A newbie...

Every commissioned quilt now seems to become a new favourite... They're getting harder and harder to part with!

snippety snippets

Here's a few little snippets from the last few weeks. ok, months. With a bit of an accidental red theme apparently. 

Still just catching up on things (did I miss tax time?!) so next time these photos will be of things that are actually happening now! But in the meantime, here's some of recent happenings:

* Prettying up our airbnb apartment.

* This was the first night in our new house. There were boxes everywhere, stuff all over the place and tears a-plenty, but I managed to find a vase and make the place feel slightly homely! We have inherited a beautiful row of rose bushes in the front garden and they have been bringing much joy. 

* A shot of me (by hubby) setting up my market stall a few weeks back. 

* And the market stall in action (with more roses from the garden!). It must be said there wasn't much actual action on the day... it was a bit of a fizzer really but I managed to sell a few things and was just happy to have it over and done with! 

* And one of my joyful little boy. That smile really does light up a room. 

Happy week and happy December! 

Linking in with the lovely Em!

Have a very Etsy Christmas...

Now that I've got a little more time on my hands, I've finally managed to update the shop and have added some cushions, some little square mini quilts and a couple of Liberty print baby blankets... the softest things you've ever felt! Get in now for Christmas! 

cubby shenanigans

Here's my little fella, a little while back. It was a rainy day and he and his "fwends" were building cubbies and playing under the clothes horse. The light was lovely and I whipped out the camera,   

    something I haven't done much lately. In an attempt to get back into this space a little more and to  

    improve my photography, thought I'd share them...

well hello!

Well hello there little blog, long time no see.
It's fair to say it's been a busy time around here lately and I feel like I am only just catching my breath. We've moved house, rented out our apartment through airbnb, and I had a stall at a market... all things I wouldn't really recommend doing while hormonally challenged. Let's just say that I've been quick to tears! But we've crossed off much of our to-do list, have unpacked most a good chunk of the boxes, and can start to settle in to our new place. We've swapped a balcony, city views and the sound of trams rolling by with a huge garden, gum trees and a creek behind the house and the chirping of morning birds. A big change, but one we're enjoying... looking forward to a summer of shenanigans before this little family of three becomes four.

* Billy buttons helping to make our new apartment nice before its new guests arrive! *

Mathilda's Market

We're going coastal!
Yes, I thought a little sea change would be nice, so I'm going to be selling my quilty wares at the Mathilda's Market in Geelong on the 2nd November.

Here's a sneak peak of a couple of works in progress...
(My favourite local talented ladies at Maze & Vale and Umbrella Prints feature heavily as usual!)

A little bit of news (and a play dough kebab)

As alluded to previously, here's a little sharing of some family news...



**Apologies if you've already seen this on Facebook or a snippet on instagram**

Trying to stay positive...

On a day where I'm feeling fairly depressed about our nation's new Government and what lies ahead, I'm just trying to stay positive.

After all, I have fresh runuculus beside my bed, we had safe and calm elections (and I have lived in countries where this is not the case), my community of friends, family and neighbours is loving, compassionate, inclusive and we can indeed make a positive difference in our own lives and the lives of those around us.
And there are exciting times ahead in our own little family!! (more on this shortly...)

Fun, quirky and... bright

I received a commission a little while back from a lovely lady, asking if I could make a king-single sized quilt for her soon-to-be two year old daughter, Kate. It was to go on her new big girl bed in her new room. The request was for bold colours, not too matchy matchy, fun and quirky and, well... bright.

It's the largest quilt I've made to date, and there were a few challenges along the way, but I had fun with it and learnt a few new tricks and am so happy with how it's turned out. And so are its new owners... I dropped it off in person and took a few snaps of it in its gorgeous new room (though the first few below are on my own bed). Happy birthday Kate!

(As usual, there's a few fabrics from some of my favourite local fabric makers including Umbrella Prints and Maze & Vale)

One for baby Finn..

