Cascade

Merry Christmas for 2011

2011-12-17T12:27:00.001+11:00

Merry Christmas to all the crafty cats out there in Blogland. One week to go, two days of work, and two very excited children. Our Christmas tree is up and so is my WIP wallhanging called 'Christmas Baubles' - I haven't quite finished it, but came close! You might remember this quilt from earlier this year. It's from a pattern by Audrey & Maude. You can see I changed the borders a bit. Thanks Helen for the pattern - I can't believe it's taken me so long to make it!

It's now about two thirds quilted (all done by hand) with perle thread. I've done all the borders and the baubles and started the outline quilting around the tree. You can see all the pins are still in - kind of post-modern Christmas decorations!

I wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and all the best for a wonderful 2012.

My take on 1929 ladies fashion

2011-10-06T20:46:00.000+11:00

Well, it's not exactly like my sketch, but close enough! Here's what I ended up with - lining fabric overlaid with chiffon, with a fringed drop waist, gored skirt, and sequin detailing around the neckline and down the dress front. I made a headband, replete with real peacock feathers (it's racing season here so my local fabric shop had some millinery supplies) - also one for Jodi, my writing buddy who also came along to the conference. The dinner was aboard the 1929 'Graf Zeppelin', complete with a menu historically attuned to the tastes of 1929. The dinner was designed by Canberra food historian Gillian Polack and a fabulous, fun-filled time was had by all!

A little flapper style

2011-09-18T16:34:00.003+10:00

I'm attending a 1929-themed banquet dinner in two weeks' time (the highlight, I'm told, of the Conflux writers conference) and have nothing suitable to wear. So, I thought, why not make something? I Googled "1929 flapper dresses" and got lots of image inspiration. I let my subconscious work on it overnight and today sketched a design. I'll work on the pattern tonight, but it should be fairly straightforward - the dress will feature a drop waist, angled hemline, be fully lined and wide enough to slip on/off over the head. Nothing puts me off dressmaking more than zips and other closures!
I have a pair of taupe shoes that won't be authentic but will be 'close enough'.I'll head to Spotlight at lunch time tomorrow in search of some navy blue chiffon or georgette and matching trim. I'd like some beading and some fringing to complete the outfit. I may even make a matching headband, depending on how the dress turns out.
I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished product!

And Tristan is 3!

2011-08-23T19:14:00.004+10:00

My other darling, Tristan, is now officially a 'big boy' - he turned three on Sunday. He had a lovely birthday: presents, a trip to Monkey Mania (a very appropriately named indoor play centre), topped off by cake!
Who would have thought this skinny, scrunched up bubba would turn into such a happy chappy. He's just adorable (although still not sleeping through every night)!

Happy birthday Miss Romily

2011-08-05T07:50:00.002+10:00

My darling is six!
Time flies when you have such a fun-loving, crazy, adorable kid.I love you Romily
xxx

Romily's new (old) quilt

2011-07-17T19:33:00.004+10:00

Warning: Quilt-related content!!

Gosh, I wonder if it was the guilt of putting my blog into hibernation? Not sure what caused it, but I pulled out a very ancient work in progress this weekend - Romily's Eye Candy quilt, which I started way back here and here (three years ago - whoops!).

Of course, I had used most of that fabric in the meantime, so it was back to the drawing board. I had heaps of Prints Charming 70s Rainbow Garden fabric left from Rom's 4th birthday party when I made cute gift bags for all the guests, so I decided to delve into that. It's perfect for a little girl's quilt. I also discovered the design wasn't quite the right size for Rom's bed and it was far too fiddly (read = time-consuming). Besides, with that riotous fabric, simpler is best!So, the sewn strips have been crosscut and the piecing has begun. Here is the bottom section of the quilt - it's going to have that green/blue chain all around the perimeter, with several chains criss-crossing the interior. Hopefully I'll have a chance to do a bit more during the week - the time pressure is on, as I re-start uni this semester and I also have to do some Army reserve work too. No rest for the wicked!
Also, Quilting Fitzy asked for some recent pictures of Romily and Tristan. Here they are last weekend doing some painting :)

Shhh...this blog is sleeping!

2011-07-05T20:25:00.003+10:00

I'm afraid handquilting a very large quilt ain't exactly exciting! And no other crafty pursuits have been had lately, so I think my blog might have to hibernate for a little while until I have something to share with my lovely readers who still remember to pop by every now and then.

Happy quilting to those of you still with the time and energy to do so :)

The half-way to Christmas quilt

2011-05-30T19:52:00.004+10:00

Well howdy. It's been a lean and mean quilting year to date. Sadly work is all-consuming and whatever little energy I have at the end of the day is exhausted on the children. I'm giving my job till the end of the year to see if there's any improvement; if not, I'll start looking at other options. The job would be great if I had twice the staff numbers, who were trained and experienced! Never mind, can't have it all - I have a great team and a supportive boss, so I guess that's a lot.

Anway, I forced myself this weekend to add the borders to my 'Christmas Baubles' quilt (from a pattern by Audrey & Maude), before making the backing and sandwiching the sucker last night - it's huge! Larger than a lap quilt, it's the biggest quilt I've made to date (and I even put on smaller borders than the pattern stipulated!). And now it's my handwork project - I plan to do all the quilting by hand, using perle cotton and a largish needle - in the 'naive' or 'folk' style, which I think really suits this quilt. I have seven months to Christmas - hopefully I'll have finished it by then - if not, I'll hange it on the wall unfinished!

I did do a little bit of pieceing recently, making five tiny 'wonky houses' for a collaborative quilt for my Western Australian friend Helen, who had a 'significant birthday' recently :) A group of us was invited by her sister Andrea to contribute and then Ads (as she is known) put the whole thing together, quilted it and bound it. Helen was gobsmacked - she had no idea we were doing it and was suitably chuffed. The quilty community really is so generous!

Well that's it for me. I hope you're all well out there in virtual quilt land! What's under your needle these days?

Rainbow

2011-04-02T12:54:00.000+11:00

Here's my beautiful girl, with the new rainbow skirt I made for her. She chose the fabric from my stash and I went to work. Look mum, no pattern! I just winged it and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's elastic-waisted, has a drop waist with topstitching and gathering, as well as two cute pockets with gathered tops. I'm pretty proud of myself - I think I've finally worked out how to do this! Romily was off to a party today with Daddy and Tristy. I'm sitting in the Qantas Club at Canberra Airport, awaiting the first of three flights to Stockholm, with an enroute touch-down in Bangkok. Another work trip - this time for two weeks. I'm going to miss the kids and Carl!

She sews!

2011-03-21T20:26:00.002+11:00

This blog has been going for about five years and it's never been so neglected as now. I blame my job! I've never worked so hard, been so busy nor been so challenged. I'm absolutely buggered by the time I get home, with no energy left for crafty pursuits, hence the lean pickings around here.

So, surprisingly, I got the urge to sew on Sunday! I rustled up a bit of energy and busted out a pattern I've used before. Fortunately, I made these pants in the same size (3) nearly four years ago for my nephews, so the pattern pieces were already cut. All I had to do was cut new fabric and sew, sew, sew. The inset fabric is left over from this project. The denim I had in my stash. These pants were completed within three hours of starting - the joys of little boys' elastic-waisted pants!

It felt good to be making something again :) I now have an 'order' from Romily for next weekend!

Blocks for Quilts for Leukaemia

2011-02-20T21:29:00.006+11:00

It's not much to show for a couple of hours work, is it? But here they are, nonetheless, four red and white 8.5" unfinished blocks for Quilts for Leukaemia. The fabulous Clare put out a call for more blocks and I have heaps of red and whites, so I really wanted to make some more. Sadly, my piecing ain't what it used to be, so they're a little wonky. Hopefully they will make the grade though and be suitable for a quilt in the not too distant future.

Being part of a worldwide movement to bring a little cheer to the poor little kids fighting leukaemia is something pretty special. If you'd like to help wrap the world in love, head on over to the blog or Facebook page and find out how you can help.

Getting a head start

2011-01-03T08:33:00.003+11:00

Well, this quilt was *supposed* to be finished in time for the Christmas just past. I made it so far as cutting the circles, pot and star shapes! Gifted to me by the very generous Helen, the pattern, called 'Christmas Baubles', is by Audrey and Maude.

I am *determined* to have this wallhanging finished for Christmas 2011, so I have made a good start. All the shapes are now machine appliqued after being fused to the top. I just have another dozen or so ends to tie in at the back before attaching the two borders and assembling for quilting.This quilt will be entirely handquilted in white perle thread - it's going to be my hand project for 2011. Any of you attending Sew it Together in Sydney in March will see me working on it then!

Today, however, there will be no sewing - I'm off to work (it's a public holiday here so no one else will be there) to do some study. I have fallen far behind on my literature review for my research project, so I'm devoting the next four days to it. Hopefully I will have cracked the back of it by Thursday afternoon because January is going to be such a busy month - I have two work trips (and counting), one to far north tropical Queensland (ouch the humidity) and one to deepest darkest Scandinavia (I really must do better planning!). Not to mention many new starters to induct and a whole bunch of work waiting for me to get cracking!

Ciao, ciao 2010

2010-12-31T11:54:00.003+11:00

Before we ring the bells to see out another year, I thought I'd do up a mosaic of my crafty efforts this year. It's pretty light on, but given the high-octane pace of 2010, I guess it's not too bad!

1. Poppy skirt with applique tee, 2. Panel skirt, 3. Too-whit too-whoo, 4. Book bag, 5. Butterfly applique top and matching skirt, 6. Dot's Bouquet, 7. Susan's Stars, 8. Tristan's Hungry Caterpillar, 9. The House That Jack Built, 10. Abigail's pram quilt- front, 11. Walk in the Park, 12. PIF gifts, 13. Rom's spooky new skirt, 14. AH skirt, 15. Allan's Lagoon

Wishing you and your families a happy, safe and prosperous 2011.

Allan's Lagoon

2010-12-28T11:41:00.005+11:00

I finally finished the lap quilt I made for my father-in-law Allan, using fabric from the Lagoon range by Michael Miller. It's based on an Oh Fransson pattern.
I quilted it with an all-over medium meander, which adds to the sea-like quality of the fabric. Unsurprisingly, I called it Allan's Lagoon :)I had hoped to have it all wrapped up under the Christmas tree, but it wasn't quite finished. At least it's done in time for his departure after lunch today!

Next up is finishing Romily's single bed quilt that I began about two years ago...I'll get there, albeit slowly :)

Goodbye 2010

2010-12-23T22:04:00.004+11:00

Poor, poor, neglected blog. Poor, poor, neglected readers! You want reasons? I got 'em:

First, I got too busy (work, schmerk).
Second, this is my 500th post and I wanted to run a give-away (sorry about that).
Third, I haven't really been crafting (sad, but true).

Since my last post (IN SEPTEMBER WHAT THE?), I have made one dress (that fits!), started quilting my father-in-law's quilt (that I am supposed to be gifting to him on Christmas Day - whoops), fixed Romily's scratchy Tinkerbell costume waistband (with a strip of batting/wadding!) in time for her last day at Preschool (it was dress-up day), and finally made Tristan's Santa stocking (which I started before LAST Christmas). He now has a matching pair to Romily's, which I made back in 2007.Dire, dire, dire effort! In my defence, I have been ultra-busy at work, so much so that I am exhausted each evening and have no energy to study, craft or write anything much at all.

I did, however, manage to turn out a Christmas story, which will be published at 3pm on Christmas Day (Australian time). You can read it here, with a bunch of other Christmas-themed stories (but not in the cheesy, Xmas kind of way!): Mixed Tapes Volume 1, Deck the Halls. Make sure you become a 'fan' of the page so you get all the links to the stories :)

I hope you are all well and looking forward to spending some time with your families over Christmas. I am looking forward to 2011 - this has been a tough year for so many people in so many ways. Onwards!

It's spring! Need a skirt?

2010-09-30T05:23:00.003+10:00

Well, yes, don't mind if I do! My lovely and generous colleagues gave me the best farewell present when I changed jobs recently: a rather large gift voucher for my favourite fabric shop - Addicted to Fabric (great name isn't it?!). I went and spent it last week and came home with some gorgeous dressmaking fabric, including some Alexander Henry Mocca Floral in black, white and yellow. It screamed skirt to me - what do you think?
It's lined and has a zip, as well as two tiny pleats/darts. I used the skirt part from a dress pattern I bought as part of my haul and modified it, created a self-facing waistband, added some lining and a zip and voila! A dress is next!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-22T21:08:00.003+10:00

Spring is nearly here - time to do some sewing!

2010-08-30T21:48:00.005+10:00

The blossoms are out, the bees are abuzz and the days are warming ever so slightly. And thank goodness! We can now take the kids outside without layering them in so many clothes they can barely move. All this excitement was inspiration enough to see me drag out my poor, neglected machine on the weekend and whip up a skirt for Romily and a pair of pants (or very long shorts) for Tristan. Two old faithful Ottobre magazines were found (after only a little searching). Otto 3/2008 for some more #7 'Aqua pants' for Tristan in some lovely, soft aqua babywale cord. I love this pattern and have made it a couple of times now. Lots of pocket detailing and top-stitching make them look so cute.

