A new idea

Recently everything seems to have turned upside down. My Mr J's Dream has gone horribly wrong and not only is it left in tatters - his day-day life is a misery. I never realised that something that was once a dream could have turned out with such horrifying results. The once, happy, funny and sometimes annoying chatty boyfriend has been replaced by a saddened, quiet, worrying duplicate of himself. It pains me to see him so low and I make it my daily mission to chat and cheer him up in whatever way I see possible. I do get flickers of the real Mr J on some days and that gives me hope he's still there.

I wish I didnt have to send him to work each day - I wish there was something I could do to help him figure out that theres more to life then the day to day chore of working a job that no longer makes him happy. There must be something else. I know he's 31, we have no kids and we do not own a house. But that makes us more free and easier to adapt to change if change was what he wanted. But I think with all this muddle, he cannot figure out what he wants and only focus on the now. I know deep down that bad things end up happening for good reasons and I guess this is what keeps me fairly sane.

I decided to start thinking about what I would like to do if I was given the opportunity to change my career. It's no secrete that I would like to buy a small house somewhere and have a huge family but for the now time, what would I like to do given the opportunity?

Tally's Tearooms. It came to me straight away. It's a mixture of a couple of things that have been bubbling under the surface. I can already see it as clear as day how I would like it to be. I would own a small house on a large(ish) plot of land. Then I would either build an outhouse or an extension to the house which would be the Tearooms. But my Tearooms wouldnt be you're usual set up, it would have one large table in the middle and it would be a place where mums would come along to meet mums, it would be a place where crafters would come and do craft and where anyone could pop along for a cup of tea and a home baked cake. I envison people making friends, knew mums getting together, crafters enjoying crafters company in one place, and sometimes lesson's being run. I would charge a small fee for open time and would have endless tea and my favourite cookies. The thought of being able to do this makes me feel warm inside. Why don't I give it a try?

Painting

Here is the painting I started at the weekend, I admit I haven't actually finished it and it's still sitting in prime living room space. My poor boyfriend has hinted at me to move it........ but I do plan on finishing it soon! I'm just hooked on my crochet hat. Once I finished the first ball of wool & the hat didn't look quite right - I started a new one but with a tad more tension and behold - the beany is looking more beany-like! Although I think I might have to undo a whole row because I magicially gained an extra triple by accident! 

Finally - Photo's as promised

Sunday was a morning of thick fog and then sunshine. I tidied, cleaned and dusted our living space and turned it into a photo shoot for the morning to show you what I have been up to. Firstly, here's the fog. 

Sometimes the mornings can look so pretty, usually we see the sunrise over the Dandenong ranges or storms drifting in from City or the Sea. Today it wasn't so pleasant, but the gray soon burnt away to a lovely bright, warm sunny day. 

Here's all my Moda Hushabye Tula Pink squares sewn together & the second photo is with the beautiful backing fabric I choose from the range. 

Next is the Beany I attempted to crochet from my beginners guide. It was the first crocheting pattern I have ever tried to follow, and although it is looking hat-like, I suspect I have gone wrong somewhere along the way as it appears more of a berrea then a beany! Perhaps a tad too large! 

The cushion/bean bag looking item is made out of Tonya Whelan Dolce fabric is full of wheat that and can be put in the microwave and heated up! Excellent for the cooler evenings heading our way. 

Lastly is my cupcake pin cushion, isn't it cute! The bean bag & pin cushion were made at my Saturday afternoon class - nice ideas don't you think?

Lots of projects and nothing really complete and plenty more ideas for more to make! But I'm happy and will try and finish at least something by next weekend : )

Lots going on!

This weekend was almost exhausting! I had my first new sewing class (Sewing with Vikki Leigh Martin) in Bentleigh (9-11:30am) then I had to pop home, pick up my fella, drive to Southlands - eat lunch at superspeed & then go to my next sewing class at 1pm.

Sewing with VLM was just how I imagined - 5 other girls all at different stages of sewing skills - sitting in a room filled with sewing machines, overlockers & crafts. I didn't make anything to show you, but I did practice using the overlocker for the first time and make 7 different samples of hemming to add to my reference book.

At my Southlands class I've realised it's more crafty rather then learning the basics of making clothes etc. But that's cool - I'm quite pleased with my Cupcake pin cushion!

On Sunday, after making lunch and taking Mum to the Chapel Street Bizzare shop to pick out a gift I got to work on my painting. I suddenly realised that the Chelsea Art Show is taking applicants until Friday 14th May - and that's THIS FRIDAY!!

I promise I will upload some photos soon.........

More Learning

It would be great if I could learn everything all at once, but wouldn't that be boring? I haven't blogged in a little while but I have been busying learning and making! My Saturday afternoon sewing class is going well and I am already the proud owner of a wheat bean bag that I can microwave and heat up! It's fairly simple made with calico and I have made a cover that is really like a small pillowcase - nothing too exciting but the fabric is pretty (I will add a photo soon). 

I have started on my beautiful patchwork quilt from the Moda Hushabye range by Tula Pink. I managed to sew all the squares from the layer cake together to make a quilt top. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on a quiet Saturday evening - and there's only one line which is slightly off and not lined up properly! I have just ordered my backing and trimming fabric and on Saturday I'll pop into Spotlight to pick up the wadding fabric. 

I have also signed up to another sewing class on a Saturday morning. It was one of the classes I contacted and they were fully booked. I figured I would take this class on too whilst there was an opening as it seems better timing for the future and offered more classes then the class I am already taking. 

Amongst my sewing I have also been practicing my crocheting techniques and trying to wake up my memory from many years ago! I have a cute pattern for a beany which I plan to give a go next week.

So as you can see - I have been busy - and I've been enjoying every minute of it.

Happy crafting - whatever you are up to! 

Back to it

With Easter in the mix, I've been out and about far too much (although quality time of course) spending it with lots of family and friends. Sadly I haven't had much time on my hands to do anything - but I have managed to sign myself to Metros Southland's Saturday afternoon sewing class for beginners which starts next week! I'm really excited! The class goes on for 8 weeks, and then I can join another one on a wednesday evenings for 8 weeks if I would like to learn even more! 

Meanwhile I have also been doing my research on quilting (I'm a complete novice) and have bought a beautiful layer cake of Moda Hushabye fabric from Fabric Patch which I'm really hoping to start sewing together tomorrow - if I'm brave enough. 

Also, have you noticed my new blog design? I just wanted something a little more pretty to look at! 

The top

The weekend didn't go as initially planned - but in a nice way. On Sunday I cut out my material (a fair bit wrong) it would have been better if I had noticed/or knew what the diagram meant where you were supposed to cut your pieces out to make the most of the material. Anyways - with the help of my mum whose skills included a beautiful little red riding hood cape for my yr 5 school fancy dress day, plus a couple of cushions - she was a blessing as at least one of us had a small idea of what the instructions were trying to tell us. I now have the knowledge that a very easy pattern - is only a very easy pattern to a dressmaker or someone who has actually been taught how to follow a pattern. It is the opposite to very easy when you don't a thing except how to sew a line on a sewing machine! After getting over the initial shock - I had a really lovely afternoon half making a pretty top with my mum which still brings a smile to my face when I think of us reading - rereading and then rereading again a one line sentence and it still sounding like it was written in French! My favourite part is that I managed to sew a frill!