Ladder transformed

Just thought I would put a pic up of this old ladder I picked up some years ago.  It really has been laying around in the shed waiting for some attention for a few years now.  It must have been used for a bit of painting over the years as it had splashes of all colour all over it, so I decided it would be easiest to simply paint it.  Now that it is all painted it looks great with some quilts displayed on it.



 

 



There goes January

The holidays have now come to an end but I think we all need to get back to a routine.  We had a great break, the kids were off for just under eight weeks so we are in need of a reality check.  We managed to get to Brisbane and Gold Coast before Christmas and we had a couple of weeks at Umina in January so we've got plenty to be thankful for.

There was even some sewing done.  I sewed some PJ Pants for Isla and a friend and I really wanted to get the binding finished on the dresden plate quilt.  It seems to take so long to slip stitch so I spent a while searching blogs and tutorials on attaching binding by machine.  I decided to go with Rita's guide on Red Pepper Quilts. I found it challenging but I guess with practise it gets easier.  It's a little untidy but it is on and in not much time.  I would like to practise some more anyway.

 

 

 

This is one of the better looking sections of binding

 

 

 

And the finished product

 

 

 

 

I have also started work on my office/sewing room.  Although most of the time I find it easier to spread out on the dining table or kitchen table.  It is coming together slowly with a couple more shelves etc. from Ikea. 

 

 

 



Looks like I need to deal with the messy cords below the desk.  Basically all the sewing gear is behind the bi-fold doors and I will reveal that when it has been organised (you can't expect too much in one year).

 

All these rainy days were a help to get some inside jobs done.  While QLD was suffering with the floods we were benefiting from some much needed rain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Back to School

Well it was back to school for my three yesterday and even though I love the holidays I must admit the peace and quiet was very nice.  After the rain 'Horse Sports' has been cancelled today so I got a reprieve there only to find out that number one has a football game at school.  They are playing Calrossy School from Tamworth.  So that will be the afternoon for me. 

I can't say I really accomplished a lot over the holidays although we managed to paint probably half of our fencing.  We have done along the roadside and the two gateways until we ran out of 'Kentucky Horse Black'. Unfortunately we can't get this in town so I will have to make a trip to Singleton at least.  Hubby went and bought 5 paint brushes as he anticipated the little people would help.  I think we worked with about 2.5 manpower.  Number 1 gave up a little earlier than we expected.  Number two was never too interested (no surprise there) and number three worked like a trooper, but then again she is only 8.

During the holidays my best friend and I had a day out and made the trip to Ikea (yep we drove 3 hours to Sydney just to go to Ikea) and it was well worth it.  We had a great day out and came home with a ute full of goodies (we were lucky to get through the checkout with our three trolleys packed with long boxes and all sorts of bits and pieces.  We are actually hoping (or planning) to go again in the next couple of months (shh, don't tell the husbands yet).

Well I didn't achieve much in the way of sewing over the holidays (only one curtain) but hopefully I will get back into it soon.

CMC Rocks the Hunter 2012

WOW - we had an awsome weekend at CMC Rocks the Hunter.  We are so lucky to live close by (only about an hour).  Rodney and I along with our friends, Susan and Jeff took our caravans (minus the kids) and totally enjoyed our three full days of music.  I wish I had thought to take some photos.  We arrived around 11.00 am on Friday ready for the gates to open at midday.  The sight of so many cars, caravans, camper trailers and all sorts of accommodation was amazing.  It took us a couple of hours to get in and the traffic kept coming for hours.  It was amazing to see all these camp sites popping up from the bare paddocks of Hope Estate winery.  We enjoyed the non stop entertainment from Friday to Sunday.  There were both great American and Australian artists.  The highlight for me being Derks Bentley and for Susan was Tim and Faith.  Not even the occasional shower of rain could put a dampner on our weekend and we certainly can't wait until next year.  We have come to realise that we will only have one more year by ourselves as our oldest boys will be pretty much driving themselves in two years time.

I don't know where the time goes but I really need to set aside some time for the sewing machine very soon I hope.  The weeks get so busy with the little people's (some not so little anymore) activites I just don't ever seem to get to the sewing machine.  Mikayla and I cut out a little project the other weekend and still didn't get to the sewing part. School holidays will be good for this as there will be no tutoring, football training, netball, horse sports at school(yes thats right I get to take Isla's horse to school every Tuesday) and Pony Club.  Only two weeks to go!  Hopefully in my next post i might have made something.

Best Ebay Purchase Ever

I am sooo excited.  Yesterday we drove to Sydney to pick up my ebay purchase of four Le Forge stools.  The children were very annoyed but sometimes its mum's turn (you know what i mean:   football, netball, horseriding, swimming etc).  Dad is also very patient and I probably owe him, but I'm sure he will let me know.  I have wanted these for a long time and are just right in my kitchen but couldn't afford the price of new ones.  The brown and cream toile cushions are lovely as well.  All in all a productive day I think. (managed to even fit in bit of quilting in the evening).