Sewing for Baby - A Quilt for Baby Greg

It was a case of love at first sight for me when I saw this quilt over at one of my favourite quilting blogs, Film in the Fridge. I certainly have a bit of a thing for green, but I particularly loved the simplicity of a strip quilt and thought this was something I could do with my fledgling quilting skills (I've only made one other quilt to date).

My office friend Erin was leaving us at the end of June to have her second baby, whom we have dubbed 'Greg' after her older son wanted to name the new baby after a character on a TV programme. Most of the baby things little Greg (he will be given a different name when he arrives next month!) will have are things handed down to him by his big brother, and with this in mind I really wanted to make him a lovely quilt all of his own. It was serendipitous, therefore, that just as I was pondering how I'd make Greg's quilt Ashley at Film in the Fridge posted a helpful tutorial on her strip quilts.

Armed with such an excellent guide, there was nothing more for me to do but stock up on fabrics from David Walker's adorable 'Oh Boy' range (most of it acquired from Ebay in the USA), and set to work. This is what I ended up with:

I was so thrilled with how this turned out that I secretly wanted to keep it for myself! I love it, of course for the sweet little animal fabrics (look at the happy lions! And the plump blue elephant!) but I also love this project because it was one which I carefully planned out and set my mind to, and then worked on with with love for my dear friend and her new baby. My quilting leaves a lot to be desired, but I like to think this adds to the character of the quilt - it's not the 'perfect' thing you would find in a shop.

After spending weeks planning how I would put these fabrics together, I ended up leaving the construction to the very last minute and had to make the whole thing in the weekend prior to my friend's departure. So, this little quilt can make for a relatively quick project!

The colours have been selected to match the baby's nursery, which has one wall each of bright blue, green, read and yellow. As mentioned, I used mainly the 'Oh Boy' line from David Walker for FreeSpirit fabrics, as well as some random bits from the stash and some sweet spotty fabrics which I think are from American Jane for Moda. The binding is some green plaid fabric I bought when visiting my in-laws in Moree a few years ago, and the backing is David Walker's "Oh Boy" animal print in the smaller print size.

I have plenty of offcuts of these lovely prints - I think I might put together a few bibs and dummy clips for when 'Greg' arrives.

I picked up a few other things for the little one, to package up with his new quilt - some adorable suits from Gymboree. I must have been loving the jungle animals - look, another sweet little lion!

Packaged up and ready to go!

It's here! My precious!

Something exciting came in the post recently. I'll give you a hint:

Still not sure?

Here it is, in all its extremely heavy glory. My new ginormous Staub 28cm Cocotte in the most becoming shade of 'pesto' green.

For years now I have been cooking with Le Creuset and Chasseur cast iron enamelled pots - a round one and an oval one - but I've found them too shallow in that I frequently have an overflowing pot when I stick a stew in the oven. After some years of use the enamel inside the pots have started to show signs of wear, they are no longer easy to clean and I have decided to send them to the great pot-drawer in the sky.

I've been desperate for one of these Staub beauties for a while now, but the price has been prohibitive. Imagine my joy when I received an email from Victoria's Basement advising that not only did they have the Staub cocottes in stock in my preferred shade of glorious green (it is truly lovely), but they are only $208 (down from $524) - now that is a sale!

Victoria's Basement still have these in stock (mine is the biggest round one - 28cm, but they have other sizes and shapes on sale also) - go here and snap one up for yourself!

I'm so excited about my new acquisition! I had to cook with it straight away and given I had limited ingredients and no time to get to the shops, I made a batch of my Storecupboard Spaghetti All'amatricia. The pasta sauce was outstanding, but still not as impressive as my new pot which is the perfect size for a big hearty stew, a pot roast or a batch of comforting soup. Definitely the right tool for the job, as my dear Dad would say!

Some Light Reading - "From Notting Hill.. With Love Actually"

I could tell you that when I'm not busy at work, cooking or crafting, I like to read the classics - you know, the really highbrow stuff. I could tell you that, but I'd be lying.

When I get home after a busy day, I love nothing more than to get lost in a good book. For me, that means an easy-to-read book, not one which requires too much concentration or thought. For this reason, I love a good detective novel or a feelgood 'chick lit' story.

I've just finished one in the latter category, "From Notting Hill.. with Love Actually" by Ali McNamara, and it was right up my alley in the easy reading, feel good stakes! I picked this book up after seeing an unusualy large number of women reading it on the tube when I was in London at the start of the year. If you are like me and love a good Hugh Grant film or happily settle in to watch Mr Darcy in his various incarnations, then this book is for you.

