Tuesday

I love it when Evie decided to have a good sleep on kindy day. It is amazing how much you can get done and how refreshed you feel. First we went and did parent help this morning until Evie decided it was all too much. You forget how crazy teaching kindy is when you haven't done it for a few years, but the girls are in such a lovely class with lovely teachers and if you ever need cheering up a group of 3 and 4 year olds will definitely make you laugh.
While Evie slept I finished the cutting out for the windmill quilt.
A new bag using some scraps left from some of my favourite fabric and corduroy. I cut it out on the weekend when the weather was cool. It has decided it is summer again this week, but I am ready for autumn whenever it appears.
The inside is lined with some fabulous orange Heather Ross fabric.
ItIt was red day at kindy today so the girls wore red and it looks like Grace did a lot of red painting.

Ramdom things from the Weekend.

I finished reading Seeing Voices by Oliver Sachs. I started reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

I thought about going to the markets this morning, but we were all in our pyjamas until lunch.

I wish daylight saving would finish at the end of February.

I am making Chilli Prawn Spaghetti. I am going to be sad when the cherry tomatoes finish. We will be having zucchini slice tomorrow. Again.

I have Nic Cave 'Supernaturally" stuck in my head.

Sorting

My sewing room was out of control. Fabric, buttons, ribbon, books oozing out of shelves and there was no room to move. Slowly, slowly I have been working away in there. There are now some organized piles, I can see some of the floor and the buttons are sorted into a wonderful chest my sister gave me for Christmas.

There is even room on the sewing table to actually sew.

Shisha

I'm not too sure where this week has gone. It seems to have disappeared without much to show for it. I did start a sewing room clean up as things were getting lost and piles disappearing under piles.
I found some shisha mirrors that have been in my stash for years and had a quick go. I think this could be the first of many.

Evie and I headed to Bunbury yesterday to do birthday shopping while the girls were at kindy. I think we went to every shop to see if I could get their present with no luck. I found it on line last night when I retured. The day wasn't entirely wasted. I took a few wrong turns, got a bit lost and did a u-turn in front of a patchwork shop I had no idea was there.
I also found a copy of the January issue of Sew Hip in a newsagency. Nice to find one in Australia.

Windmills

I hope you all realised that sarcasm was oozing out of my last post. There is no one on earth who would describe my house as clean (well maybe the girls when I say we can't do something until the house is clean) and my house is full of projects that need my attention. They are wearing clean clothes and were fed last night before anyone gets worried.
This however will be finished. I have been admiring whirlygig quilts recently but have been put off by the thought of using templates. So I am doing a non template version - all rotary cut strips. I'm calling them windmills, but they probably have another name. Eight blocks were done in no time yesterday and I'm thinking I'll need 64. I'm not putting a time line on when I want it finished but I think I want this one for myself for winter.

Aqua, Red and Green

Because I obviously don't have anything better to do with my time. My house looks amazing, nothing out of place. Washing clean and folded. Dinner organised for the whole weekend. Wholesale orders completed. Dished done. Children calmly playing together. Not stressed about upcoming events and small details that need my attention now. Not one small piece of fabric out of place in the sewing room. No big unfinished projects.**
So I thought I'd start something new. I was playing around with some paint sample cards I had and for something completely different I chose red and aqua and then added a little green.
Hopefully this will turn into something soon. Or it could become another unfinished pile.

**One of these things is actually true. I did do the dishes at lunch time. So technically the kitchen is clean.

Progress

It is amazing how much progress you make with five minutes here and there of spinning. Much more than with five minutes of knitting. This is superwash roving from Sakina Needles in Bioluminescence. It is spinning like a dream.
My favourite part of making toys is choosing fabrics. I spent a lot of Saturday doing this until my room was full of piles. There always seems to be piles of aqua and red and pink and orange. I even managed a little cutting and sewing on Sunday.

