So Boring

I have been very boring and slack this week. I had a lazy day today, the only major thing was changing to BetaBlogging, so no-one is probably reading this anyway! I expect I've dropped off Bloglines, so I can probably have another week off before anyone notices.

I won't ramble on - next week some definate sewing (promise to self). I'll just do some vicarious sewing instead while sitting on the front deck with the laptop. To those of you on the other side of the world, have a great weekend and Thanksgiving Holiday.

Kids have Germs

So much for my days off spent in the sewing room - so far I have spent them in bed with some vicious stomach bug, no doubt picked up from one of the vomiting children at work on Sunday night. Little wretch. My hands are nearly raw from washing them, but that doesn't seem to help. They have their dirty little mits all over everything...

Sorry to those that have kids, but I've been really crook the last 24 hrs. It isn't too easy to get to a doctor from here, plus I tend to just ride it out. But at 8.30 this morning I got the most excruciating pain in my chest and and stomach that I broke out into a cold sweat, and nearly passed out! But anyway, it went away totally after about an hour, and apart from a temperature, I'm fine now. Made me think about hiding a key somewhere, because if they had to come and cart me off to hospital they wouldn't have been able to get in.

But I'm good now. Thanks for the tip on the .jpg resizer Ms Jan - hopefully my little Fairybread photo is there for all to see. As for you Tracey, I'm SHOCKED that you would make fairybread in such a haphazard way. Pizza cutter? Have you no respect? Jodie isn't quite so bad, but still...
The FBPolice will be on their way if you're not careful.

No photos I'm afraid - if I'm well I will be going to the local Craft Group Christmas lunch tomorrow - it can't be Christmas yet, surely?

Look What I've Got

Hey, it's not much of a photo - the blurry shot goes with the blurry eyes - but this is my latest arrival from Hancocks. It was on backorder for a while and I sort of forgot about it. It is a sample colour card of all 169 Kona Cottons. Perfect for the internet fabric shopper.

All the little squares are actual fabric, and there is a larger piece on the back that you can feel. So many colours to choose from...

Glad you enjoyed the Fairybread Tutorial. There were a few questions:
No we don't tend to put 100s and 1000s on icecream here, but they do go onto icing on little cakes. They are also on Freckles, which is a whole other story.

I would call the long skinny coloured one Sprinkles, but when I was a kid all we knew was 100s and 1000s.

I quite like the way they taste - they are sweet.

I tried to put the last photo as my ID photo, but Blogger won't take it as it is too big. It will only take a file below 50, and it is 60 odd. This is already the reduced size for emailing. I must confess I don't know how to make it any smaller. Suggestions gratefully received.

As for the mini disaster day last week, all is well now. Except for the aircon man though. He was to come on Friday, but got a better offer, and is now supposed to be coming in the morning. We'll see. So I'd better go to bed so I can get up in the morning. I have 4 days off now, and I am determined to get some sewing done, so watch this space. I also plan to do my tax this week which is overdue, so that should be a good incentive to sit at the sewing machine!

Fairybread Tutorial

A few people have asked lately "What IS fairybread?"
I think it's time for a tutorial. Aussies and Kiwis can look away now.

Fairybread is traditionally eaten at childrens' partys, however I don't know a single adult that will knock back a piece of fairybread. Now while we all know that there really aren't any Quilt Police, there are, I'm sure, Fairybread Police. Therefore strict rules apply when making it.

I have been meaning to have a little fairybread photo as my ID photo, but I have been reluctant to do so, as I usually don't have one of the main ingredients in the house, and didn't want to risk a visit from the FBP. I would like to make it quite clear that what you are about to see is not "real" fairybread, as a result.

INGREDIENTS:
White bread, preferably from a square loaf
100s and 1000s
soft butter

In this photo we have a piece of multigrain bread. This is not allowed, ok?

METHOD:
Cut off the crusts, making the bread square. Then liberally butter the bread, as close to the edges as possible. Cut the bread into triangles. At this point, I would recommend transferring the bread to the serving plate. This is traditionally a white paper plate.

