Weekend Review 2

so how did I go this weekend?  It felt really busy. Starting Friday night when I went to a friend's for dinner.  It was her birthday, but she insisted on cooking for us.  It's her favourite thing.  She loves to cook, so we just went along for her entertainment!  It was the least we could do! Armed with a great bottle of champers - thank you Mr Verve and a 2001 Shiraz...so good for a winter's feast night... and stunning flowers for the birthday girl! It was a gourmet thrill of an evening.

Saturday was eaten up by taxi duties and grocery shopping, although I did sneak a coffee at Jamaica Blue on one taxi run (shhhh!) and read a bit of the paper.  Then it was rugby night.  We popped into Northbridge for burgers at Jus Burgers before the game.  They make a great burger, although the chips were my fave this time. The aioli dipping sauce was dee-lish!  Very unusual night at the rugby - our team won! Which was lucky because just between me and me, I didn't really want to go.  I was quite keen to have a sofa bound night with my crochet rug for company!

Georgia asked for my help making a prop for her performance on Sunday night.  Her technical stage unit final assessment was a show in the Hayman Theatre at Uni.  So I whipped up a stuffed bird, reminiscent of the bird from "Are You My Mother?" which their performance was based around.  Then it was taxi duties again.  A chat with my sister Angela (she lives in Chicago) so we don't get to chat that often!  Some cooking - this weekend was Bacon and Lentil soup.  A very simple Donna Hay recipe. Easy peasy japaneasy! Then some more taxi duties - George to Uni and Bridge to the library for an afternoon of study.  I popped out with a girlfriend.  Back to Northbridge to a bar where we had a couple of ciders and played Scrabble - I got THRASHED.  Then off to watch Georgia's production/assessment on Sunday night.  It was very entertaining.  AND my bird was the lead/starring role!  And I have no photos of my sweet little bird. 

I forgot to mention.  I was trying to print off an image from the computer to use to draft a pattern, but the printer has died, so I gave the tracing paper to George to put up to the computer screen.  I don't think she's ever used it before!  Kids in the digital age - what they've missed.  I grew up using tracing paper!  It's so useful!  My sister was very funny when I told her what we were doing.  Analog mother, digital children I think she said or something to that effect!

Somewhere in amongst all that I found time to make these littlies!

Four little itty bitty yo-yos or suffolk puffs.  I've had a yen to make them for a long time now and finally I just did it!  I have no plan for them.  They are just going to hang around until I decide what they would be the perfect embellishment for.  Meanwhile I have no doubts they will multiply.

One of my inspirational creative books is this one

Quilting in No Time by Emma Hardy.  I haven't made any specific projects out of it and I'm not sure I will, but it gives me lots of ideas.  Like this lavendar pillow.  See the connection?

Later, dudettes!

Hand Piecing Hexagons

 I realise I was a bit of tease yesterday talking about my hexie progress, but not sharing any photos!  Naughty for those readers interested....!  So here, just in case you're in suspense here are a few photos. 

My quilt is a completely random scrap quilt.  Most fabric is scraps from quilts I've made or in progress.  My English grandmother spent lots of time hand piecing and there are several hexies she made but never included in a quilt.  They are stitched on scraps of paper from the church bulletin.  They are absolutely precious.  So much so that I hope to somehow frame a few.

This quilt has been a work-in-progress for 2 years now!  I work in bursts on it.  I am really inspired to finish it this year though. 

Lately I've felt a bit of falsetto craft blogger with my lack of real craft posts.  But I'm over that...musings about life and things that inspire and happen on our own journeys are all part of me and my creative"ness".

Scrappy Hexie Patchwork Quilt Progress Report

Recently I took all my hexies over to a friend's house and put them up on her design wall to have a look at my progress.  It was very exciting stepping back and seeing it all - it's so different than spreading them over the bed or floor. It's now been 21 months in the making (probably at least that to go!!)  I haven't stitched a stich in months, but am keen to make a bit more headway over summer. I'd like it to be big enough for a queen bed.  The pattern is completely random.  I toy with the idea of a second one with a pattern to it, or one made from my Liberty Tana Lawn stash, but that's a way in the future (possible) project.

I started using scrap fabric from all the quilts I've made to date, then I visited my mum who gave my hexies my grandmother had made in the 80s and 90s that hadn't made it into any of the quilts she made before she passed away, so I've added those in too.  Mum also gave me some old pieces of fabric from dresses we had as children so I've put those in as well. It's fast becoming a nostalgia quilt! Typical of me.  I'm very sentimental in many ways.