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Showing posts from June, 2012

Crocheted Pot holders

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Lydia is the queen of crocheted circles :) She makes amazing little caps and cute hats. To be practical, she has made some pot holders. I love the spiral effect and she's not just a pretty face. She made it double thickness (black on the back) so they will actually work at not letting her get burnt when she takes her next exotic Indian curry out of the oven!

Happy 90th birthday Oma

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Today is my mother-in-law's 90th birthday. Happy birthday Mum / Oma! Mary is 90. She has dementia. She is in a special care home. We saw her this past Easter. We are in Sydney and she lives in Toowoomba (12 hours drive apart), so this morning Mark flew up to see his mum. She won't know who he is but together with his siblings and her local church they will celebrate her life thus far. Mary came with her husband Harry and 3 young children (and pregnant with the 4th) on a ship to Australia from The Netherlands in the 50's. The war was finished and they didn't see many opportunities for work. They took up the offer and came to Australia. Can I just repeat... pregnant and with 3 young children... 6 weeks on a ship. She said goodbye to her family and a life she knew, to make a new beginning on the underneath side of the world. Well, in hindsight that was a great move. She always loved the warm weather, the local church, friends and bringing up her children in Austral...

12 year old quilt finished!

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Yay for Lorraine. [insert trumpet fan fare here] 12 years ago she started this quilt. She was with another quilting group somewhere when she started. She just never got the hang of hand quilting though. Then she started coming to our Craft Group. She says, "I just could never get the hang of quilting, then I came here and Elaine explained it to me and it just clicked. I got it!"  3 cheers for Elaine. But, as creative minds do, they get sidetracked on many different projects. Did you see her  Jelly Roll quilt?  I still have to show you her "Cat in the Hat" quilt and bag too. But at last she came back to her original quilt and finished it. You've inspired me not to give up on the very first quilt I started many years ago... and never finished. It's for Jacob who is now 20. I started when he was maybe 10. Every time I start a new exciting project, Jacob says to me with a teasing grin, "Hey how's my quilt going mum?" I must get back to it...

Poor me.

Sorry that I have not blogged for a few days! What have I been up to? Well, I have hurt my knee. I don't know how seriously yet. I have to wait for an MRI. All I know is it doesn't feel very stable and my Physio is predicting a long haul ahead. So... hurt knee... put your feet up... do plenty of reading, craft, blogging... Ha! Life goes on and everything just takes a bit longer, so I am getting behind with all the things I have on my "To Do" list! So, you want to know how I hurt my knee? Really... do I have to tell you? OK but don't tell anyone because it's a bit embarrassing. I thought it would be a good idea to be a volunteer parent  helper at the High School Athletics carnival. Right? Right. I thought it was a good job I was allocated to do, helping organise kids to throw the Javelin. Right? Right. I thought it was good how the teacher was explaining to the novice kids how to throw the Javelin. Right? Right. I thought I would throw the Ja...

Mobius crocheted

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This is a great crochet pattern . Why not try it? It is a mobius strip.  Remember that from school maths/science? It is at Craftzine. Have fun. Stay warm!

Craft Fair

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Today I went to the Craft and quilt fair with my Mum. We had a really nice day just pottering along and looking at aisle upon aisle of creative loveliness. I had some birthday money to spend, so I bought... * Some square blank cards and matching envelopes. 50 for $10. I thought that was pretty good value. * A fabric button kit to make huge covered buttons and necklaces. Just for fun! * A kit to make a Sashiko block. Because I have always wanted to make one. * A pair of dressmaking scissors that cut like butter. How can you be so excited about scissors, well believe me, I am! They are going to be do-not-touch-these-scissors-without-written-permission type scissors, hidden away from the common folk, saved for a moment of glorious fabric cutting indulgence. Are you going to the Craft Show? What did you buy? (Thanks for lunch Mum!)

Zucchini & Chorizo Soup

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It's the monday long weekend and it is cold and raining and you know you really need some soup.  Here is a great recipe from a friend of Tahlia's which she shared on her blog here . Go over to see how the recipe goes, she has done a great photo tutorial so you can't go wrong. The main things you need are some chorizo sausages, zucchini, frozen peas, onion, chicken stock, garlic and cummin. Thanks Tahlia, I have made this a few times, for quite large crowds too (thus the styrofoam cups) and it has been a huge hit!

Crochet top loveliness

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Jo made this gorgeous crocheted top which we all  absolutely swooned over.  The details are so nice and the perfect way is sits on her hips makes it look super stylish and comfortable. As usual, we were like a pack of starving wolves pouncing on a pattern, ready to devour it and make a top like this for ourselves. Well, I wasn't one of them (this time).  There is one thing I need to sort out before I make a top like this... I need to get a waist like that to sit the pretty band on! I used to have one, I just need to find it again. I know it's there somewhere.

How old are you?

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Today I would like to say... well....  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I have an '0' at the end of my age again and that is a big thing. Leaping into the next decade feels like more of a big deal than just hopping along the years within a decade. Yesterday at "The Craft Group" I did our regular "Thought for the day" spot.  If you are interested in my thoughts and are curious to find out how old I am, you can click below on "read more". I will tell you more about my celebrations and the BEAUTIFUL thoughts and gifts I received in future posts. Fun! Oh, and I might also point out that the photo above is of the beautiful flowers I had in little glass jars on the tables of my party (bought from the flower markets by my lovely niece Sam and her Mum, my sis, Sharon... thanks for getting up at 4 in the morning for me! And the Royal Albert vase is from my sis & bro-in-law Helen and John. Thanks for coming all the way from the sunny north ...

Pop up card

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This is a very sweet card. How lovely would it be if someone made this for you for your birthday. I only have one question though... Who made it? Someone at The Craft Group made it and the part of my brain where information such as who made things is stored is unavailable at the moment. Can anyone enlighten me?
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A few weekends ago, I attended a conference for women called "EQUIP". It was fantastic! Just as an aside, I go there every year to be the hostess for the ladies from the deaf community who come each year. The conference arranges for 3 sign language interpreters to come along who take turns to interpret all the talks, announcements, songs and interviews. I have the lovely privalege of chatting to the ladies (yes, I know sign language from years ago when I worked as a youth and family counsellor for The Deaf Society). I catch up with my deaf friends there and have lunch with them overlooking Cockle Bay at the lovely Darling Harbour. We catch up about the year and talk about the presentations we have just seen. It's a great day. Anyway, back to what I was going to tell you. During the conference, they showed a video interview of the 2011 winner of Master Chef, Kate Bracks and her sister, Emma. It is really worth seeing. Grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy! Check it out by cl...

Carolyn's quick panel quilt

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Carolyn is a serious quilting machine. She makes quilts with speed, beauty and skill like you wouldn't believe. And everything is hand done! Sometimes though she needs a quick quilt for a new baby and so she buys a ready made panel, sandwiches it together with a good quality batting and then hand quilts around all the lines in the picture. This is a great project to sit with in front of the TV. It is a also a good way to learn the art of quilting. There are no lines to draw, no seems to add thickness to parts of the fabric and no patterns to trace and follow. Great inspiration thanks Carolyn!