Woodland Bloom Quilt

The Woodland Bloom quilt is finished! A bit about it in point form

• Made from quarter log cabin blocks.
• I decided it needed some sashing between the blocks and cream/white just seemed to work.
• I used a jelly roll of Woodland Bloom from Moda for the top and the binding.
• There is still a few bits and pieces left.
• I really like working with jelly rolls - it is amazing what you can do with 2.5" strips.
• I think it is about 150cm square.
• I quilted it in a random grid - didn't measure how far apart the lines were. One way has them a lot closer together and a lot more lines than the other way.
• It is not perfect, but I love it.

Mossy Jacket

I finished another order and mailed it off to My Poppet. I had made a mental note to photograph it, but somehow I only remembered this on the way back from the post office.
I cast on a Mossy Jacket for Eva using Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran. Love this yarn - so rustic. I think I am definitely a convert to the top down jumper/cardigan.
Some spinning that I finished ages ago and just had not got around to photographing. No idea what I am going to do with it. I had planned to knit some socks, but it is not as fine as I'd hoped so it will probably become a winter hat.

The Sewing Book

I recently recieved a copy of The Sewing Book from Penguin Australia in the mail. It is an amazing how to of nearly everything you need to know to sew. From tools to how to use patterns, projects and how to do every technique you can think of. Everytime I have opened it up I have learnt something new. It is out in Australia next month. have a sneak peak inside here.

This week

A summary of the last week

• the girls had their first full day of Kindy today and managed quite well


• I had a hair cut and only had to take one child with me and she had a nap while my hair was washed and massaged


• my hairdresser doesn't know I don't use shampoo and conditioner


• I don't mind that she washes it because the massage is so good


• Eva has two teeth


• Eva still thinks she is hungry every three hours at night
• Mum, Chris and I gardened on Sunday and Chris took 3 trailer loads to the tip. If you didn't see it before hand you wouldn't think we did much.
  
• I have finished the quilting on this quilt and it just needs the binding
  

• I finshed an order for Ollie and Ooshi in Leichhardt in Sydney and have another order I need to finish

• I went to a real party, a 40th, on the weekend and didn't go home until nearly 1
• I gave my friend this fantastic necklace for a present - I almost kept it for myself
  
  
  

Green Quilt

I finished this little quilt last night. It is probably a good size for a cot or a pram. It will be sent off soon and will make its way to a survivor of the bushfires. If you are looking fot ways to help there are fantastic ideas at Handmade Help. I love the idea of making a cook book out of everyones family recipes. Copies will be distributed to people who lost everything in the fires and everyone else can buy a copy with proceeds going to the Red Cross. So if you have any old family recipes go here to find out where to send them.

Valentines Day

The girls made chocolate heart shaped cakes for Chris, except he is not allowed to eat them yet. The girls said he might be allowed to share with them. Maybe. Lucky I made a back up cake as well.

More ways to help

There are some amazing people in blog world doing what they can to help out the people of Victoria.

If you are a knitter Serendipity has organised a lot of yarn donations you could win if you donate to the Red Cross. I've donated some yarn and a sock bag and I just saw that there is Sundara and Wollmeise.

Also have a look at Hand Made Help with great info and links to Ebay auctions and Etsy listings where the profit will go to helping out those that need it.

I started a quilt that hopefully will make its way to someone who might need it this winter.

Fires

Like most people in Australia today I can't stop thinking about the fires in Victoria over the weekend.
If you are looking for ways to help donating to the Red Cross seems the most effective (and easy)way to help at the moment.
I am also going to do some sewing. Rach has volunteered to collect clothes and The Toy Society is collecting handmade toys.

Mmmm

This is what happens when you make the second sock months after the first one and you make major pattern adjustments that you don't write down.
Lucky I still need to make 2 more socks so hopefully I will end up with matching pairs.

Kindergarten

The girls survived their first day of kindergarten and had a great time. There was painting and stories and games. Eva and I had a great time too, going out for coffee, a walk and a little peace and quiet.

