I finished it!

well, I finished them. I have to say that publicly declaring my intention was very helpful at keeping me on track.


Oh, and I did have some help from one of our kittens. I still call them kittens, even though they are very obviously cats now. I suppose I'll be one of those mothers that calls her 25 yr old her baby.


So, the curtains are finished but not yet hanging, I need to get more rolling hooks (I did ring and get a price for them today though, and I should pick them up tomorrow). I will post photos when they're hung.

Mx

Finish it Friday

Even though it is Saturday morning already.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been making curtains to cover our wardrobe. If I was more specific, I could have said I was making curtain, because I only made one drop out of 7. Actually that one is not even finished as I bought it home to test hang and pin up the hem.


However, I am so excited by the effect just this one panel has had (look, look!). And so, I declare this curtain project a 'Finish it Friday' project as inspired by Creative Organizing blog. Which means "getting a nagging to-do off of your to-do list before the end of the weekend". And this being a long weekend here, gives me an extra day to accomplish my task.

I would much rather be sewing anyway, than watching the grand final football game (Aussie Rules of course) the rest of the country will be watching.

I'm hoping that publicly announcing my intention to finish the curtains will hold me to it.
I'll let you know how I go

Mx

btw, the above photo was taken with my new iPhone that I finally got yesterday! just another thing to be excited about this Queens Birthday long weekend :)

Family Craft Day

The only finished project from our tri-weekly family craft day this week. A colourful head scarf made by my SIL from vintage fabric of my mother's. Mum made curtains out of it, and still loves this fabric, now we get to enjoy it all over again.

I worked on curtains to hide our wall of Elfa wardrobe, and I pinned my quilt sandwich together. Big projects, so no FO's yet.

Mx

Hulbert St Fiesta

Highlights

the tiniest skateboard I've ever seen
(I love tiny things)


swing dancers from the Perth Swing Dance Society
love the outfits! if only I could get the Mr to don braces and woolen pants and hat.


young buskers having a go


the surprise of this lovely tree sculpture under a blue tarp
(Saturday morning was a little damp)


the sweetest sign ever

and two things I didn't get pictures of - homemade cupcakes with butter frosting (yum), and the bicycle powered DVD player in the City of Cockburn tent. Another great Fiesta, it gets better every year.

Mx

Sunday Quote

The love we give away is the only love we keep - Elbert Hubbard

I hope you are flinging your love about with gay abandon.
Mx

In a galaxy far far away

I have a new ironing board cover! and when the text looks like its receding to a point it reminds me slightly of the intro to star wars. Anyway, I made it myself, and I'm very happy to have an FO to show you all (finished object - for those of you still learning your bloggy acronyms like me).


I was inspired to start this blog because of all the crafty blogs and mommy blogs I like to read, but I'm a bit slow on cranking out the projects, and we don't have any children yet, so its neither, but here is a crafty offering.

All I did was clip the elastic of the existing cover so I could lay it flat on my new fabric. The elastic had already gone, and was the reason I was replacing the cover (apart from the awful fabric).


I traced around with a lead pencil allowing for hem, and cut out. I should have thought to fold the cover and fabric in half first, but I didn't until I had started cutting it out and realised the sides were not equal. Easily fixed, fold and recut. Then all I did was sew the hem with room for the elastic, and thread through the elastic. I didn't even sew closed the hem opening. That could be laziness, but if I ever need to replace the elastic again, no unpicking :)


I'm looking forward to using my new ironing board without the cover lifting every time I move my ironing. Yay! anything that makes ironing less of a chore is a good thing, plus I think its really cute and will look so much better in our flat. I also sewed proper batting to the board to replace the ridiculously thin piece of foam that it came with.

Mx

Ingredients for a sandwich

A quilt sandwich that is.


I've had this quilt on my mind since my thesis year at uni (2 years ago). And I'm nearly there!

I have my top ready to go, I've purchased the batting and I've sewn up the fabric for the back. Now all I have to do is sandwich the layers, pin them together, quilt and bind the edge. Reckon I could have it done by the end of the year... I do have plans to make the sandwich next week, so I should have it done earlier than that, but you know how these things go.

I'm so excited.

Mx

Sunday Quote

"The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope you all have wonderful baubles of friends. I do.

Mx

Hulbert Street Sustainabiility Fiesta

I don't know what I'm doing this weekend. If it would just stop raining for one day, I'd clean and dry all our camping gear from last weekend. But I know what I'm doing next weekend. The Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta!

click to view larger image
[credit]

Such a great weekend. There are two open houses, seven open gardens and five open artist studios to visit, the highlight for me is definitely the Painted Fish, run by Tim and Sharni, a couple of Freo's coolest sustainability/community pioneers. There is also a Living Smart speaker’s tent, buskers corner, cafe, family activities, and street stalls for community groups, local artists and businesses selling sustainable products. Last year I bought the coolest hemp linen teatowel from fattydemonsey or was it the year before?? Anyway, as Tim says over on the Painted Fish blog "you should be able to spend the whole weekend here, and learn heaps about making your life more sustainable".

