Rainbow geometry project

Ben made a wonderful piece for his geometry homework today.


We got a piece of offcut wood from the local hardware shop, sawed it to shape, hammered some nails in and Ben threaded my embroidery thread around the nails to make a pattern.


He'd come up with the design in class, and used it as a template. Looks great - and just in time. It's due tomorrow.

How versatile are you?

How exciting! My first award. Jodi has a looovely quilting blog (and lots of news about her baby grandson). She's nominated me for the Most Versatile Quilt Award. It's like a pay it forward.

I tell you seven things about myself that you probably don't know. And then I nominate five people for the award. I'll concentrate on seven versatile (mainly quilty) things about me...

1. I find it very hard to work on just one quilt at a time. Often I'll be mid-quilt, see another idea (in a blog or on flickr) and just NEED to start the new one. I think I have 10 on the go at the moment.
2. I went through a stage of making mainly log cabin quilts - now the more varied the better.
3. I always make scrappy quilts. I just can't keep to the discipline of using just a handful of fabrics, say from the same collection (but I do love the look).
4. The backs of my quilts have evolved. I used to use one piece of fabric, so the back of the quilt would be so neat. Just lately, I've been making them almost as scrappy as the front, sewing great squares of fabric together that I'll never use.
5. Has this happened to anyone else? I absolutely will not use the fabric I bought when I started quilting. I've so moved on, it's only suitable for the backs of quilts now, or inside cushions!
6. I move on with colours at the drop of a hat. I've just been through a black and white and bright colours stage. I went through a pink and blue stage, and I'm making a quilt with lime and brights. It makes it hard for my mum - she bought me some lovely cottagey pinks, but I was deep in the brights by then. (Will use it mum, promise!)
7. I'm a generalist at work too - having to learn about different subjects all the time so I can write about them. I think it helps your brain stay nimble - that's my excuse for not being an expert in any field!

To keep this award moving on, I'll nominate five blogs that I love reading.

1. http://patchwork-of-mini-grey.blogspot.com/ Love Helen's blog, and follow her on Flickr too. Helen produces gorgeous glowing quilts, always something different. It's got to the stage when I recognise Helen's "stamp" when I see a new quilt photo pop up!
2. http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/ This is such an arty blog. Describing it to friends, it's basically about photographing macarons in Paris. I don't care - it's Paris!!
3. http://retromummy.blogspot.com/ Love this blog - beautiful photos, lots of enthusiasm, gorgeous recipes and wishful-thinking shots of kitchens, giveaways. And love to see someone making a real success of blogging. Well done!
4. http://trudi-quiltingprolifically.blogspot.com/ Quilting prolifically says it all. I'm always staggered by the sheer volume of Trudi's quilts and ideas.
5.  http://www.redpepperquilts.com/ Dreamy quilts, using lots of new ranges of fabric. Very inspirational. I find myself favouriting a quilt on flickr, and it belongs to Red Pepper!! I'm also following one of her tutorials at the moment, and have decided I love brights and whites now. (Moving on from black and white and brights bit by bit.)

A day at home

Every year, I treat myself to a day home from work for my birthday. Best present ever. Today I finished off a cushion I've been making. I've put it next to the circle quilt I finished a couple of weeks ago - they go together great!!

Andrew's parrot day

Andrew spent the afternoon at a bird sanctuary with a friend. They were in the aviary for about three hours, just getting free top ups of apple from the front office. The parrots were gorgeous!

And it was my birthday. The boys decorated the cake with pink sprinkles and sporty candles!!

Andrew's photos

We had a really relaxed Saturday afternoon. Took the boys to tennis, then we went home and sat outside - it was a lovely warm winters day. Andrew took photos for more than an hour. He discovered all sorts of functions - like colour swapping - as you'll see in some of these photos.

Andrew picked up orange from somewhere, did a colour swap on the camera and made the white clouds dramatic.

Then he used the yellow on the shovel's handle to turn the trampoline yellow.

I picked some lovely fresh rocket to put in my sandwich - Andrew changed the colour so it looks like I was eating a piece of ash!

My latest blocks

I've decided to make new cushions for the lounge. The lovely patchwork ones that mum made us - long ago - are splitting along their seams.

Here are my first two blocks. I've tried to keep to mainly Jan Mullens fabrics - which is a feat for me - I always go for a scrappy look...

Present from Carol

I'm part of a quilting group. We meet once a month. This time, Carol had presents for us. She bought me a pack of material. Just lovely. Carol said she felt like spreading the love - what a friend!

My gorgeous Andrew

You know how it is when you're a mum - always the guilts for something.

I was feeling terrible a couple of days ago, I'd yelled at my kids.

Then Andrew (my 13-year-old) said out of the blue - I love you mum, you're kind.

Well, that made me feel wonderful. What a gorgeous boy.

Here's a photo of him an an outdoor ice skating rink they've set up in the city centre.

Fourth block close up

Fourth block close up, a photo by Linseed2010 on Flickr.

Close up of my fourth block. I knew I bought this chicken wire fabric for a reason!!

Fourth block - houses quilt

Fourth block, a photo by Linseed2010 on Flickr.

Here's the fourth block for my houses quilt. I have a rooster and a chook house.

I scored this retro fabric from a guy at work. His partner makes him lots of funky shirts, and I was eyeing his shirt with a gleam in my eye! I said that I felt like cutting the pocket off so I could use it for quilting. He took pity on me and brought in some (quite substantial) scraps.