I Quit!

Yes, Gentle Readers, I gave up the fabulously well paid job at the other corporate salt mine.  It was too much like the last corporate salt mine, and after 4 months, I'd had enough.  I spotted a job in the Internet Job Search toolie thing for somebody to work 3 days a week for a company that sells meat online, and I got the job, despite being old, and somewhat crotchety.  It's busy, without the incredible levels of stress I've previously experienced.  I get to go home every lunch time for a sandwich, and I can wear casual clothes.  Really, what more could a girl ask for?

So, I've been very very busy sewing little critters:

And on and on:

Needless to say there has also been lots of fabric purchasing to facilitate all this loveliness, and I'm kind of thinking that I need to stop soon.  Really.  No, really.

In other news of unparalleled excitement, the brand-new laptop hard drive crashed, and I had to have a new one.  Lucky for me I did a complete copy onto an external HDD when I bought this machine, so nothing has gone missing - amazingly I had the presence of mind to install some software called Photosync which copies the pictures between devices...seamlessly, and so all the photos on my phone & tablet are also available on the newly blank computer.  Thank goodness for wi-fi, hey?  

My favourite Hunter Valley Hound had a small black spot off her nose, and she's wearing a plastic cone around her head...pictures as they come to hand...

And my lovely friend Jarrah went to dog-heaven, after 16 happy years as a rescue dog:

We miss her.

I've finished sewing up the leg of Number Ten, and the huge bag that's going to Queensland containing the Bilbies is ready to be sealed up.  Oh wait.  Did I mention that?  Oh no... well... the Save the Bilby fund has bought 10 of my little guys, and is going to list them on the website for sale.  Apparently it's really hard to find nice 'hand-made in Australia' Bilbies.  No kidding.  I feel vindicated.  I did them a great deal on the price, because they are a charity, after all, and who knows?  I may become the Bilby Queen (that's kind of like the Borg Queen, only with better resistance) of Newport.

And that, Gentle Readers, is that.  I'm off to bed. 

Buona Notte!

Wait! It's November?

Sometimes I really hate computers.  I wrote a whole long post yesterday about all the sewing I've done in October, put in loads of pictures, clicked 'save' multiple times, and then tried to publish it, but would it?  Oh no.  So I wandered off to do other things (more later), and now I'm back to it... and everything except the first two paragraphs is gone.   Gorne!  Arrgh!!  Anyhoo...let's do it again.

Can you tell me, Gentle Readers, where October went?  I'm pretty sure mine went into the bowels of my sewing room (did you even know it had bowels?  What a disturbing thought!!)...

I've been very busy making stuff for this market, which seems both terrifyingly close, and frustratingly far away - I can't even confirm until 19th November that I've even got a stall (unless they confirm first, which might happen, and it might not, my initial impression being that these people are not quite in the 21st Century (bank cheques, I ask you - but that's another story)...

So... sewing...

More bilbies, including some that look disturbingly like others I have already made:

And some new friends, as of last night:

I've also got bunting made, a stack of fridge magnets which I'm pretty sure I covered off in tiny detail in the last post, or the one before, and I've got lavender bags coming out the wazoo - MGF Kaz & I had 53 when we were last in the Hunter, and I'm just waiting on the supply of more lavender from the lovely Christine at Ratho Lavender Farm so I can stuff some of them & send them off to her... (Christmas orders in nice & early, gotta love that!!)... what else?  I have a few pouches made a long time ago in nice linens, and I made a few turtles, before I realised that the pattern is for personal use only & I can't sell them at the market:

And I've added in a few of these really cute guys, in dark reds, ideal for Christmas decorations or table centres, with cloves in them so they smell really christmassy.

And in news that's kind of come round unwelcomingly quickly (ooh, that's an ugly mouthful), it's two years tomorrow since the death of My Lovely Ma, and I thought some more of her work deserved an outing:

I still miss her everyday, especially when I go to things like Urban Stitches, which I know she would have really enjoyed.  I don't have any friends who craft, and so it was lovely to be able to ring her and talk about the latest disaster, triumph, hideous fabric I'd seen and beautiful things I'd seen on the internet... 

