Quilt 3 ~ 2009

Wow! Never thought my to-do list would really work, but I'm diligently working my way through it between other bits and bobs and have finished the 2nd Quilt of the year (well 2nd big one ;)

This one is named "Flutterbye Friends" using the pattern Blue Lagoon from the Jelly Roll Quilts Book. It's for the newest arrival at Mothers Group, I hope her mummy likes it!

 

 

Finished Size 35"x35"

A quick and easy top to piece & I'm really glad I took my time with the piecing of this one as my seams are closer matched than my previous quilt! This one was a more suitable size for my newbie skills of FMQ. It's still not perfect, but this time around, only one section of the quilt puckered (can you believe I had to photograph that section!!!) but I'm happy with it. The people I've shown (non quilters and sometimes quilters have all said they think it's great :) )

Crochet Blankie

Not much progress to show of, more I want your thoughts on the colour of wool I have picked out to finish the blanket. The initial rounds are done in Light Pink and Dark Pink Dashing from Spotlight (no longer available) so I picked up two balls of Moda Vera Cupcake "Cream" and two balls of Basics 8ply "pink". I know this is probably breaking ALL the rules, but what else could I do when our local Spotlight had a really crappy range of colours & balls to choose from???

The plan is to finish the ball of dark pink, which hopefully will make several rounds in that solid colour then I will kick in with the cream and new pink? What do you think???

The Anzac

Adam Brand

"Built for Speed"

1914 began, he was working on the land with his mum and dad

He left behind his girl, joined up to see the world, it made his mother sad

He made it through the war, came back to town

To help his father work the fields and rebuild his life somehow

And everybody called him the ANZAC and that's still what they call him now

He set his mind to stay when his father passed away and the river ran dry

He said "I'll take care of you mum, I've fought before and won, we can win this fight"

All alone he'd work all day until he'd drop, until the place got back to best he didn't stop

There were times he thought he'd been forgotten

But every night at six o'clock

They'd stand for that man they called the ANZAC

And those who gave their lives for us

They'd stand for that man they called the ANZAC

For fighting for the land he loves

At the same time every year we all remember him

At the crack of dawn we stand as one for all our fallen friends

So drink to that man we call the ANZAC

We will remember him

So stand for that man we call the ANZAC

And those who gave their lives for us

Let's stand for that man we call the ANZAC

For fighting for the land we love

Let's stand for that man we call the ANZAC

For fighting for the land we love

We will remember them

I took Miss K to her first ANZAC day parade this morning! She was a little trooper, happy to sit in her pram for a couple of hours (fortified with snacks & drinks) her Pa's medals (borrowed) pinned to her chest, waving an AUSSIE flag & a slouch hat pin in her hat. She waved the flag as the men, women and children (& horse and a few scotty dogs) went past, clapping her hands when she saw everyone else was too. I was so proud of her.

We had to leave before the last post & a minutes silence was held (which is probably a good thing as I had already gotten a bit teary during the march and again when they sang Lest we forget, I think the Last Post would have undone me, I'm sure I will see it tonight during the news and have a little sob like I do every year) as the little one is now worn out and sound asleep in her bed, I will be having my own minute of silence and putting the above song on repeat (did I mention how much I love Adam Brand??? :heart: :heart: :heart:)  

Rant and a giggle

Had one of those days today ~ a screaming / teary toddler on my hands, who has slept for 2 MINUTES (this is from a child who sleeps 3 hours on average, and has done so since she was little and PLEASE don't tell me this is the start of dropping day sleeps, I'm hopeful that today's issues stem from a bulging canine tooth that's been elusive to date & an overtired toddler who can't settle as she's in hypo-overdrive... please don't take my hope away by saying otherwise! LOL)

Many hours of screaming, crying and general unhappiness, has resulted in one teary mumma...

