Another month gone....

And what have I got to show for it?

1. Well, there was Easter:

2. Not to mention Mother's Day:

I bet none of you got a mug this cool

3. And of course Star Wars Day:

4. We managed an evening at Redcliffe, on the coast:

On the boardwalk, strutting his stuff

5. A visit to our local Army barracks' open day:

Section Attack demonstration

Dr Seuss never mentions what happens when you eat too much green eggs and ham

Explosive Detection Dog and his handler.

6. And an outing to the Rail Museum, Queensland.

Lots of model trains and gorgeous little model scenarios

Do you think these ladies are quilters? (A yard is about this long...)

Looking and learning

WW1 German armoured vehicle - taken after a battle at Villers-Bretonneux

It wouldn't be a Bonjour Family outing without someone throwing a tantrum and running away.

7. Sewing wise, I have been chugging along with my first pattern. Some wonderful ladies are testing the various quilt sizes as we speak, making sure it's the best it can be.

8. If you heard a loud squeeee about a month ago, that would've been all the Australians learning that Camille Roskelley is coming to our side of the globe. She will be holding trunk shows and sewing classes in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney.

We'll be making Camille's Red Letter Day quilt during the class. Yay! 

(Image stolen from Camille's blog)  

Needless to say, I've booked myself a seat at both the trunk show and the class in Brisbane. Are any of the Australians out there attending? For enquiring minds more info can be found here.

9. I'm putting the finishing touches on my first newsletter. If you would like instructions on how to make this Spring Baby Quilt then be sure to sign up here.

My plan for the newsletter is to send out free quilt and block patterns, which won't be appearing on the blog. If we can pick up the numbers and some momentum, hopefully we can find some sponsors, too (coupons, fabric giveaways, foot rubs from Hugh Jackman, you know the drill).

10. We also went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary but I've drowned you in enough photographs so that will have to wait for another day.

Right, I think that's everything. I had to number them to make sure I didn't forget anything.

Hope this finds you all well and enjoying the warmer or cooler weather, depending on which hemisphere you're populating. I have my flannel pyjamas on and I'm loving it.

Take care and happy sewing!

So, how are those goals going, Kirsty?

You guys are so good at keeping me honest. Thanks!



At the start of the year I wrote out a list of things I'd like to accomplish in 2014 and now that the first quarter has well and truly passed us by, here's my update on how I'm going:

1. Two queen-sized quilts for our bed. 

One of these is well underway - the low volume triangle quilt. It needs a few more things appliquéd on before it's ready to be quilted.

2. A log cabin twin-sized quilt for my daughter.

I thought about this a bit. And bought some fabric. Does this count? 

3. A yet-to-be-decided twin-sized quilt for our 9 yr old son.

Nup.

4. A big ol' picnic rug-type quilt.

Nup

5. At least two tops or dresses or something for me to wear.

Sadly, nup. But I see that Rae has her Spring Top Sewalong on again and I'd like to partake (even though it's autumn over here). 

6. Free motion quilt one of the above projects.

No way. Still too scared.

7. Paper-piece something. 

Yes, yes, yes. I have decided to embellish my queen quilt with EPPed rings and things, so that has been a success.

8. Sort out this blog's design.

I commissioned a new blog logo, which I'm really happy with (you can see above in the header). I'm also going to change from Blogger to Wordpress or Squarespace, I just need to decide which one and find someone I can hire to help me.

9. Write up a pattern for sale.

Oooh, I'm right up in this one's grill. Pattern is written and being looked over by our very own Marg. I need to sew up some samples (anyone feel like being a tester?) and then release it on the innocent and unsuspecting public. Bwahaha.

10. Perhaps start a newsletter.

Yes, I am cranking this one up too. Feel free to sign up here. 

Absolutely, positively no spam. Only good stuff. 

11. My start-of-year pledge: I will try to make all of the projects on my 2014 list from fabrics already in my possession.

