Last weeks of handstitched class

Week 4 of the hand stitched class was appliqué.

This was brought into the quilt with a simple dogwood bud shape embellished with blanket stitch.

The strips for the sides of the quilt also had on point triangles which were a little fussy to make but well worth the effort.

I’ve said it before but what is it with cats and quilt photos.

Another appliqué project offered was this cute flower pillow.

She also gave directions for embellishing a skirt. I made the skirt but never got around to the embellishment.

I have been focusing on getting the quilt done.

The backing is going to be very simple using the Sarah Jane family tree panel.

The final week was about hand quilting. My quilt is now bound and ready to go with some beautiful pink perle thread I got from crochet Australia.

This is the pattern that will be in the pink border of my quilt.

The other projects offered in week 5 were some napkins and a whole cloth quilt. I am going to give the napkins a miss but make the whole cloth quit (using the fabrics below) for a friend that is expecting a girl in november.

So now that is the end of the handstitched class. I made a lot of projects and I sent Sheridan a lot of “work in progress” text messages.
This is the first blog based online class that I have done and I was very impressed. Rachael obviously spent a lot of time and effort preparing the projects, taking photos, writing blog posts, creating instructions and making the videos. The projects were easily made and the instructions easy to follow.  There was always something interesting to make for each topic.
It was great to have the Flickr pool too, to see what other creative types made and how they interpreted the projects.
I can’t wait for her to run the quilting curves class again, I will definitely be signing up for that one.

Thanks Rachael. I had a ball.

Little people

I bought the kids some of these wooden dolls ages ago. We painted them together and they were played with a lot. But slowly they have started going AWOL. Occasionally they turn up under the couch or in a bookshelf.

I decided to get some more from goose grease and I noticed that she had these great checker sets for sale.

The postage was a little but steep (including the board) so I decided that I could make my own set and just got the dolls from her.

I made black ninjas for one team

and after some discussion, the other team are little girls.

I  used acrylic paint that I bought from an art shop.  It was a simple student set of 10 tubes.  They could probably do with a coat of varnish too, but I really couldn’t be bothered.

There are 4 extras each for “king me”.

The board was a lucky find at the local market for $5. I just noticed it. I am sure if I was actually looking for one I would never have found it.

The kids like playing checkers with them.  But the game doesn’t last long as the little boy invariably starts losing. Then the pieces are generally taken from the board to participate in battles around the house.

At least they are being played with.

I can run … and sew

When I wear this shirt from now on – I will wear it with pride.

It means I can run (I did the Bridge to Brisbane) and I can sew.

Because the shirt did not start out like this.  The shirt that we got on the day was a horrible ill fitting high neck shirt that I would not wear.  I see people at the gym in them all the time.

I used my mission maxi pattern for the shape.  I had to add some fabric here and there to get the words to sit in the right places.

I did the arm holes and the neckline with this clear elastic stuff ($1.99/m at Spotlight).  I sewed it on the right side of the shirt with a zig zag stitch.  Then I turned it under and topstitched it down.  It worked pretty well.

I didn’t take a photo of the tshirt I started with.  It was only when I got my husbands unworn shirt that I swore and realised I should have used his which had heaps more fabric in it.

When I next get a crappy race shirt I am going to get the biggest size I can so I can make it better.

best laid plans

This morning I was going to go to running squad at my gym at 5:30am.  It was raining.

This morning I was supposed to go on a Helicopter flight over the city.  It was raining.

So I went shopping and did some sewing instead.  Definitely a fabulous alternative.

I bought this terrific maxi dress from Sportscraft with some birthday money.  It was 25% off,  so I was out of pocket a whole $12.

If you see me at any outing over the upcoming holiday period this is what I will be wearing.  And the most unbelievable part – it is a size 6.

And the sewing – I finally finished the October round of the medallion quilt.  The theme was squares and due to lack of inspiration I just copied what Sheridan did.

It doesn’t look great but I am hoping when I add the next round of fabric which has yellow in it, it will look better.  I have only days left to get the november appliqué round done.  At least I won’t be more than 2 months behind.

