Category Archive

The glue pot called.
There are paper fragments and pens and ribbons and stuff all over our dining table.
How unusual!

This is a little sketchbook. And this one…

…is a journal. The journal is sold already, but the sketchbook is in my etsy shop.

Thank you for Clancy’s birthday wishes. I can hardly believe he is nineteen.
I really can’t believe he is so far away.

ricrac3, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

I have a new love (well, an old love re-sized might be more accurate).
This came in the mail from sweet Sophie. The teensiest, tiniest red ricrac I have ever seen. It was accompanied by beautiful white cotton lace (click on the photo and you can visit my flickr pages to see the lace).
Thank you, Sophie! Thoughtful and kind, as always

Every few years I think, “I should knit something.”
That’s because it takes me a few years to forget that although knitting should be easy, in actual fact it isn’t easy and, quite frankly, I’m not very good at it.
I have no clue why I thought I needed a cardigan. It’s only just dropped below 30 degrees Celcius in the last week (I don’t know what that is in Fahrenheit. Hot.) and it never gets cold here anyway.
The real problem started because I was bored at the shops waiting for my daughter and so I bought a knitting magazine. That evil thing seduced me into thinking
a. I can knit
b. I could need something warm one day
c. home-knitted stuff doesn’t look daggy these days
d. this won’t take long

Ha!

I can’t read knitting patterns so I had to make it up as I went along. I didn’t have a clear vision in my head of what I wanted. I get sick of knitting REALLY quickly.So, I ended up with this…

There are bits I really like a lot. Like the red crosses. They were a good idea (they are on the side seams, too, you just can’t see it in the photo). And the crocheted edge is fine.
I don’t like that it’s heavy (I was hoping for light and snuggly. I got heavy and stretchy and reminiscent of an army blanket). And, of course, it doesn’t look nearly as good on my porky bits as it does on my slender daughter.

But, I am far from discouraged. Remember that cool red and white yarn? I have another cardigan started in that. It’s definitely lighter. Should be a bit cooler, too.More of what you might call a “Tropical Knit”.

That’s what Peter calls this chocolate cake recipe. He makes a pretty good cake, does Pete.
Quick and Dirty could also describe these recipe pages I’m making. These are no scrapbook pages, works of art, laboured over many long hours.They take about half an hour each (at the most) and I would like them to have a “banged together in a hurry” feel.
In answer to your questions about the last page and the butterfly post, I used a “Whale of a Punch” (that’s the brand!) that cost about $24 at a local scrapbooking shop. The wings are about 1 3/4″ across and they are punched out of a magazine.
The recipe page is squares of envelopes (from our office mail) just glued down with a few of my left-over butterflies glued on top and the recipe hand-written over that. I quite like to write sideways because it makes my writing look better!

We have a series of recipes that are lovingly stored on scratty pieces of paper that live on top of the microwave oven. Favourite recipes that have been scrawled by hand on envelopes by now-deceased loved ones or printed off the Interwebs from long-forgotten sites. I had a panic attack on the weekend when I couldn’t find A Recipe. I had visions of the mouldy, sticky, dot matrix printout having been accidentally turfed in the bin and I Knew What Had to be Done.
A Recipe Book. A recipe book that contains all of the favourites that we would be sad to lose. A recipe book that can have lots of pages added to it over time. Here is page one, made with envelopes and left-over butterflies. It’s our Crunchy Lemon Muffin recipe, shared here and devoured several times a year at our house.

I have had Catherine Swan’s website bookmarked for the longest time. Her butterflies have made me smile over and over again. Then Erin showed us this from Ali Edwards site and I knew it was time to get my act together and make some of my own. (Thanks for the push, Erin!) I was so enthused I cut straight into my new issue of inside design before I’ d even read it…

…you make a public arse of yourself?

And no one tells you? In case you’ve been waiting and wondering why I haven’t posted photos of the quilt I finished a few days ago, the Twelve by Twelve reveal isn’t for another few weeks. I was thirty days early.
Holy cow, there’s a first for you!
Thanks for the heads-up, O Fair Weather Friends

Not that I can talk about being a good mate. My emailing has been negligent for a while.There has been sadness on the Interweb lately, people, and it’s affecting me more than it should. And March 2 would have been my sweet boy’s 21st birthday. And I’ve been busy doing this…

I don’t want to give the impression that I’m wallowing, because I’m not. Just lacking a little spark and needing lots of thinking time.
Normal contact will resume shortly.

I’m home. I have slept. I have recovered.

