Freshcut grass

I've been busy over the last few days working with a charm pack sent to me by my sister of the lovely new range of fabrics called 'Freshcut' by Heather Bailey and also with my new Clover Yo Yo maker. This is a book for stitchers that has places to store all the little items you need when you are doing Needleturn applique and it was designed to guide beginners through some of the techniques used to make applique fun and easy before you launch into a quilt. The Yo Yo maker is so much fun, very easy to handle in your lap on the lounge and they turn out so perfectly every time, no more tedious tracing circles on fabric.

ANZAC Day

Reginald Wilkinson Ashton my husbands Great Uncle who died as a prisoner of war while working on the Burma Railway. He was a single man of 39 years.

Lest We Forget

Tutti Frutti

Darling Daughter is in her first year at high school and a compulsory subject for her is Textiles and Design and she has just completed her first item of clothing. She calls them her Tutti Frutti boxers with some modifications so they fit her a little better. Didn't she do a good job! Yes, she did have goosebumps, it was very cool here yesterday when she had to do her spot of modelling so she could complete the assignment ready for first day back at school today.

A day at the zoo

Dear Husband and I just picked out our favourite half dozen photos of animals at the National Zoo and Aquarium and all the photos oddly enough don't show any fencing or any other form of containment. Animals ideally should roam free in their natural environments but it is good to visit a zoo and observe them up close every now and again.

Pack a puncture repair kit next time

All loaded, after a little heated discussion about the order required to fit 4 bikes on a bike rack. Note to all other cycling families, take photo of loaded rack. What adventures will this years trip bring? Mostly fun but a few trying moments with over-excited cousins. No blood lost or broken bones and not even the usual problem of the sore butt, thank goodness for the modern cycling nicks. We cycled for 4 days around our nations capital, Canberra, exploring most of our public buildings, Lake Burley Griffin foreshores, the zoo and many exhibitions all in the safety of the many linking cycle paths. It was a great time and we are planning our next ride already. Highly recommended family holiday.

Little Sis cutting a fine figure at the Captain Cook memorial in her cycling nicks.

Little Nephew taking an unplanned dip into the waters of Lake Burley Griffin and meeting the local wildlife all because he can be very annoying especially to his dad, aka "Mr Blobby".

Dear Husband had a few punctures this trip, try 3! He hadn't packed a puncture repair kit either................he's a scientist! Enough said!!

Miss Australia exhibition

If any of you visit Canberra you should make time to visit the National Museum of Australia, entry is free and they have a lovely girly exhibition currently that traces the history of the Miss Australia Quest from humble beginnings in 1907, through to its final year in 2000. Titleholders, volunteers, fundraisers and sponsors are all featured. Myself being particularly interested in textiles appreciated the hand embroidery both in the simple apron and in the gown worn by a Titleholder. Both items feature some of our gorgeous native flower. Click on the photos for a closer look.

Changi quilts

We visited the Australian War Memorial in Canberra last week and I made my way to the WWII hall and found the beautiful quilts made by female prisoners of war in Changi, Singapore. They are protected by glass and very low levels of light so the photos aren't the best quality but the work on each square is amazing as were the women who made these quilts during a time of great hardship.

A camera creation

From this above to this below, and it even fits my camera!! I love it, just perfect for my new camera to keep it safe around my neck between snaps.

Class sample

Hot off the needles and fresh out of the machine. This is a bag made for my boss and it is the sample for a knitted and felted bag class I am teaching this coming term of my own design as are all but one of the bags you have seen on this blog. I am pleased with how this one turned out, this Australian wool felts beautifully.

I'm a bower bird

I collect things that are mostly green. My collections of green depression glass and Carltonware were inspired by my Nana who had a few pieces of each in her crystal cabinet which was definitely out of bounds for children and it was even guarded by two large black plastic spiders! Very scary when you are little.......believe me.