 

Another creative controller

My hubby has recently proved again to me that he is also a creative controller.
He works at the same place that I do, in the same aisle – less than 10m from where I sit. We often have friendly banter between us much to the amusement of our colleagues. And when we are at work at the same time you can always count on a joke or comment about us leaving the kids in the car – windows down of course.

Hubby has a few hobby’s that keep him busy. He has written and self published a book on lulu (about “on the job training”) and at the moment he is mucking around with web and iPhone apps. The latest is for teaching kids sight words. (You can see the app online but at it isn’t complete and only works on macs at the moment – BTW he would love feedback if you have any!)

But apart from all that in the last couple of weeks he has made stuff.
He made his first billy cart for the kids.

Due to the lack of hills around us it is equipped with a tow rope. He used a bunnings DIY fact sheet and it turned out awesome.

For Halloween he carved us a pumpkin. He did a great job and tried not to make it too scary. He has said that he is already looking forward to doing another one for next year.

The kids didn’t go out on Halloween but we let them dress up for any trick or treaters that arrived at our door.  Sheridan – yes the little boy is still wearing that batman outfit and the cape you made!!

So overall my hubby is pretty clever and not a bad bloke to have around, so I think we will keep him. It is his birthday today too. So Happy Birthday hubby!  We love you.

A Ton of Wool

Got some spare cash to support Australian Wool production.

Kylie Gusset has come up with this idea to produce a ton of wool using small Australian producers to help the industry.  You can donate (or pledge) and get a reward in return for how much you wish to help out.  She is trying to raise $33000.  The money goes directly paying the farmer, scour, fibre processor, mill and transport companies. The whole project occurs within the 03 area code – grown in Tasmania, processed and milled in Victoria.

There is a lot more information here on pozible about it.

I think it is a great idea – thanks Susie for letting me know about it.

 

 

Brisbane EKKA

Last friday we dragged the kids out of school to the Royal Queensland  show which is also known as the Ekka.

We got there nice and early to avoid the crowds and parked across the road at the local public school that was making a killing charging to park on their oval.

We ate all of the bad food that you are supposed to eat
Dagwood dogs
Fairy Floss
Choc coated marshmallows and strawberries

The kids were allowed two show bags each. 1 toy and 1 chocolate/lolly bag.
They chose Ben 10 and zhu zhu pets.

They ended up being good choices s they both had some similar items. Both had reward charts and the same style carry bags. For their other bags the little boy chose the milky way bag and the little girl picked malteasers.

 

I got the Craig and Hale bag which basically contained bags of choc coated lollies. Imagine you favorite standard banana or raspberry lolly and then dip it in chocolate.

We spent some time in side show alley and went on a few rides together – dodgem cars, the fun house and the psychedelic house. The kids also had a turn on the clowns and won some very average prizes.

The psychedelic house was just a fancy mirror maze until you put the funky glasses on.

   
The little boy had a go on a slide but wasn’t willing to have his 2nd and 3rd go.

The little girl and I went on the bungee trampolines. Regardless of the fact that I was the only one over 12 having a go, I still had fun. I did a few back flips and that got the adrenaline going and picked up my heart rate. I am no acrobat and there was nothing dainty or elegant about my maneuvers. My husband said that I looked like a frog trying to struggle my lanky 5″10 body over itself.

Overall it was a good day and it was not cheap. Just after walking in the gate we had already spent $85 on parking and entry. The amount of temptation for kids is extreme – food, rides, show bags. For us the Ekka is an expensive family outing and I guess that we accept that. It is something that we have done every year since we moved to Queensland and I think it will be a tradition we will continue.

But I don’t think I will go on the trampolines again – done that now – tick.

Thanks for the quick response, I made a green one

Sheridan is more than capable of making her own green one.  I only had an 18″ square of the Lara Cameron rooftops fabric which I got from our visit to ink and spindle on SIT 2010 Melbourne.

It was one of those pieces of fabric that was to be saved for something special – but it is only special if it is being used.  This sleeve will be used daily.