The Australasian Quilt Convention was fantastic! All you quilty types need to go!! The only bad thing about it was the lame photos I took -you’ll just have to trust me that everything about it was great, because all the proof I have is blurry. I had the BEST classes! Friendly, happy, competent students make tutoring a breeze and such fun. And the exhibition alone was worth the trip, but once again you’ll have to take my word for it. I don’t know quite what I did wrong but my photos are baaaaaad.
Even the pics I took of some of the fabric I bought are baaaaad…

The best part of the trip was meeting bloggers. I met this one and this one and these ones. They were all lovely and no one was an axe murderer (I’m secretly a teensy bit disappointed about that).
Pixie drove across town in a taxi just to have a drink with me before she headed off on a hot date! Thank you, Pixie; it was above and beyond to put in such an effort for such a brief visit.
Leanne and her mate Melinda and I sat together at the Gala Dinner and scoffed large quantities of scrumptious food while being entertained by equally scrumptious half-naked boy acrobats. Stomper and Crafty took me to a Japanese restaurant on Brunswick Street and we talked about EVERYTHING until we were very nearly kicked out at closing time. I’m not sure the sweet girls working there had heard some of the words we used. After we had worked our way through sex and religion and politics and childbirth, I was just about hoarse. We took photos and Stomper’s seems to be the best - of mine, one was blurry and the other has Crafty blinking and me looking like a startled panda (it was the end of four days teaching; I was knackered). Stomper, of course, looks gorgeous (Crafty, you look gorgeous, too, just asleep). I wish I could have dinner with Pixie every Friday, Leanne and Melinda every Saturday and with Stomper and Crafty every Sunday!

Melbourne is just as beautiful as it has always been. I would love to go there more often.
And Brunswick Street. What can I say? I’d move in today, given half a chance.

Here’s a snippet of what’s coming up next…

Tomorrow is Twelve by Twelve Day. Watch this space.

Twolimeleaves will be a bit quiet for the next five or six days. Tomorrow I’m heading down to Melbourne where I’ll be teaching at the Australasian Quilt Convention for four days. I love teaching, so I’ve been looking forward to this weekend. The BIG bonus is that I’ll also get to meet some bloggy peeps. (I’ll try to sneak some photos of them, OK?) (shhh)

While I’m away, my second anniversary as a blogger will pass. Hard to believe really. Me. Sticking at a project for two years.

In celebration I thought I should give y’all something. So in my sidebar is a little giftette from moi. A pattern for a Good Dog pincushion. Making one of those puppies (heh heh little joke there) is so simple - have a go. Just copy the file and print. The applique design is full-size, ready to use.

Happy pin-cushioning!

This doll I made in a class in 1982. She’s a classic Gibson Girl. I never liked her. She and I just never bonded and she has remained unfinished for all these years, wearing nothing but a petticoat (that I had, nevertheless, lovingly sewed for her). In one of our many moves she broke a leg and somehow that broke the spell over me that said that she had to be Authentic.
So instead of studiously working to recreate an antique doll, today I just dressed her in a post-Punk Victorian Fairy aesthetic ( woooooo! ) and she and I both had a good time. Now I’m in love with her and she looks a damn sight happier than she did yesterday. She even Got Ink, discretely on the back of her neck, in a celebration of Life Outside the Cupboard.

Nobody wants to go outside. The rain that fell over the last week or so is now evaporating and the humidity is at suffocation level. A good excuse to stay inside and redecorate my blog.

And make more quick craft projects. This is very good for my soul.
This doll head (bought on etsy) is old and broken, found at the site of a doll factory in Germany. It’s remarkably satisfying to take something imperfect and discarded and give it another life. I’ve been reading Spirit Cloth for months now and Jude has been reminding me of the importance of old and worn things; of the need to value their imperfections and honour them.

By the way, if you click on my photos, they will take you to my flickr pages and you can see more photos! There is a flickr widget available for sidebars but I can’t figure out how to get the &$$*%&^(*#$$@ thing to work.

Ooh, that reminds me of a good joke.
How do you get a sweet 80 year old lady to say “FUCK!” ?
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Get another sweet 80 year old lady to say, “Bingo!”

I didn’t want Christmas 2007. I just didn’t feel like it… Until it was all over.
Around about January 2 I got all enthusiastic about Christmas and started making decorations. I prefer to think of it as being Super Prepared for Christmas 2008.
It started because I saw some beautiful decorations in a post-Christmas sale in this etsy shop and wanted to make some of my own. Mine have some of my Nanna’s buttons in the centre.

Although at night the lighting is lousy for photos, I think the yellowness of these shots suits the snowflakes and the low light does make them twinkle more than they would in a daytime shot.
What’s the bet that by December 20 I’ll have lost them??

