Halloween Wizard

This is Jack in his wizard costume I made for his Halloween dress-up day at daycare.


The cape is black panne velvet with a silver star pattern all over and it is lined with blue satin. It has a hood and I made a double loop and button fastening at the neckline because I didn't want to risk loose cords hanging around his neck. I made it without a pattern and was surprised how easy it was. I did make it a mile too long because I didn't allow for the weight of the fabric and it has about a 10cm hem - but that means it will fit for years!

The hat was originally a cheap witches hat from Spotlight, but when I took it out of the pack the fabric/plastic of the brim ripped apart from the crown. I decided to pull it apart and use it as a pattern. I used the same wire in the brim but it was rather wonky so the hat ended up with a wobbly shape to the brim.


Jack loved it but the daycare leaders had to confiscate the hat when he started to get a bit rough with it. He puts it on his head and then spins it like a top, and then takes it off, holds it by the point and bounces it up and down. Apparently it is great for whacking other kids with as well.



When I dropped him off I hung around for a while to accept the compliments from other parents - I've turned into one of those mothers and he isn't even at school yet!

My bears..

These are the bears I made for my niece and nephew.

I made the golden one first and named him Grumbles because of his grumpy looking face. He was made from a kit ('Marmalade') bought from SL years ago and put away until I gained enough confidence to start him. He was suprisingly easy but I had a lot of trouble with the nose and pulled it out several times. That's probably why he looks so grumpy! My nephew managed to pull his head off, leaving the neck joint intact. I did a repair job and think next time I will try gluing the top disc to the fabric if possible, and make sure the gathers at the neck are much tighter.

My niece selected the burgundy coloured fur from my stash for her bear and I was pleased because I loved the colour and would have picked that for her anyway. I used a pattern called 'Butterscotch and Cocoa' out of a bear-making book. I named him 'Cran-beary'. The fur was fairly lightweight and stretchy so I had to back it with interfacing so I could sew it together. This gave him a rather leaner look than I had planned but he ended up with quite a nice shape. The nose and face sculpture was much easier this time around.

Both bears have growlers in their bellies. I've had a fascination with growling bears since I was little and love the different sounds you can get. I've got several growlers still waiting for bears to bring them to life.......

Liz's bag

This is a bag I made for my sister for Christmas a while ago. I have another version in the same fabrics half made! It is based on the 'Beauty of a flower' pattern but I altered it to include hidden pockets on the outside, underneath the contrast band, but didn't take pictures of these before I gave it to her.

The contrast band has butterflies appliqued from the green fabric and small purple ribbon butterflies scattered along the length. I wanted to add some beading to them but ran out of time.

Here is close up of the stictchery I did for the front pocket. It was my first ever stitchery from one of the first craft magazines in my stash. I made it long before the bag and had it kicking around until I fell in love with the purple paisley fabric and decided they would work together. The stitchery is on calico and I tea-dyed it to match the creamy-beige in the paisley (another first) and then frayed the edges. I really like the way it turned out and my sister says she gets compliments every time she takes it into SL or another craft/fabric shop. She doesn't sew (yet) but is starting to develop a serious fabric addiction which means great pressies for me and Mum!

I also covered a diary that would fit into the front pocket of the bag in the same fabrics. Another simple pattern and a really easy project that may come in handy for future gifts. However, next time I will make sure I use the really thin pellon as the stuff I used was a bit too thick and made the cover a bit bulky.

My first post

After being inspired by many months of lurking and snooping through other peoples blogs I finally got around to creating my own!

I'm proud to call myself a quilter and sewer although my actual output is pretty low compared to the designs and ideas swirling through my head. My UFO list is getting quite long as I have a habit of jumping into a new project when I'm already half-way through something else.

I'm mum to Jack, 18 months and work full time as a QA Chemist (beverages) currently in a shift role but soon to move to a permenant Mon-Fri role. Hopefully I'll be dropping back to part-time around Easter so I can be a bit more of a mum and less of a grouch! My husband is a construction foreman. We've been married almost five years.

I live on a wonderful bit of acreage between Brissy and the Gold Coast. We have our own patch of paradise complete with dog, chooks, millions of wild birds and a mob of wallabies that visit every morning and afternoon (hence the title of my blog).


















The pic shown here is the first quilt I ever completed - as a gift for my sister-in-law. It's a pretty simple design. I bought a kit from 'Faeries in my Garden' and altered the design to fit an extra row of squares. It was supposed to have a hand embroidered border but I thought the colours and patterns were so pretty that it didn't need it. I have another version of this quilt in pinks and yellows in my UFO cupboard. I am 3/4 through the hand embroidery on it and must pull it out soon and finish it off.

The cushions were my own design, made using scraps from the quilt. It was my first attempt at satin stitch applique since year 10 home-ec! I used hand stitching to quilt the cushion fronts and was really happy with the final effect.