Months and months ago, Elizabeth and I played with paper mache and made some piggy banks. One we painted purple (Alice's favorite color) and called it Perth. Then we started putting all the coins in it that we could :) By the time we packed her in the suitcase, she was quite heavy!! And no, we didn't pay overweight!!

Yesterday, as her final hours drew closer... there was debate as to whether we should open her nicely.. or use a hammer and go for total destruction.... I think you can see the hammer Daniel is holding, so you can guess what happens next....

Pooooooor Perth..... she lost one of her purple ears....

And then came the next part which was almost as fun as busting the piggy:

Counting the money .... :)

And now for the competition!!!! Alice and I have thought of something fun! Guess how much money was in Perth the Purple Pig and you will win.... her purple ears AND something else purple!!!!!!!!!

Here are the rules:

Leave a comment on this post with your guess for one entry in the draw. If you want another entry, write about it on your blog and be sure to let me know so that we can put your name in twice. One of the kids will draw the lucky winner just before we head back to Melbourne... um..., let's say... by Friday the 11th of September... so, start guessing and spread the word!!!!!

I started this little quilt years and years ago in Riyadh. Now, finally, it is done :) I started it after we had our infamous stained glass window paper piecing class.. remember Alice, Siti and Eve?! Oh my, that was hard. But this was easy. I decided I wanted to do more paper piecing and found this pattern here. And I wanted to do it just in blues and white. It isn't a big quilt, but it looks nice on my table in the kitchen and I was so pleased to be able to use Nina to stipple with :)

And, have I mentioned that it is only two more sleeps till we fly out of here...... not including naps that is :)

...... till we go visit Alice :) I've started packing:

- fabric

- batting

- fabric

- more fabric

.... all the important things you know :)

I've been contemplating making a cover for Nina ever since I got her and decided she was going to be a permanent fixture in the kitchen. One day this month I came across this challenge at Jenny's and thought it might motivate me to actually get one made instead of just thinking about it.

So, I got some fabric and started playing. And came up with this... the pinwheels are pockets :)

I seem to think it still needs something above the pockets.. maybe some hearts? What do you think?

Anyway, I consider it done. Now, there is still time to join this challenge :) You have till the end of this month to make one and go in the draw for some lovely prizes from Jenny and Cheryl. Take a look at them:




So come on, join in!! You can do it!!

Yay!!! I worked hard yesterday and today and I have finished two more projects for the Christmas challenge, which means.. I am done!!! I am soooo pleased I joined the challenge because I wouldn't have done any of these projects this month otherwise. Thanks Di!!!The quilt has been waiting for almost two years to be finished. I have wanted to do an apron with this fabric for more than two years, and I've wanted to try one of these little baskets. So, without further ado, here are the next two projects. (I should have waited for daylight to take the photos, but I was too excited, sorry!)

The apron - I bought a bolt of this fabric from the souk, and made heaps of stockings from it:

The basket - made from leftover fabric from the stockings I made for my sister and her family last year:



Tra la la laaaa... It's startin' to look a lot like Christmas... oh, and I need to make another basket since I accidentaly made two handles :) Pity that, eh?

Ok, this is my first tutorial and who knows if anyone will be able to understand it, but here goes!

What you need:

two 4 1/2 " squares of fabric
scraps of yellow and red felt
wheat or rice

1. Cut out two 4 1/2" squares of pretty fabric



2. Cut out one 1 1/2" square of yellow felt. You will need to fold it in half when you sew it in. Also cut out comb shape from red felt. (If you are not comfortable with drawing your own comb, just click on the photo below and print it. You can then cut out the comb shape and make it smaller or larger if needed.)





