...and a partridge in a pine tree!!

This is my belated toy society toy for the Christmas 2009 Drop Off. Isn't she just too cute? I have to say I was a little hesitant to say goodbye, but I think a little one might have picked her up already as she was not there this morning. That is my mum and Brigi in the background, playing on the swings at Copacabana beach.
I am not sure I will be posting anymore until the new year, so I would like to finish 2009 off by saying a huge THANK YOU to all my blog readers, some of you I know and many from all over the world. I have really enjoyed reading your comments and hopefully I have provided some entertainment to you all. This year has been a busy one and this blog has provided a creative outlet and kept me connected with the world. It is my 32nd birthday tomorrow, so the chaos starts a day early in our household. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year and everything in between!! Bec xoxo

Sunday Stash #16

So I wonder what on earth I am going to put up for my next Sunday Stash and lo and behold there are still piles of fabric to see me through at least another month! This stash is going towards what will be my quilt for The Beehive- it's to be a beachy one for my parents-in-law who have a house on the South Australian coastline (Goolwa). If you are freezing cold in the northern hemisphere you may be wondering why such cool colours for such a festive time of year?? To tell you the truth, it's pretty hot in Australia right now and so for me a beach inspired quilt sounds entirely normal! Goolwa can be 35-40 degrees (100 degrees farenheit) in the shade and freezing cold in the water, they get the southern swell from Antarctica. There is some Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt and Jennifer Paganelli in that little bundle.

Sunday Stash #15

These delicious fabrics were purchased from the sale at The Remnant Warehouse during the week. I LOVE colour against a grey background. I have no idea what they will be used for but just couldn't resist!

And below is Mr Samson on some cute little pants that were made using Lecien fabric- very Japanese, little cats and sheep and lambs and ducks all dressed up!

A birthday worth mentioning & December Beehive

So, I hit home with a crashing thud and what do I do to relieve the everydayness of not being on holidays?? Buy HEAPS of fabric and start sewing in a frenzied manner. But first, I forgot to let y'all kow that Brigi turned 3 last week, clever chicken. This is her at Taronga Zoo in awe of a giant sized koala. Amy, you know how EXHAUSTED we were, but it was heaps of fun and a very memorable day!

And THIS amazing creation has been what I have spent my afternoon assembling. It is for Jo for the December Beehive , not just flying geese but a circle of geese! I have to say I thought she was crazy whe I first saw the pattern, and that if I cut into her gorgeous linen I might live to regret it, but the final product is spectacular, and I have learnt alot.

That's all until Sunday, I have a mountain of stash to make up for! x

Beehive block for November

This is a close up of the 15.5"x10.5" block I completed for Meg for November's Beehive. I have to say I was initially skeptical of enjoying abstract piecing and I loved doing it!! If I made a mistake it didn't matter, I just made it work and I was pretty happy with the outcome. It also helped that Meg chose some gorgeous fabrics, especially the Joel Dewberry floral silhouette- my fave. I might have to get some for my Beehive!!

Under Meg's instructions I managed to iron most seams open- no small feat for so much small piecing.
Meg I hope you enjoy this quilt, I loved doing your block and it taught me alot that I had never tried before!!

Officially home...

and not loving it but I am pleased to be back to the online wilderness! Our holiday was fab, as you can see from the photos, and although the sewing machine was set up, I did a paltry amount. So, here is a summary of our holiday:

1. Hanging out with Brigi and swimming with ducks

2. Zooming around the Hawkesbury trying desperately to avoid thunderstorms in our boat while smelling like bait! Nick and I loved out couple of days out on the boat, we didn't catch much that was edible but the main thing is we made it home alive. I kid you not, there was lightning zapping right behind us as we zoomed back to Patonga Beach.

3. Did I mention Brigi - swimming - ducks??? I just hope she forgives me for her wearing glasses AND a hat when she is older.

4. Brigi giving a kangaroo at the Australian Reptile Zoo a smooch.

And there you pretty much have it!! There was lots of surf time at the rockpool at Copa but Brigi was so fearless I guess Nick and I were running around the whole time, so alas no photos. She managed to get into a swim ring and LOVED it, and when I say she loved it, I mean she was OUT THE BACK (I know it's in the rockpool but there was surf!) swirling around treading water. That girl is adventurous.

And last but not least, the beginning of my abstract block for Meg for the Beehive. I promise you Meg, it will be in the post this week, with a little salty air in the fabric.

