As you may have read previously it was my birthday recently and I thought I was all done with the presents until this week. Last Friday the postie left a card in our letterbox because apparently we weren't home at 7.00am when he "tried" to drop a parcel off. By the time I got the card it was late afternoon and it was hot and I thought it would be some cannisters I won from Kirsty (which by the way arrived yesterday, thanks Kirsty) so I wasn't too stressed about getting there.

Off I trotted after work on Tuesday to pick the parcel up and it was a large squishy parcel from the other side of the country from my gorgeous, wonderful quilting friend Helen (we already have one of her quilts here, ours is the first one). I assumed it was fabric but when I had a sneak peak in the car I could see it was a quilt, so of course I rushed home to open it and this is what I found

This is laid out on the bed as there was too much washing on the line to hang it for a photo

Squiggly quilting

It is huge, I'm sure Helen went over the weight limit on the parcel and it measures close to 150cm x 150cm. We have a king bed and it lays beautifully over the top although there is no way I am sharing with Jeff when winter comes around, I'll be snuggling under this all by myself.

The back is yell with a border along one edge

Thank you so much Helen you are a wonderful friend and if only we lived closer I could bug you to do my quilting for me.

I've decided 2009 is the year I am going to start using all those fabrics in my stash that are too "special" to use. I figure why keep them locked away when I could make something from them and they will be noticed.

So the first on the list was this Kristen Doran Matryoshka fabric I have been hoarding since the Stitches and Craft show last year. I made the girls at Charlotte's party some little matryoshka dolls from some other fabric and Charlotte was pestering me for some but I knew I had this special fabric to use for my two. I backed them with some denim I had on hand.

Lucy had a little accident on the lounge this afternoon while jumping on my brother and is now sporting a nice bruise on her cheek. She loves getting her photo taken so when I had the camera out she had to get her "sore" in the photo.

She has also taken a shine to wearing these flippers in the house too.

I finally managed to catch up with Belinda yesterday and give her the gifts I made the beautiful Layla.

I used up the remainder of my vintage Peter Rabbit fabric to make a cushion, which I backed with some lovely soft lilac chenille. I blanket stitched around the pictures to add a bit of interest.

I also gave her a grey and floral rabbit. It's ears are a bit floppy bit she is one of my favourites.

Belinda was also very naughty and gave me this great tote she made. I absolutely love the fabric.

We conveniently met at Ikea but I was pretty good and just picked up a couple of candles and also this set of 3 tins that I love although I am not sure what I am going to do with them, but I am sure I can find a use for them.

Another year

Yes it's true today is my birthday and I'm another year older, although I can never remember how old I am now without calculation.

I was secretly hoping to get a Wii but Jeff just hasn't gotten his head around how good it would be! Instead I got a gift certificate from here. I've been a few times before and it is lovely. The girls got me some yummy chocolates and we popped out to dinner tonight to Gourmet Pizza Kitchen which was nice and they cater for the kids very well, with pizza dough to play with and colouring in books so it makes it nice and relaxing.

I also got a lovely parcel yesterday, which I opened early, from Adds. It contained the most gorgeous piece of Anna Maria Horner fabric, a new unpicker which I really needed and a new blade for my rotary cutter. Thank you so much Adds.

Do Not Leave Fairy Floss Unattended!

I learnt a valuable lesson on Saturday, fairy floss can not be left out in the open air, let this be a warning to you all.

Charlotte asked for this cake for her party on Saturday (from the recent Good Taste magazine) and it looked easy enough so I was happy to oblige. All went pretty well and the cake was baked and then iced on Saturday morning. We put the cake in the fridge until party time. About an hour before we were going to sing Happy Birthday I took the cake out of the fridge and went back to being the hostess with the mostess (or the mean mum who didn't put a prize in every layer of pass the parcel) depending on how you want to look at it.
When I returned to take the cake out the fairy floss had disappeared into balls of sugar all over the top of the cake, who knew once the air hit it that it would disintegrate. OK well obviously Jeff because he apparently wasn't surprised but you would have thought a warning in the recipe might have been a good idea. I rescued the cake by sprinkling mini marshmallows over the top but it is a lesson I thought you should all know.

6

It's hard to believe but my beautiful baby is turning 6 today.

What a year you've had, starting school and learning so much, making new friends, losing teeth, getting awards and having fun.

You are a kind and caring person who loves her little sister to bits, you always have a smile although you do have a bit of a fiery temper. You love swimming and we have to drag you out of the pool.

Happy birthday to my gorgeous girl, we love you.

Holiday Mode

Hi everyone, sorry for my absence but we are still in holiday mode here in the shell. We've had some pretty hot weather so we have mainly stayed close to home and the pool but we did venture in to the Powerhouse Museum for a few hours. The girls had a great time in the Magic Garden and Zoe's House and they also dressed up in some Star Wars outfits.



We also went to Bowral to visit my aunt for a few days. I discovered a couple of great shops. Firstly My Place in Bowral, they have some great fabrics but also homeware items too. I only got a couple of things, so trim for goodie bags for Charlotte's birthday and also new Santa sacks for next year. I had also seen on another blog ages ago about a place in Berrima called Peppercorn Trading. It was fantastic, lots of nooks and crannys and heaps of linens and vintage quilts. I didn't buy anything as I was too busy making sure the girls weren't touching anything so I will have to go back by myself next time.

