what are husbands good for?

They help you remove the cover plate on your sewing machine when you don't have the strength to turn the screws yourself.

Which helps turn this disgusting mess...

into this

They cook a beautiful dinner so that you can keep sewing and bring you a gin and tonic while dinner is being cooked...

AND they watch you quietly while you stamp your feet and swear like a sailor when your quilting won't work and THEN figure out what you have been doing wrong that has been frustrating you for months...

What on earth would I do without him?

wrapped and sent

My pressies for Chookyblue's SSCS have been sent... I wonder where they are headed?!!

Now it's time to get onto my December Daily journal. I've set up my stuff on the kitchen table which I plan to take over for the next month. My poor husband, he thinks it is just for tonight...!

And make sure you pop on over to the gorgeous Retromummy blog - where Corrie is having a giveaway!

a weekend in the mountains

We had such a lovely time in the Blue Mountains last weekend - probably because it was cooler there than it was in Sydney! We stayed in a lovely cottage and we slept late on both days - it was bliss!

We visited the Jenolan Caves - and it has to be one of the coolest things I've been to in Australia! The caves and the formations within them were simply awesome and I can't wait to go back and explore some more of them.

We spent an afternoon wandering around Katoomba where we came accross many lamp posts, street signs and even bike racks adorned with knitted or crocheted decorations - very cool!

And my darling husband made me breakfast on both days... Gotta love him!

This weekend we are planning to start our Christmas shopping - I'm counting down now until we leave for our 2 week break in Melbourne!

What have I got myself in for?

As if I have enough time for another project... Don't we all know that feeling?!

I blame Janelle. Her December Daily Christmas journal was so gorgeous last year. So, now I want to create my own.

Any one else want to join in? There is info here, here, here and here.

disclaimer: I am not a scrapbooker - but that should make it fun! My previous best attempt at scrapbooking can be seen here and here...

hot + not

Picture credit

HOT

Finally working out Skype and having an hour long face to face chat with my sister last night - yay!

A weekend in the Blue Mountains this weekend for some relaxation and some exploring (although not our first choice, see my NOT list below)

Tetsuya's marinated Crystal bay prawns - seriously yummy! All the food was yummy, but the 10 course matching wine menu had me feeling a little worse for wear yesterday! I'm glad I finally used my K.Rudd stimulus money though - having it sitting in a little envelope at home for so long was tempting me to spend it elsewhere!

Having arts and craft nights with my new workmates (interspersed with the occasional cooking night!). It's nice to make friends with people with similar interests.

The ever rising Australian dollar. Not good for our exports, but good for material shopping from the US.


NOT

Coming up to our long awaited weekend in the Hunter Valley and finding out our accomodation has been double booked, and given to the other people. Plus, there is a big event on there that weekend and we couldn't get any other accomodation - grrr! So, Blue Mountains it is...

The price of hairdressers when you live in the inner city. I refuse to pay $180 for colour only... Au naturel will suit me just fine thanks.

The few weeks left before Christmas - I haven't even made my Christmas cake, let alone any presents!

Not having anyone to go see New Moon with. I will be strong and head in on my own (although I suspect I could probably convince a workmate to see it a second time!)


More hot + not lists here

Dance!

This year I took part in a program called SISTER2sister - a mentoring program for teenage girls. The girls finished up their year long commitment to the program on Saturday with a graduation ceremony in the city which was lots of fun. So I made my little sister a present to commemerate the year and to give her something to remember it all by.

Her bedroom is decorated in hot pink and green - so it was easy to find fabrics in my stash to match. The butterfly was the symbol of the program, so it was an easy choice for the applique.

She seemed pretty happy with her cushion and even asked me where I had gotten it made. I think she was a bit excited when I told her that I had made it!

I also gave her a copy of the book "Girl Stuff" by Kaz Cooke. After a bit of a read, I would really reccommend it for young, teenage girls - it covers everything from puberty, friends, family and relationships to drugs, alcohol, mental illness and many others. And it does it in a really accessible way for young people. There are lots of cheeky cartoons and funny sayings in it. I wanted to read the whole thing myself!

Tonight my husband and I, along with his twin brother and his wife are off to Tetsuya's for dinner! It is constantly voted in Australia's top 5 best restaraunts and has even made the top 10 world list for a number of years - I can't wait! We made our booking 6 months ago, so it has been a long time coming!

And tomorrow I'd better finish off the last of my present for Chookblue's SSCS - only a few days to go now!

what I am dreaming of...

1. Having fun in the sun, getting laid in the shade, 2. Whitsundays, 3. Bling, 4. Bathing Box, Mornington

Apologies for the name of the first pic! I just realised what it was (I didn't name it, don't blame me!)

Christmas sewing

Have you started yours yet? Everytime I visit Chookyblue's blog and see her countdown, I freak out a little bit! Christmas is actually quite soon!



I spent the whole weekend sewing and this is all I can show you - just a sneak peek of part of my present for the SSCS swap.

I hope you had a good weekend with lots of sewing!

what do your flickr faves say about you?

1. fabric stash, 2. Cleaned off the sewing table, 3. progress in the studio 1, 4. little garden pin cushion, 5. Hello Kitty Redwork Quilt Top 2008, 6. Printers Tray, 7. Heaven, 8. My throne, 9. fada, 10. Olivia the cat, 11. va, 12. Where the crafting happens Trois, 13. Where the crafting happens Trois, 14. plate rack, 15. A Doll's House, 16. Grandmother's Flower Garden

I think mine say:

* I would like a bigger fabric stash

* I would love my own, organised sewing space

* I would like my own cosy, comfy house

* I like pretty, girly things

What do your flickr faves say about you?

Hot + Not

We're half way through the week again!? These weeks are flying by... It's going to be Christmas soon (eek!)

Hot

Stitching! I have definitely gotten back into the stitching groove this week and have done a few hand projects on the train. And last night I got started on a present for my "little sister". Her bedroom is bright pink and green so hopefully this will match!

Glee - I am a Gleek. I admit it. I love the satire. I love Sue. It makes me laugh so much because the humour is so very wrong - love it!

Finally having the courage to make my own designs...

A husband with a new BBQ book. He asked if he could cook me a BBQ on the weekend- Sure thing!

Deadlines - I have to get my SSCS present for Chookyblue's swap finished and sent in just over 2 weeks! I can't keep putting it off and the deadline has dragged me to my sewing machine - which isn't all that bad really!

Bonne Maman jam - it is soooo good! It tastes like homemade jam and not that crap, jelly-like seedless junk you get from the supermarket. I made scones recently just because we had this jam. It is seriously delish!

Not

Colds. I had Monday and half of Tuesday off work this week. I am still feeling pretty rotten, but I have too many things that I am in the middle of at work to take any more time off. Although being able to watch the full first season of Grey's Anatomy on Monday was fun!

Hot weather and Sydney's trains - they just don't mix. Disgusting.

Being the only one in blog land not solely using designer fabric!? Am I the only one who still buys material from Spotlight or other small fabric stores that doesn't necessarily have a Moda or Free Spirit label on it? Will people scoff if I join a quilting bee and send non-designer fabric for them to use? Only if I really love a range will I buy some - hence the woodland bloom fabric used in my project above. But I can't afford to constantly buy and only use the expensive stuff. This is one reason I love Crazy Mom Quilts, this lady is great at being thrifty. She uses cheap Ikea bedsheets as quilt backings and even for sashing - genious!

Do you have a hot + not list? There are more here...