Thursday is Bomb Day

Bomb Day
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I haven't been too fazed by using public transport since the attacks. but just when I'm not expecting it I'll have a little frission of nerves. This morning it was the young guy with a large black bag sitting on the seat in front of him. We were the only two people on the top level and every time he reached over to his bag I had to stop myself running down the stairs. Mostly there are just bored, tired looking commuters reading their Evening Standards and not causing any alarm (or even alertness) at all.

Today its a bit hard to pretend things are normal though as every tube and train station has a contingent of police at all the entrances. All looking very alert.
I'm just hoping they don't get overly alarmed again like last week.

On a lighter note, last weekend we went to visit friends and see their new house in a small village north of London. We have a lovely evening sitting in the garden, having a barbie and eating their freshly grown veggies, straight from their allotment. Beth has been growing up a storm. It started to rain but that didn't stop us. It is England ...and it was quite warm still...and the rain wasn't all that heavy. And it is summer.

We got away on Saturday morning after we finally got Mum, Dad, K & P and 6 weeks of luggage (mostly booze) packed into the car and off on their canal boat + Ireland road trip. The family arrived at my place on Friday night + travelling David + Smithy. We were in full swing of a minor party celebrating K & P finishing up at work and I was on my own personal mission to drink as much of their stock of French wine before they could pack it, when my part time week day lodger (& colleague) walked in unexpectedly. He looked a bit surprised (I think he thinks I just sit on the sofa, knit and watch big brother), but not as much as me who had already mentally given his bedroom away to several visitors! Lucky for everyone that he didn't arrive a few hours later.

Make-up Pouch

Make-up Bag detail
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

It might not look it from recent entries but i have managed a bit of crafty stuff lately.

This post is for Mary who sent me this fabric in a swap.

I wanted a gift for Steve's mum Lynn who was heading off from the UK for the next leg of her round the world trip to Canada. Inspired by all the crafty people around the place I thought I'd make something. And I had the pefect fabric as I knew Lynn likes these jewel colours. Its a very simple design but I like the way it turned out. The purple fabric on the right is the lining and the blue fabric on the left is the back.

And the prop is the cool bamboo thingy that Bella Dia gave me as part of back-tack - its so handy!

And although there have been more "incidents" (nice euphemism from the authorities here) and the tube is closed completely WE ARE NOT AFRAID!! And I'm fine.

Rhine river and Castles

Rhine river and Castles
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

We had a fabulous weekend in Frankfurt with Mum and Dad and Steve….when we eventually got there.

I know I have moaned about late Friday night flights before but this was really verging on Monty Python status.

I came out of work to find my tube station closed and the street cordoned off with a policeman on a loudspeaker saying “Move away from the tube station. You may be in danger”. All a bit unnerving but I jumped on the first bus, then a quick hop from Green Park and made it to Victoria to meet up with the folks. We got the oven from hell (aka tube) out to Heathrow and had a refreshing beverage to perk us up.

Things were looking good until we got to the gate to see the flight had been delayed for 45 mins til 9. We passed the time with another beverage and boarded about 9. The captain apologised for the delay due to having to replace the break pads. After a bit more sitting around he updated us that they were having trouble shutting the back door and engineers were called out again. It seemed we were on our way but then the indicator light still showed the door was open but it was actually jammed shut. Engineers came out again and we were finally backing away from the gates about an hour later. Hurrah.

But before we got to the runway another pesky light was showing problems with an air filter. The engineers paid us another visit. Took out the offending air filter, chopped it half (the captain was full of the gory details at every stage) and put in a new one. This process took another hour and everyone was standing around chatting in the aisles. All that was missing was waiters circulating with champagne and canapés and it could have been quite a good party. So we ended up leaving 3 ¼ hours late – but the pilot at least had the decency to do the usual 1 ½ flight in 45 minutes!

But it was worth the trip as we had a great day on Saturday zipping around the Rhinegau wine region in a convertible VW Smithy hired for the day. It was sunny and hot – perfect Reisling drinking weather. We had lunch at one of the old wineries, Schloss Volrads and then drove along the Rhine river looking at the impressive castles on the banks.

The day was topped off with dinner at our favourite restaurant in Frankfurt – Gallo Nero. Italian of course! The type of place where the chefs shop every morning at the local market for the freshest fish and the waiters recommend interesting specials, recommend great wine to match and try to dissuade you from ordering something if they consider there’s a better less expensive alternative.

Mum and Dad in the VW

Mum and Dad in the VW
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

London: Two Minutes Silence

London Bombing Two Minutes Silence
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I took this photo yesterday at Trafalgar Square. Shortly afterwards the 2 minutes silence for the bombing victims was held and all trafic came to a standstill.

I have had moments of nervousness on the tube this week and like many others have been eyeing up my fellow travellers and their back packs a bit more than usual. The news that the suicide bombers were identified was frightening, somewhat of a relief, sad and angering.

I have been reading this incredible diary of a woman who was in one of the bombed carriages on the BBC site and have been thinking how lucky I am.

London: Borough Market

Lucious Fruit at Borough Market
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Even with the terrible bombings last week I’m still glad to be living in London. When I catch a bus across the Bridge to Waterloo and look along the river at the beautiful Westminster Buildings and London Eye and St Paul’s I sometimes have to pinch myself to make sure its real and not just a movie set.

There is always something to do here and usually too much to chose from. Last weekend on Suze’s last day here we went to check out the Borough markets at Bermondsy near London Bridge. The organic food available is amazing – I bought some huge juicy peaches for £1.50 and some chocolate brownie for balance. There are also lots of great cafes and pubs on the fringes of the market. I’ll definitely be going back.

Juicy Peaches

Juicy Peaches
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

London

Thank you to everyone who has called, sms’d, emailed and left messages here with good wishes.

I got home okay (eventually) last night via several overland trains and was lucky to be on the right side of the city, only having to walk across the bridge to Waterloo. And everyone I know here is okay too which is a relief.

I came into work a bit later this morning on my regular train and tube. My heart was racing a bit on the tube but it’s very quiet and people are calm and quite sombre. Obviously a lot of people have stayed at home but there are still many people who have come into work as usual. My thoughts and sympathy are with the victims and their families.