You guys are too nice to me! Maddy gave me this
and Shirley gave me one of these.
Thank you both so much for being thoughtful and making me feel good!
I’m going to roll them in together and give out “You’re Amazing & You Make My Day Awards” to Tracy at Prickly Pear Bloom. Oy vey, has that girl got talent!! Tracy, you are so full of style and flair, you do make my day!
And Miss LaLaLaLaLaeroport! Lori, you are an inspiration. How you manage to be so generous with your time when you have kids and work and everything is AMAZING!
Caity, you get one, too! I admire so much about you and the loving, happy life you and Mr Beloved have created for each other. Hmm, yes, you’ll have to share your award with Mr B.
It’s nice knowing y’all

My poor, poor husband and daughter. They are watching, helpless, convinced that I am sliding further into madness.

I’ve made another scarf.

There were two balls of baby-fine merino wool in the chuck-out bin at the shop. For $1 a ball. In my favourite pale blue.

Well, what would you have done? I couldn’t leave it there!
And, my crochet skills are pretty limited, so I didn’t have too many options when it came to projects. In fact my crochet is so dodgy that even a rectangle of double crochet is a bit beyond me and I ended up with something with verrrry wobbly sides indeed. So, I bagged it out with a cotton fabric and put red picot sort of stuff on the edge.

Now all I need is a nice, snowy winter and I’m set.

I don’t bother with New Year’s resolutions. When January 8 comes around and I’ve broken nine out of ten promises, it’s just another large stick to beat myself with. So I don’t bother.
I have been thinking about stuff though. And one thing I’ve been thinking is that I need more Immediate Gratification in my life (yeah, like 200 gram blocks of chocolate aren’t enough!). What I mean is, I need more craft projects that can be finished in less than a year. Most of my endeavours are time-hungry beasts. That means they either engulf my life for whopping great chunks of weeks or I eventually have to put them aside when more pressing things arise and never return to them. I need some Quickies.
This is a good start to the year then. Sussanah’s post In Praise of the Tropical Goth struck such a chord with me. A - I have had the heart of a Goth for thirty years and B - I’ve just spent the first weeks of JANUARY in THE TROPICS crocheting myself a scarf. A woolly scarf. Well, why the hell not?


Not an original thought - I saw one here and loved it. How could I stop myself? I had to make one, even if it DID mean lowering the temperature on the air conditioning another two degrees.
There was even a huge bonus to finishing. I somehow managed to take a photo of myself that doesn’t make me squirm. 2008 is going quite well so far

Few things give me the endorphin rush that a Really Good Op Shop Find does…


Button Porn. Few understand it.

I’m just not ready for Christmas. It’s worrying and fretful-making. I usually love Christmas passionately but it’s starting to feel like *whispering now* Too Much Trouble.
Instead of putting up my decorations (was it really only seven years ago that I was teased mercilessly for having more than ten Christmas trees in the house?), I’m selling them on etsy.

Well, not all of them. Just this garland that I made this year. I think it’s great (being a yoyo lover and all) but the kids have given me grief about it (Damn kids. Who said they could have opinions?), so I’m hoping to send it to a home where it is loved and wanted.

Yay! Good news! It IS going to live in a house where it will be loved and petted and folded up nicely on December 31st! Thanks, Michelle :-*

And then there’s this doll I made. I actually made three (they are all different) and I’m asking myself, “Self? Do you even need ONE rag doll at your age, let alone three?” So I’m selling her, too. It’s not her fault that she drew the LONG straw (a ticket out of this mad house is not to be sneezed at!). She just happened to be handy and the other two were hiding.

Maybe as the house clears out a bit, I’ll start to feel calmer? Or maybe I’ll just hide,too, until it’s all over.

You may have noticed the “Handmade Pledge” badge on my sidebar (heaps of other bloggers have them, too). Check out the site that goes with it; it’s a great idea and worth considering. The concept is simple - this Christmas, pledge to buy handmade gifts only. Bugger those big retail outlets. Support a starving artist instead! I’ve been doing quite a bit of it lately, buying stuff from etsy for Christmas. Of course, I can’t show you photos of my purchases because that would ruin the surprise! But I will give you some links to shops I’ve been frequenting
paperologie
madelaine (how extraordinary is this girl? she is only sixteen!!)
tartx
heavenhelpus
remake

My loathing of mega-retail has been building over a long period of time and I know I’m not alone. It’s practically a Movement. En masse we have become fed up with having mass-produced crap forced down our throats by the Nameless and Faceless. Time to cut out the middle man, people! Time to give your money to the artists and crafters and artisans of the world!

Similarly, I am more and more reluctant to give my dosh to Woolworths and Coles and Safeway and the like. I have been making a conscious effort for some time now to support local small businesses. And, interestingly enough, I’ve discovered that it isn’t necessarily more expensive to shop in these businesses. For years I’ve known that small local quilt shops are often cheaper than *cough* Spotlight *you KNOW I hate you* and other chain stores, but now I’ve found that the same is true of our local small grocery store. AND they stock superb products.

