tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36789985749638568412024-03-19T14:45:03.343+10:30Quilting in My PyjamasShayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.comBlogger683125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-76740173172411567102015-07-06T06:49:00.000+09:302015-07-08T06:37:25.646+09:30Nothing to see here ...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Work has been insane for the last month, which is the excuse I'm using for my latest absence. Mr. P and I have barely seen one another during the week for the last three weeks. By the time I got home , my brain was mush and it's was all either of us could do to sort out dinner. There has been a lot of picking up takeaway on the way home , or eating breakfast cereal at 7pm, and on weekends we've been playing the "lets catch up on everything we didn't get done during the week " game, and sadly, Nanna napping to catch up on sleep. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All this self neglect and unintended abuse finally caught up with me this week, when I got sick with a case of shingles and so since Wednesday I've swapped working for sleeping, vowing to take better care of myself (while working my way through a dozen Krispy Kremes) and binge watching Orange is The New Black on Netflix. I haven't left the house in 5 days and I'm going a little bit stir crazy. It's been bags of fun, which coincidentally is where my shingles rash has appeared and so I haven't been wearing a bra either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since I last made a grand appearance on my own blog, Mr P and I have done a long weekend trip where I managed to take one photo while I ate my way through Melbourne...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I went away for work and woke up to this view ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent some quality time with my sewing posse which is only one of two times I've picked up a needle and thread in the last 4 weeks. A large part of my day involved unpicking less than stellar quilting. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From L to R - Kris's knitting, Loz's embroidery,Claire's hexies and applique, and Kay's quilting</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Super E came to stay and I forgot to take any pictures at all...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And I spent a considerable amount of time wrestling with fruit based technology trying to get stuff from my old apple thingamajigs to the new ones. I emerged only partially </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">victorious, and have had to commence Cupcake Mania from level 1, which is a real pity because I was on level 270. Let this be a lesson to us all to back up on itunes or icloud a little more often. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm on a new healthier eating kick, so we'll see how long that lasts and if it helps me find my creative mojo which sadly seems to have been absent for most of 2015. Baby steps - today's goal is to eat two pieces of fruit and stick salad in my focaccia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Enjoy your week. </span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-80449928137482762912015-05-19T18:52:00.001+09:302015-05-19T18:52:04.938+09:30When the Sewing Bug Bites....<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent the weekend sleeping and eating, with some honest to goodness sewing chucked in. Friday night I caught up with some girlfriends for dinner, and Saturday night we went out to my favourite Chinese restaurant to celebrate a family birthday. On Saturday I was all set to get together with the Not The Farmer's Wife sewing girls for our monthly sewing sesh but a fortuitous message at 8 am , advised me that I had the date completely cocked up. Good thing I saw that or I would have rocked up at Claire's a full week early ( which given my usual Modus Operandi for being woefully late to sewing group , probably would have resulted in her having a heart attack) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been avoiding some long neglected quilting projects for far too long and have added a couple more starts since I last looked at the unfinished pile and then promptly ignored them. This past week, I decided to take stock of where my projects are at and how many UFO's I have laying around. It felt like I had an overwhelming amount of things in progress but once I got them all out it wasn't too bad at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marrakesh...sitting in the lounge waiting for me to decide if the centre rectangles need quilting....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Charming Stars has been living on the sewing room floor for about three months ...and has cat puke on it I think...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miss Elizabeth hasn't been touched in about two months ....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started this HST quilt a few months ago but progress had stalled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holiday Happy has been living in this box for about two years now in a state of unfinished-ness. There's nothing happy about that ....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And my Swoon blocks are driving me slightly mad , but at least they're only a couple of weeks old....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something magical happened once I had all those projects out - the sewing bug bit and my motivation to sew came back with a vengeance. Happy Day! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I finished half the HST quilt and decided to go with a more traditional layout for convenience(plus trying to work out setting squares was doing my head in) Yeah, I know I'm a wuss, and I will do setting squares at some point - just not on this quilt...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I picked up the cat puke quilt from the floor and got on with the quilting ....FYI it wasn't as bad as I thought...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I decided that Marrakesh didn't need any extra quilting, chucked it in the wash and ended up with my first finish of 2015 ....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the front ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here is the pretty part of the back ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now to sustain the momentum! </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-44000973750978951402015-05-10T19:32:00.004+09:302015-05-10T19:32:20.398+09:30In Search of Chocolate Chip Cookie Greatness <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you to everyone who has recently sent me chocolate chip cookie recipes. Because I'm all about evidence based research, I'm working my way through them and consequently I'm starting to look like a whale. Because making them means you have to eat them too. But Van Gogh suffered for his art and I'm applying the same sort of rigorous commitment to my chocolate chip cookie quest. And yes - an arse the size of China is a small price to pay for finding the perfect chocolate chip cookie. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thewayisewit.blogspot.com.au/">P at The Way I Sew It </a>sent me a recipe which called for Crisco which isn't easily obtainable here, so I went online and had some sent over from USA Foods In Melbourne. It arrived on Thursday so I set about making her recipe on Saturday. You Americans just love to make shit difficult don't you? The recipe called for all purpose flour and baking powder. Why don't you guys just use self raising flour so you don't have to drag out two containers? That's what I did, because I'm lazy. I also couldn't be bothered doing accurate conversions, so instead of the 3/4 of a cup of butter , I chucked in 200 grams. I'm just not up for stuffing butter into a cup and then digging it out again with a spoon. That's just madness. I did chuck in 1 and 3/4 Aussie cups of flour which is about 50 grams more flour but I figured that would cancel out the extra Crisco. And I put in extra chocolate chips , because you can never have too many right? Then I duly plopped tablespoons onto trays. By the way,you guys can't do maths at all, because the recipe said I would be get three dozen cookies and I only got 18. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first batch of cookies went into the oven ...and came out looking like this...someone on Facebook commented that they looked like they were trying to escape. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaZ-Rrr88lceozIU9Tk8Lfwfxs1ezaigYHzInkIqmxRWXHsRZdnLJdlBuHecbwhAEKGZy1CwEtyNtPv9KnGBl2rwHxduicnhPibb-Uxm6e7VztAs1e6cP1St8h_SbBI6F5cOCxwXY1pBH/s1600/Escaping+Cookies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaZ-Rrr88lceozIU9Tk8Lfwfxs1ezaigYHzInkIqmxRWXHsRZdnLJdlBuHecbwhAEKGZy1CwEtyNtPv9KnGBl2rwHxduicnhPibb-Uxm6e7VztAs1e6cP1St8h_SbBI6F5cOCxwXY1pBH/s320/Escaping+Cookies.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The recipe said they would take 8-9 minutes for chewy cookies and 11-13 minutes for crispy cookies. Mine took about 25 minutes. What's up with that ? Its not like time moves slower Down Under. Although I accept that my baseball sized tablespoon plops were probably to blame. And, no wonder my cookies were trying to escape - they were being burned alive- slowly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Round Two and Three went a little better...although I got distracted by Pinterest and Cupcake Mania on my iPad so some of my cookies got baked for 15 minutes and some were in there for about an hour, so I had all the colours of doneness by the time I was finished. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I must say,that even though Crisco is not actual food per se, (I checked the history of Crisco and I kid you not they used to make candles out of the original incarnation) the cookies were pretty bloody good, and I reckon I can tweak this recipe ( and take a vow of not being distracted by games on my iPad) and if I measure things a little more carefully, maybe this could be the recipe of my dreams. If I can get over the guilt of using Crisco. But I'm not backing off on the extra chocolate chips because that would just be wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy Mother's Day to all of you. I spent a fabulous afternoon in The Jungle with my Mum having lunch. Mum's are just awesome aren't they? </span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-16247051776683010692015-04-30T06:40:00.001+09:302015-04-30T06:40:33.541+09:30Lucky Dip Dining <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was talking to one of my work colleagues last week, who
mentioned she was dropping in to one of her favourite restaurants on the way
home from work to pick up the worlds best yiros and flat bread. I’d heard of the restaurant and commented
about how I wanted to go there one day.
I got an enthusiastic response about how their yiros was the BEST, and made a mental note to talk to Mr. P about going
there one day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday night I decided I wanted sushi but the sushi restaurant was closed. So I made another mental note to go there for lunch the next day but it got me to thinking about my conversation earlier in the week which led to another thought that we have all these fabulous cheap
restaurants in our city and I'm not making use of them. Every time someone
mentions a restaurant or dining experience to me, I mentally file the thought
away to go there someday and never actually
follow through. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I spent some of my Saturday night on the internets,
looking up places I want to eat at then I made a list. I printed out the list , cut them up ,
folded them and put them into a jar. Then I cheated and pulled out the one for the sushi restaurant because that was the thought that started all of this so therefore it deserved to be first.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7lU6s-yXJx9AiIgJv7CNCc5ktcgBJ_Ist208VCyIhL7Moo-lj6W5uz4JV_g_KxNvsUrZoxzfmancSMJ08uqWiCSiQT33Yb9Rr-eMusHsTTsxfshSSU0cMJZbaUwNlduS59xVeFarzUvh/s1600/Kintaro.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7lU6s-yXJx9AiIgJv7CNCc5ktcgBJ_Ist208VCyIhL7Moo-lj6W5uz4JV_g_KxNvsUrZoxzfmancSMJ08uqWiCSiQT33Yb9Rr-eMusHsTTsxfshSSU0cMJZbaUwNlduS59xVeFarzUvh/s1600/Kintaro.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So Mr. P and I went off to Kintaro Sushi Train for lunch (which is <a href="http://tazziequilts.blogspot.com.au/">Tazz's</a> fault because she took me there for the first time a couple of months ago and I seriously fell in love with their food ) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm also rather enamoured with the idea that food whizzes past me on a conveyor belt and I just grab whatever looks good. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Which can be a bit of a double edged sword really, because it all looks good . </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It can be a bit like playing Russian roulette with food because you might see something delicious coming towards you, and there is every chance that someone else closer to the item is thinking the same thing and will grab the very thing you were looking at so longingly before it gets to you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You then have the choice of rugby tackling the unsuspecting thief</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to the ground to retrieve what you wanted , (which is anti social behaviour and probably arrestable) or to go back to watching food whizz past you while you look for something else that takes your fancy. I chose the latter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr. P and I managed 11 plates between us before we felt we'd sushi-ed ourselves out. I did gross him out by eating sashimi, so I felt the day was a double success. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not exactly cheap - 11 plates of sushi and two cokes set us back $51.00 for lunch but totally worth it. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-41499528725374205922015-04-21T06:39:00.000+09:302015-04-21T06:39:05.744+09:30Living La Vida Loca <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was starting to wonder whether I would ever post again, but here I am like the proverbial bad penny, wracked with guilt at having neglected my blog for so long. Starting a new job is hard work -far harder than I had imagined. After three months of feeling like a fish out of water, I'm only just now learning how to swim properly. And just when I think I have things sorted, I find something else I don't know or that I'm not sure about, and I feel like the new kid all over again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent the first few weeks of my new job travelling to the ends of the earth for training. For someone who has never travelled further than 15 minutes to work, an hour each way in bumper to bumper peak hour traffic was a truly horrendous experience. It was wonderful when I started at my permanent office, cut my daily travel time by about half and started to get in to some sort of routine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gone though, are the luxury days of fluffing round at home in the mornings, casually chucking myself into a shower and getting ready in 20 minutes and then leaving at 8.40am for my 10 minute drive to work. The corporate world demands I swap jeans for business pants ( or even scarier - a dress!), shoes that don't slip on, and a lack of pony tail as my go to hairstyle. I even wear makeup everyday. And as gorgeous and grown up as I look-all of this takes extra time, so sipping my morning latte while I check blogs prior to going to work is also a thing of the past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Needless to say, sewing was something that just wasn't on the priority list during my "settling in" period. Couple exhaustion and brain drain with the fact that I have been opening the door to my sewing space for months and just chucking things in the room will nilly , and that it was getting nigh on impossible to move around in there without the imminent danger of a mountain of stuff falling on me and burying me alive, and you have a set of circumstances guaranteed to kill any creative thoughts that might dare to pop into your head.