Working on - D9P baby quilt

This quilt is actually finished and gifted already, but I am so behind on my blogging that we have to pretend that it is still in the works ;)



Here the top is almost done, just the final outer border to go. The fabric is the lovely Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson, in the pink colourway.

Advent Day one-two-miss-a-few-19 - Christmas Socks!

Who was I kidding? I was never going to blog for 24 days straight ;)

One pair of Christmas socks finished, one pair to go.



The pattern is the fabulous Thuja, as always!

Advent Day 6 - Letter from Santa

Miss M wrote Santa a lovely letter this year telling him what she wanted most for Christmas (a red scooter and a golden dragon), and last week we received his reply in the mail. Miss M was so excited :)



It's such a lovely thing that Australia Post runs each year, there is even a link to a youtube movie showing Santa receiving his letters :)

In the Mail - Oh Boy!

I just couldn't resist this fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop - it is so very cute :) I'm planning on using it for a quilt for Mr O, for when he moves into a big bed - although at the moment he seems ready to stay in his cot forever *sigh*





This is the fabric I bought for the backing, there was only 3/4 of a yard left but I bought it anyway, it is my favourite piece.

Advent Day 5 - Working on: Round Robin Block Swap

This is sort of Christmas related :)

I have been participating in a round robin quilt block swap with a fantastic group of ladies, and last week I sent off the final blocks. We will be getting our blocks back this month (in time for Christmas - see, it is Christmas related!) in order to make them into a quilt, and I can't wait to see what everyone has made out of my fabric!



Some months it has been difficult to find the time to make the blocks - because I'm so picky I have been taking about 4.5 hours to sew one block, which I'm sure is quite ridiculous. Now that it's all over though I can see the benefits of all that pickiness - my measuring, cutting, piecing and sewing is now much more accurate, in fact I hadn't realised how inaccurate it was before. I have also figured out how to iron properly so that the pieces don't get pulled out of shape.

So all in all I'm so glad that I was part of this swap, my very first one. The EB Newbie Quilters who also participated are all so helpful and understanding, all the stress of the swap is non existent, once I had come to terms with cutting into someone else's fabric that is ;)

Advent Day 4 - In the Mail - more fabric!

OK, so this isn't a Christmas post. I do actually have some Christmas related photos on my camera. Which is in another room. It's been a long day.

This is some of my favourite fabric, Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom range. I was delighted to see the fat quarter bundle on sale at the Fat Quarter Shop, down to $31.80! I ended up getting two bundles, one of which is being used in the d9p baby quilt I'm working on at the moment.





I also got some Rouenneries charm squares, 6 in all. I do love this fabric, it's not my usual style but I love the colours of the linen and the red together.

Advent Day 3 - Working on: Christmas Socks

I can't tell you how many pairs of these Thuja socks I've made, but I never get tired of knitting them. It helps that I now know the pattern off by heart and I can finish a sock in two days :)

My dad loves these socks, so I always have a pair on the needles for him. I thought that instead of the usual plain ones I give him that I would make some Christmassy ones instead.



As always with my Thujas, I'm using superwash wool, this time it's Lincraft brand.

2009 Advent Blog-a-Long

Since the Christmas season is my favourite time of year, I have decided to fit in as many Christmassy things as possible. And since I have already blogged for December 1st, it seemed to be a perfect time to join in Car's Advent blog-a-long. I only hope that I can find enough Christmas themed things to blog about!

And sadly this will have to be my Christmassy blog of today, since I don't want to run out of topics ;)

Happy December 1st :)

We put up our Christmas tree today, it was the first time that Mr O was really able to join in and he was just entranced by it all, although I think that the chocolate advent calendar may have won out :)

Fabulous Mood!

One of my sisters recently went on a holiday to the US. While she was in New York she hunted the streets until she found Mood, the fabulous fabric store patronised by the contestants on the US Project Runway. She bought 3 yards of a lovely sheer fabric for me - I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet but I just love it.



The bag is so familiar to me, I've seen so many seasons worth of PR contestants carrying them around :)

In the Mail - More Sandi Henderson fabric!

I recently bought some beautiful (and nice and cheap) fabric from this fantastic etsy store: Sewlovefabrics. It arrived quickly and with some bonus charm squares thrown in :)



I'm going to use the dots for the binding on the Ginger Blossom baby quilt, and the cherries and the apples on a quilt I'm still thinking up for myself. I just can't resist that Farmers Market fabric :)

Giveaway at Retromummy!

I don't usually blog about giveaways, but I couldn't go past this one at Retromummy - such lovely fabric and such a generous prize by Corrie :)

Working on... a baby quilt

Ok, so I suddenly found myself with some free time tonight, and it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to post on my blog before the new year! So here is the first post in a new series: Working on. That way I can post snippets of my WIPs without feeling that I have to actually finish something before I can reveal it :)

And my first WIP is a baby quilt that I'm working on for a friend's baby girl. I am using Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson - how I love her fabric *sigh*. It is going to be yet another Disappearing 9 Patch, simple but pretty, which is perfect for a quick baby quilt.

