Carrose Creations

EB Doll Quilt Swap - Sent

2009-11-08T14:02:00.001+10:00

This was the little wall-hanging quilt I made & sent to AJ

All hand quilted except for once around the outer edge!

I even attempted a hand quilted pinwheel on the front centre block!

EB Doll Quilt Swap #3

2009-11-07T14:55:00.001+10:00

Today is opening day for the EB annual Doll Quilt Swap. I joined in last year and it was great fun watching everyone revealing what they had been seeing sneak peaks of over the previous 2 months. This year has been no different - there has been some stories that girls were waiting till the stroke of midnight to open their parcels!

I was lucky enough to have Jade as my swap partner & I received this gorgeous (wallhanging) quilt from her!

It's a wonky log cabin design done in retro Katie Jump rope fabrics on a white homespun background! I've been eyeing off the wonky designs for some time now & had been meaning to do one - but now I don't have to!!!

It is beautifully made and so ME. Gosh I'm such a lucky girl to own this quilt!

Isn't the quilting gorgeous! It's so neat and straight (something I aspire too ;)

Love this funky label! I actually thought of doing something similar!

Love the little hanging tag - aren't those buttons so cute!!

Thank you so much Jade! I love it and can't wait to hang it on the wall of my sewing room!!!

Hats & Skirts

2009-11-04T13:51:00.001+10:00

November is here along with the hot weather and I am in need of a hat!

A lazy days hat (excuse the dark tired circles under my eyes... it was a self portrait taken after a LONG day out!)

And in reverse... love these spots!

Of course I was on a roll, so I finished the froggy one for my dear little Miss K

(please excuse the blurry picture + the dummy, we have one tooth to go & she wasn't giving up her num-num just for a silly photo shoot!)

The reverse which is a nice green swirly (pictured in my recent Blogtoberfest)

It seems Teddy takes a better photo then both of us combined ;)

Kylie asked for me to share some tips on making this pattern... to be honest I had the first one cut & half sewn for months as I couldn't get my head around the circular sewing. The first attempt was caught in several places and I threw it to the side intending to never finish it. BUT I will say

1. Make sure you mark the quarters of pieces accurately (I originally used a fading quilters pen that faded by the time I wanted to match my markings. The second time I used a bright blue pen that doesn't fade (but is washable) this seemed to do the trick & because the 2nd time around was more accurate, it seemed to line up better & less bulk

2. When attaching the crown to the band, pin it all in place then sew with the crown on the top (the first one I did with crown on bottom & it tended to fold under the crown... it looks vastly better with the folds appearing on the band.

3. Following Sadie & Lance' advice to leave a gap when sewing the brim to the band is fast & easy to do! I don't do hand-sewing well, but this way works wonderfully, just ensure you leave enough of a gap to turn the whole thing inside out! With a half inch seam, it's easy to catch all seams under when doing the final top-stitch!

I think that's about all that bothered me while sewing it. I'll definetely be making more of these!

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AND because once you start rolling you can't stop...

A skirt ~ I looked at the lazy days skirt pattern this morning... & it is pretty much similar (except for 3 differences) to the one I whipped up out of my head a few weeks back. This version just looks neater as I've used quilting cotton instead of a thin poly-blend AND thicker elastic in the waist!!! I did a different hem to it, this was similar to a pattern I did yonks ago.

Which has got me thinking about copyrights and selling. When does an idea become your own. If for example I add a frilled bottom to bottom of the poly cotton skirt I made a few weeks back ~ can I sell this? I have followed NO pattern for it - the frill is something that has been done on a tonne of patterns I've seen in my travels? Whose to say 'you can't do that' if I haven't followed a pattern... Anyone know the rules & would like to expand?

Regardless, I really love this skirt! Except I think my elastic needs to be tighter!

Blogtoberfest #31 ~ I made it (perfect)

2009-10-31T14:54:00.001+10:00

31 days has October AND Blogtober(fest) and I made it ~ without missing a post! Thanks to Tinniegirl for hosting it again in 2009 and I can't wait to join in again in 2010! Here are a few things that I think make blogtoberfest the best fest around!