I also picked up this book in Bowral. I had been eyeing it off on-line for ages and with the demise of the exchange rate I figured I may as well buy it while I was there. I've only managed to have a quick glance so far so I can't wait to sit down and have a good read.

And this photo is for Helen. It's of Lucy wearing a lovley dress she passed on that she made for her daughter. Not the best photo Helen but she wouldn't stand still.

Hats

I bought this pattern before Christmas and I had made up a hat which Jeff snaffled for his niece for Christmas before I got to take a photo of it. So of course I had to make up some more. I love this pattern because it has all sizes in it. So far I've made one for Charlotte, one for Lucy and one for myself.They are all reversible so you get two hats in one!

This is mine. I used 2 Amy Butler prints. I'm especially loving the green.



Charlotte chose her own fabrics. One side is a purple Micheal Miller dots which apparently sparkle and a the other side is a pink damask also from Michael Miller.



Lucy's is a Japanese mushroom fabric that I got from Novy and the other side is just a green spot I had in my stash.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone, a little late but it has been very busy over in the Snailblazer shell.

I thought I'd show this little mosaic of things I made in 2008.

I don't have any resolutions because I never keep them but I am going to try to:

• Get fitter
• Lose some weight
• Extend myself in the crafting area, mainly sewing
• Have fun with my family
• Not get so stressed out

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you will be along for the journey in 2009.

Done and dusted

Another Christmas done and dusted. We had a great day in the Snailblazer shell beginning very early with the girls up to open their presents and ending very late after dinner at the in-laws. I did a full on hot lunch, turkey, pork and ham for my family and then we just had seafood and salad in the night.
Santa bought Ruby and Molly into our house made by the very talented Jodie.

They are the most gorgeous dolls even Jeff thought they were great. They come with lots of clothes all reversible and made beautifully with attention to small details. Lucy has slept with Molly for the last two nights. Along with lots of other small gifts Charlotte's MP3 player and Lucy's plastic food were the most popular.We gave the girls a trampoline which has been getting a great workout.

I made the girls a new dress each from the Madeline pattern, which is very quick and easy to whip up.
And finally the Amy Butler Swing bags I made for the carers in Lucy's room at child care. They loved them and even other staff were commenting on them.

Merry Christmas

I was going to have a great post written but things have gotten on top of me but finally everything is done, just need to get the Santa pressies out.

Thank you all so much for visiting my blog this year. I hope you come back again. I will be off-line for a few days having a self-imposed computer break to spend time with the family.

I hope you all have a great Christmas

Hot Potato

Today we went to see The Wiggles, courtesy of a guy Jeff knows through his work. We had fantastic seats on the floor with no-one in front of us so the girls could dance. Charlotte also high-fived Jeff. I told her she would never be able to wash that hand again but she just looked at me like I was crazy.

Also it was the Toy Society Christmas drop this weekend. You can check my drop out here and everyone's here.

Teacher Gift

Only one more day to go and Charlotte finishes kindy for the year. She has had a great year and her teacher has been wonderful, kind, caring and all the kids love her. I decided to make a quilted wall hanging as a special gift for Charlotte to give her.

Charlotte picked all the fabrics. She picked the jelly roll Adds sent me for organising the box swap for the front, some Michael Miller Dandy Damask for the back and some pink dots for the binding.
I printed the class photo on some fabric and got all the kids in the class to write their names on strips of paper which I then traced onto the fabric and stitched over using some embroidery floss. I then quilted it along each strip. Charlotte wrote the label on a piece of calico using fabric markers.
She gave it to her teacher today and she absolutely loved it. When I went to pick Charlotte up I even got a big hug. Thanks Miss H for making Charlotte's first year of school a wonderful experience.

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky

The postie has been very kind this week. First up was this fat quarter from Saffron Craig. You can get one for yourself just by signing up to her newsletters.

Next up I was lucky enough to win one of Kirsty's planners from the lovely Mixtape girls. If you know our house this will be well used.


Lastly I'm don't think I posted a photo of this swing bag I made for myself. I had originally used this fabric for a dress for Charlotte but it didn't sit properly and didn't like it so I decided to use it for myself. The reverse side is some Amy Butler.

And finally Charlotte received a school award this morning. She got the Christian Living Award for her class which recognises a child who continually demonstrates and lives out Catholic values. Let's just say we are very proud.

Rolf Harris

Jeff finally got his birthday present tonight, Rolf Harris live! For the first time in 10 years Rolf performed at the Sydney Opera House. Jeff and Charlotte love his songs and we often have to listen to the Best Of cd in the car so as soon as I saw the tickets on sale I knew it was the perfect gift.

Here's Charlotte on the way with a typical Sydney shot

He say lots of all-time favourites including Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, Jake the Peg, Stairway to Heaven, Sun Rise and one of Charlotte's favourites Six White Boomers. Interspersed were stories about his life and he also did some drawings.

Not a great shoot but the best I could do as we were near the doorman and he was very eagle-eyed

It was a late but great night, for Charlotte anyway. She fell asleep on the way home listening to the Rolf cd, clutching her mini wobble board, which I am sure we will regret buying but will make great news at school next week.