The fabric of time.

Next on the list is Yoga Boy.
A person who has long displayed little to no interest in my quilts at all.
Damned if I'm gonna let that stop me.
That just makes me want to make it bigger. BIGGER! That's what she said.

I'm making him a quilt of his beloved pond as it appears when you look down on it.

I have decided to enlist Hell Boy's drawing skills to help me capture the look and personality of each and every one of the little scaley dears.

So, yesterday I summoned the courage, ventured forth into the fabric wilderness and purchased 4 m of really cool variegated blue fabric.

Despite my abhorrence of the quilting mafia, I have somehow developed a relationship with the lady at the local discount place.
This began, quite strangely, due to the horror quilt I made for Yasmin a couple of years ago. Of all the stuff I've made, she liked that one. OK...
You never can tell, can you?
I like people like that.

Since then she has always taken the time out to ask after my projects.
She adores my Aboriginal quilt.

I did my best to explain Dad's Schimpf Quilt to her right before I explained what all this blue fabric was for....she grabbed my forearm and laughingly said,

"It's OK, you're family's normal..."

I replied the only way I knew how, with,

"I certainly hope not."

What's so good about normal?
I've never seen the appeal.

Nope. To Hell with that.

While I was there, I grabbed some wadding so that I no longer have an excuse not to complete Poppy's quilt.
Damn me! What was I thinking?!
Due to all the embellishment, I'll have to quilt the bloody thing by hand. Or at least some of it anyway.

Then, I looked around for fabric that was aesthetically close to some of the more difficult fish to cast such as Bandette, Pfuitsch and Dr. Leo Marvin.

Bandette was really worrying me.
She's yellow with black and looks like she's wearing a zoro mask or really bad nerd glasses.
Yoga Boy told me once that she looks like someone dropped a banana peel into the pond.

I cannot argue with that.

Additionally, she is currently loaded with eggs and has a grossly misshapen undercarriage.
I mean, she's completely irregular in shape.
Poor darling looks like a banana peel with a wicked case of cellulite.

By hook or by crook, I will capture her likeness though.
The Universe demands it of me, and I know this because I found a piece of fabric that looks just like her.
I could scarcely believe my eyes!
Stoked.

Next step is for Jeff and I to sit down together and draw up a plan of this virtual pond so that I can figure out roughly what shape/direction the kids will all be heading in.

Then we can draw them precisely and after that all that must be done will be to reverse the images, draw them piece by piece onto Vliesofix, cut them out, iron them onto accurate fish coloured fabric, trim that and iron it onto individual rectangles of blue fabric, sew those all together in the right order, figure out how to make fabric lily pads, pin it, quilt it (or fob it off onto Joanne to do) and bind it.

But can we pull it off by March before he goes to India again? That's what she said.

No worries mate!

And hide it all while it's in progress?

Sure, why not?

And then I need to get on with Mr. Daniels' quilt for his first birthday.

I have decided not to go with a dog theme after all, as I know both his parents dislike dogs a great deal.

I think I'll do a big fuck off religious scene instead.

Perhaps I'll even give Hillsong a call and see if they have any nice Jesus fabric. I'm sure they would.
I'm also sure it'll be all razzle dazzle and blonde.

Just the thing, the very thing.
I can see Daniel now, growing up, playing hide and seek under graven images courtesy of Auntie Simone, the red and green heretic.

For those I am about to deceive, Lord make me cynical?

OK, best get on with it, the fabric of time waits for no one.

Day trip to Clair's

Until recently, road trips involving Clair and Simone, have always started at my place, ended at Bron's, and have involved apples, incredible heart to hearts, the aggressive tooting of the car horn at The Hut signs, yelling "Up the Rabbitohs!" at Vicki and Gavin's house, plus a selection of music best described as uncalled for.

Oh, and KFC at Cesspit with the very scary locals.
I promise you that one time we saw a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary there.
Well, not really, but it was certainly possible.
And that's bad enough.

But that was B.D. (before Daniel), and if you'd like to adjust your time pieces, it's now 33 days A.D.

And what this means is that road trips now go backwards.

They still start at mine, but now it's Bronnie's smiling face that greets me as I struggle out the door with my hexagons slung over my shoulder and altogether too many pieces of fabric crammed into my bag.

Tooting the Hut has now been replaced with waving at ANZ Stadium- home to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the heart to hearts are different in content but just as warming.
Haven't yet settled on which of Clair's neighbours will be the lucky recipients of my particular attention, but my decision, once handed down, will be final.

A day at Clair's is always fun.

But then, so is having Clair follow me around whilst using a breast pump as I vacuum for her.
In truth, it didn't occur to me until today that that was a strange thing to do. Or even that she had done it at all.
It was all just so casual.

God knows what else she did that I didn't notice yet. ;O)

I mean, apart from decorating her toilet with faux skid marks fashioned out of vegemite and corn in order to make my dunny cleaning experience more interesting.

I'm perfectly certain that not every new mother can find the time to see to details like that before guests arrive to see their baby for the first time.
More's the pity.

I think Clair should achieve domestic goddess status for that.
Priorities define you, you know.

Meeting Clair's bubba for the first time was unforgettable.
Watching her relax and trust herself as a mother was extremely satisfying, and it left me feeling very proud and contented.

My wish for Daniel is that he is able to experience and enjoy his mother as much as everyone else does.
And I hope he has her laugh. ;O)


PICS: Me, Clair and the watermelon.
Bron and Daniel
Bron and Arrrrrrrgh the Pirate Baby.