Proto-Owl

I've been toying with the idea of having a stall at a maker's market for a while; I just missed out on getting a stall at Mathilda's Christmas Market, but I'm now eyeing off the new Mulgrave Maker's Market.

You might remember awhile ago I was playing around with some small owls; these developed a little and turned out as cute little squeaky owls.

The latest (additional) incarnation is a larger, 'hugable' owl. She (pink for girls?) is a child-friendly 22cm tall and perfect for cuddling.

Just need to come up with a few more products (I've got bunnies and rattle cubes as well) and I might just have the guts to apply for a stall.

Blissed

Today is the second last day of uni, all my assignments are finished, and I've finally lined myself up a casual job for the summer.

And I finished my Bliss/Short Story quilt! I used a blue floral for the back, and one of the pinks for the binding.

Procrastinating

I'm meant to be finishing off my last assignment for the semester, but the weather is so nice, you can't blame a girl for wanting to be outside. I've been pottering around in the garden, admiring the roses which have just started to bloom.

I've also been finding sneaky places to plant tomato seedlings; my vegie patch is chockers with onions and garlic still developing, gigantic silverbeet (chard) plants, and next years leeks (plus some very large herb plants).

Instead I've been rummaging around for spare pots, putting them whereever I can. I've got some in old black pots, a couple in our old recycling tub (that we used to put our bottles and cans out in), and even a few in the front garden by the chimney. All the pots were filled with soil from my compost, and I even found a few cheeky potatoes while I was digging around.

I've also put a shrubby pot tomato in a gorgeous blue pot that I scavenged during hard rubbish week; it had previously had some sort of weedy plant in it, and was full of soil and roots, but it cleaned up really well.

I've also been collecting vegies for dinner; a fresh leek perfect for a yummy risotto, and some fresh peas.

Blissful

A gorgeous day, and a very pretty looking quilt. I almost wish I'd made a bigger version, but if I did I'd be using a Jelly Roll to minimise waste.

Ups and Downs

Today has been one giant rollercoaster, with fantastic ups and some pretty annoying downs.

I started out the day in fasting mode, as I had to have a radiation-based breath test done. It's nothing major, just trying to find the cause of an ongoing stomach ache, but I've never done a test where you blow up a balloon and send the air off for testing before!

When I got home I popped on eBay and bought a dress that I'd tried on at the shops yesterday, for almost 1/3 the price. That was a pretty thrilling buy, and I'm really looking forward to receiving it.

I was also having a good go at getting Short Story done; I assembled the centre, and got the inner borders on.

Then disaster struck; I was doing a software update for my iPhone and iTunes decided it was having a bad day...it deleted everything off my phone. I've lost all my contacts, notes and text messages, but the worst is the loss of all my photos. Most are just things I've seen out and about, but I had a few lovely ones of Bella, plus my friend's babies, that I'll never get back.

I've got most of my contacts restored, minus a few newer ones that I don't have written down. I've sorted most of my apps, and got all the settings back how I like them. But its lost the familiarity of everything being in just the right place. Plus it's now got a few tricks that are more like iPhone4, and I'm not sure I like it.

Tomorrow can only get better!

Scraptastic

Aren't these the prettiest scraps? Bliss is quickly becoming a favourite.

My Companion Angle ruler arrived this week, so I've been busily trimming the blocks for Short Story today; a reward for getting my assignments done for the week.

Before I trimmed all the blocks, I stitched one up just to check that I was on the right track, and it looks OK to me. The weather in Melbourne has turned feral today, so I'll probably make a fair bit of progress over the weekend.

A little pressie to myself also arrived in the post yesterday; I've only had a quick flip through so far but I'm definitely in love.

I Did It!

With a couple of spare hours up my sleeve yesterday, I decided it was time to tackle that skirt pattern. And I'm really pleased with the outcome, using a lovely Fandango print.

(bad photo due to poor weather in Melbourne, as usual...)

Not only is it the first time I've ever made a piece of clothing, its the first time I've put a zip into anything. The only thing I'm not to happy with is that the waist is a tiny bit higher on one side of the zip compared with the other, but that's just a learning curve.

I see a Bliss version in my future....

My Favourite Summer Salad

With another gorgeous weekend upon us, I thought it only right to share a recipe for a yummy summer salad.

For this one you'll need:

2 punnets cherry tomatoes, halved

2/3 cup finely sliced red onion

1 cup canned, drained cannellini beans

1/2 cup small black olives

1/3 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs malt vinegar

250g haloumi cheese (I find 180g is sufficient, but depends on how much you eat along the way)

To make:

Heat your oven to 180C, put you tomatoes in a baking dish cut side up, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, and roast about 15 min. Remove and cool.

Put onion, beans, olives, parsely in a bowl.

Whisk together oil and vinegar, add to bowl with tomatoes.

Cut haloumi into small fingers, fry in a little olive oil until golden on each side, then arrange over salad.

It's so yum I really should learn to make a bigger batch!

Wonderful Weekend

Melbourne really turned it on this weekend, providing two beautiful sunny days of about 24 degrees. It was nice to spend most of the weekend outdoors rather than inside huddled up against the cold. Bella also spent most of the weekend trying to make a dash for freedom everytime a door was opened.

It gave me the chance to get a few things done in the vegie patch in preparation for summer; I planted up some basil, pumpkin, chilli, coriander, zucchini and tomatoes. The sun and heat also caused the Quince to burst into flower, and the cherry blossom is just starting too.

The evenings are still cool, so I took the opportunity to work with Bliss; I've seen a few Short Story Schnibbles and was inspired. Too late I realised that I need a particular ruler that I don't have. While I wait for one to arrive, I'm getting all the pieces ready.

And I've bought myself a skirt pattern; it's something I've wanted to try for a while, but we'll see how long it takes me to get up the nerve to give it a go. The pattern looks simple enough, and I've certainly got enough fabric to make a few.

(I'm aiming for the longer version on the right)

A La Mode

Quilted and bound, just in time for a gorgeous sunny day, perfect for spreading out on the lawn.

Pattern: A La Mode by Thimbleblossoms

Fabric: Simple Abundance by Bonnie and Camille for Moda