Cushions

I turned the typewriter fabric into some cushions yesterday. Some of the cushions in our living room were looking very tired and sad. Now we have three new ones. I used inserts I already had so one is slightly smaller than the others.

 I used zips I already had which were very bright so I hid them under flaps at the back using this tutorial which I have used a few times before.

The fabric is Ruby Star Shining by Melody Miller.

One skein = 3 Hats

How many hats can you make from a skein of Malabrigo Worsted? Three if they are little Umbilical Hats. These are so quick and easy to knit and have been added to the baby present stash. I made 2 exactly as the pattern and one a bit bigger and there is still about 9g left over. More details on ravelry.

Typewriters

The girls and I came across this old typewriter when we were walking in the bush near my parents a few weeks ago. It has been there forever, I remember it from when I was a child. The girls were fascinated, they had no idea what a typewriter was. 

 My Dad got his parents old vintage typewriter out to show them. They loved it. They thought is was amazing.

 A good excuse to buy some of the Melody Miller typewriter fabric. We are in desperate need of some new cushions. I think this will be perfect.

Snuggler Wraps

I love the Lotta Jansdotter Snuggler pattern, and they are fairly quick and easy to sew up. I made three this week and might make a couple more when I get some more fleece for the lining. I am slowly getting a nice stash of baby presents for when I need them.

Cowl Neck Jumper #2 and #3

Eva has worn her Cowl Neck Jumper Dress a few times since I made it recently. I think it must be very comfortable and great to play in as she avoids anything that isn't no matter what it looks like. So I made one for Milly and one for Grace. They are bigger that the biggest pattern size, but I just made it longer added a little to the sleeves and made the sides of the arms and body wider and made it taller at the shoulders. A perfect fit for them. The only other alteration was to make the cowl neck wider than the neckline so I had to stretch the neckline to fit the cowl, it is much easier for them to get on and off.

Bespoke

The rain has disappeared and the sun has been out the last few mornings. This morning I sat on the verandah and read Bespoke. Such a lovely zine. I feel all inspired now to go and do something crafty.

Baby Hats

Baby hats are perfect to use up those little bits of yarn in your stash. The one on the left is a newborn hat using left overs from my Nefertem shawl and the other one used some left overs from a cardigan I made Evie when she was born. I have already cast on another one so I can have a stash ready for all the babies due in the next few months.

At the Farm

To summarise the last week: rock climbing, colds, bush walking, cousins, fevers, a visit to the farm, bike riding, vomiting and fires with marshmallows. Crossing fingers the second week of the holidays is illness free.

Liberty and Yarn

My parents have just been to Scotland. Mum brought me back some Liberty and Debbie Bliss wool. She knows me well.

Cowl Neck Jumper Dress

A weekend of sick children meant not leaving the house and all of us going a little crazy. Hopefully they are all on the mend and that is the end of sickness for these holidays.
I did find a little sewing time to try the Heidi and Finn Cowl Neck Jumper Dress which is a really quick dress to make. I think turning the ties inside out took about as long as making the rest of the dress. It is not a big pattern though. I made the biggest size for Eva and took up the sleeves. I think I might try and size the pattern up for the twins.

Nefertem

I love this shawl, it was so quick and fairly easy to knit. I used Madelinetosh Sock in Winter Wheat, which is my new favourite colour. The only thing I would do differently is knit more stocking stitch so there would be an extra section of lace so it would be a little bit bigger. I had plenty of yarn left over so I am sure there would be enough. Thanks to Grace for the pictures, the girls insist on doing all the photography around here on the weekends.  More details on ravelry.

Fabric and Jessie the Cowgirl

When I cleaned and organised my fabric a few weeks ago I realised I have a lot, more than a lot, a huge amount of blue, but not a lot of fabric with white and cream backgrounds. This problem was fixed last week with this lovely little stash.

 A quick dash into Spotlight to get cotton last week ended with me buying a little seersucker for the girls for summer. I am not sure whether I love or hate seersucker at times, but I know I love this.

 Someone is a little obsessed with being Jessie the cowgirl at the moment. The only time she is not wearing this is when she is at kindy or it is in the wash. She made herself Bullseye with some cardboard from and 3 weeks later it is still played with everyday.

Wonky Cross Quilt

I have finished the wonky cross quilt from the Around The Block block swap. I quilted it with lots of wonky-ish lines about 1/4" apart which has given it a really nice texture. I love the way this quilt turned out. I think it was because I had no idea what I wanted to do with the blocks at the end of the swap. The only direction I gave people was to make a cross and it could be in a couple of sizes. I was so excited when I parcel turned up with new blocks, everyone had done something different. So thank you to everyone who was part of Around the Block and made a block for my quilt!

Simply Sweet Blouse

I was a bit excited when Marina recently asked me to test the Simply Sweet Tunic Top and Blouse for her. I made a long sleeved version for Eva with some lightweight fabric from Spotlight. The only change I made was to omit the ties at the top at Eva's request. Amelia was looking at the pattern as I was making it and fell in love with the sleeveless version for summer and has fabric picked out so I can make some later in the year. It was a very enjoyable pattern to make. It went together quickly and the instructions are very clear and I love that there was not too many pieces to print, cut out and tape together. I also love that it goes up to size 8 so I will be able to use it for quite a few years.

Toys

These little guys and a few more of their friends are now at Found at the Fremantle Arts Centre.

Quilting

Getting there slowly. Just grabbing 10 minutes here and there to do a few more meandering lines.

Soft Toys

It feels like ages since I made some soft toys. I pulled out a pile of fabrics when I was tidying up on the weekend and now I have a pile of tails, ears and pieces waiting to be sewn.

Red Cardigan

I made a great grey cardigan for Eva last year which she wore and wore. Unfortunately it disappeared at the end of last year. I have searched everywhere but it seems to have vanished.

She asked for a new one in red. It is such an easy pattern and really didn't take too long to make. I made the size 5 and added about 1 1/2" in length to make sure it will fit for a while. More details on ravelry.

Cross Quilt Top

The top is finished! Putting it together was like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle, but with a lot of cheating as I added strips of fabric when needed and trimmed when needed. I'm not sure when I will get around to quilting, but I think I will just do lots of vertical straight lines as there is so much going on in this quilt.

Cross Blocks

I pulled out all my blocks from the Around the Block quilting bee a few months ago and was overwhelmed. I had no idea how I would put them together and no idea what I wanted the quilt for when I finished. So I put it all away. I found it again when I was cleaning my fabric on the weekend and thought I would try again. I decided to not overthink it. Just lay it out and start putting it together.

 I realised I would need a few more blocks. So I grabbed scraps and started sewing, not worrying about sizes.

 I lay them all out again.

 Swapped a few things around.

 Used more scraps to make long scraps to join everything together.

And now I nearly have a finished top. Just a couple of things to fix and I should have pictures tomorrow.