And 4/2007 - the #20 'Corduroy Skirt' for Romily using some very cool printed corduroy from Michael Miller (Cool Cords), which I bought a while back from Crafty Mamas. The skirt has real insert pockets (the first time I've ever tried that and it was pretty easy really!) and lots of top-stitching. I love the cute skulls (who knew that was a possibility?) and so does Rom. She wants to wear the skirt next time she sees her far-away cousins, 'cause she knows they like skulls. (Arrr!)

Tristan is two!

2010-08-22T08:29:00.003+10:00

It's not until you experience it yourself that you understand how quickly children grow! I cannot believe my baby is two years old - but he is. And he's adorable. Most of the time ;)

And it's so wonderful to see the children getting along so well (again, most of the time!). Carl and I feel very blessed.

(Look at my growing-up-so-fast girl. This photo is scarily prescient! And yes, the buttefly pyjamas used to be Rom's!)

Canberra Quilt Show 2010

2010-08-08T21:07:00.014+10:00

Warning: Quilt-related content!Rounding out a supremely busy week, was a trip to the Canberra Quilt Show today, where I had two quilts on display! Well, one. Well none actually entered for competition...!
My calendar challenge quilt, 'The House That Jack Built' was on display with all the others - I'm 'Miss October'!'Susan's Stars', which was the collaborative quilt some of my work colleagues and I put together for our friend who was badly injured in a car accident, was on display too - they were down on numbers this year, so Susan asked if we wouldn't mind having it included. Why not?! With each entry comes the obligation to 'volunteer' for a shift. I chose to do a stint at the 'Quilts for Others' stand and enjoyed playing with a new Bernina 440 QE - with table! It fairly hummed along, and I was able to finish a medium-large all-over meander on a lap-size quilt in two hours. The quilt is destined for a local hospice once its bound. The Canberra Quilters gift many such quilts each year and it was nice to be able to do my little bit to assist. The quilting was by no means perfect, but it did the trick. It's the first time I've quilted with an audience - there were lots of ladies (and even a couple of fellas) who wanted to know how I was doing the quilting, so it was lots of fun telling them I'm a beginner FMQ-er - a lot of them didn't believe me! I encouraged them all to give it a shot. It was pretty funny, as I was sitting next to Pat Godden, quilter and mother of Helen Godden, whom, if you've been reading for a while, I admire greatly - she is one of the best machine quilters in the world. Helen was on duty as well and I was a tad embarrassed to be sitting there having a bunch of women admiring my very basic meander while one of the best quilters in the world was watching!

Here are some of my favourite quilts from this year's exhibition (click any image to enlarge):

Beth and Trevor Reid - Hot Lava II - Best of Show

Close-up - check out that marvellously textured quilting. Amazing.

Brenda Gael Smith - Dreamlines #3

Helen Godden - Chameleon (yes, the chameleon is trapuntoed - quite an eye-popping effect)

Diane Firth - Stones

Dell Armistead - 40 Shades of Green

Diane Firth - Drainage Basin

Helen Godden - Swanning East

Helen Godden - They Grow Up So Fast

And the Australian Best of Show for 2009 - unbelievably well done in concept and execution. This photo does not do it justice.

Marlene King - Travels

And the Australian Patchwork & Quilting Challenge quilts were also being displayed. Some of my faves:

Erika Krieg - A Snapshot from My Heart

Robina Wickerson - Flanders Poppies

Poppies close-up

And, finally, here'sEB quilting buddy Leah's quilt - it's massive! Well done Leah!

Leah Clark-Vial - Country Dresden Garden

I'm hoping to enter my first quilt for competition next year, but with all I've got on my plate these days, I'm not committing to anything! That's one of the good things about quilting - there's really no rush except our self-imposed deadlines!

Rom's party

2010-08-07T14:59:00.004+10:00

Today was Romily's party - we held it at The Farmyard Nursery here in Canberra (it's just across the road from our place!)
It was very cold but sunny - the cold doesn't seem to bother the kids though!
A fun time was had by all - especially the birthday girl.And her little brother!
We fed some very hungry lambs.And had some yummy cake - Romily's request was for a 'Dora and Diego jungle cake'. I was happy to oblige!I would like to thank my parents for the parties they threw for me - I now have a new appreciation for how much work my Mum must have done!

Anyway, a fun time was had by all - especially the big five-year-old birthday girl.

Happy birthday to my darling girl

2010-08-05T21:28:00.006+10:00

I cannot believe Miss Romily is five! But she is. Such a beautiful, happy, crazy child. I love her to bits.I baked her a cake to celebrate - the Lazy Ladybug from the AWW Bake cookbook. We all sang happy birthday tonight after dinner and she blew out the candle. Here she is with Carl just after we turned the lights back on.And two dozen cupcakes to share with her preschool friends today. Here they are in the Cupcake Courier I bought a while back. How cool is this contraption?! (There's another layer, but I only needed the two today! The lone cupcake without decoration is for one of Rom's friends who apparently doesn't like icing...strange child! LOL)Romily's party is on Saturday, so stand by for more baking and fun photos! I'll also have to post a couple of her riding her new bike - she was so happy to receive her present and said a very genuine thank you. I think at her age I would have been so interested in ripping open my other presents that I wouldn't have even thought to say thank you!

She's such a wonderful kid. Happy birthday my little friend.

I Payed It Forward!

2010-08-01T13:25:00.005+10:00

All three Pay it Forward gifts are safely in their destinations around Australia so I can now post some pictures of what I made.
The oven mitt design is from Denyse Schmidt Quilts and the pot holder is based on that design.

Helen, Monika and Alissa can now play!

Sign-ups are still open over at Monika's blog if you're interested.

All about food

2010-07-23T19:27:00.003+10:00

It seems as though it's all about food around here lately! I was lucky again and won a copy of Bake by TV cook Rachel Allen (who I'd not heard of before but you all know how much I love to BAKE!) from Frills in the Hills (Liss), who was giving away three copies.

I collected mine from the post office yesterday and before I even finished flicking through the pages, had baked the chocolate chip version of the Banana Bread (with a little help from Tristan). The house is now smelling totally divine and I now have a whole recipe book full of new yummy things to try. Thanks again Liss.In crafty news, I'm hoping my PIF gifts arrive at their destinations soon - I sent them registered post, having learned from my last disaster (and no, it - missing quilt, see previous post - still hasn't turned up). I also finished piecing the top for my FIL's quilt - I can't show a picture, as he reads Facebook and this post will appear there automatically. If you follow me on Flickr, you can see a picture of it there.

Comfort food

2010-07-18T17:37:00.008+10:00

Well it's been a cold and frosty winter here in Canberra; there is nothing better to chase away the winter blues with some home-cooked cupcakes and muffins. Oh and lemon delicious! I recently discovered Frills in the Hills - the food heaven awesome blog run by the baking goddess Liss - just in time for a lunch we went to a couple of Sundays ago.
She had posted a lemon delicious recipe and I thought that would be perfect for the lunch - I was so right! It was an easy recipe with five-star results. Yum!

She also posts lots of other yummies, so I urge you to check her out. I cooked these golden muffins today for the kids. I substituted golden syrup for the honey (hence the lovely caramel colour) and mashed banana for the currants. They were a hit with the kids!

But wait there's more! Romily and I (with some spoon-lickin' help from Tristan) baked some vanilla cupcakes from the AWW Bake cookbook on Friday. Romily's great contribution (aside from sifting the flour and also licking spoons) was choosing the bright yellow colour for the icing. You can see her icing efforts above :)

On the sewing front - there has been action! I finished the three Pay it Forward gifts; they will go in the post tomorrow. I will show a picture or two when they're en route. I have also cut the fabric for my FIL's birthday/Christmas present quilt. Will piece the top tonight after my sad boy (2yo molars are causing a LOT of grief) goes to sleep. Boy, he's been hard work these past three days! Poor kid has had a temp and been grumpy as all get out; walking around like a zombie. Let's hope this stage passes quickly!

And sadly, the Walk in the Park baby quilt I made has gone missing in the mail. I'm hoping Australia Post manages to track it down...it's the last time I ever send anything by ordinary post.

Winnings!

2010-07-07T21:29:00.006+10:00

I hardly ever win anything on blog giveaways, but I was stoked to have two recently!

First off, was a fabric giveaway at Emma's place. She sent me some gorgeous fabric left over from the most incredible custom quilt she made.

Then I won a cute skirt pattern from OzMaterial Girls - the City Girl Skirt pattern. I really want to make some summer skirts for myself, so here's my chance!

I also received my Pay It Forward gift from Mands - a cute owl appliqued shopping bag and a very cute notebook - all for my inventions, featuring Bert & Ernie! Of course Romily has claimed both items for herself! Thanks Mands!Thanks everyone for being such generous, wonderful, crafty folk!

As for me, very little in the way of sewing going on - but I did do some cutting in preparation for making my PIF gifts. Soon! I also ordered some fabric for a hush-hush Christmas present I'm making for my FIL. Can't wait to get started on that project - it's going to be an Oh Fransson! quilt. I love her work!

While there has not been any sewing, there has been a little bit of baking :) I discovered, via Corrie from Retromummy, a fab blogger Liss, who has the most amazing, droolworthy recipes on her blog, Frills in the Hills. Go check her out - you won't be sorry! This was the lemon delicious I made on Sunday morning to take to a lunch we were invited to - it was a big hit! (I made a double batch - nom nom nom!)

Walk in the Park - baby quilt finished

2010-06-27T21:30:00.005+10:00

And another ta-da moment :) I actually finished this quilt before the baby was born - there's a first! I'm calling it 'Walk in the Park', as the feature fabric is from the much-loved Park Slope range (Erin McMorris). It measures 39" x 39". To see the inspiration for this quilt design, see this previous post. I chose to do an all-over meander (again), as it's quick, getting easier and very functional for a quilt that's likely to be washed many times.

