After finishing my quilt for Kylie, one of my friends at work approached me about making a quilt for one of her friends who had just had a baby girl which I was only too happy to do.

Making a quilt for someone you have never met before puts the pressure on! You don't know their taste for colors or patterns and being paid makes it all the more important to get it right.
(disclaimer:  when I say paid I only charged for the materials. I couldn't bring myself to charge for the time that I put in to it... does anyone else feel this way? how did you get around feeling like a fraud?)

Caitlin (from work) and I originally got together and found a pin on Pinterest and then went through my stash to find some fabrics which Caitlin picked out. These ended up being a few fat quarters I picked up about 18 months ago from Spotlight.

The pinspiration came from this quilt that we traced back to http://wegthree.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/finished-rubys-name-quilt.htm

The final results for the 'Harlow' quilt I made are...

I ran in to some road blocks with this quilt but managed to over come them all and end up with a great result.

The biggest challenge was jumping in to cutting and sewing without taking a few minutes to think about the entire project. The quilt ended up being bigger than I intended which meant I had a bit of a freak out about the backing fabric not being large enough. In the end I centered up the wadding & backing then folded the border over to create the binding.

In this case I was lucky and it worked out but an important lesson was learnt.

So currently on its way to Queensland is this precious baby girl quilt for my lovely friend Kylie.

Kylie was one of my besties whilst I was working for Virgin Australia, a fellow kiwi and one of the most beautifully generous and kind hearted people I know. Bubba is due in a few weeks and I can not wait for all the photos and to eventually make it down to Brisbane to see them.

I found this Frolic Girl Organic Cotton by Birch on an American website and fell in love with it. Elephants, as my blog name suggests, are a big hit in my fabric stash. We (Mina, my sister and I) now have a small collection in our Australian Etsy shop Ruby Grace Fabrics.

This is my second penny patch following Rachel at Stitched in Color's tutorial and my first attempt at free motioning an actual quilt (rather than just struggling on trial blocks).

Can't think of anything better than babies and quilts

A fortnight ago Mina and I went to our first meeting of Darwin Patchworkers and Quilters.

It was great, we were made to feel very welcome. Essentially the first part was the monthly business meeting and the second part was a show & tell. There were some very impressive projects.

But tonight I went to my first drop in session and it was fantastic. To be with other women who are joined by crafting and appreciate something I take so much joy in was so nice. 

The best part was sharing tools and tips and seeing what other people use. Flash irons, Go cutters, a massive library .... It was soooo exciting! 

What I was working on is a Dresden block for my Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month

 

Only 3 more blocks to complete after this one then free motioning fun eeeeeekkkk!!!

So the last time I blogged was a year and a half ago. That is a long time! 

Essentially not having home internet access for the first 11 months was the main reason for not blogging and the past 9 months can be put down to laziness and the thought of 'nobody knows I'm here and nobody really cares' (apart from my 1 follower!!! Woohoo go Sophie)

Here is a quick recap of the past 20 months 

- Chris and I moved to Darwin to be closer to my family and enjoy the chilled out lifestyle

Darwin is in the Northern Territory of Australia. There is about 250,000 people in the whole state (which is geographically massive).

It is HOT here but varys in degrees of hot. During the Dry it is a lovely heat where you can go outside and play and relax in the sun but during the Wet season I am super grateful we have air con because it can be a bit overwhelming.

Being in Darwin has been great for my relationship with Chris and my family up here, my career and about how I feel about my place in the world.

- We have moved house twice. Our first house was on 5 aces of bush land it was great when we moved here but we now greatly appreciate our ground level apartment. 

Now we do not need to worry about 'wildlife'(aka snakes, spiders and wild dogs) as much, we can turn on the tap and clean water comes out, we have internet and most importantly we have started being part of the community, talking to the neighbours, going to the local markets on Friday night for dinner and knowing the checkout operators at the supermarket. It is really nice. 

- We found out that I have infertility issues hence why after almost 2 years of trying still no baby. Unfortunately the medical care up here isn't great, there is a saying 'if in pain, get on a plane'.