And that, Gentle Readers, is that.  Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I will endeavour to post more frequently.  What's that?  Why do I have more time on my hands?  Let's just say that things have changed.  

On that mysterious note, I will say only... ciao!

Rapt up in Bilbies

So... from time to time my good friend Kate from Rapt! Upholstery has commented here on my work, and I've often admired hers.. she and I were at Upholstery School together, and she does fabulous work, which you can see on her blog:

Anyway, Kate has a showroom in Jamberoo, where you can select fabrics, have a look at finished works and generally bask in the loveliness that is upholstery, and she's offered to take house some Bilbies until their new owners wander in off the streets and take them home!

These happy guys have gone off today via Australia Post.  Kate and I were thinking of naming them the Travelling Bilbies, but nobody could agree on who was Tom Petty (I'm personally going with Mr Blue Spot Yellow Belly as Tom):

Do they look nervous to you, Gentle Readers?  I'm sure they'll be fine in their new home! But!  In case you want one, and you can't wait until the Mona Vale Christmas Market on 7th December, hint hint, you can order one from my Etsy shop.

More are being made as we speak - and because I worked from home today (gotta love that!), I was able to cut out another pink & grey masterpiece before 0800... and now?  Gotta sew!  Ciao!

A little creativity goes a long, long way

Busy busy, this weekend... Despite feeling like I've been hit by a truck, I still managed to cut out & sew the top of a Schoolhouse Tunic - this is such a great pattern, and pretty easy:

And of course I chose the most expensive fabric in the shop - really, who goes shopping for dress fabric in a quilt shop?  Me, of course.  Well, it's a Liberty Voile, in case you were wondering, and it's so soft... just beautiful.  I'm hoping to finish it on Saturday, to wear to Miss E's Baptism on Sunday.  Proud Father advises it's "smart casual", so I guess I won't be wearing my hat & gloves...

In other news, I took the Second Chance quilt in to be quilted - only to discover that they won't accept anything that's creased, and so I spent an hour ironing the 2m (6'5") X 2.5m (8'2") backing fabric:

It's a good thing this is for MGF Kaz, because I doubt I'd do it for anybody else.  Even Mr Golightly's shirts are the sort that don't require ironing.

Anyway, I have great faith in the quilter, who I'm sure will do a fabulous job, and I promise pictures will be posted before it goes off to the Hunter.

In other news, I have made more Bilbies - I keep selling them to friends and family, and so the numbers need topping up:

 I need to do some more work on the pattern for the bigger guys, because I'm still not happy with the shape.  This guy is made from some linen I bought at the Handmade Market two years ago (I think it's by Saffron Craig, so if you know, please drop me a note to confirm!), it's beautiful quality, and while I was rummaging through the boxes of red fabric to find a co-ordinating colour for the gusset, I found this beautiful lustrous Japanese cotton, with multi-coloured balls - and that's why this guy has purple eyes, to go with the interior of his ears.

This big guy nearly ended up in the bin - he's made from a really soft linen which is going to fray the minute you look at it, and I had to completely unpick the rear seam twice to get it right, and I'm still not happy enough with it to sell him.  He's going on the 'keep at home' pile. 

Which is where I am now, keeping at home.  Back to the office next week, and a return to normal.  Whatever that is.  Ciao!

Can somebody stop me?