What's it about? Ali McNamara tells the story of Scarlett, who lives with her head in the clouds and sees the world through rose coloured glasses, for she escapes her ordinary life and her mundane fiancé through her love of the cinema - particularly the romantic films. Life imitates art for Scarlett when she is given the chance to housesit for a month in Notting Hill, where she embarks upon an adventure, peppered with plenty of scenes reminiscent of those from our favourite films, to find out what is missing in her life, with the help of her handsome new neighbour, Sean (who, incidentally, doesn't share Scarlett's love of films!).

This is quite an ode to Richard Curtis, the great champion of the British RomCom, filled with plenty of references to his (and others') great films. And when I say "plenty", I really mean "a lot". I suspect, however, that if you don't enjoy the film genre then you wouldn't be reading this book in the first place.

Look, I thought this was a lot of fun. Like so many chick-lit novels, there are some cringe-worthy bits, some predictable parts and rather a lot of implausible happenings afoot, but if you love your romcoms like me and you want to escape from reality, Scarlett's world is a nice place to spend some time.

In Search of Perfection - The Black 'Everyday' Bag

I'm on a mission! My favourite black slouchy leather handbag from Saba died a slow death during our European adventure at the start of the year and was put to rest in a hotel rubbish bin in Hong Kong in a futile attempt to find luggage space final act of mercy. I had intended to replace it as soon as possible upon arriving home and have been using an old (vintage?) Mimco hobo in the meantime. Unfortunately, this one is going the same way as its predecessor. When it comes to the everyday handbag, once I find a favourite, I will carry it til the death - I'm loyal that way!

Mr W is perplexed by this dilemma with which I am faced. He is clever enough to notice that there are plenty of bags floating around my wardrobe in various shapes, colours and sizes. He does not, however, grasp the concept of the 'everyday' bag (the one you pick up when you rush out the door, irrespective of outfit choice) as opposed to the bags which are more style accessories rather than the veritable sack one needs to lug one's worldy possessions from place to place. (You know, the kitchen sink!)

So, I need a new everyday bag. The requirements are as follows. The perfect article must:

• be made of leather;


• be black, to coordinate with the vast majority of my everyday wear (primarily work-wear);


• have a substantial capacity - it needs to hold a lot, so something bucket-like would be preferable;


• be a shoulder bag, a tote style bag with just the right sized straps to fling comfortably over my shoulder. It cannot be a messenger bag or something like a satchel with small handles, and there can be no cross-body bag wearing for this generously proportioned lass!;


• preferably be something slouchy, not too structured; and (perhaps most importantly)


• it must be reasonably priced. I came out of the Chloe Boutique Montaigne carrying something which was most definitely not an 'everyday' bag and the hubs is still recovering!

A cursory scour of the internet has revealed the following:

From Mimco, the Lowkey Pillow Day Bag in black, RRP $399:


The Pros: Good shape, looks to have a reasonable capacity, the panelling detail on the outside adds a bit of pizazz.
The Cons: Those wretched drawstrings! Also the shoulder straps could be on the cusp of being too long, and it's $400 which is not exactly cheap, at least not for my reasonably priced everyday bag.
Verdict: Hmm, I don't love it. Don't think I can get past the stringy-things.

From Witchery, the Quinn Twin Strap Bag, rrp $269:




The Pros: More realistic pricing, nice shape, I like the rumpled leather look.
The Cons: the handles might be too structured to be used as shoulder straps, and the long strap is not what I am after. I query if this could be a bit small or if it would be suitably bucket-y.

Verdict: Will have to investigate in-store.

Still at Witchery, the Nicky Twin Strap Bag, rrp $229:




The Pros: Size-wise, this is more like it!
The Cons: zzzzzz! It's a bit boring, isn't it? And I'm not fussed on the ugly zip pocket on the outside.

Next up, Country Road. This is their Joelle Tote in black, rrp $299:


The Pros: Well it's definitely bucket-y...
The Cons: It's just not all that exciting. It looks much nicer in the brown!

Still at Country Road, the Selma Leather Tote, also $299:


The Pros: It's a bit more jazzy than the last one. Size looks good.
The Cons: Is the leather firm or slouchy? And the straps, are they too long? Only a visit in-store will tell.

Verdict: A possibility.

The search continues.

A New Start...

Source: flickr.com by Meredith_Farmer

I had grand plans to write regularly at W&W Beyond, but when it came down to actually typing words to post, I couldn't come up with anything to say. Perhaps I had stage fright or, more accurately, blog-fright. I ended up developing a bit of a set against the page and, whilst I often photographed things to add to my junior blog, I never got around to it.

Increasingly, however, I have found myself daydreaming and thinking of things which I'd rather like to ramble on about somewhere or other, but which would not be in keeping with the food-oriented theme of W&W. So, I have decided to start afresh, with a cheery new blog and no clear direction - hopefully this will be a place where I feel happy to ramble. W&W will remain my primary site, as food is of course my main interest and it deserves a page to itself. For now, though, this will be my little blog, or my sub-blog, my Little Whisk.