Christmas Day

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

                                                                        Luke 2:14

Glimpses of our Christmas Day, reflecting on God's gift of peace and goodwill towards men which came in the form of a baby. A happy and blessed Christmas to all.

At The Gabba

 

The atmosphere and details of a sport's event can't be fully captured, even by TV. This is why our older five children booked tickets to the First day's play of the cricket test match between India and Australia in Brisbane. They left around sunrise on Wednesday morning, it's a four hour drive to The Gabba, as the ground is affectionately known (located in the suburb of Woolloongabba).

It was a very hot and humid day, even more so within the stadium, both for the players and the spectators sitting in the sun, seven and a half hours long - and that's just Day one. A cricket test match lasts for up to five consecutive days. 

They loved seeing their favourite players up close, watching the pre-game Toss to see which side has first choice of batting or fielding, seeing the bowlers marking their run-ups with paint.....

It was very late at night when they arrived safely home - and now they continue to watch the game on TV. As I type this, day Four's play is underway and it looks like Australia has a good chance of winning. The cricketers in our family will soon need to drag themselves away from the action to play their own local Saturday afternoon games. 

*All photos taken by Miss N and her twin sister, Gracie.

Each Day is Precious

Just another Sunday at church - wild kangaroos who 'own' the grounds, and a young poinciana tree beginning to provide shade for cars to park under. Inside our humble concrete brick church Gracie, on guitar, Miss N, playing cajon 'drum', and Miss E on keyboard are practicing as part of the music team before church begins - (Master T preparing projector and sound).

'Just another Sunday' with quick snaps from my phone - except that it became the last Sunday for one of our church family, a single mum with two young children who inexplicably died Monday night, the same night a fatal hostage siege in Sydney saddened our country (in a Lindt cafe our twins have been to). 

 Each day is precious.....

Hobbs Heirloom Organic Cotton batting -
with scrim on the left, without scrim on the right.
(Both are the same colour,
there is just more shadow on the left.)

On the sewing front, I have completed a quilt top and back using my Wildwood organic fabrics, mixed with several other Cloud 9 organic fabrics.  I have sourced a second organic cotton batting which is 100% organic cotton with no scrim  - it looks and feels softer and smoother than the organic batting with scrim, even though both are produced by Hobbs. The batting without scrim requires closer quilting to keep it stable and is also more suitable for hand quilting. As with many cotton battings, both have flecks of plant matter through them.

Yesterday I carefully pre-washed and dried the 100% organic cotton batting following the instructions on the plastic wrapper. It is now even softer and wrinkle free. I'm looking forward to basting the quilt, hopefully tomorrow.

Finishing off with photos of Miss E junior. Yesterday her oldest brother, Master J, took her shopping to buy her own fishing rod, which of course she then had to try out! She caught a good size Garfish at the local jetty and was delighted. The fish was safely released back into the river.

Take care, and treasure the people in your life each day.


Sharing at WIP Wednesday.

Summer Whites

The lilly pilly flowers hanging over our fence are adorned with mini raindrops following this afternoon's summer storm. Lilly Pillies are an Australian native which produce tart, edible ,small berries, sometimes refer to as Australian cherries.

Gracie sang even more beautifully - and confidently- at the coffee shop this Saturday morning.

Miss N had her first game in local 1st grade Saturday afternoon cricket. She may be smaller than all the others and the only female but she bowls very well. She took one wicket (nearly more), caught by her brother Master J. She is in the huddle above after dismissing the batter, however she's just hidden from view behind the taller men....

There's something strikingly beautiful and simple about a 'plus' quilt. I've been hankering to make one for a little while and jumped right into it Saturday after finding these blues on special at our local Spotlight store (no, not organic but just right for this job) combined with some white Kona which I had in the cupboard. The binding is nearly complete (and yes I have washed it before attaching the binding - in too much of a hurry to prewash the fabrics). I really, really like this quilt, especially in these fabrics! Do you like 'plus' quilts?


Sharing at WIP Wednesday.

Cloud 9 and Christmas Delights

Some more delicious Cloud 9 organic fabrics have arrived from the US. I love the colours and prints, the Cirrus solids collection combines beautifully with many Cloud 9 collections. However I don't like how these solids crease so badly and take considerable ironing, the darker the colour the greater the problem. Cirrus solids are heavier than the Cloud 9 lightweight quilter's fabrics, they are a broadcloth yarn dyed fabric with a more distinct weave with a slight shot appearance (and not one solid ran colour as I washed them). The fabrics above are still wet, drying after I hand washed them this morning.

* Colour above is Coral, not Salmon-oops!

I'm labelling each Cirrus selvedge scrap with their colour names for future reference.

Now I have some more variety to add to the Wildwood HST quilt I began a little while ago. The two+ week wait for parcels from the US gives one plenty of time to consider plans for new quilts....

Miss E senior arrived home from college late Saturday night, just in time to participate in our much looked forward to tree decorating on the weekend after the twins' birthday. This year various ones were taking selfies and time-lapse recordings of the process. These days my husband and I stand back and watch the action with delight, rejoicing in seeing the children celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season and reminiscing on the changing seasons of parenthood.

Yes, that is our door wreath, and just like last year, it became embedded in Miss N's hair....

Gracie is singing as usually, this time using a tree decoration as a microphone! Thank you for your encouraging comments regarding her singing in my previous post. She was so well received by the coffee shop owners and customers that she has been asked to sing there again this Saturday morning.



Sharing at WIP Wednesday.