Crochet Flower Bunting

18 big flowers and 18 little flowers makes 2 lots of flower bunting. One for the twin's room and one for Eva's room. Here's a few pictures of them hanging outside on the verandah.

 I actually managed to get them hung up today.

All the rest of the details on Ravelry.

Baby Quilt

A finished little quilt.  I don't think you can have too many quits around when you have a baby, they are great in the car, pram, cot, rocker and on the floor.

This one is made from 6 panels of the Maze & Vale faric I treated myself too and is 31" x 36".

 I did some very simple free motion quilting in rows. Big and little loops and each row has one love heart to echo the grey love heart fabric. I marked each row with a hera marker and vaguely followed it so the quilting was not all over the place.

 This is not a tutorial, but more of a 'how I did it". This is how I cut the panels. They are all about 13.5" x 16.5". I measured mine and they were all a little bigger so I knew I could cut all the pieces out easily.

 Once I cut them I rearranged them and sewed them back together. Because a few of the prints were directional I made two of the middle blocks (like the one below) and made sure the pieces were going in the right direction.

 I made four of the side blocks and made sure all the pieces were going in the right direction.

After I made the blocks I sewed them together in two rows and then joined the rows.
It would be very easy to make this quilt a bit bigger. If you had 9 panels of fabric, just cut them all the same and then make 9 blocks and join them in 3 rows of 3.

A Plan



How perfect is this stack of fabric from Leslie of Maze & Vale?

 I have a plan. It is already cut and waiting to be sewn.

More on Nappies



The nappy I made last month fits Olive pretty well at the moment. I won't say it is perfect, I think it might be nearly impossible to make the perfect all in one cloth nappy which never leaks, but so far this pattern is doing well. I have made a few more and they are much better fitting and a lot smaller than the traditional cloth nappies you have to fold yourself (we do have quite a few of these and use them). We have had a couple that leak so we are going to use an extra cover over the top and see if this stops it. We used Tots Bots covers with Eva and I can count on one hand the number of times they leaked and this was usually when we didn't put it on right. I am pretty happy with these though, they aren't hard to sew (just a little boring to sew to be honest) and it is much cheaper to make these than buy them, so I will definitely be making more and using them.

 I found the best message stuck to my computer this morning.

New Fabric

Some new fabric for summer clothes for the tiniest one. 

From fabricworm.

Eggs and Pavlova

We have been looking after a few people's chickens while they have been on holidays and we have a lot of eggs. Lots and lots. We have given them away to everyone we can think of, I have cooked a lot, I made fritatta which used 9, but still our fridge is full of them.

Yesterday I thought I would try a pavlova. I have never made one before as they always looked a little tricky. They have to be beaten just right, the oven temperature has to be right, and then there is the small problem I have with following recipes. I really do prefer to read them and then just kind of do my own thing. So I tried hard and followed the recipe exactly.

 And this is what happened. The yummiest pavlova. I wish I had of taken a picture of the inside, it was perfect.

 I am not known for my food presentation, but trust me this was good.

So now I have made a great pavlova I may never make another, I don't think I could make another one like it.

New Sewing Patterns

McCalls, Butterick and Vogue had a good sale recently. I thought a couple looked great for now, stretchy and good for breast feeding, I'm pretty sure I didn't need another stretchy wrap dress pattern or another shirt dress pattern, but I couldn't resist - what if it is the perfect pattern for me that needs no alteration and is amazingly flattering (always my dream when buying patterns)??

This lot only cost $11. Postage was a ridiculous $25, but $36 for 7 patterns is very very cheap in Australia.

 I am still crocheting, the pile of flowers is getting bigger.

Olive's Birth

I have been asked a few times if things are 'getting back to normal' or if we have 'gotten into a routine'. Mmm I'm not sure things have ever been normal or if we have a routine to get back to, but we are coping. Luckily we have school holidays this week and next week so Chris is home and the girls went to my parents for a few days. So things might be a bit crazy every now and then, but I think it was like that before.

I am still taking it slowly,Olive ended up being born by caesarean so I am taking advantage of having help every day and not doing a lot. The twins were born by caesarean, but Eva was not so I was planning on another VBAC, but this was not to be. My waters broke in the middle of the night (now that is a weird feeling and I am glad I was in the bathroom when it happened) and we drove the 100km to the hospital. Lucky we had someone we could call on at midnight to come and watch the other girls. I was having contractions every 5 minutes by the time I got there and after a couple of hours every minute and a half, but not much else was happening.