Added to this:

Spotlight - GRRRR!!!! I went with the intention of walking out with ONE (or maybe 5 balls of wool) the particular one I wanted wasn't there, grrrr!!! And what annoys me the most is that it's been advertised in the latest issue of Get Creative (which I believe is a spotlight magazine is it not???) Damn Spotlight.

Big W - GRRRR!!! Went in to grab another 2 balls for the blue and cream granny square quilt I'm working on, they had the blue not the cream. Grrrrr!!!!! Ended up grabbing the browny-beige colour instead of the cream. I will alternate the squares, so it looks as though it were meant to be

I couldn't find anything remotely suitable for K's Blanket (I've used up my stash of dashing wool) so I grabbed some Cream in the Cupcake brand & a darker pink in the Basics wool from Spotlight.  Not terribly impressed with this, but I figure it will have to do ~ and as the recipient is only 2... she won't pick up on it...

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Daddy, sensing I'm past the end of my tether has been a sweetheart & has taken over the overtired toddler duties for a bit while I calm down & get some perspective. I've a cup of tea, bloglines to read & after reading Bec's blog and this post, her last line really struck a chord not all days are stress free but there is good in every day ~ thank you Bec, you've made me stop and smell the roses.

So the good in my life today (apart from the many balls of wool that fell into my trolley at Spotlight???)

THIS made me laugh Amy's Trolley ~ thanks to Amy and her friends!

Cable Scarf - finished!

It's done! I decided to finish this one off last night while watching an episode of 90210 (S4) so while watching the agonising antics of the young love triangle between Brenda, Dylan and Kelly, lusting over Brandon & remembering fondly all the clothes I too used to wear back in the 90's (& shuddering internally)

I even weaved in the ends this morning :)

 

 

NEXT!!!

We are off to Spotlight this morning to pick up more wool :)

Cool nights & knitting

My bestie requested a washer for her mum for mothers day, so I went searching for some patterns and found this little pattern "elvish leaves" from this website here! Compliments of ravelry - I am loving ravelry!!! 

Cast on at 3pm and finished by 9pm, in between looking after the toddler, cooking dinner, eating dinner & showers. Hopefully my friend likes it & if not I'm sure I can always find a good home for it HERE!!!

 

Wool - Moda Vera Bamboo Cotton ~ colour 13 Green (it actually looks nicer IRL) $ 1.99 / ball

Quilt 2 ~ 2009

FINALLY!!! Precious Gem is finished (fully!) Pattern was "sparkling gemstones" from the Jelly Roll Quilts book (thanks Kayscha for the loan, I now have my own copy!!!) This little quilt is going to my new niece whose name is Jewels (thought the precious gem went nicely with her name!)

Honestly this quilt is perfect for beginners - because I got a bit panicked with the really early arrival of Little J, I rushed through my piecing and have ended up with many points not matching ~ yet when it's fully pieced out into the top, it gives it a really nice arty tiled effect that looks as though it's supposed to be wonky!!!

~ The front ~

 

~ The obligatory arty shot (don't mind my washing in the background) ~

~the back ~

Lessons Learnt

• take time with different weights of fabrics as they will skew.
• Backing should be BIGGER than the front if your FMQ it *blush* I've had to bodgy the borders - two of them are smaller than the others :o
• Hand sewing is a bitch LOL, my finger is developing a nice little callous!!!

Getting colder... bringing out the needles

As it's slowly getting colder here at the moment (it got down to 20 degrees 'celcius' last night - yes, to me that is bleeping cold!!!) the knitting needles are beckoning and I'm getting into the knitting frenzy once more. I really hope to finish a few projects this year!!!