So, in the spirit of all that is handmade, here is a peek at what I am currently sewing. I’ve been making this quilt since about 2000! It’s a very very rare thing (for me) - a hand-quilted quilt. I don’t enjoy hand-quilting very much and I’m not very good at it. It will probably take another seven years to finish, even though it’s only cot size.
If you want to see the whole thing, have a look here.

And here is a glorious gift that I received as a surprise in the mail recently. The lovely Miss Mormar sent me this ruler stand made by her aunt.
All quilters know that we live in fear of chipping our brittle rulers (once they are chipped they become pretty much useless) and they are tricky to store. This clever stand props them up on a shelf or desk. Unfortunately her aunt doesn’t have an internet site to buy them from, but I sure appreciate mine! Thank you, D xxx!

I was invited a month or so ago by Diane to join a new group that she was starting. There are twelve of us (inspirational women all), who will each make twelve 12″ quilts over the next ear or so. Each will take a turn setting a theme for that month’s quilt.

October was our first quilt challenge, to follow the theme “Dandelion” chosen by Diane.

Here is my effort. I am pleased, but reservedly so. It has been very much influenced by the R.E.M. song “Wendell Gee” and the words printed on it (my handwriting on the blue border and stamped with ink on the gray part) are from the lyric -

“there wasn’t even time to say goodbye…”
“if the wind were colours and if the air could speak”

In keeping with the sentiment of seeds/souls blowing away with the wind, I kept the palette calm and quiet (never can leave those lime/sour greens alone, though!). I think my favourite part is the seeds in the blue border (drawn with pigma pen, enhanced with silver crayon and quilted with mother of pearl coloured metallic thread) but I also like the seeds quilted into the light gray background (same metallic thread).

Between the blue border and the body of the quilt is a tiny insert of black and white gingham that is caught at intervals (alternating left and right) with lime green seed beads.

Visit the twelve x twelve blog to see the other quilts. They are truly wonderful!
(next theme is Chocolate! Woo hoo!! I’m an expert in that!!!!)

Wow! What a great day! I spent the morning Peter (always my favourite way to spend any day), then had the afternoon scrapbooking at Sussanah’s house with Tracey and Jennifer as well.
There was yummy food, there were serious conversations, there was great music. And THEN - I got to take the music home! Sussanah is Queen of the Mixed CD. She not only made the CD, she also printed it AND made a cover - all on top of scrapping, making lunch and generally being fabulous.
I drove home Reliving My Youth loudly in the car. Oh, Smiths, I have never stopped loving you.
After I collected Ali from school, we ran by the Post Office for the mail…
…and LOOKEE HERE! Surprise surprise surprise! Un-whined-for, spontaneous gifties from Margie!
How cute are these??
I can blow my nose on my Spiritual Twin…And look at the scissors! Margie must know about me and my passion for scissors I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw these amazing cards. There are so many and they are all beautiful ( I love the bee one at the top).

Then Ali looked into the bag and said, “ooh! what’s that red thing?” When she took it out, she saw what was written on the tag…
…big smiles! Thank you so much Margie for your thoughtfulness and generosity. It was a wonderful surprise! Now, get to it and make a blog!!!

This is my new bible… I can thoroughly recommend it. It’s so well-written that I understand it and, as a bonus, it’s even funny!
I’ll put it down long enough to say Hi…

About three or even four weeks ago, Kirsten dished one of these my way…

…which was very cool of her and I’ve been feeling guilty about not responding for about, ooh, three days now! (just kidding really - it’s been weeks) Thank you, Kirsten C., you rockin’ chick, you!
I happen to know countless rockin’ girls, so handing this out will be a piece of cake. I’m supposed to give five awards:
Sussanah has to be on the list, because we all know that she wants to grow up to be a debaser AND she loves her husband, and I’m very much in favour of that.
And Sarah, well, she’s the closest chick I know to a groupie! And she is a superb photographer. And when she’s not playing wii she grows mega-veges.
Nicolette is definitely a rockin’ blogger in any language.I get the impression she can make anything.
Craftymum scares me a bit. She finds more hideous craft stuff than anyone else I know, which makes her a rockin’ blogger in the same way that, say, David Lee Roth is rockin’. Remember him? Small pants, big hair? I know you know what I mean, crafty
Joni has so much energy you can feeling it exploding through the interwaves, or whatever the Internets travel on. She absolutely rocks!

I made another couple of peg aprons today for the etsy shop. I have a real thing for apple green, so it was good for the soul to use some.
I’m really enjoying making projects that don’t take too long. By the way, I haven’t forgotten that I owe some pincushions - they ARE coming, I promise!
And in case you’ve been worried about me and my phone we’re good now. We kind of have an understanding. It doesn’t demand attention from me and I only bother it occasionally.
I even got a text today from the Prodigal. It said “please please please please mummy send red rock deli chips theres money in my acct”.
What a kid! Does he miss me? No, he misses potato chips of the Right Brand!! (and thinks I would want HIM to pay for them !)

