Bunting - "Life's a Beach"

I recently joined The Bunting Swap over at Squiggly Rainbow. This time last week saw me trying to coax my 77 year old Bernina into making some bunting for me. I decided to try a couple of ideas I have seen around in blog land ~ sewn quilting in narrow rows (from the Aesthetic Nest's baby quilt ~ still totally want to give that one a go!) and confetti (from Describe Happy).

This was the first one I started. I was aiming for a kind of beachy feel using unbleached calico and aged denim. (I know some people use calico for mock-ups of garments and the like, but I really just like the colour and texture of it).

In the second picture you can see a little surprise that I added for my recipient... a little feature fabric.

The confetti squares are MUCH harder to sew around then they look. Each one is 1" square, and reinforced with some iron on interfacing so that they won't fray past the desired spot. I take my hat of to Christie doing an entire quilt out of them!!!

Before sending them, I made up a little card to go with it (notice the fabric??? Yup, same as the hidden strip in the bunt).

Linking up with creatively minded people...

Our Creative Spaces

Sunshine in the Mail Swap Wind Up

There were twenty amazing ladies signed up for the Sunshine in the Mail Swap in July. It was lovely getting to know some of them better, and making connections that I may well have missed out on otherwise. Some sent their parcels before I was able to get a photo from them, but you can be sure that there were some serious goodies involved, and some extensive spoiling going on for their partners.

Want to have a peek at what it was all about? Of course you do! :)

Here are some of the fabulous things that were sent. Click on any of the pictures to take you to the creator's blog.


Hope you enjoyed our little bit of Sunshine! :)

S xxx

A quick bite for lunch...

I just made these vegetable fritters for lunch today. They are super easy, don't take very long to make, and are quite tasty. The fabulous Tanya posted about them here (her family like them too) and the recipe is from here.

Jellyfish's Lunch

Both the Hubs and the boys enjoyed them, so they have gone onto the rotation list of things for me to cook.
FYI, I used the following veggies:

1 cup Broccoli
1 medium Potato
1/2 cup Kumera
1 carrot.

The grated veggies actually worked out to be just over 3 cups, instead of 2, so I added another egg, and used 1/3 cup of flour and a very rounded 1/2 tsp of curry. Next time I'll add a little more salt and a bit more curry.

Go on, give them a try! :)


S xxx

A Chip off the Old Block?

For a long time I have known what others may have missed.
My hubby has his own creative streak.
This made itself apparent a little while ago when he decided to make something for friends of ours who were expecting their second baby. Darren is a mechanic (when they were living near us he used to spend his days servicing Porches and the like at a garage that had a "dustless" room that probably would give some hospitals a run for their money!!!), so the Man of the House took a little trip to purchase the required materials, and this is what he came up with...

Obviously, I couldn't resist adding my own little touches to it (aka hand stitched ribbons!!!), but it suffices to say that as the child grows, the ribbons can be removed for a little more 'industrial' look... and then just get pulled apart all together for him to tinker around at home on projects with his dad! :)

I love how it turned out. Tomorrow I will come back with an edit and better pictures (interesting lighting today, and I obviously didn't have any photography mojo to help me out!) if the weather behaves itself.
Stay tuned...

Edit: Here they are!