Isla's stitching

There is one good thing about the man of the house being on night work.  You can usually get some sewing done.  It means quiet activities so some progress has been made in the sewing department, although my binding took longer than planned it is now attached and ready for to be hand stitched.  Isla decided she wanted to do some stitching so she used threads from her new craft kit bag she received from her aunty for christmas.  I drew a heart for her and penciled 'Laloopsy' on some fabric for her. She took to it instantly and loved it.  Needless to say every time I got started on my own sewing I had to re-thread, tie off etc but it was worth it.  By the end she was doing it all and it looks surprisingly good for an eight (nearly nine) year old.  We then decided to put the stitchery on the ready made craft bag.  I appliqued it on with the sewing machine (roughly) so it was done in no time.  I really enjoyed our peaceful day and yes there were two other kids at home who made good use of the time (tv, computer)while I was ignoring them.  Very pleased with our results, lets see if we can do some more tomorrow.

Concentration



 

Work in progress

 

Laloopsies are in at the moment

(not sure about the plural spelling for Laloopsy)

 

 

The finished project

 

 

Very pleased with herself

 

 

Finally ready for slip stitching

 

 

 

 

 

time to complete some UFO's

Here I have a picture of just three of my UFO's.  I need to get something finished and I figured I should try shaming myself and putting the pictures up for all to see.  That way I will feel like I should get something done.

Well, the decision isn't too hard as I don't have enough of the red and white vine fabrice that I ordered specifically for the backing of the quilt done in Vintage Modern fabrics.  I'm really not sure how I did that, but anyway.  As for the swanky fabrics with chenille border I don't have any wadding so that's out too.  This just leaves the dresden plate quilt to be trimmed and bound.  So watch this space for a completed quilt in the near future. 

Christmas Dress for Isla

If definitely must be Isla's week.  First the pants, now a christmas dress.  Thank goodness Mikayla thinks she's too old for a christmas dress.  Not much more than a month and she will officially be a teenager. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And another day, another dress.  I had this fabric that I used for a top for Mikayla a couple of years ago and you don't need much fabric to make something fo Isla.  Instead of doing the ribbon or fabric tie this time i just used bias binding for the top at the front and back and then continued the binding around the arm holes to make the ties.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 



Grey Linen Pants for Isla

I finally got around to making some matching pants for Isla's grey linen pillowcase top.  I could only just get enough of the linen for the pants so I have found another linen in grey to make for our niece who's mum liked the first top.  So I had better get started so it will be ready for her birthday.

sewing up a storm

Last time I posted was the day before my birthday and that seems like ages ago already.  I've had a lovely time the last couple of weeks sneaking a bit of sewing in.  Doesn't it always feel good to get some sewing done.  A lot of the time I don't even bother starting because you know you're only going to have to stop to go to football training or something like that.  I find it funny how you can get one or two days  of good sewing in and then nothing, zilch, zero, nada, nought! 

I have made some nice little pillowslip tops instead of dresses (only because the first one I didn't have enough material for the dress).  I really like the double layered linen top I made for Isla and I'm hoping to get more of the linen so I can make her some matching pants.  I also made a couple of little pinnies that were a bit on the small side but I was pleased with them.  I hadn't tried the double yoke before and it looks lovely.  And a skirt as well.

                                                    

one dresden plate quilt finished

I have finally finished my Dresden Plate Quilt and I'm really pleased with it.  I used the Moda fabric 'Sophie' by Chez Moi.  I love the colours in this range.  I used a pattern from the Moda Bakeshop that is a table topper but just made it larger.  The Dresden plates are not really that hard, just time consuming.  The pattern for the table topper is called Flowers in the Park and can be found here
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/02/flowers-in-park-table-topper.html


                       

Making Progress

I am slowly making progress with my Dresden Plate quilt.  I now have eight dresden plates appliqued onto their background with only 4 to go.   After that I will have to do the circles (flower centres).  In the beginning I wasn't sure which would be the best applique technique to use.  Needle turn would be lovely but very time consuming and I suck at it(there's just no other way to put it).  Even a hand blanket stitch would take a while.  I decided to use zig zag on the machine and used white in the bobbin with clear thread on top.  They're looking really good and I'm hoping to finish them tomorrow.

