Melbourne

Miss 14's concert was in the city. We have lived here in Melbourne for some four months now, but haven't ventured into the city much. It was all quite pretty on a dark and rainy Thursday night and I couldn't resist taking some photos. Those are my men in the last photo. Mr 17, Mr 10, and my Bradley. Miss 14 was already in the concert building being nervous while we got to have a look around.

Thursday night excitement.

I meant to post this yesterday (Friday), not sure what got in the way. The last couple of weeks have been full of clarinet playing, rehearsals and sound checks for Miss 14. She had the opportunity to play in the Eastern Region Youth Concert. For some reason it completely clashed with her exams, but she participated anyway and had a wonderful time. She played in the 88 strong Concert Band and they sounded great. She has never done anything like this before so it was a special experience. Oh. She is the one in the blue beret. What can I say? She's an individual. It was a fantastic night. There were over 700 people performing from 53 schools. Awesome.

This was interval and a bored Mr 10 and Mr 17. Lucky we have phones! We got home at 11:45pm and I was tired on Friday morning. Miss 14 however got herself up, readied herself for school and said goodbye to me on her way across the road to her ride for school. She did crash when she got home though. She was fast asleep by 6:30pm. (Well she had had two catchup exams that day.) So what was the final outcome? Miss 14 had a wonderful time, a new experience and developed a clarinet callous.

It's the little things in life that make all the difference.

This is the baby's coat I have been working on. It is from one of Simplicity Patterns' vintage range. I love that they have introduced a vintage range. This is from a layette pattern which includes a dress, petticoat, and booties. I am all about dressing babies in a vintage manner. I love that babies all used to wear "nighties" no matter their sex for the first few months. It seems infinitely sensible to me and something I did for babies number 6, 7 and 8. Long live nighties! The coat is a soft green, but not quite as pale as my photo would have you believe.

The coat itself is finished and I am just working on embellishing it with a little embroidery. I was having a chat with Miss 24 the other day and we were discussing how it is the little extras in life that make all the difference. Nice to have a coat, even nicer to have an embellished one. What are the little things that make a difference in your life?

My Interest?

Mother's day Roses courtesy of Katie

Has been completely captured by pinterest. It's really just a place on the web to keep all those photos you love best in groups. You can also look at what others love best and group together. It is a visual feast and I love it.

I was having a bit of a slow ho hum kind of day today and this afternoon after realising that I haven't accomplished anything today I figured I would just spend the rest of the day pinning things on pinterest. If I haven't done anything worthwhile I might as well have a lovely time, right? I spent a couple of hours doing just that. (The first time I had ever heard of pinterest it was a comment from someone who claimed it was a time thief. This is true. For me it equates to playing simcity, a game I love but rarely play because it vapourises time before your very eyes. I remember having a new baby, feeding the baby, playing ten minutes or so of simcity and the baby being ravenous again. I wondered what was wrong with the baby and then realised that the ten minutes was actually four hours and ravenous was exactly right. Since that epiphany I have rarely played simcity, but I don't have babies now so I figured pinterest might be a bit of fun!) Then I had to do some chores (picking up the daughter from school, picking up the car from the mechanics, you know the sort of things) and now it's not working! So much for my time waster! Maybe I might just get the old simcity out.......

A cutting table.

See the really annoying thing about not having your furniture is not having your furniture really. We miss our couches all the time. (We love to be comfy!) This last week though I have really been missing my tables. I have had cutting out to do and no table to do it at. Okay. I do have a card table, but it's just not the same. (Why are card tables always concave? Is it so that you won't lose anything off of it whilst camping?) So today the frustration boiled over and ended in a trip to Bunnings. (Hardware store) I was all set to buy a trestle table. Fifty dollars. I took my Bradley with me (He's so good in hardware stores, it's cruel to go to one without taking him along.) and after we had checked out the trestle tables he decided we should look at the other options. This option cost just $88 and resulted in a 90cm high bench that is just perfect for cutting out. Even better is the fact that it takes just moments to slot together and moments again to come apart. It is from the storage area of the store and is intended for use in a garage or workshop I think. Nevertheless it is perfect for my sewing room! It is also adjustable, so if I wanted a standard 75cm high desk to sit and sew at it can do that too.