Zoe was born on my birthday, so this quilt is going to a very special baby indeed! Her mum is one of the loveliest people you'll ever meet and she'll be a great mum. I'm not showing you a close-up of the back - there were a couple of puckers that I didn't notice until I was stitching down the binding. Shhhhh - don't tell the quilt police! The other thing I'm not so thrilled about is the way the pattern in the Park Slope fabric 'walks' off the quilt - I was so careful to cut with the grain - the print is slightly askew. This is a definite downside of strip quilts!
Next under the needle will be the three Pay It Forward gifts I need to make. I have cut all the fabric, now it's a matter of sewing it all together! I received my gift and will blog it as soon as I can retrieve it from Romily!

~~~

And here is a photo of our new friends.Eastern Rosellas are a gorgeous native Australian parrot - my clever father-in-law made us this fabulous bird feeder for Christmas. We finally put it up in about April and it took the birds a few weeks to find it. First we had visitations from some Currajongs, then, a few days later, a pair of Rosellas made some tentative enquiries (sitting on our fence, in the adjacent tree, on the balcony railing) before they decided it was safe enough. They've been back almost every day since. They don't seem bothered by us at all, as long as we're not too close. Today we were even visited by four Magpies! The kids are loving it - it's the closest we'll get to having pets for the foreseeable future...

Cute pram quilt finished

2010-06-19T14:33:00.000+10:00

A friend from work had a baby girl in May - another friend had already made a gorgeous play quilt, so I decided to make a little pram quilt! I am super happy with this tiny little quilt :) Measuring 20 x 30", it'll be a perfect fit for keeping a newborn nice and snuggly on the freezing days we're having in Canberra.
I love the innovation (not mine, but a great idea, nonetheless - Milly makes them this way too) of a 'foot muff' for the bubba's feet - click to enlarge the above image - you can see the line of the foot muff/pocket along where the label is stitched). It'll not only keep her a tiny bit warmer, but should stop the quilt from riding up and covering her face.

This tiny quilt didn't really need the full label treatment, so I stitched one of my labels to the muff and voila!

And look at these gorgeous lillies! From my father-in-law to help celebrate my non-birthday this week. Carl, the kids and I have all suffered through gastro on top of a head/chest cold, so it was really a non-event this year!

The House That Jack Built

2010-06-13T20:36:00.005+10:00

I've been a member of the Canberra Quilters for about three years now and love getting to the meetings when I can (which hasn't been all that frequently since Tristan's arrival, although I'm getting back in the swing of things now). Each year I promise myself I'll do a quilt for one of their challenges, but each year I get too busy and let it slide. This year was nearly no exception! However, I was determined, and completed this quilt, 'The House That Jack Built', in one night. It measures approx 18" x 15"

(click on image to enlarge)

I posted a while back that I thought I might do some tiny wonky stars for this year's 'Cutting Corners' challenge, but at the last minute changed my mind and did a wonky house instead. I enjoyed making the Tequila Sunhouse mini-quilt for Helen, so I thought I'd have another crack. I decided to go really bright, hoping to make an eye-popping quilt. Sadly I think I discovered that quilts can indeed be 'too bright' - resulting in insufficient contrast. In hindsight, I think I should have stuck to a white background. (Looking at it now, I wish I'd added a turquoise button for a door handle.) Nonetheless, I submitted this mini for the calendar contest - you never know, they might be looking for crazy, bright and quirky! I'm not sure when we'll find out, but regardless of the outcome, both kids like it and it can go on their bedroom wall when I finally get it back from the competition organisers :)
I love the backing/binding fabric - I originally bought it to use in a dress for Romily...that still hasn't been made! I did add a label after this photo was taken - at the meeting where the quilts were handed in. Talk about cutting it fine!

Baby season is here

2010-05-30T09:59:00.007+10:00

It's baby season again! No, not me, but babies seem to be popping up (out?) all over! Two friends have had/are having babies, so I thought I'd whip something up for each of them.

As I'm so pressed for time these days, simple designs are king. I wanted something striking though, so I googled 'strippy quilt' and found oodles of quilty inspiration. The photo that really kicked me off was on Flickr, from Bubbachic, who had a similar dilemma and lovely scraps!

I went through my stash and found some gorgeous soft pink left over Amy Butler (from 'Marina's Midwest Modern' quilt), which is now snipped and sewn into a top for a pram quiltlet. A friend at work has just had her third girl, and another work friend made a play quilt. I thought one for the pram might be a good idea, especially now winter is really here - it's been cold and raining for two days straight!

(Measures 20 x 30")

I also had some left over Park Slope from the 'Funky Chicks' quilt, which is now doing double duty in a cot quilt. A friend of mine, who I never get to see because she lives so far away, is having a baby - a girl - and I'm just so happy for her. My friend has been dreadfully unlucky in love and has finally found a man who's right for her, so this baby is extra special! I love how this quilt is coming along. I'm going to use a stripey binding in chocolates, pinks and purples, which I think will bring it all together. The baby's due in a couple of weeks.

(Measures 40 x 40")

Both quilts will get the all-over stipple treatment, with the pram quilt to have a built-in foot muff, so I'll 'birth' that one to integrate all the layers. Never done it before, so it should be interesting!

I'm hoping to have both quilts finished by Thursday night in time to take them along for show and tell at the Canberra Quilters meeting this week, alongside the Hungry Caterpillar quilt (see previous post).

And here's one of Romily - wearing my clothes (the hat is now a permanent resident in her dress-up box). She thinks she looks like a grown-up in this outfit!
For long-time readers of my blog, can you believe Romily will be five in just a little over two months? Crikey!

Never has it felt so good to finish!

2010-05-23T20:15:00.010+10:00

It's been two years in the making. Drum roll, please...........................................Tristan's Hungry Caterpillar Quilt is finally finished! Woot! (I haven't actually been working on it for two years straight - a baby/non-sleeping toddler kinda got in the way...)
I did a lot of handquilting on this baby - a mixture of quilting and perle thread. The perle was a bugger to quilt with, but I eventually got my needles sorted out and after many evenings of stitching in front of the television, got there in the end. The only downside of using such a thick thread is that it stiffens the quilt - the rest of the quilt is all soft and snuggly. The butterflies are noticeably stiffer - and they warped the 'squareness' of the quilt.
Not that Tristan minds! He just loves it and has spent a good part of today climbing in and out of his bed to go under his new 'covers'. God love him :)And here's a photo of the back - it's cheater flannelette. So warm and snuggly and the perfect colour combination for this quilt. Now I just have to add the label, but since I'm not giving this one away, there's no rush, right?

Since this is such a momentous occasion, Tristan's Hungry Caterpillar Quilt is my entry for this year's Blogger's Quilt Festival

Collaborative Comfort

2010-05-01T19:59:00.005+10:00

It's so nice to have a finish. I should outsource block-making much more often! Quilts come together amazingly quickly when you're working together. Here is 'Susan's Stars' bound and finished. I am very happy with the quilt (made by three work friends and me) and was delighted to present it to our colleague Susan, who was recently in a serious car accident. She is still in hospital, and will be for about another two weeks. The quilt will certainly brighten up her bed.
She said it was the first quilt anyone had made for her and was absolutely chuffed. She also confirmed that while she loves making quilts, she doesn't do much machine quilting - therefore she thought mine was fab!

Here's the pieced back - a beautiful stripe from Spotlight, of all places. I might have to go back and get some more - the colours are just fabulous. It didn't quite fit across the width, so I added a 90 degree strip down the middle - quite effective I think.
And one more close-up of the quilting/stars - excuse the folds, I had taken it to show everyone and it got a bit creased in the bag.
I now have five days to make a small challenge quilt for a calendar competition being run by the Canberra Quilters - it'll be no surprise that I'm doing some maverick stars! It may not get made in time, but I'll give it a try :)

Susan's Stars Update

2010-04-26T11:57:00.003+10:00

I love long weekends - especially when Carl takes the kids of my hands for half a day here and half a day there. I get a lot done when I have the place to myself!

Here is 'Susan's Stars' quilted all over with a medium sized meander. While it's not perfect (I accidentally crossed the lines a couple of times - quilting in white over white-on-white fabric can be tricky!), it's effective and it was quick. So, it will have to do!
Now for some binding. I'm going to raid my stash for a suitable stripe - the back is a very bright Adobe style stripe, so it needs to coordinate or contrast. If I'd been thinking clearly when I bought the backing I would have bought enough to do the binding too. Ah well!

Gasp! There be quilting around these parts

2010-04-24T19:39:00.005+10:00

Well there's been some quiltmaking going on around here! A work friend was in a serious car accident two weeks ago - she just happens to be the president of the Canberra Quilters - and a bunch of us at work, who also are quilters, decided a comfort quilt was in order. I wanted to get the quilt to her while she was still convalescing, so I thought a larger version of Bonnie Hunter's Maverick Stars would be a good idea, a la the Bushfire Quilt Project.

Polly, Teena and Ruth made up a bunch of blocks, and I made some too. I made eight, although it turns out I only needed two (leaving me with six for another project!). I originally thought a 5 x 5 layout would work, not realising how quickly 12" blocks would stack up. So I ditched a row and the quilt has finished up with a 4 x 5 layout instead. Now it's a very generous size lap quilt - Susan, the recipient, is vertically challenged, so the quilt will cover her completely when she's lying down.
Carl took the kids off to see the Dora the Explorer concert this morning, so I got busy and pieced the top together, as well as constructing the gorgeous stripy backing. As soon as I finish posting, I'll get started on sandwiching and pin basting - the intent is to spend part of tomorrow and Monday (public holiday here) quilting and attaching the binding to the front. Ruth has kindly offered to help me stitch down the back of the binding at work on Tuesday - a lunchtime quilting bee!

If I have any time spare after finishing the binding part on Monday I'm hoping to get a pencil roll made for a good friend's daughter - I made one for her big sister just over a year ago and the little sister adores it apparently! Meanwhile, the handquilting odyssey on Tristan's VHC quilt continues - I'm almost there!

Finally, here's a photo of my two cuties together. They both had haircuts yesterday - Romily had about 10cm (3") off in length (it was time) and Tristan had his first professional cut (he was remarkably still and well behaved!).

Poor, neglected blog!

2010-04-12T20:09:00.005+10:00

This poor little blog, abandoned but not forgotten. Life just keeps getting in the way of crafting and blogging. And I am sorry I have been unable to come visiting with my blogging buddies. My research/studies are taking up a lot of my time, and, in what little free time I have, I am usually too tired from work and looking after kids to pull out the sewing machine/quilting tools.
I have been doing quite a bit of handquilting on Tristan's Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt, which I started way back before he was born, but there's not a lot to show for it (above picture is of the finished top, pre-machine quilting - it looks a bit different now - will post a photo when it's done). We went to Bendigo for Easter and I spent the evenings stitching away (how lovely). I showed the quilt in progress to Tristan, whose reaction was: 'wowowow!' - I think he likes it! He loves the book and is constantly bringing it to me saying: 'Mummy. Story. Cat-pillar. Story.' He's already a man who knows what he wants!

Tristan is 19 months old already. As I keep saying, they grow so fast. Rom will be five in August and is loving preschool. She will definitely be ready for school next year.

Dot's Bouquet is finished

2010-03-14T16:12:00.005+11:00

I am really happy with this quilt I made for Car's aunt Dorothy! Number one, it's finished (and don't we all love a finished quilt?!), and number two, I am happy with all my choices. The fabrics, colours, pattern and quilting all seem to work together. (See the previous post if you want details about where I got the idea for this quilt from.) The fabric is from the Timeless Treasures Kiwi Mama Mia range.
I had to piece the back, after discovering my backing wasn't quite long enough - I even like how the back turned out! I'm pretty sure she'll like it - she'll appreciate the gift, even if green isn't her favourite colour!
Now that I've made quite quite a few of these comfort quilts and feel much more comfortable free motion quilting, I feel like I can tackle some 'keepers' for us. It would be nice, wouldn't it, to have something to show for all this quilting? I only have one quilt here that is made by me! The very first sampler quilt I made for Romily way back in 2006.

And just because, here's a photo of Mr Trista! He is wearing a deflated ball as a hat. Why not, I say?!

Shhhhhhhh! There's been quilt making going on around here!

2010-03-06T20:04:00.006+11:00

I know, it's been a while! But I finally started piecing the next comfort quilt on my list - this one for Carl's only aunt, who's been having a rough time with her health lately, including a long stay in hospital. She's home now, but taking things slowly. As the weather starts to cool, what better than a snuggly quilt to keep your knees and toes warm? I've pieced all the blocks, and hope to stitch them together tonight. I'm hoping I can baste and start quiting by Monday - a public holiday here in Canberra. (Edited to add that I was very neglectful in mentioning that the pattern isn't mine - it's based on a pattern called Highlights that my friend Helen used in a quilt last year. I loved hers, so based my blocks on the general ratio used in the Highlights blocks. Mine are quite a bit smaller and I don't have so many different fabrics. I've also made only 'A' blocks and changed the layout to get the secondary pattern of squares of the main fabric.)
The weather has certainly turned here; we're still getting warm days, but it's noticeably cooler in the mornings and we're starting to get a bit more rain. So guess who has some new gumboots to go with the rain? Tristan loves his first pair of gumboots - Roary the Racing Car boots, replete with 'headlights' and 'wheels'! They are so cute, although not so cute as their owner!

18 months

2010-03-02T09:02:00.003+11:00

Time flies when you're having fun, so the old saying goes. But I'm wondering where on earth the past 18 months has gone? And wondering how my child-bearing days whizzed by without so much as a 'by your leave'?