London Tube Explosions

I feel like I have an echo in my head - I was walking through Victoria this morning looking at the Olympic news plastered across the front of newspapers thinking “Why on earth would they want it?…what a security nightmare”.

Ten minutes later everyone was evacuated from Westminster tube where we had stopped on the Circle line. I was impressed with the calmness of the crowd as hundreds of people left the station, some even lingering behind as seasoned commuters know, things could be back on track again any moment. Unfortunately this time it is more serious than the usual signal failure/ lack of driver. I walked along the Embankment to the office with police and ambulance vehicles racing past to the east side of the city.

News is trickling through about more explosions and we have been advised to stay inside our buildings.

Luckiest Girl in the World!

Just when I thought my week was made by my secret pal parcel, I received my back tack goodies in the mail yesterday and…WOW!! Cassie from Bella Dia has sent the most gorgeous, creative sewing basket and needle case. The patterns on the fabric and details are just amazing. After staring at it for ages I still can’t work out how she’s actually done it. Thank you Cassie I absolutely love it.

She has also thoughtfully added some quilting fabric, gorgeous vintage buttons, a nifty little bamboo corner thingy and Reeses choccies YUM! And she also has special Bella Dia notepaper…very cool.

I haven’t had a chance to put up any photos but you can see them on Bella Dia here (scroll down a bit).

I’m adding my two generous and creative back-tack buddies to my links, Cassie at Bella Dia and Kath at Red Current – they do some wonderful craft and art – check them out.

And thanks to Nicole at Craftapalooza for organising back-tack….and for introducing me to a whole lot of crafty blogs I now have to compulsively check regularly.

Back-Tack Away

Back-Tack Notions Holder
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Here is my final back-tack contribution which I finally sent off on the weekend, reviving feelings of handing in late assignments! But am pretty happy with the result - lots of handsewing detail - but not half as much as the original crazy pattern from Quilts Japan.

The outside is fairly plain with a little ric-rac detail and I embroidered the recipient's web name on the back. But will keep that as a suprise until it arrives.

Inside has little pouches for scissors, pencil and needle threader and a flower-pot pin cushion.

I used most of the stash from Kath and made a little drawstring bag with leftover fabric - its lined with the red spots.

Spoilt

Secret Pal
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I came into the office this morning after being at a client's for weeks to find a parcel from my lovely Secret Pal. What a fabulous suprise - she sent me an unreal book of finishing techniques - simple enough for Miss 'What are Circular Needles?'Stewart and will be handy for translating unfathomable instuctions like K2tog, SSK and P2tog. Then there is the pretty pink wool (did I mention I love pink at the moment?!!) thoughtfully wound into a centre pull ball for me, some groovy stich markers in a cute tin and H for Helen postits (in PINK!! heh heh).

Thanks SP you have made my week.

PS Apologies for the bad photo with the attractive grey office carpet background...but I couldn't wait to post this.

visitors

Ok so its now officially “Year of the Visitors”. I feel very lucky to have had so many friends and family around but am harbouring a secret fear that now people have made the excessively long trip from Aus that they won’t be in a hurry to turn around and do it again for several years. Maybe the visits should have been rationed…

After a couple of years of general stuffing around I am now reaping the best reward of having a permanent job – paid holidays! Last week we went up to Smithy’s cottage for a relaxing holiday – with our combined families. Had brief moments of questioning our sanity but great weather and daily BBQs meant things stayed pretty chilled.

The holiday was vaguely timed to coincide with my birthday. Smithy had been winding me up for months about “the best birthday surprise in the world”. When he arrived at the cottage on Monday I obediently closed my eyes and waited patiently. I opened them to find my surprise standing in front of me looking a bit jetlagged. He had collected Suze from Manchester on the way through! After a bit of girly squealing I discovered that they had cooked the plan up months ago and I had two whole weeks of ridiculous conversations and taking the piss out of reality TV participants to look forward to.

Back in London this week we had a family outing to see the new Billy Elliot musical which lived up to the movie amazingly well. It was collectively pronounced one of the best musicals ever. Very funny, great music and the boy that played Billy was amazing for a young kid – he was practically on stage the whole time with some pretty energetic tap dancing routines.

I can’t believe that the two weeks are almost over. I’m skiving off work tomorrow to hang with Sue before she heads back on Saturday. To remedy the depression that is sure to follow I’m busy planning a trip home at Christmas.

Swaparama

Oranges!
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

How to create an instant fabric collection? Find an amazingly generous quilter with an eye for colour and a taste for english tea! Thanks Mary - I love the fabric you sent. And some of my favourites out of the whole collection (and there were a lot!) were the orange ones. So I guess my comment in the secret pal questions that I don't really like orange is a big lie.

Fab cartoon
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I'm now thinking about what to make! Some will go into a quilt of some desription but I have my eye on a couple that I think would be great featured on a bag like this cartoon print.

Although there are probably a couple of other projects I should finish first.

This weekend is going to be dedicated to making the notions holder for back-tack. I came up with some ideas last night - inspired by a really cute notions holder in the latest Quilt Japan. How timely. I wonder how many others will have the same idea. The fabric I was sent lends itself perfectly.

I'm also going to go to "a market for buttons and bows - buy vintage glass buttons, toys and more at the VV Rouleaux playground market" according to a blurb in the paper. Sounds enticing. Handily close to Kings Road...there might be a few other shops to pop into while I'm there :)

Browntastic

Brown Suit Exhibit A
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I know I mentioned it last summer but in Frankfurt on the weekend I was once again amazed by the absolute enthusiasm Germans or at least Franfurters have for Brown Suits. Men are by far the worst offenders but the girls aren't left out by any means.

Brown suits are carefully matched with Brown toned Ties and Brown Shoes. Variations on the them include Beige and Yellow.

My question is WHY?

Brown Suit Exhibit A

Brown Suit Exhibit B

Brown Suit Exhibit B
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Brown Toned Casual

Brown Toned Casual
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Everybody's doing it..

