Blogtoberfest? Should I? Could I?

Now we all know how I have never managed a blog a day for a whole week, so could I manage a whole month? Really? Probably not, but what the hey, I'll give it a shot.

It's my last full month of maternity leave (sob) so probably the only chance I'll get. Hopefully I'll pull out some WIPs (we all know I have a few!) and show you on the dull days, and maybe even reinspire myself to finish them. You know how something just doesn't work out exactly as you'd planned, you toss it in the cupboard never to be seen again, then one day you happen across it and think, "Hey, what is wrong with this?" and actually finish it off. Okay, one can dream...

Hopefully I'll have something crafty to talk about each day and don't get caught up in the "must blog" hype and bore you all with mindless drivell. I'll try to offer a photo a day, and maybe this giveaway I've been promising for months, might actually eventuate!

To join in the fun, find out who else is in, or find out more, you can read about Blogtoberfest here

I'm off to a slow start, having missed the first day, but as TinnieGirl says wagging is allowed (just not preferred!). I look forward to finding inspiration where I never thought possible and "meeting" new friends along the way. Welcome to the festival!

Today's crafty task is to cut the loose buttons off this cotton cardy I made for Austin and restitch them as it's now a perfect fit for Madelyn (got to love pistachio green for it's unisex style!). This cardy has a little story - I was making a striped hat and jacket for Austin from the cotton in the final weeks of my pregnancy. I didn't get too far but took it into the hospital to keep me busy in the evenings once visiting hours were over. Well, any mum would know that when those visiting hours have ended all you want to do is SLEEP! So I think I only managed a couple more rows and then Austin grew out of it before I could finish. So at 4m old, I decided he needed me to make another one, I bought a new pattern (this one is by Sirdar) and started again (and actually FINISHED!) It was my first finished project as a new mum as he didn't really sleep much during the day and I was still getting used to things.

The hat didn't happen and I still had plenty of cotton left over. Then when I had a week before my induction date with Madelyn I decided to make some booties and a hat with it. Again, I took it to hospital with me to do while I waited for labour to start. But I also had a quilt that needed binding and that got preferential treatment. The hat got almost finished, and one bootie was made but that's where it ended. If only I had left the hat half finished from having Austy and I would probably have had a stripey newborn hat for one of my babies! Oh well, they both get to wear this cute soft cardigan which is now the perfect weight for spring and just goes to show that Madelyn IS smaller than Austin was (even though she is still a giant baby and bigger than most 12-14m olds I know!) as he had grown out of it by 10m and it's still a little roomy for her. It's a gorgeous shade of green and looks great on her, a nice change from pink. However I might have to team it with pink pants or something to avoid those "he's such a cute little boy" comments. I never had anyone assume Austy was a girl, so I feel a bit odd when pewople think my pretty princess is a boy, hence my need to put her in one of my least favourite colours all the time.

More newborn gifts

Today I spent the afternoon with my best friend and her newest family member, little Scarlett Eve, only 4 days old! She is soooooo tiny and petite in every way, but simply adorable all the same. She felt like a feather after holding my 11kg girl!

Both her and her hubby loved the baby sling I made them:

There was a small cosmetic flaw in the canvas I used on the waist strap, which I only noticed AFTER I'd finished stitching it on. So I improvised and covered it with a quick tag with Scarlett's name and birthdate. It sits just past the knot when you tie the sling on (Maddy modelled it for them while Scarlett slept).

Love a neatly folded sling shot!

And there were a few ooohs and aahs over this little set:

My friend couldn't stop patting this super soft milo vest made from Sirdar Juicy DK, a luxurious bamboo/cotton mix:

Welcome to the world little Scarlett!

Spring blossoms of the crafty kind

I have finally finished Madelyn's "Little Blossom" dress, which I had been making for her to wear to Matt & Jasmine's wedding a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately due to the sewing I had to do for Austy's suit, it didn't quite make it but she looked cute in the dress she wore anyway and the weather hasn't been warm enough for this since that day so nothing is lost.