1. I find myself CREATING more as the month goes by, due to added pressure to find something to blog about

2. I find myself BUYING more... pretty parcels are the best fillers for daily blogging!

3. I find myself READING more... adding new blogs to my expanding bloglines & making me feel more worldly ;)

4. I find myself WRITING more... well duh, of course - which really isn't that hard for me, although my written journal has been sadly neglected for most of October!!!

Thanks heaps Cathy! I had so much fun!

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And for my last post of the Month ~ I was hoping to show off the carved pumpkin that DH was going to do for Miss K for Halloween! Except we weren't about to pay $24 for a (single) pumpkin at Woolworths :o highway robbery woolies!!! Shame on you.

So you will have to make do with a viewing of my completed (and far from perfect) "Make it perfect" sunhat!

Modelled by Tenderheart Care-bear because Miss K is asleep and it is a little too small on her...

I was so impressed with how easy this came together, I have cut out a further 2!

Blue floral & blue spot for ME

Pink Frog and Green Swirl for Miss K

I even offered to make one for dear hubby, but he flatly refused to wear one... hmmm I might make him a fishing one for Christmas just because Tee hee hee...

Blogtoberfest #30 ~ Note(s) to future self

2009-10-30T15:38:00.001+10:00

1. DO NOT TOUCH the sewing machine when suffering from the common head cold (aka man-flu)

2. DO NOT attempt to sew a pattern while suffering the common head cold (aka man-flu)

3. HORMONES and SEWING MACHINES do not mix. Refer point 1 and 2 and replace the words head cold with hormones.

4. CHECK that the *insert profanity here* bobbin has not run out of thread BEFORE cutting into the side seam of the brim and turning your creation inside out, only to find it all fall apart on you...

Hoping your final days of Blogtoberfest are faring better than mine ;)

Blogtobefest #29 ~ Pay it forward!

2009-10-29T19:00:00.001+10:00

Last year I signed up for a couple of pay it forwards, except I lost track of who and how many I signed up for... *whoops*

Turns out Selina's PIF was a definate YES

And that's what I said when this gorgeous little gift arrived in my mailbox today!

& the best part was contained within ~ this gorgeous little Christmas wall-hanging that is far too cute to be packed away each year. I think this one will be staying on my walls!

So in keeping with the Pay It Forward tradition. IF you would like to play along and pay it forward (leave me a comment & I will book in the first three comment(ors)! The rules are simple. I will make you a hand-made gift and send it to you sometime within the next 365 days. All you have to do is pledge it on your blog to Pay it forward and make three someone's something within the next 365 days. And so on, so forth. It's all about sharing the love.

BUT (there is always a but) IF I don't get any takers to play along with the pay it forward (I realise this meme has been doing the rounds & some people have probably paid it forward time & time again...)

I do solemnly pledge that I will choose THREE people who have commented on any of my blogtoberfest posts (and there WILL be exactly 31 posts) and I will send you three a pay it forward gift. If you want to share the blog love, then by all means you can do so, but you are in no-way obliged (consider it ME fulfilling my pledge) so come on.

NOTE: if you want to Pay it forward, please say so in your comment, if NOT just comment as usual!

Blogtoberfest #28 ~ quilting again

2009-10-28T20:12:00.001+10:00

Don't go getting yourself excited by my blog title!!! Although this technically counts as part & parcel of Quilting ~ I didn't even make it to the machine today...

4 blocks all cut up ready to piece as part of the EBNQ Round Robin Swap. Only 2 more blocks after these four, then we will get a parcel of 12 individual blocks returned to us in time for Christmas *yay*

Meanwhile ~ my head is thumping, my throat is sore... OMFG I think I'm coming down with man-flu ;)

I'm tired, run down & excessively hormonal - I'm thinking it's time to go relax on the couch, with a hot lemon & honey tea accompanied by the FULL block of chocolate in the fridge ;)

If only I had some stamina to keep working on this little sweetie!

Only THREE days to go for Blogtobefest ~ bought to you by Tinniegirl.