Secret Pal 5 that is!! Over 600 participants from all over the world in another swap thingie for knitters. I couln't resist - presents in the mail - who wouldn't want that?!! Hence the recent knitting revival in part.

I think I will be very easy to have as a partner - I have absolutely nothing in the way of a yarn stash and two sets of needles 3mm and 3 1/4mm !! So lots and lots of scope there. On the other hand there isn't much knitting info for my partner to pick up on from my blog so here is the questionnaire to give whoever my secret pal out there is a few more clues...

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I wouldn't say a snob but probably am - I definitely prefer natural - wool and cotton.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
No - although I did once crotchet some sqares for a blanket.
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
No
4. How long have you been knitting?
About a week! Okay a little exaggerated but not much. I once made a scarf many years ago and have just had the urge to take it up again. I am yet to decrease or increase. I think I started a jumper once but handed it over to Mum when it got to the shaping part. Am hoping to have more perseverance now.
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Not at the moment
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Lavendar, lemongrass, bergamot, mint
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
oooh yes. anything chocolate doesn't have a chance around me especially cadbury's and reese peanut butter cups. Oh and of course Tim Tams.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
At the moment am into quilting. I used to do alot of sewing, making dolls and toys - all sorts of stuff but have only got back into it recently.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like all sorts and I don't always know how to categorise the music I like so here are a few examples...Black Eyed Peas, Kylie, Nina Simone, Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, am currently loving Gwen Stafini's new album, Counting Crows, Coldplay, Cowboy Junkies, Buddah Bar,
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
Any colors you just can't stand?Blue is my old fave but currently am into pink (regressing to six years old) and red. I like soft and bright colours. Not so much into the yellows and oranges or purple either mostly.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Living with my boyfriend when we manage to find ourselves in the same country, currently in a flat in London so not good for pets but would looove a dog one day (either Border Collie or a Lab or a 'Morran'). Maybe even a cat. And a horse. And chooks. Okay now thats going a bit far.
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Goodness too many to say. Just to enjoy life really.
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Don't really have a fave as yet.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
synthetic I don't really like
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Just to finish my first and current project
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Yep that's it at the moment. But I'd like to work up to socks.
17. What are you knitting right now?
a baby cardigan- following a Debbie Bliss pattern
18. What do you think about ponchos?
Cute on little girls.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Only straight so far. Am a circular virgin.
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I think plastic - as per above haven't branched out much.
21. Are you a sock knitter?
Maybe one day - would like to give it a go.
22. How did you learn to knit?
Mum taught me and have been looking at new book to refresh
23. How old is your oldest UFO?
A jumper (sweater) - well it did get finished eventually... by Mum.
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
Not so into the animation but like Japanese stuff
25. What is your favorite holiday?
Adventure - safari in africa, temples in cambodia. And beaches. And mountains. Or for holiday seasons (probably what this question meant?) - Christmas for getting together with family and hot sun and seafood (in Aus obviously not London!)
26. Is there anything that you collect?
Used to be a huge collector of pretty much anything but since travelling have learnt to not get started. But still accumulate books, magazines and craft stuff despite best intentions.
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
None - have just subscribed to Quilts Japan
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
I read all the time and I read pretty much anything so am always looking for something good.

...Hay continued

Linen tablecloth
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Anyway back to the shopping story. I had quite an exciting find. I popped into the Oxfam store (looking for jumpers to shrink) and was amazed to find an extensive display of vintage embroidered linen. It was in all perfect condition and beautifully laundered and starched. A gorgeous hand embroidered tablecloth for the price of a sandwich!! I couln't decide between the pieces so ended up with most of them.

When I asked the lady at the counter about where they were from, she said that one of the lady's that sorts the linen puts aside some of the better pieces she comes across throughout the year. Then once a year she launders them all and puts them all out on display. And that one day was the day I was there! How lucky. She said that word had got out and when they opened that morning there was a queue at the door. i can only imagine what they had at the beginning of the day.

here are some pictures - not the best lighting i'm afraid.

Linen tablecloth
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Linen tablecloth
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

First Knitting Project

First Knitting Project
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

But in the meantime here is my first attempt at knitting since I made a scarf when I was about 8.

I have been eyeing off the beautiful wools and books at John Lewis on my way through to the sewing section and last week I couldn't resist any more. How can you resist wool called "baby cashmerino"? Well I'm sure many could...but not me.

I was attracted to this Debbie Bliss book with its lovely pictures, chubby babies and the promise of simple beginner patterns.

But I am tending to agree with the comments at Craftapalooza about the Debbie Bliss patterns. I can't say with much authority as this is the first pattern I've followed but the instructions just did not seem to match up with the picture. They were clear enough (cast on, moss stitch a row and then moss stitch 5 more rows) but when followed i got the "front" of the cast on row at the back. Huh?! It didn't match the picture either. And Mum agreed and she's a knitting guru.

Oh well. I'm enjoying the knitting and finished the back over the weekend. Now for the challenge of buttonholes.

St Briavel's & Wales

Sign
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I drove down (across?) to Wales with Mum and Dad on Friday. The hottest day London has seen this century (or something like that – bloody hot anyway…and no aircon in the car). Needless to say tempers were slightly frayed after the 5 hour car trip (only took 3 to get back –bank holiday traffic for ya). But once we arrived at the Corner Cottage in a lovely corner of the Wye Valley we were soothed by the green country visas. We went for a walk starting in the field behind the cottage in the lovely evening light. Yay for long summer evenings!

We walked through a field of cows who barely registered our presence, an empty field except for the bobbing tails of dozens of rabbits that quickly disappeared down their burrows as we approached and a field of very friendly horses gently nudging us for snacks.

There was a big hoo-ha about “rambling” last year prompted by Madonna complaining about plebs traipsing across her paddocks. I think people are basically allowed to ramble in the countryside where ever they want to and the laws have recently been widened. In any case we didn’t see another person on our little stroll through fields and over stiles.

