Two for the price of one

What the?! Two posts in a week? What's this blog coming to???

I finished another project and rather than waiting around for the weekend, I thought....arghhh! Okay. Let's do some night blogging, then I can move on to the next project. Either way, consider this my weekend post if I don't see you in four days.


Anyhow, I now seem to have something crochet-y in the works, while I play around with the fabric piles. This one's a winter beanie for the bub made from Zarina Print. But blimey! I was following a pattern for 8 ply yarn, using 4 ply. So winged it I did past Row 8, plonking it on her head every few rows to see if I need to do another one. Guessing the spots where I needed to do the increase. Really! Stupid newbies! (I'm too ambitious for my own good sometimes.)

Then I had to go and embellish it with a flower......


....or I should say "cauliflower". Dang!


I do believe this "blossom" is over-powering my cute "blossom". I hacked it off right away....gently, of course. It's now living its second life as a brooch. Much better.


Hokay! I'm off to join the geezer watch The Office, the brit version, on DVD.

Good night!

Scrappy dappy doo

Yep, I dove right into the scrap box again, just for want of something new to do (like I don't have other projects that need finishing, what the hey!). The scrap box needs tidying up anyway.


Anyhow, while I was trawling through the blogosphere last week, I saw Lisa's houses (aren't they fab?!) and I was inspired. So I pulled out this housie patchwork book I acquired sometime back and got stuck into it. Making pretty pictures with fabric.


Then because I still had all those stamps littering the craft table, I thought, why not? I have some fabric stamp pads on hand.....must really get some more colours at the next craft show.


It's all a bit fiddly and that roof section took me several seam-rippings to get right on the first block. But since I'm not in a hurry, I'll just do a bit here-and-there until they all start to pile up.


So cute, it's very distracting. Methinks this is the start of a new quilt (maybe for the bub).....when I should really be working on a couch quilt for the living room. Gah!

Finishing details

We'll interrupt our regular sewing program with some gift wrapping. It's for that birthday party tomorrow that I mentioned in my previous post.

I'm knee-deep into making gift tags for the various presents. Oh, didn't I tell you? There's three presents to go with three small people. Busy time of year for birthdays. In fact, its about to get busier. Gah!


In the days BC (that's "before crafting", which coincides with BB, ie "before bub"), I used to practice speed wrapping. That would be haphazardly wrapping the present five minutes before I walk out the door to get to the current do. It's embarrassing how my presents looked like a slab of fish-n-chips from the fishmonger. After all, its the inside that counts right?


Nowadays, I take so much time to choose the right paper, tie some pretty ribbon and make the gift tags. Putting a stamp of individuality on pieces of card and paper that will most likely end in the rubbish. I know. I know. I'm trying to compensate for the fact that some of the actual presents are store-bought.

Anyhow, I'm trying to gear up to try my hand at making my own stamps one day. I've got all the tools. But geez, I wish all 24 hours were mine to squander. For the moment, I'll just collect them shall I? Stamps are from Leslie's shop and from this fabulous etsy find, which I've kept secret squirrel for far too long. He he he! Don't go nuts now.

Okay, that pun was intended!

Kiddo apron

I was missing my sewing machine (was it missing me?) so I went back to it this week with a small project. For a small person. She's having her third birthday this coming weekend.


I spotted a cute kid's baking set the other week locally up on our neighbourhood shopping strip. And I had the idea of whipping up a pretty apron to go with the baking set.


So a length of blue ricrac, little bo peep and some polka dots (love, love, love this fabric!) later, we have a kid's apron. It kinda just fits me......hmmm, not really.

This is the first time I've tried a patched pocket, where I'm actually happy with the results. And instead of shirring, I did some pleats at the waist, just for something different.


I found some spare time today, if you're asking why the mid-week post. This one's for you, Cathy! I'll try to sneak in an extra blog post where I can.

Anyhow, we actually have some sun today! Must go out and enjoy it!

Cheerio!

Hurrying the late valentine

I know, I know! I'm extremely late for a valentine's day post. We tend to turn our nose up at gushy, lovey-dovey over here. It's that strong pragmatic streak in the blood, I think. But this cute little card from Anna is just the bee's knees. I can't stop looking at it. (It's now taking pride of place on my inspiration board.)


And seriously, that crochet edge is giving me raptures! Guess what the next crochet obsession will be. He he he!

But let's segue now into my newest finished woolie project. Ta da! Introducing my ripple scarf.


Upsides to crochet, I can take it anywhere, the car, the couch, the bed, the park. Not that I took it to the park. And it's remarkably obsessive stuff. Every time I want to put it down, its always "come on, just another row......or three".

