Quilts for Queensland: Block #1

I am loving how the blogging and crafting world is pulling together for this cause! Corrie from Retromummy has started the Quilts For Queensland project, where we can contribute as little as a single block made up from a few scraps, up to a completed quilt whioch she will organise to have donated to those effected by the floods. Many of these people have lost everything so a comfy handmade quilt to snuggle under would be sure to help bring back a smile or two.

Corrie is after 12" finished blocks (12.5" unfinished) so that she can put together some quilts for boys, girls, mums, dads - anyone! So I decided to make my first block a boy block, as the boys sometimes get forgotten when pretty fabrics are there for the using. (Please excuse the stray bit of cotton that I didn't see until after uploading the photo!)

I plan to make at least a couple more, as they will help make a dent in my scrap pile, get me back into quilt making mode, and also get turned into beautiful quilts. If you can sew a straight line, and have some spare cotton fabric, then why not join in? For more info, click on the button in my sidebar.

My birthday wish came true!

I have wanted a DSLR for ages. And now I have one! I did have to do a bit of prodding to get it, but here it is in my hot little hands. I have been warned not to mention the words "new" and "camera" in the same sentence for the next 20 years unless I am talking about this one, but I think I will be fine... for a little while anyway ;)

I have a lot of reading, playing and learning to do for now, but hopefully I can show you some of the things that this baby can do, here on my blog soon , so watch this space! You are bound to see more FO pics, pics of the kids, (and furkid!) over the weeks to come so you have now been warned that this blog could become picture heavy!

For now though I have some recovery to do. Austy and I have been unwell - poor Austy for longer than I have as the doctor said he was fine after a week of 39 degree fever and a horrid cough that would not go away. I was given antibiotics for bronchitis but nothing to help Austin. When I went in for a second opinion for him I was told we both had either whooping cough or a bad strain of the flu, perhaps even swine flu and to stay housebound until we heard back from our swabs or until we finish the strong antibiotics he put us both on. Luckily we were both given the all clear for whooping cough and swine flu, but it still hit us hard. We were planning to go out for a birthday dinner together tonight as DH and I were both meant to be working on my birthday and no real chance for a meal together to have a cake. However we have postponed again as I can hardly eat a nibble at the moment (apparently that is the antibiotics that make us both feel a bit gross when we eat), so have decided the cake can wait until we can all enjoy it!

I have had a little play with my new toy though, and I look forward to being well enough to be giving it a real workout!

Edited to add a couple of shots I took today on it - I have a long way to go I know, but this was all I could get from my uncooperative (and black -eyed from a sleep-bump the other night) 2 year old, (who told me not to take her photo!) and my still recovering 5 year old. Got to have a starting point, right? Time for me to get back and read the manual some more!

Queensland Flood Relief Auctions

I don't really need to mention too much about the Queensland Floods for people to know what I am talking about - it's all across the news, all across the world, the impact is huge. Toni from Make It Perfect (click button in sidebar for details) has come up with a great idea for the crafting world to raise money to help them all get back onto their feet. The least I can do is take part.

Toni will be listing a master list of all auctions from all crafting bloggers on Monday 17th January, with all auctions closing on midnight EST on 24th January.

I am unwell this week so haven't been able to pull my finger out and get making, however I thought I could still play along, offering up a semi custom soaker or shorties set that I will make once the auction concludes.

The shorties/soaker (winning bidder's choice) will be hand-knitted from lush Woolganics 12ply, dyed by me in a girl/ boy/ gender neutral handpainted colourway using professional Gaywool acid dyes. My dyeing style (a little bit of this and a little bit of that) does not lend itself to repeatable colourways, but you may suggest a colour theme for me to follow. I will create a unique colourway just for you. A matching purchased t-shirt will be embroidered by me to go with the soaker/shorties with a machine embroidered applique design and name of the child (name is optional). If a size small is chosen, there is the additional option of the shorties/soaker being longies instead - I will dye up 100g of wool with 50g of semisolid trim, and 100g will make longies in size small. Similarly, you can choose capris if you are after a size medium.

You choose:

• Colour preference (girl/boy/ gender neutral) and may offer suggestions of 1 or 2 colours to include in the varigated handpainted yarn. I will choose the other colours based on what dyes I have and will create a colouraway of 4 or 5 colours.


• Soaker or shorties (for large size), soaker, shorties or capris (for medium size), soaker, shorties, capris or longies (for small size).