On Saturday we drove to the village of Hay-on-Wye. It is a small untouched village of streets winding around the castle and filled with bookstores – 39 of them. It was packed with people as the Hay book festival is on at the moment. Mum found a really old book on Leather making in the Bermondsey area of London. An odd purchase perhaps, but is related to her family history research – one of the family convicts was a leather maker from the area (before he found himself transported to the colonies for the term of his natural life!). Mum just asked at one of the stores on a whim if they had anything and the shop assistant had a bit of a think then went off and found a book about 40 years old on the exact topic!!

I’ll tell you about my exciting find tomorrow.

Curious Horse

Curious Horse
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

more Wales photos here

May flowers quilt

May flowers top
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I finished this about midnight last night! As I'm into both quilting and month of softies at the moment I took the chance to combine the two.

This quilt is inspired by the beatiful Kath Kidston floral fabrics. The design represents flower beds with a colourful garden path in between.

For month of softies "May Flowers" theme. Here are more pictures of the detail.

For the design I used a simplified adaptation of this BeBeBold quilt. Its kind of a stretched version of the traditional fence post pattern.

The quilting is very simple - I was thinking of doing some hand quilting around edge of some of the flower and bubble shapes but I'm not sure if its a good idea to have both machine and hand quilting together. Any comments?

Visitors

St Pauls and Millenium Bridge
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Things have been busy lately (or perhaps less quiet) with a little flurry of visitors. David arrived from Perth last week and has been staying on and off. He wins the perfect houseguest award by buying groceries, cooking divine dinners while actually staying with other people most of the time!

On Saturday K&P and I went out to Heathrow to pick up the folks. It was very exciting to see them again (it was only since Christmas for me, but a year and a half for K&P). They had a good flight (as good as 24 hours on a jet can be) and gave Malaysian Airways the thumbs up.

And I have been exhausted since as they have been in incredible form! My visions of relaxing on Sunday were dashed immediately – we were out the door by 10 and off to the Tate Modern (my favourite London gallery of the ones I’ve seen i.e. about three), lunch at a pub at Southbank with views of the city across the river and then some shopping at Covent Garden. Jetlag. What’s that?!!. Then this week they have been leaving the house with me in the morning and sightseeing all day. That pre trip fitness campaign was a little too effective I think. I’m getting a bit worried what energetic activities we’ll be doing for the upcoming long weekend in Wales.

Back-Tack Bundle

Back-Tack Bundle
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

The parcel from my secret buddy arrived yesterday. Some bright happy fabric and lovely embellishments to work with. Now I have to get to designing!

Loitering at Buckingham Palace

Loitering at Buckingham Palace
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

This is a bit of a belated update on last weekend. The batchelorette flat stood up to round one of the visitors well. Everyone arrived on Friday night and after several rounds of bedtime stories the kids finally went to sleep in their new sleeping bags. And after several rounds of vodkas the grown ups went to sleep on their air mattresses.

For the big excursion on Saturday, Georgia wanted to see where the queen lived and Sam wanted to make sure Big Ben was still in one piece after it was destroyed on a recent episode of Doctor Who.

After an exciting train and tube ride and TWO stops for drinks and snacks we made it to Buckingham Palace. Sam’s assessment: "Its boring! Can we go home now?". Me: "No!". We piled into a black London Taxi (good) swung by Big Ben (no comment), had pizza for lunch (consumed with gusto) and finally made it to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The flying car was a big hit and Sam only asked twice during the performance if we could go home now.

Happy Birthday Robbo!

suprise meeting

This morning as I was walking across the concourse at Victoria from train to tube I literally ran into a friend I hadn’t seen for about 5 years as she was making a beeline for the exit. It was such a coincidence as I don't normally go that way but was heading to a client instead of the office.

I worked in a coffee shop in Whistler with Anita and then we both ended up in London and became running buddies. She was to blame (credit) for conning (encouraging) me into doing the New York marathon. So great to see her – she’s now married and working for a charity – hopefully we will live up to our promises of meeting up soon.

Monsters

Hooray! Claire has put the MOS gallery up and more than a few others had the idea of recycled felted sweaters!! Talk about a collective consciousness (or something)! And there is at least one other dinosaur too by Fiona– which is much more adventurous and 3D than my (usual – see the elephant) 2 legged cop-out.

I think this one by Camilla Engman is my favourite although its really impossible to choose. But just look at her dog with the monster….have you ever seen anything so gorgeous and soulful as this puppy!?? I just keep looking at the pictures and smiling then sighing (ie doing a ‘Pam’).

Anyway I'm about to race home (as far as you can race on the Thameslink) to meet some other little monsters, doh I mean angels.

Going to London to Visit the Queen

We have the lovely H family coming to stay this weekend – four adults and two little kids in the bachelorette flat! This evening will be spent removing the empty wine bottles from the kitchen and a general whiz around to make the place presentable. I don’t really know what to expect with the kids. Or more to the point what they will expect (I think Little G is just hoping the Queen will pop over for some cucumber sandwiches in the afternoon though). I have a strange urge to go out and buy some rubber ducks for the bath. But instead bought some extra bedding (boring…but useful).

The highlight of the weekend will be going to see the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang …some trivia for the Australian readers …with Jason Donovan playing one of the lead roles.

Actually, one of my colleagues said he saw the Queen drive past today as he was out and about near her pad. And yes, she was wearing a hat. (And no, she wasn’t actually driving herself just in a car).

Presents and Quilts

My first back-tacker buddy has her fabric winging its way to her in Japan as we speak. Hope she likes it. There is a little parcel headed to Brissie for a special May birthday too. You know who you are.

Last night I made good progress on the May Flowers quilt – all the squares are now sewn – just need to be pieced together. Big simple patches are very quick to do - definitely the way forward! Its going to be baby sized – but not new-born sized like the Little Houses Quilt. I will be very happy when my patchwork gear (cutting board, rotary cutter and rulers) arrive with Mum& Dad in a couple of weeks. I think it will dramatically improve speed and accuracy of these projects – the old ruler and scissors is a bit dodge – but I like to think it gives it the “home made” look.

Of course that’s not the only reason I’ll be glad to see Mum and Dad – can’t wait for them to visit. We have a summer full of activities planned.

May flowers sneak preview

May flowers sneak preview
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

The beginnings of my May flowers creation....

