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. 

reddy red red.

I finished three quilts this week. Today was the first time in months that Leo's nap time has been spent NOT running at 100 miles/hour to try and fit in sewing and cleaning and cooking and sewing. It was just cleaning and cooking instead.

But stupidly and very annoyingly, in the mad rush to finish off things and get to the post office earlier in the week, I completely forgot to photograph two of the three quilts. And I only managed a few rushed shots of the third before it was delivered to our friends and their new baby this morning. So these'll just have to do.

I have one more comissioned quilt to start this week - the biggest I've done yet - and then it's a little break for a while (including a proper actual holiday kind of break in Far North QLD... I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to that).

Music Monday #12

Yes, I know it's tuesday. But that's kind of how things are going around here at the moment.... just a bit behind on everything.

But here we are, so onwards and upwards. I've been looking forward to this album and apart from the obvious enjoyment of the music, this clip just fills me with delight. Hope it does for you too...

Umbrella Prints Trimmings Comp 2013

I'll be the first to admit that there's nothing ground breaking going on here. But this little patchwork cushion made with a sample of this year's trimmings from Umbrella Prints actually has me quite chuffed. And it's pretty much down to the mix of their prints and colours... it just seems to WORK. I threw in a few fabrics from me ol' favourites Maze & Vale and Ink & Spindle and voila.... my entry into this year's Trimmings competition.
I was asked to make a cushion as well as a quilt for a recent commission, and it got me inspired. I had never thought to make a quilted, patchworked cushion before. But now I love doing them. It doesn't take me too long, I can throw offcuts and trimmings together and they look great. And people seem to love them, including my son who now has a selection of three on his new big boy bed (good for playing cubbies, hiding behind when he doesn't want to get dressed and sleeping on!)

I've made a few now, but this one is definitely my favourite. And what's extra nice about it, is that it's being donated to help raise money for an organisation that a friend of mine runs called Playground Ideas. They help build playgrounds for some of the world's most disadvanted children, and they are a fab little getup. If you're in Melbourne, think about coming along to their East African Soiree at the end of May. Who knows, you may even end up getting your hands on this little baby...

re-living food memories

I have a vivid memory from childhood of eating damper, cooked on a stick over a campfire and then gobbled down with butter and golden syrup. oh my. I can still remember the incredible taste and the sticky fingers. (For those of you not from around these parts, damper is a simple yeast free bread often made in the outdoors). Many camping trips later, and I still hadn't re-created the memory. That is, until this past weekend. We went camping with some friends to a remote spot in the Grampians, where the only other souls we came across were a few twitchers, kangaroos aplenty, emus and deer and birds of all sorts. We went on walks, played games, built campfires, and ate delicious food cooked over coals, including my damper... twirled around a stick, held over the coals till it was crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, and then filled with butter and golden syrup. Just as good as I remembered. There's something about cooking and eating outside that makes everything taste so much better.

A rough little recipe (sorry, it was too dark for photos):

3 cups self raising flour
about 50g butter
a pinch or two of good quality salt
and about 2/3 (two thirds of a) cup of milk.

Mix the salt in with the flour and then rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs. The slowly add the milk and mix until it comes together. You may need a little less or a little more milk. Then knead until smooth.
You can cook it like a loaf in a camp/ dutch oven, but my favourite method is to find some good long sticks, wrap pieces of the dough around the end of the stick so that there's no gaps. And then hold it over hot coals and rotate while you chat about the day, sip your tea or wine and gaze into the fire. Then when it's getting a good dark colour on the outside and is able to be eased off the stick (10-15 mins or so), whack in some butter and golden syrup and be transported back to my childhood and the Australian bush. xx

Quilt and baby blanket SALE!

phew, those markets are really exhausting.

Exhausting but wonderful. Wonderful to meet some of you who visit this little place - thank you! Wonderful to be inspired by so many other local creative people, wonderful to connect with others and see this tiny dream and venture come to life.

I've been enjoying a more relaxed pace this week, and time to you know, clean the house and other exciting stuff like that. Actually, it's been a big week in some ways. After over 2 years, our little fella has finally moved into his own room and his own big boy bed, made by his very own papa. But more on that shortly.

In the meantime, I'm here to tell you about a little sale that's happening right now in my etsy shop. I've got some baby quilts and blankets that have been around for a while now, and I'm clearing the shop for some new stock. So if you're interested, head on over and have a look. A few of them are in the photos below.

Thanks again for all your interest and support and for visiting this space. I really do appreciate it!
xx joanna