Here's proof that it has! Tristan has grown a lot since I took this photo at one month old (on his fab 'Winter's Garden quilt made by some lovely friends in my online quilting group).Playing 'peekaboo'!And one with his big sister, who he loves and adores (and sometimes shows his enthusiasm by whacking her with whatever whacking object he can lay his hands on, all the while cackling like a madman!).
And here's one of Miss Romily herself, after the party on Saturday, where she 'won' a mini-face painting set in pass the parcel. I promised her a butterfly when we got home. Then I tossed her into bed for a sleep - she's got a slight summer cold/cough and was absolutely wrecked - you can tell from this photo!

Glacial crafting

2010-02-27T15:35:00.003+11:00

Or, crafting at the speed of a glacier. Pffft work is seriously cramping my creativity! I am just so tired after each work day that the thought of dragging my machine up onto the table and having to go through my stash is just too much.

Anway, nothing like a deadline to get me moving - yet another birthday party today saw me make another cute skirt with matching applique top.

From the birthday girl (5): 'Oh I just love it!'

Another very happy 'customer'. I think maybe I should make up four or five sets to have in reserve for the undoubted birthday parties Romily will be invited to this year!

Another drag on my crafting time is starting on Monday - classes resume for uni. I thought I had finished formal classes, with the next two years to be devoted to a research paper, but sadly, I was wrong! I have to do one more unit: 'Introduction to research methods'. Urgh! Ah well, it will help with defining my question, researching the problem and writing the paper (when I get to it in about 18 months time!).

No rest for the wicked, I suppose!

Six years of happiness

2010-02-14T07:58:00.001+11:00

Today I celebrate six wonderful years with my true love. We were married on a stinking hot day in Canberra, surrounded by friends and family and it was the best day of our lives. We are so happy and are having a wonderful life. Long may it continue!

A preschooler needs a book bag!

2010-02-07T17:04:00.004+11:00

Yes she does! I've been hoarding a half yard of gorgeous Michael Miller 'Pet Deer' fabric, not quite knowing what I'd do with it. When we were asked to ensure our new preschoolers came with a book bag I knew!

I wanted the bag to be fairly large, to accommodate the giant picture books little kids seem to prefer, so I used the entire half yard to make the bag. I sliced off the selvage and then two 1 1/2" strips for handles. The remaining fabric formed the outer shell of the bag. I lined it with some purple homespun.
The bag has a little green button on one side and a loop stitched into the top seam on the other for the closure. I even sewed one of my new labels onto one of the handles. Rom loves it, so I guess it's another successful craft project :) She starts preschool (kindergarten) on Thursday; we had an 'interview' with her new teachers last Friday. She loved the idea of preschool, but she's not so keen on reality, although she's been going to 'playschool' for over a year, so I think she'll be fine once she gets there. Nerves are normal - I remember having 'collywobbles' when I was young too :)

Here's the link to the company that made my woven labels, if you're keen: Apparel Labels. They cost around AUD$40 for 100.I can't quite believe I have a preschooler! What's next? Finishing high school and leaving home? Aiyee!

Two-whit two-whoo

2010-01-30T14:06:00.004+11:00

A lovely friend of mine (aren't you all) who's posted to the US with her husband for three years had a lovely baby boy (and aren't they all) last November. I've been meaning to make something for him since then, but Christmas kind of got in the way. I finally pulled my finger out this week and sewed up some cute shorts (Otto 3/2008 'aqua pants') and made an appliqued onesie to match, using an owl design from Ottobre 4/2007. The duck-egg blue and chocolate fabric is Michele D'Amor.I think this may be my best sewing effort yet - I made no mistakes (this may be a first) and I used an overedge stitch to finish the seam edges, as opposed to zigzag, which I find doesn't look very professional. The overedge stitch takes longer and uses more thread, but it looks so much better. It will have to do till I buy an overlocker at some stage in my future. The owl's pupils and branch are drawn on with a chocolate brown fabric marker. I sewed one of my new 'Cascade Lily' labels into the back waist casing to finish it off.

I've packed up the outfit and will send it off to the US with a couple of treasured items of Tristan's that sadly no longer fit. I hope Thomas can wear them but I've told Kath to gift them on if she doesn't want them :)

Next up is another comfort quilt, this time for Carl's only auntie, who's had a dreadful run of health over the past 12 months. She's in rehab at the moment, recovering from a middle ear imbalance, the poor thing. I hope a quilt will cheer her up.

A skirt that fits

2010-01-23T11:03:00.007+11:00

Well I did it! I made a skirt that fits and that looks good. It even has a zip. (Mum, you can get up off the floor now!). And a hook and eye for that professional finish :) Of course the process wasn't without its mistakes, challenges and improvisation. It wouldn't be one of my sewing projects if it didn't!

I used the principles contained in Sew What! Skirts, which I blogged about here and drafted an interfacing template by roughly tracing around a skirt I already have, folded in half lengthwise. (I use a big roll of sew-in interfacing for drafting all my patterns - it's great because it's cheap, clings to the cotton and folds up easily for storage. It also doesn't tear like tracing paper, etc.)

Then I laid the pattern onto the fabric I chose for the skirt - an Anna Griffin Circles Light Green 100% cotton. Unfortunately the fabric wasn't wide enough - even though it was a 150cm bolt. The hazards of a spare tyre! So, this is where the improvisation came in. I cut a reduced front and back on the fold and then sewed up the side seams with a basting stitch. I held the 'skirt' against my waist and worked out how much extra fabric I'd need to insert as panels to get a good fit. I then cut two strips of white (Kona solid cotton - snow), matched the curve of the front and back skirt pieces by laying them over the strips and trimming the strips along the gently curved edge.
I pulled out the basting stitches from the seams (one at a time) and sewed the panel seams. On the front left seam, I sewed up to where the bottom of the zip (placket) would be and basted to the top. At this stage I held the skirt up to my waist again to check the fit. It was still slightly too small, so I cut about three inches off the top of the skirt to increase the waist circumference. This meant I had to adjust the top left seam to ensure there was enough depth for the zip. I followed the zip sewing instructions in my Janome manual and it worked!

I then folded over the waist twice and sewed it down, as well as sewing a double-fold hem. I'd chosed a gently scalloped hem, so I sewed the curve very carefully - I didn't clip the inside fold, as the curve was so gentle. Then I tried the skirt on - it was a good fit around the hips and bum and it was the right length. My belly, however, is still a bit rounder than I'd like, so the fit wasn't so good around the waist. I followed the Sew What! Skirts instructions on making darts (so easy! who knew!) and put two in the front and two in the back. Voila! A perfect fit.
The upside of putting the darts in after I'd sewn the waist is that when my belly shrinks (which it will do over the coming months!), I can unpick the darts, increase their size and resew them. Too easy. I'm very happy with how this skirt turned out - I even wore it work on Thursday. I think I'm just about ready to cut into my much-prized Saffron Craig Nest fabric.

Speaking of work, it's going fine. Four days a week is good, although I'm still getting used to saying bye to everyone on a Thursday afternoon. Things are really busy, so the first two weeks have absolutely flown. It'll be Christmas again before I know it. I have also started my new exercise regime, going for two runs this week. Sadly though, my tired old back didn't like that rude shock very much and when I bent over to pick up Tristan yesterday, it 'went'. I am now in complete back spasm and can't do anything except lay flat on my back reading. I can spend a little time sitting upright, but I don't want to push my luck. No doubt it'll be fine by Monday, just in time for me to go back to work, of course :)

Christmas craft

2010-01-15T21:39:00.007+11:00

I did promise to post some photos of the last-minute crafting I got done while we were staying at my parents' place the week before Christmas. This is the table runner I made for my brother Bill and his partner Kate. They bought this Amy Butler Belle fabric for me last Christmas - you might recognise from the quilt I made for my mum. I still have some of it left too! Here's a close-up of the quilting - random diagonals (click for a larger image if you can't quite make it out here).And here's the back - aqua homespun.I also made a flower brooch each for Kate, my Mum and my other sister-in-law Jacinta. The rosettes are great, because you could wear them as a brooch, or use them to decorate a bag or a hat. I didn't follow a specific tutorial or pattern, but there are loads of tutes that I've read on the 'net, so I guess my brain just smooshed all the instructions together and voila. I handstitched a gathering stitch along an edge-to-edge strip and pulled the thread gently as I sewed to create a curved edge. I then simply wound the fabric on top of itself until I was happy with it, stitched it all in place, sewed a button from my tiny button stash over the centre and added a brooch pin to the back. I love the pinked edges on the pre-cut strips - perfect for this project. The Denyse Schmidt fabric wasn't pinked, so I pulled a couple of threads from the edge of the strip to stop any ravelling. The biggest was made from a 2 1/2" strip - the smallest from a 1" strip.

Sadly, not much crafty stuff has happened since then. It's been too hot, we've been too sick (all better now, thankfully) and I've gone back to work (first four days made me feel like I'd never been away!). I've got lots of projects in mind, it's just a matter of finding the motivation, time and energy - a common complaint around here!

The crafting begins!

2010-01-12T22:15:00.004+11:00

So I promised to post something crafty, didn't I? Here's a little something I whipped up over the weekend for a friend of Romily's who was turning four.
A cute applique tee - the design is from Ottobre 1/2008.
And a skirt of my own design, based on a similar skirt I made for Romily a while back, which was based on a tutorial from O+S. The skirt I made on Saturday is shaped and has a softer waist than the O+S design. Of course the birthday girl was more interested in the butterfly stickers we got for her, but her grandmother was most impressed with the handmade gift :)

Work is going well. Today was day #2. Things are slowly coming back to me. I know by the end of next week I'll feel like I was never gone. Tristan is handling the change pretty well so far, although I doubt I'll be able to put him down on Friday - he'll be doing his best impersonation of a koala bear. Rom will be her usual, crazy self!

We're back

2010-01-09T12:37:00.003+11:00

We're back from our holidays - exhausted, busy cleaning cars, washing clothes, etc. etc. I also had 450 unread emails, which I am still going through. Fortunately most of it was stuff I subscribe to that's not too important, so can be deleted unread! Otherwise I might still be going through them on Monday, which is when I'm due back at work! Can you believe it? The time has come for me to do some paid work again. I'll be working four days a week, with a precious Friday at home while Carl does one day a week.

Anyway, our holiday? I hear you ask. We had a lovely time - it was busy in Bendigo and Melbourne in the lead-up to Christmas, but we had a lovely time down in Tasmania until Rom, Carl and I got sick - of course. I was hoping that 2010 would bring us good health, but, alas, we're not off to a good start! Nevermind, our immune systems will be so strong...eventually!

I did manage to do a little bit of crafting while we were away, but, naturally, nowhere near as much as I would have liked. I'll post the results when I find my camera (from under all the 'stuff' that is yet to be put away) and have the chance to upload some images. I hope you all had a lovely break over the New Year and are raring to go in Twenty Ten!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T07:34:00.003+11:00

From my mum's computer in Melbourne, I wanted to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. We head to Tasmania on Christmas night for a week of soul-replenishing relaxation before I return to work (four days a week) on 11 Jan. See you on the flip side!

Definitely the last authentically!

2009-12-16T14:42:00.004+11:00

Even though I love this fabric range, I think I've seen enough of it for a while. My blog has been taken over with black, grey, white and pistacchio for long enough! So here it is, the second table runner, which we gifted to Rom's Wednesday playschool teacher this morning. She loved it, so that made staying up to midnight last night finishing it all the better! Here's a close-up of the quilting.I was lucky enough to recently win a giveaway of a vintage tablecloth and some dotty fabric over at Beckyetal - it's arrived and I look forward to making it into a skirt for me some time in the New Year :)And last, and by no means least, my Christmas present to myself also arrived! It's a mini art quilt by Victoria aka The Silly Boodilly. This quilt was the inspiration behind Tequila Sunhouse. When I discovered it was for sale in Victoria's Etsy store (and on sale!) I knew I had to have it! It'll go up on my inspiration wall when I finally claim my sewing nook in the spare bedroom in January :)

My daughter the quilt designer

2009-12-13T08:47:00.000+11:00

The quilting bug is biting early with Romily. Here's a picture she brought home from playschool last week, after having watched me draft up some quilt designs.
She's asked if we can make it :) Might just have to do that in the new year!

Authentically twisted

2009-12-11T17:26:00.006+11:00

Two more quilty items finished. Woohoo. And in the nick of time too. Table runner #1 is for Romily's Friday playschool teacher Carol. We gifted it to her this afternoon - it was finished just before midnight last night! You can't see from the below photo, but the rail fence blocks are bound in a solid black fabric. As you can see, I used up some more of the Authentic jelly roll I used in the quilt I've been making. You can also see that I used some of the stone colourway, which I omitted from the quilt palette.
Here's a close-up of the quilting. I quilted triangles on one side only, all the way along. Carol was pleased as punch!And today I sewed the lable onto 'Authentic Twist'. It's now on its way to my sister-in-law's dad in Melbourne. I'm really happy with the way this quilt turned out. I am loving the combination of pistachio, black and white. I even like the green border now that it's bound with black. The quilt measures 43" x 55". (Design is from Bonnie Hunter's Strip Twist design)I am also pleased with the backing - it's a repurposed doona cover that had met its use-by date. It goes really well with the quilt. (I also used it to back the table runner - its final use for now will be the second TR, which is also using the Authentic strips.)