And yes, I cut something out. Just one thing though. Haven't really justified it's $88 price tag yet. I'm sure that before the week is out though I will have cut out lots of things!

The sewing of the knitting.

Two cotton cardigans that picklesticks has knitted and I have sewn up.. The blue/green one is interesting because it is knitted in one piece! The white one had quite a big gaping neckline so I added some crochet to it.

Sewing Result

I did get some sewing done today. This is a nightie for our new granddaughter. I also managed to finish crocheting the cardigan for the old granddaughter, but haven't started to put it together yet. I will have to get busy because Miss 24 is planning a drive to Adelaide soon and she can do a delivery for me!

This jumper is the work of Mrs 26 (picklesticks.) She is a wonderful knitter, but really dislikes sewing up her creations. So, the last time I was in Adelaide I grabbed a bunch to sew up and finish off for her. I'm not much on the knitting, but I quite like sewing knitting up! (Call me weird!) I think tomorrow will be another day of sewing here. I'm looking forward to it!

Sewing update.

new stretch fabric

Well, I had all sorts of plans for this week, but so far none have come to fruition. Tonight I read a very interesting post by Shay here, in which she details a breakdown of the 168 hours she had last week and what she did with them. I wasn't even aware that there were 168 hours in a week. (Had to use the calculator to make sure that was the right number. And I thought the double maths I did in high school would never be of any use to me in my life!) But her post (funny and thought provoking all at the same time) has made me think. I have 168 hours a week! That's a lot! I might see if I can harness some of them for good.

So, there hasn't been a lot of sewing so far this week, but I have done plenty of other things. I have shopped for fabric and haberdashery which is essential and quite fun! Shopped for food. (It's strange I know, but my children really need to eat every day and expect food in the house.) I have taken my ten year old to a homeschool activity and homeschooled him as well. I have done my visiting teaching. (You can read about visiting teaching here if you'd like to know more.) I have transported my 14 year old to and from rehearsals for the concert she will be in next week. I have prepared food and cleaned the kitchen. (Isn't that a job that needs doing over and over again!) And transported my 24 year old to and from various medical professionals. That's pretty well done considering it's only Wednesday! Of course I have also slept, watched tv and spent time on the computer. I'm not denying those things, just not dwelling on them!!!

The next two days are earmarked for sewing and I have the opportunity to stay home! I love to stay home. It is a wonderful place! I hope your Thursday is as fun as mine will be!!!

Dinner last night.

A pot of stock bubbling along on the stove makes your house smell wonderful. Yesterday I had bacon bones boiling to create my famous bacon and vegetable soup. It turned out to be lovely soup. I used bacon bones, carrot, celery, onion, and water to make the stock. Drain. Then put sweet potato, potato, carrot, zucchini and broccoli into the stock and cook till tender. Then zshush. Yum. My Bradley helped me prepare the vegetables and then had a great idea. Scones to go with it. I wasn't too keen until I worked out that he meant to make them. They were delicious and every kid demanded an encore! So hopefully he will be making some scones tonight to go with some jam and cream we just happen to have.

Sewing list this week (are you a list maker?)

I have done quite a bit of sewing here since I got my new table. I am working on some baby clothes for the new grandchild. That has been interspersed with some crocheting on the cardigan I am making (One sleeve left to go!) It has been a fun week! Not many finishes though. I am about to write a list for next week. Are you a list maker? I always used to be a hardcore list maker, but they have gone by the by here of late. Hmm... the first list for a long time. Let's see if that makes a difference!

Two quilt tops in the making.

Some of you may remember that I am to become a grandmother again later this year. We know the sex of the baby and I picked up an appropriate charm pack from Hettie's Patch a couple of visits to Adelaide ago. I think it is Pom Pom de something? By French General. Anyway, when I was in Foothill Fabric and Threads more recently I saw that they had some of the same range so I bought some to go with my charm pack. Then I thought about it. I decided to make half square triangles and had a layout in my head, but didn't like that once I placed it on the floor. Tonight I arranged this layout and I think this is the one I will go with. I'm still deciding if I want borders. I will probably go with borders because I don't think this quilt will be big enough otherwise.
These are my finished Tis the Season blocks. They are put together like this in Natalie Bird's book. I am thinking sashing and corner stones and maybe some flying geese borders? Lol! Can you tell I have fabric left? I did go to Spotlight yesterday to get some homespun, but they didn't have any! Well, ok. They had brown. This so is not a brown quilt!!! Anyway. I'm still thinking about it. More sewing tomorrow I think. Sweet dreams!