It was obvious looking at my Dr watching the monitors and Olive's heart beat that was he was not happy so he called in a theatre team and about 4.30 in the morning Olive was born. It was kind of a surreal experience, I had been so anxious and I was so relieved they were getting her out and so happy when they did and I could see Chris holding her. I was also relieved to be pain free and was so tired from no sleep that night and very little sleep in the nights before that I had to shut everything out for a while that I went to sleep as I was being stitched up.

Poor little Olive spent the first few days on a drip as she had very low blood sugar and couldn't keep her temperature high enough, but she is great now and putting on weight quickly. Those little legs are getting nice little rolls and she has a couple of little chins which are so cute in babies.

How gorgeous is this quilt from Rita? So so soft, voile is just the most perfect thing for a quilt for a baby.

Crochet

Thanks for all your lovely messages about Olive. We are loving having her home. Her big sisters are so excited and have been so helpful.

I am spending most of my time feeding, burping, patting and rocking, but in between I have done a little crochet. I started some flowers and this blanket last year and it has been sitting patiently  in a basket all year waiting for me to do some more. It is the perfect thing to have on the go at the moment, you can stop anywhere and pick it up later without having to work out where you are up to and what you need to do next. The flowers are quick and easy and I can get one finished while Olive sleeps. I am planning on using them to make some flower bunting for the girls' rooms.

Olive

Olive Ruby
19/9/2012 4.38am
3.505kg 47cm

Triangle Corners with Directional Prints

A tip when sewing 'triangle corners' with directional prints. You think I would remember this now considering how many of them I have sewed over the years, but I always seem to have them going in different directions. This usually doesn't bother me, but now and then I want them going in a particular direction. 

 The background (small square) flips at a 90 degree angle so if you want it going in the same direction you need to turn it 90 degrees before you sew it - you can just see I have turned the houses so the bottom of them is facing the edge of the fabric. I left the yellow fabric to show you how that flips.

 After flipping and ironing, the backgound of the top one has turned 90 degrees while the bottom one is facing the 'right' way.

I have sewed a few triangle corners and flying geese recently and think I am a convert to pressing the seams open. It does take a little more time and I have burnt the edges of my fingers a couple of times, but I really like the way they sit flat and I think it makes it easier to match the points and corners. What do you prefer - pressing to the side or open?

Ceci Shorts

Spring is here and the weather this weekend has been beautiful. So it was time to go through the girls clothes and organise what they needed for the warmer weather. Amelia wants lots of shorts and searched Etsy with me looking for patterns. She decided on the Ceci Shorts. I used some denim I had in the stash and Amelia chose some contrast fabric for the pockets. I vaguely followed the pattern for the pockets, I just did the binding at the top in my own way. For the rest of the shorts I followed the pattern exactly.

The denim I used was light denim, but more like a drill weight which was probably a bit heavy for this pattern. I sewed the ties in the middle of them to keep them tied as they were just coming undone. I am not sure if they would stayed tied up with lighter weight fabric, but I suspect they might still need to be sewn together. I made a size 7 for  Amelia and they fit pretty perfectly, if anything they are quite generously sized.

I am pretty happy with this pattern, it was well explained and both the other girls want shorts too. It comes in sizes 1-8 so I know it will get a lot of use.

Scraps

Turning scraps into squares and strips.

Making Nappies

How cute is this nappy? You really can't go wrong with red and white spots and babies I think. I used the Green Beginnings Cloth Diaper pattern from Fishsticks. It is a very well written pattern, everything from the type of fabric to the type of thread to use is explained and there are lots of pictures to help you. I bought all of my supplies from Nappies Covered. There is also lots of information on there about sewing your own nappies.

Now I have made one I think a few could be sewn up pretty quickly so I am going to wait and see how it fits in case I need to make any changes before I make more of them.

This was my first time sewing with PUL and I really recommend a teflon foot if you are sewing with it. I don't use my teflon foot very often, but it is one of the most useful sewing machine feet, I find laminated fabrics are almost impossible to sew without it.

Good Mail Week and Vintage Patterns.

Last week was a good mail week. A fat quarter bundle of the new Denyse Schmidt Chicopee arrived and it is even nicer in real life than I thought it would be. Such great patterns and colours.