3. Place the fabric squares right sides together and start sewing from the middle of one side. If the fabric has a pattern on it that needs to stay in a certain direction, start at the bottom. Keep sewing until you get as far as this:


4. The trickiest part is getting the comb and beak in the right position. This is the stage I add them (and you might want to use pins, I avoid them at all costs and then pay for it later!). Here are some closer shots:





5. Keep sewing until you get back to the side you started. Leave a little gap:



6. Clip the corners and then turn the chookie inside out :)


9. Sew buttons on for eyes, one on each side.


10. Grab your favorite cookbook and start coooking!! Your Chookie will keep your page open :)



If you have any questions, please ask. If you make any of these, please let me know! I'd love to see your Chookies :)

I joined Di's Christmas in August Challenge :) It is to finish three Christmas projects, and on Friday night I finished the first one. It is a Christmas quilt that I started 2 years ago. When I got Nina I went crazy quilting it with gold thread, and finally finished off the binding with a pretty stitch. Here it is blowing in the wind:

I put the binding on backwards so that instead of handstitching it, I could use a decorative stitch. I have to say that working with gold thread is a nightmare. It took a while to do the binding - the thread broke every few inches. Still, it is done now :) Here is a closer look at the quilting and binding:



I'm happy with the quilting, but it is not as nice as what Cheryl did on my log cabin:


A little closer:


One day, my dream is to have a long arm quilting machine.. hee heee! For now, I am very happy with Nina :)

So, back to my Christmas challenge. I joined it because I wanted to get a few things done for myself for Christmas, and I am usually too busy doing things for others, so I decided this was a good idea. My plans are to make myself a Christmas apron for my second project, and for the third one, well... maybe a basket like Cheryl gave us the stitchery patterns for, or.. some potholders, .... or some coasters like Alice made, or.... some cushion covers, or.. or,... or.....!!!! I'm sure I'll think of something :)

My special parcel has arrived:


It is from Cheryl at Willowberry Designs. She asked for quilt tops for the bushfire victims, and I had one that was needing to be finished badly. So I sent it up. Cheryl added the backing, binding, and of course did all the beautiful quilting!! It is sooooo pretty!!!! No, don't worry, I am not keeping it :) I will finish handsewing the binding and then in three weeks time it has an appointment with a lady who lost EVERYTHING to the fires in Whittlesea.

But wait, there's more! Cheryl so sweetly included three pincushions for Africa (and they came just in time - the stall is on Sunday). I'm going to give them to my friend tomorrow to put on the table. AND she gave me a pattern!!! For me!!! Looooook:


I will take some better close up photos, but I was running out of light and wanted to get this post up today. THANK YOU THANK YOU CHERYL!!!!

Went to visit some friends today who have the cutest lambs I have ever seen!!!



They look like goats or miniture Friesian cows, don't they? I want one!!!!

I was going to get a lot done this weekend.... ha! I thought I'd try to catch up on some of my boms, but.... life gets in the way sometimes. Somehow I never really got going. Poor hubby had to go in to work, major problems. We went and got pizza to bring him and one of his workmates for dinner, dropped by a friend on the way home, and then he got back around 10pm. He then worked till midnight, slept for two hours, and worked again from 2am till 9am..... I slept fitfully, feeling sorry for him...! He's fast asleep now.

So, what did I manage to do yesterday? I made a dent in the ironing pile.. that has to count for something, right? I ironed some stitcheries that I finished a few weeks ago so that I could take photos for you all to see. These are from Nice People Nice Things.



I really should get started with getting the borders on and working out the "quilt as you go" method. These are the fabrics that I chose to do this quilt with:


Aren't they yummy?! And they are just sitting there in a tub patiently waiting to be used. Maybe I will take them to Perth and try to work on them there....

I traced the rest of Veranda Views, and made a start on one of them. I also fiddled around with a pencil and made a little design for something I am making for myself:


Oh yes, I finished "Believe" on Friday.


Must trace "Delight" before the next one comes out in a few days!

So what shall I do today? I really want to take a few more photos in daylight hours of the cookbook chooks for the tutorial. And.... well, there must be some sewing project I could work on??? I need to do a little bit of school planning, but mostly I am organized there.

I am going to get off the computer and do something :) Hope you are all having a good weekend!