WIP Wednesday - week 11

Bit of a false title as there is no Work In Progress to show today! Sorry, I am working but can't show it off here!


So to change the subject totally, I'm going to do a post about Miss Milly. Here she is, little munchkin that she is. Now we don't go to FDC anymore and with Grace being in Kindy four half days a week, her and I are always together, we are the team! She is like my little handbag, I take her everywhere! Except for when I go to work of course which is an interesting comparison as a part time position has just become available where I work. I currently just do Thursday nights 5-9 and Saturdays 9-5 which is just perfect really as Daz is able to look after them, its a nice arrangement, I am happy with it. But now this part time position has come up and two ladies at work have "strongly advised" that I apply for the position. Which has got me thinking about it all. I'd love to do a few more shifts at work but I just can't! I can't do it to Milly! She's too little, I don't want to hand her over to someone else for the sake of a few more shifts. Not yet, maybe this time next year, then Grace will be in full time preschool and Milly will be just that bit older. And maybe I'll be a bit more ready too.

This mornings Fabric Frenzy

Dropped Grace at kindy this morning and Milly and I immediately drove to Spotlight. It has been ages since I have been there. Usually we got food shopping on a Tuesday morning as its so much easier with only one child, but squeezed that in yesterday.

They had lots of lovely bolts of fabric today! So I went a bit crazy and brought a metre each of the above. The bottom three prints I already have in my fabric stash but am down to the last scrappy few cms. The pink big dotted print in the middle is the same design as that green dress I made earlier this year. And the top two prints are very cute and perfect for spring, can't explain why I had to buy them as winter is coming! Just had to get them!

Valentines Day Swap Top!

I recieved a lovely collection of material as part of my EB Valentine Day Swap last month and it was with great reluctance that I cut into this peice of material. But am so glad I did as I think this top is stunning! I'm in love with the pattern, hmmm, you couldn't have guessed that, it's the 4th time I have made it! Its just so easy as I love how the bodice is lined so its all neat inside. This one is for Grace.

Been working over the weekend on the next swap with my EB sewing buddies, a kitchen swap. I am sewing something but hush hush, top secret!

My 12 x 12 challenge!

I am posting it here so I know where to exactly find all my info! I have joined in the Quilt Studio's 12 x 12 challenge. My theme is stars. Bit of room for ideas there, rock stars, movie stars or stars in the sky! I'm going to do 4 of these challenges for the year and my first one is based on Vincent Van Gogh's painting "The Starry Night" Should be fun!

WIP Wednesday - Week 10

Week 10! Already??! Lazy afternoon at home today with Milly asleep for her average of 3 hours and Grace watching "Brother Bear" for her "quiet time". She's getting quite good at belting out the theme tune to that movie with Phil Collins! Must get Brother Bear 2 for her.

Now Hugo's quilt is out the way I have recommenced work on this quilt. Just so refreshing to work on something not blue! Hopefully will get the top finished by the weekend so I can take it up to Mum's and get her to help me sandwich it again! Just have another row of squares to sew down the left side, then I'm thinking another 1.5 inch boarder of the lime green, then for the binding a deeper green? Or hot pink?? The lime green looks a bit odd in this photo but in real life it matches to the green in a few of the prints.

Must admit the design is a bit plain, just squares. I'm thinking of doing some diagonally quilting criss cross effect to add some interest?

Hugo's quilt

Well I started here over a month ago and finished tonight! Yahh!

I completed the binding on Hugo's quilt a few days ago, and tonight while watching Dancing With The Stars I finished sewing on the label, so that means I am all finished! Everything done except wrapping it up and posting it! I am playing around with saving my photo's in a different format than usual. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to download for you?

Thanks for the lovely ladies who suggested what I should do with that final boarder, to stipple or not to stipple, that was the question! I ended up doing a meandering stipple and it fitted in perfect with the rest of the quilting. Interestingly enough I had to adjust my machines tension to 7 instead of the usual 4 to stop it from pulling on the back.