Have I told you already that I live in the Winterless North? Yep. That’s what they call Far North Queensland. And it’s pretty accurate. It got REALLY cold this winter. There was one day that was 11 degrees (Celsius. c.e.l.s.i.u.s.). Pfft. Wouldn’t know cold if it…

…anyway, it does make this the perfect place to line-dry your laundry.And we all know that not only does line-dried laundry smell so close to heaven that you can hear the flapping of angel wings BUT it’s also carbon-emission free, unlike a clothes dryer. So with that Greener-Than-A-6-week-old-Steak mentality, I introduce to you my latest sewing project:
A Peg Apron.

The aqua pocket has pleats at the side to allow for the bulk of the pegs and the red buttons reinforce the corners so that the pocket doesn’t tear when you put your hands in. Cute, eh? I’ve made two and I’m selling them here.

ps If any of you are interested in a little quilt swap, Margaret has organised one here. Sounds like fun!

It’s been a busy week. For the first three days I was completely engulfed by a computer course. I need to learn how to use MYOB (a book-keeping programme) so that I can be of a little more use to Peter in his new business than just a coffee maker/receptionist/kisser in the kitchen. It was all very interesting. I had to keep reminding myself that book-keeping is not Quantum Mechanics. Unfortunately, the course assumed large amounts of prior knowledge - they were there to teach me the PROGRAMME, not BOOK-KEEPING - so I had to keep my wits about me and pay attention. It’s been a while since I did anything that demanded that level of concentration! But it was fine and, while I’m pretty sure I failed the exam (!!), I do have a fair idea of what the programme is about.
On Friday I collected the new car. It was rather hilarious. I dropped Peter at the airport at 5:00 a.m. (in my clapped out trade-in) and, as I was driving home, I turned on the fan to demist the windscreen. Roh-Ro, Rooby-Roo!! Instantly a new grinding noise started. I limped it home, took Ali to school a few hours later and let it have Nanna-rests for the whole day. After school we drove to the car dealership, willing the sad little car to last the distance. How embarrassing would it have been for the engine to seize on the way to trading it in??? The new car is lovely! It starts first time, doesn’t clunk or grind and smells of leather. Oooooh!!!
As so often seems to happen, the leafy quilt has fallen by the wayside. I have been distracted by flowers and ribbon and lace and other fripperies. This afternoon has been productive, though. I made a new bag (cos you know I don’t have enough of those!)…

SO, all in all, a good week. New stuff and an aching brain.

ps: I should sign off with the new name my brother has given me:
Dual Citrus Foliage.

Cutting out heaps of leaves with very sharp scissors, I attempted to self-amputate my finger. Blood everywhere, pain, gaping wound, contemplating stitches but that requires a thirty minute drive to the hospital. Hmm, what to do? Go next door to neighbour! Excellent idea - bandaids, sympathy, pain-reducing white wine, loud funny stories about boyfriends. Feeling much better, thank you.

Time for a new project. When I left home, my mother went to university, got straight A’s and a degree - I’ll settle for a new quilt!

There’s a cool Pay It Forward Craft exchange happening. It’s been at Leanne’s blog and Leisa’s and I joined up at Nicolette’s.
Here’s the deal. I send a crafted gift to the first three people who comment on this post saying that they want to play. Each of them then posts the message below on their blogs and invites another three. Yay! Presents for everyone!

OK. Who wants to play?

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week… LOL… but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Shula is a legend. Never have I read a more articulate (and flattering) view of crafters than this post. If ever you have wondered WHY???? when looking at a loved one’s latest craft creation, read this. You will see the light.

Thanks to your poking and prodding, I have opened an Etsy shop! How hilarious!! I really need you guys stabbing me with a sharp stick sometimes. As Sarah said, “Oh, just do it.” I could almost imagine her rolling her eyes ;). And as for you, Sarah 2, what’s this having an Etsy shop and “nothing to sell in it. I just liked the idea that maybe one day inspiration - and skill - would strike and away I’d go …” You truly are priceless!

I’ve only got two things in it so far (!) and I wouldn’t even have those if it weren’t for the help of my sweet Ali, Princess of Photoshop. I tell you, how people without teenage kids cope with technology, I. will. never. know.
She also made my banner
(which looks a bit like this)

when, after at least 12354985789172 attempts at it, I STILL had a banner that looked like a streak of snot on the screen.
As soon as I finish this post, I’ll be editing photos of the Goth Babies to add to the shop. (Yes, Anina, they are my design *cough* OUR design - Ali drew me a picture of what she wanted and I drafted a pattern).