It still needs blocking and snaps at the back. If I did it again I would do buttonholes as it's a bit silly to put snaps on knitting I think as they always pull the work and it's in an area of strain here at the back of the neck. I still have to find the right colour grosgrain ribbon to stabilise the opening before I attach the snaps so it's not "technically finished" but it is off the needles. Madelyn was a bit too grumpy to try it on today and ready for bed almost as soon as she woke up, plus it's a little chilly so I'll wait until she's in a better mood to try it on.

The pattern is Rana, and I have used Bendigo Woollen Mills "Luxury" in the Baby Blossom colour. Quite a pretty and babyish pink. Normally I don't "do" pink but I do like babies to look like babies and since mine is so big, she needs baby colours to help her out a bit! I did the smallest size, which is meant to be a size 1, however since my gauge was a little tighter with this yarn (I think it's meant to be an 8ply or something but knitted on small needles), I used slightly larger needles and added extra rounds for the length, which makes it a little slimmer fitting than design. From the test fit I did of the bodice, it should be fine though, as long as the weather warms up before another growth spurt!

I have also been busy making things for my best friend Georgina's new baby. We didn't know the sex and George told me "anything pastel". I know she loves blues and turquoise as much as I do, and she did the nursery in a "Finding Nemo" theme so I went with that and decided to applique a sea turtle baby on the baby carrier I am making her. I have used Amy Butler's "Happy Dots" as the feature fabric, a complimenting solid homespun and cream canvas for the straps and body stabilising. I still have to finish this one off with the waist strap and triple stitching reinforcement but you can see how it's coming along.

I thought the turtle was a nice touch as I helped her paint the turtle in the nursery, and her hubby used to own turtles (I have one too) so we'd often chat about turtles in their pre-baby days. So every time she uses this she'll be sure to think of me.

I also cast on a milo vest for her new bundle, using a very soft DK bamboo/cotton by Sirdar. Unfortunately the newborn size which is meant to take only 100y decided to use up the whole 104y and still have a bit to go. With the beautiful Scarlett Eve being born on Saturday morning at 12:30am, I was unable to get more yarn to finish it until today so I know that I will be busy tonight finishing off both of these baby gifts ready to go and spend the whole day with her on Wednesday when she comes home from hospital.

My yarn, fabric and nappy stash also got a boost in the past few days with this gorgeous custom dyed wool arriving last week from Wooltopia:

Then two very funky itti bitti d'lish nappies arrived (no photos yet but I got the strawberry fields and moo moo) and made a few more pocket nappies to get through the wet weather without running out of nappies. The fabric mail came today but I've been slack and not yet photographed it. My favourite was this one for Austy. I could just about buy everything in that range!

Shown up again, another fabulous give away!

Novy, over at Little Munchkins has another fantabulous giveaway on. I tried to restrain myself from entering as I have a pang of guilt every time I put my name down for these things and have yet to think up something good to give away myself, but that top is so pretty, my wardrobe could use a freshen up!

Could I be so lucky?

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ohhhhhhh..... please let me win this one!!! Perfect for Austy who's about to start his pre-entry at kindy next term. Gorgeous!!

Decisions, decisions

Okay, here's Maddy's quilt again, this time using the carpet as sashing. Hmmm... I think that perhaps those of you who made comments were right - better stick with the original pattern without the sashing.

Now to make it cot size, I have made an extra row of blocks (making it 4 x 5 blocks) and now need an extra 10 inches all round. So I thought instead of doing the binding straight against the pieced border as per the pattern, I was thinking about perhaps adding an extra 5" border of the cream (it's a silky soft kona solid...mmmmmmm.....). This will make the pieced border kind of float, and then I'll need to be creative or corageous with the quilting in order to make it snazzy.

Then, for the binding, I might just pick one of the dark chocholate fabrics, or even use just the darks (reds and browns) to do a scrappy binding. I do like the brown with red spots piured, but that depends on whether I can get more as that piece is just a fat quarter I bought for my squares.

And onto baby sewing, I have wand to make this dress for Madelyn for a while, but haven't gotten around to it. I have been holding onto the floral micro cord especially for it.