Remember this scarf I did last year for me then decided it was too small & thought it would suit Miss K  this winter. Well I pulled it out this morning and FINALLY sewed in the tails *blushing* that it took me so darn long to finish it off. I've put it in her drawer for the approaching winter and it fits her perfectly :)

 

This week is a case of finishing off those fiddly projects & get some crossing off happening on my current to do list. Best move my backside now and get some photos of the recently completed quilt, then it's back to the sewing machine to make some progress on my wall hanging swap as I will NOT leave it until last moment (well I probably will... I work best under pressure!) I've finished the last roll of light pink for my Granny Square Quilt so am hoping to get to Spotlight this Friday and see if I can find something to match it... maybe some cream??? I've started to add the peach, but am not sure if it's too much difference? Anyways, Miss K waits patiently for 'Kaylee's blankie' every night I pull it out and do some more on it and this morning I caught her with the crochet hook pushing it in and out of the blanket 'knitting too mummy' awww, yes darling - you sweet thing :)

Crochet Progress

Corrie gave me the idea to continue in rounds on my granny squares! Quick, Easy and you can pick it up, put it down whenever! This will hopefully be a cot blanket for Miss K when it's finished! Speaking of finishing, not too much longer and I will run out of the light pink wool :( I have a peach colour here that I think I will make into several rounds as a border then will have to invest in some cream to finish it off. So far it's measuring - 21" square.  

Wall-hanging Progress...

I've settled on a design for my wall hanging for the [annual] EB swap.

I had originally decided on a block from my Quilting block bible. After drafting it out and a test run by Foundation piecing, which might I add went very wrong ~ I ended up putting it on the backburner & started thinking of new ideas for my partner... I couldn't find anything 'just right' and what was in my head kept coming back to this original block. So after I managed to find an hour last week, I sat & really checked out EQ6 and have found a block that is pretty much identical to my original block (the squares turn slightly differently) but ironically it's the name of my new block that sealed the deal for me :)

Without saying too much and giving the game away ~ it fits my swappee perfectly... now the waiting game to see if she likes it (I'm hoping she will)

Just did a dummy run on the new block and it is bellisimo!!! I am totally confident in my choice of design and fabrics for my swapee... {note: you will find me in a screaming heap in a months time when it turns out she doesn't like it and never speaks to me again} So confident in fact that I don't think I need to swing this idea off our sounding board Ruth (although I may just email her for the heck of it - so she gets a sneak peak!!!)

Photos - well I just can't. It will give it away, so guess you will just have to wait and see :)

Tweet, tweet, tweet

Yup ~ after months of hearing about it, avoiding it, seeing it start to pop up on blog entries, avoiding it & hearing my hubby ask why I'm not yet twittering??? (yes indeed, he really did...) I've jumped ship. I've no idea how to work it out, or what it's all about, but hey I'm there!

https://twitter.com/carrose

Once I work out what to do now I'm there ~ I'll let you know!

 

Oh and I've joined Ravelry ~ awaiting my invite, I'll see you there (eek!)

First Quarter at a glance...

Late December ~ I wrote this this of achievements... let's see how I've gotten on so far :)

 

In 2009 ~ this is what I want to achieve:

• World Peace  oh sorry thought I was acting in Miss Congeniality for a second there, although world peace would be nice!
• Learn, practice and conquer the art of CROCHET ~ for now I totally suck at it and I think Miss K has run off with one of my crochet needles... lucky it's plastic!  April Update: I've learnt it, practiced it and well conquered granny squares, chains and trebles... does that count? OH and I found that needle... turns out it wasn't taken by Miss K, I'd shoved it in a ball of wool!!! Whoops
• Make time for more sewing and maybe even try to sell a bag or two or three... April Update: I've managed to find & make time for more sewing - haven't got to the selling yet... there's still time.
• Write weekly blog entries for both blogs April Update: well this one I'm managing to update once a week (four entries in that day!!!) the other I'm lacking...
• Conquer Photoshop Elements April Update: yeah, yeah there is still time left in 09!
• Practice more with my photography April Update: eek, sadly lacking in time - this is a priority!
• Write a short story or two April Update: started but not yet finished.
• Read more books April Update: happy with the quantity read so far.
• Complete some of the Quilts in the WIP pile April Update: does starting and finishing NEW quilts count? No? Oh well... there's time.
• Learn to do lace knitting April Update... still waiting 
• Bake goodies at least once a week April Update: sadly lacking
• Grow a vege garden that doesn't die (the last one is nearly gone :( ) April Update: can I delete this question?
• Keep up to date with the housework roster April Update: again delete question?

