Flowers in black and white

I was so inspired by Alisa Burke's recent post about her statement wall 

that I decided to go with a black and white accent in my lounge room.

It ties in perfectly with the black photo frames I bought a few weeks ago.

The piece above was painted, freehand, with black acrylic paint, a liner brush,
and a large round brush for blocking in areas.
It took me 2½ hours to complete.

I had some fabric which I'd bought to make a privacy curtain 

for the slim, tall window beside our front door so I laid it over a chair
to inspire me while I painted.  Of course, daffodils had to be included
being that they've been my favourite flower since childhood.
My sketchbooks came in handy for that because I used a couple of  daffodil sketches
as a guide too. 

And the end result looks quite lovely on the lounge room wall

I sewed the privacy curtain for the long, fixed window beside the front door.

Aaron (#4 son) kept rubbing in that, when we first moved into this house,  

I'd said I would make a curtain for said window. 

It's only taken me SEVEN years! lol 

Well, I have a busy life, ya know.....

For the curtain rod, I simply painted a piece of dowelling rod black
then attached a couple of black, plastic finials at each end.
I LOVE the privacy curtain!
No more do I have to worry about being in my PJs while watching TV
and have someone knocking at the door and peering through the window
into our lounge room.

I felt quite accomplished after all that. 

My dear, neglected blog

Part of me wondered if 

I would ever find my way back to you but...

here I am!

The past few months have been so busy. 

Beau has settled back at home.

Michelle and Alex bought a house!!! 

There was a lot of work involved with 

preparing the house for them to move into,
not to mention all the packing and finishing up
with the rental home. 

The days leading up to their big move were
long and filled with hard work 

and lots of babysitting. 

We were all quite exhausted but 

what a joy it was to see them
move into their first home.
SO exciting!
Michelle already has it looking
like something out of a HOME BEAUTIFUL magazine.

A glimpse of Mikayla's and Maddy's room

Photo copyright - Michelle Hallmond

I sewed curtains for their living room and kitchen
and they look quite pretty if I do say so myself.

Maddy (granddaughter) is nearly 11 months old and 

has taken her first steps. 

She is quite a character and
I love her to bits!

Mikayla (granddaughter) seems to have matured so much 

since Madelyn came along. 

She adores animals just like her Grandma (me).

Photo copyright - Michelle Hallmond


Mikayla loves wearing her sunglasses. 
She's our little celebrity. hehe
She loves soft toy animals as well....

Photo copyright - Michelle Hallmond

Bradley turned 30 in August and a huge
surprise party was planned with an
Elton John (Brad's idol) theme but
it had to be cancelled due to
bouts of sickness hitting both immediate and extended families.
We did manage to make his day special regardless,
just no party.
I had already ordered the huge party cake
which we 'forced' our way through.
OH, the things we must do. lol
Yes, it was delicious!

I battled with asthmatic cough for over a month and,
just like last time,
I was left with severe inflammation of the chest wall.
It was very painful and hard to breathe.
It felt like I had a heavy bowling ball crammed inside my chest cavity.
I had to rest and, thankfully, after another three weeks,
 I'm finally over it.

My two furry bedfellows
modelling my new quilt cover.

Poor Dad ended up back in hospital
with a lung infection in recent weeks.
Parkinson's disease affects the
swallowing reflex and liquids
ended up in Dad's lung.
He is now back home and, from here-on,
only allowed to drink mildly thickened fluids.

Have I been doing much sketching or art?
Unfortunately, no!
This is all I have to show for myself on that score.

We took a day trip out to Burgess Park and I sketched part of a tree
using BIC ballpoint pens and a black PITT pen in my large Moleskine sketchbook.

Life seems to be returning to normal now
although I'm almost afraid to say that out loud
in case I jinx myself. lol

I DID IT!!!

i designed and made my very first quilt!!!

in mid-october, i was reading this post by em and felt inspired to make my very first quilt. em gives excellent step-by-step picture instructions HERE and they are SO easy to follow.   i made this cot quilt for my first grandchild due in just over TWO WEEKS!!!

i love the quilted dreaminess!!

 the designing and cutting out process took a week to do, here and there, but it only took me three days to sew it all together.  i was a little nervous when it came time to sew the top, middle/wadding and back layers together but my trusty little sewing machine handled it quite well.

i was rapt with how it turned out!

i appliquéd a heart design in the centre of the quilt to symbolise love and warmth. i was a little annoyed with myself because i forgot to place some paper underneath the base fabric whilst machine-sewing the appliqué heart.....this stops puckering around the edges of the appliqué.  it was a little trick i learned way back when the kids were small and i used to sew a lot of their clothes.  still, it didn't turn out too bad.

the quilt measures 88cm x 109cm (34½"x43") which is a perfect size for the cot.

i must admit i'm feeling quite proud of myself.

 something tells me that this won't be the last quilt i make either.
thanks for the inspiration, em!