After a few attempts I have not felt comfortable with the doctors/fertility clinics up here so we are currently in a wait and see mode to see if....

A) we naturally conceive 

B) we move to another state where the medical care is better

C) there is some amazing breakthrough with medicine and I just suck it up and deal with the clinics up here because it is a sure thing.

- I have been crafting like a mad woman! It is great and is my absolute happiness. Sewing and knitting and crocheting but mainly quilting has helped me so much through all of the infertility heartache of the past year especially .

- I am strongly campaigning for a Bulldog for Christmas ( French or English)

Next week we will be on the move again up to Darwin however I will let you know all about it later. Because we are moving all of my craft stuff has been packed up and all I have managed to keep out as 'essential-goods-that-can't-be-packed' is my crochet project.

I was inspired by this project by my friend Sophie when we were moving last time when I didn't think ahead to save anything from the packing boxes. Sophie and I became friends working at a Berry Restaurant over a summer many moons ago, it was one of the best summers ever!!!

Anyway Sophie did Lucy from Attic24's ripple blanket tutorial Ripple Blanket with fantastic results.

(This is Sophie's Ripple blanket)

A knitting magazine I had brought came with a few plastic crochet hooks and after 'mastering' (use that terms very loosely) knitting I thought how hard can it be?? Well it was harder than I thought, crochet patterns and knitting patterns don't look the same (honest surprise), how do you make a blanket with only one needle/crochet hook (scratches head), and couldn't get past making a chain (really even building a chain had me stumped). Turns out I did not like crocheting at all!!!!! No amount of Googling seemed to help, finally I asked Sophie (I should have done this in the first place) and she pointed me in the direction of Craftyminx.

Dana (Craftyminx) has put together the most amazing crochet tutorials and I would be lost without them
/Crochet School I can not recommend this strongly enough to anyone.(If I hadn't found Craftyminx I would have probably burnt those crochet hooks)

I will have photos of my hopefully soon to be completed ripple blanket soon (Our cross state road trip should provide plenty of crochet time)

The yarn I have used is Double Knit from Lincraft, these colours make me happy.

Bruce got scared during a movie so decided to come lie on top of me as I crocheted. I can't get mad when he gets this concerned wee face going.

This is our go to snack when heading out on an adventure (mainly a surfing snack at the moment). It is super easy and yummy.

You need a loaf tin, fill the tin with water then measure the amount of water you remove eg 10 cups / 2.5 cups as this is the amount of ingredients you are going to put back in. Then line it with baking paper

There are 5 ingredients that you add in equal parts. These are self raising flour, raw sugar, milk, sultanas and baking bran.

My loaf tins in the pictures are 2.5 cups so in goes to a bowl
1/2 a cup of  SR Flour
1/2 a cup of Raw Sugar
1/2 a cup of Milk
1/2 a cup of Sultanas
1/2 a cup of Baking Bran

Mix it all in together and then put it in the lined tin.

Then bake for 45 minutes at 180c. Make sure it is all the way cooked through by putting a skewer through the middle and making sure it comes out clean. (not all gooey).

Let it sit in the tin for another 10 minutes on a cooling rack before tipping it out, slicing it up and smothering it in butter

My hubby and I have a weekend routine, on Saturday we get up, drive up the coast to Happy Valley or Dickys Beach on the Sunshine Coast spend a few hours surfing before grabbing McDonalds Chocolate Thick Shake and heading for Spotlight (well I go to Spotlight, Chris goes and finds a more masculine store with air con and hangs out there).

This is what I look forward to all week. Hanging out with my awesome husband, surfing and crafting! What more could a g girl want?

This weekend when I got to Spotlight I struggled for sewing inspiration. I picked up some fabric for a dress I will make later on but didn't feel like doing it this weekend.

So I got out some needles and wool and set to making some baby booties. I love the tops of these booties and like how they are not too feminine (well apart from being purple) but the pattern is one I really like.

Knitting feels a but redundant here with the heat so not 100% sure what I will do with them but they can go in the knitted goods pile I started in New Zealand.