Wool and Sewing

Less screaming from Eva last night so I didn't have to stay up knitting. Which is great, although she could do with a hat as it's cold and she is bald.
I finished reskeining a yarn order last night and it is ready to be sent. These are all kettle dyed, which is my favourite way of dyeing at the moment. So if you are going to the Sydney craft fair in a few weeks you will find it at Mosman Needlecraft. I think I am going try and replicate a few colours for myself over the weekend.

I have managed a little sewing in the past week. A new idea and a few blocks finished.

Amy Butler

A good mail day today. No bills and I received the new Amy Butler Software. Great projects that don't look too hard using great fabric.
There is also an inspiration gallery of things people have made using Amy Butler fabric, including a few of my soft toys.

Baby Tulip Quilt

Thanks for all the sympathy. She screamed again last night for a few hours. I wish the top teeth would just come through. We can feel them but can't see them yet.
The Little Tulip quilt is finished.

I quilted it with loops and thought I would add a few tulips as well. Mmm they kind of look like tulips, but they also kind of look like chicken feet.

Winter has finally arrived. It has rained for the last two days and it is cold. The fire is finally lit and I have been thinking knitting, especially beanies. Poor Evie is still lacking hair so needs something to keep her warm. I have wound three skeins of handspun so if she screams tonight I'll be on the couch with these.

Screaming Evie

Evie is a night screamer. It s something I have realised is not going to change at the moment. It has taken four months to realise this. We have spoken to people and tried everything. She just wakes up sometime in the middle of the night and cries for 2 hours. It is always about 2 hours. Even if she does go back to sleep (which doesn't happen often) I am wide awake waiting for the screaming. I have found a benefit of this. Time to think and this is when little ideas pop into my head. Like this one. It is some kind of flying bug.
The wings are not quite as I want them so time to cut out bug number two and have another go.

Shoes and Fabric

Back from Perth and the craft fair. Worth going to see all the lovely fabric and for all the inspiration, but it is not really fun with a one year old, especially not when you can't even move with the pram or look get close to stalls you want to look at. I did find a jelly roll of Flea Market Fancy. Before you ask this is the last one they had left and they didn't have any yardage either. I did check for everyone who loves this fabric as much as I do.

I also bought a nice lot of fabric from Amitie (and had a nice chat with Jenny), but most of that is on the line drying so no picture today.
I then headed into Perth straight for the army surplus store and snapped up a pair of red Mary Jane Dr Martens in my size. Pretty much the perfect shoe.

Grey Cardigan and More Pleats

I finished the Mossy Jacket for Evie. The details are on Ravelry. She wasn't too happy about photos this morning.

I cut into some of my favourite Liberty fabric last night for a top for Evie - couldn't find the pattern I needed so I winged it. Probably not the best idea but I think it looks ok on. I also made a little pleased corduroy skirt to go with it. I love how fast you can make babies clothes. A couple of seams and a bit of elastic and it's done.

Pleasted smocks for the girls. Amelia claimed this fabric when I first bought it. She thinks it is the bestest fabric ever.
Grace changed her mind about seven times when choosing fabric for her top. Crossing my fingers she still likes this when I show it to her.

New Look 6775

We had a quick trip to Perth on the weekend as my sister was over from Melbourne, we have another one planned for this weekend. The house is piled with washing and the floor has lots of little bits of 'squashed stuff' all over it. So I have been sewing. Pleated tops nearly finished for the big girls and a smock for me. Suzy made this pattern a while ago and I really liked it. Even though I think we have extremely different body types I gave it a go and I think it fits, even if it does look like I am wearing a doona cover which is ok beacuse it was one.

Curves

I've always admired quilts with curves in them especially drunkard's path quilts but could never see myself making one. Until now. I've discovered the Curve Master Foot.
I can't believe this tiny little piece of plastic can make something so easy. These were done with no pins, not a single one. It did take a couple of tries to get it right, but once you get it, it is so easy to do.

Quilt Tops

I have been trying really hard to actually make some of the ideas in my head and not think about them too much. It is all about quilts and quilt designs in my head at the moment. I think it is the cooler night weather (although the days are still weirdly warm). I finished this quilt top. It is quite big and I wasn't able to get a good picture of it all yesterday, but here is some of it.

After I finished I decided to make the same pattern with smaller blocks and it was quite a quick and easy baby quilt project. I'm trying to be organised - so many babies are due in the next six months.
Another quilt made from a jelly roll. This pattern used the whole thing. Here is a quarter of it.

Now to get inspired to baste, quilt and write the patterns up.

Wonderland

Wonderland by Momo is my favourite fabric line at the moment. I turned some of it into a quilt over the weekend. I just need to add some borders and the top will be finished. This is one of those projects that came together perfectly. I was playing around with EQ6 and realised the design would be perfect for a layer cake which I happened to have handy. Using precut fabrics is definitely my favourite way of quilting at the moment.

