little fish...

the little fish quilt was finished and has found its way to a new home...

i am particularly in love with the texture from the serpentine stitch that i used to quilt it...

my first time using a faux-piping in the binding.  another little detail that i love!!

along with a couple of cuddly companions made from the scraps for the new baby to play with...

quirky monster softie

a little boy i know has just turned 1, which gave me an excuse to spend some time at my sewing machine creating this little guy

what a lovely way to spend a wet and cold afternoon.  i used this tutorial to guide me

these guys just keep getting cuter

some progress has been made on my little ladies, the pink girl is ready to be stuffed and the blue girl isn't far behind ...

pattern is from AGirlinRedBoots at Etsy 

and  the lovely Lindsey at Green Beans n Strings makes my made by/care labels (as seen on the side of this doll)

my apologies to anyone who would like to comment on this post... i tried turning off word verification for a couple of days, but the number of "spam" comments i received was excessive.  so i have had to turn word verification back on.  why do these spammers feel the need to make life difficult for everyone else??

on a more personal note, i wish that i had the energy to spend more time sewing and posting here -  i love seeing bits of fabric turn into wonderful (and often useful) items.  sadly two years of unsuccessful fertility treatments has taken a toll, one that i wasn't expecting when i started trying to make my dream of having a family come true.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. swap has arrived at Karen's place!!

Karen has received my parcel and i am happy to report that she loves it!!

This is what was in the parcel that i sent...

F is for - Found on Etsy (the cutest little steam punk robot! from SleepyRobot @ Etsy)

R is for - Relax

I is for - Inspiration (the bathing beauty is a magnetic bookmark)

 
E is for - Exotic animal… made by me!! (pattern is from DIY Fluffies @ Etsy)

N is for - Notebook and pen (yes, that is a pen disguised as a pencil!)

 D is for - Disco Bots pattern and fabric

S is for - Scrumptious snacks (in a bag made by me)

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. swap

this box will be off to the post office first thing tomorrow morning...

and a little sneak peek at the contents...

"Miss Prudence" is done!

 woo hoo, Miss Prudence is DONE, and she is pretty cute (if i do say so myself!)

Edited to add:   i was contacted by a Homespun staff member and asked if i would like to submit some photos and text for their upcoming "readers' showcase pages" to be published later in the year.... needless to say i have taken some more photos and am VERY excited!!

"Miss Prudence" and my new resident

here is a couple of photos of my latest softie, i still need to make her clothes but i couldn't resist posting some nudie photos!!  the pattern is - "Miss Prudence" from Australian Homespun Vol.11 no.8

  

and her cute little tail....

for a few weeks now i have been hearing noises in my wall (and i was pretty sure that it was a possum), i finally managed to convince my Dad to remove a weatherboard from the house... here is what we found at the bottom of the wall cavity

 

yep, that's a brush-tail possum.  i have set a trap and hope to catch it soon.  it is a sad fact that possums cannot be relocated (they are very territorial), so this one will be going on a one way trip to the vet - it makes me sad that this is my only option and this is not something that i am happy about doing but this possum has already caused damage to my house and i am worried that it will nibble on a wire up in the roof (which could possibly cause a fire).

let me be clear that i am not anti-possum... i also have a resident possum in a disused chimney at my place (the fireplace was removed and the chimney was plastered over a long time ago).  my chimney-possum hasn't caused any damage (other than eating some of the garden) and cannot access the house (just the chimney) which means that he and i have lived in harmony for many years - i am actually quite fond of him