• Woollies size - small (NB-3m), medium( 3m- 9m) or large (9m -2yrs) Sizes in brackets are age estimates only as all babies grow at different rates.


• T-shirt size and style (short or long sleeved, and size 000-2) I will choose colour based on availability and what will go with the woollies


• Applique design (I will give you a few to choose from - designs that I have already purchased)


• Font for name if personalisation is requested (again, I will give you a few fonts to choose from based on what I have)
  

Here is how it works:

1. Bidding will start at $30 (Australian)

2. Bids are placed by leaving a comment on this post with your bid amount and email. Please make sure your bid is higher than the previous bidder.

3. You must bid in whole dollar increments

4.Overseas residents will be charged actual shipping costs, however postage is free for Australian residents

5. The auction begins NOW and wil close at midnight EST on 24th January

6. At the close of the auction I will contact the winner to find out your preferences for soaker/shorties, colour preferences (boy/girl/gender neutral), long sleeved or short sleeve t-shirt, size and whether you want the child's name embroidered on the t-shirt (and the name).

7. Please make your payment of the winning amnount directly to the Premiers Flood Relief fund and send proof of payment to me.

8. Once proof of payment is received I will make and send the set to you within 3 weeks of receipt.

Thank you so much for taking part. Happy bidding!

ETA: At the request of my first bidder I will also update my facebook account with bid changes. (Great idea Susan!)

Photos are both sets that I have made previously from my own hand dyed wool, and appliqued t-shirts to match (the photographed t-shirts were also hand made by me, but this auction will use a PURCHASED t-shirt with my applique).

2011!

Just a short post to wish my readers a wonderful year ahead.

There are some changes going on in here, as I normally do at the start of the new year - as you can see I have been playing around with my blog design, and I can promise you it won't stay this way. I don't like it much but had to do something to test out sizes etc. and since I have a widescreen monitor now, I still don't know if it works. The colours are a bit too pink for me, so I will have a rehash when I can. Since this is a new computer, I only had the papers I downloaded for Madelyn's birthday invitations to play with. It was either pink and girly, or rockets and space (from Austy's invitations)!

I am working on a number of projects at the moment, and have some to upload from the end of last year (a couple of sundresses and test knits). I am going to try to set up a new proforma for publishing my projects, to keep it brief, easy to read and send people in the right direction for pattern links etc.

Last year, I worked on feeling less guilty for spending time for me. This year I aim to take this further by scheduling set times for my craft projects and making sure I get it. I am slowly learning that time for me makes me a better mother, not a worse one, and it is just as important as everytthing else I do for the kids. Hopefully I will be able to get more involved in swaps and blog events this year and feel connected with my online crafty friends again.

Stay tuned!

Pageant Day!

After a trip to kmart yeilded only a t-shirt for Madelyn and nothing for Austin, I pulled an all nighter sewing his from scratch. When I saw all the Ben10/spiderman rubbish in the boys section and not a single plain t-shirt that wasn't black, I remembered why I had bought his from the girls' section last year when I made their appliqued Christmas pyjama sets. Unfortunately this year all the girls' tops had puffy sleeves which kind of gave away that they weren't meant for the boys.

To add to my frustrations, I went to the sewing shop to get more stabiliser yesterday morning, and came away with a heap of tear-away, only to realise it was the cut-away that I had run out of, and the one I needed for knits. I decided to give it a go anyway while Madelyn had her nap and Austin was happy to sit on my lap pressing the start button. Unfortunately I discovered the hard way thast tear-away is no substitute for cut-away when it comes to knits. The hat and the lollies looked like something Madelyn had coloured in, with the colours way off the outlines. So I rushed back to the sewing shop when she woke up for the right stabiliser, and still had to do both designs and make the t-shirt after they were tucked up in bed for the night.

The looks on their faces in the morning were worth the heavy eyelids though when they saw the tops layed out for them on the couch this morning. We fed and dressed them and got down to the bus stop hoping to stay out of the rain, where they sat still for a brief moment for me to take a picture or two. (We didn't catch the bus in the end - we got there early but it just didn't come so we had some tears from a very bus-happy boy!). The shorts and skirt were in their wardrobes from last summer, and the clip I made for Madelyn yesterday morning. They looked very cute, all Christmassy and loved the pageant, Madelyn pointing out all the butterfly floats and anything pink, and Austin very excited when the jolly man in red arrived.

