A Merry Christmas to all!

After a week that started out very "Bah Humbug" on the F.I.L.'s behalf, and saw him not only cancelling his appearance at our Christmas lunch, but taking it upon himself to cancel lunch at his sisters on Sunday that we were all looking forward too. And should I add, a drive by present drop off at 10.30pm last night... tooted the horn and left the presents for hubby to bring up!!!
Memo to self.... invite F.I.L to daughters Christmas concert next year, if this is the kind of sooking we will witness.
Remind self...which one is the 4yr old????

Anyhoo, a lovely and relaxing day was had by all who attended. Children received all and more than required. And, Mummy barely slept with the thought of the mornings excitement.

"Oh My God" was heard on several occasions from the 2 year old... how many babies can one girl have ?

And the big girl is in love with her new PURPLE bike which does skids just like Daddy did when he was a boy... and, how much lip gloss can a 4yr old apply in one day ?

Wishing you and yours the most wonderful of days, and a big thanks for reading :)

Jane

2 more swaps, 1 more project completed

Here is a little swap I received from Anne, in my online patchn'quilt group
The word was Christ
I received

• Cushion, 10cm Xmas Ohio star
  
• Hand Towel and washer
• Ribbon
• Interfacing
• Sewing cotton
• Tea pot holder
• & a little picture Anne had done with wax and an iron of her fish tank

(I couldn't find the cushion for the photo as Tessa has ferreted it away for her dolls)

This is the little 1930's quilt I received from Bonnie in
'Another Little Quilt Swap'
She chose 2 of my favourite colors pink & green
Tessa has also claimed this one for her doll cot.

Finally a couple of projects for the Kinder teacher and Assistant

A Christmas Pageant

On Thursday Sophia had her Christmas Concert at Kindergarten
During all the practise sessions, she has been desperate to play 'the Angel holding the star'
and guess what she was?

Take a bow Angel Gabriel

Woops I forgot to rotate this one,
but here is my beautiful girl dressing the tree
and Yes! you do need to wear your best dress to do that

egg

This is the little quilt I made for the November swap themed 'words'
Originally I was going to have a profound word,
But couldn't go past this cute one

It is also a part of my partners tag 'eggmoney'

I quilted rows of eggs too!

I'm happy to say she is very pleased with it

Awe Struck!

Yes me!
Yesterday, whilst at work I served the one and only
Rosalie Quinlan
All a fluster and red faced
She was so sweet
and said she'd look out for my little old blog
gosh!

Crackerbox finished and sent!

Here are some pictures of the quilt I sent to Kate in the swap 'Another Little Quilt Swap'.

It is the Cracker box pattern I have used before, but, I just reduced the size to a 5" square rather than a 10".

I really enjoyed making and quilting this one.
I used some of the fabrics that Kate sent me, some of my own, and some from the American Jane collection. I tea-stained the Kona to get a more creamy effect.It's a different palette than I would usually use, but I'm pleased with the result.

What we sent to Kristin!

Here are the things we sent to Kristin.
We made a bag, modelled here by the cheeky monkey

'Possum Magic'
by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas

A possum handpuppet, the recipes from the book
Cookie cutters, furry friends chocolates
Minties & a bookmark

If we could have sent some of the other yummy foods
mentioned in the book, we would have!

#3 Kid-made Quilt Swap

As a spin off from our 6 -12" Mini Swap, and at the behest of her son Andrew,
'Davenjilly' decided to start a Kids swap.
The idea was to allow the children to design and make as much of the quilt as possible.

Sophia has loved this swap, it has allowed her to be creative with Mum, sew with Mum on the sewing machine, iron, but mainly, be in charge!

We received Andrews quilt for Sophia this week, perfect timing for a sick girl
Sophia has spent the week cuddled up with it on the couch

And, is that a thief I spy?
Guess who ate the chocolate and lollies!

#2 One Good Book Swap

The lovely Jill, over at 'Nature Girl', held this fabulous swap.
We decided to join up after doing the Little People swap together.
Wow! We didn't realise what fun it would be.

Here's Sophia fleeing with the goodies when they arrived from her new friend Kristin.
The book that Kristin chose for us is 'Flotsam' by David Weisner
It's all about a little boys day at the sea and the things he discovers.

Here are the wonderful things Sophia received, they are all linked to the book.
Bucket and spade, magnifying glass, underwater camera and frame/album for her photos
dolphin, sea animals and foam stickers, sea placemat
and finally, the lovely scarf they made themselves
Thank you Kristin and Charlotte!

