June is all about Cake

We have three birthdays in our house, within 12 days in June.  Mr Matching Pegs (Luke), Rory and finally my birthday (which technically I share).  That’s why things have been a little bit quiet on the blog front.

There was a certain amount of switching celebrations around, to fit in around the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.  This meant that Rory celebrated his birthday yesterday, with 6 of his friends over for a “Masterchef” birthday party.

The boys made 2 mini pizzas each (with dough prepared beforehand).  They shaped their bases, and topped them with their favorite toppings.  After pizza, they moved onto decorating biscuits as footballs, and then in their football team colours.  There was probably too much colouring involved – 8 year old boys do not need extra hyping up – but they had a great time.

Luke outdid himself, making “The Ghostly Galleon” from the much loved “Women’s Weekly Kids’ Birthday Cakes” cookbook for the party.  We put the candles in, on an angle, in order to keep the flames away from the paper sails, but we thought they also looked like cannons.

On Rory’s actual birthday, Luke made “Zappo the Alien” from the same book, which the kids decorated themselves.

The most meaningful cake experience for me involved a very humble, store bought cake, last Friday.

I was able to blow out the candles with my twin brother Julian, who has spent exactly a year in hospital, and has just been discharged.  The last year has been very, very, hard.  My family is feeling like we are emerging, tentatively, from the depths of a very dark tunnel.  We are all very changed by the experience, but so amazingly grateful that we are coming out the other side.  It was really the best birthday present possible, to be able to share it with Julian, (which is as it should be, when you are a twin).  The photo of us is less than flattering, being an action shot of us blowing out the candles, but it amuses me that Lotta, who is on Julian’s lap, looks like she is blowing out the candles too.  Oh, and you can see my new red glasses!

My birthday present from Luke arrived this morning, some Lilac Ugg Boots to warm up my tootsie this winter.  As you can see out the window, it is cold and grey, and foggy.  They match the cake at the start of the post, which is a little something I am working on for someone else’s birthday.

So, have you made any amazing cakes lately?

Dusty Apple Green

Anyone that has even a passing knowledge of my wardrobe knows that this colour is one of my wardrobe staples.  I suspect even the crossing man at school (the friendly Ken) could tell you that this colour pops up in my personal palette all the time.

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Long time readers will know that we had a soft, apple-green feature wall in our old house that was a backdrop to many a photo – I still miss it.

When I saw this bag out of the corner of my eye the other day, my feet changed direction to check it out before the thought had even formed.  The sign that said “50% off already reduced price” sealed the deal.  I didn’t even check out the dimensions and make-up of the internal pockets.

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It was almost the same story when I spied this necklace on Janelle Wind’s blog the other day.  It had my name all over it.  She too was extolling the virtues of Apple Green.  Before I knew it I had clicked the link (to Fresh Metal) and purchased my own little piece of accessory happiness.  There is another beautiful aqua one there now,  don’t you just love etsy!

Clearly I needed a stylist when this photo was taken.  Mr Matching Pegs (behind the camera) sure didn’t notice that the ribbon was twisted.  I think I know how it happened though.

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I was heading out for the evening, and Miss Michaela was less than happy.  So this photo was taken to cheer her up.

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It worked!  I also took the opportunity to catch Rory with his much more normal haircut, looking like himself again.

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So, I’m interested, what colour is your wardrobe riddled with (and you can’t say black, or white, it has to be a colour 😉 )?

Spot the Difference

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Before

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After.

My friend Debby and I went to IKEA yesterday, I tagged along rather than doing all the boring errands I had on my list.  I picked up a few little things, including the handles above, which are slightly less orangy-red than they appear in the photo.  I have been eying them off for quite some time.

IKEA in Richmond seemed to have way more fabric this visit, and I could finally see what all the fuss was about.  I bought some linen/cotton and some thick cotton in a natural linen colour, with red and pink stripes.

Regarding the sneaky peek – I will reveal all, once I have finished writing the tutorial.

Catch My Fabric-Love “Disease”

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I am sitting here bubbling with excitement, listening to Ben Lee sing “Catch My Disease” and today my disease is pure fabric-love.  I have finished putting together the string quilt top, “New House Quilt” that I started at the quilt retreat back in August, when we had just signed the paperwork on our new house.  I am extremely happy with how it looks.

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I was trying to capture the full width of it, and so I laid it on the lounge room floor.  Sadly the light is a little grey today, so it is a pretty ordinary photo, but it did make me stop and think – what an awesome rug this would make!

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I changed the planned format a little, it is 10 blocks by 6 blocks, (instead of the planned 8 x 8 ) because I am going to hang it on this wall.

Early this morning (7:30am – which is early, because it is still the school holidays) there was a ring on the door bell.  It was delivery of a lovely box of fabric happiness, which was ordered weeks ago from the States.