Chilling out at Tone Dale House

The Corporate weekend was fab – great laid back venue and nice sunny weather. I was a bit under the weather on Saturday though (disgraceful) – but am still maintaining it was due to stuffy hot bedroom and not over consumption of alcohol.

When I finally emerged mid morning I knew immediately that the recruitment girls were kindred spirits. Shunning all planned activities they had laid out rugs on the lawn, gathered copious amounts of crisps and chocolate and huge stacks of trashy mags. They proceeded to sunbake, flick and gossip all day. Now that’s a great weekend away.

We did manage to rouse ourselves in time to make an appearance of helping with dinner. We were in charge of goats cheese and tapenade puff pasty parcels. Dinner was amazing – fresh oysters as promised, pastry parcels, several legs of roast lamb with bean ragout, chocolate pudding and the most amazing cheese platter I’ve ever seen. Yum.


Chilling out at Tone Dale House
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Somerset (south west of London)

There is a bit of a buzz in the air at work today and everyone is wearing jeans and cas clothes (special occasions only). The reason for the excitement is the ‘Corporate Weekend’. A treat for the staff of a weekend away AND with the bonus of no boring rah-rah meetings. Hurrah!

We’re heading off to “Tone Dale House” in Somerset for some Walking (with a capital W apparently, not just walking around willy nilly), horse riding (after much discussion about who can ride, who can’t and what size horse is required) and the boss is cooking the meals for the weekend. I was a bit sceptical about this at first but was reassured when he went around the office asking for dietary requirements including ‘do you eat oysters?’ (?!!) before nipping off to Borough Market for the organic food.

We are sharing rooms and I was wondering if as the new girl I’d be stuck with the woman who sent around the email saying she didn’t mind sharing with anyone who wasn’t bothered by her snoring!! Luckily Val was thinking the same thing so I will be spared that experience.

PS: By the way, I now know that Somerset is no where near Suffolk, for those I told I was going to somewhere north east of London. So think of the opposite direction from Suffolk and that’s where we’ll be!

Flower Garden

It seems this blog is rapidly turning into a craft blog with my current obsessions of quilts and softies. I can’t see it changing any time soon.

I’m now mulling over the May theme for MOS – looove florals any any excuse to use them. And you can’t get much more floral than Cath Kidston’s fabrics. Although that Amy Butler does give her a run for her money. I’m thinking about doing a quilt using some of the Cath Kidston fabric but just not sure if it might be a bit much – they’re quite big prints not the usual petite country style cotton numbers, and almost canvassy in texture. But doing something non-trad definitely appeals. I’m kind of imagining a riotous garden effect…..

Sunny bank holiday

I came back from Frankfurt quite early yesterday as it wasn’t a public holiday there and I didn’t fancy hanging around without any one to play with.

It was a gorgeous day in London and I popped into town with the aim of getting some suitable fabric for the back-tack swap and having a general mosey around a previously unexplored area. I ended up finding some fabulous material from a very hip designer store…but I can’t say any more than that at this stage as it’s meant to be an anonymous donation. I can only say I hope the recipient likes it as much as me!

Then I went home and had a refreshingly cool G&T in my sunny kitchen studio and made some little cousins for Danny the Dinosaur. You can see him here meeting his Irish cousin Declan the Dinosaur and his German second-cousin once removed Dieter.

Danny Dinosaur meets his cousins
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

notions

Just a little update before I away for the (long, yippee!) weekend to Frankfurt.

I now have another little project on the go – I’ve signed up for the crafty notions holder swap over at back-tack. I have to choose some fabrics, send them off then watch as they are transformed into a notions case. In turn I’ll get a little package of fabric and come up with something nifty to make. Then everyone ends up with someone else’s creation at the end. V. cool. I think the hardest part will be choosing some fabric. I’m not sure if I can part with any I have….more shopping?!!! Hee hee. Like I need an excuse really.

little houses

houses quilt top
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I spent a cosy evening in my kitchen studio last night finishing the top of the houses (miniature)quilt. It now has a colourful stripy border which makes it slightly bigger. It’s now about 60cm x 70 cm. I used the paper piecing method that Amy showed on her Quilt Monday this week. This was the first time I had used it and could probably refine the method a bit eg ripping off the backing before sewing the blocks together perhaps. I’m not sure if I will be in a huge hurry to do this style again as its quite fiddly – although I have to admit the results are good and can be used for some interesting patterns.

Now I need to get hold of some batting and choose a backing (am thinking the sky blue fabric) and then do the quilting. If anyone has any suggestions for quilting design please let me know – I’m a total novice in this area.

An afternoon in South Ken

Bibendum - Conran restaurant
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Sunday was a lovely day and Tim and I went on an excursion to South Kensington. We quickly bypassed the cultural and education museums and headed for the aesthetic delights of the Conran Shop. Sir Terrance is famous around these parts for his design and restaurant empire. The flagship store on Fulham Road is next to the restaurant Bibendum, housed in the old Michelin factory. The place is too fab to describe – the pictures speak for themselves!

Conran Shop Window
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Bibendum & Paula Pryke Flowers
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

After drooling over gorgeous furniture, cushions, throws and too many other things to mention we wandered up to Hyde Park in search of Diana’s memorial. We knew it was somewhere near the Serpentine, but being in the ground rather than above it made it a bit tricky to find. We walked along one side of the lake – no sign of memorial. We turned back and walked around the other way. I was getting more tired and more in need of the loo. Tim was getting more determined to find it. We walked right around the lake the other direction, finally finding it just past the point where we had turned back the first time. It was closed for renovations.

Tall Tim and Tall Chair
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

One of the many fab pieces of furniture in Conran.

Monsters

I popped in to the Cancer Relief shop around the corner at Gipsy Hill on Saturday morning. It’s a great little op shop and I was very excited to find TWO pure wool jumpers ripe for boiling and shrinking. I felt a bit guilty as I bought them wondering what they would think if they knew their intended fate – to be recycled into Monsters!!

I headed home to wait (and wait) for someone to come and look at my heating again. In the meantime I got to work making two perfectly good jumpers into felt. Which involved putting them in the washing machine on the hottest cycle with some detergent. (I vaguely remember seeing the instructions for this easy method on one of the many crafty sites I frequent – if anyone knows where that is please let me know as I can’t find it now!)

Anyway as hoped, an hour later out came two significantly smaller jumpers with a fantastic soft fluffy texture. I didn’t have much inspiration really but Smithy (Softie guru) suggested a dinosaur so I started with that. Meet Danny.


Danny the Dinosaur
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

After a few sketches I came up with this little fellow. Perhaps you’ve met him before….the Green Eyed Monster.


Green Eyed Monster
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

You can see more pics here. Oh yes, and if you are wondering what brought on the sudden urge to make recycled Monsters check out Month of Softies.

what to do?!

I’m feeling a bit strange – I have no plans this weekend! It seemed like a good idea at the beginning of the week to keep it completely free but as it gets closer I’m starting to feel a bit uneasy. What will I do? Will I get bored? Lonely?

I’m thinking a foray to Kings and Fulham Road for a spot of window shopping might be in order at some point. Maybe a little visit to the Tate Modern and I might check out the fabric shops in Berwick St. I also want to put the border on my house quilt as I’ve made some good progress on that the last couple of evenings. And Tim is coming over for dinner tonight. Yeah – I’ll be fine!

Plus I need (want) to make a monster for MOS. My half made likeness of myself as a child is still forlornly lying on the window waiting for the other leg to be attached so I’m keen to actually submit something this month. I want to find a wool jumper or cardy at a charity shop to make into felt and then transform into a monster. I’ve never felted anything but am keen to experiment. The only problem is that finding a pure wool jumper is almost impossible. They’re all either acrylic or I’ve seen the occasional cashmere one. But I don’t really want to spend £25 on something with the objective of boiling it and cutting it up! So some op-shopping will also be on the agenda.

Bliss is...

…being able to set up my sewing machine in the kitchen, spread out my stuff EVERYWHERE and not have to pack it away.

Last night I made some progress on the houses quilt – finishing all the blocks and sewing rows together. Am feeling virtuous as I painstakingly tacked the blocks together before sewing to make sure corners and rows line up.

But at that stage I got confused as it seemed to be much smaller than I expected. The instructions said it would be 39”x 40”. But the rows without the border are only 15”. So I went back to the directions and in the summary it said the blocks are 6” but then the pattern and the step by step instructions say they are 3”! And I’ve only just noticed this discrepancy. So I’m going to have a miniature quilt that will be very cute but possibly not much use for anything!

crystal palace

crystal palace
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Yesterday after work I decided to explore the huge Crystal Palace Park which is about 10 minutes walk from home. It will definitely be a good place to run in the evenings although it has a bit of a deserted air about it.

As I found out from Phil on the weekend it is named after the massive glass and steel structure that was reconstructed there in 1854 after the Industrial Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park. According to a reliable source (BBC website) 293,655 panes of glass were used in the building, 4,500 tons of iron, and 600,000 cubic ft of timber. It must have been an impressive sight to see.

Unfortunately it was destroyed by fire in 1936 and about all you can see at the site now are some rather forlorn, graffiti-ed Egyptian sphinxes. There is also a museum and Dinosaur park which I am yet to check out.

view from the kitchen window

view from the kitchen window
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

This is the main reason for my excitement about my new flat – the lovely view from the kitchen window.

Moving in on Friday and Saturday went smoothly – we picked up a rental car on Friday and packed it to the roof with my stuff. On Saturday we went out and had a spree at Argos with the car again groaning under the weight of everything from ironing board to the telly. Steve and I spent the afternoon in Flat Pack City as Kirst put it, constructing lamps and wardrobes. So after a weekend of work the sticks in the nest are pretty much in place.

Being an old house I’ve been discovering a few 'interesting' quirks such as my bedroom window having inbuilt ‘air-conditioning’ (no latch and a inch gap at the top!). And in the other bedroom theh windows have been painted closed! Hopefully I’ll be able to sort it out with the landlord this week as its still pretty chilly at night here.

In the meantime I’ll enjoy the views and the nice ambience. And layer up.

"The Penthouse"
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

New Home

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas this week. One more sleep to go before I can pick up the keys to my new flat tomorrow. Apparently the landlord has organised for the new furniture to be delivered this week so I’m hoping for a good surprise when I see it tomorrow. Then I get to lug my various garbage bags and assorted odds and ends across south London to their new home.

Rasberries

Rasberries
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Steve and I are that childless couple that go to other people’s houses, stir up their children to distraction then leave as soon as they start to cry! I’m sure their parents love it!

We had a lovely lunch with J&J and the kids on Sunday sitting in the brand new conservatory. We played rasberries (Sam was the best at making disgusting noises by far), colouring in, and of course the all time favourite tick tock. I’m not sure who had more fun playing – the kids or us.

See some more pics from the weekend here.

Raaahhh!!
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Garbage bag luggage

What a week TGIF if ever it was.

After finding my dream flat on Friday, I then put the proposal to my flatties that I move out in two weeks and we find someone to replace me then. They were happy with that which was a relief as my months notice would have meant double rent for a couple of weeks. Tuesday they called with the good news that their friends wanted to move in but they needed to discuss dates. Uh oh sounded ominous. But it turned out they could move in THIS weekend. So that meant for the past two nights I have been madly packing my even bigger pile of stuff to free up the room as I’m away for the weekend (surprise!). I have left a pile of about 8 garbage bags sitting in the corner waiting to collect on Sunday. The lovely K & C have come to my rescue again and offered their spare room for the week. What with that, negotiations with estate agents (managed to knock a whole £50 off their fee – wow!) and crazy work its been quite a week.

So I’m looking forward even more to a weekend at the cottage with Jo, the lovely K&C, Smithy and kiwi Clarkie who I don’t know but am sure is lovely too. Unfortunately the promising summer weather has turned baltic again – snow and winds coming from somewhere north and frozen. A good excuse to light up the fire.

Half of a Half Marathon

at the start
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I wasn’t intending to participate on the basis of not having done any training. But the rest of the crew weren’t having a bar of me skiving off to bed while they ran on the basis that I had organised the whole thing. Which I’m not sure is true but am easily convinced.

