Sydney to Gong Ride

Jeremy is going in the 2008 Sydney to Gong bike ride - a VERY hilly, 90km ride from Sydney to Wollongong to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis.

He has a close friend affected by this disease so it is something close to his heart, as well as a motivation to get fit for the big day!

If anyone can spare a few dollars, he would appreciate your sponsorship. Donations are tax deductible (in Australia anyway). To donate, click here.

Christmas Swap

Has anyone else signed up for Fiona Marie's Global Christmas Swap yet? A few in my patchwork group did last year and enjoyed it very much.

I liked the lovely patterns that came with it but didn't have a great experience with my swap partner last year - she wasn't very computer literate, inadvertently blocked my email address as spam and made communication very difficult. I did eventually get my swap, but a month or two late. I also accepted her invitation to join an art card swap a few months later and while I sent mine, I never received one back and never heard back from anyone in that swap.

But having said that, I guess it was just an unfortunate combination of circumstances and I'm keen to join Fiona Marie' swap this year and see if I can have the same joyful experience so many of the other swappers have. And if not, at least I'll be able to download a new lot of lovely Christmas patterns I can use for some of the other Christmas swaps I'm in!

Next Project

I went to some more markets last weekend with my friend Lyle, the market afficiando, and bought some old lamp bases. I've been wanting a nice lamp for ages but the ones I like are really expensive, so I decided to buy some bases and make the shades myself.

This one is quartz and gilt. Unfortunately, the pretty marbling and internal crazing in the quartz doesn't show up in the photo:

And this one is gilt with a marble base:

I am still thinking about what I am going to do but I have some lovely flowery fabrics just pining to be used. And I think lots of beads and ribbons and braids are a must! Although I could go and do something plain and elegant ..... I'll keep you posted on how successful this experiment is!

Quilt Hanger

I found this old, battered quilt hanger at the markets at Morriset a couple of weekends ago and bought it for just a few dollars:

And spent last weekend sanding and staining it. I am so happy with it, I love the mahogany stain:

I am still working out what will look best on it. But these will do for now:

I still don't have my patching mojo back. But it had better return soon - in time to make some Christmas pressies!

Criss Cross Coasters

Caz put me onto these quick and easy coasters on Allsorts' blog and as I was looking for a simple project to try to get my mojo back (to borrow Toni's phrase) I made a couple sets of four of these yesterday.

The first set I made from some 5" charm squares, so they are a little bigger than the original pattern:

The second set I made from left over fabric from Lyle's cushions, so of course I had to give these coasters to Lyle:

This is a really quick and easy project. A set of four coasters took me less than 15 minutes to make. These would make great presents for Christmas, if you want to give something handmade but are pressed for time.

Things I'm loving!

I haven't had much time for crafting, posting or blog-watching lately but I did manage to have a quick browse around yesterday. The talents and humour of all the bloggers out there is just amazing. Some of the things I've enjoyed reading about are:

• Toni's deconstruction of a gorgeous quilt into an even gorgeous-er one;
• Lucy Locket's pigeon post which led me to the crocheted pigeon creator Charlie P - I was laughing out loud at the pigeon antics on her blog!
• Grey's Crochet for all of the amazing Greyhound related crochet - look out for the life-sized crocheted greyhound napping with it's real life counterpart!
• the patchwork basket on Crazy Mom Quilts blog. I've seen lots of similar baskets on other blogs lately and even made one myself yesterday.
• This led me to the Pink Penguin blog with lots of gorgeous projects on it.

Sunny Sunday

I haven't been doing much sewing the last week or so. I'm still getting over the flu and trying to cope with a much increased workload at work (as if it wasn't enough already!), so have been pretty tired. I've been slowly getting through a cross stitch while watching a bit of TV over the last couple of weekends but still have lots more to do before it's finished. Sorry for the blurry pic.

It's officially Spring but has still been a bit chilly and has been pouring rain all week. It's an exciting time in the garden though - I have these snow peas (above) as well as parsnips, carrots, spinach, silverbeet, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower all flourishing. I've potted some spring onion, leek, capsicum and tomato seeds and they're keeping warm in the house on a sunny windowsill. Hopefully by the time they sprout it will be warm enough to plant them outside.