~ LOVE, LIGHT AND PEACE ~

another week is nearing an end.....

....and i have been busy at the sewing machine again, as much as my aching body permits anyways.

yesterday, i sat down and worked out the cot quilt design and how much  fabric i would need to make the quilt blocks.  this process took quite some time even though the quilt i'm making is fairly simple and i have certainly developed a new-found respect for quilters who plan and make intricately patterned quilts.  i can hardly wait to see this cot quilt all sewn up although that part will have to wait until next week.

for now, the sewing is on hold while i set my mind to tidying, rearranging and cleaning house.

this saturday, my home will be the venue for a baby shower which michelle and alex are hosting so it's all hands on deck at the moment.  michelle made up some lovely invitations for the occasion...click here to see them.  we will be having a barbecue lunch, sweet treats, goodies and games for family and friends so it should be a lot of fun.  i'll try to remember to take some pics to show you.

on another note, i thought i'd show you a pic of my corsage from michelle and alex's wedding.
i dried it out simply by hanging it in a cool, dry spot for a few weeks.

 

isn't it lovely?!

it's totally dried out yet it's amazing how delicate the petals still appear

and just in case you forgot what my corsage looked like when it was fresh, see below

 i'm holding the ring pillow which i made as well as the celtic wedding tie box that i painted

this sunday, i plan to have a lazy day so i will be kicking back and relaxing...maybe even watch some DVDs or read a book.

do you have anything special planned for the weekend?

it's not an australian holiday but i'd like to wish all my blogger friends a Happy Thanksgiving if you are celebrating it in your part of the world this weekend.

~ love, light and peace ~

Sew, sew, sew......

only five weeks now until the expected arrival of my first grandchild!  

michelle, alex and i have been busy preparing the nursery for our precious, little angel - mikayla rose.  i haven't even started her cot quilt yet...YIKES!  i guess if i managed to sew a wedding dress in two weeks, i should be okay with a simple and small quilt, right? i sure hope so anyways and i do seem to work better under pressure of time restriction even though i hate it.

technology nowadays is amazing.  check out some 3D images of little mikayla on michelle's blog here.

these are the colours michelle has chosen for the nursery with a splash of turquoise/aqua also and these very fabrics will be transformed into a cot quilt, pillows, cot valance, change mats etc.

yesterday, michelle came over and we spent the day sewing and made two small, rectangular pillows with frills. i LOVE the citrus appeal and they will accent the magenta beautifully.

i made this little pin cushion way back when the kids were little....it's something like 20 years old!!

it's the only pincushion i have and i use it faithfully every time i sew. maybe some day i'll get around to making some fancy pincushions but this one has sentimental value and it serves its purpose very well so it's a keeper.  i made it from left-over fabric that i used to sew a little skirt and top for michelle when she was little.

since the wedding preparation and subsequent wedding, and now preparing for a new baby in the family, i haven't had a lot of time to blog so i want to thank YOU.....all my faithful and beautiful readers for hanging in there and supporting me with your wonderful comments.  you truly mean a lot to me!  i have been trying to get around and visit blogs where i can as i do love to see what you've been up to.

i'm feeling very nervous today because reece has another MMA (mixed martial arts/cage fighting) fight tonight so please think positive vibes that he will be okay.  reece fights in the light weight divisions and his opponent tonight started out in the heavyweight division and is much older than reece so it's a little scary.  win or lose, reece will always be a champion in my eyes but it's injury that i worry about.  below is a photo of him with his girlfriend, sarina, at michelle's wedding last month.  

on that note, i'll finish up this post and wish you all a wonderful weekend!

~ love, light and peace ~

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, CODY

Yes, my baby is now THREE years old! Cody is certainly a spoiled and well-loved fur-kid and he wouldn't have it any other way.

I wasn't feeling too well when I woke this morning but that passed as the day progressed and I finally got around to altering Beau's board shorts.

The shorts were two sizes too big for him but they didn't have his size and.....he liked them. I guess he knew that he could coax me into altering them for him. Lucky me....not! I hate alterations!!! In my sewing hey-day, I would rather sew a garment from scratch than have to alter it. Hems and buttons are okay but I'm talking about fiddly alterations where a lot of unpicking of seams is involved. Yep, that's the type of altering I had to do with Beau's boardies today and they were double-stitched seams. The things we do for love. I must admit I was quite pleased with my efforts.

Next will be a crochet project I'm making for Michelle...more on that later.

Love, light and peace