All Wrapt Up

Need a quick present then make a quilt of big blocks that look like presents. This quilt I designed for all the large print fabrics that are around at the moment so they can be shown off to the max. The girls at the shop did a great job piecing this one and then it was machine quilted by a fantastic local quilter who made all the ribbons different and created big bows in the border. Will take a better photo as this one was in the window of the shop with the western sun streaming in.

Isn't she lovely

I can't wait to wear this one, it is so soft and warm and it has been a work in progress for almost a year now so it's about time it was finished. Rowan Kidsilk Spray is challenging to knit with as it is so fine and it is not made for unpicking! Too much fluff that gets tangled and won't budge. How do I know? Well I had to unpick the cast off this morning as it was too tight. I then re cast it off on needles two sizes larger, aahhh, much better. I have given you a close up of my model, the very beautiful 'Lady of the Lamp', she is a family heirloom in Dear Husbands family who we are currently caring for.

Naughty puss

I stepped out of the room for 5 minutes and looked what happened. That is my Rowan Kidsilk Spray very fine mohair and silk lace knitting that naughty Miss Belle has decided will make a comfy little resting place for her. Doesn't she know she is being naughty! What a wicked little puss. Darling Daughter came and asked whether she could use my camera for just one photo because her battery was flat and she wouldn't tell me what for. She came back and showed me this pic. She kept saying "You won't be happy mum". Our cat isn't allowed up on furniture and much less on my knitting. You won't believe it but she has a beautiful bed placed right near the fire! I hope to have this scarf finished and blocked ready for the weekend, only two patterns to go.

For an even greyer day

Here it is, I've been waiting for the weather to break so I could take a lovely outdoor photo of my new bag. I love this bag, it has felted so well and it is just the right size and shape. and the stainless steel looks good with the colour. Might make another with a flap over.

For those grey winter days

I have been inspired by the really awful winter weather lately, as you can see, a drab grey bag! Not very inspiring is it, but I think it will be the perfect partner for some of the winter clothes I have bought for myself this winter, grey seems to be in down here in Australia this season. Anyway grey is much easier on the eyes to knit than black but that it what I intend to tackle next when I have a design sorted in my head. I like to have the whole bag planned in my head before I begin to knit, might seem weird to some of you but that is how I create anything. I must have a clear idea of where the project is going before I start.

This grey bag will be felted and drying by days end. I hope to write the pattern up this week and you may even see me using it at the Sydney Craft and Quilt show this coming weekend.

Siesta time down on the bay

Out riding to day I came across this big group of pelicans snoozing in the late afternoon sun on an old jetty and another lonely soul right on the bike path, he didn't even bat an eye lid when I came to a sudden holt very close by and grabbed the camera out of my basket.

All is well with Miss Belle

What else would you do except loll around in the sun on a glorious winter day after being stuck inside for the last 2 weeks of terrible wet weather.

Meringue anyone?

Well hasn't the sea dished up a wonderful display today, free meringue for all who dare venture onto our beaches today! What a wonderful wintery site, the sea foam was wobbling in the wind like jelly on a plate. We were told to batten down the hatches last night as we should expect gale force winds and rain overnight. We did receive a drenching and the winds whipped at our home all through the night, thankfully not quite as traumatic as suggested by the media throughout yesterday.

Berry Delight

The combustion wood fire is great for drying felted projects overnight so you get to see this little beauty earlier than I though you might. This bag is made with Rustic wool Bendigo Woollen Mills and it has felted beautifully but it does have a more woolly look than Panda Woolbale wool, which gives potential for future pilling. I love how the knitted on icord edges have defined the bag and it makes the base very stable. This is a great small bag for winter evening outings and it's very secure with it's narrow opening.

Newest edition to the bag collection

Well another dreary day outside but it suits me completely as it's great weather for knitting and felting. Must also do some baking for the family as they are beginning to complain! this bag uses attached icord edging to create a nice finish to the edges and to pick out the rectangular base. It will go into the wash very soon. the colours are a really deep red currant and a blue that has the same red currant red through it, I know it looks purple trust me it's not! Results will be shown in the next day or so when the bag is dry.