Dresden Plate appliqued on to background



School Holidays

We had a great trip to Queensland during the holidays.  Hooked up to our new van we visited Glass House Mountains and from there we visited Australia Zoo and really enjoyed our day.  We headed back to Brisbane and the Gold Coast where we visited friends as well as Movieworld and Seaworld. We really enjoyed our new caravan and had a ball.  In fact the children were really quite bearable.  But back to reality Monday with school.  Gosh I hope I can get out of bed in time, better still I hope the kids do.  The older two just do not want to get up any more.

                             At Glasshouse Mountains Campground

This little guy decided to climb down his tree and just walk across in front of us like we weren't even there.

Three happy kids at Australia Zoo.  A really good day out.

I think the girls are starting to get worried here.  Yes, I am the only member of the family standing on the ground.

Poor Mikayla, she freaked when we got in the building and spent the next hour and a half outside waiting for us.  She did conquer the ride later though and then you couldn't stop her.



Mother's Day was quite hectic here as we had a big weekend of activities.  There was the School Fete (early start) all day Saturday and then the rodeo to attend on Saturday night.  On Sunday we were up and at it early again with the day out at Pony Club.  We  used this chance to pack a picnic lunch and have my mum and dad and my aunty to join us for the day. We had a lovely day even though the weather wasn't as perfect as it had been.

I did enjoy my handmade gifts from the children but I did make sure I was well looked after and organised my own little 'surprise' of these lovely books.  Maybe one day I will get a chance to really sit down and enjoy them.  I have made some PJ pants already for Isla but I do still have an unfinished quilt on my loungeroom floor.

And this was Isla's 'cowgirl' hair one day last week.  Everything relates to horses with Isla.

Weekend Sewing

Look what I accomplished this weekend.  It may be far from finished but it is started and its laying all over my lounge room so it will have to be completed some day.  I've been wanting to do a Dresden Plate Quilt for a while, so I had this Sophie fabric from Moda that I was going to use for something else.  When Friday morning came I decided to do this.  I did the cutting on Friday with a Dresden Wedge I had just received in the mail (ebay again).  So all weekend I would sneek off occasionally and do sosme sewing in between the normal stuff.  I've never been really good at that.  I usually like to be able to keep going and get finished.  But if I only do it that way I will never get anywhere.  So now I have to start sewing these 240 darling little petals together before I even think about attaching them to the blocks, but I am liking the look already.

Unfortunately I've had to leave this post until today as our internet had been slowed once again.  Thankyou to all the little people with their social media and ipods etc.  Back to a fresh month now so we'll see how we go.  I have now put four of the dresden plates togther.

My Tuesday Thing

Tuesdays are for Horse Sports.  Thats when I get to do 'my Tuesday thing' and take Isla's pony to school for their equestrian lesson.  If they have a horse and love to ride and a willing parent they can do 'Horse Sports' for their normal sports routine.  How lucky are they?  They have great instructors giving them so much training and instruction.  They do a fabulous job.  I am now quite good at reversing the float back in when I get home and now can even hook and unhook.  Lucky I only work one morning a week.

Isla and Cocoa Pops

Cocoa Pops looks much bigger this way

Back to School

Well it was back to school for my three yesterday and even though I love the holidays I must admit the peace and quiet was very nice.  After the rain 'Horse Sports' has been cancelled today so I got a reprieve there only to find out that number one has a football game at school.  They are playing Calrossy School from Tamworth.  So that will be the afternoon for me. 