We'll show you what we sent in a few days.

Sophia's first solo swap

Here are some photographs of Sophia's first swap. She looks a little overwhelmed!
She has since got the hang of it , as you will see in our next few posts

We joined the Kiddio stationery swap, and, Zoe and Sophia swapped;
stickers and pencils, labels and cards.
All sorts of lovely things
Thanks Zoe!

'S' is for Sophia

6-12" Quilt Swap

Here is my gorgeous little quilt I received from 'Olivethebeach'
Look how vibrant the colors are!
We were in the minority who did mushrooms, 80% would have been owls.

For November the theme is 'words'
I have a few idea's floating round.

ALQS w.i.p.

At the moment I'm working on a doll quilt for 'Another Little Quilt Swap'
This is my selection of fabrics,
I used the American Jane tape measure fabric as a color palette
I don't think I'll use it in the quilt, it's a bit much, and I have another project for it.
My partner isn't so keen on brights, hopefully she'll cope with this!

My new friend Kate sent me a BUNDLE of 30's narrative prints
She knew that I loved them, and wasn't using hers!
It has rebuilt my stash, and I am using a few in this quilt.
Thanks Kate!

Now that it's arrived!

Here is the latest Mini that I sent to Olivethebeach.
The theme this month was Owls/Mushrooms.
I decided to go with the Mushroom/toadstool route.
What do you think?

DQS4 arrived

Here is the gorgeous quilt I received today from Adds at 'The Humming Cat'
The fabric is 'Amy Butler', and it is so rich and scrumtious!
(I wish it were a full size quilt)
Adds also sent us a cute matching pin cushion,
Tessa is using it as a pillow....

Thanks Adds!

4SQS angel quilt received

We just love this 30's applique quilt that Kate sent us today.
Kate was wonderful to make this angel quilt for me after hearing of my plight

THANK YOU KATE

Lion and Rhino arrive in Australia

Last week we received our "Little People" swap from the U.S.A.
Sammy and Abby sent Rhino & Lion, along with a bunch of other goodies.

Here is the fantastic scrapbook they put together of their summer travels with Lion & Rhino.
The girls just loved looking through it, and there is room for plenty more adventures!
This has been such an amazing swap for the girls to be involved in, not just learning about other cultures, but also their own!

A right of passage

Ken has been patiently waiting since Sophia's birth to take her on a go-cart.
Fathers day '08 was the big day.
Sophia is finally tall enough to go on a tandem cart!

Big girl with a big helmet

Racing the Go-cart track with Daddy.

Meme

1. My name..Jane
2. favourite meal ..spaghetti
3. year I graduated High School
4. favourite color..pink
5. celebrity crush... Jay Lai'gaia *
6. favourite drink ..coffee
7. dream holiday destination ..Wellington N.Z.
8. favourite dessert...Chocolate pudding
9. what I wanted to be when I grew up... a Mummy
10. whats most important to me...my family
11. what word describes me... one my brother use's chubby cheeks'
12.my flickr name... tessophia (this is a quilt I sent out to Lucysquilts)

* I've loved Jay since watching him on Playschool in New Zealand whilst Nannying 20 years ago

These photos are all found on flickr search, using the answer to the question. I had to laugh when I searched for the alternate last block....my pets names, I came up with two transvestites....lol.

A Day at the Beach

Oh how I wish we'd taken our camera!
Spring has sprung, and what a beautful day we choose to travel down to Frankston to pick up a patchwork pattern for Wendy from the U.S. It was around 18 -19 0c with a clear blue sky.
After finding the shop and purchasing the pattern, we headed on down to the Lifesaving club and walked along the shore. Tessa couldn't believe her eyes and was a little retisent to come near the water to begin with. Sophia and I were straight down and feet in water.
Thats when I noticed jelly fish washing up on the shore. We investigated without touching, said hello to a few dogs and babies, and then headed up to the club for coffee and cake on the balcony.
Ah! Thats the life.

A Day at the Zoo

Last Sunday, we spent the day at the Zoo. As you can see the girls were amazed with what they saw. Tessa loved the Elephants, Sophia the Lions, and along with the Orangutans here is one of my favourites

The Giraffe, I love their color and beautiful markings.

We visited the Australian native animal section as they were just about to be fed. One even had a little Joey in her pouch
.