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So this past weekend, I sucked it up, tied a rope around my waist (so Mr. P could pull me out mountaineer style if one of the piles collapsed) and ventured in to the danger zone. And when I triumphantly emerged , I could see carpet again. I did the happy dance around every square inch of that space ( and chucked in a moon walk for good measure) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This led to the idea that it was high time to stop laying out quilt bits on the floor and screeching angrily at the assortment of furry things that share Maison Pyjamas every time they stampled on them , and so my portable design walls finally became a reality. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There has not yet been a quilt finish for 2015 , but it appears I have found the motivation to start something new. Although, speaking of finishes, I have managed to quilt the Marrakesh quilt , and put the binding on ...but I still cant make up my mind whether I'm going to do some quilting in these centre rectangles, and if so what I'm going to do -so it technically remains unfinished. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Super E has started school since I last put in an appearance here, and is loving it. I can't believe he's old enough to be at school because it just seems like a few months ago that he was learning to crawl around my kitchen. We headed off to the Lego exhibition a couple of weekends ago, which was like heaven to a small boy with a Lego obsession. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And during the dying days of Summer we made sure ice cream featured heavily in our adventures. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I am currently on a mission to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world. Last time I got this obsessed with finding a perfect recipe it resulted in me trying 20 lemon cheesecake recipes until I found the perfect one. Attempt No 1 on the chocolate chip cookies wasn't bad but wasn't exactly what I was after so attempt No 2 will be made some time this week. Do you know how many recipes out there tout that they are the "Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever"? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I consoled myself by making cupcakes....</span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-62670098025741809322015-01-13T08:31:00.003+10:302015-01-13T08:31:40.156+10:30The Party is (Almost) Over <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So...it's been a month since I showed my face round here and it's high time to get back into some semblance of a routine, both online and in my actual life. The break has been lovely though, since we've celebrated Christmas, ushered in a New Year and Mr. P and I have enjoyed an overseas holiday in my rather prolonged absence. So what's been going on here at Maison Pyjamas?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A few days before Christmas I managed to play nice with some gingerbread and put together this Christmas Tree under the watchful tutelage of the Gingerbread Ninja, <a href="http://tazziequilts.blogspot.com.au/">Ms. Tazzie</a>. And while it looks a little like the Leaning Tower of Pisa - it is still holding together even now and has given me hope that perhaps I can do an annual Gingerbread Christmas Tree or even cookies since my interest in icing cookies was definitely piqued by this project and Tazz's +++ confidence in me. It was like having my own personal gingerbread cheerleader (but without the pom poms)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSg3cux_YDtg2zIgod4XGHEqBP18xnnRdFogX9-CpZK0YLYzjL_g4TDJZTjDLQ4-dthDx3Zz4RS-icAduceMRMhLzKYw0PHsVU8TWDIU_2BG3SPCUVqmAvoSDWNpjpGjl7g__8jEMOayY/s1600/G+Tree.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSg3cux_YDtg2zIgod4XGHEqBP18xnnRdFogX9-CpZK0YLYzjL_g4TDJZTjDLQ4-dthDx3Zz4RS-icAduceMRMhLzKYw0PHsVU8TWDIU_2BG3SPCUVqmAvoSDWNpjpGjl7g__8jEMOayY/s1600/G+Tree.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christmas Day itself was a very relaxed affair. We had lunch at a local hotel, and
then headed off to my brother and sister in laws for the afternoon where we played
a spirited game of pictionary, which served to reinforce my belief that nobody
in my husbands family can draw for sh**. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was my sister in laws rendition of Darth Vader (which nobody guessed correctly although one bright spark did suggest "Bondage Hamburglar" ) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then it was off to my parents house to spend time with my family where the only game
we played was drinking cocktails and taking incriminating up to the minute videos
to put on Facebook for perpetuity. My sister and I were being really silly and the family photo album inherited some more really bad pictures like this one, in which I can't appear to make up my mind whether I'm going to mimic a chipmunk or a pirate. I think Sister of Pyjamas was going for a demented Jack Sparrow look which she nailed perfectly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made huge amounts of jam from apricots that were hanging over our side of the fence from the neighbours house and since it was unlikely that 20 year old male uni students were about to go Nigella and make their own jam I gave them a few jars as payment for providing me with the apricots. Everyone was happy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Very little sewing has taken place since I finished work 6 weeks ago. I'm mid way through quilting two tops and am hoping to finish at least one this week, and then we'll see about the other. I've taken laziness to a whole new level during this break! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Normally this would have me feeling like a slacker but I'm too relaxed to feel any guilt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I saved the best stuff for last - Mr. P and I have just come back from Langkawi, Malaysia which is seriously one of the most magical places on earth. Rather than wax lyrical about the beauty of this island , I'm going to let my pictures mostly do the talking. We saw in New Year on Pantai Kok beach, did a fish spa, went on a terrifying cable car ride, and I have decided that while wild monkeys look cute in theory , when they are up close and personal (with the possibility they might jump at you to bite you) they are decidedly less so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plenty of cocktails, retail therapy,( I added to my extensive shoe and handbag collections big time) relaxing and eating also took place. I have noticed that in previous holiday snaps I tend to take about a bajillion pictures of food so I deliberately concentrated on scenery this time around. And yes- thats really me up there on that horse. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week is all about getting ready to start my new job next week, catching up on the washing from our holiday and getting some sewing done. After spending the last 13 years slapping around in casual clothes for work I need to organise some sort of decent wardrobe of clothes that doesn't focus on jeans and cargo pants as a staple for workwear. Shoot me now.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-66592689259723714322014-12-12T07:39:00.002+10:302014-12-12T07:39:14.489+10:30Being A Lady of Leisure <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been on holidays for 12 days and have spent it doing pretty much whatever I wanted, which so far has involved a fair amount of sweet stuff all. Usually I'm trying to pack 30 hours of stuff into a 24 hour day so being able to move at a snails pace if I choose has been seriously refreshing. This being (temporarily) unemployed thing is working out pretty well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first thing I did was go on holidays for a week. And drink cocktails with </span><a href="http://sunshineparadiseplease.blogspot.com.au/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Little Miss Sunshine</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. In Queensland. That's really far away from where I live. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Dessert and cocktails in one glass is very special (or a sign of alcoholism..or laziness - I'm not sure which) so this one gets its own photo. Citron vodka and a pine-lime ice cream combo. I highly recommend it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had high hopes that LMS would have given up on the idea of trying to get me to eat vegetables and salads and my first meal was very heartening in this regard ....yes..chocolate is a meal. And there's fruit in there so this is actually healthy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">However it was</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> all downhill from there . I was force fed REAL healthy food. Every time this occured I had a (not so) subtle whinge about how my body was going into shock from lack of Maccas...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And eventually I turned my captors over to the dark side. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Stockholm syndrome</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> in reverse. Those psychology classes really paid off...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had the amazing pleasure of meeting one of my long time blog friends, <a href="http://michelleridgwaydesigns1.blogspot.com.au/">Michelle from Rag-Tag Stitchin'</a> for brunch and she is about ten times as awesome in person as she is in emails and on her blog. This was one of my favourite parts of the week because it was just so much fun. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See that gingerbread house? That's living at my house now. Hand made by Michelle herself. Look at those little gingerbread man buttons! That pattern is for quilt labels and is one of Michelle's too</span>.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> And the hanging plaque was made by one of Michelle's super talented friends. I was thrilled and blown away by this little parcel of goodies. Thankyou Michelle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went to the farmers market on Sunday at o'dark o'clock - seriously who leaves the house at this time of the morning for FUN? Freaking crazy people - that's who. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And since I was still half asleep I can't recall much of what we saw but I'd woken sufficiently by the time we got round to these so I took a picture...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Queensland is an awesome place - or it would be if not for the sucky humidity which made my hair look like this for my entire stay ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So once I got home I decided the time was right for a bit of a change. I've left the purple behind and gone for something more grown up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally - Drumroll please ....a couple of you suggested that my big exciting news might be that I was pregnant. Come on people - I'm 48 - that's not very likely and if I was I certainly wouldn't be celebrating it. So without further ado or stuffing around, the second thing I've done since being on holidays was to buy my dream car, which screams mid life crisis but I don't care. I was too busy being a sensible sole parent when I should have been buying one of these and now I don't have to be sensible anymore. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That is all - you can go back to doing what you were doing now. I'm going for a drive....</span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-68949143167170436382014-12-01T07:42:00.002+10:302014-12-01T07:42:49.261+10:30Saying Goodbye <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last week was a week of fluctuating emotions , an inevitable dash to the finish line to wrap up work related matters ( I failed because some things were left undone)and a week where I think I cornered the world market on tissue use. I burst into tears at the most inopportune times (pretty much every time someone looked at me- woe betide if they also got teary - the resultant flood threatened to engulf us both). A number of people refused to actually say the G-word , which means there was a healthy dose of denial going on from both sides of the fence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started the week by taking a picture of the space where I've sat my butt for the last 13 years. Walking out of here for the last time on Friday felt very surreal. My office was completely bare and devoid of any sort of personality. This little office has been very good to me. I've worked hard and occasionally played here , had serious and not so serious conversations here , and solved some big problems while sitting at that desk. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">People kept popping in to my office doorway and bursting into tears (I'm looking at you Nerida , Netta and kind of looking at you Bronwyn although you beat a hasty exit when your eyes welled up) To Maria , who hugged me tight every single time she saw me all week, which felt like it was far more often than usual (are you sure you weren't stalking me ?) - thank you . I'm not a huggy person but it was actually not too bad in that I didn't want to punch you when you did it. To Rachel who couldn't trust herself to actually speak to me one last time and tell me what she thought - girl it was a good choice to email because by the time you sent that through I was pretty much gone emotionally and if you had come and said those nice things in person I would have probably gone and immediately withdrawn my resignation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The work crew threw me a high tea on Thursday to say goodbye. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the crew. Many thanks to Kathy, our office manager , who did most of the organising for this spectacular event . </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think the fact that I was given a salad bowl as a gift must have been some sort of joke. These people have eaten lunch with me every day for umpteen years and know I don't eat salad. But no matter- this bowl will look excellent filled with salt and vinegar chips. Or chocolate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Redemption for the great salad bowl incident of 2014 came in the form of a cash card which I used to buy these to remind me of the wonderful people I've just spent the last 13 years with. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My last job on Friday was an email to my immediate team which they will open today telling them how much I have appreciated working with them. Since I balled like a baby writing it - there might be a few tears in the office this morning. (possibly of relief that I'm actually gone....)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And as for me ? I'm now on holidays between jobs and am going to be packing today to head off for a week visiting Little Miss Sunshine. I may also have some other big news to share when I get back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Highlights of the week</span><br />