Here's a close-up of the loopy quilting I did up and down and across the quilt in a semi-random pattern.Next up is the second table runner, which will go to Romily's Wednesday playschool teacher next week. I can't believe after three years Romily is finishing up at Noah's Ark and heading off to pre-school. Our association with the centre will continue though, as Tristan starts Playgroup there in February :)

Picnic by the lake

2009-12-10T07:03:00.008+11:00

We've been so busy (and tired) this year that we haven't had much time to catch up with friends. So we invited several groups of friends to a picnic in Weston Park last Sunday. It was a perfect late afternoon, hot but with a beautiful cooling breeze coming up off the lake. Romily and Tristan had a great time grooving around, with Romily taking great delight in physically stopping Tristan from wandering into the ablutions block! She loves that she can pick him up and move him and he seems to find it amusing, so we don't intervene too much. We know we're fortunate that she's only recently started doing this!
Rom buddied up with Charlie and they spent an hour or so climbing on the rope climbing rig in the park. Let's just say that both Romily and Tristan slept very well on Sunday night (Tristan still woke up several times, of course, but what's new?)
I actually baked some yummy treats for our picnic, which we complemented with some lovely Croser bubbly. You'll find the recipes for the muffins and zucchini slice below. They are perfect picnic fare.

Banana-Choc-Coconut Muffins

This is my own recipe and it’s pretty much failproof. It’s also very flexible. You can chuck in whatever you like!

60g butter, melted
2 eggs
½ cup of milk
1 small tub of vanilla yoghurt (I use Vaalia toddler but you can use anything on hand)
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups SR flour
½ cup of shredded coconut
½ cup of caster sugar
½ to 1 cup of choc bits (milk, white or dark, or a combination)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cases.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Stir in sugar and coconut. In a small jug, combine butter, eggs, milk and yoghurt. Make a well in the dry ingredients and tip in the milk mixture. Combine with a wooden spoon. Do not beat or over-mix – this will make for tough muffins. Once just combined, tip in choc bits and stir in gently.

Spoon mixture into cases – fill to ¾ full. Sprinkle with extra shredded coconut. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are starting to go brown on top. Do not overcook!

Zucchini Slice

This recipe is from the Homemade recipe book that I have blogged about several times.

1 grated zucchini
½ cup frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 onion, finely diced
Sprinkle of fresh thyme
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
3 rashers bacon, finely diced
1 cup grated cheese
½ cup olive oil
3-4 eggs, beaten together
Salt and pepper
1 cup of SR flour

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Place all ingredients, in the above order, in a large bowl and combine well. Pour into a greased slice tray and bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool in tin, turn out when cold and cut into slices. Serve with a garden salad, if desired. Yum.

A big day out

2009-12-05T20:03:00.012+11:00

The Christmas rush is well and truly here, although none of the things we did today actually qualify as Christmas-related!

Carl took Rom to her swimming lesson this morning, brought her home for lunch and a nap before heading out with her again to a fifth birthday party. The theme was 'princess or pirate' and, despite my best persuasive efforts, Romily decided that she'd like to go as a princess (naturally). She was happy to wear her new skirt, as well as the applique tee I finished last night. And the tiara we bought for her at Angelina Ballerina. She looked very sweet. Like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth!The birthday girl was very pleased to receive the matching set, as was her mum, who told Carl that if I ever open a shop she'll be my best customer! If only :)

Meanwhile, Tristan and I headed out this morning for a family fun day in Queanbeyan, ostensibly to meet up with Xena and her family, who made the long trip down from the Blue Mountains for a fun day out in the sun. The venue, Queanbeyan Park, was perfect for that - there were kids rides, face painting, a petting zoo and lots of other things - all for free. It was lovely in the park, the grass was lush and green and some beautiful big trees provided lots of shade for the kids. Tristan had a wonderful time wandering around here and there. He even got to have a look inside the cabin of the fire truck that was there. He's into trucks and cars already!I even let him 'drive' my car when I'm unpacking it at the end of an outing. He loves it. Such a boy.

Romilina Ballerina

2009-12-03T21:02:00.007+11:00

I took my little gorgeous to her first ballet performance late this afternoon - the English National Ballet's Angelina Ballerina's Star Performance. I managed to get seats in the middle of the second row (it's a miracle - this never happens!) and we had a lovely time, Romily mesmerised by the dancers and me entranced by Romily. She ended up sitting in the front row directly in front of me, as the lady who was sitting in front of us had to hold her too-young daughter on her lap for the entire performance. Romily reseated herself in the spare chair without so much as a by your leave :) I loved watching her. She was clapping in the right places and just itching to get up and dance. And despite some other mothers letting their little girls go crazy up the front near the stage, Rom remained in her seat until interval and then until the end before she did some of her own dancing. Bless her.
And what better to wear to the ballet than your brand new skirt? I am making two of these: one for Rom and one for her friend Rhiannon who's turning 5. The prototype is Rom's. I'm glad I made a trial one first, as there are a couple of things I'll tweak on the second one. I also didn't make the elastic tight enough, so know how much more I need to reduce it by. Fortunately I haven't yet sewn up the opening in the waistband casing, so I can easily adjust Rom's. The skirt will get a second outing on Saturday at Rhiannon's 'princess and pirates' party :)

The skirt, with a few mods, is from a tutorial I found over at Everyday Chaos. The fabric is from Patty Young's Mezzanine collection.

Airing of the quilts

2009-11-30T14:50:00.008+11:00

We had an almost lovely family outing over the weekend - I say almost, as Tristan had two meltdowns in the car. The poor kid has bronchiolitis again and was a bit sad. We took a drive into the countryside to visit Braidwood and Bungendore, two lovely old towns each having a quilt festival. I try to make the Airing of the Quilts in Braidwood each year, as well as checking out the quilt exhibition at the Bungendore hall. I'm yet to make it into the hall at Braidwood - there are only so many quilts you can see in one day :)This year I found a lot of the quilts to be a bit ho-hum, very traditional designs in traditional fabrics (not that there's anything wrong with that - it just doesn't float my boat). Not a lot of inspiration, but a stark reminder that contrast is KING when designing quilts. There were a couple that did catch my eye.I did, however, find a lot of inspiration in a different medium. We were very fortunate to stumble across an exhibition of painted leather masks at the Bungendore Wood Works Gallery. The artist, Michael Taylor, is an ex-Californian who now lives in Queensland - very much Australia's gain. His masks were simply exquisite. I wish I had the $4500 needed to buy one of his masterpieces. Photos from the website will have to do.
In other quilty news, I finally forced myself to get back to work on Authentic Twist! I had to unpick one of the wide border panels, as it did not match the new stuff I bought locally. The strip was from a dessert roll I purchased online. I've never had the same fabric from different bolts before, so now I've learnt my lesson - make sure you order enough of what you'll need or be prepared to buy twice! I'm not too sure about the green border, but it's on now, so it will have to do. (I'm planning on binding in solid black - the same as the inner border.) So the top is finished, and, since I took the below photo, the quilt is sandwiched and awaiting quilting. I have two twirly skirts to make and tees to applique before I can do any quilting though - one of Rom's friends is having her fifth birthday party on the weekend and of course I have to make a matching set for Romily :)

Thank goodness

2009-11-26T14:00:00.002+11:00

With everything that's been going on this year, it's a minor miracle that I managed to scrape in with a High Distinction this semester! I managed to get 85%, which is the base grade for an HD. Phew! Now on to my research project, which will take the next eighteen months to two years. I am so relieved to not have to do any more group assignments or exams! My research project doesn't start until late February and I start fulltime work again on 11 Jan, so I have a couple of weeks left to get crafty.

I know I won't get any comments on this post

2009-11-23T20:26:00.000+11:00

Because you will have all clicked away when I tell you that Corrie is giving away fabric!

Authentic Twist - WIP update

2009-11-22T19:19:00.002+11:00

Getting there! Here are the blocks finished, assembled and stitched. I wish now that my greens had a bit more contrast - there are a couple of 'dead' spots, but I'll have to live with them...or, rather, Michael will. Two borders to go tonight and it'll be ready for piecing. Anyone looking for Bonnie's strip twist tutorial should look for the link two posts back.

Next please!

2009-11-21T15:03:00.004+11:00

I've made a start on the next comfort quilt - this one I think I'm going to call Authentic Twist. I've made half of the quarter blocks I'll need for the size I'm after. The others are ready to go - these blocks assemble fast when you're using pre-cut strips. (I personally LOVE quilt designs that look really complicated but in reality are easy and quick to piece - with the little time I have available for crafting, these designs are a godsend!)

I'll piece the rest tonight and hopefully finish the top. I'm planning on two borders - one dark and skinny, the other lighter and wider - it just depends how big the top looks once all the blocks are pieced and joined. This quilt is for a man, so it might need to be a smidgin bigger than the previous one I made.And you can see you've got to be fast around here when you want to take photos during daylight hours - Tristan thinks it's hilarious to stomp all over whatever it is I'm photographing. Then his big sister joined in on the act (after she had carried him off twice already!)

My Prints Charming

2009-11-20T12:09:00.005+11:00

Here's another tee and shorts set for Tristan, this time in dark colours - shows the dirt less apparently! The fabric for the shorts and applique comes from the Prints Charming Rainbow Garden range. I cut the pieces ages ago, when I made the wee little shorts for AJ's baby Aden. I finally got around to sewing Tristan's up and as well as detailing a matching tee. I'm going to do a singlet too, as it's been soooo hot here this past week. We are having 38 degrees again today - that's 100.4F for those of you not doing metric. The pants are from a Burda pattern (9639).

Look mum, no hands!

Oops, sat in something already!

Pocket detail

Mmmm, tea party, yummy!

Next up is comfort quilt number three, this time in Sweetwater Authentic fabrics. I'm going to use Bonnie's 'Strip Twist' pattern - I think it will really suit the greens, blacks and whites in the fabrics. Let's hope so!

Little man on a mission

2009-11-17T21:36:00.006+11:00

I finished Tristan's shorts today, and, while I was at it, used up some of the scraps to applique a tee to match. I love the shorts (Ottobre 3/2008, #7 Aqua Pants) - there's a lot of pocket detailing and they look great in the Kokka Trefle. And here they are in action. My little man on a mission had a great time playing house, digging in the dirt, eating dirt (natch) and sweeping up the mess afterwards. The pants and tee went in the wash not long after. Scroll through the photos to see why!
See? Man on a mission :)

A start and a finish

2009-11-16T13:08:00.008+11:00

Wonders will never cease! I've got a habit of posting new craft books and fabric, promising to make something with them soon and then consigning them to the cupboards and promptly forgetting about them. Well, this time, I've actually made a start - below is a picture of the cute Kokka fabric (posted about here) with the pattern laid out ready for cutting. I traced off the 'Aqua pants' from Ottobre 3/2008 in size 80cm and have since cut them out. They're waiting patiently to go under my needle just as soon as Tristan finishes his lunch :)
And a finish, of sorts. I decided to give the Sew What! Skirts book a go and decided to make a trial skirt before I cut into my precious (and exxy) Saffron Craig fabric (posted about here). Thank goodness I did! It's been a while since I've made any clothes from a pattern, and an even longer time since I've made anything for me. I made three mistakes on this trial skirt (all stupid and thankfully redeemable) and have decided that the drawstring waist is too bulky for the look I am going for. So, I will have to make a fitted waist, probably using bias binding tape and a zipper. Eek! Surprisingly, the actual drafting of the pattern was easy. So if I can get the waistline right, it should be a lot of fun to make some gorgeous skirts. Of course they won't be as easily adjustable as elasticised or drawstring waists, but they will better suit my round figure.
Anyway, here's the nearly finished skirt - if you look closely you can see the safety pin still in one end of the drawstring. I just need to handstitch the ends and the skirt is finished. It's a bit billowy, so I hope a wash will knock the size out of the fabric (yes, I'm naughty I didn't pre-wash) and it will sit a bit better. At any rate, it'll be a great beach skirt - perfect for tossing on over bathers.And, completely unrelated, here are a couple of pictures of Tristan, who is now nearly 15 months old. He loves 'helping' me bake, and, just like his big sister, his favourite part is banging the tins and licking the spoon! He's also part-time walking, although is making it near impossible to photograph him - as soon as he sees the camera he drops to his knees and crawls away at light speed. He's a cheeky little monkey, but you can see that from the photos.

Funky Chicks for a funky chick - a finish

2009-11-12T13:10:00.006+11:00

I am so pleased with this little quilt! The meandering in a lovely soft variegated pink King Tut thread really complements the quirky fabric and I am glad I chose yellow binding over the pink. It's a simple quilt but I love how it's turned out. It just needs to be washed and dried and it'll be on its way to my auntie who lives in Sale in Victoria. Her chemo is off to a rocky start so hopefully receiving Funky Chicks will brighten up her day a little. I haven't seen her in years, but if she's well enough we'll see her in late December at a family get-together in Healesville, just outside Melbourne.
The quilt measures 43" x 36". For fabric details, see this previous post.

Granddad's visit means baking!

2009-11-11T11:02:00.001+11:00

Granddad's visit over the weekend (he went home Tuesday) was the perfect excuse to bake - more people to eat it, less calories for my hips! I took the opportunity to make a lemon and coconut tart from Homemade. It looked delicious, and it was. Unfortunately, despite baking it for the alloted 40 minutes and allowing it cool, upon slicing it up I discovered that the middle hadn't cooked through. So, we changed the name to self-saucing lemon pudding :D