Before we left we headed over to the Ape section. We stood at the glass window and listened to the Zoo keeper chatting. As he did, one of the females came over the hill and straight down to Tessa to have a little look. I started snapping photos into reflective glass and scared her off, and didn't get any shots. Wish I'd just taken in the moment!
"She wanted to cuggle me" was all Tessa could say, wrapping her little arms around herself.

Pop on over to my flickr site for some more (better) photo's.

Uncle Lance's Gold Medal

On Thursday Sophia was honored to take her Uncles 'Special Olympics' gold medal to Kindergarten. He won in the national games, in Basketball, in 2006. I think she looks very proud.
The kids loved seeing the medal and all of the photos from the game. They have also been making their own medals. Sophia's said "she was good at hopscotch" and Riley "was good at digging"!

Father and Daughter

Here is a pic. of my brother Tony and his daughter Leah in Sendai, Japan. Tony has lived in Sendai for nearly 10 years and Leah lives in the U.S. Leah went to live in the U.S. with her mother when she was 13months old* and apart from two very brief visits, they have not seen each other until now.
Leah is now 18 yrs old and loves Japanese culture, so she's loving her time there.
Here they are attending a Tanabata parade in traditional dress. Michi's (Tony's wife) parents gave Leah her Yakata as a gift. They have been so busy with visits to Temples, shopping, sporting events .. Sumo, Soccer e.t.c. She has also spent some time hanging out with some Japanese girls. Now they are in Tokyo for a few days before Leahs return home.
Hopefully Leah will be able to make it to Australia soon, but for now we enjoyed seeing Tony, Leah and Michi on skype a couple of times. The girls were so excited to see their one true cousin.
For me it is such a joy to see them together, words cannot describe, and are not even flowing properly as I try to tell you about their visit.

*A difficult situation to explain!

Another Quilt, Another Birthday Party

Hurray! I've just finished another quilt, this time for Doll Quilt Swap 4. I really enjoyed this one, it was a pattern I'd wanted to try for a while. I'd like to try it in 1930's with the red patches scrappy. I used some of my Japanese stash again! It's like the Magic Pudding, I never seem to run out of it, and it looks so good in this style if I do say so myself.


Here's a closeup which also shows the hand quilting. Please remind me to wear a thimble next time. That needle was living inside my finger by the end!!!

I just had to add this shot of Sophia at her very 1st Girlie party. We seem to always be going to boys parties, and it was such a joy to see all these little fairies. Happy Birthday Sian.

Quilts and other projects

I have finally finished my 'Summer' Four Seasons Quilt. I have named it 'Bushfire Sun' as the colors remind me of the unusual color and haze of the sun, and the quilting reminds me of the radiant heat. This is the fourth season I have participated in. Once I receive my quilt in return, I will have to 'post' all four together.

Here is a photo from our "'Little People on the Move ' swap. Sophia is holding Birra the wombat and Pinta the Koala. They are spending July with us, and sharing many adventures. At months end, they will wing there way to the U.S.A. passports, scrapbooks and bags packed to live with 2 little people there. In return there little buddies will head our way to live with Sophia and Tessa. (nice bottom there Birra)

They came two by two

Finally, here is a photo of the finished 6 1/2" quilt I made for my partner Tine. I actually made it for her son Ask , based on a gorgeous animal quilt that she had made for him. If you know me well, you will know I can't pass up the chance to do something in a Noah's Ark theme. I LOVE Noah's Ark! I have been told it will be hanging above Ask's bed.

We went for our first drive along the tollway today. It was chockers! It was fun to see how quickly we could get to different places, quite the novelty. I even got a trip to Chadstone S/C out of it and a new pair of shoes for Miss Tessa (so cute I will have to post a picture soon).
The funniest thing came to mind as we were driving through the tunnel. My Mini quilt swap specialty group for June have been doing English paper piecing, so as soon as I looked at the entry all I could think of was hexagons, and my quilty friends

Open Day at Eastlink

Look what fun we had today at the new Eastlink tollway open day. Tessa was pictured on the big screen, dancing away to the Big Band. We took a bus tour along one side, whilst cyclists rode/raced the other. Over 100 thousand people visited.
Here are but a few of the cyclists resting after their tour.

And off we head into the tunnels. The one on the left is named after the Opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba tunnel . The one on the right is named after the creek whose flow it disrupted, the Mullum Mullum tunnel. You can also see the fume chimney in the middle, I think its quite pretty.
The tollway will open next weekend, Daddy is very excited as it will cut about 20 minutes each way from his work travel time. And, in the other direction it will whisk us to the beach!