 

So far so good... I think I managed to add more to my 2009 list somewhere, once I find that - I will converge the both and update again :)

A new meme "back in my day"

I really enjoy reading the many meme's that float around Blogland & although I readily admit to being too slack to join in, I've been hankering after my own for a while now... a light bulb flashes!

Join in (if you want) 

"BACK IN MY DAY"

Remember when you were a kid and your mum would say "back in my day" and your immediate response was 'here we go again...' well today I got chatting to my Accupuncturist & was horrified to find myself saying "when I was a kid..." it turns out she is younger than me by 6 years & we had a great time reminiscing about fashions & trends of the late 80's thru to mid 90's. So each week I am going to share a 'back in my day' thought! You've been warned!!! & before I start - the really sad thing is it's only been a couple of years since my 30th... imagine how bad I will be when I'm closer to 40 or 50!

 

Back in my day ~ you could buy a lolly for 1c... seriously (yes I do remember when 1's and 2's were part of the currency!)  We'd walk down the road with 20c and walk away with a bag filled with yummy lollies. Teeth, pineapples, strawberries and cream, hard candy shaped like chalk. Milk bottles, sherbert cones (yummy), pineapple lumps (double yum)  Gosh makes me want to buy a bag of lollies - but what's with the taste, they just do not taste the same anymore :(

Eggies ~ Happy Easter!

 

Some Eggies I whipped up yesterday! The purple one is for Miss C who we will be visiting today & the blue one is for my little girl! Thanks again to Fiona for sharing the pattern!

 

 

As you can see "googie egg" has been well received by my little one this morning, so far he has been given kisses, cuggles & tried his skills in a game of football. He even went for a walk in the dogs mouth :o

And he hasn't even cracked a shell yet (gosh my sewing must be improving!)

Crafted out!

Silly me... thinking I could get cracking (geddit, geddit) on not one but two eggs late this afternoon! I found the pattern on Fiona's Blog for an Eggie and of course I couldn't stop at one. I had a production line going (for the whole 2 I did make) One for Miss K and one for her little friend Miss C.

They are done & look pretty darn cute (although a wee bit scary & the sewing is nowhere near as good as the one's on Fiona's blog!) but hey I like them. Photos tomorrow seeing as I don't have the cables here with me right now.

Another granny square unravelled and re-crocheted and folks I have to admit - I'm pretty crafted out right now, thinking I may take a well earned break tomorrow and Monday and try to put this house in some semblence of order before getting cracking on the cooking for Monday's feast with the inlaws :)

Until then ~ bye, bye & safe Easter!

Please ~ Drive Safely this Easter.

I know not all my blog readers are from Queensland, but if you have a moment ~ please register your support for this site:

http://sharemystory.qld.gov.au/portal/index.php

Having been in a nasty accident Easter Sunday 11 years ago ~ I know all too well the dangers of the road. And I am one of the lucky ones. I have my life. My passengers still have theirs & the other vehicle ~ well it was a trailer with no-one at the helm  

Register your support, get the word out there and please, drive safe this Easter and always.

Baking

Did some baking last week!

Much as I'd love to show you a photo, I'm not sure the crumbs in the bottom of the slice tin would be worthy of your viewing :)

Get on over to Corries' Blog & check out her one cup cookies ~ give 'em a try, I know you wanna!

Have conned a choc-mallow slice recipe off mum & once I work out the correct ratio of butter, I'll be sure to share. It's positively to die for! 

Being Organised

When your a sewer or crafter - being organised can be important...

Those who think that - never met my daughter (or dog)

This is her effort after 2 mins in the sewing room yesterday (you can just see her by the door & yes that is the Bud lying smack in the middle of all my pattern pieces she'd pulled out!)

