Turning Twenty? Turning Sixty, more like ...

Well, I'm guessing I'll be fast approaching senior citizenship before this one's done:



My stop-gap quilt is fully assembled and quilted, now I'm busy fixing all the messes I've made, mainly from not cutting right. One block got hacked off and because I didn't have enough fabric, I had to re-attached what I cut off:



To cover the cut, I've decided to embellish with Bohemian beads that I get off ebay. Purchased another whole lot on Monday and it arrived by Tuesday, ebay on speed, basically.



And then there are some parts where the seams are unravelling, again from not measuring properly before cutting. I'll also experiment a little with fabric flowers or petals, we'll see.

In that sense, it's a good project, I can pick it up in between other projects and fiddle around with the beads. Only problem is my posture when beading, I seem to bend over to see properly and reach the beads. Must work on that too.

All washed, ironed and ready to go!

The fabrics are from the Fossil Fern range and I think its pattern is very suitable for a friendly Dragon. Now I need to find a Kinko's to blow up my pattern to the relevant size. Yellow Pages, here I come!

$17 will buy you perfection!

It's been a bit tumultous here the last two weeks so I decided to treat myself, thinking I should do that more often. ... Well, and then I did: ebay damage to be displayed soon - all in the name of quilting, though!

Harrison's Friendly Dragon Quilt

Harrison is my first godchild, son to my younger daughter's godmother - and obviously very good friend. He's English and with Saint George being the Patron Saint of all Things English, and Harrison being a boy, a Friendly Dragon theme seems quite fitting ...



I've searched high and low for the perfect dragon and finally came across one in a colouring book last year. The above lot didn't make the cut, but this one did:



all ready for copying though onto non-stick baking sheets, that little boy is Harrison, by the way.



The result and my little helper, Ms Chatterbox.



This is a close-up of my "design" which will now be copied and blown-up - hopefully not beyond recognition ... I've also broken out all the fabric purchased for this quilt and laid it out sort of in the way it'll be once finished. I'm hoping to add prairie points as a border. The backing will be light blue fleece and a dark blue frame to hold the whole thing stable. There will be minimal quilting. I might add some blades of grass around the dino!

Another one bites the dust ...

well, we've kicked out another aupair ... who apparently thought getting her parcel out of customs was more important than doing her job, such as picking up my 5-year-old from school on time. And then she got snotty and hung up the phone on me. So out she went ... Those weren't the first problems we've had. She's put enormous mileage on our car and used the phone excessively - which in itself are solvable problems. But her relationship with hygiene and the truth were rather casual. She only did the absolute minimun at the absolutely last minute and after about a zillion reminders. She was discourteous and generally disinterested in making an effort. Funnily enough, her profile at the aupair website says: "I am dependable and accurate" - true, you can depend on her to be lazy and grumpy but she's very accurate at making sure she does work the tiniest bit beyond the absolut minimum.

While most of my environment is still in shock and awe, I'm in a really good mood because now I don't have to face a moody and grumpy face every morning, trying to be sunny and smiley when I'm not a morning person myself.

In fact, I'm so worry-free that I've decided to ignore all deadlines on Baby Quilt No 3 and go back to work on Turning Twenty. Will post results soon.

quilt for a wee one

quilt for a wee one, originally uploaded by angry chicken (More on Amy here and here)

Look at this ... sweet. Makes me want to switch off my 'puter, go home and start sewing.

Hannah's Quilt: completed the day she was born

The "H Block" - H is for Hannah ...



with her family name embroidered into the H.



The whole thing layed out flat ...



... and folded for presentation ... with the H for Hannah and the M for Maria.

Safari Quilt and Owner

There you go:

Progress Report II:

Baby still safely locked away in Mummy's womb, only nine days overdue. She'll be induced tomorrow ... in the meantime, I am racing against time to finish the quilt, hoping to have enough time to add a letter each to the solid light blue block. It'll be an H and an M, her first and middle name initials, which have the added benefit of mirroring perfectly: an H is an H, no matter which side you look at it from.

I'm spending a week working with the parents of the Safari Quilt recipient and hope to shoot a publishable photo for display on this side, so watch this space.