Teapot Coaster

My kind of brother in law (sorry Paul I'm a bit stuck for a better description) asked me at Christmas for a teapot coaster. I honestly thought he was just being a bit sarcastic, but he's asked me again four months later so here Paul not only have I made a teapot coaster I have written a tutorial in case you ever need another one and I don't make it quick enough for you.
The coaster is 10 inches square.
Out of some patterned fabric you will need
1 piece 4 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches
1 piece 6 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches.
I used linen for the other pieces and you will need
3 pieces 2 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches
1 piece 10 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches
2 pieces 6 1/2 inches x 4 1/2 inches.


Arrange them as follows and sew together. I sewed the 2 1/2 inch squares to the patterned fabric first and then the big rectangles to the bottom of the T. You should have 3 pieces now that can be just sewn together.

Cut out some batting (I used wool) and some backing fabric about 12 inches square. Layer them and pin to hold them in place.

I used 2 strands of embroidery cotton to sew around the T to hold all the layers in place.

I cut about some binding 2 1/2 inches wide and think I used about 50 inches. I cut across the width of some fabric which was only 42 inches wide and then cut an extra 8 inches or so and sewed the two pieces together. Fold it in half lengthwise and iron and then attach to the front of the coaster right sides together mitring the corners. Fold to the back and hand stitch in place.

It looked kind of lonesome so I thought I would make a coffee pot coaster to keep it company.

The winners are ...

Thankyou everyone for your lovely comments.
I used the Random Integer Generator and it came up with 1, 57 and 85.

So numbers
1 http://polka-dot-daze.blogspot.com/
57 http://txtwins.blogspot.com/
85 http://akhilashandblog.blogspot.com/

Email me at twolittlebanshees at hotmail dot com and let me know your addresses and I will send you a pattern and a few bits of fabric.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and had more sleep than we have had thanks to Eva last night. Crossing fingers that we don't have screaming all night tonight and everyone is not tired and irritable tomorrow.

Mossy Jacket Progress

The nights are getting colder and I have pulled out the Mossy Jacket and am making some progress. Thought I had better finish it before Eva is too big to wear it. I love the grey yarn I am using. I think she will need a few tops made from Liberty to wear under it.

Patterns and a Giveaway

I often get emails asking me if I will write patterns for my toys so I have spent the last few weeks writing and organising patterns. I am starting with two that I had pretty much ready to go. The platypus was in Homespun Magazine in January and the elephant was in The Australian Women's Weekly about 18 months ago.

Although it's not super hard to work out how I made my windmill quilt I have had a few emails from people wanting the pattern. So I have written it up as well.I am going to be listing some in my etsy shop soon, hopefully today or tomorrow, but I also want to give away one of each with a few scraps of fabric as a thanks to everyone who has left messages here or on flickr about my toys and my sewing. Just leave me a comment and I will draw 3 winners on Sunday evening - Western Australian time. Yes I will send them anywhere in the world.

Magic Loop

I am still knitting the sock I started the other day using the magic loop technique. It's going slowly. Very slowly. No more huge tangles so I will stick with it. I think it helps that I am knitting No Purl Monkey Socks and I love this yarn - Socks that Rock in Dutch Canyon.
I had completely forgotten how dirty crawling babies can get, especially when it rains. Their are a few pairs of corduroy pants cut out and I managed to sew up one pair this morning.

The Week

• Amelia and Grace are home after 2 nights with Chris' parents. It was so quiet around here without them and we got a bit done but it is fantastic to have them home again.
• I stopped procrastinating and have started writing up some patterns
• I am trying again with the magic loop sock thing. I nearly have one cuff done. It managed to get so tangled last night and I felt like I was knitting with an octopus.
• The weather has turned cold so it was pea and ham soup for dinner (I love soup weather).
• Cut into some fabric and started a new quilt

Nemo Socks

Finally finished the never ending Nemo socks. I did kind of follow a pattern, but I didn't really look at it much which explains why the socks are all different sizes and lengths. Luckily the girls had to do some weird dance in them and don't stand still ever so no one will ever see how different they are.

I saw this on Loobylu last week and now this gorgeous song is stuck in my head.

Pleats

More pleats - this time a little top for Eva. I can't seem to find the patterns I used when the girls were younger so I just measured, cut and amazingly it fits. I didn't realise until I finished that I ironed and top stitched the pleats in the wrong direction, but I will fix that next time.

Corduroy

The nights have are becoming colder and the days are cooling down too - time for some winter clothes. I found these pants half made from last year when they were way too big for the girls. I hemmed them and they are perfect for this year. Well perfect for Grace. Apparently they won't be perfect for Amelia as princesses and mermaids only wear skirts and dresses.

I really like pleats at the moments and I love the non symmetrical ones on the pink skirt.

Easter

Easter is over and the girls are slowly coming down from their sugar high. It was a busy weekend with the market on Saturday (great to meet some people like Nicole for the first time) and a trip to my sisters to collect the big girls on Sunday. I am hoping for a few quiet days and then we are off to Perth this weekend.

A picture from my stall at the market.