I sewed!

So, proof that my new table is really good. I finished three more "Tis the Season" blocks tonight and cut the borders for the last six. It was so much fun and I can see this quilt being finished in the next month or so.

Woven fabric and a place to sit.

This woven fabric is something I was working on in February I'm pretty sure. I got it out today because I needed some pins and there were a lot stuck in here.

I finished sewing it together and took the pins out. The fabric feels great! I love quilt tops. Partly because piecing is my favourite bit I think. But even though I am a topper of some renown, I must admit that there is nothing like the feeling you get when you get all three layers of a quilt together. They don't even have to be quilted to feel wonderful. Basting will do it. That's how this fabric feels. It is destined to become a bag. Still not close, but I have had a real block with sewing of late. Hand stitching, no problem, but machine sewing just never seemed to happen unless it "had to". I think this was because I just had a camp chair and table for my sewing. (Still no furniture here. We are all missing our stuff so much!) That was, until I went to Ikea.

A $49 chair from "as-is" and a $39 table. Sewing today has been sooooo much easier! That camping table was waaaaay too low!

I also got some "shelves" to store the ever-growing amount of sewing stuff I am accumulating. I am trying not to buy things, but I need stuff! (You know. Scissors, pins, tape measure, thread..... just the basics.) So, I am back in sewing mode having improved my environment. Back to the sewing.

My Granddaughter's cardigan and some Mother's day musings.

Not that it would keep her very warm at the moment. It's a little sparse. For those regular, observant readers, yes! This is the same yarn and pattern I used for the new baby's cardigan. These two sisters will be "matchy matchy". I love that and so does their Mum (picklesticks) so it's all good! Crocheting this matchy matchy cardigan has made me think about my Mum and being a new Mum myself. Appropriate, because it's Mother's day this weekend.

An eon or two ago my Mum made matchy matchy outfits for me and picklesticks, and then for my oldest girls and then for the middle girls. It seems so very long ago now! My sister, brother and I grew up with Mum making most of our clothes. I loved it because I loved the clothes she made for me and also because I loved to sit and watch her create. I spent hours watching her sew. I remember the rooms her sewing desk was in with fondness. I also remember watching her knit for us. Mum's knitting seemed to herald winter for me. I love winter. (You can keep that disgusting HOT weather! I love the cooler months.) Just the word winter conjures up visions of a gas heater, rain on the windows, and my Mum knitting. I think that my Mother definitely had an effect on my own creating. However, if you didn't spend hours watching your Mum sew whilst growing up it doesn't mean you won't be able to sew! (Just watching doesn't do it. You have to practice, practice, practise!) I watched my Mum knit and I am not a knitter!

Which brings me back to the cardigan. I am a crocheter and I am really enjoying this pattern. It's from this cute as book which I picked up at Lincraft. Anyway, back to the making!

Do you mend/alter clothes?

I do. It seems to be the only way to get anything that fits! This is a school skirt belonging to the girl across the road. (Yes! We know our neighbours here and actually interact with them! Well, ok. Just the ones across the road.) Her Mum bought it secondhand and it needed the hem down and taking in. The hem was easy to do. (That's all her sister's skirt needed so I did that skirt before I went to Adelaide.) The taking in required much reverse sewing on my part, but it's done now! This was all good practice for me because Miss 14 will get her new skirt this week and it will need altering too! When the skirts come new they are very long, but just about every girl wears them short, short, short! Why is this? This is the winter uniform too. A longer skirt would keep you warm. A mini skirt? Not so much. Common sense just isn't what it used to be.

So, do you mend or alter clothes at your house?

Meaning Through Making (It's May!)