I know I’ve been really really slack about replying to your comments this week. Sorry about that Thank you, thank you, thank you for the encouragement and kind comments. You guys are The Best and I’m glad I know you *mwah*

To put my money where my mouth is, I’m going to have a Prize Giving Ceremony. Leave a comment on this post and I’ll send two of you a pin cushion as featured in my Etsy shop. (did I MENTION THAT I”VE OPENED AN ETSY SHOP???? WITH HARDLY ANYTHING IN IT????)

We’ve just finished week one of the school holidays and…
…the troops are restless. Ali doesn’t really like school holidays much. She has fun for the first few days and then she’s ready to go back. My policy as a parent has always been to make life at home as boring as possible, then they WANT to go to school. It’s worked for us.

She and I have been sewing for a couple of days. First I made a Ginger Baby…

Then twins…

And Ali liked them and wanted some to match her clothes (but I wasn’t about to make a tartan mini kilt so they only got the tights). My Goth Baby has babies of her own

The photos are a little dull - taken with the last few minutes of natural light. I’m wondering about selling these. You know, the whole etsy thing. Not sure. I really hate getting into that treadmill of production. Takes all the fun out of it.
More thinking is in order…

gift from monica, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

I am constantly amazed by the generosity that bloggers have for one another! There seems to be a constant exchange of gifts around the world (I wonder if the Post Office has noticed and wonder what on earth is going on?!). It makes me think that blogging could be a vehicle for peace if we allowed it to be. Anything that encourages communication and friendship can only be good!
Today my mailbox was exciting - this was inside! Monica wrote in the card, “I was cleaning out my studio and these…called for you!”
My son said,”Wow! She got the colours right!” Not just the colours - Monica, I love every thing that you sent! Every. Thing. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.
Just look at that little giraffe! And the floral fabric!!! And the mother of pearl buttons have little leaves on them!! Oh, I am in love

Yesterday I had a great time teaching a machine applique class here in Townsville. I had one of the most competent groups of students I’ve ever had! Those ladies really know their way around a sewing machine. So it was a lovely relaxing day with yummy food and good company. These cushions were my class sample…

Today, however, is dull as dishwater - it’s pouring rain and cold. I have a jumper on! AND I’m working at the bank this afternoon. Blech.
Interesting to hear your thoughts on links. It’s made me think about other ways to do it and I’ve been thinking about maybe having a separate page for my links.

Sometimes I try to be a Woman of Few Words (as if that will ever be possible) and end up just confusing people.
In answer to the questions about the 365 quilt - no, it won’t be huge. The little blocks are only 3″ square and I’m making the quilt 20×20 blocks, so before I put the borders on it will only be 60″ square. The extra 35 squares (20 x 20 = 400 - 365 days = 35!!) will be little pieced blocks, or have something appliqued on them or just be a piece of some yummy fabric.
I’m writing on the fabric with a Micron pigma pen which you can buy at just about any quilt shop. There are other fabric-safe pens around, too.

While I’m housekeeping, FELICIA and MARGIE (hope they heard me), I have been trying to reply to both of you but my emails bounce every time!!

Thanks everyone SO MUCH for the supportive comments and Wise Woman advice that you left on my last post. I needed it. And to all you single parents, May The Force be With You, Ye who are mighty!! You are unbelievably amazing, pretty and smart to be able to parent alone day in and day out. I’ve only had to last a week and a half - Pete will be here this weekend and then every weekend for a few weeks at least.

Yesterday I made another batch of log cabin blocks for Melly and Rosie’s Scrappy Cabin Challenge. These are my favourite two…

I must say that this is my current favourite amongst my pile of quilts. It always bodes well for a quilt when I can’t stop myself sewing it and I feel that it is my best one so far - it usually means that I won’t tire of it quickly. I get worried when half way through a quilt the whole process turns into one big chore.

This one is definitely a keeper. Thanks Melly and Rosie! I wouldn’t have done it without you!

My kids at the school formal last year

My crochet obsession is waning. I am trying to keep enough steam up to finish this ripple…

This is ripple No.2 (Son of Ripple) (or Ripple: The Sequel). I think this one is more of a slog because the pattern is repeat and I need the uncertainty of what’s coming next to keep me interested.The only thing that’s keeping me going right now is that I’m going to have red pom poms on the points (I love red pom poms just as much as I love red buttons, red ric rac and red prairie points). I tried a blue stripe
and then chocolate brown
before settling on slime green (it’s quite a bit yellower than it looks in this photo). I do love red and green together, but all my greens need to be lime or frog pond or acid green or grass or apple. I don’t like pine, Hunter, forest or other such blech greens.