Blogtoberfest #27 ~ raindrops on roses

2009-10-27T19:48:00.001+10:00

brown paper packages ~ tied up with string!

Oh how I wish I could keep the contents for ME!

Aren't they gorgeous!

Blogtoberfest #26 ~ nothing to see here...

2009-10-26T19:58:00.001+10:00

I signed Miss K up to another day at daycare (she now goes 3 days in total) so I can allocate a day for working from home, 2 days at my old/new job (which incidentally is going well, I am really enjoying it!) so today was spent doing bookwork and drinking coffee. So nothing crafty to see here folks.

I did however start this book this morning.

Recommended & leant to me by my SIL, it's another vampire saga. I'm really getting into these vampire books, reminds me a bit of my late teen phase with Interview with a Vampire saga in the late 90's! Anywho, what I'm keen on knowing is this is book 1 comprised of 3 short(ish) stories. Do I count each story as ONE book in my 2009 Read 50 challenge? I think I might. Must bump the figures up somehow!!!

Blogtoberfest #25 ~ The Haul

2009-10-25T12:21:00.001+10:00

My BIG haul from the Quilt show yesterday... consider yourself warned - a picture heavy post abounds ;)

Better Homes & Gardens were there (again) selling these goodie bags. It's official, I am a total SUCKER for bags and freebies. In my defence - the bag is totally waterproof and WILL be used for my daughters swimming lessons ;)

Not to mention the current issue of BH&G which is a jam packed full of Christmas crafts and food.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

Which led me to buying this pattern:

with 20 individual stitchery designs + a table topper pattern!

Then mum bought me a copy of this pattern:

with a further 12 stitchery patterns!

Then of course I just HAD to buy this gorgeous Christmas fabric + some itty bitty bells to use on the above decorations! Luckily mum bought the other pack of fat quarters, we are going to share the fabric between us.

Of course when I saw this cute Teapot, I had to get it for my Christmas tree (I buy a decoration or two every year!)

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Moving on from the Christmas theme... Mum bought the two vintage look green fabrics for Miss K, I am planning on whipping up a little outfit for her... maybe she can wear it on Christmas day!

The super cute Pink Froggy fabric and Green swirls were also a gift to Miss K from mum, this is because Miss K was entranced by the froggy quilt that was on show in the fantasy section of the Quilts and would NOT shut up about it ALL DAY!!! The blues are two 30cm pieces of flannel that I am going to use as backing for some bibs!

After seeing the gorgeous fantasy quilts, I was in a trance and simply had to buy some *bling* fabric ~ I think this cute fairy fabric and matching pink silver fleck fits the bill nicely.

Then we went past a stand that sold Mellie & Me patterns and fabric packs. Of course I've had poor Hilda sitting in the cupboard for some time now, awaiting the perfect fabric so I can make her up. You see Hilda is pretty groovy and not just anything would suffice! So I now have a pack of groovy "austin powers" groovy baby fabric (finally!)

Ok now I'm getting a little embarrassed at the sheer volume of stuff I bought yesterday... but honest, I spent less than $200 (I think!!! gawd, I hope I spent less than $200!!!)

The Kids Quilts stand was G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. I could have done some serious damage there, but restrained myself to a mere $60 (including the fairy fabric above!) This little cutey found her way into my basket & I have every intention of making her for Miss K's Christmas present... or maybe Birthday present...

The gorgeous purple and green fabric included and I bought the ABC pattern too!

And how gorgeous are the Ella & Skysie patterns & kits? I swear I was a little tired by this stage which is why they fell into my basket and came home with me... thinking of that beautiful lavender smell ~ hmmm... makes me want to sleep & have sweet quilting dreams!

& some quilt labels for those times the printer runs out of ink and you simply must have a label RIGHT now.

Last and most probably least, an assortment of odds and ends that were a just because I can buy!

Do you like the little Teapot brooch on the right ~ it's so cute!