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Feeling a lot of love from everyone</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> ( a lot!) </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Super E telling me that he was worried because he didn't know all the letters of the alphabet and that he's "going to school next year you know" but then proceeding to verbally recite them perfectly. He also expressed disgust that they aren't teaching him how to write them at kindy "because you know Bella, kids won't be quiet when they tell us about the alphabet". I bought you a book Super E and we can practice the alphabet together. You'll be ready to write all those letters when school starts- don't worry. </span></li>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-49593720334716827692014-11-23T08:14:00.001+10:302014-11-23T09:04:20.067+10:30I went to Costco and Lived to Tell the Tale <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent the week counting down to Friday because Costco finally opened in Adelaide this week. Friday was my first chance to get there and I went with the lovely Taz from </span><a href="http://tazziequilts.blogspot.com.au/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tazzie Quilts</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and her gorgeous daughter, Amy. Taz is the most awesome shopping buddy ever because she turns her judgement filter off , and doesn't ask pesky questions like " Do you really need that?" and "What are you going to do with 12 kilos of chocolate chips?" which is what would have happened if I'd gone with Mr. P. I hate it when my husband harshes my shopping buzz and insists on a dose of reality. I'll use 12 kilos of chocolate chips...eventually. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had heard horror stories about people going to Costco and never being seen again, and of others who went and only made it out after filling 11 trolleys with stuff and having to sell a kidney to pay for it all. (The organ removal section of the store is at the back near the bakery, proving they really DO have everything) So, I was smart and went with a list , vowing not to get sucked in by the cheapness and awesomeness of it all. And all I have to say after having been there is OH. MY.GOSH. I failed epically.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the first things to go in my trolley was the biggest jar of peanut butter I have ever seen. Naturally this wasn't for me because eating a teaspoon of this has the capacity to kill me. But I knew if I brought this home for Mr. P he'd just about crap his pants, because the way to keep your husband happy is to buy him a 44 gallon drum ( OK a slight exaggeration there) of peanut butter. I also procured him a sack of Reese's Peanut Butter cups, as extra insurance against future potential divorce. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is Amy , who wanted to bring home some Peanut M&M's. I heard her muttering "I want ALL the M&M's" somewhat maniacally to herself , and Taz had to distract her by yelling "Look, 8 litre bottles of shampoo and conditioner!" and pointing in the opposite direction. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lots of things were cheap...so, so cheap. Outside of Costco a bakery would want you to pay at least 3 bucks each for these cupcakes, but at Costco the whole tray was just 9 freaking dollars. I didn't bring any of these home but I wanted to ..so so bad. I'm not really all that fond of cake but I do like frosting and these are cheap enough that you can buy them, lick off the frosting and give the cake to your husband telling him its Madeira cake. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Taz couldn't resist pointing these out to me while laughing loudly. She comes across like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but honestly ? She's kind of a bitch. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those of you that can't understand why a stack of gingerbread house kits would instill fear in a grown woman go and have a look<a href="http://fairybreadmusings.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/the-magic-of-christmas-gingerbread.html"> here</a> . And don't think for one moment Taz that I've forgotten you promised to be my gingerbread house pimp this year. And thanks to other hilariously funny people, with a warped sense of humour, I already have a foam gingerbread house kit and a Christmas tree kit waiting in the wings for me this year . I'm looking at you, Cardygirl , and you Little Miss Sunshine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was my trolley as I was standing at the checkout line. I'm totally making S'mores with those jumbo marshmallows. They're the size of pillows. Bear in mind that these trolleys are twice the size of regular trolleys. And they are American trolleys so only the front two wheels move in every direction. The back wheels are fixed, which is a little disconcerting when you're used to doing a rapid 360 turn with Aussie trolleys. I may or may not have taken a couple of people out trying to use them like a normal trolley. But its all good. Costco has a trauma hospital on site too and I'm sure they did a bang up job of fixing the people I injured. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was part of the lineup for checkouts. That lady in the stripey pants wasn't really a serious shopper. She hardly has anything in her trolley at all. Jeez Love, put some effort into it. If you're coming to Costco its kind of mandatory to buy one of everything. By this stage people were getting kind of feral and rude. Except for me- I was standing waiting my turn and dreaming of what I could make with 10,000 fluid oz of maple syrup and 12 pounds of American cheese. Preferably in the same recipe. Taz kept telling me we had a butt-load of cheese, which is where all the fat from the aforementioned cheese is going to end up ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Look! Frozen cranberries-unheard of here !!!!Until now its been really disappointing when about this time of year Pinterest and other people's blogs are full of cranberry this and cranberry that and you cant get cranberries here. Now I can make cranberry everything. And look! Maccas cheese . I was so excited it was almost sinful. I love Maccas cheese and the only place you can get that here is on Maccas burgers. Its the most fluorescent looking cheese I've ever seen. Mmmm...I love it's orangey processed goodness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ranch dressing! Chipotle Sauce!!! I did the happy dance. For those prices you can drink it like a cocktail if you feel like it. A 12 kilo box of brownie mix? I'm in - gimme some of that. It doesn't matter that I'm not a big fan of brownies. It was too cheap not to buy it. By the time I chucked Hershey's cocoa in my trolley for 7 bucks I was giddy with the amazingness of it all. And I defy you to tell me who doesn't need 3/4 of a kilo of Maldon salt flakes for $14.99? Aside from my arteries and blood pressure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A lot of the prices were seriously awesome, some weren't, and I bought stuff for the sheer novelty factor of Chicken Pad Thai, Buffalo Wings and Waffle Fries. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Verdict: I almost had a panic attack when they rung up my total. I swear I hyperventilated. Excessive consumerism at its finest. Thank goodness we have disposable income because I managed to use a reasonable amount of this weeks buying stuff with it. But I wont have to buy glad wrap , hand wash or or tea bags for the next year so there is a definite up side. Was it worth it? As a once off or occasional thing - definitely. If I shopped there every couple of weeks I'd probably go broke. </span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-53539238656512468842014-11-15T06:56:00.002+10:302014-11-15T06:56:53.319+10:30Saying it Out Loud <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once upon a time, there was very young and naive Princess, who like most Princesses was pondering her grown up future while studying in her last year of high school. She wanted to be more than just a Princess. This was the 1980's after all , and feminists everywhere had spent the 1970's fighting and burning bras and enduring saggy breasts to ensure that every woman had the right to a career. Solidarity sisters! But what to do? Decisions. Decisions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the Princess was pondering these major life decisions, her Sociology teacher was handing out the major class assignment for the final year of high school and Ms. Middaugh decided her students would be doing their final paper about alternative /minority lifestyles. To increase the degree of difficulty, it was announced (among much groaning from the class population) that she was going to assign different topics to each student and she decreed there would be no swapping of topics because some teachers are actually reincarnated medieval torturers who haven't quite let go of their ability to think of unusual ways to torment the people over whom they have ultimate power.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Princess drew the topic of disability. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She duly researched, (this was in the days before the internet when research involved consulting other books and resources and actually getting your arse off a chair and making trips to the real library not a virtual one) and wrote and turned in her paper, with footnotes and a bibliography, and everything properly sourced, that as history recalls, she got an A for, and then moved on with her life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast forward to about 9 months later. The Princess is 18, and has moderately successfully finished high school. As is somewhat common Down Under she was taking a year off between high school and uni /starting an actual proper job, primarily to faff around delaying entry into the adult world. The fancy schmancy term for that now is to call it a "gap" year but everyone knows that's just a thinly veiled term for semi-legitimate slacking off. The Princess was <strike>slacking off</strike> having a "gap year", and selling cutlery at a department store to little old ladies who thought gold plated cutlery and spork sets were the very height of style. Still looking at her options , she had some irons in the fire career wise, but was still deciding exactly she wanted to do with her life. Hey - you can't rush these things and when you're 18 you seem to have forever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In retrospect, the universe probably knows what it's about because what happened next set the Princess off on a path that she could never really have foreseen and that was going to influence her life for the next 30 years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The scene: A Saturday morning in March 1985. The Princess is reading the daily newspaper. She's finished all the good bits and is getting ready to do whatever 18 year old girls did on Saturdays back then. That was so long ago she was probably planning to go and catch a dinosaur or discover fire. Boyfriend Du Jour ends up driving a chisel through his hand so a trip to the local emergency department is in order. The Princess spend <i>hours</i> in emergency and Boyfriend Du Jour is eventually admitted overnight and the Princess has the dubious honour of staying by his bedside to cheer him up and show her love and support. To alleviate boredom, both from the insufferable ennui that is endemic in hospitals and from the actual boyfriend himself - what was she thinking there- the Princess is going through the paper again, this time from end to end, including the employment section. The Princess spies a job advert calling for applicants to undertake a registered nursing degree specialising in disability which sounded pretty darn interesting, given she already has a basic knowledge of disability thanks to Torturer Teacher. So she wrote an application, sent it off and the rest my friends, is history. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From a snot nosed kid who knew nothing ,(but in all honesty probably thought back then she had ALL the answers) the Princess passed her nursing exams and has developed her career and stayed with the same organisation for the last 30 years doing all sorts of different disability related work. She finally landed in paediatrics 13 years ago and felt like she had found her niche. What's not to love about working with kids and some of the best therapy clinicians in the country? And the organisation and most of the people in it have seen her through so many life changes and been so supportive both personally and professionally that the thought of leaving it had never really entered her head (except when she had a really bad day and entertained all those lovely thoughts we all sometimes have about winning lotto and staying home and sewing all day) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But lately, the Princess has been getting itchy feet.....so she got that checked out at the doctor and he ruled out tinea which left her with the realisation that maybe , just possibly , she wanted to do something different. That maybe, as scary as it was, it was time to extend herself , trust her skills and use that professional knowledge and take a giant leap of faith. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do you recall this stack of papers the Princess showed a month or so ago when she talked about having to wade through them (on a weekend no less ) for a work related presentation? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What she didn't say is that the presentation was actually a job interview. An interview, that in hindsight, seems to have gone rather well since they have offered her a job. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She is currently hoping that the time she spent in a Turkish prison for littering doesn't turn up on her pre-employment checks....</span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-80456753782508190022014-11-09T18:18:00.002+10:302014-11-09T18:18:39.400+10:30Progress of the Quilty Kind <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This weekend has been all about R & R, after a pretty big week. I pottered and slept and sewed and haven't cooked a single meal. Mr. P has taken charge of the washing so we don't have to go to work naked this week, and it's been pretty much a case of every (wo)man for him/herself with everything else. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been valiantly trying to make some sort of discernible progress on my unfinished projects the last couple of weeks. With 53 days until the end of the year I'm going to have to pull several rabbits out of hats to finish the three quilts that I set myself as goals for this quarter. That's a finish every 17 days...which makes me want to involuntarily pee in my own pants every time I think about that kind of pressure. So you know what? I'm not going to think about it. I'm going to just plod along and hope that yields results. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I finished my Sampler blocks for October/November in Amanda's Sampler Along so Im feeling pretty chuffed about that. Yes- I made rather obvious errors putting them together and didn't notice until after I had IG'ed them. I don't care - they're staying that way. This is an exercise in technique and colour for me. It doesn't have to be perfect. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made a fair bit of progress since I last showed off my Miss Elizabeth project which included sewing lots of hexies together and basting some for the next few of rows. Maybe this won't take me years to finish after all? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started my Charming Stars Quilt and got 6 out of the 16 blocks that I need finished. I had a last minute change of heart about the fabric for this quilt. I was originally going to use my Bliss Stash but went with Curio instead and now I'm wondering if those colours will really work for this layout. No matter - if I don't love it I think I know someone who will, so it won't go to waste and I can always make the Bliss one up another time for myself. Speaking of which, I have already started my tentative quilt list for 2015. It's looking quite full already. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marrakesh is all basted and now I have to make some sort of decision about the quilting...and translate that into action. It would be nice to do something other than meandering. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week is all about putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. Hope your week treats you well. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-39597581126777442682014-11-04T07:28:00.002+10:302014-11-04T07:28:51.203+10:30Beginnings and Endings <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beginnings</span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and Endings are a part of life. Sometimes those things are joyous. Sometimes they come tinged with sadness. Mr. P and I have run the gamut of both those emotions in the last 24 hours. </span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a week of exceedingly variable weather, Mother Nature decided to knock it out of the park on Sunday and turned on the most spectacular</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> day. The weather was especially important because our whole family were gathering for a Very Special Event.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nephew of Pyjamas and The One Who Always Looks Beautiful got married in front of family and friends on Sunday afternoon after 9 years together, and the day was absolutely perfect. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had a quick word to the groom just prior to the nuptials and asked how he was doing. With supreme conviction he told me he wasn't one bit nervous. I guess there's no need to be nervous when you're doing something you've been dreaming of for a long time. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Groom on the left and his brother and best man on the right</span> <span style="font-size: 12.4999990463257px; text-align: justify;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aaron and Chloe getting married ! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That hand in the pocket is very typical of my nephew. Casual and relaxed. Always cool. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who doesn't love cake? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bride was gorgeous, graceful and oh so happy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nobody fluffed their speeches and Other Nephew of Pyjamas did a bang up job of his best man duties. My sister looked stunning as the mother of the groom and my brother in law was seen in a suit for the first time ever , which rendered many of us incapable of speech for several minutes. Then the rude people (My Dad and my Husband) pretty much rolled around on the floor laughing. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNFaTDvxOaMC3xKj8-mRV-PU87Ic3x6GyOrsVOHW82DFvBXdH3KNKld0YVQXi_P6tV4tLAGfoo3ZiEM35RGRDZ5EQ4GPnE5_x3t9ZYB7ThPX4jz-YO47s3IH1PquKrNV9WrhC9VY5jK8c/s1600/DSC02982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNFaTDvxOaMC3xKj8-mRV-PU87Ic3x6GyOrsVOHW82DFvBXdH3KNKld0YVQXi_P6tV4tLAGfoo3ZiEM35RGRDZ5EQ4GPnE5_x3t9ZYB7ThPX4jz-YO47s3IH1PquKrNV9WrhC9VY5jK8c/s1600/DSC02982.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Morning after shot of the married couple. (or at least their hands !) I went rogue and totally stole this picture from Chloe's instagram feed .....without even asking. Yeah- damn right I'm a rebel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much love and happiness to you both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the happy couple were enjoying their first day of married life, Mr. P and I said goodbye to an old and treasured friend. The Six Million Dollar Cat aka Mordecai took his final journey to the place where all good and faithful cats go for their eternal rest. I like to imagine for Mordecai, that place always has full bowls of food and someone to permanently scratch his head between the ears. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Rest well little orange friend. I will miss you. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-72768339367615296942014-11-02T08:57:00.002+10:302014-11-02T08:57:38.520+10:30Halloween <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have a tale for you today about our Halloween. 98% of Aussies don't celebrate it, although there is a huge push in this country by retailers for people to do the Halloween thing probably because it helps their fiscal bottom line. It's slowly creeping in though and I suspect that in about 20 years half the country will be dressing up as ghouls and goblins and banging on doors demanding candy. To date, I've only ever had one set of trick or treaters at my doorstep and that was a group of scarily dressed zombie teens four years ago and they got two packs of Tim Tams because that was all I had that met the strict high sugar criteria for Halloween handovers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But yesterday at the last minute we decided we just had to do the Halloween thing. Yes - that's right- we did it a day late. In a rush. And without any prior planning. Which is another reason no sewing has been done this weekend. Halloween sucked up my Saturday despite the witching night being well and truly over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was talking to Super E on facetime at lunchtime on Saturday, when I casually asked if he had been trick or treating the night before. He told me with supreme conviction that if it wasn't raining he planned to do it last night. I had to break the news to him that Halloween was over and that people probably wouldn't be expecting trick or treaters. I was met with a little crestfallen face and a desperate question seeking reassurance that there was still some Halloween candy out there that he might cadge from the general population. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm nothing if not flexible and quick thinking on my feet. I told Super E that I was pretty sure it was still Halloween at my place because I have American friends and it was still Halloween in their part of the world ( by my calculations it was still Halloween in Hawaii- just) and that I was sure if he came over he would still be able to find some Halloween magic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sewing plans for the afternoon went out of the window. Halloween was on! Mr. P and I flung ourselves out of the door and raced around to about 4 different stores swooping up what we could of leftover Halloween decorations (none of which was on sale mind you WTF? - its the day after Halloween this shit should be on sale !!!) and then belting home to do the quickest previously unplanned decorating you have ever seen. Behold the spooky results ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spooky table set for dinner . Note to the far left the zombie on Super E's plate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bowl of skulls and a poisonous albino scorpion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Candy bowl at the front door ready for the sole trick or treater</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Front door skull , warning tons of fun would be found inside. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even my quilts were not immune from the obviously nuclear affected spiders that left these webs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly Super E didn't turn up - so we had to make do with mini Spiderman instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who was suitably impressed by the decorating and the overwhelming amount of candy he managed to shove into his special Halloween bag . Although initially he was kind of grossed out by the body parts candy , he later informed me that eating eyeballs, ears and noses was delicious. The candy corn was also a hit .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mini Superman's contribution to dinner. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Which went perfectly with the eyeball, cockroach and skull cupcakes I whipped up , that had fake blood concealed inside. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">End result : One happy little boy who got to celebrate Halloween Aussie style. Two grandparents who were utterly grateful that after all that Halloween candy Mini Superman was going home for the night. I strongly suspect based on the amount of sugar consumed his poor father was still trying to get him to sleep at 3am....</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-30380232308239405092014-10-26T15:57:00.001+10:302014-10-26T15:57:59.142+10:30Bloggers Quilt Festival -October 2014 <div align="center">
<a href="http://amyscreativeside.com/" title="AmysCreativeSide.com"><img alt="AmysCreativeSide.com" src="http://amyscreativeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Fall-2014-BQF-Button-small.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I hesitated to enter this as my second quilt in the Bloggers Quilt Festival. I didn't enter it last time around because it felt a little bit like cheating because I didn't do the whole thing myself. Then I suddenly realised that lots of people don't quilt their own quilts , they send them out to be done professionally and that my Mrs. DeWitt Quilt is just a variation on that theme. Mrs. DeWitt did all this beautiful and time consuming hand piecing and the universe sent it to me to be finished.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> So if it wasn't</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> for both myself and Fontella doing our bits this quilt would never have come to be a finished thing and I like the idea of having made a collaborative quilt with her , even if it was decades after she finished the top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All of this started because once upon a time I decided it would be a good idea to rescue a vintage or antique quilt top that needed some love to bring it back to it's former glory. After many months of searching I found an unfinished vintage Martha Washington Flower Garden quilt top that I fell in love with and had it shipped 10,000 miles across the world, holding my breath almost the whole time lest it not be as lovely as the picture I bought it from had showed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This quilt was started in the 1930's or 1940's by a lady named Fontella Holmes DeWitt in Iowa. Mrs. DeWitt was born in 1905 in Winterset, Iowa and passed away on Christmas Day 1985. I'm assuming that this quilt lurked around in an attic somewhere for the next 30 odd years while someone thought about finishing it. It was in pristine condition so it had been stored very carefully for all those years. Her hand work on this quilt is absolutely exquisite and she was obviously very skilled at paper piecing. I wondered why she didn't finish this and the only thing I could come up with was that she got totally fed up with hand sewing hexagons. By my reckoning there are about 8000 of them in this quilt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The plan was to finish the white borders on the edges ( never mind that at that point I had no idea how to paper piece hexies) and then turn this into a useable work of art. This was a huge quilt at almost 80 by 90 inches and I had visions of me hand sewing minute little one inch hexagons like some pioneer woman and actually being serene and happy about it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It lobbed at Maison Pyjamas via the grace of USPS and Australia Post. It was gorgeous. It was perfectly square. The hand sewing of all those teeny tiny hexies was perfect. Angels sang and trumpets heralded it's arrival. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then I hung it in a cupboard and there it stayed for 4 or 5 years while I contemplated trying to find cream fabric to match, and the agony of hand sewing 400-500 teeny tiny hexies to finish it off. Occasionally I'd take it out and stroke it lovingly and reassure that poor unfinished top that one day it would be a finished functioning quilt and that we'd be together forever. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes inspiration hits you like a bolt of lightning. While I was off work on vacation earlier this year, I pulled that quilt top out for it's annual foray into actual light and out of nowhere I decided the time was right to finish it. The sticking point was whether I was going to hand piece more hexagons or come up with another plan. I consulted with <a href="http://quiltygal.blogspot.com.au/">QuiltyGal</a> at lunch that very day and decided to go for it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I laid it out and basted it with about 500 pins. I used a wool batting with a higher loft than I usually use and I really enjoyed working with it. It was almost as if the hand of Mrs. DeWitt was helping me along wanting me to finish her wonderful unfinished work of art. And as I worked and got to see all the fabrics in detail I weaved wonderful stories in my head about where they had all come from and what they had been used for before. That fabric there had come from a Summer Dress, and that one from a weekday working skirt. I could see her Sunday best outfit and fabrics from her babies clothes all dancing through my head and as if I could see the life that Mrs. DeWitt had lived through her fabrics. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I started
quilting using a serpentine stitch because I didn't want to detract
from any of Fontella's beautiful</span> work.