It's May! I finished up April with a visit to Adelaide. It was a short, sharp, shiny visit. Two days driving (there and back) and two days visiting (staying with picklesticks). It takes me 9 hours driving to get from here to there, if I really concentrate. Longer if I don't. I don't mind the drive really. It's an opportunity to think. Of course, I do like to distract myself with a talking book or music, but there are times when that gets old and I think. This trip I pondered my last post and the comments I received. You know, expectations of what you will achieve and then the reality. And what was the outcome of all that thinking? Well, despite the fact that I say that finishes are the important part of all this making I do, they're actually not.

Miss 14 making.

For me it is the process. I want the outcome, and I like the outcome, but the process is really what gives me joy. So, as long as I am involved in a part of the process daily, I am happy. And really, that's what it's all about for me. I craft because it makes me happy. The meaning I find through making is happiness. Now that I have worked this out why am I telling you? Well, of late the focus of my blog has been finishes. I want to blog more often. Mostly for me. I love to read myself - vain obviously - it helps me to make sense of things I think, but I just don't have enough finishes to warrant an increase in posts. So my blog's focus has to change. I think my new focus will be making. Just letting you know. Got to get back to my making!

Craft-a-thon results

I just got through reading some of my favourite blogs. Some from people I know in real life, some not, and I have come to the conclusion that bloggers are awesome! Marc wonders where the last five days (Easter and Anzac day holidays here in Australia) have gone, here, and then shows us what she has achieved in that time. And Jodie despairs with what she has achieved during her two weeks of holidays and then lists her achievements here. She is disappointed, but what she has done is amazing! I love that these people blog and that I get to see inside their houses and lives. I love that they share their achievements with me. In a way, I like to see that they expect more of themselves, that they fall short of their goals. This is comforting to me I guess because this small crocheted cardigan is the sole finish from my five day craft-a-thon. It is a three months size and it is the only thing I made for the new grandchild over the past five days. Of course, that doesn't detract from it's awesomeness! I really like it. It is the first crocheted item of clothing I have made from a pattern. I really love the yarn I used too.

So, here it is. An awesome tiny cardigan that took me five days to make. I like it!

Happy Easter and the craft-a-thon.

We decided on Wednesday that we quite liked the idea of Easter running into Anzac Day. What's not to love about a five day weekend? Even so, we were a little down because this is the first Easter that we wouldn't get to see all of our kids. (In fact this weekend we are down to three kids because one is visiting in Adelaide.) So, what to do to cheer ourselves up?

A craft-a-thon!

Wednesday Miss 24, Miss 14 and I went to Lincraft and Spotlight to top up our supplies and then we started crafting! Hmm..... considering how much time we have spent crafting there's not a whole lot to show yet. Miss 14 made the Easter basket above. All up she made five of these baskets and has baked some choc chip cookies to go inside of them for her church youth group leaders to say thank you for the camp she attended last week. She has been quite productive!

I finished this crocheted rug, finally! Dawn commented last time I showed it that it looked like a patchwork crocheted rug which thrilled me, because that was exactly what I had in mind as I crocheted it. I crocheted it for our new grandchild who will be arriving in July. I also finished stitching the last of my Tis The Season blocks. I have yet to put borders on all the stitcheries, but plan to do that next week. My crafting efforts this weekend though are concentrating on that new grandchild and I am crocheting a cardigan and sewing some clothes. Miss 24 is busy knitting booties. Anyway, I must get back to it. Hopefully there will be some more finished articles by Tuesday!

A little crochet.

This is what the crocheted rug is up to. I have also been stitching. Almost finished my first Tis the Season stitcheries. It would be a good idea to actually finish something, rather than almost. I'll try to do that this week. (Yesterday I took Miss 18 to the airport. Yep. She went home. We miss her already.)

A Sad Discovery...

Well, I heard it straight from the horse's lips. Miss 18 is NOT a quilter! It is a sad day here I can tell you, but, we are bearing it as well as we can. Lol! Actually, we have had a great couple of days. Miss 24, Miss 18 and I sitting in front of DVDs ("As Time Goes By", "Doc Martin", "M.A.S.H") and crocheting. Miss 24 and I are old hands, but Miss 18 hasn't done much crocheting before. She is charmed by it's speed. Here is a hat she crocheted last night and this morning.


