After Christmas

I think this may just be a post without a photograph. I am still feeling a little under the weather and have spent all day today sitting or reclining. Yesterday I spent the day sewing a dress for Miss 23. For some reason it didn't occur to me to take a photo of it and now she has taken it with her to the Young Single Adult convention. It was labeled "easy" on the pattern and that was correct! Very simple and very quick to make (although nowhere near the one hour dress my sister made for one of her daughters.) I quite enjoyed sewing the dress and am planning to sew some more clothing this week. Last Wednesday I got some dress patterns for a tiny little girl and would like to make some of them for the new grandchild due in a couple of months time. Lots of plans and ideas. It must be nearly New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! This is a shaggy quilt I made for Christmas. That Australian sun is awfully bright. The colours don't look anywhere as rich in this photo as they do in real life. I just love these quick shaggy quilts. The one I made a couple of years ago is pressed into service almost every day - even in summer. I would like to make a bunch more for my house one day. This one went off to Christmas at Mum's house, which we always celebrate on Christmas eve. I wasn't able to go because I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a tummy bug. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow. Grandson started the tummy bug earlier this week and he is an excellent sharer because his Mum and Dad have both had it as well as Mr 9 and myself.

This year has really rushed by, but I am really glad that it is nearly over. I love the whole ending and beginning thing. The whole new start thing. I never really made any goals for 2009, just couldn't get my head around it last year, but I feel that 2010 will be different. So, I have a week or so to ponder about and set some goals for 2010. Enjoy your Christmas break!

Christmas decorating

We had my Bradley's family come for dinner last night and so Christmas has started for us! We had a good evening and even managed to visit with Bradley's brother Stuart and his family who now live in Croatia via the computer and skype. Miss 17 and Miss 23 took on the task of making our home more Christmassy. I love what they did!

Miss 17 was the garland maker. Of course, she did use some of Mr 15's 6 foot 3ness to help her get the garland set up. Miss 23 did the rest of the decorating. I absolutely love the Christmas tree wall hanging in the photo above. I received it from Maria in the Christmas in July swap this year. It is something I will use every year! I have been having a break from swaps of late, but I am still using and being affected by the swaps I have done!

Miss 17 nestled some of my Christmas birds in the garland too!

My contribution to the decorating today was this bauble cluster in our dining room. I got the idea from a "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine. You can also see my tipsy snowman on the wall that Pat sent to me last year! I still have Christmas sewing to do and Christmas day will see a parade of people for each meal, so I will be busy. We will visit with my family on Christmas eve and then will have people come by for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Christmas day. Hmm, better get off this computer and get working!

English paper piecing

This is my first attempt at english paper piecing. I started it when I was 14 and these fabrics are the scraps from clothing sewing. I see my dress and skirt, Dad's shirt, Mum's shirt and the dress and skirt of my sister. Working on my pies and tarts has made me think about my hexagons. I am enjoying the pies and tarts a lot. I find hand sewing very relaxing. I am actually getting into some sort of flow with the pies, of course that doesn't mean that I have finished November's block yet! I'll get there. I am concentrating on Christmas sewing at the moment. Actually I'm really quite enjoying it. Back to the sewing!

New bag!

There is lots of sewing and creating going on here at the moment. Christmas presents are being created every day. It's an interesting atmosphere. I think it encourages everyone to create. Miss 17 made this bag one day last week. Not sure if it was the creative atmosphere that encouraged her or not. Apparently she had seen a similar bag in a shop, but didn't want to pay that much money for it! The cute fabric is one from Ikea. Hope you are having a creative week too!

Some stitching ...... and some unpicking!

A little bit of stitching today. I kept making mistakes though and had to unpick. It's not quite finished yet - more tomorrow. Today was the last day of school for Miss 12. Yay!!! I think it was a hard day for her because she is moving to a new school next year and today the realisation of that began to sink in. She has had a wonderful year and done really well at school. The year has passed so quickly, so now it's just two weeks till Christmas!



I have also been making a new bag to keep my pies and tarts in! Isn't this the cutest fabric? So glad to have made something for me! It has a pin cushion in the center and the elastic is to keep my bits and pieces secured. I'm off to put all my pies and tarts stuff in it.

It's Christmas at our house!

Not just Christmas, but magic as well! Mr 15 has been up and down the ladder setting up our Christmas lights. I am really happy with what he has done. So now we are Christmassy inside and out. I am busy making Christmas presents (me and my sewing machine) and thinking about our Christmas celebration for 2009. I don't think it will be an entirely handmade Christmas for us this year, but it will be close! Back to the salt mines! (I mean sewing room!)

Journal Covers

Miss 17 had her awards day today and is now finally done with school. She wanted to give her teachers a gift so I hit the Moda bakeshop and found these journal covers. They looked much better once I had put an A5 notebook in them! Miss 17 baked chocolate chip cookies to go with the journals. The covers used a honey bun (I think mine was beach house?) which I had never used before and now am madly in love with!!! One honey bun would make 15 of these covers! I only found it necessary to make six, three for girls (top of the photo) and three for boys (bottom of the photo). Hmm...... they were a lot of fun to make and now I am thinking that they would make quite nice Christmas presents. Think I need some new honey buns!

Pies and Tarts

I have started my new block of the month from the Patchwork Apple. It is called "Pies and Tarts" and involves english paper piecing and applique. I have very little done so far, but I am enjoying it! One and a half pies completed. (Ninety-eight and a half to go!) No tarts so far. I think this BOM is going to be a challenge!

The Dress and a Graduation

Left to right, Miss 19, Miss 17, Mr 21 (Yep! He had a birthday this week!). This is Miss 17 in her formal dress. Graduation was immediately before formal so we all got to go to the formal venue to celebrate the end of Miss 17's high school career with her. (This photo is Miss 17 with her two siblings who have moved out this year. The kids still at home miss them so much!)

Left to right, Mr 15, Miss 17, Mr 21. Miss 17 was very nervous about graduation because she had been invited to give the valedictory speech. She did a wonderful job! Of course I would say that because she is my kid, but others said it too last night. She wrote a brilliant speech and presented it beautifully.

The back of the dress. This morning she got up and said, "Well that's it Mum. I now have nothing to live for." said tongue in cheek of course! Then we figured out that her Year 12 results are only 2 or 3 weeks away and (hopefully) University offers are just over a month away. She is all psyched up for uni now - hope she gets into the course of her dreams! Kind of makes me feel old to have child number 5 graduating from high school and being just a few month off of adulthood. Where does the time go? I'm off now to clean up my sewing desk. It looks like a bomb hit it. I am such a messy sewer!

It's December!

Isn't this the cutest paper bag? Yes! It's December and we are beginning to think about Christmas. This is our first Christmas in this house. We are planning to decorate our house with lights, but haven't quite got that far yet. This evening Mr 15, Mr 9 and I went for a walk around our neighbourhood. Turns out we live in a place where lots of people decorate their houses with lights! Still sewing Miss 17's formal dress. Just putting the skirt together at the moment. Goodnight!