I hope this post finds you all well, I can't wait to catch up on my blog reading too. Bec xo

At the Copa, Copacabaaaaaana

God bless Barry Manilow. I am in holiday mode on the NSW central coast at Copacabana Beach, and in my hazy relaxed state I forgot to let you all know!! So my apologies, I am tuned out for another week. But never fear, my sewing machine is set up and all my other sewing tools are spread all over the place. It's just hard to find the time in between swimming with Brigi amongst the ducks and vaguing out in the heat!! TTFN, Bec xo

Coconut Rice

Miss B is on a soy and dairy free diet, and for those of you who have little ones with allergies and food intolerances it can be hard to get excited about cooking when so much is cut out of the diet. This recipe is easy peasy and is a delicious dessert or special occasion breakfast. I adapted a recipe for rice porridge out of Donna Hay's Off The Shelf book, replacing regular milk with coconut milk and adding some brown sugar. You don't have to add sugar but I find I use less in the cooking as opposed to heaping some on every time you serve it. This is yummy hot or cold, with fresh or stewed fruit on top. Brigi licks her fingers when we eat this, which is encouraging!!

Ingredients

1/2 cup short grain rice

1 1/2 cup water

1 cup coconut light milk

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Wash rice.

Put all ingredients into a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice is very soft and the mixture looks like porridge.

Spoon into a bowl and top with your favourite fruit, or eat straight away. You can serve with extra coconut milk if desired.

Sunday Stash #14

This is a beautiful "vintage" Prints Charming fabric I have in my stash. It's from about 4 years ago I think, and I can't bear to cut it up!!

Sunday Stash #13 & a fairy!

I'm sorry I'm a whole day late, we had a weekend of house hunting, halloween party at Nicholson St Primary School in Balmain (Brigi was a fairy, her friends were a bunny and a bee), breakfast out, sewing and family dinner!!! Phew, It's exhausting just remembering. Any road up, below is Miss B and her bumble bee friend and some pretty Kokka florals, same design different colour ways...


Hope you are all well, Emma I am pleased to hear from you all the way from Singapore!! Hope you and family are settling in. TTFN all you lovely online wilderness browsers, Bec xo

A secret worth celebrating

I am whispering this as I write and touching wood at the same time so I don't jinx myself... for those of you who know Miss B you know her story, for those of you who don't I am not going to elaborate except to say she has had an uphill battle all her life and is tube fed. So here is my revolutionary secret-

Miss B has had no overnight feed for one whole week now.

There!! How clever is my chicken?

Sunday Stash #12

Here is some oh-so-sweet japanese fabric- lots of bunnies and bears and the odd cat and dog thrown in.

Sunday Stash #11

This is the Zimmerman fabric that made up Mr Rabbit's torso. It's a beautiful lightweight cotton voile, great for kiddies clothes.

Mr B.Rabbit

Meet Mr B. Rabbit, he is the first toy I have made for The Toy Society...

Isn't he handsome in an original only-a-mother-could-love-him sort of way??? This is him on the park bench where he is hoping to find a friend...

As his creator I became quite attached to Mr Rabbit, and was a little sad to hang his "please take me home" sign around his neck- I could see the look of betrayal flicker across his eyes...

On a practical note, his tail was a yoyo- so easy to make!!! The fabrics were from all over the place- Zimmerman, japanese, urban chicks, Prints Charming etc etc.

By the time I went past the park this afternoon he had gone- bye bye Mr Rabbit, I hope you found a good home!

A babe (and a star!) is born

Today has been a day of high nerves and excitement. My little sis had her first baby- a beautiful boy named Samson. This post has piles of photos in it because I can finally show you what I have been working on for 6 months- Sam's quilt! It is a star quilt, the pattern used from the first Material Obsession book.

The fabrics used were from the Lecien Folklore range, Moda Arcadia and Urban Chicks. It took some time finding appropriate colour matches.

As you can see, there was LOTS of fussy cutting. I only made the centre of the quilt and bound it to make it baby size. I didn't know what the sex of her baby was so I used muted blues and aubergine and made it pretty. This quilt has been my baby- after only a year of quilting I had no idea how hard a star was, but it was well worth the effort. I learnt how to quilt on my machine and did stitch in the ditch and stippling myself!