Blogtoberfest #24 ~ Sore Feet

2009-10-24T20:00:00.001+10:00

The phone rang at 8am this morning, mum & dad were on their way to the Quilting & Craft Fair that was in Brisbane this weekend {how on earth I managed to forget or miss this event I don't know} & wanted us to join them! Miss K & I put our running shoes on and were out the door by 8:24am... not a bad effort considering we were both in our PJ's (or poo-jays as she calls them) ;)

An hour later we arrived, along with every other woman in Brisbane.

6.5 hours later we walked out of the convention centre ~ hip pockets lighter, pram 10 times heavier. Tired Mummy grabbing a coffee to tide her over on the hour long trek home, a doubly tired Miss K (entering overdrive - I'm so tired, but must keep running phase) doing circles around mum & dad (literally) and a tired and much broker mum & dad probably happy to wave good-bye & go out for a relaxing dinner sans the cheeky chatterbox & her mummy!

I'm seriously broke. I'll be even broker if I decide to go ahead and purchase that machine I was eyeing off... Tomorrow I will share my loot - prepare yourself for a picture heavy post ;)

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Last night we met our best mates for dinner on the waterfront. Fish & chips (I had prawns and calamari cause I don't do fish) It was a gorgeous night and oh so relaxing. A perfect end to a busy week!

Whoops on the blurry shot!

Blogtoberfest # 23 ~ Arts & crafts

2009-10-23T13:36:00.001+10:00

The toddler & I have been busy today, I awoke this morning after a night of tossing and turning to find myself cranky and tired. Too tired to attempt arts and crafts... but the hours before lunch stretched ahead of me and with a bored toddler at my leg hounding me to watch BUGS LIFE for the 5ooth time (this week alone) I finally relented and let her go wild with the arts and crafts box. In hindsight, not my smartest move considering my house was only cleaned YESTERDAY and is now promptly trashed ~ whoops!

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Part 1

After pulling everything out of the box and dumping it on the floor and having to re-pack the whole arts & crafts box, I told Miss K to choose ONE thing to do. She decided she wanted to do a plate picture with blue glue!

A paper plate collage with absolutely NO HELP from mummy. Isn't she so clever.

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Part 2

I pulled out my copy of Trish Kuffners' "The arts and crafts busy book" and found an activity for Soap Clay.

I of course was too lazy to find a soap bar and grate my own, so used

1.5 cups of Lux flakes

Water

Food Colouring.

Miss K requested Green Soap today

Mixing, mixing, mixing

The idea is they can use it like clay and get their hands (& mummies kitchen bench & kitchen floors) dirty in the process. We shaped it all together and patted it down in a plastic bunny mould.

Which is now residing on the bathroom window-sill to dry out, hopefully we will have ourselves a lovely green bunny cake of soap in a few days time ~ Soap making is so much fun!!!

After cleaning up our soapy mess, which is actually very easy to clean ;) we moved onto

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Part 3

Roller Painting

From the same book. We folded A4 sheets of paper in half and used old medicine droppers to drip paint on one half. We then folded it in half and used the rolling pin to smooth the page together. Open the page & you have yourself some funky prints, these will look good for our Christmas cards this year ;)

Or if you are bored, drip some paint directly onto the rolling pin and roll it along the page ~ this was fun!

For future reference - it might be easier if mummy controls the eye-dropper & perhaps uses the suggested paint from the book (they use tempera paints, I used crayola paints - harder to squeeze up) a certain little person is covered head to foot in paint and mummy has lovely splotches of red and blue on my jeans and feet & legs (actually I had it smeared up my arm too at one point ;) such fun!

& you know what - mummy is now feeling so much more relaxed and not quite as cranky. Some days I guess we just need to let go of our emotions and step back and smell the roses and see the world for what it is, through a childs' eyes. Hope you have enjoyed your crafty Friday as much as me ;)

Blogtoberfest #22 ~ For the dolly

2009-10-22T18:48:00.001+10:00

For her 2nd Birthday, Pop built Miss K a cradle for her dollies.

She also got a dolly as part of her gift

& mummy was handed a bag of fabrics to put together the bedding - yes I know, your probably wondering why my uber-crafty mum didn't just make it herself? Well she had a broken finger at the time (a nasty incident between the dog, the lead and her finger) so I was given the job.

Except ~ I've been slack.