Well, Gentle Readers, I think it's Intervention Number 4.  It may be number 44 for all I can remember.  And what is it you're stopping me from doing?  Making these guys:

So far I've made 12 and there's no sign that I'm bored yet.  I've applied to have a stall at the Mona Vale Christmas Market, and I intend to sell these little guys, along with some fabulous fridge magnets made by Miss D yesterday and Monday - they look fabulous - she has such good taste, which is why she's my friend :-D

Yesterday I made the grandfather of all bilbies - I had the pattern sized up to 400% of original at a well-known office supply company, bought beautiful blue velvet and some grey polar fleece from the lovely Mr Fenner, and, three 1kg bags of stuffing later, here we are:

Yes, he's leaning slightly.  It's the leaning tower of Bilby.  You can see how big he is - the others pictured above are the medium size, which is 15cm/6" - the bigger guy, Mr Blue & Red is 19cm/7.5", and little Monkey-Face, who is about 10cm/4".  As I said to my good friend Miss JodieRicRac on Instagram (oh, wait, did I mention that I'm besties now with a celebrity?  Oh... well.  Hold onto your hats, Gentle Readers, there's so much excitement to come!!), it's like having a dog that doesn't need feeding or walking.

So.  Celebrity.  I went to Urban Stitches, the Parramatta one, not the Melbourne one, (more's the pity).  I had a great time, even though I was a singleton, because there were other lovely sewists there who also had no friends.  Who sew.  Yes, that's it.  Friends who sew.  We made things:

And I cut out and blanket stitched two legs of a fox.  I don't know how Miss Jodie does it, Gentle Readers, those tiny little legs and feet nearly sent me nuts, but anyway... The other two instructor/presenter/facilitators were Miss Mel, of Melly and Me, who gave me some excellent advice about publishing the pattern for the Bilby, and Rosalie Quinlan, who is a generally amazing woman.  Somewhere in the Ethernet is a selfie of Miss Jodie and me, and one day, when I'm very brave, I'll DM her on IG to ask her for a copy.  See?  Us besties can talk in code.  Can so too.

What else?  Fabric was purchased (of course), and eating and alcohol-free drinking went on.  Well, it was during the day... and I won a prize, a kit to make a felt teapot. Absolutely beautiful, and immediately added to the "maybe one day when I've got a broken leg" pile.  

Only complaints? - I'd only signed up for one day (there were two on offer), and the chairs got a bit uncomfortable after a while, which is absolutely nothing to do with the lovely organisers, and more to do with the Parramatta Novotel not understand the needs of sewists for a straight backed chair with support.

And I know, Gentle Readers, that you're wondering why I'm at home when I should be *insert music here* working for the man... working for the man... I had an operation on my nose, and I'm at home recovering.  No jokes about Joan Rivers, thank you.  And now?  Back to the Bilby Farm.  Ciao!

  

Rolling along like a 50 cent piece

Not quite smoothly like a 20c piece, Gentle Readers, but still rolling along. What's been happening?  Mr Golightly went skiing for a weekend, for the first time in at least five years, and had an excellent time.  I think he's got a previously undiscovered talent for photography, because he took a couple of excellent photos of the snow, admittedly with his phone, but still very nice pics...

I spent the weekend in Melbourne with Mr Golightly's delightful Mother (aka my lovely MIL), which was excellent - we spent quality time with Master Two, Miss E, his lovely Mother, and a little bit of time with Mr K, his lovely Father (which was still quality time, but there just wasn't much of it!) and I discovered the Museum of Melbourne, which was amazing.... have you been, Gentle Readers?  Lots of taxidermied (is that even a word?) animals, arranged by continents, and placed so you can see how big they actually (were) are, before they were killed in the interests of science...

We also went to see the exhibition of Italian Masterpieces from the Prado, which was really interesting, but the catalogue for the exhibition was so big & heavy we both left (almost) empty handed.  Cards are the best souvenir when there's no tea towels available, if you ask me...

We wandered down to St Kilda Markets on Sunday morning, and I bought a couple of nice tea towels with a tram route printed on them - one for MBF Deb & one for MGF Kaz - more tea towels I don't need.  Other sorts of fabric... well... maybe.

I've discovered a new source, based here in Australia, and I'm busy exercising the Parcel Locker system, giving my new colleagues no end of amusement.  I don't care.  Fabric at a good price is good fabric, as far as I'm concerned, and it's an added bonus that it doesn't have to come from a(nother) foreign country before it gets to me.  So, I'm looking at you, Evil Alison - I've completely thrown away my vow not to buy any more fabric this year because not only are the deals excellent, the service is fantastic.  Plus she's signed up to read this, so I have to be nice... not that it's hard!