 Also the new book by Julie of Jaybird Quilts.

I have also become slightly obsessed with searching the vintage mail order patterns on Etsy which is kind of ridiculous considering my size right now, but we had such nice spring weather all weekend I am thinking of summer dresses and hoping I get time to make some this summer.

Shop News

I will be closing my Etsy shops for a little while soon as I wait for this baby to come. I can't promise I will be able to make it to the post office or even email patterns as fast as I like to, but my pattern shop will still be open as all the patterns in there are instantly download as soon as you have paid.

So if there are any toys on Etsy you have had your eye on grab them in the next couple of days.

Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe

Look what is for pre-order on Amazon and up in the Martingale shop! I am just a little bit excited to be part of this!

Whirligig Shrug

My blood pressure has been doing its own thing recently and last week it went up and up so I had to spend the weekend in hospital being monitored. It is all fine at the moment and I am home where I am checking it myself and resting to keep it down. 

This has meant a bit of knitting time. I managed to knit most of a little Whirligig Shrug over the weekend. I made one of these in a bigger size a few years ago and loved making it so I made one in a 3 month size. I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK which is beautiful to knit, so so soft. More details over on ravelry. I noticed you can now get this pattern in larger children' sizes, up to size 12.

Hats and Knitting

A few more hats while I had the pattern out.

 This cardigan has been finished for a little while, but I only got around to blocking it today. To be honest I would have happily frogged it and never thought of it again, but I made it for Grace and she loves it so it was her call. The pattern is Pistache, a free one or ravelry. I have definitely learnt my lesson about trying things on as I knit. It is top down so it wasn't hard to try it on Grace as I went, but I got lazy and just kept knitting. The sleeves and width are huge, not just a little big, but huge. Luckily I did check the length as I knit as if I followed the pattern it would have been down to her knees. It became a chore to knit and I really did not enjoy it at all.

 As soon as it was finished I cast on a little Whirligig Shrug in some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK. It has immediately made me love knitting again.

Baby Hat

I found this great tutorial for a baby hat today. You need only a little bit of stretchy cotton fabric and about 5 minutes to make one. My kind of sewing at the moment!

Quilt Backings

I am always on the look out for good quilt backings at good prices. I had some really good luck on Thursday at Textile Traders. The quilt fabric section of Textile Traders can be a bit hit and miss. Sometimes they get great shipments of fabric in and a few years ago they had lots of Amy Butler and other designer fabric. I hadn't found anything great for a while, but I loved these for quilt backs the other day. The added bonus was it was buy 2 get a metre free. These three are all from Anthology Fabrics which I had not come across before. I also found odd random bolts from Freespririt, Michael Miller, Kaufman and Moda.

Boot Rack

My clever Dad came for a visit this week and he turned up with this great boot rack he had made mostly from recycled bits and pieces. It fits perfectly near the front door. The girls love it so hopefully they will keep putting their boots on it and not in the doorway.

Quilting with Aurifil

My free motion quilting experiment quilt is finished. This was great fun to do and I learnt a lot.
It was my first time quilting with Aurifil and I am a convert! It took only a little adjustment on my machine - I had to tighten the tension a little bit - and then it sewed perfectly. Those reels of thread do go a long way, the quilt is quite heavily quilted and I estimate I used less than half a reel. I will definitely be using for all my quilting from now on and I will use it when I piece my next quilt.

The Elephant in the Room

That is how I fell at the moment, like an enormous elephant. I am 34 weeks now, and have hit that stage where I need to bribe my children to put my shoes on and would just like to lie on the couch and eat dark chocolate mint tim tams in between having naps. No such luck with three other children to look after and some sewing deadlines coming up. Which really is a good thing. I need things to focus on or I end up feeling pretty anxious. 

I am not one of those calm people who deal with issues as they come up (luckily I married one of these people). No I overthink everything until I assume every problem that can happen will happen. I was so anxious when I was pregnant with the twins that we didn't buy anything for them until they were born and then I had to send Chris out to buy a pram and carseats and nothing is different this time, especially after last year where I had a very very unexpected pregnancy. (Sometimes vasectomies just do not work. At all.) And then a miscarriage and all the sadness that goes with it.

So now I am trying to keep busy, trying not to overthink everything and trying to focus on other things that need doing around here.