We’re a family of iPad tragics

I just had to share this photo of Jack at 10 weeks old watching his first Apple keynote address with his Daddy, a fan of all things Apple.

I wonder when he’ll get his first app…

His 4 year old cousin loves to play with that naughty Talking Tom, as well as the Disney Princess Dress-up Sticker Book app on my iPad.

But the most surreal iPad experience I’ve had was last Saturday night, around midnight.

I was tucked up in my warm bed with my iPad (nicknamed the DiPad) reading all the latest postings by my blogging friends when a text message came through on my mobile phone from halfway around the world.

It was from Sarah – did I tell you my daughter’s currently at the Kalahari Meerkat Project in South Africa?

She was sitting on a dune in the Kalahari Desert, the only place for miles around where she can get 3G reception, uploading photos to Facebook, when her iPad had shut down.

Looking down at a black screen she was having a quiet panic, Apple stores being in seriously short supply in the Kalahari Desert, and needed some advice. (Ah, you always need your Mum…)

Mum’s Help Desk did a quick Google on the DiPad, as I snuggled down under the covers, and came up with the solution which was swiftly conveyed by return text message to the bereft Sarah.

Hold down the Home button and the Power button simultaneously for 5 seconds.

It worked!!! And she called me a legend!

So now it’s official. I have it in writing, at least in a text message on my phone

Now this legend is off to play Words with Friends on the DiPad. Game, anybody?

Di

You won’t believe what they did to the Customs House

With some projection wizardry the Sydney Customs House building was made to appear as if it was filling with water …

Even more amazing was this effect where the building seemed to come alive, inhale deeply, and emit smoke as it gave a cough!

Di

Lights, camera, action!

I've just seen how many lovely readers have visited my blog looking for an update while I've been temporarily distracted by Life this past 10 days or so, and I'm feeling very guilty indeed. However sometimes the fine balance that is work/blog/create/live as part of a family tilts in one direction, (and rightly so), and the caring thing is to go with it.

As usual, though, my camera has always been at hand, and today I'd like to share with you some photos I took when we hopped on a ferry on Monday night to visit the Vivid Sydney festival in the city. It was worth braving the bone-chilling cold weather ... brrrrr...

There's a little more fuzziness in some shots than I would have liked, since I left my trusty Gorillapod at home. The monster Gorillapod in this photo actually belongs to my brother (as does the DSLR camera, lucky duck!) and mine is the "little brother" model, but it's just as versatile for taking time delay shots, or night photos like those I was trying to capture on this occasion.

Instead I had to rely on the strong shoulder gallantly offered by my dear husband to steady my camera.

It might take a few seconds to start, so please sit tight and - Let the show begin!

This slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Meet Blossom

Blossom is my latest sock monkey,  a shy, old-fashioned little girl with tiny bunches of pink blossom on her legs and outstretched arms.

She’s made from a pair of new toddler socks, and her dearest wish is to belong to a little baby girl who will love her.

So little Blossom is practicing her very sweetest smile in the hope that a kind nanna will buy her from the craft stall at our annual hospital fundraiser at the end of June.

Di

It’s been three weeks

…and I know you’re dying to hear about the secret quilters’ business Di B and I were up to in this post.

But I ‘m afraid you’ll just have to bear with me for a little longer.

Di

All Hail the Two Gails!

I have two talented quilting friends called Gail – Gail O and Gail D - and today I’d like to share with you their latest creations.

Gail O made this very tactile Noah’s Ark mini-quilt for her little granddaughter.

Gail’s our “queen of embellishment” and you can imagine how fascinating those fluffy tufts of ‘hair’ are going to feel to little E’s fingers.

Or she might like to rub the monkey’s tummy.

Or stroke these two fluffy velveteen ducks.

The elephant even flaps his ear

And now for something completely different…

We all admired Gail D’s new block keeper roll at St Mark’s Quilters last week.

Such a useful accessory to carry quilt blocks on the go, and Gail’s version is just so luscious and rosy.

I made one for myself a few years ago, but I much prefer Gail’s chosen fabrics, so mellow and vintage – and PINK! And just look at that lining fabric with the fine handwriting.

If you’d like to make one for yourself, Gail used these instructions from Teresa’s blog All Things Vintage.

Di

Colourful birds

No, not my English Quilt friends Rae, Gail and Anne

Jill hosted our sewing day this month, and there was plenty of colour, both in the amazing birdlife visiting her garden throughout the day, and in the projects everyone was working on.

As one for whom the local wildlife in our suburb, not far from the CBD, consists pretty much of the cat at the foot of the bed, Chester the world’s best labrador, and the occasional cockroach disappearing under the door, I was entranced by the king parrots, pink galahs and rainbow lorikeets in Jill’s leafy lower north shore environs.

Sitting inside around Jill’s cosy fire, six of us stitched away at various projects.

Rae managed to finish off the hand quilting on this exquisite Japanese quilt made from the leftovers of a much bigger quilt currently being machine quilted (watch this space!).

Gail, Jill, Robbie, Anne and I worked on our pieced version of the Joseph’s Coat quilt, using Ardco templates in Tea Leaf design.

Gail’s using Liberty fabrics, including some of the reproduction fabrics produced for the Victoria & Albert Quilt Exhibition last year.

Jill’s rich  earthy brown is the perfect foil for her aquas and ultramarines.

You might recall I’m using mostly Kaffe Fassett fabrics in mine, with a white spotty tone-on-tone for the background.

Robbie’s petals are in delicate pastels.

And Anne’s using Kaffes too, but in a palette of blues.

Because we can never have just one project on the go, Anne also brought along her applique medallion for the Lynne Alchin quilt, Laurel’s Stars.

And Jill showed us the blocks she’s been making for Chris Jurd’s beautiful quilt Deauville, from Quilter’s Companion.

Four of us have made various adaptations of the Frederika Josephson quilt (seen in Dr Annette Gero’s book The Fabric of Society) so it was somewhat appropriate that from Jill’s deck we could look across the bay to the land on which Frederika Josephson and her husband Emmanuel lived from 1853 to 1873 in their house, Riverview Cottage.

Di