Austin's t-shirt is the same pattern I used for the EB clothing swap earlier this year (simply because I already had the pattern trtaced out in his size). It is the "Sulo" t-shirt from Ottobre 3/2010.

Swap set revealed

Here is the little summer set I sent over for 4yr old car loving Tom, the son of Anna, creator of TillyTom Designs. I must admit, sewing for a WAHM who makes and sells gorgeous kids clothes was a little daunting at first, but I just pretended I was sewing for Austy so my nerves dissappeared, which was easy given that our boys are both 4yrs old and similar in sizing.
I think the t-shirt was my favourite part of the set - I am just such a sucker for a raglan, and I do like blue on little boys. I nearly used the pale blue as the main colour, but I know how grubby my boy gets and decided that the navy was more practical.

The shorts took a little longer than I expected - all that topstitch detail, and lots of pockets (those gusseted ones on the sides were a little fiddly, but I think the effort was worth it. I tried them on Austin but he wasn't thrilled, telling me "You forgot the bit that keeps my ankles warm - I will get cold!" I think he was happy when I told them they weren't for him, mind you, we were having some very chilly days before I left for the US, and until today, I thought I had brought the glorious Michigan weather home with me.



The trim fabrics used for the applique on both the shorts and top, and for the front pocket inserts and side pocket gussets is some wonderful new Riley Blake stuff. So great to see his fabulous boy prints, and I stocked a little up to do something fun for Austy.


Please don't be disheartened by my long time between posts - I am working on projects, I promise. However our computer has held on longer than it should have (just) and really needs to get ditched for a new one. That's right, my laptop died ages ago, and now the main PC has had it, and reboots itself every few minutes making posting rather frustrating. Now I just have to get my miser of a husband to agree to getting a new one... I am STILL waiting for my new laptop! (He has Scottish blood - need I say more ;))

EB Sewer's Kids Clothing Swap

Moday was opening day fro this swap, where I sent this:


Okay, so that doesn't show you much, but I will blog it properly when it has been received. I sooo wanted to keep the t-shirt for Austy, so another is on the cards especially for him this time!

Here is what I received from Tina, for Madelyn. She read my notes on Madelyn very carefully and knew anything with cupcakes would go down well, and teamed it with a very sweet handmade clip to match.

The clip was being clutched by an eeensy meensy little panda bear that I haven't been able to photograph - it's a new favourite for Maddy! I opened the parcel whilst giving her the bedtime feed last night. It wasn't enough to make her stop feeding (she is a little milk mad!) but she started giggling and clutched him to her chest as soon as I showed her.

It is VERY hard to get decent pictures of her these days (and at the moment it is especially difficult since she is unwell) but I managed to capture her "dancing" in her new dress. Not a brilliant picture, but you can at least get an idea of how it looks on her.

Please excuse Penelope on in the background while I got the back shot - it was the only way she would stand still! The dress looks so cute on her, just a tad tight and short (she is a bit bigger than the average 20 month old and quickly catching up to her brother). It seems the warm weather is a while away yet though, so hopefully that will give me a chance to modify the waistband to include buttons (there were some tears getting it on and off) and move the buttons down on the bodice so it adds a little more length as it only just clears the nappy. I hope you don't mind Tina - I just don't think it will get worn how it is as it is just too hard to get on and off.

Another baby gift

Finished just in the nick of time (and gifted still damp!) for a relative's baby shower yesterday, was this "Small Things Romper" in my hand dyed Appletree colourway (with BWM "Stone" trim). Super snuggly, and quick to knit, this is fast becoming one of my favourite baby patterns, and knitting with a hand painted yarn always makes it more interesting.

If I had more time, I was contemplating making apple tree themed fimo buttons but alas time is something I can never seem to find much of (perhaps it is my poor time management, or perhs I just get a little too ambitious sometimes!). Nevertheless I think these buttons I foiund at my local sewing store fit the bill perfectly, and keep the garment unisex. I am thinking to make a little teddy bear or bunny "blankie"with the animal head done from the contrast and the blankie part done with the left over hand painted wool. I will be making up the pattern as I go, but have a month before the baby is due, and some long hours in planes and airport terminals that I should be able to fill with knitting now that they have decided that knitting needles are unlikely weapons!

