Hoot hoot

The babies keep on coming! My cousin Liz recently gave birth to her second son, so I decided that he probably didn't need many clothes and that I should make something else for him - I decided upon an owl softie from Handmade magazine (vol 25 #8), thinking it looked pretty straightforward.Well it was, but my goodness it was fiddly. Silly me ignored a similar comment on Adds' blog and lived to regret it! My owl is a bit wonky - he leans to one side and don't look too closely at the embroidery! Fortunately, I don't think babies care much about that! Of course Romily now wants one...we'll see!

I did a couple of appliquéd onesies as well, so hopefully the parcel will be well received.I am doing well. We're 36 weeks along tomorrow...on the home straight! I finish work in another two weeks and can hardly wait. I felt terrible yesterday morning, so took the day off. I am all well again today, so I think it's just being pregnant!

And yes Mum, I'm taking it easy.

A Finish and a Start

Well I bit the bullet, so to speak, on Sunday and made a start on the single bed quilt I'm going to make for Romily (she won't be moving into a full size single for a while yet, so I have plenty of time!). I cut lots of strips of aqua and lime green and sewed them into stripes in preparation for chopping and rearranging for an internal and external border. It's funny to start from the border, but that's where I need to start.

Post-modern seaweed?

I calculated I need 400 inches (!) of strips for all the borders, which worked out at 30 strips all up. I tell you what, an afternoon of sewing in straight lines sure made a lot more progress than an afternoon spent making jeans for nephews!


Speaking of nephews, I finally finished the softie bears I have been making for them also for their birthdays. I had almost finished one of them a while back, but I just couldn't get the face right, and had ripped it out twice, so was a little disheartened. I finally got around to attacking them again tonight and tried something different - I am much happier with the end result. I decided close enough is good enough, as, no doubt, these toys will be discarded with all the others once the excitement of the birthday has died down!

It's nice to have finally finished the softies - they were fun to make (well mostly, anyway), but I much prefer sewing clothes and quilting. Much prefer!

I definitely have the sewing bug though. I have bought around 10 metres of dress fabric for pants, skirts, dresses and jackets for Romily, as well as a bundle of patterns (and that's in addition to what's in Ottobre!). I am NOT ALLOWED within 50 metres of any real or online fabric shops until the end of the year! Not with the way my credit card looks at the moment, at any rate...

So that means the doll quilt swap I've joined with the EB Quilters (there's a link in the right menu bar) will have to be made from stash - actually that's quite an exciting prospect, as for the first time I have developed a stash! It's tiny, to be sure, but it's a stash nonetheless :)

A very cruisy start to the working week this week - I've spent the past two days on a 'working in teams' workshop. I've been working in teams for the best part of 20 years, so have a lot of experience, but not a lot of understanding of the theory behind it. I like doing these workshops every now and then - they're kind of a touchstone and remind you of the most effective ways of working with people coming from different backgrounds/values/outlooks than you. Very useful. And, as I am taking this Friday and coming Monday off, I only have two days left in the office this week and a short week again next week. This is a very good thing, coming on the back of one of the busiest months I've had at work in recent memory :)

However, I unfortunately did not make it to the movies last night - I discovered the French film of Lady Chatterley's Lover (see previous post for links) runs for three hours! That's three hours of subtitles on a Monday night after a long day spent in training, resulting in mushy brain syndrome - no thanks! It'll keep for DVD!

Sure is quiet around here

No crafty pictures to share, so one of my gorgeous Romy bear will have to do!

Well I am a recalcitrant poster of late. One post a week doesn't seem like much, but I just don't get the chance to do it more often than that. That combined with the fact that I work 40+ hours a week and have a very-nearly-two-year-old to entertain when I'm home!

I delivered the little kitty to Molly on Saturday, after Romily finally agreed to let go of her! I had to keep telling her that it was Molly's kitty and that hers was safely at home.

I have put the other two bears aside for the moment, as they're not due for delivery until September, when it's the twins' birthday. After making a big fabric purchase online at equilter.com (thanks Tracey for the inspiration!) for a single bed quilt I want to make for Romily, and after drawing up a design for the Christmas projects I'm going to start soon, I decided to make a start on a cute coat I am making for Romily. She probably won't be able to wear it until next year (it might be a bit big, as it's a size 3-4), but it is going to be fabulous. It has a matching hat too. I can't wait to finish it and have her try it on. I'll be sure to post a pic, as the fabric is just the best :) The pattern has been relatively straightforward so far, but I'm up to the collar and facing, which looks a little tricky!

I am sick again. Oh my goodness. And no, Tracey, I am not 'up the duff'! It's a headcold and I had to come home early from work today with a fever, shakes and dizziness. Now I have a very sore throat and have been sneezing off and on. Fab. Ah well, let's hope it's a quick one.

A thank you and another finish

First of all, a big heartfelt thank you to Anne who very kindly and generously shared with me her simple stars pattern. The very gorgeous Anne also sent me a darling little pincushion, which is truly gorgeous - and much needed. I ate my chocolate one! Thank you Anne :)


And I finished the second Kitty, who will be soon going to live with Molly, who is just over a month old. I am happier with the face this time around, but I thank you all for your kind comments on the first one I showed!


Life continues on here - I have managed to catch some kind of tummy bug which is making me feel blergh, but it's not making me feel really ill, so it's not too bad - and we're all busy little beavers. Hence I have very little time for blogging. Seems to be going round lately!

