Goomba

Look at the goomba I bought.

I’ve never really played Mario, but as soon I saw these goomba with their cranky little faces I loved them! I bought them from a clever crafter in Melbourne via Etsy. I love the thought of them being made by someone on their sewing machine at their home. I love that trawling etsy can feel like visiting a really cool craft market and walking along inspecting the stalls. I love the internet!

What’s in my goomba?

iPod in one, iPad in the other.

They both fit neatly into my bag so I can see their angry eyes wherever I go.

Congratulations to Melody, who was the winner of the Millie Molly Dolly bag auction. She has already paid $225 to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal and her bag will be sent to her tomorrow. I’m certain that her girls will love it!

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When You Walk in the Room

Twenty-Four Years.

And still – when you walk in the room I know my life’s never gonna be bad…

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New Duds

As the leading bid for the Millie Molly Dolly bag auction grows larger I have begun to feel that she really requires something special.

In searching through my fabric stash I found some denim look quilting fabric.

So today I made her a few extra outfits that my Pete likes to call “The Denim Range”.

The winner of the auction will find ELEVEN outfits tucked inside the bag for Millie Molly. Not one of these outfits will ever require ironing. Perfect!

Don’t forget to visit Toni’s blog to see the master list of auctions and raffles. Last week the flood appeal auctions had raised over $45 000. That is astounding!

The Millie Molly Dolly bag auction is heading towards its final hours. It will close at 9pm tomorrow. Don’t miss out…

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Dreaming of Paris

Wouldn’t it be nice to be in Paris in the spring time?

To stand beneath the Eiffel Tower and dream Parisian dreams.

I have no idea what Parisian dreams are, but they sound terribly fancy.

This little quilt is called Dreaming of Paris.

It continues my mild case of obsessive ricrac disorder. I’ve used a two charm packs of Dream On by Urban Chiks. These fabric designs were based on vintage sheets. A dark grey silhouette of the Eiffel Tower looks beautiful against their floral goodness.

Today I am happy to offer this design – Dreaming of Paris – to you as a free download. Just click here to download a free pattern.

If you do download this pattern won’t you please consider taking the $5.00 that you might have paid me for the pattern and donating it to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal. You should also pop over to Toni’s blog and see the amazingy long list of wonderful crafty items available for auction and raffle.

The raffle on this blog for a Millie Molly Dolly bag has already reached $200 (amazing!), but it will remain open until the 24th of January. Lots of new readers have visited this blog in the past week, looking at the raffle. Hello to them!

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Friands

I made friands:

They were DELICIOUS! Just a little blueberry syrup on the side and you have the perfect dessert.

You can find the recipe here. You really should get the recipe. You’ll be so glad that you did…

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Time for Action

THIS AUCTION IS NOW CLOSED.

The recent devastation within my home state has been a cause for profound shock amongst our country.

Record breaking rains have fallen over the past two months and they continue to fall now. An area the size of France and Germany combined is underwater as empty creek beds and dry river systems have filled and combined to form a vast inland sea. The news recently of flash floods and walls of water devastating whole towns – ripping up houses, throwing cars around and taking lives can leave spectators feeling helpless.

However, blogger Toni Coward of Make it Perfect has moved into action. She has organised an online auction with all proceeds going to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal. You can find the details by clicking on the link below:
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Many bloggers have volunteered crafted items to auction on their blogs to help to raise much needed funds for the many tens of thousands of people who have suffered loss of property and business. A list of these bloggers and their items for auction will be made available on Toni’s blog later in the week. Co-ordinating this event is an enormous effort. I would like to give my thanks to Toni for her time and energy.

Today I would like to offer an item for auction to assist in the fund raising efforts. My offer relies on the generosity of those reading to bid an amount they are willing to pay for the item and commit to pay that amount into the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal.

I am auctioning a Millie Molly Dolly bag.

This paper doll bag will be made by me for you, complete with all of her little outfits and sent to you postage free anywhere in the world.

Let Imogen show you exactly how this little bag works:

If you would like to have a Millie Molly Dolly bag of your own then the rules for participating in this auction are very simple.

How this action works:

  1. Bidding starts at $35 Australian.
  2. Place your bid by adding a comment here stating how much you are willing to offer to own a Millie Molly Dolly bag. Your bid must be greater than the previous bid.
  3. All bids must be in whole dollar increments.
  4. The auction is open to all and the price will include postage to any address worldwide.
  5. The auction is now open and closes at midnight on the 24th of January 2011.
  6. I will contact the winner at the conclusion of the auction. The winner must commit to sending their bid to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal and provide an email receipt as evidence of payment.
  7. Once I have evidence of payment the Millie Molly Dolly bag will be posted to its new owner.

Your generosity is much appreciated, particularly by those most affected by the floods. I offer you my thanks on their behalf. Please share this auction with as many people as you can. With a little effort from each of us we can make such a big difference to the lives of our fellow human.

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Pleasing an Architect

Buy him a big box of lego for Christmas…

include a long and complex spiral bound book of instructions…

find him the blocks he needs for each step…

then watch the building develop.

It took us two nights, sitting at the table together, sorting and finding blocks to create a lego version of an architectural icon.

Our finished version looks like this:

I wish I had been as clever as these people who photographed every step and posted it to youtube.

I suggested to my Pete that we should pull ours apart so that I could photograph each step.

He said, “No.”

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Clean and Tidy

As 2010 drew to a close I was overwhelmingly busy.

Between organising an exhibition, re-issuing all of my patterns on CD and setting up a website I also made quilts, quilted quilts for others, finalised HUGE amounts of work for my real job and organised Christmas. By the last week of this year I was exhausted.

I enjoy being busy and I feel a huge sense of accomplishment for all of the items I ticked off my to-do list during this time. However, there is a downside. Along the way I created a huge mess. Things that should have been put away were placed precariously on tottering piles of other things that should have been put away. It was stifling my creativity to be working in such a mess.

SO… I had a huge clean up. It has taken me three days and the trailer is full of rubbish that my Pete is about to take to the dump. I really should be ashamed of the chaos that was created, but instead I’m endlessly impressed with my shiny, tidy studio.

Now I can sew with a calm, creative mind.

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New Year, New Fabric

On the very first day that the postal services resumed for 2011 I received TWO parcels of fabric. I am loving this year!

The first parcel brought me Sunkissed by Sweetwater.

Is that not thoroughly gorgeous?! Alas, it is a gift for someone and can only stay here for a very short time. If it stayed for too long it might feel the sharp side of my rotary cutter! I am already doing that naughty thing where I think to myself, “well… I could keep it and give them xxxxxxx instead.”

The second parcel yielded Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey.

Well… really just a taste of it. The fabric is not available yet, but I managed to snag a charm pack. I don’t know if I’ll do anything more than admire and love these little squares while I wait for the yardage to become available.

Look at these little people swinging and scooting.

They just melt my heart.

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Lemons

(and maybe lemonade, one day)

Take two lemon trees…

and two big blue pots.

Add a boy on holidays who needs a job to do…

a little fatherly advice…

and some canine supervision.

And hopefully in the near future we’ll have lemons.

No pressure though, little trees. Take your time.

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