FINALLY got around to doing something about the bare cradle yesterday (to be honest, I was sick of Miss K knicking off with all my washers and hand-towels) so 1/2 hour later we whipped up a mattress

(excuse the dodgy top stitching, I used 2 layers of batting and it was quite a feat getting it under the machine ;)

and a pillow for dolly to rest her head

Doesn't she look so darn comfy :)

Blogtoberfest #21 ~ Stitching & Watching

2009-10-21T16:47:00.001+10:00

So much I could have been doing today, instead priorities come first... I sat & got stuck into hand-sewing the binding on the Doll Quilt whilst catching up on recent episodes of The Vampire Diaries which is currently showing on Go (Channel 99)

Photo from here

Nearly 3/4 complete, hope to finish it tonight and label it ready to be mailed end of the week - a week ahead of deadline :) YAHOO!!!

I also pieced the backing for Liam's Quilt ~ ready to be basted, which I might get around to doing tonight (or I might not) and I've been busy sewing some (dodgy) accessories for Dolly (Miss K's little doll) but you need to wait till tomorrow to see the by-product, I need to eek these posts out a little as we only have 10 entries to go in Blogtoberfest ~ How are you going? I haven't missed a day yet (but there's still time!!!)

Blogtoberfest #20 ~ Art deco... bugs

2009-10-20T19:17:00.001+10:00

As you can see from my side-bar, I am quite the Work In Progress Queen... sometimes I wonder how my dear hubby puts up with me ;)

Anyhow this is my cross-stich of Art Deco Bugs that I started years ago and never got around to finishing (story of my life)

I had every intention of having this one finished & hanging on my first born's wall... except that didn't happen, let's not mention that I had over 3 years from deciding to try for a baby to actually bringing a baby home, nor will we mention that that same baby is now nearly 2.5 years old... whoops! Guess I will have to get back to him one of these days! All I have to go is the full black & silver frame and the backstitching - easy peasy... except all that black framework using 3 strands of cotton is S.L.O.W. going... one day!

The cross-stitch and all the charts currently live in this little home-made stored bag which was another of my many birthday pressies from Nanny :) I love that I have kept pretty much everything she ever gifted to me... well nearly everything, we won't mention the granny knickers :)

Blogtoberfest #19 ~ this & that...

2009-10-19T13:44:00.001+10:00

A busy crazy but good morning here already.

There's been baking with the toddler...

Lots of sewing...

which has resulted in a completed ( :o ) yes completed quilt top!

A spot of gardening...

Ok I lie... I didn't touch the garden, this little (bulb) flower keeps flowering every year & I never tire of it's beautiful colours ;P

& lastly some therapeutic hand-stitching

I have a problem with my hand-stitching. None of my stitches are the same size nor are they straight...? and let's not even mention the back... let's just say I hope my swap partner is FORGIVING and as it's hanging on a wall we won't mention how some of my stitches have become vertical lines instead of all horizontal - whoops *blush*

But you know what... I LOVE IT! Not all my points ended up matching, not all my hand-stitching is straight and ok it's a little bubbly cause I obviously haven't learnt how to baste properly yet without causing hills and bumps... but I like it still for all it's imperfections. Let's hope my partner likes it too.

Now I'm off to finish the hand-stitching while drinking a cup of tea and watching the latest installment of The Vampire Diaries!

Blogtoberfest #18 ~ 68 days to go...

2009-10-18T11:03:00.001+10:00

AND LOOK WHAT'S ON SALE ALREADY...

Let's do the math...

2 magical elves per day,

68 days to go

136 total elves to be consumed

I need to buy 11.333333333 bags between now and Christmas....

@ $4.48 a bag (of 12)

That's a total spend of $49.28

= BARGAIN!

Reader note: if you are trying to work out what I'm on (or what I'm on about) please refer this post & another little mention on this post which hopefully should clear things up & explain everything...

