Happy Birthday Mum

Happy Birthday Mum! She was 60 on the weekend and my sister, myself and all the little girls headed to the farm to have an afternoon tea for her.
I'd write more, but I came home with a head cold which is more than annoying this week as I had planned to make a lot of Christmas presents. So instead of sewing and playing with the girls I am lying in the middle of lego mess while Evie rolls and tries to wedge herself under furniture continually and the girls watch the tackiest Barbie DVD. I had to stop at a town half way home from the farm and promised them a new DVD if they were good and they chose that - I couldn't make them change their mind and I didn't need another 2 hours of screaming so I caved in.
So Happy Birthday Mum. I hope you and Dad have managed a rest after having a house full of crazy little girls because we will all be back this time next week!

Biscotti

Thanks for all your comments on my gnome - I am so behind on emails I'm not sure I'll ever catch up, but I do appreciate every comment and I do check and see what everyone is up to. It is sometimes a bit tricky to reply with a squirmy little slug in my arms. I forgot to explain that it was wet felted not needle felted, but that is another thing on my list I'd like to try - just a bit scared of the needles.
I love biscotti - I don't make it much as I tend to sit and eat it all. It is excellent at Christmas time as it is keeps well so can be used for presents. I found a recipe for Pistachio and Honey Biscotti yesterday and it is pretty good.

I finished the girls Clothkit Dresses and I love them! So easy and quite quick to put together and they definitely won't look like anyone else wherever they go.

Gnome

We have a great community centre on our little town that organises an activity every Monday morning and a creche for the children. Last Monday it was felting so I managed to get out of the house and get there not too late. We made little gnomes. It was fantastic - there was no easing into it and only making a flat piece or something really basic. It was straight away here is a gnome let's make one. The picture is not brilliant as somehow we have gone back to winter and outside is grey, dull and rain. The only good thing is I'm not so stressed about stepping on the snake that was out the front last week.

Break It Down

I told the girls the Nativity story the other day and then they watched more Yo Gabba Gabba (definitely everyone's favourite at the moment). I later found Amelia banging some drums singing "Break It Down Baby Jesus".
Here she is playing croquet - of course you need to wear a skirt and gumboots to play croquet.

Christmas Tree

I am not sure how many times I have been asked "How many minutes until Christmas?", but I'm sure it will drive me insane before Christmas arrives. I have just caught them sneaking out of bed to get the Father Christmas hats they discovered earlier today.
I'm hoping that the tree stays intact this year. The girls are old enough not to dismantle it everyday and Evie can't move.
We didn't really own many decorations until last year and we are slowly collecting some. My parents went to visit my sister who is living in Amsterdam and returned with the most fabulous Delft ornaments. This windmill is everyones current favourite. We actually live in a town with a Christmas shop that amazingly is open all next year. I have promised the girls we can go next week and they can choose a new decoration for the tree.

Soap and Reading

I think my soap should be cured! I will put some in the bathroom today. The back one is vanilla and the front is a mix of lavender and peppermint.
I have just started reading The China Price. I think it is going to be very interesting reading and I think it is going to make me more organised to actually finish some of the ideas I have for presents so I'm not rushing out to buy mass produced things at the last minute.

Bread and Sewing

I finally managed to take a picture of some bread before it quickly disappeared. Great bread. I don't think I could go back to eating sliced bread from the supermarket.

A few things I have finished this week. It is kind of a shock to think that Christmas is so close. I have started making piles for Christmas sewing and I hope I am not being too ambitious considering the time that is left.

Circles

I can't believe I've made perfect circles! I read through all the advice Jacquie got and thought I'd try the fusible interfacing method. I didn't actually use fusible interfacing I could picture ironing the circles to the wrong place or ironing the wrong side of the interfacing and having to clean the iron. I remember trying this method a few years ago for small flowers and circles which didn't work at all - I think they may have been too small and the facing just ripped too much trying to turn them inside out. For those wondering iI used an 18 degree ruler to cut out the pieces.
So this is what I did. I pinned it to the facing and cut it out roughly. I sewed a quarter inch seam and trimmed the facing.

I cut a slit in the interfacing and turned it inside out.

Then I ironed it and there it is - a percect circle!
The backing is just strips of cream and some of the fabric I have used in the circles. Now I just have to sew the circles on.