I am never going to win any awards for my quilting, my binding is always wonky, my stitches in the ditches are always in the ditches! I use polyestor cotton at times! Shock! Horror!! The quilt never lays flat and my mitered corners..... But quilting is not about that is it? Hugo is 15 days old today and he lives the other side of Australia. I was his Mum's bridesmaid back in 2002 and I made this quilt just for him. To spew on, poo on, snuggle under and sit on. Welcome to the world Hugo! Wishing you sweet dreams always under this quilt.

My New Sewing Cabinet!

We have a new addition to the family! I picked up my "new" sewing cabinet won off ebay yesterday! Above is a shot of how I used to sew. Standing up at a bench, crammed inbetween the overlocker and my cutting mat. Have been looking at the Horn sewing cabinets by then found the one below on ebay, its by Singer. Didn't even know they made sewing cabinets! Played it cool and bid in the last hour and I was the only bidder so it was meant to be! Perfect size for the space I have, its in fantastic condition. When I asked the lady why she was selling it, she was about my age. She replied, "Oh I have a 3 and a 5 year old, I don't get time to sew!"

Can't wait to get stuck into it now. Its going to seem strange though sitting down but think I'll get used to that quick enough!

EB Kitchen Swap Q & A

Here are my answers for the Kitchen Swap. Thats my idol above, Betty Crocker! But interestingly enough, that wasn't her real name! Her name was Adelaide Hawley Cumming and she was hired by General Mills in 1949 to assume the character of Betty Crocker, a corporate logo invented in 1921. Well there you go.

What colours are you kitchen?

My kitchen is a bit plain. White walls and tiles and an off whitish/grey laminate colour for the benches and cupboards. The most colourful things are the purple tea towels!

What is your favourite appliance?

My favourite appliance is our rice cooker. But I'll have to hang my head in shame by admitting that I have never used the thing! We brought it in the post Christmas sales just recently and Daz has been the one to always put the rice on. He is the cook in this relationship!

What do you love cooking most?

Well I'm really good at one dish, I make a mean lasagne! Love cooking that. Otherwise I'm a biscuit kind of girl. The girls like helping me cook biscuits.

What item would you love the most from your swap partner?

Is it cheeky to ask for a live in maid?? LOL Always seem to be doing dishes! I'd like most things to get me out of the kitchen! Material??! Whatever one would like to swap is fine by me. :)

WIP Wednesday - week 9

Hand sewing WIP this week! Daz took this action shot last night. My fingers are a bit numb from sewing the binding on this. Did quite a bit today, sitting on the couch watching Brother Bear with Grace during quiet time. It looks good. If I stay off the computer for the next 24 hours, I should get it finished!

Am in a deliema though. The final boarder of strips is not quilted. To do a meander stipple or just leave it as it is? Its a nice contrast but am wondering will it look a bit odd?

Opinions please!

Finished my blocks!

I finished my blocks! All 18 of them. Not really much more to say than that really! They look good, I'm running out of blue thread with all these blue projects though!

Last Nights Dinner

And to change the subject completely..... here's what Daz made me for tea last night!


A fillet of North West Snapper baked on a bed of rock salt, with a crust/sauce layer of lemongrass, corrainder and chilli. Served with steamed potato's and beans and pan fried asparagus. And of course a few glasses of an unwooded Chardonnay, from Poets Corner in New South Wales. It was all very lovely.

Didn't do any sewing at all over the weekend, which was dissappointing. Worked all day Saturday, then today we had my Grandma's 90th birthday lunch at a picnic in a park which all the kids loved, 11 great grandkids where there, everyone else had 3 kids except for us, rocking up with the girls! I got asked once if I was pregnant, think my top was too tight and I do still have a post baby belly.... But I got asked twice if I had made the tops that the girls were wearing, I hadn't though, they were Ingrid's. The one's I have made for the girls recently were in the wash! Grandma did say how pleased she was that 3 out of 4 of her grandaughters have taken up sewing as she was a seamstress hereslf in the "Olden Days".