Retro yo yo's

What a find, three very retro small quilts made up of 225 yo yo's each. Someone has spent a lot of time cutting and sewing 675 small circles of very wild fabrics together. I found these yesterday while out shopping in the pouring rain and couldn't resist the price of one little dollar. The middle one of all different checks is my favourite and is going to my sister to decorate her new sewing room that is decorated with the colours of pale aqua, red and white. Hope she likes it! Click on the photo for a closer look at the fabrics, sorry the photo is a flash photo but it is still raining and miserable here. The photo appears fuzzy but I think it is the fabrics that make it look worse!

Rocks

I love the rocks on the island, rugged and volcanic, then some tumbled and smooth, so many colours.

Girlfriends

Darling Daughter and her two little neighbourhood friends went walking with us on a rock ledge around a local island. They have so much fun when they're together, they are all little tom boys at heart who love to get out and explore. Collecting starfish was there thing today and they wore them like stickers and then fiddled with gorgeous red anemone and pale mauve baby jellyfish. Two of them love their 'COON' cheese as you can see!

Happy little Surfer Boy

Today it hasn't taken much to make our Surfer Boy happy, great waves off the island at a break called 'Pink Rocks'. The boys and girls leap off the rock ledge and then they're into it, but this morning it was like a log jam. Too many surfers and not enough wave, but it was goooooood!!

The cruel sea

I have always loved the sea and have lived beside it for many years but you do have to remember its power. Finally the nasty weather is moving on but it has left it's mark along the shores. The beaches are covered in seaweed and debris as far as the eye can see. The high tide line has been eating into the fragile sand dunes. A seahorse was found, what a beautiful delicate creature they are. The water was bubbling and churning at the foot of the lookout and just at the base of the stairs to the beach a lonely fur seal had succumbed to the sea, poor thing. What a fabulous animal with not a mark on it and it's thick lovely fur coated with salt and sand. I apologise if this upsets anyone but to me it just represents the circle of life that we are all part of.

Something fishy going on in the neighbourhood

Not sure if you can make them out but our neighbour is out there as I post shaping all his roadside trees into fish...........so people will know they are near the sea! How bizarre. I will sneak out later to get a better photo of the whole school.

Wild weather

Some of you out there may have heard about the wild weather lashing the east coast of New South Wales around Newcastle which has had devastating effects. We also have been experiencing strong wind and some rain and it has whipped the sea up. Not the worst I've ever seen it but it is loud when you are lying in bed listening to it pound on the rocks. These two photos are looking across the smaller of the bays here which is the normally calm bay shown in the photo to the right.

Coloured glass

I have made three more hexagons for my quilt and I placed out the five and it reminded me of something, my Murano glass pendant. This little disc of handcrafted glass is only 1" across and it has the most wonderful glass flowers which stack together like little hexagons. This is my best attempt at capturing the beauty of this little treasure that my husband gave me for Christmas a few years back.

Happily hand piecing hexagons

Click on the photo to see all the gorgeous fabrics and the hand quilting in the teachers quilt.

I have had lovely day today being a student in a quilt making class. This quilt is made up of hand pieced quilt as you go hexagons which are perfect for winter evenings and great for using up some of the stash of fabrics I have. These two blocks represent 3 hours of class time with lots of homework before the next class in a months time. It is a very rare event that I get to attend a class so I thoroughly enjoyed myself today and look forward to seeing my classmates colour combinations and inspiring ideas next lesson. It's raining and quite cold out tonight, I would say winter has really arrived here and it's time to settle in for an indoors long weekend full of sewing, knitting and good food. Bliss!

Winter is dawning

The sun is rising and only my daughter is about on the beach in her flannelet pj's with a school jumper over the top and probably barefoot. She is an obsessed photographer. My kids have always, always got out of bed early whether to surf, watch music video shows, create artwork or take off and take mad photos before the adults are about. They love mornings.