Playing catch up...

I'm so over due in writing this post that it has definitely jumped over the line from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Anyway, here I am.  Hello!  Did you miss me?

I have a number of things that I need to post about but first and foremost is the brooch swap that I participated in back at the beginning of the summer.  It was hosted and organized by the lovely Susie of Flowerpress fame and was a lot of fun.  The swap partners were all anonymous and were from all over the world.  It was an event on an international scale!


My contribution to the swap was a flower brooch that I made with left over fabric from a quilt I had just finished.  At the time I sent it off to my partner, who lived in New Zealand, she would have been in midst of winter and I thought a little reminder of Spring would be nice.


Having never made a brooch before, it was fun to try something new.  Tucked amongst my various craft supplies was a bottle of 'Stiffy' (great name, eh?) that I had yet to crack open.  I coated the pieces of fabric and then shaped them over a pencil to form the petals.  Once they were dry, I used a fairly large gauge needle and sewed them together.  A bit of cut felt and some beads form the centre and the leaves were sandwiched between the flower and some backing felt.  I let it fully dry for another day or so and then off it went, with a few other bits and bobs, to the Land of the Long White Cloud...once the postal strike had come to an end, that is.


I had seen the brooch that Susie had made in a post on her blog and was instantly, and terribly, jealous of whoever was getting this sweet little bird.  I had seen some of these little guys when I was in Australia in 2006, and spending a weekend away with my Mum and sister at a little cottage in country Victoria.  It was just before my wedding and I was relaxing and going to the spa and taking photos of all the native birds and animals that happened along.  I have really great memories of that time and seeing Susie's brooch reminded me of that.  Lucky duck that I am, this is the brooch that I received in the swap!

Susie also very generously sent me some fabulous fabric of her own design, a gorgeous piece of sun printed fabric, some co-ordinating buttons and length of ric-rac, and a rose print card.  I have all sorts of ideas for using these but I know the Ric-Rac print fabric will at some point find it's way into a quilt (maybe I'll finally make one for me and The Boy!)  Thanks again, Susie!

Isn't he gorgeous?

In other crafty news, I haven't been terribly productive in recent weeks.  A small trip the hospital in July, followed quickly by a fairly last minute trip to Australia meant I wasn't up to, or around, to do any sewing.  Although, that isn't strictly true.  I did nearly drive myself insane trying to finish up 3 small quilts to take with me to Australia.  One was for my Mum for her 70th (!!) birthday, and the other two were for my two nieces.  In my mad rush to get them finished, would you believe I didn't take photos?  True story.  I also didn't take photos of the quilts while I was there.  Not so smart but I was distracted by the cute, wee people.  I'll have to see if I can get some photos sent to me, although knowing my family, I might be waiting until my next trip south.

Red. Delicious.

This has nothing to do the crafting abilities of myself or others, but look at that strawberry!  Perfection.  Grown by The Boy on our third floor balcony, in the middle of large and noisy city.  Imagine what he could do with a farm?  (P.S. If you happen to be giving a farm away, we'd be glad to take it off your hands.)

Look how shiny it is.  I may have to print this photo and hang it up.  It seemed a shame to cut into it but I did and had it with some yoghurt for breakfast.  You know how store bought strawberries often have white hearts in the centre?  Not this bad boy.  Red and juicy all the way through.  There's a lot to be said for growing your own food, or at least some of it.  The best part though, is that The Boy isn't so partial to the berries which means I get to eat them all!

Awwwww!

           

In parting, as my gift to you for being so patient and waiting for a new post, here are some bunnies that I saw recently at the Saanich Fair.  Who wouldn't love a hutch full of these sweet little faces?  (Again, if you're giving away a farm, call me.)