I took my inspiration from The Cottage Home tutorial that uses fleece for the lining.  I had every intention of using quilt batting and those cotton lining fabrics – but couldn’t be stuffed.  An hours work and it was done.

Oh and I am also going to get one of those smart feather cases that Cass suggested. They look awesome.  And great for when my ipad is not in its sleeve.

 

Edited to add – sorry I was trying to be clever and use my mobile me gallery for the photos – it obviously didn’t work!!

 

 

 

 

Michelle Bridges 12WBT – my opinion

I really don’t mind if you are not interested in reading this – you may move on and I will see you next post when I have something hopefully more crafty.

In my last post I got a few comments about how good I am looking.   Well I am feeling pretty bloody good too.

I have been doing Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation 12WBT (or in plain terms – diet).

I have been thinking about this for a couple of days now.  I really want to let  you know what I thought of the 12 week program.

This is the last week of Round 1.  I wanted to let you know my results and what I have learned and think of the program so far.

I was told about this program in January by a very good friend.  She told me that some of her friends had achieved some awesome results and that she was going to do it too.

12WBT is an online 12 week program run by Michelle Bridges (from Biggest Loser).  Each week you get an exercise program, a menu plan (with recipes and a shopping list) and 2 weekly videos from Michelle.  It does cost $200 but the difference it has made to me and my husband’s life, $200 is a bargain.

The thing that I think that is unique about this program is that you all start on the same day together. I reckon about 3500 people did the first round this year.  The program also has a very active online forum community.  Any question I have ever had – I just searched the forums and generally someone else has posted about it too.  It is nice to know that you are not the only one.  In fact when we went to SIT I think that there were 6 other ladies doing 12WBT too.

It begins with 4 weeks of pre-season tasks.  She sets you some challenges to do before you actually begin to get your head in the right mind set. Things like cleaning out your fridge and pantry, setting goals and going over your “excuses”.  I lost 4kg in the pre season.

The exercise program has 4 levels – Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced Lean and Fit and Advanced Lean and Strong.  The last two seem to be focused on those that have little or no weight to lose and are interested in increased fitness and toning.  I mostly followed the intermediate program.  Then within each level she has 4 programs for different training locations – at home (your loungeroom), outside (local park), and two for at the Gym – machines and classes.

For the first 4 or 5 weeks I basically just used exercise DVDs in my lounge room.  I now do a mixture.  Often during the week I do a DVD, a class at the Gym, run on our treadmill, do an outside run and do an outdoor training program.  Every now and then I also go to a Yoga class.

I am (have been) a busy person.  I juggle our household with both of us on shift work, the little girl at school and the little boy at kindy 2 days per week. Remember I also manage to find time to knit and sew.  So saying that you don’t have time is not really an excuse.  The main thing that I learnt through this program was to be organised.  For me this meant printing out a weekly calendar with our shifts and commitments.  I would then go through each day and figure out when I could do some exercise.  That then pretty much determined what type of exercise I did.  If the kids were at home then I would do a DVD. (You would be surprised how much they enjoy seeing mummy doing exercise in the lounge room, more often than not they would join in too.) If hubby was also at home then I could duck out to do a class or go for a walk.

Ok – the most important thing.  The meals.  Yes they are good.  Yes they are simple.  I didn’t like a handful of them but there was lots of room for substitution.  The weekly meals plans aren’t stupid either.  They don’t expect you to be able to make a complicated salad during a work day, or a difficult and long to prepare recipe mid week.  Again my main reason for success with meal plan was planning the week ahead.  If I was on a night shift I would make double the previous nights meal and take that to work.  I have a menu sheet (from Kikki K) on the fridge with what I am eating for the whole week – every meal.

And because I have shopped for the whole week I know that when it comes time to prepare the meal I have all of the ingredients on hand.  There is also an out – once a week there is a treat meal.  So you can plan around an event like a friend’s birthday to make that your treat meal and not have to worry about the diet for one night.  Quite often we use our treat meal to get take away.