Amy (my sis) was happy with the pressie (it was hard to give to her!) and Sam had a lovely snuggle under there. As my sister has just arrived home (yes, she gave birth 5 hours ago) she wasn't in a photo op moment but I will get some of her with little Sam.

Welcome to the world little one. Brigi can't wait to give you a kiss!

Sunday Stash #10

Some beautiful paint by numbers birds care of the lovely Kate...

October Beehive

Below is the block for my October beehive for Belinda. It is HUGE for a quilt block- 18.5" square. It was so rewarding making a large block, I think because it looks like you've done so much! I loved the fabrics, it was pretty easy for me to work on. Next is a 9.5" square with the leftovers...

Sunday Stash #9

This is a fabric that I have had for a while in my stash, I just can't bear to think of cutting it up but feel it's wasted sitting in my stash and should be loved. It's a Nani Iro double gauze designed by Naomi Ito. The front piece of gauze is a "soft black", and the backing is a taupe colour, making the overall look a lovely sludgy black floral.

Miss B wanted me to let you know she was not in the mood for posing today (believe me, we tried!) and so the finished dress made from the Japanese seersucker is displayed by her "mirror girl" on her wardrobe door instead... she has a Sale of the Century hand waving pose happening don't you think?

I have a confession to make- I don't "do" facings unless I absolutely have to and so I used a navy bias binding to finish off the neck, sleeves and even the hem. I think it gives some definition to the dress and it suit's Miss B's colourings. While it didn't come up too clearly the button is from my stash, a little lime coloured apple.

TTFN, Bec x

4 days to go...

So just letting y'all know I have kept my promise from my Sunday Stash #7 to not buy fabric for two whole weeks. Thank goodness I didn't overcommit myself as I have found some that I can't wait to get my grubby hands on! Come Monday I will be free of my promise and ready to feed the addiction. In the meantime I have finished a quilt and started a dress for Miss B in the seersucker japanese fabric from Sunday Stash #4. Photos for quilt are going to have to wait until my sister has her baby, just in case she is lurking around in the online wilderness...

Sunday Stash #8

Some summery looking Denyse Schmidt... Beehive inspiration perhaps?

September Beehive

Below are the two blocks I made for Mel this month...

Blood red skies

Who would have thought that yesterday's photo would be followed by this...we woke up this morning to dark red skies. Red dust is stretching from Wollongong, out west to Dubbo, and up north to Newcastle, never before seen in Sydney.

A balmy day

This is what my day consisted of- blue sky, coastal breeze, fun in the park with friends, thank goodness for spring.

Sunday Stash #7

Just as well 7 is one of my favourite numbers- this stash is truly memorable! Firstly, three photos from my fabric frenzy at Tessuti during the week. I was in such a fluster I can't remember the designers- I think the first is Elie Saab, my fave (100% silk), middle one who knows (let's just make it Italian! silk and elastane) and the final fabric is Pucci (silk jersey). If you live in Melbourne check out the store down there, they will be heading your way soon.

The photo below sums up the intoxicating flurry of my mum (Susie, left) and Sue (Aunty Sue/ Noosa Girl, right) swathed in Versace. Amazing how we can be so tragically fabulous!! Long live fabric addiction.

And on that note I am committing to not buying any fabric for two whole weeks. I know, lame timeframe but that's all I can commit to!!!

My summer frock

Well, it is warm enough in Sydney today for me to throw on this little number I made with my first sunday stash. Admittedly I finished the dress about a month ago and haven't had the gumption to "pose" for you!! I was still giggling through the photos as my mum kept telling me, "don't just stand there Bec, give a little wiggle!". I did wiggle but I don't know how much better it made it all... any road up, enough of my insecurities, it's all about the dress. The tie (sleeves and bow) is a black viscose georgette, which drapes quite well and isn't too stiff for the gathering at the front and back neck line.

After putting me through my photo shoot I thought it only fair that I submit my mum to the same. She has been totally demonic in sewing up a storm this morning. The most divine European fabrics have arrived at Tessuti and Colette was lovely enough to give us a preview yesterday. Of course, being addicted to fabric we all went a little crazy. It didn't help that Sue (aka Noosa Girl!) was down from the Sunshine Coast and somehow we all lost any form of rational thought between us and bought piles of fabric (but more of that at the next sunday stash!). Here is my mum's Pucci skirt, two side seams beautifully matched and a simple overlocked hem.

While we were being silly, little Miss Brigi found the Buddha statue and gave him a big smack on the lips- lucky guy.