Second families

Remember my first babies of the Spring? You saw hatching pics and early pics, I thought you may like the update 7 or 8 weeks on...

a few changes aren't there! About half inherited their mother's 'frizzlenessness" and the rest have normal feathers. They are a scream to watch around the yard, they look like they would be better served as dish cloths!

As you can see their Mother has long since given them up, she has actually already moved to the new family and is sitting on 10 eggs under a shelf in my garden shed.

The moving onto the second family is tricky, in people as well as chooks.

My big brother is a grandfather a few times over already but a few years ago his wife left him and it is not in his make up to be by himself so after a few disasters he has found a hard working dairy farmer lady, (with 4 kids to join his grown 3)...and early in the week they made it a round 8! At 39 and 45 this is up to them, but once again I am reminded of the 'Anne's House of Dreams' book (part of the Green Gables series), where Anne first meets Miss Cornelia who announces she is making special things for a baby because, "it isn't to blame for being the eighth." Well, I feel like that as well, I think all babies deserve some fuss, so I am working on this blanket-(even though the baby's Dad only punched me everytime he passed me in the house growing up AND used to sit on me and force me to listen to "old Shep" because it made me almost hysterical with tears...he thought that was hilarious!)

This is only the top, hopefully get it finished tomorrow.

I wonder if there is any chance my brother and his partner will equal this present favourite and make it 10?

(Perhaps just for his sister's quilts!)

Have a great day, Tracey

A calf and a shirt quilt.... or two.

Okay, so once again Monday has magically turned to Thursday and have I checked bloglines and what everyone is up to...it's coming!! Hopefully after the weekend "time" will miraculously appear...kind of like those cleaning fairies I am waiting for who will make my house ready for the Church ladies morning coffee that is at my house on Saturday morning!!

Congratulations or commiserations to the US ladies depending on their leanings. An unbelievable amount of coverage of your election here, live feeds on lots of channels and an incredible amount of information. Almost more so than with our own elections.

I can't help being reminded of the Goodies episode where Tim and Bill take on each other as a type of Evita Margaret Thatcher vs. Che for the leader of Britain and the telecast is so engrossing no-one shifts away from the TV to vote! Those boys were way ahead of their time.

The thing that fascinates me is that you vote on a Tuesday. We vote on Saturday as people have it free. The lines look enormous, do you get time off work to vote or how do you manage it? I also have trouble getting my head around voting not being compulsory, we would be fined if we were over 18 and didn't vote here.

Anyway, enough of that, I have had a few emails about my last post, mainly regarding the shirt quilts. I also am non the wiser on who my swap buddy is. You will need to trawl back through my posts but you will find plenty of quilts made from my shirt stash. A couple I still had around here were.....

This one that I made up and hangs in my bathroom.

And I thought i would introduce you to the latest 'sucker of my time'...in a good way... Harry. Harry proved a most accommodating display board..

for my shirt chook quilt.

.......mostly

...except when doing his rodeo exercises...

And finally Harry got his reward, still enjoying his shirt quilt.

The problem, (or good thing depending on your mood) with having a coffee morning is that you also need to tidy your garden. When I get gardening I wonder why I don't do it more, then I get sewing and wonder why I have a garden....... Perhaps I need to be like the lady I met after my weekly attempt to hold back the fat tide at the gym yesterday...she said her hobbies were exercising (!!!)...and just stick to one thing. But I can't see it happening...especially the exercising!

I was repotting succulents and unfortunately this one was in a round pot and there was only one choice-

-the radical one!!

I thought it's roots were well worth a picture, they reminded me of something off Doctor Who, something that would come creeping around a door jamb to eerie music whilst the Doc and his latest assistant took off in another direction to investigate where the people were. I have just decided there is far too much British tv in my past!

So off I go to in the vain hope that those fairies visited as i typed! Have a great day, Tracey

A Sunday treat..and your book reviews wanted!

What's the perfect recipe for a very cold and bleak Sunday afternoon?