Very bad blogger!

Ok so it's been a few months since my last blog entry, but it's been so hectic around here that I've had neither time to blog nor time to do anything to actually blog about. Things have calmed down somewhat so I'm starting to get crafty again, mostly knitting, although I have just bought some fabric for another couple of quilts. So hopefully I'll have something to show before too long!

A nice light scarf

Gosh I have trouble thinking up blog titles. I can only hope that most people are like me and just barely glance at the title before going on to read the blog entry.

I just love Japanese sewing and craft, and one of my favourite blogs is Mairuru - she makes the cutest things, and I get the impression that they're all hand sewn, something I can't even imagine having the time or the patience (or the skill, for that matter) to do.

One of the projects she's blogged is a cotton scarf, and I loved it so much that I had to make one of my own. Of course mine was machine sewn :) I bought the two very thin and fine cottons from Spotlight. I designed it and cut out the patchwork pieces from paper first, and I've kept the pattern pieces because I'm thinking of making another one sometime.







The scarf is warm and soft to wear, and not prickly like wool scarves can be. I am so glad I made it, thanks for the inspiration Mairuru :)

Soiree is done

I finally completed my Soiree quilt - it was very difficult to get hold of enough white homespun to finish the top, and then I discovered that since I had enlarged the top the backing was no longer large enough. A day of fussing and measuring and sewing later, and it was all done.






The backing is a lovely soft coral minky fleece. I didn't use anything in the middle, so there are just the top and bottom layers. It will be just right for a summer weight quilt.




It has also been used as a lounge quilt, but the combination of two children and two cats with all that white makes me think that it will be staying on our bed from now on.

Banana bread

I love the recipes that Retromummy has shared on her blog, especially this one for melt and mix banana bread. I thought I'd give it a go, since I'm all for not-much-effort cooking - the only cake we ever make around here is a similar type of recipe, where you put everything into one bowl, stir it up and then pop it into the oven. No creaming butter & sugar or any of that fussy business.

The original recipe calls for 125g melted butter. I had no butter so I thought I'd try olive oil instead, since that's what I use in my chocolate cake with great success. And it worked out in this recipe as well, so delicious! And surely just a teensy bit more healthy? I always try to remind myself that olive oil is a 'good' fat since I use so much of it :)


I also found that I had no baking powder, so I googled a substitute combining cream of tartar and bicarb. Worked out so well that I used it again the next time instead of buying baking powder.


Yummo!

Another softie

I do like making softies, especially because Miss M thinks that they are wonderful, so much better than store bought toys since she gets to see them being 'born'. This time she chose a kangaroo and her joey.


She has named them Rosie and Taylor.

Round robin quilt swap

I am participating in my very first online swap, and it is both scary and exciting :) In this swap I had to buy my own fabric, cut it up and send it out to be sewn into 11 different blocks by the other participants. In the meantime I get 2 lots of their fabric a month to make into the block that I've chosen, which I then send back. At the end of 6 months I get back 11 blocks from my own fabric, along with the one I've sewn from my own as well, and I can make a quilt. It's a great way to do the round robin, because we have chosen our own fabric - it is also scary because we have to cut up and sew someone else's precious fabric. I can't tell you how nerve wracking that was!

This is the fabric I've chosen for my quilt - very bright but I just love it.


And this is the fabric I received to make my first swappee block - of course I posted it back without thinking to take a sneak peek of the finished block.


And here is a sneak peek of my finished block.

More wonderful things

I have been so lucky lately - I won another fabulous blog giveaway, this time on the Sew Busy Mama blog. Anna is so talented, and she sells her creations on Etsy and Madeit. She sent me a little coin purse, two hair clips and one hair tie, some quilted coasters, and an Amy Butler bag pattern. Her handmade gifts are so well made, and the care that has gone into making them is impressive.

Here is the whole collection that she sent me - her business name is Tillytom Designs:


The coin purse, in some of my favourite Wonderland fabric on the outside, and a lovely surprise inside of a very different and pretty fabric:


The coasters, in another favourite fabric of mine, Soiree. I'm a bit scared to use these because they are so pretty :)



I didn't take a separate photo of the hair clips and tie because they have been claimed by Miss M and she's currently wearing them :) That's saying a lot because she never wears anything in her hair! She has also claimed the coin purse and she's put some precious little toys in there to keep them safe from her brother.

Thanks so much Anna, I just love everything you've sent me!

Wonderful things

This week I received a package in the mail - some lovely fabric from the Retromummy shop, which I had been lucky enough to win on the Retromummy blog. To add to the loveliness, Corrie had included a pile of fabric scraps as well, which I'm going to put aside to use in a scrap quilt.

Even the envelope had some cuteness on it:


And the inside of the envelope was even better :)


Here are the beautiful fat quarters - they are so pretty, and my photos just don't do them justice:



And the fabric scraps:




Thanks so much Corrie, you are so generous :)

And to top it off this arrived as well: