Merry Christmas for 2011

Merry Christmas to all the crafty cats out there in Blogland. One week to go, two days of work, and two very excited children. Our Christmas tree is up and so is my WIP wallhanging called 'Christmas Baubles' - I haven't quite finished it, but came close! You might remember this quilt from earlier this year. It's from a pattern by Audrey & Maude. You can see I changed the borders a bit. Thanks Helen for the pattern - I can't believe it's taken me so long to make it!

It's now about two thirds quilted (all done by hand) with perle thread. I've done all the borders and the baubles and started the outline quilting around the tree. You can see all the pins are still in - kind of post-modern Christmas decorations!

I wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and all the best for a wonderful 2012.

My take on 1929 ladies fashion

Well, it's not exactly like my sketch, but close enough! Here's what I ended up with - lining fabric overlaid with chiffon, with a fringed drop waist, gored skirt, and sequin detailing around the neckline and down the dress front. I made a headband, replete with real peacock feathers (it's racing season here so my local fabric shop had some millinery supplies) - also one for Jodi, my writing buddy who also came along to the conference. The dinner was aboard the 1929 'Graf Zeppelin', complete with a menu historically attuned to the tastes of 1929. The dinner was designed by Canberra food historian Gillian Polack and a fabulous, fun-filled time was had by all!

A little flapper style

I'm attending a 1929-themed banquet dinner in two weeks' time (the highlight, I'm told, of the Conflux writers conference) and have nothing suitable to wear. So, I thought, why not make something? I Googled "1929 flapper dresses" and got lots of image inspiration. I let my subconscious work on it overnight and today sketched a design. I'll work on the pattern tonight, but it should be fairly straightforward - the dress will feature a drop waist, angled hemline, be fully lined and wide enough to slip on/off over the head. Nothing puts me off dressmaking more than zips and other closures!
I have a pair of taupe shoes that won't be authentic but will be 'close enough'.I'll head to Spotlight at lunch time tomorrow in search of some navy blue chiffon or georgette and matching trim. I'd like some beading and some fringing to complete the outfit. I may even make a matching headband, depending on how the dress turns out.
I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished product!

And Tristan is 3!

My other darling, Tristan, is now officially a 'big boy' - he turned three on Sunday. He had a lovely birthday: presents, a trip to Monkey Mania (a very appropriately named indoor play centre), topped off by cake!
Who would have thought this skinny, scrunched up bubba would turn into such a happy chappy. He's just adorable (although still not sleeping through every night)!

Happy birthday Miss Romily

My darling is six!
Time flies when you have such a fun-loving, crazy, adorable kid.I love you Romily
xxx

Romily's new (old) quilt

Warning: Quilt-related content!!

Gosh, I wonder if it was the guilt of putting my blog into hibernation? Not sure what caused it, but I pulled out a very ancient work in progress this weekend - Romily's Eye Candy quilt, which I started way back here and here (three years ago - whoops!).

Of course, I had used most of that fabric in the meantime, so it was back to the drawing board. I had heaps of Prints Charming 70s Rainbow Garden fabric left from Rom's 4th birthday party when I made cute gift bags for all the guests, so I decided to delve into that. It's perfect for a little girl's quilt. I also discovered the design wasn't quite the right size for Rom's bed and it was far too fiddly (read = time-consuming). Besides, with that riotous fabric, simpler is best!So, the sewn strips have been crosscut and the piecing has begun. Here is the bottom section of the quilt - it's going to have that green/blue chain all around the perimeter, with several chains criss-crossing the interior. Hopefully I'll have a chance to do a bit more during the week - the time pressure is on, as I re-start uni this semester and I also have to do some Army reserve work too. No rest for the wicked!
Also, Quilting Fitzy asked for some recent pictures of Romily and Tristan. Here they are last weekend doing some painting :)

Shhh...this blog is sleeping!

I'm afraid handquilting a very large quilt ain't exactly exciting! And no other crafty pursuits have been had lately, so I think my blog might have to hibernate for a little while until I have something to share with my lovely readers who still remember to pop by every now and then.

Happy quilting to those of you still with the time and energy to do so :)

The half-way to Christmas quilt

Well howdy. It's been a lean and mean quilting year to date. Sadly work is all-consuming and whatever little energy I have at the end of the day is exhausted on the children. I'm giving my job till the end of the year to see if there's any improvement; if not, I'll start looking at other options. The job would be great if I had twice the staff numbers, who were trained and experienced! Never mind, can't have it all - I have a great team and a supportive boss, so I guess that's a lot.

Anway, I forced myself this weekend to add the borders to my 'Christmas Baubles' quilt (from a pattern by Audrey & Maude), before making the backing and sandwiching the sucker last night - it's huge! Larger than a lap quilt, it's the biggest quilt I've made to date (and I even put on smaller borders than the pattern stipulated!). And now it's my handwork project - I plan to do all the quilting by hand, using perle cotton and a largish needle - in the 'naive' or 'folk' style, which I think really suits this quilt. I have seven months to Christmas - hopefully I'll have finished it by then - if not, I'll hange it on the wall unfinished!

I did do a little bit of pieceing recently, making five tiny 'wonky houses' for a collaborative quilt for my Western Australian friend Helen, who had a 'significant birthday' recently :) A group of us was invited by her sister Andrea to contribute and then Ads (as she is known) put the whole thing together, quilted it and bound it. Helen was gobsmacked - she had no idea we were doing it and was suitably chuffed. The quilty community really is so generous!

Well that's it for me. I hope you're all well out there in virtual quilt land! What's under your needle these days?

Rainbow

Here's my beautiful girl, with the new rainbow skirt I made for her. She chose the fabric from my stash and I went to work. Look mum, no pattern! I just winged it and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's elastic-waisted, has a drop waist with topstitching and gathering, as well as two cute pockets with gathered tops. I'm pretty proud of myself - I think I've finally worked out how to do this! Romily was off to a party today with Daddy and Tristy. I'm sitting in the Qantas Club at Canberra Airport, awaiting the first of three flights to Stockholm, with an enroute touch-down in Bangkok. Another work trip - this time for two weeks. I'm going to miss the kids and Carl!

She sews!

This blog has been going for about five years and it's never been so neglected as now. I blame my job! I've never worked so hard, been so busy nor been so challenged. I'm absolutely buggered by the time I get home, with no energy left for crafty pursuits, hence the lean pickings around here.

So, surprisingly, I got the urge to sew on Sunday! I rustled up a bit of energy and busted out a pattern I've used before. Fortunately, I made these pants in the same size (3) nearly four years ago for my nephews, so the pattern pieces were already cut. All I had to do was cut new fabric and sew, sew, sew. The inset fabric is left over from this project. The denim I had in my stash. These pants were completed within three hours of starting - the joys of little boys' elastic-waisted pants!

It felt good to be making something again :) I now have an 'order' from Romily for next weekend!

Blocks for Quilts for Leukaemia

It's not much to show for a couple of hours work, is it? But here they are, nonetheless, four red and white 8.5" unfinished blocks for Quilts for Leukaemia. The fabulous Clare put out a call for more blocks and I have heaps of red and whites, so I really wanted to make some more. Sadly, my piecing ain't what it used to be, so they're a little wonky. Hopefully they will make the grade though and be suitable for a quilt in the not too distant future.

Being part of a worldwide movement to bring a little cheer to the poor little kids fighting leukaemia is something pretty special. If you'd like to help wrap the world in love, head on over to the blog or Facebook page and find out how you can help.

Getting a head start

Well, this quilt was *supposed* to be finished in time for the Christmas just past. I made it so far as cutting the circles, pot and star shapes! Gifted to me by the very generous Helen, the pattern, called 'Christmas Baubles', is by Audrey and Maude.

I am *determined* to have this wallhanging finished for Christmas 2011, so I have made a good start. All the shapes are now machine appliqued after being fused to the top. I just have another dozen or so ends to tie in at the back before attaching the two borders and assembling for quilting.This quilt will be entirely handquilted in white perle thread - it's going to be my hand project for 2011. Any of you attending Sew it Together in Sydney in March will see me working on it then!

Today, however, there will be no sewing - I'm off to work (it's a public holiday here so no one else will be there) to do some study. I have fallen far behind on my literature review for my research project, so I'm devoting the next four days to it. Hopefully I will have cracked the back of it by Thursday afternoon because January is going to be such a busy month - I have two work trips (and counting), one to far north tropical Queensland (ouch the humidity) and one to deepest darkest Scandinavia (I really must do better planning!). Not to mention many new starters to induct and a whole bunch of work waiting for me to get cracking!