Another Australian Bite!

Although I'm starting to feel like a Tourism Blog, when I share photos of our little corner of the world - You all love it!  So here I am again, after the most divine weekend spent down on The Great Ocean Road.  Lorne to be specific.  I'd only ever driven through this town, so was interested to see what was so special that my brother-in-law and his now wife decided to hold their wedding there - two and a half hours drive from home?

Let's see......

Could it be the coastline?  Well, yes!  The Great Ocean Road is one of the most iconic travelling routes in Victoria, and it is certainly worth the trip.  We arrived the day before the wedding and stayed in a gorgeous big house overlooking the ocean with some of my husband's family.

 

And on the big day, it was all systems GO to get this crowd sorted!  I had two flower girls hairstyles to sort, as well as my mother-in-law's make up and hair - and my own.  Was quite the effort!

In what was the most gorgeous setting imaginable, we were thrilled to witness the "I do's" and the kids had a ball being a part of the wedding party.

 

My littlest man did a fabulous job not losing the rings!

 

But found the whole thing exhausting!

 

And these two beauties did a great job too!

 

This big kid?  Well, he was in charge of the music and was freaking out about stuffing it up - but he too got through unscathed.  When do they stop growing????

 

I think it's fair to say we were glad we booked the house a couple of extra days after the wedding.  This was the amazing view from the balcony.  It was very easy to relax.  And just over the road and down the hill was where the wedding ceremony was!

 

The boys got to fit in some fishing off the spectacular pier....

 

Whilst us girls watched (and I took a million photos), before I took them down to the beach for a swim. If you are ever travelling to Victoria, pencil in a few days to travel down this way, it truly is beautiful.

And last but not least - I finally got to hand over this quilt!  I was all "secret squirrel" about the intended recipients, because it was for the newly married couple!  Happy days!

Have no fear - I'll be back to my usual schedule tomorrow - with some DIVINE Wee Wander cushions I whipped up today!  

The Ring Bearer's Cushion

Today I began and finished the first project for 2014.  It was something I had on my to-do list for quite some time, and given the date it is required for is only a matter of weeks away, I needed to get it ticked off!  Success....

My youngest brother-in-law and his gorgeous fiance are to be married in February, and our three youngest children will be in the bridal party.  Cadyn is the ring bearer, and needs a ring cushion.  So, naturally, I asked if they would like me to make one?  This is the result....

Jason & Jamie are getting married down at the beach in Lorne, so the colour scheme is perfect.  I pulled out my three favourite turquoise prints and paper pieced three little love hearts using THIS pattern by Quiet Play.  That gave me an 8" block, so I then added a few more inches around to make it up to the 14" cushion insert - the smallest I could find!  The quilting was an easy choice - lots of little free motioned pebbles.  I also outlined the lettering with some free motioned love hearts.  It looks really sweet close up, as the hearts pop out!  I used Aurifil #2024 50wt to both piece and quilt the cushion.

The back is a simple hidden zipper finish.

I had pinned a bunch of ring cushions, but really didn't know which direction to take.  I liked the look of stamped lettering, and as luck would have it, I bought myself some divine little alphabet stamps just before Christmas.  The next task was finding some fabric ink - not easy.  I ended up making a trip to Riot Art & Craft and buying some matte fabric paint and a fine brush.  I lightly brushed the stamp with paint - just the letter not the surround - and very carefully stamped it on to the fabric.  I did a practice run first, but was still terrified of stamping the finished block!  It actually turned out pretty much perfect!  It only occurred to me part way through that I didn't actually have numeral stamps - so I had to wing it!

All it needs now is some ribbon to tie the rings on.  I'm sooooo happy with how it turned out, and hope they will be too!

I'm linking up with T.G.I.F.F. over at Quokka Quilts  & Crazy Mom Quilts - You can too!