The other Jane in my family

This is my other maternal gr grandmother Mary Jane (seated) who I also share my middle name with. This photo is possibly from her wedding day. The second photo was taken in 1949 at Mary Jane and Thomas' 50th wedding anniversary celebration. What a great milestone. She lived with my mum and her family in her later years after her husband passed away. My mum has very fond memories of a lovely Gran who was always smiling.

It's that time of year again

Here it is April again and we are only days away from our annual cycling holiday with my sister and her family. Last year we went to Victoria and rode from Beechworth to Bright and back over 5 days carrying all our gear and staying in pubs, cabins and even in the chapel of an old Catholic boarding school. We ate at many bakeries and had our evening meals in some beautiful old hotels where the kids could play pool and we could sit in front of blazing fires. We had so much fun on the road with the kids, we say often it was the best family holiday we have ever had so we are doing it again. This year we are heading off to the nations capital, Canberra for 5 days of exploring their cycleways and everything the city has to offer visitors. We are staying in two central cabins and venturing out each day. Bought a helmet for one of the kids today and an extra pair of cycling pants for me. You definitely don't want to get a sore bum when you are away on a cycling holiday! We are all getting very excited and I can't wait to see my sister.

Water babe

Don't you love B & W images.

Dear Husband is another year older today

Isn't this a disgusting cover! Interestingly this was published the day Dear Husband was born and the mag is winging it's way from California via Ebay as a belated birthday gift for him. He was very chuffed with this gift, I had printed out the cover and a note which he has taken to work to show off. Should make interesting reading when it arrives. Did they know of the link between cigarette smoking and cancer 47 years ago? Dear Husband also received a new surf watch with a tide dial and date window as well but I will tell you it is difficult to find one that someone of his advanced years can read without putting his glasses on!

Rise and shine little sis

How annoying to have an older brother who gets up very early every morning to check the surf and take photos of the sun rising. I have a new camera as I mentioned a while back and my children now have a Canon IXUS each and they love it, there is always a battery charging somewhere in the house so now I have a much greater photo pool to draw from. It's a beautiful day here and the kids are going surfing this morning, up to 3 times a day most days actually, it's school holidays so what else do you do when you are a child who luckily lives just steps from the sea.

Proof I knit

I love to knit and here I am finishing the back of my angora vest I started on the weekend. Miss Puss loves to keep me and my ball of wool company now the weather is cooling down. You can almost see my new favourite shoes, a raspberry coloured pair of Stegmann Mary Jane style, so very comfy. This photo was taken by my daughter and it really wasn't a photo of me, my face never appeared in it, she just loves to annoy the cat. Glad I shaved my legs!

Darling Daughter

It doesn't take much to keep Darling Daughter happy! Her vest is complete very 70's but looks cute on her over a t-shirt with jeans. Will endeavour to snap a photo of her wearing it soon. I don't think I'll be knitting anything striped for a while at least until I forget about sewing in all the ends, what a tedious task that was.

An Easter visitor

Surfer Boy is the only brave one among us. He was once a keeper of Spiny Leaf insects and this morning arrived at breakfast with a visitor, a Stick insect. They are designed to be very camouflaged in the Australian bush and they love eating eucalyptus leaves. Not a very photogenic insect, quite drab really except the gorgeous colourings on the tiny little wings, quite iridescent. Oh, and they are quite harmless, they just look fearsome, really very gentle creatures who spend their days swaying the breeze pretending to be a stick so they don't become lunch for some keen eyed bird. Click on the photos for more detail.

New book......new vest

I bought this new Jo Sharp book this week as I really liked the vest on the cover and I knew I had some pale lemon 8ply lambswool/angora that I have stored for almost 25 years that I think will look great in this very comfy looking vest. Started last night with this zigzag cabling, slow but effective and oh so soft.

Breeding like rabbits

The little gold bunny and her kittens came to visit our house overnight, they came to the right house. We are a family of chocolate lovers and these just hit the spot with the young and old. The large one is mine and it is made of tin and it hid the five tiny babes and a few Lindt milk balls as well, have only eaten 3 so far, savouring the joy they bring. The tin will live in my sewing studio from now on, it is so cute and probably useful too.