The kids adore Granddad and he dotes on them. They haven't seen him since out lightning visit to Bendigo in July, so it was great that he could take the long journey from Bendigo to Melbourne Airport by bus and then plane up here. At nearly 82, the eight-hour drive each way is a bit too much. I'm just grateful that he is still able to travel under his own steam. He's a lovely fellow. I'm very fortunate in my father-in-law!

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And in crafty news, this gorgeous Kokka Trefle fabric arrived last week from the Retromummy Shop - it's to become shorts for Tristan, with a matching applique tee. Summer is here and now that he's on his feet (yes, he's walking! Just. Still can't stand himself up - can only pull up, but he's taking steps between close objects), he's getting pretty dirty from lots of time outside - I'm discovering boys need more changes of clothes than girls!

Pay it forward slot open over at Miss Monny

2009-11-10T21:11:00.001+11:00

The lovely Monika, who signed up as one of my Pay It Forward recipients has some slots open in hers if you're interested: link.

Learning to quilt by hand

2009-11-09T14:58:00.000+11:00

I've often posted about wanting to improve my handquilting. When I was in my LQS the other day, I spotted a small sign advertising a handquilting class the following Sunday! I signed up on the spot and went along to the class yesterday. It was run by Canberra Quilter Kerry Gavin, who has been quilting for more than 30 years. You should see her stitches! They are tiny and perfect and she has incorporated some amazing designs into her quilts. My favourite that she showed us had four eagles, all stitched by hand and highlighted with trapunto. Amazing. Did I say amazing? Amazing.

The class only had five students, so we had lots of one-on-one time with Kerry and she was very encouraging. She first had us prepare the top - an ivory square of homespun, including marking up the design with pencil and basting the square by hand. We then tacked facings along each edge and, finally, we were ready for quilting. We spent the next two and a half hours learning Kerry's technique, which uses two thimbles: one on each middle finger - one on top and one underneath. The one on top controls the needle and the one underneath helps push the needle back up through the fabric. This was only a slight variation on my self-taught technique, so I didn't have too much trouble adjusting. I was amazed at what difference those small changes made though. I started to get much smaller and even stitches. Nothing compared to Kerry's - or Cynthia's - another lady in the class who was immediately AMAZING (there's always one), but so much better than what I'd been managing previously.
Kerry also let us in on one of her secrets - she uses a very loose, low-loft all poly wadding. It's much easier to needle than what I've been using. I've also been handquilting through a flannel backing, which doesn't help! Anyway, here are some photos of my practice piece. It looks a bit grubby - that's the pencil markings. The third photo is of the back - I was stoked to see the stitches on the back almost the same as those on the front.

(This is the back - I played with the contrast/brightness so the stitches would show clearly)

I will finish this piece off - I might even trapunto the hearts - Kerry also gave us a lesson in how to trapunto and I bought the needle and floss. At $22, I'd better use it, eh?

I'm also going to rip out some of the handquilting I did around the butterflies on the VHC quilt I'm making for Tristan - I can do it much better now and have a great idea for how to link the blocks together. Let's hope it looks as good in real life as it does in my imagination.

Doll quilt revealed!

2009-11-07T10:21:00.010+11:00

Now that it's been safely received and opened by Helen, I can now reveal the mini quilt I made for the EBDQS3 swap, 'Tequila Sunhouse'. (Measures approx 17" x 20")

Helen recently participated in a block swap where she asked the other swappers to make a 'wonky house' block, based on her tutorial, which was a variation of Lazy Gal Tonya's ace tutorial. I thought this was a good jumping off point for my quilt - she now has a wallhanging to go with her yet to be made quilt.
Helen also loves brights, especially orange and pink. I had the tiniest piece of the fab orange, yellow, pink and gold striped fabric in my stash and that was the first fabric I grabbed for this quilt, I also had a largish piece of the graduated yellow through red fabric, which I thought would complement the roof nicely. I had lots of fun making the quilt and when it came to the quilting I took my inspiration from some table runners I'd seen made by The Silly Boodilly (Victoria). It was perfect for this little quilt, as it gives the house great texture - almost like corrugated iron, which is a common roofing material in Australia - especially for wonky old joints! Here's another shot of the back - I used corner patches for the hanging pockets - a very simple and effective way of doing it.Anyway, I hope Helen likes the mini. I enjoyed making it for her and there might even be some more wonky houses in my future :)

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And here is the sweet little mini made for me by Cass. Her first attempt at hexagons (I am yet to give them a go - they scare me for some reason) - she's very cleverly used some cheater patchwork fabric to great effect. Check out the backing - at first glance I thought it was pieced. What a great idea to add some interest to the backing! She also sewed on two hanging pockets - very thoughtful of her.Thanks Cass!

Under the needle

2009-11-05T19:05:00.000+11:00

This is what's under my needle. The comfort quilt I'm making for my aunt. It's called Funky Chicks, after the cute tossed chicks fabric and also my aunt being a totally funky...you guessed it, chick. I'm doing a medium all-over meander for the first time and am pretty happy with how it's going. I don't know whether it's the denser quilting or my new choice of batting (Matilda's own wool/cotton blend, on Emma's recommendation), but there's no shifting or bunching happening. Woot!

(Click on the photo for a bigger image)

What's under yours?

Skirt ahoy!

2009-11-03T13:31:00.003+11:00

Sew (little pun), you know that I love to sew clothes for Romily and Tristan. Yes. Have I made anything for me recently? No. Why? Well I don't much like my shape these days. Too many excuses (some legit, some not) have seen me avoiding all forms of exercise and enjoying maybe a few too many muffins. Well, now that Carl is doing night duty with Tristan and I'm getting a bit more sleep, the time has come. I've been heading out early mornings with Tristan, who thinks sun-up is getting-up time. Anyway, back to sewing. I need some summer skirts that fit around my 'bit too round' body. But I don't want to make skirts that won't fit once I get rid of my spare tyre and love handles (love those euphemisms, don't you?). I was browsing in my local fabric shop the other day and came across this grouse book (click on book for Book Depository link).
No patterns! Gasp! Eek! I know! You measure your waist, your hips and the length of fall and voila! You can make your markings straight onto the fabric, or, if you're me, onto a roll of cheap sew-in interfacing (which will 'stick' to the fabric while you're cutting it with no pins required - another bonus for time-pressed crafty mamas), which you can reuse.
The book is fab, because it's all about options, baby. You can have a drawstring, elasticised, zippered, snapped or wrap-around waist. You can make straight, A-line, half-circle or full. You can layer, you can embellish; the options are endless!

After I'd grabbed the book I spotted some Saffron Craig dressmaking weight cotton and snapped it up. Now I just need to decide which style (I'm thinking a wrap dress with side ties) and get cutting.I also spotted this fantastic tutorial on making a skirt from a tablecloth. Genius!

Crazy coconuts

2009-10-29T14:24:00.004+11:00

On the kids show Bananas in Pyjamas, the character Rat in the Hat says 'cheese and whiskers' whenever something goes wrong. I started saying this instead of 'shit' whenever I dropped something, etc. When I joined the army ten years ago I found myself swearing A LOT. I've really tried to improve my language since then, but whenever I'm under stress I tend to revert to swearing. With two littlies in the house, this is certainly not appropriate behaviour. As I'm nudging 40, it's perhaps time to learn some personal mastery!

As part of this journey, Romily and I have been making up some crazy exclamations to use instead of naughty words! One of our favourite expressions is 'crazy coconuts!' I use this a lot and I think it's pretty harmless. It's become part of our family vernacular, and I think it's the perfect expression to use about the crazy coconuts weather we've been having in Canberra lately.
Lots of storms, rainbows, electrical storms, huge cloudstacks building almost every afternoon. We've had hot days and cold days. It's even been snowing up in the mountains just south of Canberra. All this in mid-spring!
Cold, rainy days have meant the kids and I have spent quite a few of them inside. What better to do on a rainy day than bake? Romily has been helping me use up our overripe bananas and we've made some delicious batches of muffins (secret ingredient is a small tub of Vaalia toddlers yoghurt) as well as a couple of more-ish banana chocolate cakes. The recipe is so easy and obviously foolproof, since I've managed to make it twice and been very happy with the results. I went off-road (or is that off-recipe?) and added some cream cheese icing. Delicious. If you want the recipe, get yourself a copy of the Homemade recipe book that I posted about here. You can order a PDF or hard copy. The PDF is only AUD$8 and the hard copy $15 + P&H. It's the best cookbook - all of the recipes are easy and most of them were contributed by busy mums so they're good for all the family.

Art quilt exhibition in Canberra

2009-10-26T22:29:00.003+11:00

Congratulations to Canberra-based art quilters Helen Gray and Pamela Munday whose work has been selected for Art Quilt Australia 09, an exhibition of contemporary quilts presented by Ozquilt Network Inc and Craft ACT.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 7 November and continues until 19 December 2009 at the Craft ACT Craft & Design Centre, Level 1 North Building, 180 London Circuit, Canberra City ACT.

From the Canberra Quilters blog. I'll definitely catch this one.

Progress - on two fronts!

2009-10-24T13:13:00.001+11:00

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I have finished another quilt top - this one for my aunt Keryn. She's a funky chick, who likes chickens, so I thought the Tossed Birds fabric from the Timeless Treasures Bon Voygage range was perfect for her. It coordinates beautifully with some of the Park Slope (Erin McMorris) range, so I grabbed some half yards of each (had to do a bit of searching to find it - I ended up getting most of what I needed from Fabricworm).
The fabric is so busy it needs some very simple piecing, so I went for 8" finished squares with a small 2" border of complementary fabric. I'm planning on doing a large edge to edge meander in pale pink. The backing will be the same as the border fabric. I've got a gorgeous white microdot on yellow for the binding, which I think will tie it all together nicely.

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I also mentioned I'd been doing some handquilting. While I'm no expert and my technique is terrible, I love the look and texture that close lines of quilting give to a quilt. I really wanted the caterpillar to pop out of the centre panel on this quilt, and it's certainly going to do that. The rest of the quilt is machine quilted in the ditch and outlines, but the centre will be entirely handquilted. I've tried with and without the hoop, and find the hoop does help make my stitches a bit neater as I don't have to hold the fabric - the hoop frame just rests on my arms/lap. No doubt if I persevere my stitches will become more even and smaller. I've booked into a handquilting class on 8 November, so that will probably help too. Just need to find the time to practise what I learn - my life story!

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And finally, my copy of Quilts, Baby arrived. Nicolette also posted about it over here. It's a great little book, with lots of inspiration not only for baby quilts, but for doll quilts too. Lots of different ideas to explore in there. Possibly for PIF gifts!

EBDQS3 swap quilt sneak peek

2009-10-22T16:04:00.004+11:00

Now that it's made its way safely to Western Australia, I can post a sneak peek of the quilt I've made for the EBDQS3. I couldn't post it before, because I thought the colours would be a dead giveaway. But, as Helen now knows who it's from, I think it's okay to show you a tiny bit of the front and a shot of the back.The big reveal is on 7 November, so stay tuned. Mine hasn't arrived yet and I'm busting a gut to know who's making mine!

Eggy odyssey

2009-10-22T10:26:00.007+11:00

For those of you who have been reading my random writing for long enough, you'll remember that Romily and I kicked of a rainbow egg odyssey nearly two years ago. We usually have scrambled eggs on Saturday mornings as a treat and to give her a super energy boost before she heads off with Carl to swimming lessons. We've been adding a few drops of food colouring - at first it was to make the meal more appealing to a fussyish two-year-old, but it's since become something fun, as well as a basic chemistry lesson! She's learning what colours mix well with others, and what the yellow colour in eggs will do to an otherwise pleasing combination.
Here's some pink eggs we had recently. They looked yummy! We have some rose colour food colouring which holds its colour pretty well over the yellow in the egg.
Sadly, mixing red and blue to make purple did not survive being added to the yellow egg mix! We, of course, ended up with brown. Now brown eggs an appealing meal does not make! Carl had to look away while he ate his. We just stuck with yellow on the weekend while my parents were here. I don't think they would have liked green eggs, for example!

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There has been some sewing going on around here - I've pieced a top for one of the comfort quilts I'm making - this one for my aunt who is just starting chemotherapy after having an advanced breast cancer removed. I've also been doing some handquilting on Tristan's very hungry caterpillar quilt. I'll post some pics over the next day or two. We're going a bit slow here, Tristan has croup again and is very clingy.

It's time to Pay It Forward

2009-10-16T16:42:00.003+11:00

I am participating in some 'pay it forward' fun over at http://mandsnest.blogspot.com/ and am continuing the fun here. I have three spots to fill for peeps who want to join in too. I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people. I have 365 days to do it in…What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well: you must have a blog and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going.(Just cut and paste this one if you like, changing 'http://mandsnest.blogspot.com/' to 'http://waterfallcascade.blogspot.com/' which I did!) Looking forward to this :)

Edited: thanks for playing ladies, we are now full!

More sewing for my favourite client

2009-10-13T20:58:00.006+11:00

