Two more finishes .. gifts

I have been quietly stitching away whenever I have a chance.... A little bag filled with a few bits and pieces for Annie's birthday. The cute bag was made with the Cinderberry Stitches free pattern. Happy Birthday Annie!

And a baby quilt. Loved putting these fabrics together from my stash.

Weekend Indoors

It was one of those weekends when it was best to stay indoors. Yes, four monkeys trapped indoors .....


Left to dress up their toys with forgotten Christmas decorations

Making bread with their dad. (Must organise tiling the kitchen..)

Taking photo's of the big wattle tree that blew over in our front garden, and collecting bits of the laserlight windows from our car port that blew out and shattered all over the back lawn.

And making Lord Littlemore cutouts from the Empire of the Sun while we listened to the Hottest 100 on the radio. Can you tell which child made which figure?

I did some secret sewing too :)

Testing.... testing...

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to catch up with Jodie, Annie and Kathryn. By lunchtime I had already whipped up another little skirt for Maya, this time using a pattern from Little Bird Patterns. This pattern is called "Tweeny" for girls sizes 4 - 10. I did make the waist band a bit larger for Maya's toddler shape and added an inch on both pieces. This way I think she will get 2 years out of it. Cute!

The rest of the week I have been pattern writing and testing. Nearly there!

$2.50 at the Op Shop

Maya and I found this skirt at the op shop a few weeks ago, when we were trying to track down a book for Ayden. It was a ladies large with side splits and a drawstring waist. Never worn, a popular surf brand and I liked the trim along the bottom.

A bit of unpicking last night, a bit of sewing this lunchtime, and an inexpensive little skirt for Maya. And I must get her out of this outfit before she freezes!

Pincushion Swap ~ goodness from Jantine!

My beautiful packaged arrived from Jantine, all the way from the Netherlands as part of the Quilt at Home pincushion swap. I just love the colours that Jantine has used for the cupcake and the icecream pincushions (how lucky was I to receive two!) and the sweetest pink scissors with a beaded keeper. Fabric and lollies too! Thanks so much Jantine and Sandra.

My swap goodies arrived over at Sandra's in Switzerland. I used patterns by Rosalie Quinlan (Bug in a Bag), Lynette Anderson (Here Kitty) and Cinderberry Stitches (Blue Wrens Nest)

And my sewing for the week ... two more dolls quilts, and a tutorial for them nearly written.

Second gift finished for foster kids

Ayden has finished (finally!) his second gift to give to children in foster care, as part of his community service component of the Silver Duke of Ed Award.

A pink elephant, copied from a colouring book has been appliqued and stitched onto strips of fabric, quilted in perle cotton and made into a dolls quilt.

Hours and hours of work for a 15 year old boy. I think he is taking a bit of a break from it before he makes a matching pillow ... but he is pleased with the end result. So am I!

The first project is here. Nice work Ayden!

I must, I must ....

Stashbust!

Here is the big reveal on the squares. A couple of dolls quilts that measure 24.5" square.


Not dolls quilts for us, dolls quilts for sale... as soon as I manage to open an Etsy store that is.

My finger I sewed into is heaps better thanks. Poor Maya had to put up with pigtails instead of french braids last week because I just couldn't manage them. I ended up quilting the dolls quilts with a swirly fancy stitch on my sewing machine in a diamond grid and left crinkly from the dryer.

And here is a proud mama moment for me. Kane and Ayden came home with awards last week. Kane has his class achievement award for Grade 1 this week for "working hard to keep his workplace tidy. Kane has a wonderful general knowledge and loves sharing his thoughts".

Ballarat bloggers will know how much pressure Ayden has been under this year. Year 10 is just full on and there are some high expectations on him. So coming home with a Distinction in a national geography competition, and then the Management of Learning award from school, fantastic!

a few little squares..

Not much to show after I sewed into my finger on Sunday, trying to free motion quilt. Owwwww! I should know by now that we just don't get along...

I do have some ideas for these little squares. I am seriously scrap busting!