Happy Easter

What a clever sister I have, she has been very busy today, dying eggs, making an origami bag and a wee bunny. I had great plans to dye some eggs but just didn't get organised. My only Easter effort today was another batch of Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns they are very yummy. I used a stronger bread flour and they turned out beautifully. I hope the Lindt Bunny visits your house tonight because that is what I am wishing for. Chocolate is about the only thing I am enjoying eating lately with this oozing cavernous hole in my mouth where a wisdom tooth was that just throbs non stop......sorry about the whinge but I am feeling miserable.

Quilt show this Easter

I hope you are all enjoying family and friends this Easter and eating lots of yummy hot cross buns together. My Dear Husband and I have both had to work today although my work is a little more pleasant than his. I do a bit of shop window dressing locally and today I had to set up a temporary shop at a Quilt Show. Here is a not so great photo of part of the display, there was very little natural light and flash photos weren't great either, sorry. I fell in love with the hexagon quilt that I had to hang which will be a class next term. I have requested position no. 1 in this totally hand stitched quilt class, just perfect for winter sewing by the fire. I love the eclectic mix of large scale and bold prints and if you have a closer look there is gorgeous hand quilting which is done as you make each block.

Drive safely.

The first batch

These are my first attempt at making Hot Cross Buns for Easter. They look ok except for the lumpy crosses. My kids hate peel so I substituted choc chips for currants and peel, and they ahd instant appeal! Bought more supplies for the weekend so if you are in the neighbourhood you just might get to try one.

Chelsea Bloom

This is a very cuddly lap quilt made from a Hot Possums pattern called 'Chelsea Bloom'. They are Australian quilt designers based in Western Australia. I used a lot of Amy Butler prints and some Jennifer Sampou, most of the applique background is cotton velvet which is so soft now this quilt has been washed, dried and finished in the dryer. This pattern is very easy, all the applique was done with a blanket stitch on my Bernina Aurora. I completed the top in a weekend and sent it off to a machine quilter for the allover flower design, then I only had to do the binding and it was complete. Hot Possum has great children's quilts, I have seen many made up and the animals are very friendly and very easy to work with. Many apologies for the creased quilt, it has been folded for too long, an airing will do it good.

Tsunami warning

Yesterday morning there was a large earthquake near the Solomon Islands and the east coast of Australia was to expect a Tsunami around lunchtime. Warnings went out, beaches were closed, people headed for higher ground, others just panicked and many like me were oblivious to all the fuss. From this bad photo of an arial photo under glass hanging in our house you can see I would have been washed away with the tide while baking biscuits if the warning had been correct. Our home is on the corner of the cross road you can see in the photo and we are literally 3 steps above sea level.

I'm glad I didn't know, what would you do? Many we know rushed and grabbed their children from school, packed up and headed up the mountain.

There is no doubt the tsunami warning system is not very good especially when the media get hold of it. What would happen if it was the middle of the night? Much discussion needs to go on to find the most efficient warning system and then work out action plans for evacuations if necessary.

Anyway it's a new day today and we didn't get washed away so lets get out there and live our lives without fear.

Climbing Roses

I designed this quilt for a group of embroiderers who wanted to learn more about hand applique and machine piecing. It is an assymetrical quilt as I don't really like things layed out perfectly. I used a block with a strong diagonal so I could turn it to give the quilt more interest by making the centre 'off centre'. The applique was very simplistic with gentle curves that are easy to achieve and a few pointy leaves to practice their cornering techniques. I don't seem to be able to show you the quilting on this one, it won't show up on the deep denim blue background but trust me it is gorgeous. This quilter echoed my applique designs in the blank areas and the border is very heavily quilted with the same flower shapes. Click on the photo and you can get a bit closer and see some of the quilting.