Sleep on the couch, read a book, soak in the bath or veg in front of the TV?
Well, they all sound good, but a bit of mindless sewing where I could start with strips from shirt sleeves and end up I-know-not-where sounded very enticing, so that was what i chose.
Here are some random strips with very little attention to seams. I love very little attention to seams!

I found this maths thing that I bought cheap in a pack at the back to school sales, so decided to see what would happen with it
.
I decided just cutting like this was too easy so i started cutting on an angle to make the whole effect more random.

That way I ended up with a lot of different effects for the blocks.
I have absolutely no idea where this will lead me tomorrow, but I think I will enjoy the trip...
Whatever I choose will definitely involve foundation piecing though-there are a huge amount of bias edges there.
In the lead up to my 300th post i am planning on a making few posts this week, so you should see how this develops fairly quickly.
Each post this week is going to include a mention of a favourite quilting related book. I am always looking for quilt books that are a good read so if you want to jump on board and include your favourite book in a post this week, drop me a line so I can check it out-and perhaps more.... (hint, it is coming to my 300th post!!)

Today's is the Quilt maker's gift. A fabulous story for adults and children. my daughter and I read this together regularly and never tire of it as there is always something new to discover in the text and illustrations. It is a great lesson for all of us on why we do what we do- and the "quest" for happiness! have you read this, what do you think?
Have a great day, Tracey

Flimsy excuses

The things we do!
It is already in the 30's this morning and I just trundled miles, well, ok then, half a kilometre with an armful of quilts, because I promised flimsies last week, and flimsies is what you are going to get.
Next time I will choose a less windy day or take big pins, but that is beside the point.
I decided i needed something with no barbed wire and no poop, so chose the round bale storage for display.
These are all the quilts I found when i cleaned, they weren't all lost, just stored in various positions. If you had pins I reckon this would be a great venue for a quilt airing.


Recognize any? I have a feeling you might, some are quite recent, some from a good while ago.
Now I have dug them out I think they should be finished off. I would love to set a deadline of the end of March, wouldn't that be lovely, but we will see what happens.
(read:what distracts me!)



Now I hope I don't get confused, but I think the green and pink was Faded Memories, my birthday money purchased me that fabric in 2006.-it needs one more border to be Q/Sized. Then the recent Roman Holiday and the houndstooth check.


1.My Lone Star. Made with Blackbird designs fabric, just needs appliquing to the backing but that is not quite as easy as it looks...the handpiecing with the templates was the easy part!
2.Our group quilt, made from fabric bingo boards, plus some triangles.
3.And dad's 70th Log cabin that I am still extending...if it weren't for the fact that it is signed by all his friends and family, some who have already passed away, a new quilt would have been far easier.

My 07 Crumb chaos just needs a border(right), the group round of friendship (left corner of bale) needs quilting and in front is the Roman holiday runner and a little baby quilt.
Plenty of work there for a few months without starting anything new....ha ha ha!!!
How is your flimsy stash looking, much in the pile or is your conscience clear?
Off to sew...maybe on these!
Have a great day, Tracey

In order to get anything done, I have to make lists ...and enthusiatically cross off as I achieve them. The important thing to do if you make lists....... is not to lose them!!!!

After industriously writing mine for the Make my Day award, I then misplaced and had to wing it and the result is that you need to pop over and say hello to Pins and Needles Carol today.(oops!!)

As well as digitally scrapbooking...remember the kids in the Canola, she is also a knitter and quilter...but at the moment she is still getting over her dad passing away on Christmas day.

Speaking of quilting friends, my friend Susan who lives over the other side of Australia, has been sewing up some of her Roman Holiday fabric. She has hit a snag with sashing, she forgot to get some. I have the red and green sashing type here, do you think the roman holiday red would be the go for this or will it be too bright for her Dad? All input appreciated by Suse, who reads my blog.

She has also finished this shaggy for her daughter, cute isn't it!

Had a good catch up with my friend L yesterday,her Mum and one sister were there as well, they had a great time picking out their clothes from the string blocks. Her Mum definitely wants it!