Luckily I can work with a little mess :)

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& on the topic of Organisation... I have a sad story to share (well not sad as in crying sad, sad as in OMG I am so sad to think that way!) I bought myself a little thread box organiser years ago with every intention of putting all my cross-stitch & embroidery threads together in one spot. It came with a thread winder which I've never been able to work out as every time I put it on the edge of the container... it would wobble and make winding just one skein of thread unbearably long. So I gave up and either wound it by hand or in later times, have just stored the thread in whatever I can find. As you can imagine it's quite messy.

Trying to find a thread for my mum the other morning, in walks my (very clever) dad and picks up the winder thingy and says "what's this" I reply "oh that is a silly bloody thread winder that doesn't work, don't bother with it" so he picks up the container and promptly inserts it on the edge of the container so that it is sitting flush where the squares meet (meaning three sides were in the base of the winder making it as stable as can be) and guess what it now winds my thread wonderfully. I'm finally winding all my odds and ends of threads together so it can FINALLY be stored all together - talk about sad!!!

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I'm off to unravel three granny squares and re-do them the correct way :)

Easter Prep Photos

~ Plastic Eggs for Miss K ~ filled with yummy goodness!

~ A special carton to store the eggs (ok my collage skills don't go too far... stop laughing!) The inside is painted in separate colours to match the colours of the eggs above! (ok so the colours aren't exactly matching - but hey she's only 2!!!

~ A bunny finger puppet, I got the idea from a post over at Meet me at Mikes (I think) ~ he's a little scary huh?

 

~ Easter Crafting ~

becomes this...

it's for my niece's first Easter!

Easter Crafts ~ Friday

Well it's been a busy start to the Easter Break so far! I was home alone today & again tomorrow with only Miss K & Bud to keep me company while Big J puts in the hard yakka on the family boat :) I decided to make the most of this opportunity to start & complete some Easter crafting!

Today I managed to do this:

• hand sew 3/4 of the binding on SIL quilt - YAY!
• Make a softie Bunny for my new niece
• Finish painting the egg carton for DD
• Crochet another granny square
• Start sorting cross-stitch threads

Not bad considering the little tyke decided on just over an hours sleep... photos to follow :)

Crochet

I've seen on a few blogs of people lamenting that they can sew, quilt, cross-stitch, embroider and knit - yet they cannot work out how to crochet.

I too was one of these lamenters.

Until I found this wonderful book!!!

Now I can say "I can crochet"

Ummm... had a slight problem with this to start with as my treble stitches were somewhat... errr wrong. Apparently you DO NOT wrap the yarn around the needle twice then put it thru the 3sp hole... whoops! Once I figured that out, I'm pleased to say my stitches seem a whole lot neater - if you look closely you can see where I have picked up on this mistake and started the correct method of trebling. I've completed 3 squares already - how quick is this craft??? Am loving it.

Easter Gifts

I wanted to get the kiddies at Mothers Group a little something for Easter this year I've tried utilising as much stuff I can find around the house. If only I could have found more of these cheep chicks (geddit???) on my travels! As it is, I've only three of these chicks, so they will be used in Miss K's Easter gift (more on that later) 

 

I found an easy folded box tutorial online yesterday (I'd link it, but it's on the other computer) I was thinking a kinder surprise and 3 little choc eggs resting on some cotton balls, shame I cannot find anymore of the cheep chicks (they look cute sitting on their nest of eggs ~ unless someone can link me on how to make some???)

Budgeting meets Easter

AND FAILS...

I diligently sat down last night and did our 'approx' budget, I am spending a little more than we earn each week, so I am trying to find little ways to cut back on everything in order to free up more money for sewing and craft related purchases ;)

So I toddle off to the shops today with every intention to buy EXACTLY what was on the to-do list... well let's just say I am a sucker for a good bargain & Easter.

No 1 priority was to find some of these little cuties...

