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.

WOW

It's back!! The World of Wearable Arts. Youngest son went, with school, lucky bugger, and he's still buzzing.

Thanks Dom Post, and internets, for the great pix.
I wasn't planning to go this year....but seeing these......ahh well, come check it out with me.

here
and here, and here too.

goings on...

Well, there's plenty going on....

• I've painted a sealer coat in the hall. It sucked up 4 litres of sealer, and showed me where the holes and dings are that need further filling. Of course it all needs sanding again, but it looks like this weekend is available for that, and then....PAINT, finally! I can't wait.
• I spent the weekend in Christchurch, hanging out with the handyman. Christchurch is so beautiful in spring...much time was spent admiring magnolias and rhododendrons and blossoms and daffodils.....just beautiful. It was hard to leave.
  
• I did a little walking....
• I'm reading my Quilt Wellington Symposium 2009 registration booklet.
  

Preparation is everything

I'm still working in the hall. I hung a sheet in the bedroom doorway to try to keep the dust out.

But you can't keep plaster dust out of anything at all really.

I got mail

September 1st was my birthday. I got mail. Lovely! Thanks!

I bought myself this. About 1.5 m of beautiful vintage barkcloth. It's soft and worn and faded and perfect. It's going to be cushions for the bench seat in the kitchen. One day. Don't hold your breath.

Ta Dah....

I did it! There is no wallpaper left in my bedroom or my hall.
Actually, in my whole house!
I'll be the one with the sandpaper ...

Working

Still can't reach. Now what am I gonna do?
and look, all those stripy vertical lines. digital camera on it's last legs? dropped too often? Blast!

The Handy Man

Okay, I'll fess up. The CHCH man? It's going well. Real well. He came to visit at the weekend. He fixed my car, he chopped firewood. We like the same kind of music and he likes to dance! We cooked together and he had coffee with some of my friends. So he needs a name cos I suspect he's gonna be around here for a while. Let's call him the handy man.

Oh, but I'm not telling him about the blog. Nope.

travelling...

This is (the very badly named) Craters of the Moon, Taupo, middle of the North Island. Steam rising out of the ground, a little bubbling mud. Great place for a walk on a cold day.

It's cold cos of the snow on the mountains. Beautiful. That's Lake Taupo, Mount Ruapehu and Tongariro in the distance.

You can't go to Taupo without going to Huka Falls.

And it's just a couple of hours drive to Waitomo. Extraordinarily beautiful limestone caves.

Those tiny straw stalactites? See them? They're thousands of years old, so don't go breaking any.

Big. It's all big. Big skies, big big lake, big mountains, big caves, big long low waterfall. Little NZ does beautiful in a big big way.

Goings on

The tv broke down. I bought a very cheap brand new one. The baby of the family wanted to play with the box. Some things never change.

The wallpaper stripping is going well, if slow. Yes, that's the fireplace in my bedroom, it works, and it's beautiful.

Had an extraordinarily good Japanese dinner (in Wellington) sitting next to the tall dark handsome famous person, and some movers and shakers. Work isn't all bad.

Kitty and I are enjoying the olympics, given the chance. He was particularly fond of the chinese gymnasts. Blackbird has posted some great olympic pictures. Go see Michael Phelps. Sigh.

try this

Here, check this out.
I'm playing it loud, and getting stuff done.
It's not my favourite track from the album, but it's good!

oops

I was going to post pictures....of Taupo and Waitomo....of op shopping in Christchurch.....of lovely trains in Waikato......I was, really I was, cos we all needed cheering up after that last post. Only the camera battery is dead as a doornail, and I can't find any of those old fashioned double A kind, so sorry, I can't show you ...... yet.

Come back soon though, won't you?

Today I baked brownies

I got up early today. I baked a batch of never fail, hardly touch the plate, kiwiquilters brownies. So named cos the recipe came from the Kiwiquilters yahoo group to which I belong in name only. Hi Shirley! (Shirley is the list mum.)

I took the brownies to work, to a meeting. I told my assembled colleagues that I'd brought them a present, because I enjoyed their company and I greatly appreciated their contribution to this piece of work which is about to meet a major milestone. We grinned big grins at each other, and hugs were exchanged. Because I should have told John that. But he wasn't there today, because on Monday night he took his own life.

So we worked through the stuff we had to do, and we talked about what John had said about x and y and z, and I shed a tear on behalf of the staunch and quiet men that surrounded me, and we laughed some and argued the point, digressed and told stories about John, and did some more work, and at the end each of them gave me a peck on the cheek goodbye and thanked me.

I'm glad we had that meeting today, and I'm glad those lovely blokey colleagues came, even though we'd talked about postponing.
Sure wish John had been there too.

Hello

Okay okay, here I am, I'm sorry for neglecting you. Where've I been?

• it's winter, it's bloody cold here in the corner where the pc is, and my poor fragile hands can't handle the cold
• first born's internet connection to his pc broke, I think it's the modem, so the pc is now shared by 3 of us, it's easier to just give in......
  
• there's no wallpaper left in my bedroom, and the hallway is half de-nuded of wallpaper too. progress!
• I've made two skirts and two tops, and a dress. The skirts and tops are good enough, and the dress is hideous. I shall either finish it, or cut it up and use the fabric for something else. I'm getting into it though, you'd be so proud!
• I've been travelling, tales to come...
• work work work. Intense, kinda exciting, kinda stressful
• I hurt my back in April. April! I didn't sit down for much more than 30mins until July. Finally I am cured. Hallelujah!!

Okay, does that explain my absence sufficiently? Well, you asked for it....there're gonna be a whole lot of posts tonite.