Whirligig Shrug

A very quick knit that seemed to take me forever and has been a few rows away from finished for quite some time. Until last night. The pattern is in Interweave knits Weekend 2009 and the yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Harmony. Ravelry details here.

Simplicity 3775 #2

Another dress from Simplicity 3775. Even quicker this time as I knew what I was doing. It is hard to tell from the pictures but it is black with red, grey and white spots. I would quite happily live in these dresses all winter.

For every great pattern I find there always seems to be a not great pattern. Kwik Sew 3616 is one of them. Definitely only a winner if you want to be mistaken for a bat.

A Quilt and Some Softies

I finished the quilt for my nephew.
And have sewn some samples of my softie patterns for Stitches and Craft.

With some help from Eva (when she is not under the walnut tree eating walnuts).

Hera Marker and Quilting

My patterns are back from the printers and I have more than I can carry to Stitches and Craft in Melbourne in 2 weeks (only 2 weeks, so much to do!) so I have listed some in my Etsy Shop.
I have been making a small version of Through the Square Window (the pattern has instructions for 3 sizes) for my nephew. I recently bought a hera marker and thought I would try it. I just used it to mark lines randomly across the quilt and using a walking foot quilted away. Worked perfectly.
Some bargain fabrics from Textile Traders last week. Kaffe Fassett spots, Robert Kaufman, some Prints Charming and some nice denim for skirts.

Simplicity 3775

I think I have overcome my fear of sewing knit fabrics. This is Simplicity 3775 made from cotton jersey. I didn't make any adjustments to the pattern and it was quite easy. Although the fabric drove me crazy as each piece kept rolling up so there was lots of pinning to stop that. This dress might be the equivalent of the fisherman's skirt I made during summer. I ended up making about 4 of them and I can definitely see myself more of these dresses.

Simplicity 2603

If you are looking for a really simple quick project Simplicity 2603 is it. Started and finished last night. Because of the drape (and I was feeling lazy) I didn't hem it. I used some stripey fabric from Spotlight. I can never go past red and white stripes. Not the most flattering look draping stripes over my tummy, but this cardi is so comfortable. I think this would be fantastic in some charcoal wool jersey.

Quilts

It has all been about quilts lately.
A new quilt called Through The Square Window. The fabric is Blush by Basic Grey for Moda.

A Walk in The Garden using Verna by Kate Spain for Moda.
I made a new quilt from my Desert Twirl pattern. The fabric is Happy Campers by American Jane for Moda.

It has suddenl become winter here and everyone including me is in need of new clothes. So clothe sewing is next on the list.

Eva turns 2

Eva turned 2 today and we headed to Balingup for a picnic at the Golden Valley Tree Park.
It was our first really cold wintery day which meant we had the park to ourselves. The girls loved it. Trees, rain, rain coats, space to run, space to yell and a gourmet picnic for a 2 year old. Chocolate cake and fairy bread.

A small present for me in the mail too - who could resist some red and white polka dot vintage jersey.

A Nephew and Some Quilts

I have a nephew! My sister Gemma had a boy last night 6 weeks early. Sounds like he is doing well for how early he is. A boy is something new for our family. I have 3 sisters, 3 daughters and my sister has 2 daughters. Can't wait to see him in a few weeks.

I managed to bind some quilts while I was at the farm. So now I am madely finishing writing patterns to get them ready for the Stitches and Craft Show in Melbourne.

This one is Flower Kisses.

The pattern will include instructions for this variation of it.

The Farm

We are back from a few days a my parent's farm. The girls loved the freedom and the bikes Dad put together from old ones he has collected and scavenged.

Not only does Dad fix bikes, he makes a lot of the things around the farm. Sheds (many many sheds), field bins, fences, sheep yards, pretty much everything needed on the farm Dad has built. And lucky us he can build trailers. This is going to make it a lot easier to manage our garden.

Angles

The easiest way to sew angles. It is called Clearly Perfect Angles. I highly recommend it for sewing 45 degree angles.

