Winner takes it all...

I just found out I've won something!  Man, that is so exciting.  I have a very paltry history of winning things - it's so small & pathetic I can probably list all the occasions - first one was when I was about 5 or 6, and the small two room school I went to (see picture!) had a fete - and I spent sixpence of my hard earned pocket money on a ticket - and won, yeehaw, a bottle of beer and a bottle of lemonade.  I seem to remember that I didn't even get to share in the lemonade, but I do remember that Dad made shandies out of the winnings!  


Next, I won a terrarium in a raffle at my first job - and it wasn't exactly auspicious, either, because I'd been given the job of selling all the tickets, so of course my win was highly suspect... I have no idea what happened to the terrarium.  It had an african violet in it, and with my extremely ungreen thumb, some might even say, 'pink', I'm pretty sure it didn't last too long!  I've just realised that's nearly 30 years ago.  Man, I feel old today!


Then, 2 years ago, when I was working as an IT consultant, I won a $50 gift card to David Jones, an upmarket department store here in Sydney.  I used it to buy morning tea for my colleagues, so we all got to enjoy it...


That's it, until now - I've won some oilcloth from the lovely Susie, who has this very beautiful blog -  justlovethatfabric@blogspot.com - how exciting is that?  I'm going to make something for her out of it, after I work out how to sew it!  Pictures forthcoming, you betcha!

The carnival is over...

And I'm back at work, after 10 funfilled days at home with a cold, flu, cough, sniffles, sneezing, and a runny nose... and not much sewing!  We did pack in a bit of activity, including the trip to Melbourne to the exhibition - and how lucky it was that we went overnight, rather than just the day trip I'd originally planned - because the gallery was closed on Tuesdays, except for an exhibition of Salvador Dali's work - now don't get me wrong, the man was a genius, but the art I like to look at doesn't involve lobsters on telephones! 

Anyway, luckily we had the next day to come back to see the exhibition, but I must say I was a bit disappointed - there were only about 10 garments on display, but quite a few references showing styles from the times, and some decorative objects and furniture and that was about it.  Not really worth a trip to Melbourne by itself, but I thought dinner might make up for it - and that too was a bit disappointing - but the fact that we both had no working tastebuds didn't help!

Hotel was lovely, though, we had a room overlooking the garden, which was quiet and spacious, and in easy walking distance of the Gallery - and we bought Series 7 of Spooks - if you haven't seen this show before, you owe it to yourselves - it's English, based on spies in MI5, and it's great - good scripts, interesting plots, great acting, great gadets - I love it.

Then we went to the Hunter Valley, and I made this:

and this:

lined with this:

Kaz has a pretty interesting Pig collection, and I did a bit of checking on Etsy for Pig fabric - there's quite a bit around, including this, which is supposed to show French pigs:

and I think it's really smart - and I am tempted, I must say!

And I also got a couple of orders - my friend Kaz's friend Clara wants one of those pouches, but lined with the pigs, and with the Eiffel tower on the outside!  Maybe I'll get the French pigs for her - she is French, after all!

And now, off for a nap.  I hope to feel better soon... maybe!