This afternoon she decided to give a beret a go. No patterns for her, she is "winging it". (This is the daughter who sews clothes by laying down on the fabric and cutting it around herself.) It was the beret that triggered my discovery. As I went off to bed she was saying,

"No! I want to finish it now! If I can't finish it in a day I don't want to make it. I thought crochet was supposed to be quick!"

Yes, that's when I discovered she is not a quilter. She laughed and wondered aloud why I had been so slow to catch on. Ahh... you live and learn! Life has been busy and fun this week because she has been visiting. Tomorrow Miss 14 comes home from camp and we will have a fun couple of days together before Miss 18 goes home to Adelaide. I will miss her, quilter or not!

Inside out pants day report.

When this strapping fellow was about 6 years old he decided that his birthday would be known as inside out pants day. He has continued that tradition and his siblings join him in wearing their pants inside out. (His sister is in the background wearing her dress inside out.) This year they even made it a facebook event. So, everywhere they have gone today their pants have been inside out. (Craziness. It's genetic, isn't it? This is all my fault I think.) So, today he is 17. And just as crazy as ever!

Tis the Season Progress

The one thing I have done this week is stitch. I even managed to complete three blocks this week! I really loved these fabrics when I bought them and was thrilled with them all over again once the blocks were together. One of the kids keeps asking me why I am using blue and lime for a Christmas quilt. I don't know why. I just like it. I have bought some more traditional Christmas colours to make a second of these quick-to-do quilts though. I'm sure I'll like that too.

What was I doing this time last week?

I was at Val's place at a bloggy stitching day. Val has such a lovely quilty house! You have probably seen Val, Claire, Shay and Loz's takes on this. It was a great day! I was sitting here this afternoon wondering what I had done all this past week and this fun filled day came to mind. I have done some things this week. Just have to think what they are!

The doll quilt I made.

This is the doll quilt I made for Cindy. The top photo shows the colours more accurately. I forgot to take a photo of the completed quilt until I was at the post office. Fortunately I had my camera in my bag, but their lighting is pretty awful! The hexies were little, but not tiny. (I'm sure you've all got a fix on their size now after that description!) Hand pieced and hand quilted I left the edge all hexie-like, so instead of a typical binding I slip stitched the front to the back. I'm quite happy with how it turned out and Cindy likes it too! I am looking forward now to round two of the swap.

Some April cuteness!

It's shocking that it is April already. In fact it's so shocking it's taken me a couple of days to register this fact. Three months of 2011 have already passed. So, what does April hold? A lot of sewing I think. That's my plan anyway.

April started while I was in Adelaide watching this cutey. Do you like my granddaughter's gorilla nest? We spent lots of time watching her and her brother. Back home again now. Home and busting to get into the sewing room!

Doors - Snappy Friends Challenge

Okay, so these are not amazing photos, but work with me here. I had a complete vision of what I would do for this challenge. It involved a trip to the inner city where front doors are right on the footpath, then I would take some fantastic photos. But this week I went to my daughter's graduation. The graduates were taken on stage through a door to the left of the stage. When the door opened there was a sliver of light and I thought of the metaphorical doors that would open for these people because of their graduation. So, here are my thoughts this week on doors represented by these two photos.

Check out the Snappy Friends blog.

Did I mention she graduated?

On Monday I went for a drive. To Adelaide. And this is the reason why. Miss 20 graduated this week. When she was finishing up her degree at the end of last year she kept saying, "Have I mentioned that I'm graduating?" She was pretty excited then and three or four months later at her graduation she was really happy. (I'm talking constant smiles!)

Of course, you might think that her smiles were because she was leaving university behind. No. Not at all. She was back at uni the day after her graduation. That's because she has been saying to us for the last two months, "Did I mention that I got into honours?"

Here she is with her sister Miss 18, who wagged a couple of lectures to be at the graduation so I could take this photo.

And a photo with her bloke. (Who is pulling a funny face! Pretty sure he was telling a joke at the time.) She says she wouldn't have graduated without his encouragement. It's so cool when your children become adults and they find others out there in the world who want to cheer them on. Of course, we haven't stopped cheering for her either! Well done Rosie!!!