Procrastinating

If I actually did some sewing, instead of wandering through blogs full of wonderful sewing ideas, I could make me one of these......a very pretty dress by Andrea Moore

With this gorgeous fabric by Amy Butler

or this one, which Ms Moore has also used for the dress (or something very similar anyhoo).

The Miriam Gibson store has some skirts by another designer who's name I don't remember,in some fabric that I've also seen on the net someplace...but I can't find it to show you......so you'll just have to take my word for it. They're really nice.

Ms Gibson does however have this covetable dress in her collection, which I could whip up in a weekend, with this pattern...

Kwik Sew 3575

The most noteworthy thing about this post is, of course, that I have ventured into not one, but two of Wellingtons finest designer stores, the kind of places where an article of clothing sells for the kind of money that equals two weeks grocery budget in my house.

and I liked them.
a lot.
but I didn't buy anything.

More ohh!

One was nice

But two....now two is a collection isn't it?

Let me know if you find any more.

Ohhh

Loving these.....made of timber.....free shipping til Christmas!!

They're by Bride and Wolfe

Found via Paisley .... a new discovery

An Aussie based blog that's similar to Oh Joy ..... an old favourite

Inspiration in bucketloads.

A Quilt

Yes, another speedy quilt. Whipped up in a ridiculously short time, for a very special boy (and kindof for his parents too....). There was a naming ceremoney today for the new owner of this quilt. It was very sweet. Parents and Grandparents (from polar opposite ends of the cultural spectrum) pledged to care for J, and so did his Godparents and all us friends and family gathered to celebrate him and his little life. Nice.

I thought he needed a quilt.

Cut 12,8, 4 and 6 inch squares on Wednesday.
Pieced the top and made the binding on Thursday.
Quilted on Friday.
Bound on Saturday morning, finished in time for the midday party!
That must be my fastest quilt ever. It's kindof cot quilt size. I delivered it with instructions that it should be dragged around and used well, and chucked in the washing machine without a second thought. I'm sure it's up to that kindof treatment.

More warm polar fleece on the back. Some of those fabrics tugged at my heartstrings. Eddie and I bought the penguins somewhere after we'd seen....oh what's it called, that penguin movie with Morgan Freeman narrating. Eddie loved it and I was amazed at his capacity to watch such a full-on documentary. It's a good movie though huh? The cow fabric probably technically belongs to someone else (err, sorry), the chickens are from the back of Margs housewarming quilt......ahh, and the last time I used that coffee cup fabric was for A's quilt. She loved her quilt so much, it kept her warm while she was so desperately ill (sniff). The cats were in the first quilt I made for my Mum, and there's my last scrap of Harry Potter fabric. There's apple fabric too, that was some of the oldest fabric in my stash. Most of the others were probably bought to placate a toddler in a fabric store. The 'girls' at Nancy's embroidery shop were good at selling fabric to my boys...I'd buy 25cm for them....choosing it kept them busy while I browsed. Those were the days!!

Oh, and Kitty helped of course.

What do you think?

Would I? Could I? Should I?

These are by Shawna in Dublin.

These stairs from Sunset Magazine, with wallpaper by Ferm Living
(alas, that plumeting $$)



and these, by the extraordinarily clever Melissa at Sugar City Journal.
Can I have the painting too? Check out her uber cool dresses for little girls, they're amazing.

Ya know what? I think I just might......

Never again

First, thanks for all the sweet comments and emails about Eddie. We've known for a long time the boy is talented, but when I mention it, you can see people's eyes glaze over, and they're thinking I'm just a proud Mum. But I really think there's some magic there. You can say you knew him before he was famous. There's more on YouTube.

One of our mutual favourite songs is Split Enz "Charlie" and Ed and I have been laughing about how inappropriate it is for him to sing...we figure it's about heroin after all...but he plays it so well!

Now, if you ever hear me say 'I'm going to rip up the carpet' it is your duty to physically restrain me. And if you hear me complain that my hands ache, I can't stop sneezing, and I'm exhausted, then you must say 'I told you so'. And failing that, if you'd like to join me in hunting down the guy (of course it's a guy) that invented carpet tacks so I can drag him back here and make him remove every sodding, broken, sharp, stubborn, little sliver of metal, sticking relentlessly out of my floor.....you'd be very welcome.

The stair rail looks good though huh? I'm going to get the supports chromed. One day.

Details details...

I'm into some fine detail work in the ever-improving hallway. It now has two coats of paint, and I'm onto sanding the skirting boards. Tonite I'm sanding and polyurethaning the stair rail and the ballustrade every couple of hours. The rail looks like a ballet barre. It was black with probably 50 years of grime, but it sure is going to be beautiful. I think I should have been a woodworker, I love the detail of the timber so much.

I've been thinking about what to hang in my beautiful hallway. I dug this out. It was stitched for a challenge, I think the challenge fabric was the big bold Jane Sassaman print. I fussy cut the flowers and machine embroidered and beaded it. It's square, really it is!

I think I will cut it up and stretch bits of it over artist canvas blocks, and hang them in a row.



Oh, and Kitty has been helping, of course.

Proud? Me?

Lookee here.
He's 11.
I'm amazed to see this boy who has figured out so much about who he is and what he's passionate about.

He's made 5 clips, including one original song. This one is his favourite. His parents know about them now. But he insisted on leaving the room while I checked them out. He's pretty buzzed that Liam Finn (son of Neil of Crowded House) has left him a comment. Well, he's pretty sure it's really Liam.