One thing I miss about Sydney is...

my favourite beach...

I miss this beach so much.

I used to be able to walk it on the weekend, walk it with clients, stop by and sit for 5 minutes in between visits at work, collect glass from it.

I am yet to find a beach its equal.

Sam xox

Nested bibs.

This week I was lucky enough to meet my friends newborn baby boy. He is super cute and super tiny! I decided to give a handmade baby gift, and settled on making the Nested bib pattern. I really like Nested patterns, I have used them a few times now for baby gifts and they work really well and have a nice finish. This bib pattern is free and can be downloaded as a PDF. The printable size is best suited to a new born baby, but you can enlarge it on a photocopier for a larger bib.

For these bibs I used some blue and white striped fabric that I thrifted from a men's shirt. I like business shirt fabric from the thrift store as it is so much softer that shirt fabric purchased new. I am even making an entire quilt from vintage men's shirts. Click here to check it out.

I decided to sew the front and back fabric wrong sides together. I trimmed the edge to within 1/8" of the stitching line, then sewed some bias tape around the sides (the corners were a touch tricky). I decided to use buttons as a fastening rather than snaps as I think they give a nice touch.

I backed the bib with some plain muslin.

* * * * * * *

Life has finally settled down for us. After six weeks of living in two different cities, and only seeing each other on weekends, I have now finally moved into our new place in Newcastle and begin my new job tomorrow. I interviewed for two positions a couple of weeks ago. One with the organisation I am currently working in, another with a similar community services organisation. My organisations position was the same as what I work now, as a support worker working with people living with mental illness. The other organisation role was as an early intervention worker working with people who are, or are at risk of, homelessness. I was totally shocked when I was offered both jobs and felt really chuffed. It gave me a confidence boost knowing that I am doing well in this field, as it was only this time last year that I jumped into community services work from previously working as a primary school teacher! Although the early intervention role was a tempting one, I decided to stay with my organisation and accept the role within their Hunter Region. I am excited to start tomorrow and meet the new staff and consumers I will be working with.

This weekend has been lovely. We are in the middle of winter here in Australia, but you wouldn't guess it, as it's been so warm lately. Yesterday Jamie and I packed a picnic lunch and headed north to a beautiful secluded beach. We ate lunch on our towels in the sand, and I even managed to have a quick swim (the water was a little cool though!). I think I am going to get use to this beach lifestyle.

Now my sewing machine is (finally) unpacked, I will get back into my regular blogging.

Glad to be back!

Sam xox

I won.

Sorry I have been a bit quiet round the blog lately. Work has been really busy, I have had suicide intervention training and hearing voices training - both fantastic training for the work I do, but I have to admit such intense topics leave me feeling quilt emotionally drained at the end of the day so I have been coming home and crashing on the couch, so I have not done any sewing over the past week.

* * * * * * *

At the end of last month I won my first ever Giveaway! Angela over at Country Scrap Quilts made a beautiful quilt from a fabric range with 70's inspired prints. Angela asked us all to have a guess at what the range was called... but no one was able to name it (it was called Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt).

I was the lucky one drawn as the winner, and her scraps from the quilt arrived in the post today.

I am really surprised at how large the fabric pieces are, this was a really generous give away Angela, thanks so much. I think if I combined my bundle with a nice calico, I would have enough fabric to make a lap quilt... or baby quilt... or wall hanging... oh I can't decide!

Leave it with me.

Sam xox

Bike and pledge review.

It has been a good couple of months now since I made my New (financial) Year pledge and boy has my life changed! The most obvious change is that I am no longer working as a casual primary school teacher, but now full time as an outreach worker in the mental health field. I began this job at the end of July and have loved every day so far. But this post is not about how much I enjoy my job, it is about checking in to see how well I am sticking to my pledge:

Reading back over my pledge post, I can remember how depressed I was feeling about not having permanent, full time work. I am one of those people who thrive off working and contributing financially to the household. I mean, I worked 5 days a week while I studied full-time at university for four years! I love work. When I made my pledge I was trying to create a bit more of a routine and structure to my life, attempting to patch up the bad feels I had about not having a 'proper' job. Here goes:

--> I said "I will not buy a single piece of clothing for the next six months - I will have to make any clothes I want instead!" and, well, I have pretty much stuck to this, even with working full time! I do admit to buying two dresses for summer though (that was a weak moment)! I did have to buy some new clothes, but they were shorts and t-shirts for work only. That gear I do not wear on the weekends! :-) So far I have made 2 dresses, 1 scarf, 2 skirts, and one pair of pajama shorts.

--> I said "I will make more homemade foods." I tried. I did make a bit of bread. But this has definitely fallen off my radar since beginning this job... does cooking dinner count? Probably not.

--> I said "I will grow seasonal vegetables and maintain a herb garden." Well, winter was rubbish. The spot I dug my vegetable garden just didn't get enough sunlight, so I had severely stunted crops. I have re-planted for spring and it is looking much more promising. The days are getting longer and the crops seem to be growing much faster.

--> I said "I want to establish more environmentally friendly cleaning methods.". This definitely has not happened I am afraid! Sorry guys (and Earth)!