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Initially I was just going to order these Kona Cotton packs, ( 44  x 2 1/2″ strips in the Dusty colour-way, and 21 fat quarters in the Greener Pastures colour-way) but then I found some more delights to tempt me – it was all 35% off.

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Some Kaffe – Roman Glass in Leafy, Pastel, Gold and Jewel (actually my first purchase of Kaffe fabric).

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and finally, some beautiful “Wildwood”by Erin McMorris – Sophie’s Garden in orange, Forest in lime, Pressed Leaves in fuchsia and Forest in green.  Don’t they all look wonderful together.

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Looking at them I realised that the Wildwood and my previously purchased Far Far Away and Meadowsweet were going to play really nicely together (they look more harmonious in better light – it is very overcast today).

I think I have bought enough fabric to last me all year.  What prompted it all was Elizabeth of Oh Fransson!’s “Paintbox Quilt Along” ( for which I bought the Kona Cotton Roll Up) which I plan to get to eventually – go and check it out, it looks fantastic.

So, have you caught my fabric-love “disease”?

I resisted for so long, but could hold out no longer…

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Once I saw it on sale I just had to get some of the beautiful “Far Far Away fabric” by the ultra talented Heather Ross.

She had me at Unicorn.

I bought half meters from online stores Earthgirl Fabrics ($9.95 AUD per half metre) and Modern Retro Textiles ($12.60 AUD per half metre) which both have free shipping here in Australia.

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I bought some of the “frog prince”, “Snails”, “Wildflower” in Magenta and Gold, “Princess and the Pea” and “Unicorns in Blush and Magenta.

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I bought 3 Sandi Henderson fabrics from her new line “Meadow sweet” to co-ordinate (also from Modern Retro Textiles at $11 AUD per half metre).

Eventually this will become a quilt, but I am not exactly sure what form it will take, of when I will get to it.

In the meantime I have to get back to work.  We are hosting a belated Christmas BBQ tomorrow for 27 – almost all of Luke’s family are going to come, and it is the first time we are hosting “the Christmas-do”.  That’s why there are still Christmas decorations up in our house (see the first photo).  Have a lovely weekend.  Oh, and perhaps you can tell me what you have bought that you couldn’t resist…

Jaunty Red Shoes

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Lately, my family of origin has been having a pretty terrible time.  There has been very serious health problems and lots of very hard news.  Yesterday was a low point, leaving me (and all the other members of my family) feeling extremely fragile.  Today my Mother, Michaela and I took ourselves off to a beautiful nursery/cafe to sit in the sun, and be fed lunch.  It is amazing how restorative such simple pleasures can be.  Therapy ended up encompassing a purchase of these shoes.

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How could I leave them behind – they had all my favourite colours, and were predominantly red.

There was one arguement for leaving them behind – my friend Debbie (who is in another state at the moment) bought a pair of these when she was down the coast about a month ago.  Will you forgive me Debbie – even thinking of your pair, I still could not fight “the wanties”?

Spring

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Spring is well and truly in the air here in Melbourne.  Being the changeable city it is (four seasons in one day) there has been some back and forth with cooler weather, but I can feel the overall change on the wind.

These beautiful flowers were put together by “Aunty” Libby, (a much loved almost-family-member) at our Church’s “Spring Fair” on the weekend – she knows me well -she said “These are just your colours”.

I spent the afternoon painting children’s faces – mostly butterflies, and the occasional spider or pirate. When I get the photos from my Mum’s camera, I will have to show your my kid’s faces – Amelia had the most unusual “face” there – she is so imaginative.

My kids had a lovely time, there were pony rides, a handball competition, biscuit decorating and plaster painting.  Michaela even had a chick on her head in the farm area!  There were loads of volunteers, and all proceeds went to charities (not our Church).  Some of the money will be going all the way to an Orphanage in Uganda that the church has been raising funds for, for years.

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Like Lotta, who has had her winter coat removed, I am well and truly wanting to leave Winter behind.  August was the sickest month in our house that I can remember – there was less than a handful of days when there was not a sick member of the family on the couch – we were at the doctors 7 times in about 5 weeks.  Nothing serious for my household though – the usual winter ills.

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Winter has also been dark emotionally, as my brother has been in hospital for the entire season – hopefully he is getting closer to being well enough to go home in the near future.  My sister had lots of difficult health news too – so we are all wanting Spring to roll on in and bring a fresh new start.

This photo was taken in one of my favourite places – a very large park near home, with hours worth of walking track.  My Mum, Michaela and I visited it last week, on one of the first warmer days.  I am going to make an effort to get outside as often as I can, it really lifts the spirit.

What place really lifts your spirits?

Little stacks of good cheer

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I am feeling pretty down today.  Tomorrow is my birthday, I will be 35, but it is not my age that is getting me down (I’m a spring chicken after all).  Tomorrow will not be the same because my twin brother will be spending his birthday where he has been for a while now – in hospital.  We are hoping he will be well enough to come out for about an hour for lunch, but if not it will be a very subdued occasion.