I had a great day yesterday! I went to Sussanah’s house and did scrapbooking. It was terrific. I whined and was needy (Sussanah, I don’t know what to dooooooo! Whyyyyyyy isn’t this workiiiing??), she gave me advice and supplies, she was kind and encouraging and NICE (heh heh, beige chick, heh heh), I used all of her stuff, drank her diet coke and then she even drove me home. I’m not sure what I contributed. Maybe she won’t invite me again.

Vintage buckles, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

What would you do with these??I found these in a thrift shop on Friday and thought $5.50 was too much for the bag of them - until I counted how many there were and realised it was only 50 cents each (I have a strong miserly streak AT TIMES). I love buttons from this era and in this style, but I have no clue what to do with these buckles! My waist prohibits the wearing of belts and I really do make far too many bags already. I think they would make very cool pins if something was added to them. Come on ideas!! Ulla would know what to do - she can make something exquisite out of anything!

Thanks for all the reassuring comments. It’s amazing just how many of us small-talking hating, snarky-pants women with messy houses there actually are. We should, like, SO form a club. And Paris Hilton would, like, SO not be allowed to join.

In amongst the sorting and unpacking caused by my move, there has been crafting happening! Every time I tidy stuff this happens. I find craft supplies that I forgot I had or there is too much of something to fit in a container and I think, “If I just quickly made a ???? from that, I could use it up and then I wouldn’t need to find a storage place for it.” It makes such good sense that, before I know it, I’ve spent six hours of tidying up time making some of these…
…does anyone have any other ideas of what to make with one ball of cotton yarn, other than washers?? My crochet skills are so limited (but improving!). I actually frogged so much crocheting while making these things that I probably made the equivalent of ten of the suckers.

And then I started sorting fabric and my scrap basket was jammed full and so…
…these are for the log cabin challenge. I’m really liking the way they all look together and so I’m planning for this to be a quilt for our bed.I have visions of red prairie points all around the edge of this quilt. But then I have quite a thing for red prairie points These are my favourite blocks from this batch…

I like tidying.

I’ve got mail!! My swap partner for the Vintage Button Swap was Erin from House on Hill Road. She sent me an awesome parcel that arrived just in time to cheer me up. Look at these goodies, all photographed sitting on top of the very FIRST issue of Martha Stewart’s mag that I have ever owned (yes, I know! Tell me about it!). Erin even sent the “Color” issue. How did she know about my colour obsession? *blink blink*

These are my favourite of the buttons.Octagonal!! And fluffy blue ric rac! I had no idea you could even get fluffy stuff (you may notice ripples on this page where I dribbled on the Lemon Tart photo. I have to make this). And there’s green ric rac…

Red and black buttons (I have quite a thing for red buttons)…
…and a beautiful wool pin cushion…
…and blow me down if she didn’t write a note on this card which just happens to be one of my absolute favourite Amy Butler prints!! I have a big chunk of this fabric Thank you, Erin *mwah* I love my swap stuff!

I have found some links associated with these beautiful embroidery images. The numbers are the images from left to right:

2 : Aimee Ray has so much beautiful stuff, it’s almost impossible to choose one thing for a mosaic! She has a website,etsy shop and blog.

3 : Is that THE most beautiful tea cosy in the world or what?? Bella Dia is well-known on Flickr as a prolific and inspiring artist. She also has an etsy shop, blog and website.

5 : The talented KariBombari is on etsy and has a blog

8 : Nicky Perryman has an inspiring website.

10 : Susan Sorrell is clearly brimming with talent and humour.

12 : Kerrin Quall is well-known in Australia because she is an awesome scrap booker - I didn’t know until I found this on Flickr that she uses other media too. Her blog is pretty entertaining !

13 : Karen (misses kwittys’) has an etsy shop full of cute stuff.

Today was A Good Day ( a James term, much borrowed by me). Today was the Inaugural Meeting of The Cool Quilters. There are only three of us but, man, we rock. Flo and I went to Tracey’s house and we cut fabric and sewed and ate. Tracey won the competition for the most Lust-worthy Fabric of the Day. She was cutting into a desirable little pile of Prints Charming fat quarters and even left beautiful selvedge strips…

Flo (alas, blog-less, but beautiful and sweet nonetheless) won the prize for Most Excited Binder of Quilts, having learned today that binding isn’t as complicated as she had thought (thanks to expert tuition from Tracey).

And me? I was grateful to be able to borrow a board and cutter, attack my scrap basket and come home with pieces ready to sew. Tonight I finished these…

… for the Scrappy Cabin Challenge on Melly and Me.
Yep, it was A Good Day.

glass mosaic, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

…but this one is different. I made this mirror a few years ago. I wish I could say it is original and only INSPIRED by the glass mosaic artist whose work kicked me off, but really I COPIED her technique slavishly, with her encouragement and instruction. Sadly, I now can’t remember her name! Her first name is Nicky and she is a wildly talented New Zealander. I would love to be reminded of her name if anyone can give me a clue!
After the mirror was finished, I bandaged my bleeding fingers and vowed to never do glass mosaics again. But, it only took a few months to forget the pain and start wondering if another project might be good.

