Windmill Quilting

The windmill quilt is quilted. I decided to machine quilt it. I was originally going to handquilt around the windmill with bright colours of embroidery floss but there are only so many hours in the day so I decided to machine quilt it. I think I was just getting the hang of it by the end. The stitch length is not very even and the quilting is not that smooth, but I did get the tension right so the back doesn't look too bad. I've chosen a fabric for the binding so I've just got to cut it out and sew it on.

Running and Patterns

The goal I made for the year in January was to be able to run 5km without stopping. Today I ran 3.5km without stopping so in my mind I'm over half way to my goal. The crazy thing is that I quite enjoyed it. I never thought I would say that about running.
I have been making some platypii this week, nice and bright. I love these colour combinations. I have also been working on rewriting the platypus pattern and also my elephant pattern so I can get some printed out to sell. Another very steep learning curve.

Meet Me At Mikes

I'm just a little bit excited today - more head exploding in a really good way. This fabulous book just arrived in the mail. Pip has done an amazing job and I am so excited to be a part of it. All sorts of wonderful crafty projects. I think it should be in bookshops now.
I think I have the borders to the windmill quilt sorted. I have sewn, ripped, recut and resewn and I think I am happy. Now to think about how to quilt it.

I think my head might explode

One of the things that sticks in my mind from growing up is Mum saying 'I think I'm going to explode'. She never did explode. We always used to watch and wonder what it would look like if she did. I am sure the three of us used to drive her crazy. And now I think she has payback.

I have had a week of 'Milly/Grace won't be my friend', 'She said I can't skip properly' and 'No'. No to everything I ask. This combined with Evie being at the whingy I can't walk yet stage and I am going to throw my food everywhere stage. The separation anxiety is back too. I was just at the stage of safely leaving her at the creche at the gym without worrying, but this morning they had to come and get me again. I think my head might explode. Thank goodness the girls are at kindergarten tomorrow and Evie should sleep. That small bit of peace and quiet is keeping me sane. Yes laugh Mum - I know you will be.

This is the other thing that is making my head explode. My parents are building a holiday house and I said I would make many quilts for it in exchange for holidays we are planning there. I have been planning quilts using this fantastic book and EQ6 that Chris gave me for Christmas and I think my head might explode with ideas.

I finished these little fish last night. Less than 3 weeks until the market - eeek!

Slowly

The windmills are slowly progressing. I have been stuck thinking about borders but I think I have a plan so back to sewing.

More Windmills

I've finished all the windmill blocks and they are ready to be sewn together. They are not hard to put together you just have to make sure you sew them the right way or your windmills will go backwards so there has been a bit or ripping.
This is what my desk has looked like while I have been doing it. I really prefer to sew quilts on my Pfaff but toys and bags on the Janome. I owned the Pfaff first but out in the desert once in the first week of term it had a breakdown and so I was stuck out there for 9 more weeks without a machine. The first thing I did when I got back to Perth was get it fixed and buy another one and it was Chris who suggested I have two. I don't think he wanted to live with me for another term if I didn't have a sewing machine.

Four

Today is the day - they could hardly believe it after weeks of waiting and asking "How many minutes until I am four?" They received exactly what they wanted a skipping rope each. Apparently this is the bestest present ever when you turn four and Milly is going to grow up to be the bestest skipper person ever and we will all have to watch her.
They headed off to Kindy (kindergarten for the person wondering the other day - we have one year of kindergarten and one year of pre-primary before you start year one at school) with their new fairy wands and they took a very bright green cupcake for everyone for afternoon tea. (Must remember not to mix icing colours and ice cupcakes after a few glasses of wine).

It is amazing to think that they were so small when they were born. This is one of the first photos I have of them together. I think they were about 4 weeks old.Happy Birthday Amelia and Grace and happy skipping!

Pink, Green and Orange

I love making piles of fabrics. I often spy a fabric on the shelf I hadn't thought too much about before and suddenly I need to find a more than will go with it.
Experimenting with circles and trying to find a way I like sewing them. These are two fabrics I picked up at Textile Traders this week thanks to Janelle who let me know there was some Amy Butler in.

I am doing my first market next month. Scary, scary. Made on the Left in Bunbury. Now I am off to turn some of the piles into toys and bags.

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.