Blogtoberfest #17 ~ Retail Therapy

2009-10-17T15:44:00.001+10:00

I HAD every intention of going to the shops today to buy one bag of coffee beans (yes we ran out AGAIN... but I did only buy 200gms last week, it was never gonna last that long!) and a DVD each for me & hubby. What can I say, but I felt I needed some retail therapy... {whoops, now let's hope hubby dearest isn't reading today, else I will be in HUGE trouble!!! hee hee hee!}

~ Some reading material for ME ~

A chic-lit on the bottom, 2 vampire sagas (Sookie Stackhouse aka True Blood & The house of Night, which my SIL assures me is a brilliant read!)

See that top one, no it's not the Twilight Series!!! It's actually a collectors tin of 4 hardcover journals - for writing... Me, journals & diaries are a bad mix in the same room together at present... I have TOO MANY! but they will be filled eventually!

~ a close up of the tin ~

~ each journal has the same cover art as the books ~

~ Within are pictures, quotes from the books and inspirational quotes from other books ~

Blogtoberfest #16 ~ Tribute & a Colour run

2009-10-16T15:49:00.001+10:00

It's hard to believe it's been nearly a month since my Nanny passed away, most days I am still struggling to comprehend and I think it's harder on me now than it was around the time of her death. Simply put, I can't pick up the phone just to call her. Usually it was her I rang on weekdays to get sewing tips or to help me out of a sewing stuff up!

Feeling a bit low today (& running out of things to say for Blogtoberfest 09) I thought it appropriate to share some of my crafty memories of my Nanny.

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From very early on in life, Nanny taught herself to sew - her mother was a dressmaker & Nanny too became a dressmaker. She spent her early years working at a local store that had a sewing room upstairs. This love of sewing blossomed and she was still altering clothes for friends of friends up until earlier this year. She spent many years making bibs (or stoma covers) for members of the Lost Chord Club - I am talking THOUSANDS of them, she made these up until a few years ago (I should mention, she was a laryngectomy, hence how she came into contact with this society) She also did a lot of the school sewing for both the primary and high school in our home town and occasionally for the catholic primary too. I wonder just how many of my friends, unknowingly wore one of her creations... although as our high school uniform was brown and yellow - I'm sure like me they've blotted out the memories...

Every Birthday or Christmas, a home-made gift could be found. This set of placemats were given to me sometime in my early 20's and they are so special - not just because they were made by Nanny especially for ME, but because most of the fabric is from her scrap bin and most were scraps from her own clothes she made & wore for herself or friends. Special!

Every New years Day Nanny would spend some time on her sewing machine because she always said "What you do on New Years Day, you will do for the rest of the year" without fail, year in year out - she sewed on January 1st. Guess what I'm doing January 1st 2010 ~ SEWING!!! LOL

She also had a saying that "she who dies with the most fabric wins" judging by my overflowing cupboards... I could win this award ;)

She loved her craft, loved to knit and crochet and always had a basket next to her lounge chair with some craft in it to keep her busy. On my very last visit to her in July, she was busy showing me her scarf she was currently knitting and was still toddling off across the road each Monday morning to spend the morning crafting with her friends.

Now that's devotion!

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HELP! I washed my beautiful chenille quilt yesterday before work, I took it out of the machine and noticed the reverse (light pink flannel) had tea coloured splotches all over it... obviously one of the chocolate fabrics (or the brown chenille ran)

I threw it back in the wash with a packet of this... it didn't work. If anything it's worse than before.

At least now, the back is completely & evenly tea-coloured flannel & the white chenille has splotches of tea stain on them too :(

I couldn't have bought the fabric this colour if I tried. It's not DREADFULLY bad, I can live with it, I'm just disappointed because it was so super cute the pink backing and now it's this off colour. Any ideas on what I can do to reverse the effects?

Please help!!!!

MORAL OF THE STORY: Pre-wash ALL fabrics before making a quilt of this size :(

Blogtoberfest #15 ~ Tea parties & a quilt...

2009-10-15T07:16:00.000+10:00

Yesterday morning, in an attempt to utilise every spare scrap of moment I have available in October, I sewed more triangles together for my Doll Quilt Top (as part of the EBDQ Swap) While I sewed, Miss K kept herself busy in what she calls her "door" (it is my daybed on it's side) having cups of tea with her dollies and Dorothy! Arriving home after Mothers group later in the day, I realise we must have been in a rush, this was all set up in my sewing room

Complete with a half eaten bikkie anyone?