Sprinkle the 100s and 1000s over the buttered bread, using a clean finger to gently press the 100s and 1000s into the layer of butter. This is an important step, as when you pick it up you want to minimise the number of 100s and 1000s falling off.Try to get as close to the edge as possible.

Once ready, artfully arrange the Fairybread triangles on the plate, ready to be eaten.

Don't they remind you of little flying geese, or star points?

When a Slump is Not a Slump

I'm not in a slump, per se, but I don't seem to be getting much done. I think it is work's fault - work seems to take up a lot of my spare time! Then there is the sleeping getting over work. Then a day or two to re-decide what I'm going to do with the UFO's, and suddenly it's time to go back to work again.

But, the good news is that I'm still sewing hexagons in stolen moments, and while sitting and waiting. Sometimes even while at work. I'm getting quite a bit of it done actually. Soon it will be time to start thinking about how to finish the quilt off. Plain borders? An inner hexagon border? Try to hand quilt for the first time? Do another class on 'how' to hand quilt?

It all seems too hard to think about at the moment. I have come home today after being away for 2 days working. I stayed at Shane's in the city and he stayed here and spent some quality time with the dogs. The morning staff was late this morning, so I got off late, which meant that I didn't get to go to the shop before getting on the ferry. I was nearly home when Shane rings and says the island car has a flat tyre. So I started walking while he changed it, then I got a lift for the rest of the way. Then he lost his sunglasses - left on the grass while changing the tyre? He couldn't find them. Meanwhile it is getting very hot and muggy as a big storm was coming down the coast. The dogs were in the car, and Simon was shedding white hairs all over my navy uniform. Then Shane missed the boat to go and pick up the lawnmower which broke last week, so we come home here to a house FULL of dog hair that hadn't seen a vaccuum cleaner since before I left. Then I had to drive him back to the boat with the tyre to get fixed.

Now I should really be in bed, but the aircon is broken!! I rang the man who installed it today, and he will come on Friday, but he is already trying to say it isn't his fault, when the man from the Aircon company said it sounds like he has not tightened it up properly and its gas has escaped.

And so it goes on. On a positive note the storm has gone around and out to sea, as it had strong wind warnings with large hailstones! Enough of everyday life, I think! If you have read this far you must have too much time on your hands!

The Bum House Postcard

Here is the Bum House Postcard underway. A fair bit of the background will be trimmed away at the end. I have to tell you that it is giving me plenty of entertainment, so even if Daniel doesn't laugh, it has worked it's magic. Did you all notice the black circle between the cheeks?

I used a scrap of fusible web I got from Helen, and have done a little bit of top stitching so far. I learnt from my first card to do all the top first before getting excited and fusing it all together before I was finished. However, I am still not able to get the mirror image fusible web thing. Luckily the letters are all able to be turned upside down or over. The green bit of the house had to be cut and pasted to get the shape though.

Speaking of Helen, she has started her cross-stitch, which is the main thing. She'll get into it I know. It is light-hearted pestering, so don't worry. She won her old-fashioned mother and daughter apron pattern on ebay, so that will be fun.

I'm on my way, Helen...

I'm going over to see my sister Helen this afternoon to check on the progress of her cross- stitch. She is in a crafting slump, due to feeling like she has to make things to sell, thereby not having any FUN. I bought her a little cross-stitch at the Craft Show last month to try and guilt her into doing something for herself and getting back into it.

She told me on the phone yesterday that she had started it finally, so I'm going over to check the progress - look out Helen! I will take my camera to take a photo - maybe it will give her some Blog-type incentive to crack on with it. I will also see Daniel, who was shocked to see a photo of the Bum House on my blog. Apparently he said " That's the Bum House! What's it doing on there??" Wait til it arrives in the letterbox! I'll get some fusible web today to try and get it done.

Heavens to Bettsy knows Helen, so I'll get her to email Helen and give her a hard time .. sorry I meant "some encouragement". Look out Helen I'm on my way!!