Thimble, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

SORRY.

Sorry, sorry, sorry!! Can’t help it. Isn’t it awesome?? Last one this week. Maybe.

Sad, hey? Nothing better to do than mess around on Flickr making mosaics.

So I got a new toy and now I can’t stop playing with it…

Scissors, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

quilt favourites, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who made these beautiful quilts! If you recognise your work and would like a link, feel free to leave one in the comments.
I do know some -
The middle two quilts in the bottom row are by small hands, whose fresh take on fabric always thrills me!

The sweet birdies are by sykossa - she makes
the loveliest things and has an etsy shop.
The little pram quilt in the bottom right corner is by mollychicken - it has really sweet embroidery across the top that you can’t see in this photo.
The spectacular and rather mind-blowing hand-stitched stars in the second row are by moonstitches.
The bottom left Grandmother’s Flower Garden is by Judy Scott, who has a whole collection of very lovely quilts.
And the pretty green and white one is by Shash who has a blog,a web site, too and more gorgeous things on flickr!
Here’s another one - second on the left, Row 2 was made by the Great Grandmother of Jessica of bunnybum, who has just moved to Perth. Welcome to Australia!

I got myself a little bit carried away with the rippling thing. It’s been hard to think about or do anything else for two weeks now. But it’s nearly finished…just the edging to go!
…but then I dropped by Flickr and HALLELUJAH you should just SEE what other people are doing!! Search “crochet” and you will find more than 40 000 images of fabulous stuff.
How about this
made by the extraordinary Marianne. Want to see more? Go here or to her blog (where she also has allsorts of fantastic links to textile-type-stuff).
Then I met Shula (for the life of me I can’t figure out how I have missed her when you guys all seem to know her already!) and, man, can that chick swing a crochet hook!

Great. Like I needed another obsession.

Look what the gorgeous Ali sent me!! She made some yummy pants from this yummy fabric and when I fell in love with it, she sent me some (lots in fact)!

She also sent this…

Oh, Ali, you know me well! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I haven’t decided what to do with the fabric yet but it will be something special for ME.

Focusing seems to be a big problem for me right now. And not just those ghastly self-portraits. I have a huge list of tasks that I should be working my way through. So what have I been doing? Teaching myself to crochet. Is that on The List? NO. Do I care? NO.
Anina has the same problem, so I know it’s not just me. I keep seeing Pretty Sparkly Distracting Things everywhere I look. I came very close to ordering one of these loom things a couple of days ago, just because I saw these and thought they were cool. I have no idea what I would do with them except maybe sew them together to make a blanket. Like we need ANOTHER blanket. (Oh yeah, except for the crocheted ripple I’m making.That doesn’t count.)
Then I saw these really pretty thumb tacks and got all excited about making some. I DON”T EVEN OWN A CORKBOARD!!! But they are so cute…
CURSE YOU, INTERNET!! You’re too damn inspiring!!

Advice for Novice Crocheters (or should that be Crocheteurs??):

1. When the Little Voice in Your Head whispers, “This isn’t working!”, listen to it the first time or it will morph into the Giant Booming Voice of Doom which will roar in your ear for the next three days, “I told you it wasn’t working!! If you’d listened to me you would be halfway to a blanket by now instead of only Row 8 on your THIRD attempt!!!“

2. No matter how much of a Card-carrying Smart Arse you are, and no matter how much like Sanskrit you think crochet patterns look, you SHOULD use a pattern. Making it up as you go along is only clever if you SUCCEED.

3. Mistakes made in Row 1 DO NOT magically disappear by Row 6, no matter how many deals you attempt to strike with God. In fact, they breed overnight. It is possible (nay, probable) to begin with 310 stitches and end with 337. If I had kept going I could have made a charming Christmas Tree Skirt.

4. Read what other successful crocheters are doing. They have all sorts of useful information if only you take five minutes to read it. It will save you at least three days of tantrums, pouting and aching hands. Thanks to some flickr ripple-alongers I found this pattern. Now, if I can figure this pattern out, anyone can.

Here endeth the Lesson.

Drowning in Failure - 7 Days: day 4, originally uploaded by twolimeleaves.

Trying to join in the Ripple Obsession sweeping the crafty blogging world and failing. Crochet, you suck.

I WILL nail this. I am determined.

I think.

So I kind of lost a son this year (he’s gone to uni so now he lives at our unit in Townsville) but I have GAINED A SEWING ROOM!!! (sorry, mate - you can’t come home for weekends now unless you sleep in the lounge room)
Here’s what happens when you decide to move the sewing stuff from it’s present home to it’s new home…