Ha. Ha ha. Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Look, I tried. But I needed more yellow for No 2 above, and then I wanted to use those widescreen 108" fabrics for the backing of the queen quilts in No 1, and then I had to fill both those flat rate envelopes to make sure I was making the most of my postage dollars. And will you just stop having sales, fabric stores!!

I'm just going to draw a line under all that and start afresh today. 

We are in our last week of the first term school holidays here and I've been enjoying pushing my childhood loves on my children. 

First I made them watch the Goonies:

Look out: underage Josh Brolin. Courtesy of Warner Bros, via IMDb

Then I made them watch a few episodes of Battle of the Planets: 

Always five, acting as one. Thanks again, IMDb

And finally, we took the elder two kids to see the Lego Movie. In threeeeee deeeeeeee...

That's right, I paid good money to watch what was essentially a 2 hour Lego advert and I loved every minute of it. 

It got even better once we got home:

Psst: I got to sew while they did this. Everything is awesome. 

And how about you - have you drunk the Lego Kool-Aid?

Are you having a win with your plans for 2014?

Are you as shocked as I am that it's already the second half of April? 

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter with the ones you love!

Working on...

A pattern!

There's log cabins.

There's some scrappiness.

But right now, it's all about basting and binding.

Are you participating in WIP Wednesday?

In other news, if you liked my pixelated quilt you can find the pattern in the current issue of Down Under Quilts (you can see it in the top left corner there).

Photo courtesy of Down Under Quilts

An especially good pattern for those just getting started quilting.

Hope you're all having a great week!

Look out Hong Kong, here she comes.

Tomorrow my little baby sister*, Dee (with her husband and two young boys), moves from Sydney to Hong Kong.

They're not sure how long they'll be living there. They're not sure if after Hong Kong they will return to Australia (Dee's husband is a 'Murrican).

My feelings about the move are a little conflicted: I'm very excited for Dee because she gets to experience life in an amazing new country, but I also has a sad because I was just getting used to living within a thousand kilometres of her. (She's had 5 yrs in the US, I was 3 yrs in France; we've spent a lot of our adult lives a long way away from each other.)

So in her honour, here's a few Hong Kong photos from our stop-over in January 2013 on our way home from France.

These photos were taken at the beautiful Nan Lian Garden at Diamond Hill, Kowloon.

When we first arrived in Hong Kong I found the city a little overwhelming. It is so big. So high. So many people. To find this perfectly coiffed oasis in the midst of the concrete jungle was such a delight.

Located within the Garden is the Chi Lin Nunnery:

It's very zen, with lotus ponds and buddhist relics. The architecture is special too, in the style of the Tang Dynasty. The woodwork is incredible - there are no nails used in these buildings, only clever interlocking forms.  A civil engineer's dream.

I think this would be the perfect place for Dee to come and relax should the city get too much for her.

Might want to leave the boys at home though, Dee. This is the sign at the front of the Gardens:

Basically anything except walking, taking photos and scratching your nose is prohibited. And you better scratch that nose slowly, with controlled movements.

We read the (then) 3 yr old the riot act before we entered, and the baby was contained in mister's baby  back pack. But of course, being 3, it's really, really hard not to run, especially when the fish are jumping out of the little lake. So he ran, and an official was straight on to us. They are serious about the rules!

Regardless, it's beautiful and well worth a visit.

So, bon voyage, Dee Dee. We love you and we're going to miss you and your beautiful family. You're going to have exciting adventures, but it's also going to be hard. There's a new language, a new culture and a new way of life to get used to. But you're nothing if not tenacious.

Yep, Dee is tenacious. Tenacious Dee. Hmm. I know where this is going:



Rock on, sweetie, and I'm looking forward to visiting you in your new home! (Find all the best camera equipment stores for me, okay?)

Love and kisses,
Your annoying and bossy big sister, Kirsty x x

* I know she's in her mid-thirties, but she'll always be my little baby sister.

WIP Wednesday

Some snapshots from one of my works in progress: a queen sized quilt for ME (and I guess my husband can use it too).

After a rough start I am really enjoying how it's coming together.

Linking up with Lee's WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Hope you're all having some luck with your WIPs too!