Back in Singapore and back online

It has been ages since my last blog and that is not to say that I have been idling away the time.  The kids went back to school  last week and my mum in law left on Sunday night back to Holland so I am finding the house rather quiet during the day.  It's back to just me and Misty!  Misty has not been her usual bouncy self  the last couple of days and I suspect that she is missing Oma.

The last couple of weeks were busy with the kids in NZ (Brrr) and settling back into a normal routine in Singapore. While in NZ I took the girls to the bead shop in Petone and they spent a couple of hours making necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  It wasn't really Luke's thing so we went out for a drink at one of the nearby cafes. 

Making jewellery at Bead store

Celine managed to go horse riding again while we were home.  Sadly that is something that she is not able to do in Singapore so it was great for her to brush up her skills and even managed to do some jumps.

Luke spent an afternoon at the H20 pool with his friends Tim and Tim.  He also had his first ever sleep over at my sisters house and the next day she roped him into playing hockey.  He really enjoyed the game even though he wasn't really sure what to do and the other kids in the team were so supportive and encouraging!
It was great to watch him on the field although by the end of the game I couldn't feel my toes anymore due to the cold.

While in NZ I discovered the Edmonds Magic Pavlova mix.  It comes in a small plastic egg and all you have to do is add water and sugar.  Surely it couldn't be this easy?  Yep it was! and it was really yummy. I have bought a couple of them back to Singapore and I baked one up on Sunday.  Yum yum! Ok so the picture below is not actually the one I baked but I bet it tastes every bit as good!

Last week I also took Gysje to the Pottery Jungle here in Singapore.  If you are into pottery then this is the place to go. 

Today was the first time since June that I have been able to get behind the sewing machine to work on the Geisha quilt. My mum in law and I went to the quilt shop last week to pick up a new background fabric as we didn't like the one it came with. Hopefully it will get finished in the next week as I am looking forward to starting on something new. (and more exciting?!)

Well thats about all from my for now.....Happy quilting

Dyeing experiment

With all the hustle and bustle of moving house there has not been much time for quilting or anything else really!  But now the house is pretty much in order and even my sewing room is starting to look like a sewing room! Yeah!

A few weeks ago I had ordered some procion dyes from Dharma Trading and they arrived a couple of days after we moved house.  On Friday the kids had a day off school for Labour day and so Celine and I decided to give dying fabric a go.  We were using "the lazy dyer" method by Melody Johnson.  I mean, why make it any harder than it needs to be!

The aim was to make blue fabric going from light to dark........

Its not bad for a first attempt but there does need to be more difference between the shades.  It was a lot of fun and so I will give it another go this week.  Our biggest achievment was that nothing else inadvertently turned blue. (which was a REAL possiblity!)

Im hoping I can source some of the materials here in Singapore instead of importing it from the States as that can get quite costly.  Will keep you posted.

Managed to work on the horse quilt this week too...Nearly finished! 

Till next time...happy quilting!

update horse quilt

Here is a quick update on the horse quilt.

  It has been ironed to the background fabric and batting and backing added.  I have started quilting it but it has had to go on the backburner as we have two of the kids birthdays coming up, and my husbands birthday and we are moving house.

Plenty of things to keep me busy...Thankfully I will get my own sewing room in the new house so no more sewing in the living room. Yeah!

Till next time

Happy Quilting

Horseplay

Today was one of those really rare days that I didnt need to go anywhere and could just spend a day at home.  It seemed like a great opportunity to work on my horse quilt.

The last 2 1/2 days were spent at school making curtains with other ladies from the PTF.  We made 72 curtains in all.  They still need to be hemmed but that will be next weeks job.  I am really feeling my knees from all the crawling on the ground measuring curtains.....old age perhaps!

Anyway, with the curtains all but done, the housework deferred till tomorrow, it was time to do some quilting!

The pattern looked simple enough but the pieces were pretty small.

Here's my progress for the day:

Starting with the mane

Adding the face

The nose

Ready to be ironed to the background

This is a pattern by Toni Whitney from the Bigfork Bay Cotton Company. http://www.bigforkbaycottonco.com/

I was lucky enough to meet her at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last year.  She does some amazing animal quilts.  My friend Hennie has made the elephant one and it is spectacular!

This quilt still needs to have the background and borders pieced before I can iron the horse on.  Hopefully I will get another quiet day soon.

Now it is time to go back to the real world....cooking something up for dinner!  (sigh!)

We've been on a treasure hunt!

Hi everyone

I realise it has been a while since my last post...that doesn't mean that I haven't been doing anything.  Last week my good friend Hennie took my mum in law,Gijsje and I geocaching.  This is where you have a gps and follow the co-ordinates until you find the treasure - usually hidden under a rock or in a tree or attached to a post.  The treasure is usually a small box containing small collectables which are taken out and replaced with another.  This is something that can be done all around the world....Singapore, Holland, Australia, NZ etc etc.  It is a great way to see a part of the country that you dont normally get to.  You can check it out at Geocaching

We were in Fort Canning which is a beautiful park in central Singapore.  We found 4 caches in the morning in and around the park.  Im sure the gardener was laughing at us tromping around in the bushes getting bitten by mosquitos.  It is such a rewarding feeling finding the "treasure".  I was amazed at how many people from all around the world do this.  It would be a great thing to do with kids as well.

We were lucky the weather was not too hot and it stayed dry.  By lunch time we had found all four caches and we stopped at a restaurant for a well earned beer!

My husband and I have also been hunting for a new house as our lease runs out in April. We like where we live now but wanted a bit more room than what we have now.  It has been a real eyeopener!  Hopefully we will find something soon.  Will keep you posted!

I have finally started work on my horse quilt!  I have traced all the pattern pieces onto fusible web and my lovely friend Hennie traced the master pattern for me.  Wow there are soo many small pieces!

Last week I also finished off a friends quilt and read two books. (not much else gets done when I find a good book!)

Life has been pretty hectic these last couple of weeks.......

Oh well at least I can't complain about being bored!

Happy quilting!