Anyhow, the yarn I used is Filatura Di Crosa Zara for the plummy maroon colour and Sublime extra fine merino wool DK for the grey, 'cos they ran out of the grey in the Zara.

Here 'tis modelled on moi.


For now I'll leave you with a pretty bunch of glass-house long stemmed roses from the geezer. Like I've said before, he's such a good boy!


Cheerio for now!

Go ahead, make my day

Because I feel the pull of the blog.....and because I feel the need, like ice cream on a hot day, like freshly roasted coffee in the morning, like the lure of a fabric shop, ahem, any day.

And when I received this beautiful swappage from Nicolette the other day, wowee, did it really make my day! She made the bub this cute fishy softie......


And I got this huge, and I mean HUGE, lot of fabric and bias trims. I do believe that the bar has been raised higher yet again with this wonderful package from Nicolette.


These are my faves. Tulips, dutch boys and dutch girls..........


dotty snails, ladybugs and butterflies.......


and this beautiful pre-quilted panel, that looks like an Oilily print. I love these vivid colours!


But wait, there's more! Orange flavoured dark chocolate, an avalanche of lollies, stickers and felt flowers.


It's going to be very difficult to top this package, Nicolette. Thank you, thank you very much!

Then just when I think I've had enough excitement for the day, on my front step lands this lovely package from Fiona. I had been lamenting earlier about having depleted my stash of those key-rings.


She thoughtfully came to my rescue and sent some my way, along with some colourful zips and felt shapes. Thank you, thank you very much, my dear!

And if you thought that wasn't enough, I'm now going to go linky on you and nominate the other bloggy peeps I'm bestowing the "You Make My Day" award. First of all, snap to Kate, Jhoanna, Di and Sue, because everything they create is so beautiful and inspiring. I'm always oggling and thinking I want to make something like that, too.

Last, but not the least I'm also tapping Beki, Anna, Louise, Cathy and Tamara......because they're just the nicest ladies and their blogs are always chock-full of inspiration. Whenever I see a new post in these blogs on bloglines, I'm always surfing over there for a look-see.

Anyhow, I gotta get back to my trusty crochet hook and finish this project, otherwise there won't be anything to show this weekend.

Cheerio!

Of fabric & yarn

Time for another check-in with the bloggy peeps before February gets away from us. And I've been a busy bee. Oh yes, I have!


Those flowery bits? I don't know what to do with the crocheted flowers yet, but I've got my thinking cap on quite snug. Plans are afoot. But then there's so many. What to choose? What to choose?

First up, I whipped up a pair of bibs for a bub who's supposed to be coming out of the oven any day now. I'm expecting a little text message from the lucky new parents soon.


Then yesterday I had a round of night sewing after biting the bullet with this Built by Wendy pattern. It's been languishing in the stash for more than half a year and I happened upon a piece of fabric at Tessuti's I took a liking to. (By the way, did you know that Tessuti's now has a blog?) This is my take on the pattern....somewhere between View C and View A, with a different hemming technique 'cos I never could entirely follow a pattern.


Anyhow, the fabric. It's got skeletons in double breasted suits.....he he he. Quirky? Yep.


However, my new love affair with yarn doesn't seem to be waning. These are the flavours of my current wip. It's about three-quarters done. So it should be presentable in a few days.


Who knows? I could get so excited with the finish, I might blog about it mid-week. Let's cross our fingers, shall we?

Also, thank you very much to Di, Kate, Sue and Jhoanna for passing on the "You Make My Day" badge to this little corner of the blogosphere. All you ladies are too nice for words! I promise to post my list soon. And if I forget, do feel free to bug me!

Cheerio!

Another big fat finish

I'm talking about that "big girl" quilt, the top of which I whizzed through so long ago. It had an extended stay with the quilter over the holidays and I just got it back a fortnight ago. I've been busy with the binding....and now its finally presentable.


On hindsight, I probably should have propped it on the washing line for a better photo. But the line is folded up at the moment and most likely filthy, so this pic will have to do for this gal's crafting annals. Thank you muchly to the geezer, for bearing with me while I did the pic-snapping.



And thank you to everyone, too, for your concern about the state of our sniffles. We all seem to have gotten rid of it now. But you all must be wondering why this place has turned into a thrice weekly blog-post spot to once-a-week. I've kinda been sneaky and put a cap on my daily internet surfing.....which is good, since I'm feeling less guilty about ignoring both the other two humans over here. Plus, there is now more time for crafting, carefully planned meals and other summer pursuits. Consequently, the actual blog posts have been thin on the ground.....which is bad. But I can live with it. Either way, the crafting and art-ing shall continue.

So I'm going back to my stack of wips. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Cheerio!