Coulda been a contender

I am so bummed!! Mr Duyvken did the Mont 24 hr mountain bike event in Canberra on the weekend and when he got home yesterday he said that we could have gone with him. People were there camping with their families, one of his teammates and his family had made a weekend of it and they were staying in Canberra. They have kids the same age as G and J and we love spending time with them so it would have been a lot of fun. I know a few of my crafting friends were there for the handmade market and I am desperate to take the kids to Questacon and the National Gallery. I could have taken them for a walk/scooter ride around the lake, could have visited my aunt and uncle and just enjoyed having a couple of days to explore a new place while Mr Duyvken was riding loops through the bush.
Canberra is just few hours away but we've only been once in the 10 years we've been parents (and that was a daytrip for my cousin's wedding) even though we often talk about taking the kids there for a little holiday.
Apparently, Mr Duyvken knew last Thursday that the other family was going a tried to find accomodation for us but couldn't get anything. I wish he'd mentioned it to me because I KNOW I could have found something! The kids and I had a very fun weekend but I imagine we would have had a much better time in Canberra.
So, now I am planning a visit for later in the year, any tips on places we should visit or good things to do with the kids?
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Values Quilt

All finished! I made this cot sized quilt using a whole bunch of fabrics from my stash but I started with a blue fabric pack from retromummy. I love all the fairy tale and nursery rhyme fabrics that Corrie stocks and the three little pigs fabric in this quilt is so sweet. JW loves looking for the pigs and huffing and puffing when she spots one. All the corners went together pretty well but I did have one that didn't go so well. I didn't notice until I had the whole top together so rather than pulling it apart to get to the seam in question I pulled a little piece of fabric I had used in other projects and appliqued a heart over the spot. I added some orange perle cotton and was all done in a fraction of the time it would have taken me otherwise!

Eurolush asked me if it was going in my etsy shop but I'm keeping this one for the moment. Mr Duyvken really likes this one so I think I will be making more of these. There are so many ways to use these little triangles - just check out the values quilts on Flickr!

Favourites

I adore these origami mobiles from Red Berry Designs. I am hoping that she will be at the Mathilda's Market at Riverview in May because I would love to see it in person.
The Modern Quilt Guild blog has so many wonderful pictures and inspiring quilts.

Lovely Little Handmades has a lovely blog, 6 kids (!) and a great etsy shop. I bought some very cute fabrics from her recently.

A Little Bit Biased has a gorgeous wagon wheel quilt, I love the colours she chose to put together and, of course, I'm a sucker for anything with lots of white.

New Moon Studios is one of my favourite Etsy shops. I haven't purchased anything but I often stop by to admire their work and to imagine a day when I will be able to have ceramic items on display without fearing that they will be damaged by an over-active toddler.

Paperklip Design has some beautiful paper garlands. I'd love to get a butterfly garland for above G's bed (when I paint her room) and the alphabet garland for C and JW (when they have a room of their own and no longer share with their big brother). I came across her online shop through Retromummy, who always has lovely projects and ideas on her blog and the cutest fabrics in her shop.

I also finished the values quilt. I'll share that with you all tomorrow.

On (almost) getting stuff done

One load sorted, one load on the line and one load in the machine.

Enjoying the faint light on the freshly dusted sideboard before it all settles again and disturbs the sheen.

Bedclothes drying on the line.

The past week has been very dull. Dull but busy! Filled with washing sheets, doing laundry, dusting, cleaning, feeding children and all the usual tasks that are part of keeping everyone well fed and clean. There hasn't been any time for extra things like reading books, chatting with friends, quilting, etc and I have missed it. I don't cope well when I feel constantly rushed just to get the basic stuff done. A few extra hours in each day would be very welcome right now. And, hearing friends discuss nannies and cleaners and ironing help over the weekend just about did me in!

I do love it though, despite the lack of adult conversation (you, dear reader, are a very welcome part of my day in that dept.), the mundaneness of the tasks I do each day and the distinct lack of a paycheck (oh, how I miss having a paycheck) but if I wasn't home I would miss JW taking my hand, leading me down to the bedroom, pulling me down onto the rug and saying 'play with me'. And I would hate to miss that.

So there are still dishes in the sink but at least Iggle Piggle, Upsy Daisy and Macca Pacca have somewhere to live.

Values Quilt

I love this little blue and yellow values quilt top. Here it is all basted and ready to quilt. I am tempted to machine quilt it with a loop pattern like some of the Denyse Schmidt quilts. I think I could trace that onto the fabric and follow it on the machine pretty easily. I'll let you know if I am bold enough to give it a go!
Apologies for the shocking photo, I had a little 'assistant' tugging at my sleeve while I was taking it. Just pretend it's a vaseline lens style sneak peek shot with the big reveal to come later in the week.

It's a boy!

No name yet but he's here and I have his quilt all wrapped up (in one of my dove bags) and ready to go.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

My sister-in-law is currently in labour with her third baby and I am eagerly awaiting news. I hope, for my sake more than for hers, that she has a quick labour and that I will have a new niece or nephew to visit with and cuddle tomorrow morning. There are a couple of quilts that are ready to go, I'm just waiting to see if it's a boy or a girl or a baby who prefers non-gender specific items. I'm set anyway it goes!