Now to team it with pink?

Or blue?

WIP Wednesday... on Thurdsday

Okay, okay, so I would never be able to keep up with a weekly blog post, but hey, let's pretend that I am a regular WIP Wednesday-er!



Tonight I am fiddling with some fabric suares I cut for Maddy's quilt, creating more blocks and testing them out together. I decided to take a photo to get an overall look of how they will look together and trying to decide if I should put sashing between them to make it less busy. The pattern has no sashing, but that doesn't matter. Last time I looked at them I thought they looked a bit cluttered, however tonight I think it's okay. Undecided. I shall keep making blocks and see how I feel when it gets to the point of joining them all together. What do you think? Sashing? Or not?



Excuse the dodgy flash photography and thread bits! Austy was running off with my blocks when I tried to take the photo in daylight...



The blocks look wonky, but I swear it's just the way they are laid out on the carpet. I have just randomly placed them too, but we all know I am fussy about placement and will probably take a few hours arranging and rearranging them before I number them all and put them together once I have enough for a quilt.

And while I am here, I thought I should mention two great giveaways that are on this week. The generous Corrie is at it again here, with her fabulous patterns and AuntyC is giving away some fabulous bibs - some that I had promised myself I'd make when I had another bub, but she's now almost 9 months old and I haven't made a single one! Woops. And I still haven't gotten around to making something to give aay on my own blog... please bear with me it WILL happen eventually!

Something Special

When I was told that my future sister in-law wanted Austy to be her page boy, I was very excited to be able to make him his suit, so I set to work on a tailored shirt made from silky soft bamboo, a vest with satin detailing, suit pants with double pleat front and hidden side pockets just like Daddy's, and a pink tie, using a scrap of the flower girl dress that my mother in-law was making for our niece Elizabeth. Austy was sutably excited to get "wedding clothes" and at each step of the way he tried each garment on, asking when the next one would be finished. On Friday we completed the outfit with a trip to Big-W for some inexpensive (he'll probably only wear them once or twice) but smart looking "wedding shoes".

I think he was a darn cute page boy, but I am a little biassed! I'll let you be the judge! He wasn't the stillest model to capture though, and I almost missed the two 2 and 3/4 year olds as they skipped and ran own the isle. Good thing I got some shots while we waited for the bride. In this top one, Lizzie was so excited to show Austy her new shoes, her necklace, her dress, and Austy was saying "Yeah, I got new shoes too!" Forget all the hard work I put in with the outfit!

But I kind of caught them torturing a butterfly that was being released in memory of those that were unable to be there to watch the proceedings...

... and watched as a bridesmaid tried to save the poor thing from two wicked children.

Madelyn was meant to be dressed in handmade attire too, but unfortunately the dress I was knitting her did not get finished in time. Luckily, Grandma had recently gifted her the perfect dress for a wedding (also dubbed the powder-puff dress as it has the cutest tulle underskirt that helps turn her into a little baby powderpuff!). She put on her pretty frock, counted her fingers...

...practiced her waving (her newest trick along with her princess clap which she is equally proud of!)...

...then bowled me over for a pre-wedding drink.

I made a little shrug to go with her dress using wool I managed to score from a ravelry destash that matched perfectly. She didn't need the shrug until the mozzies came out though and wore it only for a short time before it was pyjama time at the reception, so no action shots unfortunately.

And finally, here's a family shot for good measure (excuse the sunnies!).

The bright baby gift reveal!

When AJ had her much awaited baby just on a month ago, after several years of wishing and hoping and waiting, I just knew I had to make her some longies. She has always been one of the first people to comment on my baby knits, and I knew she was planning on cloth nappying so as soon as I knew whether the baby was a boy or a girl, I got to work. I had planned to dye up some fresh wool for her but since I still had this in my stash (stuff I hand dyed with koolaid), too pretty to sit there doing nothing but not enough for most things, as soon as Aden's birth was anounced I just knew what to use. The denim trim was leftover from the twin jackets I made earlier this year.

