July Bee Blocks

July was Nova's turn in the Australasian Bee, she asked for wonky star's using this tutorial.

I love the fabric she sent out, and I can't wait to see them all together!

And July was also the first month for Bee Seam Piecing Downunder!

Bec kicked us off with a request for traditional blocks, all the blocks are looking fantastic and I can't wait to see how this one goes together too!

Random Holiday Happy Snaps + 100th Post GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

But first you have to "dig" through some randomly chosen highlights of our winter holiday!

The above pic was taken in the Central Deborah Gold Mine in Bendigo.

Imogene standing in front of one of the kiln's in the museum section at Bendigo Pottery.

Charlotte's birthday present from her sisters, My big girl turned 9 while we were away! We bought this awesome little sheep from Bob's Boutique, again in Bendigo, I could of stayed in that shop for hours *sigh* Oh that's right, I did!!

We also went to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat for Charlie's birthday, (scuse the year old beanies, I didn't realise how small and ridiculous they looked until it was too late!)

Being able to hire a pram was a highlight for me, ours didn't fit in the car for the trip.

Mind you Miss Jocie spent more time out of it then in!

And every single time she saw a horse she would start yelling "Horspey, Horspey Horspey" over and over again! It was so cute, we just had to buy her a little stuffed "horspey" as a souvenir for her! Charlie and Laura had chosen fan's while Imogene has a very very precious tube of gold flakes! And me, well I picked up a couple of thimbles of course!

In Melbourne we went to the Science museum, it was fantastic, my fave part was in the toilets, they had a hand drying thing that actually worked! OK maybe not my fave part but definitely worth a mention! No photos from the day though an experiment book and a mobile of the solar system will help the kids remember for a little while! Of course no trip to Melbourne would be complete without a trip to the zoo! The Meerkats were hilarious! Such posers!

Jocie was smitten with all the animals (another animal lover perhaps?)

She completely flipped out over the "B-Bears" and this lovely fella was right up against the glass, so close, so awesome!

The Seals got me, first just there sheer beauty and cheekiness brought me to tears, but then reading some of their stories, ack I'm tearing up again!

The butterfly house was a favorite for all of us, this one is the only one we managed to get a decent picture of though, and what a beauty too!

Oh and this is just for the record, Ice on my car!! This was taken on the way home, when we stopped overnight in Goulburn.

Now I've tortured you all through that, it's time for a GIVEAWAY!!!!

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, nothing fancy needed just say hello!

International entries welcome!

The only "rule" is that I absolutely must have a way to contact you (no-reply commenter's this means you!)

I will draw one name out of a hat in two weeks time on the 10th of August.

The winner will receive, (drum roll please) A Mini/Doll/Teddy Quilt made by me, specially for them!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED.

16 Days, 4500km and 550 Photos Later

We are home from our winter holiday to Victoria, and No we didn't freeze, It wasn't that cold, and in fact we have been much colder since we've been home, due to a lack of a heater! And YES we had the most awesome time ever! There is so so much to show, but for now, just some bits and pieces from before we left, and one finish from when we were away!

First up, I decorated a wall in the girls play/clothes room with some string, mini pegs, and prints from the Free Art Project, unfortunately they have started to curl up, some I'm on the look out for old frames now, but it looked fab while it lasted!

I was also lucky enough to win a $25 USD gift voucher from Sew Mama Sew, I trawled there shop eventually deciding on 1/4 yard cuts, there's Del-hi, Good Folks, some Kaffe, etc. I was really careful, with what I got colour wise too, mainly going for fabrics in colours that I don't have, hence all the blue!

I also whipped this bag up quickly, Its my own pattern, and it is HUGE, the strap goes across the body, and it fits all my mummy bits and pieces in there as well as a water bottle or two, and of course wallet phone etc. I'm not super happy with the fabric combo, the linen and pinky Japanese fabric work well together but the blue twill..... not so much. I'm thinking I will make another one. Would anyone be interested in a tutorial? (free of course!) It would make a great beginner bag project.

I also was desperate for a new skirt, this is made from the same wool flannel, as Miss Jocie's dress a couple of posts ago, I drafted a pattern for it myself using the Cal Patch book Design It Yourself Clothes. It is just a simple a-line with no waist band and an invisible zip in the side, It is fully lined with the same fabric that I lined Imee's coat with, I did have a few issues with it, but they are due to my body shape. It needed a little something, so I free-hand embroidered the little doily inspired circle thingamee above. Overall I'm really happy with this skirt and it will hopefully get a lot of wear.

And last but certainly not least, a crocheted wrap vest, pattern found at twoandsix via the knitted version at Raglan Guld via the blanket slashed version at Kootoyoo. I used some absolutely beautiful wool from Bendigo woolen mills, Rustic in Wineberry 12 ply, I went through 500gms, (which I got for the bargain price of $17 from there clearance area!) and used a 9mm hook, I started hooking before I could re-find the pattern, but as it turned out I used the same numbers, when it was finished though it felt way too short for me so I added a horizontal band around the bottom, but if I wore it upside down it would make a wicked collar!

This was an unplanned holiday project, I even had to duck into the local spotlight to grab some hooks!, so I of course didn't have a suitable broach or pin so I used one of the crochet hooks to hold it together, I actually really like the look of it, and the idea of it too.

So that's that for now, next post will hopefully be a few highlights of our trip and also being my 100th post watch out for the giveaway!!

See you Soon xx

Just thought I would let you all know that I'm taking a little break for our school holidays.

But check back in 2/3 weeks 'cause this is post number 98! Im planning a nice giveaway for 100!

xoxo