The night before I left I tipped out the second bag of scraps from the family, the really old ones. I almost tossed them all in the bin, they were very dull and unexciting-also a lot of poly/satin type bits.

But I persisted and this was what was able to show yesterday.

The few left over reds from the other bag really lifted the dull tones, this is going to be a 16 block wall hanging for the family.

I am becoming a big fan of this foundation piecing business-there would be no other way to use these mixed quality fabrics.

And finally, as I go off to spend a hard day supervising the pool- a beach kid pic....'cos I can!

Have a great day, Tracey

The 70's have called and they want their fabric back ...

or.....

being a "friend's mother" reaps it's own rewards-eventually.

Great news here, my longest serving friend, L is home from Switzerland for a week before starting her next stage of life with her husband's new job, in Kuala Lumpur. I am going down to see her at her Mum's on Friday.
This is exciting, but entails some work. L was home with her boys in April and when i visited her at her Mum's I came home with 2 garbage bags of fabric scraps....as you do! L, one of 5 daughters, was joining forces with her sisters to make her Mum do a clean out. I have a very sneaky suspicion that mine is the only stuff that would have left the building.
I offered to make her Mum a quilt with the scraps; there are 2 sorts, one bag of REALLY old, that were from my friend's grandma and great grandma dressmaking stashes and the 70's clothes-making efforts- though with 5 daughters 1-2 years apart don't ask me how she sewed!
I was more than willing to do this for my friend's mum because as soon as I was out of my teens I appreciated her SO much.
Well, I think I appreciated her in my teens, I always said my "thanks for having me " and offered to help and do dishes but I didn't realise then what all those extra friends bring to the workload-which is why I always send my kids with food for a play.
We lived a decent way from town so ours was not the hangout home, my Mum got it So easy in that department. It was either at L's home or my town friend's that we ended up.
They say that it is important for boys to have mentors to grow up on the straight and narrow, but I think friend's Mums are important as well. I was reading Dawn in Korea's blog about how her daughter's friend's mum let boys come for a sleepover at 11 pm and when the daughter rang Dawn to say she was coming home at once, the friend's Mum told the daughter to lie and say they weren't there.
That's not the friend's mum mentoring that gets a girl safely through her teens, but the guidance,advice and supervision I got was pretty darn good while letting us be teens.
Now my town friend was lost at sea a few years ago, but we tried to repay her Mum's teenage efforts with support and a photo journal when my friend died and cards and visits since.
I had never seen an opportunity with L's mum until the fabric thing. So here is how I went with some of the 70's fabric today.....with associated props of course!

I used a good quality bedspread as the foundation piece, that worked very well, you get a glimpse of it here in the wind, with Sigmund deciding whether he should eat it or not.

So it is essentially already quilted, i could add a backing and tie it and it would be done. This is just a 4 blocks, I have done 6 but thought I would show her before going further.

There are some great fabrics here.

This grown pet hereford, whose brother topped last Friday's sale , remembered about being fed and came for a visit...she seemed less than impressed with the sewing but hopefully L's mum will have a higher opinion!

Make my day awards tomorrow, as I am being called to bowl for cricket before it gets too dark, have a great day, Tracey.

Taste testing

Second day of the new Year already......in no time we will be saying, "where has 2008 gone?'...why do the years seem to fly once you aren't a kid anymore?

So did we all end up making New year's resolutions? New Year's resolutions are a little like storage containers-a sometimes vain attempt to bring organisation to our lives-but we still persist in searching for the perfect one that will improve our life.

It did get to 42 degrees here for New Year's eve and only cooled off to the 20's during the night. There were still people braving the bugs and in the pool well past midnight...and I had a swim with my boy (who had cleverly put himself to bed for 3 hours the previous afternoon so he would see midnight) at 2 am after cleaning up. A great New year always bodes well for the year ahead.

I have been far busier socialising and tidying in the last week than producing anything to share, but I have taken a few pictures that I require some "taste testing" of.