Yes, you guessed it, that would be Romily. While I was fondling fabrics trying to work out which I'd use for the EB Doll Quilt Swap, Romily espied some purple/gold and cream/gold 'Japanese' fabric I'd bought a while ago. I'd had good intentions of making a panel quilt with a silk panel I have, but when I got the fabric home I saw that my idea wasn't really going to work and it wasn't going to be my style of quilt at all (not that I have a set style yet, but I'm working on it and that wasn't it).Anyway, Romily got very excited and asked me in such an endearing way to make her a skirt that I could not refuse. And, let's face it, when one is procrastinating from doing the things one should do, what better offer should come along than to make a skirt for one's dearest daughter? (And that would be enough 'ones', yes?)So, being the obediant mother that I am, I whipped up this little skirt in an afternoon. I didn't use a pattern - just measured Romily's waist and the fall to above her knees and went for it! I cut a strip across the width of the purple fabric, and a narrower strip of the cream, also across the width. I sliced the purple 2/3 way up and french seamed in the cream strip. Then I sewed the side seam, made a casing for elastic, inserted the elastic, stitched in the ditch on the side seam and each opposing quarter, whacked on a two-fold hem and voila!

As you can see, Romily was very happy with the finished product. Because it's made from quite heavy quilters cotton, it balloons quite a bit, which she loves. She declared it to be a 'dancing skirt', which means she loves it. So easily pleased! I am taking full advantage of it while it lasts!

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I mentioned procrastination. Our third and final written assessment prior to the exam on 2 November was a dreaded group assignment. I say dreaded, as we each get the same mark, no matter how much effort each individual puts in. When dealing with people who may or may not have the same standards, it can be tricky to come up with an end product that is mutually acceptable. Fortunately, I was very lucky in being grouped with a couple of fellas from Defence who were very easy to work with and who met their commitments. Even more fortuitously the other half of our syndicate also got along well and both teams managed to meet in the middle and submit work with which we were all happy - we even managed to submit the assignment one day early! Now that's out of the way, the only two study things standing between me and Christmas are the exam and a research proposal that I must submit next week. I'm transferring to a Master of Philosophy in Business (half coursework; half research), which means that this is the last semester of coursework I'll have to do. Yay!

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So, onto the EBDQS3. I have finished the quilt, just the label to affix (it's drying as I type) and it will be ready to mail off tomorrow, well inside the deadline. I can't show any sneak peeks, unfortunately, as the person I'm making it for might read my blog. I am very happy with this little quilt and will be sad to see it go!

Sewing for SuperRomily

2009-10-08T22:58:00.004+11:00

When asked what costume she wanted to wear to the 'When I Grow Up' themed final dance class for last term, Romily answered: 'Superhero'. LOL

Then she asked me to make her a rainbow cape. Sadly, I had neither the fabric nor the time to create this! So, I went for something a lot simpler. She was very happy nonetheless, and teamed the cape with her favourite mask from the $2 shop.

The cape was easy peasy. I measured the width of her shoulders and the length of her body from shoulder to knees, found a couple of suitable pieces from my stash and cut them to size, sewed them together around three sides wrong side facing, snipped the corners and turned them right sides out. Then I cut a strip of contrasting fabric about 1 metre long. I ironed it in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and then each half in on itself again to make single fold skinny binding. I then centred the binding on the open side of the cape rectangle and pinned. I then edgestitched from one end of the binding to the other, making sure I caught the open side of the cape inside the binding, et voila.
For the finishing touch I drew a capital 'R' for Romily, traced it and then traced it in reverse onto a small piece of steam-a-seam. I ironed it on to a piece of the same contrast fabric, cut out the R and ironed it onto the cape. I then zigzag stitched around the inside and outside of the letter. (Click image for a close-up!)

One superhero's cape and one happy daughter.

Quilting for comfort...and speed

2009-10-03T12:29:00.006+10:00

I know, don't die of shock when I tell you that there has been some quilting going on around here. My darling mum was recently diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her bowel and underwent surgery nearly two weeks ago. Being so far away, I felt pretty useless, more so by the fact that we have all been sick again, so I couldn't even fly down to visit, let alone help look after her in the early days of her recovery.

What to do, I thought, other than make her a quilt? Because mum's surgery was scheduled so quickly I didn't have much time to put it together. I also didn't have any time to go fabric shopping, so I delved into my stash, finding the 1/2 yards of Amy Butler Belle that my brother and his partner bought for me for Christmas. I thought it was perfect for this project as it all coordinates. I decided, that since time was of the essence, I would make a strippy block quilt. I wanted it to be fairly big so I sashed the 5" finished blocks (rotated at each setting) with 5" white sashing. The finished quilt measures 45" by 55". I was really happy with how the quilt top turned out. Fresh, bright and modern.

(Photo by Rom!)

Not so happy was I with the quilting. I know I've complained of this before, but it doesn't seem to matter how careful I am with the basting, the fabric shifts as it's going through my machine (even with a walking foot - which seems to be next to useless) and it ends up bunching. I think part of the problem is that my base-level Janome has such a small work surface that the weight of the quilt drags the fabric out from under the needle, despite my best efforts to support the weight of the quilt. It also means that my 'straight lines' are often not, due to the dragging. I guess this means that I need a bigger machine! Sadly, our finances are not in a state where this is even a remote possibility. I will just have to persevere. Maybe I need to do more stippling, as this will help avoid the bunching issues I'm getting with full width straight line quilting. I am also investigating different batting/wadding options, as it's possible my choice in that area is also affecting the end result.
I also made my first pieced back, not completely happy, as I somehow managed to get it slightly offcentre, and with the straight line quilting this really shows. I hope mum will forgive the quilt's imperfections. It's the thought that counts, right?

Anway, while it's not perfect, it made it to my mum a couple of days after she got home from hospital. I'm hoping it feels a bit like a long-distance cuddle every time she sees it/snoozes under it. It's the best I can do until we see mum and dad again - hopefully in a couple of weeks, our state of health pending.

Floriade

2009-09-29T16:18:00.000+10:00

Thank goodness we went to Floriade the weekend before last! We had the most perfect weather and the flowers were looking beautiful. Since our visit we've had the dust storm, strong winds, heavy rain and freezing temps! I don't think the flowers would be faring too well with all that crazy weather.

More stashbuilding

2009-09-27T13:13:00.003+10:00

So, not much sewing still, but more stashbuilding! I went to the Canberra Handmade Market a couple of weekends ago and discovered a new patchwork fabric supplier - Posie. She had a gorgeous range of FQs, half yards and full yards. I couldn't resist some of Saffron Craig's Owl range, the Parrots from her Fields range and the gorgeous Pet Deer fabric from Michael Miller.

I think cushions and things for the owl fabric, a skirt for Rom with the parrots print and maybe a top and/or pants for Tristan from the pet deer fabric - I only bought a half yard.

I also bought a gorgeous flower brooch made from a zip and a photography session, which is happening at our place this week. I thought it was about time I had some decent professional photos taken of the kids. They'll only be this gorgeous once!

I am supposed to be working on my next assignment, due today, but we've all been sick again, this time with a chest/head cold. Both kids have a disgusting wet cough and streaming noses and I'm feeling decidedly sick. Carl had it first so we can all blame him. My fab lecturer has given me an extension until Tuesday, so I have two days' grace. I'd best get working on it I suppose...

Plastic love

2009-09-26T13:07:00.002+10:00

I know you shouldn't confess to loving inanimate objects, but I love my new Cupcake Courier! When Novy posted a photo of hers, I knew I had to have one too. Here's mine.The blue is just lovely. Even lovelier modelled by Tristan of course! I also bought a four-pack of the 'cup-a-cakes', which are individual cupcake containers - perfect for lunchboxes.

You can order yours here for Australians and here for international readers.

And the winner is...

2009-09-23T11:06:00.005+10:00

...Nicolette!

I don't tell many people this, because it was sarcastic, but my nickname at primary school was 'Dictionary'. Because I knew so many words and because when I didn't understand a word I'd look it up to learn. The girl who started the nickname thought that knowing so many words was daggy, hence the nickname. I have never agreed - I don't think you can know enough words! So, Nicolette's entry for the Don't Look Now giveaway really appealed to me and also gave me a chuckle. Nicolette, congratulations and please email me your postal address and Kellie's pattern will be on its way.

The dictionary says: applique is a small addition to a standard circuit to enable it to perform additional functions or provide additional features... duh? They obviously never heard of fabric applique. To me it’s a wonderful way to make a quilt or cushion something completely your own, by taking objects from every day life or nature and translate them into applique shapes using the fabric you love the most. All you need then is some persistance and a well working sewingmachine!

We had a big dust storm roll through yesterday - it's now over the eastern seaboard. This is what it looked like from our place.
Fortunately, we'd already had our visit to Black Mountain a few days earlier, or the view wouldn't have been like this!

Don't look now - it's a giveaway!

2009-09-18T10:21:00.006+10:00

I was stoked recently to win a Don't Look Now pattern during one of the very generous Kellie's giveaways. I'm really excited about using Kellie's pattern - her designs are based on raw edge applique and modern fabrics and they are absolutely beautiful. Her quilting is divine and I hope that one day I can do it half as well as her.

The giveaway I won was just before Kellie went on holidays. Somehow in her post-holiday catch-up she ended up sending me two copies of the pattern. I emailed her asking whether she was happy for me to do a giveaway and she was delighted.

So, leave a comment by midnight Sunday Australian Eastern Standard time to go into the running to win this gorgeous pattern. Instead of random number generator, this time the most creative entry on the theme of applique will win! I will be the judge and no further correspondence will be entered into!!!

In the meantime, if you want to know more about Kellie and her wonderful designs (and where to buy them), visit her blog.

Stashboosting

2009-09-13T17:16:00.005+10:00

Well if a girl can't quilt, what's the next best thing? Buy more fabric of course :)
I ordered a 'charming jelly pack' of Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding range from the Fat Quarter Shop and was pleased when it arrived during the week. It took about two weeks to arrive from the US, but it was worth the wait. It's lovely Christmassy fabric in non-traditional Christmas colours. I have a couple of projects planned. They're on my ever-expanding 'to do' list :)

A friend asked me for some advice during the week on how to get started quilting. She wanted to do a butterfly quilt for her daughter. I went onto Etsy to see if I could find anything suitable for her and, in the course of my browsing, I came across a 'bits and pieces pack' from greenolive. I couldn't resist, and this gorgeous Flutterby fabric - screenprinted in Melbourne by hand - also arrived during the week.And, while not fabric, this also arrived during the week (I was popular at the post office!) - it's my win from a recent giveaway on Duyvken's blog. She was decluttering and had two boxes she didn't want any more.
My sister-in-law had these eggs up around her home at Easter time at I secretly coveted them - so when I won I was very happy indeed. Romily was over the moon as she just loves Easter. She, of course, wanted to put them up straight away and only being reminded that we have to have Christmas first could dissuade her! Thanks Amelia - your eggs have come to a great home!

I will be having a giveaway soon - I recently won a gorgeous pattern from Don't Look Now and Kellie somehow ended up sending me two. She has very kindly agreed that the second copy should go to a good home, so keep your eyes posted to this blog for your chance to win!

Mum's quilt

2009-09-12T21:58:00.002+10:00

Mum finished the quilt I showed you a while back - a gorgeous log cabin quilt in beautifully muted modern fabrics. I just love how the deep red brings it all together. I still can't believe she made a queen size quilt for her first quilt - and how beautiful it is.Well done Mum! (And doesn't it look nice in my childhood bedroom?)

EBDQS3

2009-09-09T14:49:00.005+10:00

Hello. It's been a bit quiet around here lately in terms of crafty goodness. I've been using other parts of my brain, I promise, but haven't had enough energy or time to put towards textile play. Something to help snap me out of my quilting/sewing slump is the EB Doll Quilt Swap III. We've just received details of our swap partners and I'm starting to come up with some ideas.

One of the cool things we're doing to help the person making a quilt for us is creating mosaics of some of our Flickr favourites. Here's mine.1. Experiment 1, 2 layers, 2. Experiment 1, circles, 3. ronduitrechtnicolette, 4. Paintbox Quilt on the Sofa, 5. Sarah's Tablecloth Quilt, 6. 4SQS 5 quilt inspired by Tulip Fields in Spring, 7. 4SQS Winter Quilt by Tami, 8. Drifting, 9. Front of quilt, 10. Hand printed scarf, 11. Birds and Stripe Reversable Dolls Bed Quilt & Pillow Set, 12. Table topper, 13. Show-Me Plain Spoken, 14. advent calendar, 15. wall-art, 16. Trick or Treat, 17. Trick or Treat, 18. Yokohama 2008, 19. Evening Indulgence, 20. butterfly quilt

You can easily make your own. All you need is a Flickr account and this web-based application. Have fun! It's easy and potentially addictive. You have been warned!

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In other news, I'm happy to report that I received 91% for my first uni paper this semester. Too bad it's only worth 10% of the overall mark, but it's pleasing to see I'm on track and at the far right of the bell curve!

Trip to the Emerald City

2009-08-30T15:35:00.009+10:00

Playwright David Williamson penned a play called the Emerald City back in the 1980s, where one of his characters described Sydney as:

"The Emerald city of Oz. Everyone comes here along their yellow brick roads looking for the answers to their problems and all they find are the demons within themselves."

Well we followed the yellow brick road and found some demons - not of our own making - in the form of germs! Carl and the kids managed to pick up some kind of 24-hour tummy bug which was not pretty. I escaped it, but after our arrival back in Canberra came down with a dreadful chest cold, including fever and delirium last night and this morning! Our wonderful winter of woe continues on the health front. Never mind, tomorrow is the last official day of winter and then we are into spring - and READY!
