perfect ending to a lovely day away.
I'm off to Canberra in a couple of hours for an overnight stay with a customer that I've never met, but have come to regard as a friend. Our husbands think it's rather weird that we're catching up, probably in the same way they'd agree internet dating was weird.
Trudy, who I'm going to stay with, started her own business last year selling jewellery. So we're putting on a little range showing together at her sons' school.
I haven't been to Canberra since a family road trip when I was about 8 years old (where I have fonder memories of the sugar can factory tour and Parkes telescope tour than the wonderful National Gallery in our country's capital.)
I'm looking forward to my overnight visit. If you're in Canberra, come and say hi at the Art Gallery at Canberra Grammar School in Monaro Crescent, Red Hill between 9am and 12 midday. You might even help your husbands out with a mother's day gift idea for yourself.
Thank goodness for hot water bottles. I wouldn't have survived the Red Hill market on Saturday without my hottie to clutch on to. I had a stall at the market. It was a very cold, wet day so I was thankful to have an indoor stall, and thankful for the Red Hill Scouts who served billy tea and scones!
Despite the rain it was very busy. I think because it was the last market until Spring.
When I added these hot water bottle covers to the range I had no expectation of selling many of them at all. They are, after all, a rather quirky thing. But they allow me to play with my favourite fabrics; each one is almost like a mini quilt. I did, however, have a sneaking suspicion that they may have editorial merit. It seems my hunch was proved right in one case.
They scored a little mention in this month's Australian Country Style.