I ended up running the first 10k then having a nice (power) walk through Berlin with Smithy for the last half. It was a gorgeous sunny day so there could have been worse things. But just quietly I think there may have been better things (like a lie in and leisurely breakfast for example).

Everyone did really well and reached their goals – Sally 1:39 (wow), Krissy and Ole at 2:10 convincingly within their target time and Jo, Nat, Steve and I finishing before the road opened. Well my goal was to get out of it altogether, but never mind. The big bowl of pasta and red wine afterwards tasted divine.

House Hunting Again

Last week turned out to be action packed on the home front. I decided that I’d look for my own place as the whole living with newly-weds thing isn’t turning out to be a barrel of laughs. But mostly because Mum and Dad are visiting over the summer and I want to have somewhere they can comfortably stay. The “bathroom sink sms” incident only served to accelerate things (I won’t go into it but anyone who has lived in a share house can probably imagine only too well).

I started looking around with the idea of getting a feel for a few locations I hadn’t checked out before but not really committing to anything for a few weeks. But the problem with that approach is that anything good gets snapped up instantly. I was completely put off the Docklands by the first dive I saw there and decided to look further south.

The South East is way cheaper than west as there’s no tube down that way and it’s a bit patchier, but the area around Dulwich is really nice so I started looking there. One of the agents I got in contact with showed me around three places one evening and they were all much nicer for the price than anything I’d seen in other parts of London. I had a look at a few other flats but had fallen in love with the first one she showed me which was further out but HUGE and totally newly refurbished, on the third floor of a Victorian house overlooking a big green park. A lovely neutral, airy bare canvass of a flat. And it has really cool details like original fireplaces and stained glass windows. I’m not sure what the commute to work will be like but I think it will be okay if I’m organised and get the faster trains. I went to have second look and just couldn’t go past it so I put in an offer. If all goes smoothly I’ll move in a couple of weeks.

With all that excitement, I was a bit distracted on Friday afternoon. As I headed from Putney to Stanstead for my flight to Berlin (a good 2 hour + trek) I realised around Vauxhall I had left my passport at home. After the few near misses at Easter I thought I was leaving so much time spare and my stomach lurched when I realised my mistake. Thinking there was a good chance I could still make it, I backtracked home, grabbed my passport and headed off again. Although I made it to Stanstead half an hour before the flight, Ryanair weren’t having a bar of such tardiness and it was a no go. A few others who missed it as well and I tried to get on a later flight with another airline, waited around for a couple of hours hoping people would no show for it. Which they did and we were told we could go – yay! And then one minute later they turned around and said no, sorry, too late! Boo!

While waiting for them to make their minds up I had been chatting to another girl (literally - she was only 17) who had missed her connection from a different flight and had been travelling all day. So we ended up booking on the 6:30am flight the next morning and going to the airport hotel for the night. A bit of an adventure I could have done without – but I made it to Berlin in time to wake up the crew for brekky so didn’t lose too much of the weekend in the end.

Easter in Portugal

Farol Design Hotel
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I only found out the night before we were leaving that the Lisbon hotel I booked wasn’t actually in Lisbon but 30 minutes away by train. But it turned out to be a good mistake. The hotel website said it was “5 minutes walk from the town centre”. I had assumed Lisbon town centre – but the Cascais town centre – a gorgeous beachside town outside Lisbon was lovely. Our Farol Design Hotel was so nice we only managed to leave for a couple of sightseeing missions to Sintra and Lisbon and out for one dinner. The hotel restaurant is highly recommended. Chef Gerhard’s food was divine and waiter Paulo’s service super friendly. Not to mention the amazing ocean views.

We went to the World Heritage listed nearby town of Sintra, and visited the amazing Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle) with walls reminiscent of the Great Wall of China and the even more amazing palace, Palácio da Pena. It was quite a wait to get into the Palace and I think that the outside was more spectacular than inside – the carving of the Monster with fish feet (mermaid legs?!) was something else.

Wandering around the town later we settled on a little café for lunch and found ourselves sitting opposite Kyan from Queer Eye (grooming). Jo and Steve had to forcibly restrain me from asking for an autograph but at least I did catch a smile when I got busted staring at one point. I can only gather that Queer Eye hasn’t taken off in Portugal yet. That, or the Portuguese are much more polite as no one else was taking any notice.

The next day we took the train into Lisbon. After losing ourselves in the windy cobblestone streets of the old town we climbed up to the impressive Castelo de Sao Jorge for amazing views over Lisbon. But we couldn’t stay away from Cascais for long and headed back for some more of Chef Gerhard’s seafood delicacies.

Sintra Palace
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Long Short Week

These short weeks are deceptive. I start out the week thinking its going to zip by but then some weird space time continuum thing happens and looking forward to a long weekend somehow stretches the week out even more!

It’s still been go go around here – last weekend I caught the train up to the lakes to put the finishing touches on our painting at the cottage. In general it was pretty relaxing apart from the paint + rental car incident (note: 5 litres of cream paint tipped into the floor of a rental car is not a cheap accident to fix!). But the yummy breakfast at the Melmerby organic bakery made us forget about that. And yes – this current obsession with food while not doing any exercise at all is making it much harder to fit into jeans.

This week Jo M arrived and we are heading out to Covent Garden to catch up with her London friends and birthday drinks for Nomes, before escaping to Lisbon for the weekend.

Waverton Good Read Awards

One of the things I appreciate most about living in the UK is the seemingly high level of eccentrics around the place.

For example, the Waverton Good Read Awards that was featured on the BBC Culture Show last night. What a great idea – crazy, but great. The organisers Gwen and Wendy, two Waverton Village inhabitants decided to host their own book award, an alternative to the Booker and Whitbread, for first time authors. And the judges are all the villagers that want to participate (which I take to be pretty much everyone in the village).

A pool of books are left at strategic points around the village, bakery, post office ect, people pick them up and rank them on a feedback form. In the mean time they have meetings with discussion and talks from some of the nominated authors. Then the top five books are shortlisted and everyone has a couple of months to read them and vote on their fave. The shortlist was announced last night – check out their website and a story from one of the nominated authors from last year, Tony Saint. For those moments when you want something new to read but aren’t sure if you want to take a risk on something new – these people have done the work for you.