Quilt Blocks

I have 9 big blocks completed using the quarter log cabin blocks. I was just going to put them together and quilt and bind, but I think they needed to be broken up a bit with a lighter colour. So I will add some sashing and a border and see if that helps.

Vegie Patch

The vegie patch is still growing even though it has been very neglected over summer. We have had lots of (oddly) shaped Lebanese cucumbers, zucchinis, beans and the tomatoes are just starting thanks to a very cold December.
Only 3 more sleeps until the girls start kindergarten. They are getting very excited. Poor Eva is not going to be that happy when they go - she gets very sad when they are not around and looks for them all the time. I have plans for our first morning, she is still happy to be in the pram so we are off for coffee.
We need to child proof the house again, everything was just getting back to normal now the girls are older, but Eva has been commando crawling to anything that looks vaguely interesting so my days are full of screams from the girls that Eva is touching their lego, house, cars, animals, dolls.....

Good recipe alert: the banana bread from the last Donna Hay Kids Special - the best banana bread I've ever made - no pictures as it's nearly all gone.

Softies Only A Mother Could Love

I've just discovered that Softies (the first one) is going to be released in the US. You can pre order it here.

The Waifs

It was fantastic. I really miss live music.

If only I wasn't tone deaf I'd buy a tambourine and runway to join a band

Jaywalkers

Finally finished these Jaywalkers I started last May. Made from Lorna's Laces in Desert Flower. Ravelry link here.
Just packing up for our last little trip for the year. We are off to Albany again to see the Waifs and Ani di Franco. I can't even remember the last time I saw live music so i am just a little bit excited. Then I think I am going to be very happy to stay in the one place and not have to pack and unpack for a few months.

Another trip to Perth

We drove to Perth on Saturday morning taking a few detours due to the fire. Driving back last night near town I couldn't believe how lucky it was that some houses were still there (and so unlucky that some are gone). So many burnt out farms and forests. I hope that is the last one for the summer.
I've been making some quarter log cabins. Simple and fun.
My sister brought this back from London. I think this could be the prettiest piece of Liberty ever.

Fire

There are so many good things about having a treechange, but there is one thing that isn't. The threat of fires. It has been hot today and a fire that started yesterday flared up. This is what it looked like out the back this afternoon. We watched it move the whole way around town. It seems to have died down a bit and moved away. I can't hear as many fire fighters or the water bombers but the car is packed and we have checked the gutters and have a plan just in case.
I'm hoping there is not too much damage and I haven't heard of any injuries - Chris hasn't had an ambulance call out.
Thank goodness for and thanks to all the people that volunteer and have been fighting it for the past few days.

Sock Yarn and New Book

The wonderful Pip from Meet Me At Mikes has been writing a book which will be out at the end of March. I'm can't wait to see it as I know anything from Pip will be fab and also because there is a little something from me in there.

I am a little bit excited that The Wool Shack (a wonderful WA based internet store that sends stuff sooo quickly) is now stocking One Fat Slug sock yarn!

A New Hat

I started off making a tulip style hat for myself last night and it just wasn't working. So I cut it all up and added a little band and brim and I think it is much better. Milly seemed to approve.

I used the same fabrics in a different order on the inside.

I finished some frilly pants for Grace before we went to Albany. They put them back on as soon as they are washed and dried so I'm sure I'll be making more of them soon.

My house has been a little quieter since Christmas. A trampoline now takes up a big chunk of lawn which is quite handy as it was getting brown and is not that pretty in summer. I have found a new good thing about daylight saving - when the children are all asleep I can go jumping.

Red Shoes and Square Feet

I can spend all day in a shopping centre in Perth and never find something I want, but wandering around some little shops in Albany I found so many great things.

Red Birkenstocks - I can never go past red shoes and these days I only seem to wear Birkenstocks. I never expected my feet to change so much during my pregnancies, but they did. If they get any wider they will be square.

My sister bought me these fabulous beads. Its amazing how new beads can make it seem like you have a whole new wardrobe.