Oh to be 2 years old again - such simple pleasures!

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Yesterday, I also had the pleasure of meeting the newest addition to our mothers group, Master L ~ who incidentally was equally excited to meet us and slept the whole 2 hours we were there ;)

Of course now it's action stations to whip up a play quilt for this gorgeous little bubba. I've pulled out my American Jane jelly roll and removed the 4 'floral' fabric prints from the roll and am raring to start (AFTER I finish the EQ Swap)

I'm striving for a simple design & am basing it on the Quilt "Bars of Gold" from my Jelly roll book.

Except I am doing blocks of 5 with a plain sashing surround (instead of one long row as pictured here)

NOW my Q to you all Quilters... do you think a plain white backing would look ok with this range? I half considered a dark blue or even yellow backing, but as the print is busy enough, I'd like it to stand out IYKWIM? To be honest, I'm a bit over the white backing, but it's so darn effective that I keep on returning to it - tried and tested and all that jazz you know?

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Oh and this turned up on my doorstep last week - totally forgot to blog it ;)

Like I have any time left on my hands to make anything out of it... YET!!!!

Blogtoberfest #14 ~ I Love to shop!

2009-10-14T15:23:00.001+10:00

I received an email last night stating that one of my orders was being shipped via Aust air express & would need a signature on delivery... ETA 3 - 5 days... I did the calculations in my head and worked out it *should* arrive at the end of the week, in which case I'd be here & could sign for it, smuggle it in the house and none the wiser dear husband dear! LOL

IT CAME TODAY! AND They delivered it to our office and he had to sign for it... I got some 'splainin' to do now!

A great big box filled with:

Stackable Tins for the sewing room! I really need to re-organise my messy room once more!

A travel adventure book, gosh knows why I bought it... it's not like I travel anywhere fullstop. I was thinking it might come in handy for a kiddies story based on adventures, convenient that I can write as I go. I've become even more obsessed with my writing and assorted journals of late.

And a pencil - just because!

Want some too - Go check them out here at Smiggle!

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The smiggle delivery would have been more than enough for a post today. BUT THEN I received ANOTHER parcel from my postie this one from Retromummy, having been so happy with my order from her last week, I had to go back over the weekend and buy more!

This time it was a pack of Far, Far Away fabric in pink!

Of course my reasons behind purchasing this had EVERYTHING to do with this gorgeous little creature on one of the fabrics! Mum - would you like to put in an order for something in this fabric - tee hee hee.... (My mum just loves frogs!)

A Janelle Wind pattern of journal covers ~ can't wait to get cracking on these... wonder what everyone will be getting from me for Christmas this year...

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& FINALLY! (are you also breathing a sigh of relief that I'm nearly finished this post?)

I've had this book on backorder with the Book Depository simply forever. It's been out in the local stores for sometime, anyhow to cut a long story short, I checked up on my backorder (that had been charged already) and found that they were out of stock. So I shot them off an email and asked if I could please cancel the order as I could buy it locally and I would purchase something else... I have my eye on the 2nd omnibus of The Elm Creek Quilt sagas ;) No problem, so off to the shops this morning & I purchased this one to read at my leisure (after I get thru all the other books in the pile!!!)

That's it. No further orders to arrive this week :( might have to start looking around some US shops next :) LOL

Blogtoberfest #13 ~ Playdough

2009-10-13T20:53:00.002+10:00

~ another chapter of Toddler Crafts (entry #2)
Pack of 100+ numbers and cutouts purchased from Aldi for $9.99 (BARGAIN!)