In between bouts of illness, we managed several outings, including to the Taronga Zoo, where I was thrilled to see the seven-week old elephant Luk Chai, and the Sydney Aquarium. We also caught a couple of ferries around the harbour, taking in the spectacular views. Sydney really is a beautiful city when you can get out on the water. The kids had a great time, although we absolutely wore them out. Sadly, I didn't make it to Ikea - Carl was sick as a dog the night before we were due to leave Sydney, so I drove us straight home. Here are some photos from our holiday. You can click on any of them to see a bigger version - I love the one of the mummy Chimpanzee with her baby. Reminded me of me!

Handmade Help's 'Homemade' is here

2009-08-29T12:46:00.005+10:00

Lots of lovely alliteration! Spotted on Mands' blog, a new recipe book - and one with a great story and a good cause behind it. I put in my order for the Handmade Help 'Homemade' recipe book last week and it was waiting for me in my letterbox when we arrived home from Sydney yesterday afternoon.

With lots of delicious recipes, including one from Mands and a bunch from Pip from MeetmeatMikes (if you read her blog or follow her on Twitter you know she's pretty handy in the kitchen), it looks great. We're going to try a slow cooker chicken recipe during the week to get things started.

The story behind the cookbook is the Victorian bushfires - a bunch of crafters got together after the fires with a bunch of ideas to help those who were affected. One of the ideas was to create a cookbook - the proceeds of which go to the Salvation Army, and a free copy for every copy sold will be donated to a bushfire victim. That ticked all my boxes!

You can order a PDF version or a print version here. And then you too can enjoy the fabulous recipes and know that you're making a small difference too.

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We had a good time in Sydney, although Carl and the kids picked up a 24-hour tummy bug which put a dampener on things. I've also come down with a chest cold just to even things up. I couldn't be the only healthy one in the family now could I? Photos from the Sydney trip are coming soon. Watch this space!

Baby gifts

2009-08-23T20:23:00.001+10:00

There's nothing like a new baby to inspire some sewing. A quilting buddy of mine, AJ, recently celebrated the birth of a beautiful baby boy, Aden Henry. AJ's pregnancy journey was long, with her much wanted baby finally arriving with the help of some modern medical magic. Her joy upon discovering she was finally pregnant after more than two years was contagious. Her family and friends were all overjoyed for her and her husband. Such wonderful news called for a very special quilt, so some of the EB Quilters got together (virtually, of course) and made a 'Noah's Ark' quilt for Aden, or 'Russell' as he was called inutero.

(Photo nicked from AJ's blog)

I made the Ellie & Squeak block - the first time I've made anything like this, as applique isn't really my thing. I did enjoy it though - especially rummaging through my modest stash to find fabric that would work with the sashing fabric (our mutual starting point). Two clever ladies, Emma and Adds, put the combined parts together and Emma did a marvellous job of the quilting and sent it off just after Aden's arrival. AJ loved the quilt and we loved making it for her.I also made a little outfit for Aden - some cute little shorts and a matching applique onesie, using some of the luscious and soft Prints Charming fabric I had leftover from the party bag epic. I made the outfit in the 6-9m size, as Aden is a big boy. Hopefully it should fit him as the weather warms up - he lives in Queensland, so that shouldn't be too far away!
Well we're off to Sydney tomorrow. We're planning on visiting the Aquarium, Taronga Zoo and possibly Luna Park if we haven't worn the kids out completely. We're staying right in town, so we'll be close to all the good stuff and we'll catch ferries to the zoo and to Luna Park. It'll be quite an adventure for the kids! And I might even manage to squeeze in a visit to Ikea on the way home on Friday. Depends how tired we are!

Tristan is one!

2009-08-21T11:43:00.007+10:00

Goodness me that year went quickly! I can't believe my little man is one already. He's such a happy chappy and I love him to bits. I just wish for his sake that he hadn't been sick so often this winter - he's recovering from another bout of croup, but still manages to be in fine spirits. Let's hope as the weather warms his health improves! Here are some of my favourite photos from his first year in our lives. I'd forgotten what dark hair he had in those early months!

Happy birthday to my happy little man. I love you.
xxxxx

Here come the cousins!

2009-08-18T22:07:00.010+10:00

They came, they played, they went home exhausted! There hasn't been much crafting going on around here. This is why!
My adorable nephews came for a visit over the weekend, much to the delight of Romily, who adores them, and Tristan, who thrives on the excitement of so many kids to play with. My brother and my sister-in-law drove up from Melbourne on Friday and did it in reverse yesterday. A long way to come for the weekend, but three days was more than enough for my over-excited four-year-old!

They had so much fun, but not quite enough sleep. Rom slept in her swap on her bedroom floor while the twins top and tailed in her bed. They had the funniest conversations when they should have been sleeping. Darcy and Cody are four weeks younger than Romily, and it's quite funny to watch her try to boss them around (she gets that from me) and them just ignore her! Sounds like typical female-male relations to me!
The older two, Zach and Sam, were so good with all the little ones. Rom and Sam have a special relationship and they are just adorable together. It was really great seeing Jacinta and Jim with their tribe - we don't get a lot of chat time when we visit them in Melbourne, as we're usually too busy making sure the kids don't get into too much trouble to talk properly. This time we were able to have a good chinwag after the kids were in bed.
With five of the six cousins celebrating birthdays within a month of each other, we had another cake to celebrate. We sang happy birthday to 'everybody' and all of the kids helped blow out the candles (except Tristan who was asleep in his cot already!).We headed out to some of Romily's favourite places in Canberra, including Questacon (a science and maths discovery place for kids) and Cockington Green (Miniature villages and a miniature steam train). The kids had a blast at both places, although they really wore themselves out!Jacinta and I did do a little bit of crafting - Zach and Sam are dressing up as 'Where's Wally' for book week in September. We were raw-edge appliqueing red felt stripes onto white skivvies. They will look adorable in matching red and white striped beanies being knitted by their 'other' grandmother (i.e. not my mum but Jacinta's mum). Also, I finished another two drawstring bags the night before the cousins arrived. One for Darcy and one for Cody, stuffed with a cute t-shirt and shorts outfit each (matching, but different colours) and a cute first reader book for each of them.Romily was bereft upon the cousins' departure and spent a good hour sobbing and wailing. Every time I looked at her she burst into tears again! She loves her cousins and I wish we could live closer so that they could see more of each other.

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Things will be a little quiet around here over the next few weeks. I have a paper due on Sunday and then we're off to Sydney for the week for a little bit of a family holiday. I'm going to take some handwork with me, but depending on how exhausted I am, may not get much done! Looking forward to some more crafting soon.

Canberra Quilt Show

2009-08-10T13:18:00.007+10:00

After a crazy week of baking and organising and a day of recovery from Romily's party, I took off for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon and headed to the Canberra Craft and Quilting Fair. The Canberra Quilters annual exhibition is always good, so I was pleased to make it there - without children distracting me!

While there were a lot of traditional quilts there, I find it's the picture quilts that really draw my eye. Here are some of my favourites from the show.

Jenny Bowker Sandstorm over the White Desert

More unbelievably brilliant work from Jenny Bowker, currently resident in Egypt. I don't know why this quilt wasn't entered for best of show - she won last year with a similar entry. Also exquisite.

Beth Miller Grass Trees

Beth Miller A Touch of Green

Pat Godden Panda Reflections

Natsuko Miyake Life is like an instant dream

Check out the gauze over the base layer, with applique and embroidered details over the top. This was an excellent way to give this very interesting quilt a lot of texture. I really liked the design and technique, although I wasn't wild about the colours.

Jocelyne Leath A Moment in Time

The castle you can see is entirely quilted. You have to see it to believe it!

Jocelyn Green Oak Park - The windows of Frank Lloyd Wright

Helen Godden La Luna Feminingo

Naomi Miyake Happy Magic - Best of show (entirely hand quilted!)

There were also some excellent 'best of show' quilts from other state shows on display. Here are my faves.

Adriana Gismondi Encyclopaedia of Australian Birds (Quilt West Best of Show)

Elizabeth Camping Japanese Treasure Bag - SA best of show

I bought some gorgeous FQs from the trade hall. Will load a pic in the next post. No sewing going on here. We have a sick bubba - Tristan now has croup. Will this winter never end? Eventually!

All partied out

2009-08-08T21:27:00.008+10:00

'All partied out' used to mean I'd been out dancing too late. These days it means that after running a party for eight four-year-olds for two hours, I'm absolutely exhausted! And that was with the brilliant help of my husband. What a great team.

I don't think the following pictures need any explanation. The end result was a very happy four year old, which is what makes all that hard work worthwhile (and I have a whole new appreciation of what my mum did for me all those years ago!).I made the party bags. They're from the Prints Charming Rainbow Garden range. Pink for girls and blue for boys. I don't usually go in for the whole colour stereotyping thing, but the fabrics were so gorgeous I actually didn't mind too much!

I'll blog a tutorial once I get some sleep. Carl, Tristan and I have all come down with the cold Romily brought home with her last week. We're stuffed! I'm looking forward to some warmer weather and fewer viruses!

Guess who is four?

2009-08-05T11:53:00.009+10:00

My gorgeous Romily.Happy birthday to my darling, funny girl.
xxx

Stars in her eyes

2009-08-01T22:51:00.004+10:00

In addition to starting new dance classes, Romily has also started going to a six-hour session at playschool on Fridays. As they're there for so long, the kids have a 'rest time' after lunch. They have to take a little cushion along to lay their heads on while they're having a rest. While we almost certainly had something suitable here, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to procrastinate from study...er, I mean do something crafty, so I dipped into my stash and whipped up a cute little patchwork cushion for her.One side is red and the other aqua. Each side is pieced, with appliqued and reverse appliqued stars in each quarter. (Click any of the images for a closer look) I blanket stitched around the reverse appliqued stars with two strands of embroidery floss. Upon closer inspection, it turns out I should have also stitched around the other stars, as my raw edge straight stitching wasn't. Straight, that is. So I had better do a bit more blanket stitching before next Friday!

Do you think she likes it?
The next project is a set of party bags for Romily's birthday party next Saturday. The lucky girl will have two cakes this year, as her actual birthday is on Wednesday. She's stoked!

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Tristan continues to be as cute as a button. Look what he started doing! This is with no prompting from me. He has been watching Romily 'play telephones' and decided that he can do it too. How cute are they at this age? So funny, adorable and they don't talk back and give you attitude. My mum is right, nine to eighteen months is just a fabulous age :)

Dancing queen

2009-07-26T10:54:00.007+10:00

With great excitement, we headed off last Tuesday to Romily's first ever dance class. She was primed and ready to go and I hoped that she would love it. Well, I didn't have to worry! As soon as we opened the door to go in - they were just starting - she joined straight in and started copying every move the dance teacher made. She got down and boogied and it was just fantastic! She also, in Romily's very special way, said this in one breath to the teacher:

I don't go to Gymbaroo anymore because I'm too big now and I can do everything at Gymbaroo and I'm not challenged anymore so now I come to Blueberries!

You should have seen the teacher's jaw drop! It was hysterical. Romily's biggest challenge at dance class so far has been learning when it's appropriate to speak :) She just loved it and I had a hard time getting her out of the studio after the class finished. She wanted to keep dancing and watching herself in the wall-to-wall mirrors.
A dancing queen in the making!

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This may come as a shock to some, but Tristan is now 11 months old! How did nearly a year fly by, I hear you ask? Don't ask me - it's been a whirlwind of sleepless nights, breastfeeding, pooey nappies and chuckles. He is such a gorgeous bubba, such a happy chappy. I just love him to bits. We've been 'night weaning' this week and it's going pretty well - he was ready and just needed a bit of encouragement and withholding by the dairy! Last night, after a late night out, he slept from midnight to 6am without waking. Woohoo! Here's my big boy on his birth quilt made by my EB Quilter buddies, and here he is making off with it!
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Last night we attended our friends' annual Christmas in July dinner party. They do a Kris Kringle each year and, as I did last year, I chose to make our gifts. I made two quilted table toppers using up some of the Christmas fabrics I bought a couple of years ago. I don't really like the fabric anymore, but it was perfect for KK gifts.
Tristan liked them too!

I made this

2009-07-24T19:28:00.002+10:00

Just for Pip @Meetmeatmikes.

I made this.And this.And this.(The girl and the pants!!!!!)

Pleats to meet you

2009-07-23T12:24:00.003+10:00

I realised I hadn't blogged this yet! Before we headed off on our road trip I made this skirt for Romily. Actually, I made it twice - the first one was waaaaay too big around the waist and a little long, so I made it in the next size down. It's from an Ottobre 6/2008 pattern - #16 'Tammy'. It's the first time I've made anything with pleats, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. It's also lined. As the first skirt was so big around the waist, I also excluded the seam allowances. A perfect fit!
The bigger sized skirt has been put away for next winter :)

And just because, here's a photo of Romily with her twin cousins Darcy and Cody - they're exactly four weeks younger than her and cute as buttons. This is their favourite trick and they showed Romily how to do it too!
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All goes well here. We are all healthy for a change! We have also been night-weaning Tristan. It's going well so far after a fairly torrid first night. I think we will all be better for having a bit more sleep at night. Once he's sleeping through we'll move him downstairs into Romily's room. She's very excited about not being the only one sleeping downstairs!