I can't say I really accomplished a lot over the holidays although we managed to paint probably half of our fencing.  We have done along the roadside and the two gateways until we ran out of 'Kentucky Horse Black'. Unfortunately we can't get this in town so I will have to make a trip to Singleton at least.  Hubby went and bought 5 paint brushes as he anticipated the little people would help.  I think we worked with about 2.5 manpower.  Number 1 gave up a little earlier than we expected.  Number two was never too interested (no surprise there) and number three worked like a trooper, but then again she is only 8.

During the holidays my best friend and I had a day out and made the trip to Ikea (yep we drove 3 hours to Sydney just to go to Ikea) and it was well worth it.  We had a great day out and came home with a ute full of goodies (we were lucky to get through the checkout with our three trolleys packed with long boxes and all sorts of bits and pieces.  We are actually hoping (or planning) to go again in the next couple of months (shh, don't tell the husbands yet).

Well I didn't achieve much in the way of sewing over the holidays (only one curtain) but hopefully I will get back into it soon.

School Holiday Laziness

Don't you just love school holidays?  I do.  I do not miss the organising and running around that the school term brings.  No lunches, (funny how they seam to eat less when they're at home) no homework, not quite so much sport.  Netball is on holidays too but not football.  My favourite part is the 'no homework'  and the sleep ins.  I must admit though the kids are at a shocking stage of arguing at the moment.  The fifteen year old is the most trouble and really knows how to annoy the girls.  But I still find it better than school.  I've had fun looking at blogs and getting inspired by some beautiful quilts and heaps of sewing projects.

We had a lovely easter.  We stayed at Lake Glenbawn with friends.  We took the caravan and they brought their gooseneck (big thing that is usually used to carry horses but they have it set up for sleeping and kitchette with sink cupbpoards and microwave.  It's ideal.  The kids had fun in the muddy dam water as it was really quite hot, not like most Easters with the rain.  We had five kids (one of the older ones had a better offer) and four dogs and couldn't have had a more relaxing weekend. 

Olive and Sebastian really found it hard to relax.......

We realised when we came home that that was probably our last trip in our van as we have ordered a new one.  We decided to go for a Basestation as we think it could be great for taking all the gear and bikes (5 bikes on a bike carrier is just too hard).  Also the kids can have their own seperate room and TV.  Our van is nearly 4 years old and we have had some really great trips and seen a lot.  We have travelled about 30 000klms or more when you take into account one trip to NT and tip of WA was 14 500 klms and last year another 10 500klms to WA.  Hope we have made the right decision.

Last Chance Sewing Day

Our little group of sewers usually has craft every second Monday night but these days we often get too busy and seem to miss more nights than we actually have.  We also try to have the occasional sewing day at someone's house and we planned this one on the last day of term.  We only managed to start at lunch time due to work commitments, kids cross country, haircuts and everything else we have to jam in.  So we didn't get as much sewing done as usual, just a little, but had a few hours to get together at least.  I did'nt get any pics as we really didn't accomplish much but I had taken some pictures of morning tea.  We enjoyed our get together and will try again next term (its easier without the little people).

Special Mother - Daughter Time

As I mentioned the other day, Mikayla and I had cut fabric for a small project.  It was just right for a beginner 12 year old and her new sewing machine.  Well we finally got back to it and it is now a finished basket.  She was very enthusiastic and pleased with herself when it was finished.

All set to go

All cut out.  Mikayla's on the left and mine on the right

A work in progress

All done!  Mum's on left, Mikayla's on right.

Like I said this is a great little project for the younger ones.  If I can work this properly I will put the link here Pink Penguin Tutorial Fabric Basket

CMC Rocks the Hunter 2012

WOW - we had an awsome weekend at CMC Rocks the Hunter.  We are so lucky to live close by (only about an hour).  Rodney and I along with our friends, Susan and Jeff took our caravans (minus the kids) and totally enjoyed our three full days of music.  I wish I had thought to take some photos.  We arrived around 11.00 am on Friday ready for the gates to open at midday.  The sight of so many cars, caravans, camper trailers and all sorts of accommodation was amazing.  It took us a couple of hours to get in and the traffic kept coming for hours.  It was amazing to see all these camp sites popping up from the bare paddocks of Hope Estate winery.  We enjoyed the non stop entertainment from Friday to Sunday.  There were both great American and Australian artists.  The highlight for me being Derks Bentley and for Susan was Tim and Faith.  Not even the occasional shower of rain could put a dampner on our weekend and we certainly can't wait until next year.  We have come to realise that we will only have one more year by ourselves as our oldest boys will be pretty much driving themselves in two years time.