Softies a deux

'Two little softies, sitting in a tree, h*u*g*g*i*n*g'

Okay, so making little stuffed toys is making me go a little gaga. But they have been fun. Apart from the eyes! I am not good at eyes. The pattern calls for buttons, but with under-3s it stipulates to embroider the eyes (as buttons could be pulled off by enterprising babies/toddlers, eaten and choked upon). Oh dear - my stitchery skills leave a lot to be desired.

However, I am not getting hung up on the details - the kids will love them. Romily is already madly in love with her kitty.



I put Kitty on the rail of her cot last night and when Romily woke up this morning the first word she said was 'kittyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy'! Kitty has been carried around all day, given 'food', been put to 'bed' and been hurt ('ow, poor Kitty') and then kissed better ('all better'). A success :)

(Black Bunny's eyes are not embroidered, as you can see. They are bits of felt stitched tight through their centres)

Black Bunny will go to his new home this weekend when we pay a visit to baby Jack. The other three softies will be finished hopefully over the coming week (or two). I am dreaming up my next project and have drawn up an initial design. Lots of HSTs - haven't done them yet, so it should be fun. I hope!

No monkey business...

...but plenty of funny bunnies, pretty kitties and brazen bears.

My little softie buddies are coming along - they are all made and stuffed - but so far remain faceless and nameless. They're also not completely dressed - I've ties, scarves, hair and other bits and pieces to make and appliqué onto the bodies.

They're all destined for different homes, except for the two bears, who are going to my nephews for their birthdays in September. I think I'll probably have finished them by then!

The bunny (big ears) is going to baby Jack, who is around two months old, and one of the kitties is going to Molly, who is about three weeks old. Romy will get the second kitty. She'll be beside herself when she sees them all - I'm not letting her touch them, as I want them to go their new homes clean! No sticky lolly fingers thanks very much :)

These have been quite fun to make, but I'm also looking forward to starting on the next quilty project. I think it'll have to be the Christmas table runners I was going to make for last Christmas!

Romy Bear

Romy Bear is one of my many terms of endearment for our little cherub. Very fitting apparently, as she went gaga for the first softie I'm stitching - a little bear. We've had a lovely, relaxing weekend, slow enough for me to find a couple of hours to getting my softies project started.

Here is the first bear at the 'just-stitched', no-stuffing phase. Looking a little bit flat!


And here it is after stuffing, with the Romy tick of approval! I still have to stitch on the details, including the face, but Romily was in no doubt that it's a bear.


Here is a bunny in the same 'outfit' - he'll be going to a different home to the first. I then have three more to do, which may have to wait until the weekend, as I have a horrendously busy (short) week coming up at work. My boss is on leave for a week and I'm 'it'! Fortunately this added responsibility coincides with the finish of my probationary period, which I passed with flying colours - in fact my boss asked if he could clone me. I guess they're happy with my work!


I got all domesticated today and baked some vanilla crunch biscuits. They are very crunchy and very yummy. Romy helped too, which was just lovely. She is a good helper and likes 'turning' (stirring). Long may this phase last too.


Rom is definitely on the mend, which is good. Two days of toddler grizzle is about all I can 'Romy Bear'!

Back to work tomorrow. Best get an early night tonight. Who knows what the week may bring.

Fabric for animal friends

I went fabric shopping on the weekend, for the little softies I'll be making over the coming weeks. I didn't buy 'proper' quilting cotton, but the next grade down, which is much cheaper (obviously). I'm pretty confident it'll be just fine for this project though - and I loved the colours and variations. I'm making five kitty/bunny/bears, so it should be fun mixing and matching the colours/patterns. Should be!


I thought I'd also post a couple of photos of my increasingly wacky daughter, who is now firmly a Vegemite lover. (For those of you who don't know what Vegemite is, it's an 'Australian delicacy' - a condiment/spread you can put on toast - it's savoury and a very little goes a long way. Not many non-Australians are fans, but most Aussies are raised on it! It's made from yeast extract, among other things, and is chock full of Vitamin B. A bit like Promite or Marmite, but not at all sweet. You can see from her cheeks that she's pretty keen!

(Gotta love those blue peepers!)

I dropped Wonky Geese around to baby Campbell on Sunday. My friends just loved it, so I'm very pleased I made it for them! Campbell promptly had a little milk spew on the quilt, which horrified his parents, but made me giggle. I told them that it was his now, and he could do what he liked with it. His mum looked very relieved when I told her the quilt is machine washable!

I got a little bit clucky (again) today, when I went to visit my friend, who's in hospital with her brand new, one-day-old gorgeous little bundle of joy Molly. She is so sweet and I had a cuddle for about 20 minutes. Heaven! No quilt for Molly though - my friend is a bit short of $$$ right now, so I opted for baby clothes instead. Molly will also get one of the softies. I did have fun buying baby clothes again - they're so little and gorgeous.

I'm off to Melbourne yet again tomorrow and Friday for work. Then overnighting with my parents on Friday night and back to Canberra on Saturday. Little wonder I'm so tired all the time. My doctor is sending me for a battery of blood tests next week to see what's going on with me - I haven't been quite right since I had food poisoning/gastro at Christmas time, so he suspects Glandular Fever (mononucleosis) post-viral fatigue. Ah well, who knows what it is - hopefully I'll start to feel 'myself' again some time soon!