---> I said "I want to start an exercise routine." I have done this! A week after I began my job a gym opened up downstairs from my office (what are the chances). So there really was no excuse. I am currently doing 2 spin classes per week and it is actually making me feel good! (I know, exercise really does work, strange huh)!

--> I said "In an effort to live greener I am considering riding a bike to work" I found out this week that there is a spot in the office where I can leave my bike if I ride to work! So what's a girl to do when she uncovers such information? Buy a bike of course! Look at my new baby...

Jamie picks it up for me on Tuesday, so come Wednesday I will be riding to work! I am planning to add a basket to the front and a bag on the back, plus some fenders and lights.

* * * * * * *

So overall I think my New (financial) Year pledge is going pretty well. I have definitely stuck to most of it, and it is becoming a nice part of the routine of my life.

I am now beginning to plan my goals for the coming New Year... just over a month to go.

Sam xox

Spring is here.

There is really something about the first day of Spring. The sun feels a little warmer, the birds sing a little louder and our moods lift...

Sadly I missed out on most of this today as I had to attend work training. Being couped up inside a space the size of a kitchen for 8 hours really put a dampener on my Springtime skip (the training was, however, amazingly valuable for my work practice).

To try and restore balance to my first Spring day for 2010, I came home and sat in my garden ... well ... my tiled three-story high garden.

Oh Spring, how I have missed thee!

Sam xox

I've fallen on my feet.

Tonight marks the end of the second week in my new job. I absolutely love it. I have learnt so much during these last two weeks. I am working as a Support Worker in a community outreach role. We basically provide a service to help those living with a mental illness live in their homes independently. Most of my day is spent in the community, travelling to different people and supporting them to live independently. Every one of the people each teach me something every day, which I think is pretty amazing! It is a very special job.

The bonus, I am part of an awesome team that treat every person and challenge with respect and dignity - and seriously have a passion for their work! What more could I want?

Sam xox

Granny squares.

Thank you so much for your kind wishes about my job. As some of you know I have had a lot going on in my personal life these past 12 months, which I will leave private. This job really does mark a new and positive chapter of my life beginning, and I am over the moon!

On the weekend I visited my crafty friend Mel. She is the kind of friend I believe every girl should have. Mel always has time to listen to my worries, takes time to consider them and gently gives me advice. I always leave her place feeling like a better person than what I had arrived as.

The bonus? She is a total crafty inspiration! Her taste is seriously cool, and she always has a quirky idea to try. We never 'plan' to craft, but needless to say, within 15 minutes of my arrival we are plotting our next creative adventure.

Last weekend was no different. On Sunday morning I arrived at her place, and she explained that the night before she had taught herself to crochet via YouTube! Oh boy was I excited! One of my pledges was to crochet a dishcloth and this would be my first step towards this goal. Little did I know however, what Mel had in mind. She whipped out her crocheting project, which was a granny square.

It took precisely 2.3 seconds for me to decide that I wanted to make Granny Squares and for her to teach me (I admit I am a tad impulsive) and another 4.6 seconds for us to realise we HAD to make a trip Spotlight to buy some wool.

Here is what I have achieved thus far:

Sam xox

I have a job.

My no-clothes pledge has hit a little bump...

As regular visitors will know, I have been a casual primary school teacher for a year and a half now. I do like teaching, but the lack of full time employment opportunities has become a huge drag on my self esteem, budget and home life. So over the last two months I have been quietly applying for full time jobs. Today I received a call offering me the job I interviewed for last week and so very much wanted! I will be working within the mental health care industry as a Community Rehabilitation and Support Worker. SO EXCITED! Full time work! Awesomely challenging and inspiring work! Oh yeah! And guess what? It is only 5 minutes from my house - 5 MINUTES! I have been driving a 2 and a half hour round trip to the school that I have worked at for the last year and a half, and the distance was killing me. Plus living much closer to my job will mean I can do exercise in the morning before work.

The catch - there is a certain kind of dress required, and not clothes that I used to teach in.

So. I. Will. Need. New. Work. Clothes. What does this mean for my no-clothes pledge?

You see, something I learnt as a teacher, when you do not have a specific uniform it is sooo important to have work clothes separate to what you wear on weekends, otherwise you still feel like you are at work.

Amended Pledge

* Work clothes may be purchased shops if necessary (for example work pants. My waist is a size smaller than my hips so it takes me forever to find pants that fit). Only work clothes to purchase: Long pants, shorts, and T-shirts.

* Any non-work outfit MUST be hand made. For example, skirts, dresses, sleepwear, swimmers, blouses, tops.

* I want to make myself some summer pajama pants. I have a pattern for boxer shorts and I want to extend the leg to 3/4 length for Spring.

* I want to start an exercise routine. Now I have a full time job I can have a routine. I will commit to swimming three mornings a week for an hour at a time, from 6:30am - 7:30am, still giving me over an hour to get ready for work.

* * * * * Now it really is the start of a new life * * * * *

Now I have a full time job, I really won't be able to laze around so much!

Sam xox