To cheer me up I have been looking at the fabric I bought on our girls weekend away.  The two lovely green batik fat quarters caught my eye at Patchwork Charm in Shepparton.  There are so many colours squeezed into those fabrics, but I can see I am developing a fascination with my favourite colour at the moment -soft apple green.  The fabric under the fat quarters is one I purchased recently for the sashing of my fat quarter quilt.

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The fabrics above are all from The Country Thyme Patchwork Shop in Mooroopna – the store that ran the “Girls’ Day Out”.  They are for another one of my secret projects, most likely a male softie.

The fabrics below are from a store that is just a year old -“Anam Cara”, in Kialla Lakes, Shepparton (No Web address)

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The fat eighths just caught my eye – take it from someone that loves applique, you can do quite  bit with a piece of fabric this size.  I hadn’t really considered it until recently, but the metric fat quarter and eighth are slightly larger than the imperial ones – something that has to be considered by the budding designer you know.  The beige has a crackle pattern that I have been looking for, for stitcheries, for ages.  The spot is a lovely soft coffee colour that somehow seems to go really well with brighter, clearer fabrics – it is for stitcheries as well.

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These lovely fabrics are from the Shepparton “Spotlight” store.  They seemed to have a pretty good selection, (I often can’t find anything I like at my local Spotlight – although I have not been there for a while) and like all Spotlight stores, the fabrics were of a good price.  This stack adds up to 2 metres, and cost only $25, which would be pretty unheard of at an independent patchwork store here in Australia.  I think this pile is going to be a secret female softie, (hopefully I will be able to spill the beans about my secret some time soon).

Anyway, writing this post and looking at my fabric has really cheered me up, and I am sure my kids and hubby will make my birthday special, even if it is not the same without Julian.

New Toy and Lots of Links

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There has been very little going on here in the Matching Pegs household, since my new toy arrived.

I am spending lots of time admiring it, and learning about the cool things it can do.  I have also been catching up on my blog surfing, as they all look so lovely on the beautiful screen – have I mentioned that the screen (which was the smaller size on offer when we ordered it) is as big as our TV!

So, in honour of my blog surfing, here are some links for you to enjoy.

Firstly the lovely Daily Paintworks – a collection of 12 artists who post a painting a day.  Each artist has their own blog, and many of the paintings are for sale.

Another fantastic find (via True Up ) are these basic Illustrator tutorials – just what I was after.  They are created by a fashion Professor, Elaine Polvinen, and the more complex ones go on to explain making fabric repeats and texture for use in Second Life.  I have only read the basic ones, but have learnt a few things I didn’t know already.

Now for some pretty funny links, which have given the MP family minutes of entertainment.

Your Logo Makes Me Barf.

and the hilariously bizarre, Creative Grooming, because the world needs more dogs groomed to look like Chickens, Camels or Ninja Turtles.

Enjoy!

Oh, if you want to share a link or two you love in the comments, I will check them out on my beautiful crisp screen.

Fabric Delights and Blogging Friends

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Meet a Love Chicken.  This cute and cleverly made little birdie was presented to me at a blog dinner, held to celebrate Tracey’s visit to Melbourne.  Tracey gave everyone that attended one of these little cuties, to thank them for coming – no need to thank me Tracey, it was definitely my pleasure.

Tracey was down from Queensland with her hubby Pete to check out the Australasian Quilt Convention, among other things.  I found her in the crush of people when I went for the day with Debbie, my sewing cohort.

In theory, Debbie and I were going to talk each other out of spending too much money on fabric – good theory.  Actually I didn’t spend anything until I came across the $3.50 fat quarters, and then it was all on for young and old.

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These beauties are almost all from the Sonnet Collection by April Cornell for Moda.  They are joining the queue to become a quilt – in this case a fat quarter quilt, a la Material Obsession.  You just square up the fat quarters and add sashing, and you get one simple quilt, great for showing off large prints.

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These three fat quarters were just a little pricier at $5, but I think you will agree they were so worth it!  They are eventually going to be made up as a  fat quarter bag (by Melly and Me).  The two main fabric probably need no introduction – Amy Butler fabric of course.  The lovely orange hounds tooth is from the Summer in the City range by Urban Chicks for Moda, and they will be handles.

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I have decided to use a button for a closure – even though it doesn’t usually need one, just because I found this little beauty.  It is a button made out of resin with kimono fabric inside it, from B B Beads.

I took lots of photos of Quilts but was too silly to record all the details, so it is probably not fair to post the photos – my photography was not that good anyway, as the Convention was pretty crowded, so I could not take  my time with the snapping.

Tracey must have brought the rain down from Queensland, we finally had some rain last night, and some more today.  Not as much as we need, but a welcome relief after 2 months with almost no rain (just the occasional droplet).

Oh, and by the way Tracey, here is where the little love chicken has taken up residence – on Michaela’s door handle, she is very taken with it.

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