Sometimes simple is best. It took 5 spools of bobbin thread to get
through this baby, because I quilted it very very closely together with a
serpentine stitch. I have to say there were points where this was not fun to
get it all through my machine. And the whole time I was terrified that I was
going to do something to mess it up! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjnNA_7u02epDsY1inv6P_uyXYm_9SGQ2N-qY1-Y3O0M6yjdNKGTtSU83rqaR58PjfF08OELBHRa7IRBN7iMkatwxlqeFVLnxinuSJEBu4B-cKli1NTk63B8bh1mbqZ48cfAlRtr3dYdfJ/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjnNA_7u02epDsY1inv6P_uyXYm_9SGQ2N-qY1-Y3O0M6yjdNKGTtSU83rqaR58PjfF08OELBHRa7IRBN7iMkatwxlqeFVLnxinuSJEBu4B-cKli1NTk63B8bh1mbqZ48cfAlRtr3dYdfJ/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then oh horror of horrors I squared the quilt up and cut all those pretty unfinished points off to bring this quilt down to 70 x 80 inches square. If I hadn't sacrificed those points it would have sat in the cupboard for another 30 years unfinished. Sometimes you have to make the tough calls. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh156AG5UaVJLu23e555dbMt8C-GgrQZbT3a4c9wKgg6UW9-6klerJZBJQFvZo5nUeB_1B2KaxClHI6e_qsJjqX6KTFcePC1CfNi67CZq0X8ngLFYsBMfmIAP_KDfj7lihlR-H18NmWJm5N/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh156AG5UaVJLu23e555dbMt8C-GgrQZbT3a4c9wKgg6UW9-6klerJZBJQFvZo5nUeB_1B2KaxClHI6e_qsJjqX6KTFcePC1CfNi67CZq0X8ngLFYsBMfmIAP_KDfj7lihlR-H18NmWJm5N/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+4.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I picked a plain fabric that was as close as I could get to the original cream hexagons for the binding, in keeping with the original colour scheme of the quilt. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdJNJx3q5QeKnuZj-Wc6bYfQGtDTTHRrzyCzyGHZwcID-bZ9Np6MStjnAGmGgfnAZmI08eexIGJJhJMsG9vTp5b87Hbax_itW4ImnRxMdYfiCaGN-NKhnlP5e0JkjGX-7l50CzyHZdtx6/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdJNJx3q5QeKnuZj-Wc6bYfQGtDTTHRrzyCzyGHZwcID-bZ9Np6MStjnAGmGgfnAZmI08eexIGJJhJMsG9vTp5b87Hbax_itW4ImnRxMdYfiCaGN-NKhnlP5e0JkjGX-7l50CzyHZdtx6/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+3.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally I put the last stitch in and she was finished, approximately 70 years after she was started. I'd venture a guess that this was one of the worlds oldest WIP's. And I was seriously thrilled. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More gratuitous fabric shots. Aren't they pretty?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsehyphenhyphentWE31NafmR96c6EM5g2Jv_gThU00aO8EKW2xlobh8f43IaveDQUjKbHWa9ffpDlKzh3hk0kwgj82rOzUCAsw6EHm5RvD-DOjyTz3tqBTcwsjbRbW0Yy1YDNH5z1X-Su3Q6Fu6pmC/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+7+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsehyphenhyphentWE31NafmR96c6EM5g2Jv_gThU00aO8EKW2xlobh8f43IaveDQUjKbHWa9ffpDlKzh3hk0kwgj82rOzUCAsw6EHm5RvD-DOjyTz3tqBTcwsjbRbW0Yy1YDNH5z1X-Su3Q6Fu6pmC/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+7+.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNi_bE17KvpSsE4CS2ciUtI2gS0xMMO8xkoc9wiikO2Xf_dPdrJPmraDrU4ustYFpm8M27EGWL2gALzdHIVHmqi6bnx0xloz5CZ2cFoiu24VPCC3UaX0J0eAeQkX_fNTjSCsLEvGw4C5w/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNi_bE17KvpSsE4CS2ciUtI2gS0xMMO8xkoc9wiikO2Xf_dPdrJPmraDrU4ustYFpm8M27EGWL2gALzdHIVHmqi6bnx0xloz5CZ2cFoiu24VPCC3UaX0J0eAeQkX_fNTjSCsLEvGw4C5w/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+8.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Quilt front</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoeQdD0GYwA9a4Wkiu-bQ8R3oXaPeTxYIT3xQYcB6AYTFcIrs1DoqJasjLsjR_V__nk56stkw0rChk6d9Gbp0sY-6hgAb9CymEU53SlYU_DnZZIv2TFu_uqKH9BEPH2xDQr2jDijTS0wq/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDoeQdD0GYwA9a4Wkiu-bQ8R3oXaPeTxYIT3xQYcB6AYTFcIrs1DoqJasjLsjR_V__nk56stkw0rChk6d9Gbp0sY-6hgAb9CymEU53SlYU_DnZZIv2TFu_uqKH9BEPH2xDQr2jDijTS0wq/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+9.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyNkq-gjQ0qnZl5qKefFvF-cdw9OOX3U92DKpTIbdTYRIavJT-09UtmHAPzx_BNpdbjoVJ45q7bK1xtn98ofyoVwSo8iZCTKrQmTPtt_i1eJHEUgcDS2S2GRIg3A0s9Dfq0p3amoxU0MP/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyNkq-gjQ0qnZl5qKefFvF-cdw9OOX3U92DKpTIbdTYRIavJT-09UtmHAPzx_BNpdbjoVJ45q7bK1xtn98ofyoVwSo8iZCTKrQmTPtt_i1eJHEUgcDS2S2GRIg3A0s9Dfq0p3amoxU0MP/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+10.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the back ...I love how this looks!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfq7685pOo2NEeEc4quOlQNi8Y5O6zxIljQbuGQ0HsINj2Zb-JXyztPuAN7DhCuCsPFqwIcEsw2IlH40WiDYCXo9vU7RbAJl0Eb_HBpnEBUcw9X55P-QB0ahR-nubmThf6BW3P3KM7Odi1/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfq7685pOo2NEeEc4quOlQNi8Y5O6zxIljQbuGQ0HsINj2Zb-JXyztPuAN7DhCuCsPFqwIcEsw2IlH40WiDYCXo9vU7RbAJl0Eb_HBpnEBUcw9X55P-QB0ahR-nubmThf6BW3P3KM7Odi1/s1600/Mrs.+Dewitt+11.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm so happy with this finish. I'm prouder of this than anything else I've ever made. I like to think that somewhere Mrs. De Witt knows that her beautiful work is finally being used the way she hoped it would be all those years ago. Yes- I use this quilt a lot. And it was a no brainer to name this quilt in her honour. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm entering this quilt in the scrappy category because it has several hundred different fabrics in it and I don't think it gets much scrappier than that. Thanks for dropping by and having a look at my post. And if you know the Holmes - DeWitt family please tell them their Mom's quilt is in good hands, a lot further away from Iowa than they ever imagined. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0px !important;" /></a>Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-53270419743561607922014-10-25T22:55:00.001+10:302014-10-25T23:03:55.855+10:30Bloggers Quilt Festival - October 2014 <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For anyone who reads my blog regularly (thank you - you're already ten shades of awesome) you've already seen this quilt and heard the story of it's existence . You were right there beside me through every blog post where I whinged , whined, griped, bitched and moaned about pretty much every stitch that went into this quilt. You got excited along with me when I finally cracked FM quilting with this quilt and was so darn proud of myself , because lets face it - I didn't think it was ever going to happen. So I wont be offended if you back out slowly without making eye contact with me , and go and do something more exciting - like folding your socks. By all means stay - but you know the rule, you have to drink a cocktail while you're reading this post, which could be very interesting for some of you since while it's night time here as I type - its breakfast time on the other side of the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For anyone who happens to visiting from the Bloggers Quilt Festival - Don't you go anywhere ...I have fresh blood to show off this quilt to and I'm so glad you dropped by to have a look. I won't impose the cocktail rule on you. Pull up a chair - help yourself to tea or coffee and sit for a bit. I'm a chick that loves to spin a tale or two and no quilt I ever make comes without a back story.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Compared to lots of other people I haven't been making quilts all that long - I think I properly started about 6 years ago . I'm still learning all the time and trying new things sometimes with disastrous results. In August 2013 I decided to make an orange peel quilt and a couple of the girls in my sewing group showed me how to freezer paper applique (mainly because the way I was trying to do it was totally irritating them )and this quilt was officially started. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxLKBDIUBykBI4F10k_f-mOppDlgqeE7m9KpqjMgjBNnbVZCuhb9BIO9CZ8vq5kDCFt9O-UEWkQ96jDNftlohlmRCAgaNTCVQKeV8BqyLBchsR5RVZ57_rgpZCdQaZWf5OTAZRrYV34j0/s1600/peels9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxLKBDIUBykBI4F10k_f-mOppDlgqeE7m9KpqjMgjBNnbVZCuhb9BIO9CZ8vq5kDCFt9O-UEWkQ96jDNftlohlmRCAgaNTCVQKeV8BqyLBchsR5RVZ57_rgpZCdQaZWf5OTAZRrYV34j0/s1600/peels9.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The plan was to use scraps and leftovers from other projects. This quilt went a lot of places while it was being made including work, family functions, in the car (obviously when I wasn't driving ) to Brisbane when I went and visited my friend Little Miss Sunshine (whose scrap bin I coincidentally raided while I was visiting ) and also all the way to Vietnam. I actually became a bit of a scrap scab while making this , constantly pestering people for their scraps so I could incorporate different fabrics from some of my favourite people. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxLKBDIUBykBI4F10k_f-mOppDlgqeE7m9KpqjMgjBNnbVZCuhb9BIO9CZ8vq5kDCFt9O-UEWkQ96jDNftlohlmRCAgaNTCVQKeV8BqyLBchsR5RVZ57_rgpZCdQaZWf5OTAZRrYV34j0/s1600/peels9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxLKBDIUBykBI4F10k_f-mOppDlgqeE7m9KpqjMgjBNnbVZCuhb9BIO9CZ8vq5kDCFt9O-UEWkQ96jDNftlohlmRCAgaNTCVQKeV8BqyLBchsR5RVZ57_rgpZCdQaZWf5OTAZRrYV34j0/s1600/peels9.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes I would get a bit tired of it and ignore it for a few weeks, but mostly I worked on it fairly consistently. There are 144 peels in this quilt, and sometimes it felt like this was the groundhog day of all quilts and that I was doing the same thing over and over and over. I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing when I put the final stitch in the final block.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChn0Zs-DHGxn-HD9GFmS0V3Q14XPO9ru8vJiB5yXUAnbXCn-BvaC7VzMM0b9LUdkyQX4EYUITe2S-VGnc9LrGcphlWAGKkSkPExGQ3Hub4ue3X7xOPwFjuZXVOGbzmnav-Wao5ulZNd-K/s1600/peels.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChn0Zs-DHGxn-HD9GFmS0V3Q14XPO9ru8vJiB5yXUAnbXCn-BvaC7VzMM0b9LUdkyQX4EYUITe2S-VGnc9LrGcphlWAGKkSkPExGQ3Hub4ue3X7xOPwFjuZXVOGbzmnav-Wao5ulZNd-K/s1600/peels.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But eventually, after months of hand sewing this project was ready to be made into a quilt top. Isn't she pretty? Can you tell I like colour? </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ptFYIJm-Ld4mKug0njmuE8WdG-MMrQ7Rv8PXiuHHS0SMeIoPt7U7OUZ_1tyQsZSxjbRzEQot2FMzfZiKo6guxdozE9h2zjEF5Qeh6JV2hRvOkDbRnk3yRuRN8ReFBgE8fNv6vgREUOpM/s1600/Seville.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ptFYIJm-Ld4mKug0njmuE8WdG-MMrQ7Rv8PXiuHHS0SMeIoPt7U7OUZ_1tyQsZSxjbRzEQot2FMzfZiKo6guxdozE9h2zjEF5Qeh6JV2hRvOkDbRnk3yRuRN8ReFBgE8fNv6vgREUOpM/s1600/Seville.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So - once at the flimsy-is-basted-and-ready-to-be-quilted stage, I was faced with the dilemma of exactly how to quilt it. Straight lines just weren't going to cut it and that's pretty much all I knew how to do. Free Motion quilting and I were not friends owing to a few bad practice runs in the past that had severely crushed my confidence. How to do this quilt justice? Well - you just put on your big gal panties and decide to kick some FM butt . Not for me a practice sandwich or a mini quilt to start the process. Nup - that's not the way I roll- I decided to jump right in and start meandering like an old pro all over that quilt. Sometimes not thinking about stuffing up is the best way to go. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjTQdfxOVtKmRmePCoGfhovNCV9KU7DbIZRhDY379150H1kczAYiZEipfks2B6S3DU3_mVSI1hYDFtFaO72Ll0HwWPVCjO9CA47LaPqwdaPiWBYAmAjhX3RFqEad3K9Vni2DncGuZSFfu/s1600/DSC02862.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjTQdfxOVtKmRmePCoGfhovNCV9KU7DbIZRhDY379150H1kczAYiZEipfks2B6S3DU3_mVSI1hYDFtFaO72Ll0HwWPVCjO9CA47LaPqwdaPiWBYAmAjhX3RFqEad3K9Vni2DncGuZSFfu/s1600/DSC02862.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Rt7q-tceyfNLVG8gIAi3xt8FiRePVZTMyTu_NAGklVlzmXrk00YokjKdFw4K8IoWie9fT_NSgvYHnBLPPthisSpeITkH7fYLZUrUW-7xX1yG5XgTdD2lacIcmH5MYf6KTzxFTB_-HCE6/s1600/DSC02859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Rt7q-tceyfNLVG8gIAi3xt8FiRePVZTMyTu_NAGklVlzmXrk00YokjKdFw4K8IoWie9fT_NSgvYHnBLPPthisSpeITkH7fYLZUrUW-7xX1yG5XgTdD2lacIcmH5MYf6KTzxFTB_-HCE6/s1600/DSC02859.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love vintage chenille and have approximately half the world's available supply stashed at home. I decided it was time to cut into some of the vintagey goodness and put it to use so I backed this quilt in soft pink chenille. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zICOn67gEHlZeRLEP643eVFHbDsIDIVLfgXWhXFgvSh06wR2S02NVstleqIHmSmJL_QitmvcdgQIoCNTlqyN2jwGkgiRlBbetPfaHG_BH8eBxfH3rMNhqL0Cn4jEeJT6AschMOUsrkJd/s1600/DSC02857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zICOn67gEHlZeRLEP643eVFHbDsIDIVLfgXWhXFgvSh06wR2S02NVstleqIHmSmJL_QitmvcdgQIoCNTlqyN2jwGkgiRlBbetPfaHG_BH8eBxfH3rMNhqL0Cn4jEeJT6AschMOUsrkJd/s1600/DSC02857.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Add some spotty binding and you can't go wrong. Spots and stripes are my very favourite types of bindings.</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXOE99nMISJZyj7dsKp4_4Tl-U4RS5-eRY67LAVB_nXZgs0_tIz8gYrwHj8akHv8QvTY0rYupaWYRVogpciLcQhMMLxUVFX8DPs0VdQvC4JpmeLV6OFCtvrhbKbN_I8wcmPhggcOdwNmwG/s1600/DSC02856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXOE99nMISJZyj7dsKp4_4Tl-U4RS5-eRY67LAVB_nXZgs0_tIz8gYrwHj8akHv8QvTY0rYupaWYRVogpciLcQhMMLxUVFX8DPs0VdQvC4JpmeLV6OFCtvrhbKbN_I8wcmPhggcOdwNmwG/s1600/DSC02856.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I meandered ( and sometimes stippled if truth be told ) everywhere except the peels , which really made them stand out. And when It was done I stood back and couldn't believe that I had actually finished something so pretty! (and that I had broken the back of free motion quilting - GO ME!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every year I end up with a favourite quilt and for 2014 this is my very favourite one. Its kept me warm while I blob round on the sofa at night in my living room all winter and gets dragged to bed with me each night. Thank you for stopping by and having a look at it. And a big thank you to Amy who hosts this fabulous shindig for us twice a year so we can be inspired and get our fill of eye candy! </span></div>