Do you think I could find them - no... They had them at Crazy's last week and I looked everywhere and finally found them at the Newsagent for $8.95 (box 6) - HIGHWAY ROBBERY! I ended up grabbing a couple of littlies for $1 each and am hoping to craft something with them this week :)

So now I have to think up some other budgeting ideas ~ utilising the extra stuff that I had no need of that sort of fell into the trolley!

Sick of me yet?

I considered putting these on my personal family blog, but decided against it as they are just too cute & had to be shared with the crafting world (although they aren't remotely crafty!!!)

This is where our Staffy curls up of a night time before bed ~ having a snooze, on our daughters fold out couch, using Iggle Piggle as his cushion... think I might need to make him a real bed for Winter!  

 

Quilting Show Off

I know I've been super slack with my pictures of late, but honest I am quilting - not just talking about it. Introducing my 2 Butterfly Fling Quilts so far... I love that even though they are both using the same jelly roll, they have a completely different look :)

Bottom one is Precious Gem which is for my new Niece J

Top one is for mothers group ~ any ideas on a suitable name? I was thinking Flutterbye Friends???

Blowing a gale & pouring rain

This is my view from our office window ~ it hasn't stopped raining since we woke up & it's blowing a gale. Wishing I could curl up with my romance novel & eat a tonne of chocolate, under a home-made quilt right about now... but I can't because

1. I have to work & DH is watching to make sure I do it too :(

and

2. I would have to walk thru the rain to get back to the house & I can't be stuffed... although I am feeling a wee bit peckish... why did I not think to bring food with me this morning :( 

Practice will make perfect... will it?

The proof in the pudding... hmmm - yum pudding! Here's the granny square I crotched last night :)

Pretty cool huh?

To Do List (immediate)

1. Quilt: Precious Gem - Hand sew binding 3/4 done / label [finish: Easter]

2. Quilt: Flutterbye Friends - Binding / Hand sew binding 1/2 done / label [finish: Wed after Easter]

3. Knitting - Scarf for me [finish: my birthday May]

3. Knitting - 1 Large Washer 2nd large Washer, 3rd Large Washer, 3 small washers [finish: mothers day / august]

4. Quilt: Wallhanging Swap [finish: mid may YIKES]

5. Knitting - Socks for me [finish: my birthday May]

6. Sewing - Crayon Rolls for MG [finish: K's birthday June]

7. Sewing - softie for my niece [finish: Easter]

8. Easter - craft boxes for MG, Egg Carton & contents for Miss K [finish: Easter]

9. Crochet - Granny Squares [finish: whenever...]

10. Crochet - Granny Square blanket [finish: whenever...]

11. Journal Covers - To sell [eek]

12. Dolls Quilt - To Sell [eek]

13. Change Mat - To Sell [eek]

14. Quilt: Wallhanging *secret squirrel*

This should keep me busy for a while :)

By Gosh

I think I done did it... I managed to crotchet a granny square ~ Yay! It looks a bit (very) wonky and as I didn't tie off each colour, it's starting to un-ravel, but by gosh - I think I can (finally) say I now know how to crotchet!!! Very damn slowly, wonder if it gets quicker? 

Picked up my copy of EQ6 today, looking forward to finding 10mins tomorrow loading and having a geezer at it :)

Finished piecing the top for another Butterfly Fling Quilt, this one is for the new baby girl at mothers group! I also picked up the backing and batting today, so am hopeful of getting a start basting & quilting this weekend!

Finally finished the FMQ on my nieces Quilt, now I just need to hand sew the binding and label it for an Easter gifting!

Feeling very crafty right now, next on the list is the wallhanging swap with the EB Newbie Quilters... & some knitted washers!

Sewing machine is going to repair man as soon as I've done the FMQ on the 2nd bubby quilt, so Easter might see me either pulling out the old girl (1970's Bernina) and whipping up some bags or knitting quietly on the lounge whilst watching a 90210 marathon - I've just realised they've released S5 and I've still got S4 from Christmas to be watched, seeing as though it's a certain persons birthday next month... Surely I'm a shoe in to get the new box-set???