Then, to make it a set, I made a t-shirt from the latest Ottobre mag (just used the basic pattern)and appliqued it with a hand drawn rocketship, cutting into some of my brights that I had bought during my work trip to the US about 18m ago, and had been planning to use for a quilt for Austin. Since the tee was so little, I figured pinching a bit for a tiny applique wasn't going to hurt so I had a fun evening designing and creating a cute little applique to match the wool in the pants. Alas, even downsizing the Ottobre pattern (which was for a 3m old) didn't make the t-shirt small enough to go with the pants, and when I sized it up against Madelyn's too small clothes (in the ebay box if I ever get around to it!) it was a perfect match for the Pumpkin Patch 3-6m stuff. So it's a good thing I made it short sleeved (figuring that since the baby lives in QLD there will not be much use for long sleeved things) as it will probably fit him best right in the height of summer.

To complete the gift I found a flanellete piece I had overlocked and intended to use as a bunny rug for Austin but never got around to hemming it (we had plenty already and I figured I'd save it for PJ's or something further down the track). When I looked into the wrapping cupboard to find only a couple of girly "happy birthday" papers, I decided a bunny rug would make a perfect wrapping paper as you could see on the sneak peak in my last post. Eco-friendly AND useful!

I am currently working on a longies set for Madelyn too - the longies are done and the fabric picked for the t-shirt but I still have to get onto that part. Hers will have a long sleeved top since here in Adelaide we seem to be one of the last places in Australia to get summer! Often I have had little shirt and short sets picked out for Austin to wear on Christmas day, only to have to run around hunting for something a little warmer on Christmas Eve. She has also outgrown most of her winter clothes and with it now being Spring there isn't much out there to buy that is warm enough for now - ah the beauty of being able to make something myself! Here's a sneak peak at her set - a progress shot of the longies (as I have been too slack to take a photo of the finished product!) The wool is "Muddy Gems" from Wooltopia on BFL Aran (soft and squishy without an ounce of scratchiness...) and I have used the Picky Pants pattern with a new cuff design of my own. Ravelers can find my cuff pattern here.

I have also signed up for the EB Quilters annual doll quilt swap for 2009 - although I certainly feel for my partner as it's going to be hard to top the cutest little quilt I have ever seen, that we were lucky enough to score last year from Lily! I have already done some blog and flickr stalking to inspire my quilt and have come up with a rough sketch already but I am keeping that under wraps for now. All I am saying is that there will be applique... lots of it!

Dawn of a new quilt

I have been working on a page boy outfit for Austin to wear in a couple of weeks time at his uncle's wedding, where he knows his special job is to hold his cousin's hand and take her to her Dad for the wedding. The set consists of a pair of black dress pants with double pleat front, fly and hidden side pockets just like Daddy's, a black vest with satin covered buttons and satin pocket welts and back tie. a pink silk neck tie, and a white bamboo/cotton blend collared shirt. So far the pants and the vest are done (well, all but the hand sewing finishing bits). I'll wait until the whole outfit is complete to show photos.

In the meantime, partly a procrastination from starting the shirt (I hate doing collars and sleeve plackets!) and partly because the fabrics beckoned me, I started a new quilt for Madelyn's cot. Yes, her cot! I think I am laxing my SIDS police rules a little, figuring that a REAL quilt is little more than a wool blanket covered with cotton, not the smothering fluffy doona things that SIDS for kids tell you not to use. For those that don't know, my nephew Aden died of SIDS at 7 months old, so I have a huge fear of it now that I actuallly know a baby that was taken suddenly with no real explanation. I think with both my children my fears have peaked at around the seven month mark, and I remeber holding Aden, limp and cold in my arms and thinking "He's almost a little boy, he's so big, how on earth could this happen?" So as a result, Maddy sleeps with a breathing monitor (and I wish she had the camera that Austy had at the old house) and we only use 100% naturl fibres on the bed to avoid the risk of overheating. I think as a result, part of Madelyn's poor sleeping habit come from her being a cold sleeper like me, and I am a little scared to rug her up too warm, knowing that most of SIDS deaths happen in the winter when parents put too many layers on - and my biggest enemy is polar fleece and synthetic quilt fillings.