Hope to see you there, I'll be at the welcoming table for the Painted Fish on Saturday morning.

Mx

hehehe

found this over on icanhascheezburger (always good for a laugh) while looking for the Puritto to send to my friends after our mexican dinner last night.



the Mr and I sometimes talks like the lolcats and we say kitteh alot
Mx

retro cool

I remembered to take my camera last night so I could take some pictures of the coolest bowling alley in Perth, Rosemount Bowl in North Perth. It is only my second time there and I need to stop myself from clapping every time my ball makes it up the ball return. Hard though, cause it is the best ball return ever. Just look how Jetsons it is.


I also love the shoes.


And then as if things couldn't get any better, we all ended up at this Mexican place with really random toilets that forced us to go through the sqaush courts next door. So worth it though, this is the ceiling of the squash courts. I don't think I've ever seen so many colours on one ceiling. What a delight!


Mx

lmnop

Look, I don't even have kids yet and I love this free zine. If you do have kids or just like looking at good design go download yourself a copy.

image

Issue 8 is out today. I only found this zine last issue - the alphabet issue. One of my favourite finds was Geninne D. Zlatkis and her wonderful artwork. You can see her stuff on her wonderful blog.

images

Birds find there way into a lot of her work, which I particularly love, though I love it all!

Mx

Pretty Pretty Apron

I have linked to Pretty-Ditty before but she's just made the cutest apron ever so I'm linking again.

image

Look at that! How adorable is it?

I like my aprons to cover my top half and this is the loveliest full apron I've seen, so lovely I just bought the pattern. Now all I have to do is wait for it to arrive! It will be good to increase my stable of aprons from the lonely one I have now, a vintage number my mum used to wear.


What do you think... time for an upgrade?

Mx

Mud City

I have to say I am more accustomed to fair weather camping, and not the sort that turns the ground into one big skate-able mud rink.


it rained Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday. However, there were temporary non-rainy spells and it didn't rain on Saturday night...


which was great, because we got to have one helluva campfire that warmed us all up nicely.


the benefit of the weekend was that the Mr got to get out and have a burn on his beloved. And I earned a stack of brownie points for going along.

things we learned...
1. we need to get a new tent, as ours is not waterproof any longer (I'm very excited about this, it's kind of like shopping for a new house).
2. gum boots are the footwear of choice for muddy camping.
3. rain ponchos should be in our camping kit (they now will be).
4. there is such a thing as heater attachments for gas bottles and some campers use them to heat their tents.
5. when camping anywhere near the longest overland conveyor belt in the world you will hear it like the constant drone of a freeway at peak hour.

hope you all had a less muddy weekend (unless of course that is what you like)
Mx

Nobody told me...

knitting is so addictive!!



Especially with beautiful bamboo needles and lovely yarn. The bamboo feels lovely as the needles slide over one another. Bamboo needles must be a new thing since I knitted last, I am totally converted and think I shan't ever knit on anything else.

I started this fingerless glove project yesterday at my Mum's so she could help me get going and I haven't been able to stop. I took the knitting to squash last night and then continued knitting while the Mr and I played scrabble.


I am happy with my progress except that the reason I started this project was so that I could take it with me when we go camping this weekend. If I'm not careful I'll have finished it before we leave.

Even though we are heading out of winter , I 'm sure I'll still get plenty of wear out of them. This is what happens to me when I get cold.


The blood drains out of my fingers and toes and my digits look like they belong on one of Madame Tussauds wax dummies.

Anywho, I found this pattern at A Friend to Knit With, I'm doing Toasty. Head over and check out her lovely blog. I bought the needles and yarn from my favourite quilting and knitting shop. It's so lovely, I can't help myself when I go in there.


...and thanks mum for rigging me up this very practical yarn holder. My yarn will stay nice and clean while I hang out in the dirt this weekend.

Cactus Flower

my

first

ever!

This cheery fellow was a house warming gift from my sweet and talented childhood friend Tori when we moved into our flat on Australia Day. Tori is a gifted artist, producing thoughtful and sublime paintings, check her out here. I should have bought legs no.5 when I had the chance, regret still haunts me, at least I was smart enough to buy jurgs' cow.

Mx

Consoling One's Self

Mum called this morning to let me know that Nana Hurrelbrink went peacefully in her sleep last night. She was ready, telling my Uncle a few days ago that she was tired and just wanted to go to sleep and not be woken. The family gathered on Sunday to say good-bye, so we got a chance to tell her we love her and give her one last kiss.

So, I am consoling myself with the thoughts that Nana lived a long and happy life, and even though she became quite frail and vague in the last years, she was looked after by my Uncle and Aunt at home, in the house she raised my Father and his five brothers in.

Enjoy your release Nana
Mx