Did you see kangaruby in Homespun?

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday

And look who is on the mailbag page!!

I recieved an email a little while ago telling me that Kangaruby and my platypi would be appearing on the mailbag page of Australian Homespun magazine! It is so exciting to see my name and my homemade gifts in my favourite magazine! Today I went to the post office to pick up my prize. Seeing as though it was a Christmas in July issue of the magazine, my prize had a Christmas theme - 2 beautiful books full of Christmas patterns, a Christmas pattern from the Rivendale Collection and 2 packs of gorgeous glittery threads! Lucky I LOVE Christmas!

The book Comfort and Joy is exactly the type of book I love and has some gorgeous projects in it - I can't wait to start on some!

Arn't these angels cute!

Lately however, my sewing has been very very frustrating. It seems I have forgotten how to quilt! I have quilted ok before - never great, but always passable, but this is just awful. I am so frustrated and dissapointed -and it wasn't just this one that was bad. I think I will start looking for a quilting service in Inner Sydney (any suggestions?)... Or maybe I finally need to give in and do some classes to figure out what I am doing wrong.

Apart from my attrocious quilting, I have just finished a new bag to take on my holiday . I am so proud of myself - this is completely designed by ME! Even I can't believe it turned out ok! I even put a zip closure on the top - my first ever zip.

Speaking of our trip, our plane leaves in 24 hours and I haven't even started packing! I hope everyone has a wonderful month and I'll be back in August with lots of photos and stories to share.

Almost ready!

I got my 'holiday' blocks together yesterday (4 days to go!)

I just need to trace on my stitcheries and iron on my pellon and I am ready to go!

I got some other things finished also, but it was too dark to take pictures, so I will share those later this week. And I am hoping I will have something else exciting to show before I go away too!

Gosh work can be tough...

My workmate is a Masterchef fan, as am I. So have a look here to see what I had to deal with on Monday for morning tea...

It was sooo good - she did a fantastic job! Gosh work can be tough sometimes!

who can sew when there's a cat around?

Sampson was a wonderful help on the weekend...

But there's no way I can get angry with him - he's just too sweet!

a good start to the weekend...

My Friday night consisted of a bit of this
and this

I also recieved some new fabric during the week

which inspired a bit of planning

and some drawing

I plan to stitch these blocks on our holiday (we have a lot of train trips!). Hopefully I will come home with a lovely reminder of our holiday.

where did all my time go?

I haven't been able to do nearly enough sewing lately...and it is making me fidgety. Does anyone else ever get like that? I have itchy fingers and can't wait to spend a whole day or two immersed in my own world of fabric and rotary cutting. I have so many projects on the go at the moment, but I haven't finished a single one that I can show you. So instead of having a photoless post (how boring!), I thought I'd show you a picture of the cute little notebook that I carry in my handbag. Currently it has my 'sewing shopping list' written in it: new machine needles, batting,

quilting thread, giant ric rac, backing material... And also a list of things I need to do before we leave for our holiday (18 days to go!): stop the mail delivery, buy powerpoint adapters, get some blocks ready for handsewing on the trains (!) ...

Thankfully this weekend looks like it will be a quiet one in our house which means I CAN SEW! My husband told me last night (after noticing my fidgeting), that I can even sew on Saturday night if I want...huh? Normally we would be out or cooking together on a Saturday night...Then I realised, his footy team is playing on Saturday night - Yay, more time for me!

Sunday at the quilt show

Sunday was a dreary, grey day in Sydney - perfect for going to the Craft and Quilt show. I went in the afternoon with the hope of attending a crochet workshop for beginners. Unfortunately, when I tried to book a spot that morning, I was told it was already full - bummer!

Having extra time to wander around the quilt show was fantastic though. The quilt that won the Best in Show Award was simply amazing (check it out here). The colours were gorgeous and the handquilting was unbelievable - I can't imagine how long it must have taken!

I was very restrained in the market area. I didn't buy much at all. But I could not resist Melly's new book - Kaleidoscope. It is a beautiful book and the projects are all so cute - I can't wait to have a go at some.

I also grabbed some fat quarters that I just loved. hmmmm... do you think I like pink?

Mum and Dad are coming to Sydney this weekend to visit and Mum and I are planning an afternoon of shopping. Probably here, here and here. Perhaps I should stay away from the pink this time!