I struggle to look at my pictures and decide what appeals to others but I want to make up a few more sets of cards so here are today's contenders.

#1, chooks and quilts.

#2, a light basket of chickens

#3, chickens on a quilt

#4, darker basket of chickens

#5 , chickens in the straw

All comments on which of these, particularly which angel and chicken photo, you prefer as a card.There may even be a lucky draw that could involve cards! And if you feel inventive and want to name your favourite pic so that it is no longer boringly referred to as "darker basket of chickens", then you are more than welcome!

Oh, and a sneak pick on what you will have to decide on for next post.....

Have a great day, Tracey

Latte anyone?

I am constantly reminded of how different my life is compared to if I were a "city" girl. My sister only lives an hour away in distance but a world away in lifestyle. Her life is full of playdates and coffee latte laden playcentres, her only animal responsibility is an overindulged cat. She loves that and I love this...mostly!

How would she like this in her latte?

No, not custard....it is colostrum, the first milk from a cow. They are doing fabulous things with this superfood for humans,- for the face, for good internal health....but it does it's very best work in providing a new born calf with everything it needs for a good start.

So why is it on my kitchen table, am I really that desperate for a coffee, and have no local shop?

...that I had to do this? (Very tricky left handed so you can take a photo as well!)

No, unfortunately that isn't the problem.

I am in charge and the cow is not "right" after calving. I am watching her, and while she was down, I milked her in case of the worst case scenario.

I must have had cold hands as she did get up after this, long enough for her little man to have a drink.

Not quite the best photo, but I love that tongue!

After I had checked on them again late last night I must have had one coffee too many as I wasn't ready for bed. I had put Roman Holiday on the TV and decided at 11 pm that if you love a fabric so much,like I do the Roman Holiday range, then you should just sew it together rather than look at it...so I did. (And i have lots more!

I wont tell you what time I went to bed, but here is my Roman Holiday Table runner...with Isabelle's new kittens as quilt weights!!

I used my charm packs and just sewed.

And then I wanted to have some HST's, so this is a table centre, or may be a cushion as this red matches my couch perfectly. More quilt weights!

And, yes, cat lovers, DD's cat had early kittens, was pregnant before we had time to get her surgery done. She will get to be a mother once in her life, i think it has improved her needy, whiny nature, we'll see if it lasts. If you are good you may get a close up in the future!

Have a great day, Tracey

Blog-i-versary day!!

One year ago today I had just finished shearing and was at a slight loose end.

I found Dawn's blog and loved that there was someone else "out there" who didn't really use patterns and sewed whatever and however they wanted. Then, of course, I wanted to comment and tell people how great their work was and the next thing I had a blog!

I remember I had as much trouble uploading photos that day as i have had today! The blog began with my kids in the canola...like the chooks that is always a preferred prop.

It would definitely be the only journal I have regularly kept, and who wouldn't when you get such lovely feedback- The only feedback I have ever had on a diary before was when Mum read what I had written once when I was a teenager...but we wont go there!

To commemorate this momentous occasion I packed the shearer's afternoon tea early and have pulled up 12 of my quilts from the past 12 months. I set a limitation that I had to have predominantly made them during the year. I suppose 12 isn't too bad, especially with it being the most horrendous health year we have ever had but I am not going there either.

For commenting on which of these "Top 12" (all blogger would allow!) is your favourite for the year, you will do in the pr!ze draw. Drawn next Sunday, Australian time, emailers welcome as well. (I'll enter you in the comments myself.)

All comments on all posts for the week will be entered.

#1 Joshua's birthday.

#2 George's birthday Chenille.

#3 Millie's doll quilt.

#4 Shirt quilt. (That my sister wants, so will get for Christmas.)

#5 The floral pink skirt from the Op Shop.



#6 Free pieced roses

#7 Zara's tractor quilt.


#8 Millie's birth.


#9 Gratitudes.


#10 Pink and green florals-yes, it still just needs that last border!

#11 DD's wall hanging/cuddle quilt.

#12 Four Season's swap

BYE! Tracey