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<a href="http://amyscreativeside.com/" title="AmysCreativeSide.com"><img alt="AmysCreativeSide.com" src="http://amyscreativeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Fall-2014-BQF-Button-small.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Im going to enter this into the applique category for the festival ...and cant wait to see what all you other clever people have chosen as your quilt to showcase. </span></div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-40234742807450315102014-10-24T06:23:00.003+10:302014-10-24T06:24:35.328+10:30Bullshit Hat-trick <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those of you not familiar with cricket lingo, a hat-trick is a positive achievement that occurs three times within a game or short period of time. If a bowler gets three consecutive wickets in a row or a batter hits three sixes in a row that would be called a hat-trick and much celebrating , both of the team and the crowd, would ensue. Hat-tricks are rare and are the stuff sporting legends are made of. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those of you not familiar with Shay lingo, a bullshit hat-trick is where three "that's bullshit "moments occur within a short time frame. It's most applicable to activities that occur within my sewing room. So for example if my needle breaks three times during a sewing session or I sew the same seam the wrong way three times and have to unpick it - that would be bullshit hat-trick. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bullhsit hat-tricks are rare (how many times can you make three mistakes in a row without learning from the experience?) and are usually accompanied by swearing, loud exclamations of "that's bullshit", and resultant head scratching while trying to figure out WTF went wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had my own little bullshit hat-trick this week. Let me refresh your memories about the first in my series of bullshit hat-tricks. This offender , finished and washed at least twice, then decided for no good reason to shed it's guts all over the place. I dont know why , I don't know how, and after chucking it in the bin (because it was useless and unfixable unless I wanted to spend hours unpicking all the quilting - which I didn't ) I didn't care. I put it down to Mr. P washing it in hot water, or a bad batch of batting , or a freak of nature and simply moved on. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScvbtscbK_4PZ7vqjhFtREhHlhwJF1onyH-VeEpH3gYAXGfbH_87BMEjHqOIVwbFMIHsZCImcMpp_U5J42h2n9-GbhzkeUcMBXMlDhpgL-XyygCN0rUc0e4eiqLO9J2VPcfGqDFQzvxPU/s1600/Tri+quilt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScvbtscbK_4PZ7vqjhFtREhHlhwJF1onyH-VeEpH3gYAXGfbH_87BMEjHqOIVwbFMIHsZCImcMpp_U5J42h2n9-GbhzkeUcMBXMlDhpgL-XyygCN0rUc0e4eiqLO9J2VPcfGqDFQzvxPU/s1600/Tri+quilt.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Example 2- which I fully admit was my own dumb arse fault. The quilt that decided to shrink a full 8 inches on two sides just over a week ago when I chucked it in the dryer. I think the general opinion was that you shouldn't use wool batting if you're going to chuck a quilt in a dryer , although there was some difference of opinion about whether that was the cause. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVP9bmpZFq-tTTX_0VaLsiqMUwC-atIYNqJJD8jC6Q1-1P1R6YaLQ8XWlobURmBPbgsEgjHUT5rllTrEoplfBwPrX9dy0gUsVOsy-Tdoyu-9PlHehQsSSEU6eOJSK96DD339LvqDKUmZw/s1600/Puff+Daddy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVP9bmpZFq-tTTX_0VaLsiqMUwC-atIYNqJJD8jC6Q1-1P1R6YaLQ8XWlobURmBPbgsEgjHUT5rllTrEoplfBwPrX9dy0gUsVOsy-Tdoyu-9PlHehQsSSEU6eOJSK96DD339LvqDKUmZw/s1600/Puff+Daddy.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am seriously contemplating turning it into puff quilt pot holders because I cant stand to throw another creation out, but it obviously</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> cant be used as is and certainly can't be given away as planned as donation quilt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The hat trick of screw ups. Numero Tre. I made this quilt 4 weeks ago as a gift for a girl at work who is having a baby. These are quality fabrics, and I used a new needle, brand new wool 29-bucks-a-metre allegedly pure wool batting and Aurifil thread to piece and quilt it. So why the fudge ( I want to use a stronger word here but some of you might be reading with an 8 year old hanging over your shoulder) is it shedding through the fabric? Not the quilting lines....THROUGH the fabric. This also occurred after the second wash!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWMW2ixEZPLvLNt7cAqxAvV-yYpqKo9HrygvrFr5aZsfTooHdQya9ibf4gRpi8dfVYLDbmyUwYMWKmhZOFIxFx7eoT83GEuMlKlzm_KC7F_HbUny6HtoNZ9RDJZ6EYrtnGtpsqkBHFwFM/s1600/Baby+shed+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWMW2ixEZPLvLNt7cAqxAvV-yYpqKo9HrygvrFr5aZsfTooHdQya9ibf4gRpi8dfVYLDbmyUwYMWKmhZOFIxFx7eoT83GEuMlKlzm_KC7F_HbUny6HtoNZ9RDJZ6EYrtnGtpsqkBHFwFM/s1600/Baby+shed+collage.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This has only happened to me since I started using wool batting. That's the only thing I can put it down to. I'm furious. Now I'm trying to think of what other quilts I might have used it in, and whether this is going to be issue when they are washed a couple of times too. And today I'll be heading down to the shop where I bought the batting for a look at what make this batting is so I don't ever buy it again! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And there endeth my sorry tale of the bullshit hat -trick. Some of my weekend will be spent making a replacement baby quilt, and I 'll be going back to using 100% cotton batting. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">PS. Seriously contemplating taking up scrap booking at this point....</span><br />
<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-46510162818288212582014-10-19T19:40:00.001+10:302014-10-19T19:40:12.778+10:30The Titanic of Quilting and Other Tales from My Week<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Super E came for a sleepover on Friday so parts of my weekend have been focussed on 5 year old fun. Despite not having played the Wii at our house before he could reel off every game we have in our arsenal. He also told me that he can only play games with a "G" on the cover and promptly hounded me to play Mario Karts with him. When he got tired of kicking my sorry butt ( Video games are so not my forte and I spent the majority of my time trying to extricate myself from walls while being hit by lightning bolts and falling into burning lava) he chilled out with Grandpa who is a video game champion. I assert that little boys never really grow up to be men as evidenced by the concentration on my husbands face in this picture. I also had to mutter "tone it down " to Mr. P fairly frequently when he was going all out and trying to come first in every race - sometimes you have sacrifice your own personal Mario Kart victory to enhance a kids self esteem ...sheesh. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHIiSPSfgf0v0Kk-W5PTmF6hRPLAwpdE24YcWfLl5agh71ZjDSx9W-zTLvOKHIvtPxBHnz5XTdRGXV44ytDnQogU2iuWxtkQyb-DmEKZ2Yz1GkrT-Y5wnemS4c19B2WzTuZBlsBftc0fU/s1600/Mario+Karts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHIiSPSfgf0v0Kk-W5PTmF6hRPLAwpdE24YcWfLl5agh71ZjDSx9W-zTLvOKHIvtPxBHnz5XTdRGXV44ytDnQogU2iuWxtkQyb-DmEKZ2Yz1GkrT-Y5wnemS4c19B2WzTuZBlsBftc0fU/s1600/Mario+Karts.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We answered the question of what happens when you hand a 5 year old the garden hose to water your agapanthus? A water fight ensued in the front garden to the utter astonishment of the neighbourhood (nobody in the Pyjamas clan is quiet when we're having fun) meaning that Super E and I both ended up having to change clothes and I blow dried my hair for the second time in a morning. What the hay - the water fight was the most fun I've had in a long time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A quick trip to the fabric store to stock up on some fabrics for Miss Elizabeth occurred on Saturday with Super E tagging along and doing a pretty darn job of helping me pick out matching fabrics. He has quite the eye for colour matching as most of these were his choices. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I washed my postage stamp quilt this weekend in preparation for delivering all three of my donation quilts to the Mary Potter Foundation next week. Abject disaster struck when I bunged it in the dryer after washing totally forgetting that I had inserted 100% wool batting into this quilt. It came out 8 inches smaller on two sides and looking extremely antiquey...I'm renaming this Titanic because she struck disaster on her maiden washing. I furiously googled until my fingers were little nubs to see if there was a solution but apparently no cigar since I've chucked it in the dryer and I did wash it again ( as if somehow that would swell it back to the right size? ) and stretched the crud out of it like I was some kind of medieval torturer but this one is destined for the bin or as a very ugly dog blanket. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixtAzSXMY4lv0YWQ0yc0GUVxYOQT7uln-FtWFGq6spl_Y2uOB4XpwkMJn_szVdZXi0HGTaCqkWIkQ46dj2R3WWGPfJA-1v5o7EJeYOWuSGS-AqVgIJkh9i0dCZ0BpDXPrMlxsEGprGt87/s1600/PS+quilt+-+crinkled.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixtAzSXMY4lv0YWQ0yc0GUVxYOQT7uln-FtWFGq6spl_Y2uOB4XpwkMJn_szVdZXi0HGTaCqkWIkQ46dj2R3WWGPfJA-1v5o7EJeYOWuSGS-AqVgIJkh9i0dCZ0BpDXPrMlxsEGprGt87/s1600/PS+quilt+-+crinkled.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My nephew's wedding is fast approaching and this weekend was the traditional boys night prior to the wedding. My nephew elected to have it up river , and Mr. P went along. I received one text telling me they had arrived safely along with this accompanying picture. I don't want to know what else happened because I suspect it got fairly messy. I did facebook my other nephew this morning asking if my husband was alive and got the message back "Yes -unfortunately" so I suspect Mr. P may have been a ringleader of sorts in the hijinx department. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This would be my nephew- in a dress and a girly hat - and this was well before any drinking started....</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had planned to sew and study today. This stack of papers needed to be looked at and bits and pieces committed in some form or other to memory for a presentation I'm giving this week. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking at that stack of papers gave me a headache and I decided to go clothes shopping because I have to have something pretty to wear to the wedding right? Clothes shopping revealed that I have been eating too many Krispy Kremes because not much I tried on made me look stunning but I settled on this little number with new dark blue nail polish to match.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm at the sewing binding onto the baby quilt stage so I'm hoping to get that finished this week. mental note to self : Don't put this one in the dryer...</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
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Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-22133565386355028122014-10-13T07:58:00.000+10:302014-10-13T07:58:00.312+10:30Cant Complain <div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last couple of weeks has been full of activity, social
and otherwise. Three family birthdays in under 10 days has meant a lot of running round and family time. Happy Birthday to PattyPie, Sister of Pyjamas and G. May this next year bring you all you hope and wish for. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I may have been absent
from posting , I've been busy doing stuff ,patting myself on the back and feeling very virtuous
about my crafty achievements. I love that
feeling you get when you’re motivated, and it seems like the ability to create might never end. We all know it does but I'm happy to take the feeling for as long as it deigns to stick around. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First up, my September sampler blocks for <a href="http://seabreezequilts.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/chocolate-marshmallow-sampler-month-1.html">Amanda's </a>chocolate marshmallow sampler have been finished. I'm just using fabrics that appeal to me as these blocks are rolling out - so I'm hoping it'll all come together at the end. Looking at these fabrics, I suspect I might end up with something very different to anything I've ever made before. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last weekend the family got together to celebrate my Mum's birthday with a BBQ (and plenty of resultant silliness) I took my hand sewing planning to make a small hexie project which has now morphed into my Miss Elizabeth quilt. Slow but steady progress has been made this past week and I've sewn enough hexies to make one and a bit rows of of the inner guts of the quilt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had a sewing day with PattyPie on Friday - No 2 nephew asked me to make a baby quilt for one of his friends so I got a start on that and continued with the quilting on Saturday- it's now awaiting some decorative stitching on the bunting flags and then I can whack the binding on and call it done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marrakesh is a finished quilt top....which needs a decent press before I start basting it - This thing is huge and its really hard to get a picture of the whole quilt. Needless to say I love it. Those fabrics and layout make my heart sing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And lastly I'm going to leave you with a project my Mother In Law has been working on - her first ever hand sewing project. It's at the basting to the backing stage and I think she's done an amazing job! </span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-86031959852429076422014-10-01T18:32:00.003+09:302014-10-08T05:37:12.791+10:30FAL Q3 In Review and Whats up Next.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm time poor at the moment so I'm rolling my review for Quarter 3 and goals for Quarter 4 into one post because I'm nothing if not practical.