Second thoughts

This second post of the day is here because my husband thinks I was lazy not putting any words with the last post! :) Anyway, maybe I have an odd sense of humour, but I thought I'd share a little incident we had here this morning that has made me smile all day.

Its rubbish collection day on our street. Usually I put the bins out after breakfast and the rubbish truck doesn't get here till lunch time. But this morning as we were having breakfast, who did we hear but the rubbish truck? Feeling rather self-conscious about doing this I rushed outside to put the bin on the other side of the road to await his return - only to find several other neighbours doing the same thing - and when we went out a little later on, all the way down our street there were extra rubbish bins on the other side of the road.

Maybe this doesn't capture anyone else's imagination, but it has made me smile many times today - maybe just because I keep imagining the truck driver doing this just for a laugh - and watching us all rush outside in PJs to get our bins out...

Anyway, just because, here is a picture I finally downloaded this morning - our big, happy one-year old!

On my sewing desk

Photography assistant

Today was spent in the kitchen preparing for, amongst other things, someone's first birthday. We found some time this afternoon for a photo shoot of finished quilts, though, the results of which speak for themselves!
Sometimes people ask me how I manage quiltmaking with small children around... but how would I ever manage it without the help of my kids?:)

"Daddy likes to ride his bike"

Well, here's our top secret project - "Daddy likes to ride his bike", a collaboration between Aaron, Hannah and Ruth de Vos! Top secret because its was a birthday present for Phil - said birthday is still more than five weeks away, but once it was finished we couldn't wait to show him, so it was given early!The children were briefed to draw anything relating to Daddy's bike ride home from work - scenery, people, and of course Daddy on his bike! Note the Lego(e) truck!I really enjoyed making this - maybe because it had a nice level of 'spontaneity' (if that's the right word) - partly planned in advance with some freedom to change and adapt as the piece progressed. My quilts don't allow for much change after the pieces are cut out which is sometimes a pity. At the same time I do like to have a good idea of where a piece is going before committing time and resources into the actual construction of it.

Yesterday I had to go to Spotlight (main fabric store here in WA)- not a very fun school holiday activity - actually, not much fun at anytime - I usually go armed with toys and snacks as I can expect to queue for half an hour or more - after spending ages selecting my fabrics (the place is a mess). Because it is an unpleasant job I usually wait till I have a whole list to get, which I suppose makes the job even more difficult. And while I don't normally allow my kids to eat and drink in a shop, I make an exception for the Spotlight queue as it takes so dreadfully long. Anyway, we made an agreement before hand that if the children were happy and patient in Spotlight I would express my appreciation for this by letting them play with snow afterwards. The idea came from here...

Chalk

We had beautiful weather yesterday, and our kids spent the day outside with chalk and 'snow' (more about the snow later...). I love what they did with the chalk - it kept them busy most of the day, and I like how they made good use of their 'canvas'. The bucket of chalk is finished, but for a few dollars, I don't mind!
I know I haven't posted much about my own work lately - I try not to let my sewing take over from family and housework, so with all sorts of other things happening lately, I haven't made quite as much progress as I would like, but I will post more about my latest projects soon!

Rubbish Crocodile

What do you do with a stack of discarded business cards? Why, make a 'rubbish crocodile' of course!
What fearsome teeth! If you squeeze his tummy you can feel the rubbish he has eaten. Don't YOU wish you had a rubbish crocodile. This one even comes with a book defining rubbish. "What is rubbish? Rubbish is lots of little bits of paper and broken toys and.."

For stand-out fashion tips...

...just talk to Hannah! Although not right now - she's rather busy producing stacks of drawings!

Don't look now...

I probably shouldn't be showing this... but here's a sneak peak at a top-secret project we are working on. As Hannah would say, I am 'desperate' to show you more, but then it wouldn't be secret anymore, would it?

The mini-eucalyptus quilts are progressing nicely. I am enjoying them, too.