too much reading?

are you like me? are you addicted to books? do you always have at least one on the go? struggling to find something decent to read?

well, i've decided, since i struggle to come up with interesting posts (!) i will let you know what i am reading ATM. I spend SO much of my time with a book, especially now as i am on maternity leave, and spend so much time reading while i try to encourage my son to sleep (it takes a LONG time, trust me!) and since i cant sew one handed in my rocking chair, i read! I always have read a lot, it is a love affair that began as soon as i could read. and i treasure my books, they are a part of who i am. they share a path as to how i got to be me. my partner looked at my bookshelf last night, and said ' why don't you sell them, you could buy so many more with the money'...he doesn't understand!! do you?

So, anyway, my current book is I Am The Messenger, by Markus Zusak. he wrote The Book Thief, have you read it? another great book.

This book is set in Australia (love that) and is about a pretty pathetic guy who stumbles onto a very noble journey. His writing is amazing, he makes his books come alive. With sentences like 'the breeze looked away, almost embarrassed at having watched-and i'm left here alone' and 'i stand in the long grass and hear the river now for the first time. it sounds like it's drinking'. or how about 'Ritchie sits there like an injury'...it is just beautiful to read, and in some parts laugh-out-loud funny! and trust me i did- woke my son up i was laughing so hard!

So if you need a new book to read, let me highly recommend this! hope you enjoy, and please let me know if you do!!

a vintage picnicer!

Well, the sewn launch is over, the blog parties have ended, and i didn't win anything :( And i entered sooooo many hehe. Oh well. I am sure those that won, will love their prizes just as much as I would have, so its all good ; )

So, anyway, moving on....

It was my best friends birthday a few weeks ago- she turned 30 too...we are both old now...but anyway, i am super slack and haven't gotten her anything...i know....even after she spoilt me with the most amazing witchery purse for my birthday...she even gave it to me EARLY which means i am doubly slack!! BUT i intend to make up for it with a lovely handmade pressie. She has had a really tough year, and i really want to make her something special- bright and cheerie and full of love. But since i am so new to sewing, all i know how to do it quilt!! So i thought i might make her a lovely picnic rug. But i am broke! So it needs to be cheap! Now come on, I am not cheap, but my bank balance is, so...i gotta get thrifty (secretly i think this is part of the fun!)
Now my lovely friend loves antique/ vintage/ shabby chic (i hate that phrase, but there i go using it) so i need to find some lovely floraly, spotty, stripy vintage fabrics, preferably in pastely pinks, blues and greens. I would love to make a real hodge-podge-y mixed bag, improv quilt..and this is all i really know how to do anyway...but one that will show of all the beautiful prints i hope to find...somewhere...maybe ebay, maybe my local Salvo's...dunno yet...know of anywhere good?
BUT- i want to make it a little more durable on the back- not just another sheet....does anyone have any experience or suggestions for a fabric to use? i would love to know what you have done or heard of. What works and what doesn't...Please, help me out!?!

Thanks peeps....

mmMMMWWWWAAAAHHHhhhh

missing...

today i am missing Orlando....he is (was) my gorgeous ragdoll kitten...well, not so much a kitten, he was 2, and very much a man : ) But he passed on in a tragic accident (cars and cats don't mix) and i find myself missing him too much today.

I have been considering getting another boy to cuddle, but my allergic husband wont even consider it...so for now its just memories of warm kitty cuddles to snuggle up to today

x

check this out!!!

i am finally making a log cabin quilt!! YAY for me!! HOORAY!! i know, i am a tool, but i am getting a bit sick of doing coin quilts, as that is all i know how to do...but since i asked for your advice on what to do with my little fabric bundles, i went on over to this flickr group, like you suggested and went from there. there are some seriously awesome log cabins out there, i feel a bit intimidated! but anyway...
i then found a really good online tutorial from Aussies Melly and Me. here it is! it is awesome. maybe i could have done it free hand, or just made it up as i go, but from what i have seen this is fool proof, and makes the best looking quilts around. take a look, it is SO worth it if you have never done one before.
and look, here is the proof. i am loving this. i find the repetition so satisfying...it is calming and relaxing, but beware- do too many in one day, and you WILL dream about them lol
sorry bout the quality of my photos, but it is STILL raining outside and i think the sun has forgotten to come back, so my kitchen bench it is...for now!

very generous giveaway

check this out!! wanna win? 40 Katie Jumps Rope fat quarters??? i sure do...

head on over here and enter!

blog giveaway : )

ok, so i have been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately...i am totally hooked on sewing, quilting in particular, but it just seems to be a massive expense....especially when you are not working. i look at fabric stores here in oz, and it just blows my mind how expensive the designer fabrics are...so i look online in the states, and see that it is much cheaper...but then postage is a killer. so to make it more economical, you really have to fill the whole package...which means i am blowing my budget out. so i had a big whinge, a little cry and now i have moved on! i have decided that, especially while i am still learning, i am going to op-shop it for a while. i headed down to a couple of my local ones, and i did manage to find a couple of old sheets. but my fave find were some old pillowcases...they are all linen, which i have never sewn with before, but i wanted to make a bit of a retro, florally picnic rug (yes, i know its winter!) and i thought maybe linen would be a little tougher? so then i thought, well why cant i use tea towells- you know, just the cotton ones...so today i am off to ikea to find some el cheapo's! i guess the whole reason people started quilting was to use up any old bits of fabric, clothes, bed linen, whatever they had...it was born from necessity, not fashion...so i too am heading back old school : )

my thrifty finds- aren't they sweet

then, to top off my thrift extravaganza, i entered the coolest blog giveaway over at imagingermonkey. as she lives in the UK, i could only enter the giveaway for her scrap bag...but i WON!!! YAY FOR ME!!!! WOO HOO!!!! do you know, i am totally in love with the thought of someones old scraps...it may sound scabby, but i think its cool...someone has lovingly picked out these fabrics to make who knows what awesome creations....now its my turn! hopefully some of the creative juices are still running hot through these goodies! How awesome is that bag of goodness!?!?

when i checked through my blog roll look what i saw!! YAY : )

i have my eye on making a fabric basket and maybe a drawstring bag, like these...
you can find tutorials here.

This is an awesome blog- her creations are fantastic and her fabric is to DIE for!

But for now i will have to wait and see what exactly is in the bag!
so, there you go...my lesson: be patient, have faith, and enter ALL blog giveaway's...you never know your luck ; )

Thanks Ginger Monkey x

help me choose a quilt...please!

I need help-desperately! I have been scouring blogs, books and the Internet in general to try and find something to do with my new fabric...I bought a few yards of fabric (far left) and also a few sample packs from Fabriccloset on Etsy. They are 9'x11' and i have about 25 of them to use. I bought them with a play mat in mind, but now i think i want to quilt with them instead....But what to do??? I don't know if they are too small to make a log cabin...i have never tried that before...or maybe the half triangle squares with linen...hhhmmm what do you think? Can you help?