A quilt I made out of vintage scraps and parts of aprons. I have had a few aprons made of gorgeous vintage fabric but have never known what to do with them. Then I got the idea to make a quilt out of them with big squares. I lined it with a white soft velour type fabric. Its all snuggly and lovely.

 Tania pointed out this gorgeous quilt at the local Salvos so I quickly grabbed it and didn't let it go till I had paid for it. Its 50's style and in all of my favourite colours mainly pink and green. I can't stop raving about it as it is just so beautiful and so me.

I have a bit of collection of vintage quilted throws. This is another one from my collection that I rescued from the dog blankets at the same Salvos. A good soak and Napisan and its like new. I also have a orange and brown paisley quilted throw that currently lives in Tania's Kombi as a picnic blanket. And a green paisley one that lives in my car as picnic rug. They are perfect for picnic rugs as they provide a bit of extra padding on the ground or sand. Not to mention they look beautiful!

Bec of dandelion has inspired this post about book and the love of reading with her post on book love. Like Bec I have always loved reading and I cannot remember a time where I did not know how to read. I remember being able to read by 3 if not earlier. I was reading chapter books like Enid Blyton by kinder and at school I could read anything.

Now I tend to read as many books as I can cram into the year. I read quite fast so it is incredibly annoying trying to find books I haven't read. Last year I started a degree in Social Work so I had to swap novels for textbooks and journal articles. It drove me crazy not to be able to lose myself in a book. I use reading as relaxation, distraction, learning, and also entertainment for me and my children.

I have always loved reading so wanted to share that love and encourage my children to enjoy reading too. I read to my children every night and we make it a really special time. Tonight I had Thomas and Oscar curled up on either side of me while I read Captain Underpants to them. At times Thomas read some of the book, at times Oscar asked questions or pointed out words. There were lots of giggles and smiles. I love seeing the joy and love of books in their eyes as we read together.

In case you are wondering what Captain Underpants is you will be interested to know it is a very boy friendly book about a principal that turns into a superhero that wears only underpants. Its hilarious full of underpants, bad jokes and talking toilets. Perfect for boys.

Thomas enjoys Pokemon, Captain Underpants, Spongebob Squarepants and Thomas the Tank Engine. Oscar enjoys any type of books but lately he is into fairy tales and tales about the earth. I recently found some books on aboriginal dreaming at the op shop for him so I look forward to sharing them with him. Our best source of books is the op shop.

 These are Oscar's second favourite pants. Topped only by pants that are similar to these but in yellow chenille with Smurf fabric trim and pockets. I basically just drew a line around a pair of Oscar's old pants and added some length and came up with these. They are a stylish alternative to trackie pants and look great hanging out at the beach which we seem to do a lot now

My only problem with these is that Oscar likes to wear them backwards so he can see the rainbow pockets.

 I have making some hair ties by covering self cover buttons with fabric and adding elastic hair ties. I had some really cute Smurf fabric and thought I would make some special Smurf hair ties. They worked out so well! They are currently up in my Ebay shop but I am tempted to hide them and use them myself. 

I have a bit of an obsession with Smurf related products especially fabric. The Smurfs were one of my favourite shows growing up and I still love their cute little blue faces. I have converted Oscar to my love for Smurfs as well and bought him the box set of DVDs for Christmas. We often watch them together and sing the Smurfy songs. I always have my eye out for more Smurfy memorabilia to add to my collection. 

The Beginning

Well I had written a nice long beginning post and then proceeded to lose it all thanks to forgetting to plug in the charger. So now there is nothing quite so eloquent but short and sweet instead. This is a brand new blog for a brand new year and hopefully brand new adventures.

I have opened a shop on ebay selling all kinds of goodies Susieq Vintage and Collectables. This shop is the result of a need to do a destash of fabrics and the house full of books I have managed to collect. There will also be some handmade goodies in there.

This blog will also follow my op shop adventures, sewing and crafty exploits and general life stories. I hope to share some of my favourite things like books and treasures.

But for now I will keep it short and sweet and focus on the thoughts for my next post.