I don't know where the time goes but I really need to set aside some time for the sewing machine very soon I hope.  The weeks get so busy with the little people's (some not so little anymore) activites I just don't ever seem to get to the sewing machine.  Mikayla and I cut out a little project the other weekend and still didn't get to the sewing part. School holidays will be good for this as there will be no tutoring, football training, netball, horse sports at school(yes thats right I get to take Isla's horse to school every Tuesday) and Pony Club.  Only two weeks to go!  Hopefully in my next post i might have made something.

Girls Weekend Away

Each year a group of us have an annual weekend away with our sewing machines.  Usually we head off to Nundle where we have a sewing retreat with Kery Swain at her shop.  Unfortunately some of us couldn't make it this year so we decided to wait until next year again.  Circumstances changed for some and we made the trip to Craigmohr Mountainview Retreat for the weekend.  It was fabulous.  We sewed and we sewed and we sewed.  In between sewing we relaxed with a few drinks and some DVDs.  We were sewing by luchtime Friday and we were still sewing on Sunday afternoon.  There is no mobile reception which is lovely but a couple of husbands did manage to get through on Gai's landline.  Gai did an exeptional job and fed us all weekend (she is a fabulous cook).  Everyone had a relaxing weekend (no interruptions from the little people) accomplished some nice work.  I myself took the easy way out and used charm squares and a jelly roll.  I also finished the quilt I started last year with Kerry.  It should have a 'piano keys'' border bit I have run out of fabric and I do quite like it the way it is.  It is for Jack's bed and as he was 15 yesterday I think I had better get it quilted soon!  Here are some pics.....

Quilting

Yesterday I quilted a quilt top that I had made quite a while ago.  It was a gorgeous little table topper from Faeries in My Garden.   I stitched a simple quarter inch from the seams of the squares and ditch stitched around the embroidered border.  I got brave and decided to attempt free motion quilting on the outer border.  The idea was to stitch a similar pattern to the embroidery although it wasnt crash hot.  For the fourth and final side I decided to stand and found it a lot easier(still far from perfect).  I guess we need to start somewhere.  I will try and get some pics on here.

I have decided to try and finish all UFO projects.  I also finished slip stitching the binding on another quilt.  It had so little to go it should have been done a long time ago.

Heading off with girls for the weekend in the morning.  We will all be armed with sewing machines.......     Will let you know on Monday the results(hopefully some finished quilt tops).

Well, I finally worked out how to put a picture on the blog.  So here are the stools I was talking about.  Now I will try to work out how I got the first picture there and how to make it smaller.  Next time I might try to remember which font and colour I used so maybe all posts might look the same.  But, for now I had better go and get some groceries otherwise some people might starve.

Best Ebay Purchase Ever

I am sooo excited.  Yesterday we drove to Sydney to pick up my ebay purchase of four Le Forge stools.  The children were very annoyed but sometimes its mum's turn (you know what i mean:   football, netball, horseriding, swimming etc).  Dad is also very patient and I probably owe him, but I'm sure he will let me know.  I have wanted these for a long time and are just right in my kitchen but couldn't afford the price of new ones.  The brown and cream toile cushions are lovely as well.  All in all a productive day I think. (managed to even fit in bit of quilting in the evening).

Just the beginning

Well, I have had enough trouble setting up so far so hopefully I will improve from here.  No doubt I will learn along the way.  Unfortunately at this late hour and the fact that I have ignored the washing up and only half quilted a quilt that I thought I would finish, I  will close off for today and try again tomorrow. Wish me luck for the future in blogging land.