Mother of the Year

Yesterday it rained. Torrential rain fell for twelve straight hours. Over 200mm (eight inches)  of rain was recorded during that time.

Naturally it started raining about 3:15pm, just as Pip was a quarter of the way home from school – on his bike.

What was I to do? I couldn’t pick him up in the car because he had his bike and I didn’t know exactly where he was.

So I stood out the front with my camera…

and waited for him to ride down the street.

I am, after all, mother of the year.

Landfall and Brainwaves

Cyclone Ului made landfall about 200km south of here in the middle of the night last night. I went to bed well after 1am because I had to be sure that it had crossed the coast before I could sleep. We experienced little more than a strong breeze here, but are thinking about those who were in the path of the storm.

The other thing that has been keeping me up at night – in a good way – is a new quilt design.

Last week I received some beautiful Verna fabrics designed by Kate Spain.

I just love these, but they have to be made into a quilt and returned to Quilters Companion Magazine for publication in less than a month.

I spent all week looking at them. Organising them into colours, re-organising them into other groups then grouping them again.

Finally I came up with a design which pleases me, found my trusty coloured pencils and wrote up my cutting instructions.

Now it’s time to get sewing. Although… I might just need to take a quick kip first.

Watching?

We’re on a cyclone watch.

It could be an interesting few days…

PS WHY, oh why do these things always happen on a weekend and mess with sewing time??

X Marks the Spot

I finished a quilt.

 A quilt for those who like adventure.

A quilt for those who may have led an accident prone life.

A quilt for anyone who loves treasures and riches.

A quilt for those willing to stand beneath the skull and cross-bones…

and sail the seven seas.

ARRRR.

I’m His Mother

and I am astounded by his talent.

Self-Portrait by Philip.

Ahoy, Me Hearties…

I made a new header.

It goes with a new quilt, but it’s too rainy to have enough light to take a proper photo.

Maybe tomorrow, or the next day…

Binding

I love it when I stitch the binding onto a quilt.

It signals that a project is almost finished.

It gives me a sense of pride knowing that I stuck to something long enough to complete it. I feel smug in the knowledge that I am totally justified in starting a new project.

Even when I know…

that the next one has already begun.

Quilt for Kirsty

Crikey, I’ve been busy!

Lots of work, lots of quilting, lots of sewing – not much cleaning, not much washing, not much ironing. The balance seems juuuusssst right.

The amazing Kirsty made a beautiful quilt and allowed me to quilt it for her.

Then she said I was in the top ten quilters in the universe.

She knows this to be true because the quilts brought to her by alien quilters are absolute rubbish.

Unwelcome Visitors

This morning I noticed this in the corner of our garage.

Thousands of busy wasps creating the most amazing nest I have ever seen.

Cleverly creating honeycombed cells in preparation for thousands more wasps.

Busily forming a casing to cover the nusery.

It is an incredibly beautiful sight…

but my Pete said they cannot stay.

He plans to evict them tomorrow.

Let Us Eat Cake

Today we celebrated the birthday of Ashleigh’s gentleman caller.

He’s studying to be a vet, so Leoni from Happy cakes made these for us.

They tasted as good as they look.

Happy birthday, Harry.