Makeover

 Baxter circa 2011

I am teaching a kids class in Ballan on April 9th so I thought I'd rustle up a new version of Baxter the Hedgehog. I was hoping for some fur in the rainbow sparkle family and was surprised that my local superstore didn't have anything quite tacky enough. So Baxter went all winter-white instead.

Baxter circa 2014

I have bucket loads of teaching coming up, both locally and not-locally. If you want to join in, you can check out my classes page. I am going to teach in Ballan, Gisborne, Tasmania, Warracknabeal, Sydney, Melbourne, back to Warracknabeal (and how does New Zealand sound?)

I had to get a yearly planner to keep track of myself, but now I have to remember to coordinate it with the diary in my hand bag and the calendar inside the pantry.

(this from a woman who can't remember where she parked the car when she leaves the supermarket)

 and Finn, who has no calendar and no diary and no idea of today , tomorrow or handbags says Hi.

(Arse-sniffing notwithstanding- the whole dog thing sometimes appears to have a lot going for it).

Fun by any other name

I taught a foxy class in Ballan at Millrose Cottage yesterday and had an absolute blast.

Even though it was a class for grownups, there was some very childish behaviour and a little bit of inappropriate discussion ( just how I like it).

Some topics of conversation were so enthralling (tattoo nightmares anyone?) that it took me four attempts to mend poor Ruben the Donkey.

In my down time I've have been amassing the army.

 

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Totes mammoth

The weeekend is all but gone.

I did some stuff and slacked off on the boring houseworky bits. I bought a ribbon holder thingo and loaded it with my fancy edged bias bindings.

I sent the newsletter and made a little sale in the shop. The code you need is LOVESOMEBUNNY to get 20% off all the patterns in the shop including the little bunnies. (Until the 20th)

 

And I made a mammoth mammoth ( well he is only 4 1/2 inches high) but he feels like a mighty mammoth on the inside.

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On Friendships and Corduroy

I'm not sure how many of you know my friend Stephanie, we have been blog friends for years and last year when I was at Quilt Market we got to meet in real life. Yes, there were better photos but this one is my favourite.

Stephanie and I email each other a bit and we talk about life stuff and bloggy stuff and dog stuff and for a while now we have also been talking book stuff. 

Stephanie's book Uncommonly Corduroy has recently been released with Martingale. Now that I have my very own copy I have to share it with you.

I love this book! One of the things I often find with craft books is that they lack personality. They might be chock full of projects and brilliant instructions but they could all have been written by the same person.

So I was so pleased when I got Stephanie's book and thought - it sounds just like her !!! Every project has a little description explaining why it was made or how it got its name and I couldn't help but smile as I read them.

This quilt is Fairlane and Stephanie writes "Dad drove a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 for more than 40 years before selling his beloved car. That was the car of my childhood. Dad's cars were always white with black interior - classy, just like Dad." 

The solid black in this quilt is corduroy. This is one of my favourite quilts along with the first one below.

 "Images from Uncommonly Corduroy by Stephanie Dunphy, Martingale, 2014; used by permission. Photo by Brent Kane. All rights reserved."

Its called Plenty of Raindrops and the green just kills me  - I love it. 

Stephanies book has heaps of large clear diagrams, making it look like even I could whip up one of these quilts or bags. You know, maybe its an age thing but I really like big pictures in books.

The book itself is beautiful. Glossy with gorgeous large photos and step by step instructions. Its clear , uncluttered and fresh. It has 17 projects including some really cute bags - The one above is called "I Heart Dresdens" There is a great section on working with corduroy but of course all the patterns work without it just a beautifully. 

I am so excited that my friend has written this book - and as always so very overwhelmed that this little blog opened the door to this crazy wonderful life of craft and crafty mates. 

I borrowed these photos from Stephanie's blog and also from her Supreme friend Candace's blog -

You can find out what was going on in that first photo if you read here.

You can check out Stephanie's book on Martingale or Amazon . 

Corduroy- it's not just for pants !

All the single ladies, all the single ladies

 

 

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What have you been up to ?

I have been making animals without legs again.

I have been playing with some new felts from Winterwood. These are new colours for 2014 and that teal blue and that yellowy green are just screaming at me to use them!

I have been knocking out a few cushion covers as samples for my kids class in Ballan in the next school holidays.

And obviously that has left me far too busy to actually iron that cushion front before I took a photo.

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