Birth of a blue block!

I received this fabric in the mail last week. I did a swap with AJ and another EB Quilting Buddy, Bec, 8 x 8 inch square peices of fabric each. I must admit I have been focused on finishing Hugo's quilt (as in the last post) so the fabric has just been sitting on a shelf in the sewing room. It was lovely to recieve it in the mail though!

Then, last night, I get home from work and sit down on the computer and have a blog surf (as you do!) to find AJ has finished all her blocks! All 36 of them!!! Check them out here. So that really inspired me today to get a move along. Thankfully I am only doing 18! Here is the birth of one of them, interesting watching how it goes together.

So here we have the first two blocks slashed and sewn back together. Nice and simple so far, hearts and spots.

Then I slash it again and sew another bit on it that has been slashed from another block.

Then I cut it up the middle and take another block that has had the same thing done to it, and sewn it back together. So a total of 4 cuts across the block.

Time to rotate it and slash it down the middle and to sew another block to it. Starting to get interesting. See where I cut it before I took the photo? Got a bit excitied there.

And now another bit is sewn on, so the fabric on the right hand side of the pict, will stay consistant for the rest of the block.

And then the last slash to produce the finished block. So 3 slashes the this direction, 4 the other. Bit of an interesting hodge podge of patterns and textures.

Hope all that made sense! So I have 18 blocks and I'm going to make a 4 x 4 block lap quilt, so I'll only need 16 blocks in total. AJ and I are going to now swap 8 finished blocks back to each other. I've written that here AJ so I won't go and change my mind! LOL

WIP Wednesday - Week 8

Well despite the recent excitment that happened in my last post, and the weather of the last two days being a hot and horrid 42 degree's, I have managed to do a bit of quilting!

One of my oldest and dearest girl friends had her second child on Monday, a little boy called Hugo and that has geared me up to finish his quilt! I have done a meandering stipple with a swirly loveheart in the middle. I wanted it to be just spot on and so I brought two different marking pens to draw the design on but neither of them showed up, so I ended up just going free hand which is always a bit dangerous as I'm scared of stuffing it up, but so far so good! The outside yellow boarder showed up the marker pen easily, so I got one of those stencil templates from my local Spotlight and traced this around the boarder. Not perfect in places, but am pleased with the effect. Can't wait to wash it to see what it looks like without that cyan texta outline!

Gracie Lou will be on the ABC!

Look out ABC for Kids, there's a new girl on the block! Very excitied here in our house today as we have just signed a deal with the ABC for Gracie Lou!

Daz is just beaming, he has worked so hard on this, its all a sureal dream come true. Fancy an animation concept dreamed up by a Mum and Dad in suburbian Perth, getting on telly! We are pinching oursleves!

No idea when they'll start showing it on the ABC, this year definately, we'll keep you posted!

Brought top verses home sewn tops.

Before you all get excitied, no I didn't make the above top! I brought it last night for Milly. Not that she really needs any more tops but...... it was just so cute! A touch of Oilily? Not a brand I am usually a fan of, bit too busy some of their designs, but at $14 for this top? Who could resist? The butterfly has bits of ribbon and sequins sewn on it.

Finally finished off these two tops below for the girls. It was the button holes that held me up. I have an auto buttonhole maker foot for my machine so sewing the actual button hole is no hassle, just the time to get around and do it! Tweaked this design so it sits better on Milly, fits her perfectly. I really like this pink print, good thing as I still have like 3 metres left, despite this being the fifth item of clothing I have made from it!

And for Grace's. I used some more of my green op shop fabric. I don't think green is her colour though, she looks a bit washed out in it in real life. I like the feel of this fabric and the way it falls but its a bugger to work with, It has pulled in two sections on the back bodice from me sewing in the button holes. Its just too fragile for my patience. Sticking to new fabric from now on.