I am off to Michigan again, thistime on my own for work as I did when Austy was 2. It's going to be harder to be away from my little cubs this time though, since there are 2 of them now, I have never left Madelyn over night and have ALWAYS fed her to sleep at night (yes, still going with the breastfeeding). However a rushed decsion at work last week had me booked to fly out next Saturday, and no time to wean her, so the poor little princess is going to have to deal with me gone and no more breastfeeding to sleep all at once. I will be back by the end of the month, but arriving home oin a Sunday afternoon and expected to show up at work at 7:30am on the Monday morning, so I can't even take a day to "reconnect". Luckily I haven't gotten around to putting in my form to go back to work on Tuesdays, so I will keep that Tuesday as my last Tuesday off work before I have to start going back to full time work.

I also finished this little apricot wrap jumper for Madelyn from one of my favourite knitting books. It is a bit big and falls off her shoulders a bit (hoping next winter it will be perfect for her) but other than that I love the effect of the cables and lace. Unfortunately the little Miss has not been too well lately - an ear infection and cold the last two weeks and just as she finished her antibiotics for the ear, the coughing started and she now has MORE antibioitics for acute bronchitis, so I decided not to bug her with sitting still for a photo this time.

Why do batteries go flat at the wrong time?!

I finished three little baby sets (2 in size 3-6m for the on-time babies and 1 in 0-3 for the tiny premmie) for my mother's group babies to give them all at this week's catch up on Tuesday. The last one, for the premmie, was finished at around 1am on the tuesday morning, so the only photo op I had for them was just bere we were about to go. Unfortunately, this is not the best time for photos as Madelyn LOVES to go to "baby gwoop" and can't get out the door fast enough. Couple that with the light on my camera flashing to say the battery is low, and the result is some very average rushed shots of only 2 f the said outfits! My favourite - the little dinosaur themed set for the littlest baby missed out on getting captured s the camera switched off and we had to go. I wonder if I can get the proud mum to snap a shot for me of the cutie modelling them. Hmmmm... Please excuse the poor photo quality and colour.

Here is the girlie set for the first bub that arrived for our group's second generation of babies, Rosie. Madelyn loved this, and while it looks like a pair of shorts, they are light weight trousers in a very soft light denim. I had to lay this set out about three times before snapping this shot just in time for Madelyn to grab them again. She picked them up, held them against her and said "Madewyn's baby girl cwoves". I told her that they were too small for her, and for a tiny baby instead. She replied "Too small for Maddy. Madewyn grewed" Clever chook, isn't she? At 20 months she now indulges in many a conversation and is a fashionista. Today I had to pull out three sets of clothes because she couldn't make up her mind which set she wanted to wear, and the set I had put out for her was apparrently no good! Where on earth did this come from!? She doesn't get it from me, that's for sure.

Here is the second set for or biggest 2nd group baby, Archie. I made this set first, so the pocket is a little high (my own pattern being tested out as baby gifts).

As you probably know by now, Madelyn is a girlie girl at heart, and loves all things pretty. She now has enough hair for hair clips! And it's even getting a little curl to it which is soooo cute. I had bought a couple but when they kept getting lost and Madelyn kept insisting on wearing them, I decided to buy a bulk lot of supplies and make my own. Here are my first trial clips and I have since made several more. I plan on selling the excess along ith some sets like the ones pictured above either on etsy, or perhaps doing some market stalls. While I don't get a lot of sewing time for myself, the Dad in the house has promised to give me kid free time to sew or make clips if it's for markets, so we'll see how that goes! I'd like to also sell some of my Mei Tai's but they take a lot longer to make so I figured I needed some quick and easy items to make a good stall/online shop.

Of course, I am still plagued by the wool dyeing bug,and have another skein over the airer as I type. Here are the little test pieces all set and dried, and hopefully the h the colours will come out on the skein. I have decided to call the colourway "Climb up my apple tree" that cool kids' Target ad was on TV as I dyed it and I found myself singing along to it and realising that it fitted the colourway really well. This was supposed to be for a unisex newborn gift but I am not sure if I want to keep it for myself now. I really like it!

I'm still here... really...

So many cute little newborns have been showing up in my life recently, with the birth of 3 little second borns into Madelyn's mum and baby group, and a new little niece for us.