It's been a while since sharing some quilt pictures here, so here's a few of a little one that went off to some beautiful friends who brought their first child - little Finn - into the world a few weeks ago. We love you Finn...

(yes, there is actually a small child in that last photo).

holiday snaps.

So it's a freezing, windy and rainy in Melbourne today. And I've been looking through our recent holiday photos to remind myself that somewhere in this rather large country of ours, it's warm and sunny. It doesn't necessarily make me feel better about being back in winter, but it does give me a little dose of sunshine, plus some lovely memories! We had a wonderful time up in Northern Queensland... just the refreshing little break we were needing. Daintree rainforest-ing, Barrier Reef-ing, Butterfly sanctuary-ing, resting, reading, swimming, awesome playground-ing etc etc.
(p.s. and no, that cable car did not worry me one. little. bit.)

Music Monday #13

Last night as I watched Leo dancing around his grandparents' lounge room, I thought... "his dance style looks strangely familiar, it reminds me of something".

And then it came to me...  

warmer climes

Our apartment is clean, our bags are packed, and tomorrow we head to warmer climes...
We're heading off North on a little holiday! Escaping the cold, the routine, the mid winter blues. I am just a teeny tiny bit excited...

An outdoors selection...

I haven't taken the camera out much lately so here's a few shots from the last couple of months... an outdoors selection!

1. A little outdoors indoors!
2. Beautiful visiting kookaburras on the Great Ocean Road.
3. He's into "sa-sos" (somersaults!) at the moment.
4. Fun parties in gorgeous places.
5. We followed the party with a sunset trip across the bay in a ferry... rather cool, though loud ferry horns were a little scary for some folk and required reassuring hugs. And in other news, I look quite different from this today as yesterday I went a little daring and got a fringe... eek!
6. More Australian natives, these ones in my parents' garden. so lovely.

Have a wonderful week everyone!
xx

*Linking in with Em*

The one with the Big Boy Bed...

I've been meaning to give a bit of a sleep update (seeing as my sleep posts are always my most popular) and in the process, show you a glimpse of Leo's new(ish) room. When we returned from France in January, it was clear that some new sleeping arrangements were required. Leo had been in our room since he was born and 2 years of that felt like enough for us all. As we live in a 2 bedroom inner city apartment, giving Leo his own room required a fair bit of sorting, culling and re-organising. And it also required a new bed. Enter my fabulously handy and creative husband who took it upon himself to make one! So over the Easter weekend, make one he did and VOILA... Leo now has his own room with his own 'big boy bed'. The transition went remarkably smoothly. He was really ready and I think having him involved in the process, seeing his papa build a special bed just for him and having him help to prepare the room (and put car stickers on the bed, despite my protests) all really helped. He was super excited about it and after a couple of nights of midnight calls to mama, he started sleeping through. I have to admit, we've regressed a bit lately and we now often have little feet trotting into our room in the middle of the night. But I am really mindful that these times are fleeting and phases pass so quickly. Plus a midnight snuggle is not the worst thing in the world. 

On the whole, it's been a great change. I am SO enjoying going to bed and reading and chatting without fear of waking him and Leo loves having his own room to play and read books and do jigsaw puzzles (the latest obsession) in. When we started our co-sleeping journey, I wasn't quite sure how it would go or how long it would last, but looking back, I'm so pleased with how we did it and how relatively smoothly it's all gone.

Anyway, I thought I would share a few photos. It's still a work in progress but if I wait until it's properly done, you'll never see it. As I took these photos, I realised that there are things in this room from many countries around the world that we have travelled and worked in... Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, East Timor, France, Switzerland, China, Egypt. As well as photos of our family - from recently and long ago - who are also spread across the globe. I love that there are so many memories and snippets of history that now make up our son's room. There are also some new little additions courtesy of the lovely Em and a very special recent giveaway that I ridiculously happened to win! And the bookshelves you see have also been made by the hubby. He's a good egg, that one.