I've been getting a bit of traction of my Instagram account, which is nice, but I haven't had an Etsy order for yonks, and I'm wondering if I should move my shop over to one of the other possibilities?  I had a look at Shopify, but it was way too complicated... and I've already got a Big Cartel space, but I don't really use it - I had zero interest from it when I had lots of stuff listed... so.. what to do?

I'm thinking about selling the pattern for the Bilbies, on my Etsy page too.  There are lots of nice patterns out on the market, which seem to do quite well (well, I know I've bought a few!), so there's definitely room for one more... but I'm torn between focusing on getting stuff made for the market (7th December, come on down), and trying to do other crap like, you know, washing, putting away (I don't do ironing, no matter what!), cooking, tidying, life's little joys.

Here's 10 bilbies on the way:

and more later.

And now, it's 10.38pm, past the time small Golightlys should be in bed.  Ciao!

Look, look, here's another one!!

I've been doing the FatMumSlim Picture a Day challenge over on the 'Gram (thank you, Millennium Housewife, for pointing out yet another aspect of a scene that completely passed me by (illicit pharmaceuticals...) because I was (and still am) so boring and straight when it comes to all that stuff...), and it's been ... interesting (the 'FMSPhotoaday Challenge, not being boring and straight!!), and I've had loads of "likes" from people from all over the world, which is lovely. 

My photo of the theme for yesterday, "Pet Peeve", wasn't very good (it was a very blurry shot of some filthy smoker's filthy droppings - yes, Gentle Readers, a cigarette butt.. and interestingly, my good friend Mr UBeaut58's sister (got that bit?) (with whom I went to school, but with whom I was not particularly friendly) even 'liked' my photo, which is a first for me!  

Today's theme was "mix", and I just took a photo of some of the boxes of fabric in the Room of Requirement, showing their labels.  I thought it was pretty nifty, but.. so far... only four likes.  Oh well.  Just goes to show you... not everybody has my excellent taste :-D

In Fabric Addiction news, I bought some nice Joel Dewberry fabric from lovely Ruth at SewLoveFabrics (she always has such as great selection):

So much for my no-buy July.  I'm thinking about "Ought-not-to-August", but it doesn't have quite the same ring.

In other news of fabulousness, I bought some beautiful midnight blue velvet and some grey polar fleece today.  What do these two fabrics have in common?  Well, Gentle Readers, I'm going to do the Christmas Market at Mona Vale (NSW), on 7th December [contingent on actually getting a stall!] and I've decided to make a huge Bilby to lure in the kiddies so their unsuspecting parents can buy lots of goodies from my stall... 

I went to Officeworks today & spent about $20 having the pattern sized up into ridiculousness, and tomorrow I'm hoping to cut out this monster... keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't fall off the worktable & crush me when I finally finish stuffing it.  I'm estimating three 1kg bags of wadding to fill it, but it could be more...I'm thinking of raffling it off, with proceeds going to Save the Bilby Fund... Thoughts?

Here's a picture of the bigger guys having some fun outside - don't you just love Mr Purple's pants?  What a groover...

And in getting out and about news, I've splashed out and I'm going to Urban Stitches in Sydney!  I'm pretty excited about this, because it should be such a fun day, and I'm hoping to come home with some lovely handmade stuff... I'm only doing the Saturday (it was $180 for one day), so if you're going, and you see a dumpy dark haired lunatic there by herself, that'll be me.  I'm thinking of wearing my "I'd rather be sewing' shirt from Erin at Dog Under My Desk, but would that be too ... obvious?  Possibly.

And that, Gentle Readers, is that.  I've finally finished removing my old presence from the old laptop, in preparation of its donation to Master E, and now I'm going to sit in front of the fire & gentle rub Mr Golightly's head.  It's as good for him as it is for me.  And with that disturbing thought firmly in your minds, I'm gone!

Ciao!