While I haven't had a lot of crafting time lately (things are just very busy with an active toddler, an exuberant boy, a house to keep and a job to hold down), I have managed a couple of little things. While our new niece Evie Rose was promised more handmade goodness when I eventually get to it, I did deliver this little outfit to the hospital. When Carina Spencer's baby rompers (both the Small Things romper and Gift Wrap romper) [rav link]started popping up all over ravely, I just NEEDED to knit one of them. It was a tough decision but I decided to go with "Small Things" for ease of putting on and off a tiny newborn, and I thought it looked a bit more girly (knowing my sister was having another little daughter). I dyed up the wool myself, using the colours that reminded me of sweet sugary cupcakes, with swirly butter frosting (there are hints of strawberry, vanilla, lemon, and some blue and green for sprinkles) served with a tasty cappuccino (hence the coffee colour). Madleyn has a serious thing for cupcake adorned clothing, and so for me, I think baby girl = cupcakes! I was going to embellish the back of the romper with a little cupcake embroidery but ran out of time and decided it was pretty cute as it was anyway. Instead of adding the embellishment, I cast on a matching little aviatrix hat [rav link] - a very clever and practical pattern for a newborn noggin! I just love this pattern and really should get one done for Madelyn as she insists on going out on the "wing wings" (swings) when I get home form work and the cool evening air is settling in for the night. Austy would look cute in one too, but DH has decided that he is too old for a beanie (given that it does not get super cold here in Adelaide like it does in other parts) and reminded me that it's a struggle to get him to even wear a jumper some days.


I loved working on the romper, and was really happy with the cupcake inspired wool, even though at first I thought there was too much cream in it. So when Madelyn asked for pyjamas for baby Stella I knew exactly what to do:

I made up the pattern as I went, and it could probably use a couple of short rows in the backside area, however it does the trick and I am quite pleased with myself for managing to develop my own knitting pattern, even if the design is rather plagiarised! The size and shaping is very different from a real baby, so I pretty much had to go alone, with the naked doll on my lap to try it on every now and then as I made shaping changes.

I also participated in another Ravelry swap, this time a colour swap. I was going to make a knitted hat in a semisolid blue, and then add blue things as that was my recipient's favourite colour, however she mentioned that she'd like to try a chocolate/pistachio colourway, so that set the theme. After dyeing up the wool (lovely squishy & soft woolganics 10ply) I scoured her favourites list and found a frog pattern that looked fun to create. Using the pretty green wool from The Dyepot that came as a sweetener for a lost parcel (much appreciated, although totally not necessary - I was extra spoilt there), I came up with Larry. And so the frog theme continued with a froggy appliqued drawstring bag to deliver it all in, and a few freddo frogs. Again, I was running behind my crafting schedule so didn't get a chance to snap any photographs before I hand delivered it to Mel's place. Lucky for me, Mel takes wonderful photographs so I can share.

The sewing machine has seen some action lately too, although I was a bit miffed with my sewing after making a pair of robot embroidered cords for Austy and finding them miles too big (note to self: Austy is certainly not a size 5 in pants!). They were a pain to put together with lots of piecing and curved sewing, but at least they are too big and not too small, so have been relegated to the WIP pile to finish next year (I just need to do the hems so will do that when I know how long his legs will be for next winter). To give me that push back into sewing that I needed, I made this little pinnie for Madelyn from Ottobre (nothing like sewing a pretty little dress to lift the sewing spirits). The pattern may look familiar - it's the same one used by Little Munchkins when she made us a newborn gift for our baby girl. Much simpler to make than those pants, and a pleasing result (although I still need to add a press stud to the ribbon area to line it all up - it closes with hidden resin snaps a little higher than the ribbon).

There has been other progress here too - if you check out the photo above you'll notice that our walls are whiter and the skirting is no longer unpainted wood! That's right - the 70's look (wood panelled walls) has totally gone from our family room (YAY!!!). Thanks to my wonderful DH who had decided I'd nagged him enough about the paint that had been picked, bought and sat in our shed for 2 years. I love it - so much fresher now. I'm still working on him to let me change the curtains (he's worried about the cost, even though I will do them myself).

Also, I have to share my latest dye up. I just love this colour which is slowly turning into a dress for my adorable little girl (who is now as chatty as her big brother - where did my little baby go?!)

And finally, I finished that cute little Ottobre top off with the buttonholes and buttons it was waiting on, and made my favourite "easy pants" for her with some cord that was on sale at Spotlight. Super snuggly and warm, and the size 2 is the perfect fit. This is a boys pattern that I have made several times before, but it seems to have more nappy room than any of my girl's patterns so I think she needs some more. Fantastic quick gratification, and very practical for my very own "Dirt Girl". Her little stockings all have worn patches in the knees - I think these pants are seriously Maddy proof with the double fabric in the knees, and more stainproof than baby pink!