Coming soon ...

Humour me!!

The ironing pile might magically disappear?

A genie might emerge from my teapot offering to clean the house?

The kids will do their homework this afternoon without my nagging?

Telstra might UNDERCHARGE this month?

What would you conjure up at this moment if you could? Me? Well, world peace is a given. But right now, I could do a really good coffee and a little bit of something sweet. Hey, that could just be within the scope of my magical powers!

More soon ...

Be sure to get your name in for my giveaway to be drawn tomorrow evening.

Pinch me!

Another chapter in what is fast becoming the book, "How my blog changed my life"! It is 8 months since I first noticed an email from Catherine Sanchez in my inbox. In case you are not in the know, she is the esteemed editor of Australian Homespun. She asked, "Would you be interested in creating a project for our magazine"? I answered, "Oh my! Are you kidding me? I'll give it my best shot". Catherine: "Could you make me a sewing machine cover"? Bloom (aside): "Yikes, how on earth will I do that"? Bloom, faking confidence: "Sure Catherine, I'll give it my best shot"!

The 10th Birthday Celebration Edition of Homespun hit the newsstands this week, and with it my very first project, a sewing machine cover, entitled 'Beyond Measure':

You can pinch me now!

I decided to use a linen/cotton blend, which was perhaps a mistake as it looks a bit crinkled. But it does combine really well with almost any fabric range.

Having all the confidence of an L-plater in Pitt Street, I made the cover twice, once in 'Hope Valley' by Denyse Schmidt for Freespirit, and again in 'Martinique' by 3 Sisters for Moda.

Round pearl buttons and dark floss with 'Hope Valley' ...

... flower pearl buttons and ecru floss with 'Martinique':

I made these using 5" charm squares. The cute twill 'measuring tape' came from Hatched & Patched.

There will be a follow up project in January, which has a sewing mat, thread keeper & pincushion to match.

There are some great projects from other bloggers in this special issue of Homespun, including a gorgeous 'cathedral window' cushion from Lisa at A Spoonful of Sugar, the sweetest appliquéd tea towels from Janelle, a very cute 'mouse house' from Rosie Quinlan, and a special feature on Corrie of Retromummy and Kellie of Don't Look Now. Wow, I am in amazing company, huh!

To celebrate my Homespun debut, I have a copy of the 10th Birthday Celebration Edition of Homespun to give away. Leave a comment on this post, and I will draw a winner over a glass of champagne on Friday evening!

A special surprise

One of the many things I love about blogging is that it occasionally throws up the most unexpected of connections. Some time ago, I posted a series of photos that can be used as wallpapers on your computer. (You can find them here). Perhaps you remember my ranunculus?

I received a kind and gracious comment from Zarina in Malaysia requesting permission to use this image as a colourway for one of her range of hand-dyed threads. I enthusiastically obliged and here is the result. How. Cool. Is. That?

This amazed me. How clever is she? Zarina has carpal tunnel issues with her hands which limits her handiwork, but not so much that she couldn't create this beautiful tatting from her ranunculus thread:

You can purchase Zarina's gorgeous threads at her Etsy shop and read her blog here. It humbles my heart to see such a beautiful product inspired by an image from my Aussie garden. Thank you Zarina! 

Killing me softly with his song!

At my window today, and in fact, for the last week are this pair of lovers.

I do love birdies. Unlike blooms, I barely know one species from another. With the help of this bird finder, I now have them identified as Striated Pardalotes (Pardalotus striatus) - a very impressive name! Lovely huh?

There is but one downside to these sweet little creatures at my window: I am being driven to distraction by his constant call! I can even share it with you: have a listen. 

I reckon even she is thinking, "Will you just shut up"!! What's outside your window today?

Raw-edge layer cake quilt tutorial

Thank you for your interest in my raw-edge layer cake quilt tutorial. The tutorial has moved and is available in its entirety at this link. Best wishes, Bloom.

A quilt for me!

We spend a lot of time travelling between our farm and our house in town, a distance of a couple of hours. My Sweetness usually drives and likes to have the air-conditioning in the car set on 'fridge' temperature to keep him awake. Inevitably, I sit shivering in the passenger's seat. I made this cuddly quilt to travel with me!

It is a quick raw-edge quilt made from a layer cake of Bonnie & Camille's very happy and fresh new range 'Bliss' for Moda.

I thought I might put together a tutorial for this quilt. It is a quick and fun way to use those layer cakes that are accumulating in the cupboard!

And it is a perfect size for the car. No more freezing car trips for me!

A 'hoot' of a birthday

It was my firstborn's 15th (!) birthday yesterday. When she was born 15 years ago, my husband who teaches high school maths exclaimed, "Oh my, we're going to have a teenage daughter"! Thankfully, we've had 15 years to warm up to the idea!

 

Celebrations were understated as she is in the midst of a very busy time at school. But I quickly whipped up this very cute owl bunting. I used printables from mini-eco, a fantastic 'handmade for kids' site. The owl printables can be found here.

The birthday menu requested was homemade gnocchi, followed by white chocolate, raspberry & almond ice-cream cake. Happy birthday sweet girl!

Speaking of bunting, I found this brilliant mini version this morning at You had me at bonjour. What a great idea - don't know if I have the patience for it though.

A happy weekend to you. Bloom x

Are you awake yet?

A little sensory overload to kickstart your Thursday! Get creative today!

Thank you for the kind advice offered from my last post. The pain my boy was suffering on Monday has passed. We returned to the doctor who is convinced there is no post-operative concern. No fevers, tenderness or risk of infection. We have a follow-up visit with the surgeon on Friday. So his pain is a bit of a mystery at this point. I am wondering if there is some secondary digestive oondition happening. Perhaps a food intolerance.

Wishing you a creative Thursday, Bloom x

Felt better ...

First day back at school and my boy lasted 3 hours. It seems recovery from appendictis is a slow process. He had his appendix removed three weeks ago, and is still occasionally doubled over in pain. The pain lasts for a half hour or so, and then subsides, after a dose of Panadol or Nurofen. Any advice?

Between times, I am sneaking in just a little bit of feltwork. This is a needlecase, purchased recently, and designed by Diane Leftwich. It is called 'Bluebirds in the Hedgerow'. The bluebirds are yet to make an appearance!

Our school holidays, in 10 photos or less

In a blink of my eye, the two weeks of school holidays have passed. But in the eye of my camera, much was accomplished.

There was time for long and relaxed strolls
 in our farm garden ... 

... the irises resplendent.

There was time to smell the first of these:

Beautiful weather for plenty of this:

And blow me down, even a little time for some of this:

And what would spring be without a wedding:

I have but two cousins, and the elder of them married his bride in a beautiful country garden in the Riverina.

The guests were transported 75km by bus, to a station homestead for the wedding. 

 Thankfully, the weather was perfect. An inclement day could have been disastrous, since the access road becomes impassible with rain! 

 And if that didn't make for a perfectly romantic day, there was even a piper. Awww, how I love a piper!

For the Aussie mums, I hope you have enjoyed a great holiday from school with your kids. Now surely fourth term will be quiet and uneventful ... won't it?!