And just because I can - Eva. Who has finally learnt to roll onto her front - these things can be a little tricky when you have gorgeous little chubby tummy.

Hexagons

It is perfect winter quilt sewing weather here, except it is November and it is meant to be summer. I am still working on my circles, but I thought I'd test out some hexagons. I have had some Kaffe Fassett stripes in my stash for a very long time waiting to be made into his Handkerchief Corners quilt, but I think they might turn into some hexagons instead.

Thorny Mountain Devil

I have a pile of doll bodies, arms and legs on my desk I have been trying to finish. I managed one last night while thinking about other Australian animals I could try and make.

I haven't seen a Thorny Mountain Devil for years. We were always so excited when we found them as children. Finding most reptiles was an exciting thing as children (still is now) except for the poisonous kind. I am not sure this resembles a Mountain Devil much any more, but it is kind of cute and I think Mountain Devils are kind of cute.

Red Spots

The tricky think about being quite wide and not that tall is finding clothes to fit. I made some shorts yesterday. I shortened a pattern I used for pyjamas for the girls a few years ago, gathered the legs and added a band. Red spots because you can never go wrong with red spots.

Colours

I did some experimenting last night with colours and so far so good. I think it has a nice summery feel to it. Now I am up to the tricky bit - sewing it to the background. Lucky someone is ahead of me and I have a few tips.

I have some new favourite giraffe fabric - Amy Butler Daisy Chain.

Pig Cushions

Cushions for Amelia and Grace. Maybe, just maybe they will want to use their own cushions in their little houses they make and leave the other cushions on the chairs.

Weekend

We made a flying visit to Perth this weekend. We had a few things that we needed to do so I managed to make the trip coincide with the Made On The Left market. I am glad I did - there was such great stalls there and it was so good to finally meet a few people in person.
Yesterday we popped into the Fremantle Arts Centre and I dropped some more toys off to the shop.
A highlight of the weekend - on the drive home I drove for an hour and everyone else slept. Peace and quiet and I managed to listen to an entire podcast.

Simplicity 3835

I was not sure about this shirt when I made it last night. I wouldn't say it is the most flattering pattern. It is growing on me today. It was so quick to make. I used Simplicity 3835 and it was done in no time. It is made from voile so it will be very cool in summer and I can easily feed Eva in it so I think I will be making another one soon.

A glimpse of my desk today.
Some fantastic mail I received today. This would have to be the most useful sewing book I own. There is information to do nearly everything from putting in zips to binding to buttonholes to making cushions. It is by Ruth Singer who has a wonderful blog here.

Another One

There are so many things I should do, but the girls were having five quiet minutes playing together so I made another peasant shirt for Evie out of this beautiful Liberty fabric I received as a suprise recently.

Brioche, Vegies and Shirt

Crazy, but good weekend with many visitors. So here are some pictures from last week.
Brioche filled with Chocolate ganache from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It did take longer than five minutes, but well worth it.
The vegie patch. If you never hear about it again lets all pretend it is fabulous and we eat from it every night.

Another Simplicity 4589. Washed and unironed as I wore it as soon as I made it last week. Number 3 waiting to be cut out.

Three Year Old Logic

We saw a fox when we were driving today and according to the girls foxes like soup. Foxes are orange and soup is orange, therefore foxes like soup.

I bought the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for my sister for Christmas. I have just had to order a new copy as that is now covered in flour. I've already made three loaves - all gone before I even thought about taking pictures.

Lawns

It's raining again - usually the start of November has meant sunshine, but not this year. I am sure I can see the grass growing before my eyes. The lawnmower broke down again on the weekend. Chris has been talking about getting a ride on one for ages, so I think between dealing with the crappy lawnmower and this great news today he might get his wish. Then hopefully our summer weekends might be a little less stressful and we can all spend some time doing things we enjoy rather then swearing at the lawnmower.
A doll and some little shoes we dropped off today for a new baby called Charlotte.
I've been experimenting with whales and I think I need to do a bit more experimenting. It is kind of half way there.

Simplcity 4589

A pattern I have been meaning to make forever. I just used some cotton that has been in my stash a while. It is a great pattern and it didn't turn out too badly. It is a bit big and I didn't interface the neckline so it is too big. All things I can fix on the next one which I hope to get around to making soon.