When I told my Husband that I wanted to do this, I asked him for his support in following the “diet” part of the program.  I didn’t want to be making two lots of meals.  He has been absolutely awesome and really helped me.  He has also re-evaluated his eating habits and seems to enjoy the meals that are part of the menu.  I do give him sightly bigger serves and generally increase the meat portion.

So my results.  As of yesterday I have lost a total of 12.8kg – 15.2%.  I was just over 84kg at christmas time.  I lost 4kg during preseason and the rest over the last 11 weeks.   Every week of the program you weigh in and put your stats on the website.  Every 4 weeks you take measurements and do a simple fitness test.  This shows you the results that the scales don’t.  I have lost 8cm from my chest ( you can’t decide where it goes from!) and 11cm from my hips – in reality that is a size 16 to a size 12.  My hubby has also lost 13.5kg and is running!  He is now a size 34″ and was 38″.

I didn’t think that I was particularly overweight, but I was at my heaviest and very unfit.  I knew I was in trouble when I had to buy size 16 jeans and they were starting feel uncomfortable.

SO you want proof.  This is me September, September and December 2010.

And this is me TODAY  - in my brand new JAG size 11 jeans.

Check the difference between the 11 and the 16 in the exact same Jean!!

So what is next …. I am not signing up for the next round and am going to try to “go it alone”.  I have a huge bank of suitable recipes, I know what I need to eat, what I should avoid and I know how much exercise I need to do.  I just need to continue being organised and planning each week in advance.  I am also planning on doing a 5km fun run early next month and the Bridge to Brisbane (10km) in September.

Why am I telling you this.  The next round of sign ups is open – round 2 kick off is 23 May and pre season is up and running. If you have some weight to shift or just want to be fitter and healthier,  I want you to feel as good and I do and get the results that I have or better!  It is only $200 and it is only 12 weeks. Go for it.

I am obviously not getting paid to endorse this program.  These are my thoughts and my true results.

If you have any questions please email me, craftjunk at gmail dot com and I will be happy to answer them.

EDITED to add on 9 April 2012.  I wrote this post almost 12 months ago.

I am still owe my health and fitness to this 12WBT program.  All up I lost a total of 20kg and have now maintained my goal weight for the last 5 months.  I completed a 10km race in under an hour and am training for a half marathon.  This program gives you the tools to live a healthy life.  You learn what you need to on the program and then incorporate it into your daily life. You don’t need to continuously sign up.  I did three rounds to get where I am and will probably do another one as a refresher and to push myself a little bit more.

Flood Relief Auction – crochet bolero

AUCTION ENDED

Congratulations Becky, I will be sending it your way soon with some other goodies.

Better luck next time Shenry.

I have decided to get on the band wagon and auction a handmade item as part of the Flood Relief Auction run by Toni at make it perfect.

I live less than 12km from Brisbane city.  We had no damage and there is no visible evidence of a natural disaster near us.  But the amount of destruction that the Brisbane river caused is horrendous.

I worked leading up to and during the night of the flood peak.  Those couple of days were the hardest that I have ever worked.  We were inundated with media and rescue helicopters.  The air traffic levels have finally settled and things at work and in Brisbane are slowly getting back to normal.

I am putting my Kauni Cardigan up for auction.

I made this late last year, I love it and spent many many hours crocheting it.  It is more of a bolero than a cardigan.  It has never been worn and I am auctioning it off because it is slightly small on me and I would love to see it go to a new home for a good cause.

It measures 45cm from neckline to lower back and about the same across the shoulders at the back.  Here is a photo of me wearing it.  I am a size 14 with about a 40″ chest!! (lucky for some!).  The sleeves go to just below the elbows.  I think it would fit a size 12 and below nicely.

Please contact me if you have any questions.  Now for the fine print.

How this auction works:
1.  Bidding will start at $30 (Australian).
2.  You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address.  Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3.  Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4.  This auction is open to everyone, however $10 will be charged for International addresses to cover part of the postage.  Postage is FREE for Australian residents.
5.  The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.
6.  At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address).  The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email.  Once proof of payment has been received, I will post it to you.
7.  Thankyou for participating and happy bidding!