Seems everyone you talk to has a tried & tested PLAYDOUGH recipe! This is one from my gorgeous Aunty J... I stuffed up my first batch & I think she took pity on me cause she delivered a still warm batch for my Miss K on one of our recent visits!
Playdough recipe
4 cups plain flour
4 cups cold water
2 cups salt
8 teaspoons cream of tartar
4 tablespoons oil
food colouring
combine flour,salt,oil,cream of tartar in bowl ( I use an icecream container)
Place food colouring in cold water and add to dry ingredients
mix well
cover container with cling wrap and microwave for 7 minutes stirring again halfway through
usually when it is cooked there is a bit of a crust around outside ditch this
Knead when cool enough to touch
I flour up the bench and knead like scones
this has great texture and lasts for ages in an icecream container
This is a good sized batch and is still going strong a few months down the track! Thanks Aunty J
Of course - if you get stuck, you can always refer to the recipe on the back of the cream of tartar container...

Blogtobefest ~ bought to you by Tinniegirl and dedicated to all the mums of toddlers ;)

Blogtoberfest #12 ~ Receiving and still going...

2009-10-12T16:33:00.001+10:00

The postie knocked on the door this afternoon and gave me a parcel that I had to sign for. I'm wracking my brains as to what the heck it could be... I spent the weekend spending money so was assuming it was something from one of those orders.

I came inside ripped the parcel open & then read and double read the label before it finally sunk in that it was MY Quilt as part of the EB Doll Quilt Swap {ok I admit I am a little slow on the uptake this afternoon ;)} I stopped myself from tearing open the package inside... although I am totally itching to open it & see what design my partner has used... but we are doing a group opening on the 7th November ~ how many days away is that now?

Usually I am so busy working on the quilt I am sending that I forget that I am actually receiving one in return :) anyhow - it put a smile on my dial today - so thank you to my partner (who shall remain un-named at this stage so as not to giveaway who got me ;)

As for the quilt I am working on...

I may have inadvertently forgotten that triangles and I don't 'do well together' WHOOPS! That's a whole lotta triangles I have cut out there - for the FIRST block! Hee hee hee.

Reckon I can get all these point to match up this time around?

And I have altered the colours used ~ hopefully this is cryptic enough for my partner ;)

Blogtoberfest #11 ~ FINALLY!

2009-10-11T19:55:00.001+10:00

Today was a lazy, wet & cold Sunday. Which really sucks as I have a clothes line FILLED to the brim with dripping wet clothes... hopefully tomorrow will bring some sunshine & they will all dry before the working week begins again :)

Most Sundays you will find us on the waterfront at a little cafe enjoying the like of this...

But that was last Sunday. Today I had to play catch up on the books for our business. Which meant I was chained to the computer most of the day drinking copious amounts of coffee (& yes... I did buy a small bag of beans on my travels... so disaster day 2 was averted ;)

PLUS I finally settled on a design for the Wallhanging today (for the EBDQS) I think my partner will like it, but I'm disappointed that I ended up dropping one of the chosen colour ways, oh well ~ more fabric for the stash me thinks ;)

Blogtoberfest #10 ~ pulling my hair out...

2009-10-10T19:27:00.001+10:00

21 days to complete a Wallhanging / doll quilt for the EB Doll Quilt swap I joined up for! Eeek... I'm just having a drama settling on a design!

Design 1 ~ I picked 2 contemporary blocks from EQ6. Now don't get me wrong EQ6 is a wonderful program EXCEPT, it doesn't tell you the BEST WAY to sew the blocks together. After mucking around with foundation piecing, then just piecing the block, I whipped one up in the fabrics I chose & at a mere 4" it was turning out beautifully until I joined the whole thing together and not one of my points met in the centre *sob-sob* the fabrics I chose blended together perfectly & it's got the oomph I was striving for in my quilt... except for the darn non-matching points. I just cannot send it as is & I think no matter how much time I spend on it - there is no way I will be able to get the blocks how I want them. I even considered passing it off as a wonky block, but don't think it will pass muster! What do you think?

Design 2 ~ I found the most perfect pattern in one of my Nan's old quilting books. Except doing a test run tonight I am finding it's a bit out of my capabilities. There is so much more I need to learn about quilting!

I have design 3 floating in my head which involves applique which I normally don't touch with a 10 foot pole... otherwise it's gonna be back to the drawing board tomorrow on EQ6 trying to find a design that is both "oomph" and easy(ish) for me to handle!!!