The Week

I didn't mean to disappear for the week, but life had other plans.
We went to Perth again last weekend. I had tickets to the Pixies in Perth (yes I saw them twice in a week) which was great, brilliant - I'd see them again anytime.
Upmarket was fantastic, such a great market to do.
The only downside to the weekend was a car that conked out in Perth a few times and was a bit dodgy on the drive home, but luckily it was not too bad to fix and all is good now.
After that was fixed the computer had some issues - all revolving around Windows Vista. So after 8 months of putting up with the shittiness that is Vista I upgraded to Windows 7 and it was worth. Probably cheaper in the long run - I owe a lot of money to the swear jar because of Windows Vista.
While I had no computer I did a lot of quilting and getting organised for Stitches and Craft in Melbourne.

In other random news from the week.
There is nothing so disturbing to a small child as one of their favourite toys on the washing line and for some reason Gromit on the washing line always makes me laugh.

The vegie patch. Some serious weeding is needed, but there is so much growing in there.

Boots - thanks for all your suggestions for boots for people with wider calves.
I actually found a pair today in town from Planet Shoes.
I was very tempted by some from Boots for Broads.
If you have any other suggestions pop them in the comments and I will add them here as I know I'm not the only one with this problem.

Walnut Dyeing

I hulled the walnuts that are ready and thought it would be a great opportunity to try dying with the hulls. I filled a pot about 1/4 full with the hulls and added water and boiled it for about 1 1/2 hours. because I couldn't find a good way to strain it I cut a pair of stockings in half and put a skein of yarn in each half and tied it shut.
I just popped these in the pot and left for an hour ( I turned the heat off). The first lot was quite dark. The next lot I did not leave in as long.

I also tried some BFL sock and some 50% silk/50% wool which is the lighter yarn below - It came out a beautiful colour. These all came out semi solid as the stocking tended to float soo the bottom yarn was darker then the top.

Today

Listening to Laura Marling.
Making banana cake with Evie.
Eating wasabi peas.
Sewing bags for Upmarket (it is still on despite the storm damage at UWA).

Melbourne

Another crazy week. Grace and Amelia turned 5 and then it was off to Perth again. The girls and Chris went to his parents for the weekend and I went to Melbourne to see my sister. There was much eating, great live music, lots of walking and window shopping and some puchases.
Lucky my sister's work is right near Tessuti so I popped in after dropping my bags off. So much choice, so many lovely things. It was very hard to make decisions.

These lovely skirts are Surface Art which I found at The Cat's Meow - a great little shop.

I think I tried on every pair of boots and went into every shoe shop in Melbourne. It took me two days to realise that my calves are not meant for boots ( my sisters have the same problem). So a new pair of Dr Martens it will be this winter. I did find these very cute Djano and Juliette shoes in Bunbury yesterday and they fit my strange wide feet. We collected out first bucket of walnuts yesterday. We have been hulling and I have been researching the best way to dye yarn.Rain!! The first rain we have had in out new house. It was lovely to watch it over the valley.

Now it is back to sewing for Upmarket this Sunday.

Pixies

I'm back form the quickest trip to Melbourne to visit my sister. There was drinking, eating, shopping and Pixies. I'll be back when I have recovered.

Saucepans

My Mum gave me these fantastic saucepans on the weekend. They were my Grandmothers. For a women who didn't like cooking she had some fantastic kitchenware.

Dresses

We are back from Perth and a wonderful wedding. Chris' brother was married on the weekend and we all had a great time! Congratulations Neil and Alyssa!!

Pink Dress

The dress is finished. It has been quite a journey to make what is essentially quite a basic dress, which drove me insane at times but I am happy with it. I used a linen/silk blend from Tessuti which is beautiful to touch and easy to sew.
I used a pattern from Burda magazine 07/2008. After making a muslin I removed the front pleat and added some darts (as well as some to the back). I think I might make another one of these in a print to wear over a long sleeved shirt and leggings for winter.
My copy of Pretty Little Mini Quilts arrived this week. Such gorgeous little quilts

Little bit excited to see mine on the back cover.