(and considerate - this means you only have to read one post and I've even chucked in a bit of a fairy tale at the end which addresses the mythical finishes I'm hoping to achieve by the end of the next quarter) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Frankly, I'm kind of horrified that it's October already. Before any of us know it we'll be butt deep in the C word that I can't bring myself to say just yet. (a hint just in case you think I was using thinly veiled profanity: present shopping , and the imminent arrival of fat guy in a red suit) Anyone who actually uses the C word out loud before November 1st should be publicly flogged in the town square as a deterrent to others who may be trying to get into the C*******s spirit way too early.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My performance on the "getting my goals completed" this quarter was somewhat dismal. It's not that I didn't sew - I did - a lot. Just not on very much that I had actually originally planned to finish. I was seriously affected by "Oh Shiny! " syndrome and kept allowing myself to be distracted by just about anything else that popped into my mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finishes first ( don't blink or you'll miss it )</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Seville Quilt (featured on the Aurifil Facebook Page and pinned on Pinterest - too bloody right I'm being a big head about that) a vision of loveliness and my first ever meandering attempt. I've spent every night since I finished this snuggled up under it. Definitely in the running for my favourite quilt of 2014.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Re-do Cushion Cover- finished at practically the 11th hour but finished none the less!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Partial wins but no cigar </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moroccan Tile Quilt- all the blocks are kind of ,sort of together but I ran into a wee snag with sewing the rows together ...so I'm taking my time and not rushing it. Like fine wine, this quilt will get better with age. I really like it so I want to do it properly so I can look at it in later years and still marvel that " I did that"</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Abject Fails</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holiday Happy quilt - enough said. Didn't even take it out of the box!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other stuff I got distracted by that unfortunately wasn't on the list.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUSyWZdb80fI0oK5NXTjKoW-UDd4EGv8adUUaVSQzSiHzteAe3sudC2lmP8yRGj4QGq6GKWwqzV8OT9Qutla7cMSoJoKwX5A8RuLmA_4q8yrV00nJ7t59wdOdd6qbcg6wpv9r7DZH5kJn/s1600/FAL3+Not+on+the+list.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUSyWZdb80fI0oK5NXTjKoW-UDd4EGv8adUUaVSQzSiHzteAe3sudC2lmP8yRGj4QGq6GKWwqzV8OT9Qutla7cMSoJoKwX5A8RuLmA_4q8yrV00nJ7t59wdOdd6qbcg6wpv9r7DZH5kJn/s1600/FAL3+Not+on+the+list.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joseph's Quilt of Many Colours , Picnic Parade Donation Quilt, Irish Chain Donation Quilt, Postage Stamp Donation Quilt and Lee-anne's Baby quilt. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Fairy Tales for Q4:</b></span><br />
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<img alt="Finish Along 2014" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhznjKXYSrDyt_QJVFZv1kEbj5LDjNBFkwzltsG5Hln_YdDwe-ec5Ecl4-D9aTYfbIFqZu4bdDyj7XbouubqMGvSxKR2TItis98bY2csRkzVMTNeEGlnprPT78nHPHCGIbyGW2YvVqv6JMF/s200/FAL-2014-Button.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moroccan tile quilt- I <b>will </b>vanquish curves and sew them in the right places to the rectangle blocks ! (not a full inch below where they are supposed to line up) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holiday Happy-I swear I'm going to finish it even if I get nothing else done. I hate working with black fabric and from memory that's where I last touched this poor neglected quilt two years ago....(or more - its been so long I can't recall) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And my new project for this quarter - <a href="http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/10/charming-stars-quilt.html">The Charming Stars</a> quilt. I've had this on my list to do for about three years and its time it was off the list and translated into reality. Fabrics picked and ready to go! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thats it for me...Three at this time of year is well and truly enough! If you want to see all the other very clever people and their goals for the last quarter of 2014 you can have a squizz <a href="http://www.the-littlest-thistle.com/2014/10/finish-along-quarter-4-now-open.html">here</a>.</span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-71145570621872218912014-09-29T01:29:00.000+09:302014-09-29T01:29:50.167+09:30Life is Good <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spring has really sprung here at Maison Pyjamas. Less than two weeks ago I was lamenting the fact that our cherry tree (which didn't lose its all of its leaves until August - slacker! ) was still bare and barren. Today it looks like this which makes me happy because it means long, lazy, warm days will soon be a regular occurrence. I busted out a T-shirt this weekend and it felt sublime. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Saturday saw
the Not The Farmers Wife Gals congregate at Loz's house for our monthly
stitching party. </span><a href="http://grannyloz.blogspot.com.au/" style="line-height: 115%;">Loz </a><span style="line-height: 115%;">made me a very special cake to celebrate my birthday. Oreo
Birthday biscuit cake ...How stinking cute is this? I have to tell you it was
one of the best things I've ever eaten. Seriously! Thankyou Loz for your </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">thoughtfulness</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">. (and the inevitable sugar rush. I didn't get to sleep until 3am) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got all the remaining circles basted for my Moroccan Tile Quilt </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Qdeya2GcvVEvUD0gmTEcQKhZT7k7oJwX8sIB9vXrEdKvmXMnsdQcaB27TUo-w9m6zTMkXBThW6EpSRT_ju8eBcZ4KF-_xjNH44rpMVaqtWvYariwty5OLllj4YI6kRrmej53nw8p1o9A/s1600/MTcircles.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Qdeya2GcvVEvUD0gmTEcQKhZT7k7oJwX8sIB9vXrEdKvmXMnsdQcaB27TUo-w9m6zTMkXBThW6EpSRT_ju8eBcZ4KF-_xjNH44rpMVaqtWvYariwty5OLllj4YI6kRrmej53nw8p1o9A/s1600/MTcircles.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and then started working on an idea I had for a re-do of that old cushion I inherited from my Mum recently. Remember this? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kay (no blog) very kindly unpicked some stubborn remaining thread from the cushion cover for me. She said she likes unpicking - frankly I think she needs some sort of reality check medication- but who am I to argue with free unpicking? This cushion cover has been a source of great indecision for me but yesterday I decided to go with some large applique paisley shapes and lots of pretty embellishments. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But once I got it home - I didn't really like how it was panning out at all ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I went with one of my original ideas and spent Saturday night putting it together and I have to say I think I've made the right choice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday I finished my postage stamp donation quilt top - and then basted it - and quilted it - and put the binding on. Yep - Another finish, and my third donation quilt done for the Mary Potter Foundation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm hoping to make some headway on the Moroccan Tile quilt this week as well as finish my two blocks for the <a href="http://seabreezequilts.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/chocolate-marshmallow-sampler-month-1.html">Seabreeze Chocolate Marshmallow Sampler</a>. Oh and I have to fit work in there somewhere as well. Looks like I have a busy week coming up! </span></div>
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<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-7279196808814888652014-09-26T16:41:00.001+09:302014-09-26T19:45:29.754+09:30The Pink Dress <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Im going to put this out there for anyone who hasn't picked this up through my 663 blog posts and almost 5 years of blogging ...I am not a girly girl. I am all about having beautiful hair and I wear undies every.single. day. but clothes wise my tastes and lifestyle tend to run more to "smart casual",pyjamas or jeans than dresses or skirts. I don't own a single skirt. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I do own two dresses (both of which I actually wear with leggings because that's semi trendy and because I don't have to worry about wearing pantyhose because pantyhose are the invention of the devil) and a ball gown that I've worn once on New Years Eve 2008. I think that might be the last time I wore a dress without leggings underneath....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Part of my dress aversion arises because I don't have the hips for dresses. When they were handing out hips I thought I was standing in the cocktail line and so I accidentally got served twice. I also got in the boob line at least three times but thats neither here or there, unless you were the poor sucker behind me who missed out completely, sorry about that. However today I went dress shopping because I frigging well had to. Grudgingly, and without any pleasure about it at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My nephew is getting married in about 5 weeks. His fiancee is a girly girl, as are her sisters who are organising some of the stuff around the wedding.What do you get when you put all this girly girl stuff in a blender along with pre-wedding festivities like kitchen teas and Hen's night celebrations? You get an invitation that stipulates you have to wear a pink bloody dress to one of those events. And that sucks when you don't own a variety of dresses- let alone a pink one. A pink dress that you will never ever wear again as long as you live. A pink dress that will make you stick out like dog's balls in a room of lithe young things who will be able to rock their pink dresses while you look like a big fat middle aged good year blimp. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm all about making the best of a situation. My plan was to find something demure and non noticeable and cheap (since I was never wearing this darn thing again) and to sit in a corner for the afternoon sipping tea and sucking my guts in. I imposed a time limit on my shopping (2 hours) and a set amount of shops in which to look (3 maximum) and if I hadn't found something I was coming home and going to this shindig in pink jeans dammit! (Yes I do have a pair of pink jeans)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes life has a way of surprising you. Just when you think you're on an impossible mission life throws you a bone. At the very first shop I spied a dress I actually liked and it was the only one left. With trembling hands I sussed out the size tag and almost cried because it was my size. I tried it on still not convinced that I wasn't dreaming and I didn't feel like breaking down and crying when I saw my own reflection in the mirror. I'll have to shave my legs before I wear it because they look like a Mediterranean mans armpits but I can handle that. They haven't been done since about May so it's probably time anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Behold the perfect dress...(which I already have a matching clutch bag for in my cupboard !!!!!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've decided I WILL wear this again since it's cocktail</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> length and I have a gala dinner coming up in a couple of months and this dress will be very forgiving when its rolled up and chucked in a suitcase for our overseas trip. Serendipity I tell you! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The best part? It cost me less than a Maccas meal...which means I have plenty of money to go buy me some spanx. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-67752035292772024412014-09-21T22:07:00.000+09:302014-09-21T22:07:09.132+09:30Celebrating Being Me <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This weekend was my birthday weekend and it started perfectly as if it was an omen for how the rest of the weekend would pan out. Friday morning my work colleagues and I received a thank you gift from a family we work with. KK's for morning tea! Bliss. Some people who hadn't had KK's before thought Krispy Kremes were overrated. I'm not talking to those people anymore because they clearly have no taste buds. Nobody thought they were so bad that they handed me their half eaten donuts however, so frankly I think they were just taking the piss. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Friday night involved sewing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unusually for me I decided not to cook(no laughing from the peanut gallery!)so we ordered gourmet pizza for dinner ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday breakfast...don't judge me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday lunch at 3pm was a hunk of cheese which I shared with Indy and Lola. Mainly because Indy was resting his head on my leg and threatening to drown me in drool. It seemed easier to give him some than to have to find a life preserver to ensure my survival....