I have started using this quilt made by my EB quilter buddies, on the cot a couple of times when the weather has been super cool because I don't like leaving a heater on in her room unnattended unless I really have to, and because it's always draped over the rocking chair for our night feeds so it's easy to grab. It's not really the right size for a cot though and I can't tuck it in. I figured she'd be a wriggler like Austy and propper bedding would only last a few months before resorting to sleeping bags, but thankfully she's more like me, and keeps nice and snug under the covers. Therefore, a cot quilt is in order!

With this in mind, the last few fabric purchases have included a small piece of beige, cream, white, brown or cranberry fabric getting ready for this quilt. On their own, the colours don't look like much, but together Ithink they create a warm, calming feel. I had originally thought I'd do her cot quilt with some of this gorgeous stuff but my creativity juice isn't flowing and I'm not quite sure how to use it, so I just went for the simple but effective "Four Corners" pattern, gifted to me by Eden with the beautiful DQ6 quilt she sent me. I love the pattern - just the thing to showcase pretty fabrics, letting the fabrics speak rather than the design. And when I started preparing the pieces I loved it even more. It uses mostly charms and a little yardage for borders and backing, so it's the perfect thing for using up charm packs. Instead though, I am using yardage, cut into charms and hope to make it bigger than the pattern says by adding extra blocks and wider borders, so it tucks in just nicely around her mattress.

I am also happy to report that I FINALLY finished my border on Emma's Round Robin quilt!! Yah!!! It took me about 9 months (insert VERY embarrased smiley here!) so I was glad to hand it over in the end, so I could move on and work on something else. When I agreed todo the round robin, I was expecting that the whole thing would be finished before Madelyn came along, however this quilt took a little extra time to get to me, and I was panicking to try and get it done in my final weeks of my pregnancy. The first cut I did was the wrong way (blaming tiredness and pregnancy hormones) so my fabric was no longer long enough to stretch across the whole quilt for the solid border I had planned to start with. I was going to do a plain border with appliqued snowflakes all around but it didn't go to plan. So I rattled my brains and decided to paper piece the main border with "mountains" in the middle to make my mistakenly cut fabric stretch far enough for the border.

(photo pinched from Emma's blog as I had no time to photograph before the playschool concert where we did the hand over)

But even that wasn't without issues - every time I tried to create one of the 8 paper pieced blocks (which I later realised could have been done in 4!) I'd cut my pieces slightly too small so that once sewn they didn't quite cover the space! I put it away with a week to go, and concentrated on getting Madelyn's play quilt finished (which I was still binding in the hospital waiting for my induction to start). Then when Maddy came, there was the first weeks of colic when she cried ost of the night and left me little time for sleep. Then there was Austy's bad behaviour for a bit that took some energy to curb, then our trip, then Maddy's string of illness... It seemed I was never going to finish just one little border! After several mistakes with Emma's quilt early on, I didn't want to touch it while my head was foggy. It just took this long for me to get back into the swing of things. But I did. And she has it. My border is the final one from the thin light blue strip outwards. I recommended Emma do a plain wide border using the same dark navy leaves that are used throughout the quilt as I think it would finish it nicely. I's up to her though - she may have some other spectacular idea - she always does!


The snowflakes are machine appliqued with metallic silver gutterman thread. I finally worked out that the buttonhole stitch on my machine can be adjusted to my liking and I am really enjoying machine applique now. I wish I could show you a close up of one of the snowflakes, but unfortunately I didn't get one photo before hand-over. The thread was easy to work with it didn't snap once, and all I had to do was adjust the tension slightly so that there was no chance the white bottom thread would show at the top.


And I can't wait to show you hat's in this little parcel - just waiting for the recipient to get home from her holiday and pick it up from the post office.







As an added blogging question: Does anyone know how I can stop blogger from adding in a thousand empty lines between my paragraphs every time a picture is inserted? If I knew how to stop this, blogging with pictures would be so much easier and I'd be inclined to put more in, but at the moment i takes almost as long to move pictures and delete empty lines as it does to write the blog entry.