NEWS FLASH! Blogger uploads 3 photos!

Shock Horror! Blogger plays nice today. Here are my HSTs that I made last week from the Triangles on a Roll. I have used Thangles before which I like, but this method was good for making a big heap of triangles from the same fabric. From this piece of triangle paper I made this many HSTs. They are 1 1/2" finished. See them all sewn together on the wall - that's about 3 yards of border. In the Collaborative Quilting Style I was very casual with the seams etc, and they didn't turn out too bad.


This many triangles came from 2 pieces of fabric, each 22 x 10" - that's the size of a fat eighth isn't it? There are all these arrows on the paper telling you which way to sew, but of course I didn't bother with that. I think next time I will bother, as they seem to be there for a reason (grin)!

See also the bright coloured blocks and strips I found when sorting my bright fabrics recently. I remember making them now. I bought a pattern (only one in my life) to make the star blocks - it was one of those ones where you stack up all the squares of fabric then cut the pieces using a paper pattern on top, then shuffle the pieces and sew them all back together. I only got these ones done, as I found it surprisingly difficult to get them all back together accurately. The pieces for the other blocks are floating around the place and pop up all the time.

Then I remember thinking that I would do some strip piecing with the left overs and make a quilt out of the parts, but obviously didn't ever get around to finishing it. So it is up on the wall, and I plan to use them all, along with some extra parts to make something.

Quick Post

This is my first post from my new baby - it isn't that easy typing while lying on your stomach in bed I've discovered! Here's hoping it works. I have had some technical support from the router people today and all is well I think.

Heavens to Bettsy emailed me and said she couldn't leave a comment on my last post - I went in and had a look and found that I couldn't either, but that I had also had the same error message yesterday when trying to post a comment on someone else's blog. Is it me or Blogger? One wonders whether blogger is not coping and worse is to come.

At work last night I discovered 2 quilters - quite exciting. Monique said she is a fairly new quilter but just loves the fabric and would like to be a fabric designer (she'll do), and Helen the ward clerk is right into it. So we are doing a bit of show and tell tonight and each taking in some books for the others to look at. Quilters are lurking everywhere. We need a secret handshake I think.

Otherwise the only exciting thing that has happened here is that we have had some good rain, which if you are an Aussie you will know how big that is. In some neaby rural areas it is the first good rain since 1999, and has probably saved a lot of stock, farms and farmers.

Better go back to bed and try and catch a bit more sleep for tonight. Days off after tonight so hopefully I will get some sewing done.

The Bum House

This is the Bum House, taken (fittingly) from behind. Daniel thinks it is hilarious - go figure.

This is the Barn House, as it looks like an American Barn.




Then there is the Stonemason's House, for obvious reasons.

And the Yellow Sun House, which you will notice is much the same as my house - kit houses. There are more around the place with names ie the Tobacco Barn, but I didn't want to overcrowd Blogger with more than 4 photos - you all know how it gets. Also I didn't want the word to go out that I was "casing a few joints"...

The Tank House

This is my house, which I believe is called The Tank House by some people on the island. Why? Well I suppose it is the curved corrugated iron roof, which looks like the side of a huge water tank. I love that photo of just the ground floor frame and the roof - looks like it is going to take off. Or the Flying Nun.

As you can see it is a high house. It is built to the maximum height that the council will allow here, which is 8.5 metres above the natural level of the land. The 2nd photo is taken from the landing of
the house across the road, which is also high. It is hard to get a photo of the roof. The Electricity
company wouldn't hook the power straight to the house from the power pole across the road, as the roof is higher than the pole.

In the 2nd photo you can see my own personal property pole to the right of the house just inside the fence, which I had to have installed so that they could hook the power cable to that, then I had to run the cable underground through the yard to the fusebox. MORE money! I want to get a Pelican to put on top of the pole, but I still haven't seen one I could put up there...

Tomorrow I will take a photo of The Bum House. There are a lot of individual type of houses here - anything goes. There is an American Style barn house, as well. I'll snap a photo of that too.