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent all day Saturday putting some of my Moroccan Tile blocks together (and managed to crack two whole rows) while intermittently sobbing and repeatedly unpicking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Saturday night was spent in the glorious company of my fabulous husband, staying at a hotel on the beach for the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went to <a href="http://www.esca.net.au/">Esca</a> for dinner and it was fabulous. (Pictorial evidence of fabulousness below) I didn't think to take a picture of my pancetta wrapped prawns , in red pepper coulis with zucchini and rocket salad, but that was also delicious. I'm a big fan of good food, especially if someone else is cooking it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday we had Maccas for breakfast</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I opened presents</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and I spent three hours meditating in this space , checking out the inside of my eyelids to make absolutely certain they were still there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Later in the day I spent some more time putting together a couple more rows on my Moroccan tile quilt...my love for that is passing rather rapidly. I'm a pattern dumbarse and I've done something wrong and I'm having to re-measure each individual block before I add it to the quilt...it's driving me spare. The possibility of a finish before the end of September is ever diminishing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Later I noticed that the first border is not right and I'll have to unpick it again. At about that point I called it a day. (more sobbing and swearing also occurred at this point)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Birthday Snack time was more salt and vinegar chips and some Haighs chocolate oranges. I'm all about healthy eating most of the time ( excuse me while I roll around on the floor laughing) but on a birthday weekend I just let it all hang out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr. P gave me the coolest gift ever for my birthday. Its a scale that you pair with an app on your Ipad that walks you through how to make hundreds of cocktails. You choose the one you want from the app, put the glass on the scale and hook it up to your Ipad and it guides you through making the drink by weighing the liquor for you and telling you when to stop pouring, and what to add next ....pure genius. I had to try it out - twice - to make sure it worked. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dinner was spent with my family at a little hotel in the hills not far from my house. It involved more present opening, a couple more cocktails and a lot of laughter with the people I love most. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't think y</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ou can ask for any more than that for a wonderful birthday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And there endeth my weekend ...it was perfect.</span> </div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<br />Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-31417014194378403582014-09-14T19:40:00.001+09:302014-09-14T19:40:47.332+09:30Frenzy<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My days off this past week have been filled with pleasant stuff, faffing about and
doing pretty much exactly what I felt like. That included</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a lot of sewing, minor amounts of housework, limited cooking and a fair bit of sleeping. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had one day in my pyjamas and forced myself to get dressed in actual clothes the rest of the time. I swear if I didn't ever have to go to work, pyjamas would be my uniform. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During my week off, my grand sewing plans mostly
came to fruition, and I even managed to squish in a shopping trip for fabric, dragging Patty Pie (Mother of Pyjamas) along for the ride. It took 3 shops to get everything I needed, but I'm all set for another three quilts to be started (and finished-fingers crossed). I've left out the boring white fabric I bought and well as a ton of batting, which is currently residing on the sewing room floor being used by Lola as an impromptu dog bed. Miss Lola is such an opportunist.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My rather eclectic and out of character purchases</span> </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started and finished a simple baby blanket/play mat /change mat on Monday. I think I've nailed this FM meandering gig and need to move on to something else. One side is for a girl and one side is for a boy because I don't know what kind of baby its
going to be, as the parents have chosen to be surprised. I'm assuming they have had an ultrasound and already know they aren't having twins because that'd be one heck of a surprise and I've only made one quilt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My second Irish Chain quilt is done
and ready to be donated to the Mary Potter Foundation. Quilted in a simple
diagonal serpentine stitch in wonderful 50 weight Aurifil
thread. I've started using Aurifil for piecing as well not just quilting because yes - it just rocks that much. As an aside , having now made two Irish Chain quilts in a row , I am so over them that I'm ready to move onto something completely different. I see curves in my future. And swearing and tantrums due to the curves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've made progress on a third
donation quilt as well. The postage stamp sized bits were driving me slightly
batty but I finally have enough cut and sewed to the point where I can sew them into 16 patches. Once this quilt is finished I'm going to give donation quilting a rest for a bit and concentrate on some of the projects on my FAL list for the last quarter (my efforts on that list for this quarter have been seriously abysmal)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lucy Boston has been stuffed in a bag and I'm now working on Miss Elizabeth
instead from a pattern by Cherry Pie Designs that I saw at the Quilt Show in Melbourne in April and immediately fell in love with. Progress has been made cutting a bajillion hexies and honeycombs. Mental
note to self: When glue basting these suckers don't forget all the rude things everyone said
last time they had to help you unpick the paper bits from the hexies.You probably don't need to glue everything to within an inch of its life. I'm feeling more optimistic about this project, although I'm sure it wont be finished until sometime in 2016. That's OK -hand sewing is all about slow going in my book. Its the journey - not the destination. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And this morning I sucked it up and cut out all the bits for the Moroccan tile quilt that is meant to be finished by the end of September and I'm <strike>delusional </strike>optimistic enough to still think I can pull that off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is where I left things before calling it a day. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF2hDZUx1jNfajGmbmvDPrS8Bs-nZPSjc_oZhZvtC_8JULXg9CEW8pY0QjWqmMCrxM1BqVhHmgdY8wSlWbGWCzS304qTRZkvy8E7N_wC5Za3WnKt746wJJgh5VB5GppSGVa2201v34mhn/s1600/MT1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF2hDZUx1jNfajGmbmvDPrS8Bs-nZPSjc_oZhZvtC_8JULXg9CEW8pY0QjWqmMCrxM1BqVhHmgdY8wSlWbGWCzS304qTRZkvy8E7N_wC5Za3WnKt746wJJgh5VB5GppSGVa2201v34mhn/s1600/MT1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll leave you with some gratuitous food shots...I made up for my lack of cooking this week by pulling my finger out and hand making pot stickers from scratch for dinner tonight with a honey ginger sauce. My confidence took a battering the first time I made these which was some time last year I think. The hot sauce was so f****** hot even Mr. P had tears streaming down his face. His power of speech was affected for about two hours after dinner, or perhaps that's because he couldn't</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> think of anything nice to say about them? I gave up and ate a sandwich and have been too chicken to make them again up until now. New recipe- much better result! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And for dessert we had chocolate cupcakes with mint cream cheese frosting dipped in chocolate. You can never have enough chocolate.....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And while I'm on a sugar theme- this should send you into overload. I received a care parcel this week from Little Miss Sunshine which contained all the Halloween Candy I never had as a child in one box. For my Northern Hemisphere friends- don't bother looking for any Halloween Candy in your neck of the woods- I have the worlds supply at my house. I'm kind of hoping we get some Trick or Treaters this year because I will have the best supply of candy in Australia to give them. I'm pretty sure it will make me a neighbourhood legend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm back at work tomorrow but I'm determined to finish that Moroccan tile quilt under my self imposed deadline so it looks like its going to be a busy week. Enjoys yours. May it bring sunshine and good things. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had a sewing play date at my house yesterday with Sue from <a href="http://motherpatchwork.blogspot.com.au/">Mother Patchwork</a>. The thing I love about sewing days is that you can get hand sewing done while gossiping and swapping stories, and its pleasant to spend time sewing with people that enjoy doing the same type of things that you do. You can legitimately sew and nobody looks at you slitty eyed like they do when you drag your sewing along to other social events where non sewing individuals are in attendance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Everything was going swimmingly. I went all out ( cough cough) and did a make your own roll platter for lunch and chucked some non Krispy Kreme donuts on a plate for dessert. Sue brought awesome home-made cookies and I chucked those on the plate as well. I wolfed down a donut and was contemplating a cookie ( and just how many donuts and cookies I could eat before I had to stop out of politeness sake so I didn't look like a complete pig and I had just decided two donuts and two cookies wouldn't be too much ) and was moving my hand towards the plate when Sue leapt across the table in slow motion yelling *"Noooooooooooooooooooo" and rugby tackled the plate to the ground which left me thinking "Sheesh -she must love donuts more than I do". From the floor where she landed, amongst the debris of the plate, the donuts, the cookies and the cat water bowl she explained that she had forgotten my deathly nut allergy and that there were Macadamia nuts in the cookies (but informed me specifically that there were also white chocolate chips as if somehow that would cancel out the nut stuff). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm calling that attempted murder in the second degree and I'm assuming that at the last minute she decided she couldn't go through with it. I'm not sure what her motive was - maybe she wanted to rifle through my stash but realised after seeing it that we don't have the same fabric tastes and that it wasnt worth of potential jail term for a load of Amy Butler and Bonnie and Camille. I've forgiven her because thats the kind of person I am, but when we next meet up I'll be taking a CSI kit to test all the food prior to eating and my Epi-Pen. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Death Cookies (and yummy non lethal donuts)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sue did bring me these gorgeous patchwork Chicken oven mitts as a gift , so I'm not really all that mad she tried to kill me...</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">* Some poetic licence has been taken in the re-telling of the facts of this story. The leap across the table didn't occur, nor did the crashing to the floor, or the breaking of a plate or the loss of donuts, cookies or a cat water bowl. Technically, that's not lying - thats embellishing a story to make it sound more interesting to your readers. </span></div>
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Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3678998574963856841.post-79578307577358011152014-09-08T07:14:00.000+09:302014-09-08T07:14:03.239+09:30Food and a Finish <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was a lovely weekend. The weather has been glorious. I slept when I was tired, sewed to my hearts content, and spent time yesterday with three Dad's who are among the finest men I know(my Dad, my father in law, and my husband). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We hosted Father's Day lunch and rather than making it an all out, full on affair like I usually do, I went with simple, classic, low stress food that I've cooked a million times so there was minimal chance of any disasters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That is, with the exception of my gingerbread chocolate ganache tart with raspberry cream. It refused to set which made getting it out of the tart pan a real bitch. We just used a spoon because we're all class here at Maison Pyjamas. What it lacked for by not being an actual tart it made up for by being the most delicious sauce on a gingerbread base I've ever eaten. (F****** Gingerbread gets me every time - even when it's not a house) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mordecai decided that my strawberry pot is the perfect place to soak up some sun. Too bad there are plants in there trying to grow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and my Dad decided the lounge was the perfect place to watch the football elimination final. Richmond, what happened? I wanted you to win so badly mainly because I wanted Port Power to lose. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This past week I finished the Joseph's Quilt of Many Colours Irish Chain Quilt, and on Saturday I popped around to my friend's place and gifted it to her. I really enjoyed making this quilt and I love the finished result. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It came in at 65 " by 65" and I meandered and serpentine stitched my way across the top and borders to quilt it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've got some time off work this week and I'm planning a serious sewing assault. Two donation quilts and a whole cloth baby quilt are on my list of goals. Let's see how long the mojo lasts! </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/389/52615E9EBF3A46201E2CBA97B767CA4D.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Shayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032969125788408807noreply@blogger.com26