MORE!

MORE!
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

As predicted I couldn’t resist ordering a couple more greens from the very efficient and helpful Tabbycat. And of course in order to avoid the £2 postage charge I thought I’d better order a couple of other pieces as well. So I SAVED money really.

Gorgeous Green Spots
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

And look – aren’t they fab? The greens are perfect, the checks always useful and my favourite – the green spots is just gorgeous.

More Trees
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Am very glad I did go for the other greens – much better and I made most of the trees last night – just have a couple to go and then put it all together into one leafy suburb.

Little Houses

Little Houses
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I had an evening of sewing last night and made quite a bit of progress. Here is my little street (suburb?) of houses. I now need to make a few more and some more trees. I’ve been putting off doing the trees as I’m just not sure about any of the greens I have. Although I want to avoid the process I chose the sky blue – ie buy 10 different blues to choose from. But its important because one of the greens will be the border for between the rows and frame the edge. Hmmm maybe I will order a couple more just in case.

Stuffed

Snow in the Park

Steve excelled himself in the kitchen this weekend. I have been treated to French Toast with bacon, banana and Canadian maple syrup, Sweet Potato and Capsicum Soup, Grilled Salmon with mango salsa AND divine White Chocolate Cheesecake with berry topping.

With all that decadence we agreed that we at had to make it to the gym at least one. I’ve noticed that there is a noticeable difference between the women’s change rooms in London and Frankfurt. In London its quite a modest affair with people getting changed using the Tent Manoeuvre, shimmying into undies under the cover of their towel. This is more in line with Australian style of public change rooms. In Frankfurt this modesty is completely dispensed with. The move de jour here is Moisturise and Chat. At any time you are likely to encounter several women flaunting toned bodies, saggy boobs, Brazilians and caesarian scars equally nonchalantly, thoroughly moisturising every inch of their bodies while chatting to their gym buddy. This is all done in a slow leisurely fashion and they are usually still there after I’ve showered, changed and blow dryed my hair. And I can report that the myth of hairy German women is completely unfounded.

Potential Quilt

stash

I have been reading with great interest the quilting activities of Hilary at Wee Wonderfuls and was especially inspired by her amazing Kimono Quilt and Amy at Angry Chicken who creates works of art out of fabric.

I bought a quilting book last week and have about 10 ideas of things I want to make. I’m going to start with a design with houses and pine trees in baby size.

Then I struck an obstacle. Patchwork fabric is not that easy to come by in London. Despite the fabric district in Soho being full of shops stacked to the roof with bolts of silks, satins and anything else you can imagine, they don’t stock the small cotton prints ideal for quilts. After much web surfing I found several online stores but I feel that the fabric selection process really needs to be done with the tactile method of feeling the fabric and lining the colours up together to see if they go.

I finally found ONE specialist quilt fabric store in London at Kew, Stitch in Time and popped in there on the way to the airport yesterday. Well as you can see I got a bit carried away and left with enough fabric to make several quilts. I really find it surprising that there are about four or five stores like this in little Brisvegas but as far as I can work out the next closest quilting stores here are one near Milton Keynes and one in Birmingham! I guess Londoners have too many other distractions to be into crafty stuff?

Jetsetting

Second trip in a row that my Friday night flight has been INTERMINABLY delayed at LHR.

Last time, two weeks ago I was expecting it because it was snowing and I just didn’t have very high expectations that flights would be on time in those conditions.

This week the weather is a balmy 6-7 degrees C and I was really hopeful we’d get away on schedule. But after an hour sardined into the Piccadilly line and arriving at the check-in the friendly desk guy greeted me with “No check in. Plane still in Frankfurt. Delayed. Go and wait for announcement.” Heart plummets. Apparently high wind in Frankfurt was preventing planes from taking off there. So a few of us rebels just stayed in the queue in hope of it being a short wait while the lucky buggers going to Düsseldorf and München shuffled past and checked in.

Happily after about 10 minutes we were allowed to check in and go through. The big advantage of this was access to alcohol so I found a bar, ordered a large white wine and settled in to read my book. Meanwhile the “delayed for 20 minutes” message beside our flight number became a more and more obvious lie as our flight rose to the top of the list and only a couple of other flights remained after us. As soon as our gate was announced a flood of people hurried to the gate and squeezed in with a running commentary from the Americans in the queue behind me “Do you think this is the queue? I think this is the queue. Do you think it’s the queue? Is this the queue? (to everyone in 10 metre vicinity) etc”. In the end we were only delayed about 1 ½ hours.

Phew vent over.

Dolls

I didn’t really get into last months softies theme as I had never read Alice in Wonderland as a kid. And I still haven’t read it. And that’s my excuse for the fact that Smithy’s Caterpillar is BEATING my Rabbit (37 views vs 16 on Flickr). Not that we are competitive at all!! (jeez if I can’t be better at sewing I should just give up now). But I’m really warming up to this month’s theme. I like the idea of doing a regular doll after the animals. And I’ve enlisted Mum’s help to trawl through the old albums for inspiration. Some classic material coming through on the email (Mum is a guru on the scanner) and this one shows I’ve always been a dork. Doll collection circa 1981. For your amusement.



Dolls

Norths VS Souths

Norths VS Souths
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

Smithy took me to the rugby on the weekend for the best of North and South Tsunami game. It was freezing cold but nice and sunny. And slaughtering the Norths, despite the support from guy in front of us yelling out "Come on the Norths!" every two minutes at the top of his lungs, was good. Actually don't tell Smithy but I got a bit bored in the second half when there was no tension about who would win. My favourite bit was Umunga's first try.

Sew Obsessed

I am very excited that the Softie gallery for February is up. I am always amazed at the creative interpretations people come up with. My rabbit looks pretty average compared to these funky guys from Trish Millener and Natascha Rosenberg.

I’m also very excited that I’ve been given a sewing machine from the lovely Smithy and won’t have to hand sew my next creation! And I’m also itching to get back into the quilting bug that bit me when I was at home last time.