A bit of fun

I am not sure if I told you but at work we have a wonderful range of Dr Seuss fabrics.  I had to cut a fat 1/4 from each of them, leaving us with a spare fat 1/4, so what else is a girl to do - i snapped them up as quick as quick!!  Once these things go, they aren't generally reprinted, so I just had to!!  My kids are a bit bemused and can't understand why I would indulge in Dr Seuss.  they are, of course, too old for it. Or so they think!  I already know what i want to do with it and am very eager to start but it is show season and I have other fish to fry currently.

Isn't it great??  Much of it is A Cat In the Hat, but it is so bright and cheery and takes me back to when the kids were young.    i am going to cut it into 5 1/2 or 6 inch squares, sash them in red, with a little square of the print at each corner (make sense?).  I will be good and wait until some other things are done first.

And now, speaking of show season; I entered the first one of the year (well the first of the ones i usually enter) yesterday. Our local CWA opens up their spring show to non members as a fundraising exercise, one which I am happy to support. it isn't a huge show but it is fun and I have friends who enter in different catagories. So here is a little photo of how my entries went. besides these I had two smocked dresses and the christening gown, eight entries in all.  The smocking won first and second but that is nothing to brag about when you are only competing with yourself!!

And while I only enter this one just for fun, I am pleased my little beanie won a first; it was my second attempt at cable knitting. It is a wonderful pattern from an old little knitting book that I have.  The seam runs along the edge of one of the cables so when it is sewn up, it becomes invisible.
I only had one entry that won nothing, a knitted scarf. it was up against a dozen others so that is fine by me.

knitting needle roll

I recently saw a post from Jillian at Always stitching who had made a roll for her knitting needles.  While my collection is a bit eclectic and much of it is made up from various hand me downs; mostly from my grandmother, I thjought it was a great idea.  The idea sat in the back of my head until earlier in the week when I found some material at work for 50%off that I thought would be perfect. I couldn't let the idea go so hunted around for somehting for the outside and then last night, with nothing better to do, off I went.  So here it is; it isn't as gorgous as Jillians, who used the most lovely material, but it will do.

I added a flap to mine to try and hold the needles in, and put some pockets on either side for my stitch holders, needle guage, double pointed needles etc.  I am really happy with it, especially for something I was making up as I went along.  it will certainly do the job.
On the subject of knitting needles, i must point out the bamboo ones over towards the right; these are new; I bought them on Monday  (no, not much of my pay came home that day :D ). I used them on my days off during the week to make a scarf (which I promise to show you in a day or two) and they are wonderful. I really liked using them and I know why they are so popular.  My goal is to replace many of these needles over the coming weeks, with bamboo ones.  They really are lovely.

So a big thankyou to Jillian for her inspiration, and the idea.  I love that we have the internet where we can all share ideas and inspirations; I do thank all of the talented people out there in cyberworld who are generous enough to share things with everyone else.

first communion photos

Finally, some photos. Last Sunday the weather was quite perfect; not cold enough to really need a jacket and not too warm either. A perfect day for the kids to do their first comunion. The small church was packed tot he rafters; an apology to the usual parishoners who had the hordes descending for the day.
Anyway, here are a couple of photos.

So what now? I have been knitting some bootees for the shop; but shhh, it is a surprise for my boss when she gets back this weekend form her overseas holiday. But it is also the start of Show season and I have so many things i want to do before my home show in four weeks time.  Today I might be able to finish two covered coat hangers.  I have smocking ready to go and some children's garments ready, sot hat is good. Now I just want to do some bits and pieces to add tot he collection. Soon my son and I will have to wrok out which photos we want to enter; I love entering photography.  i have mixed success but there are some wonderful photos out there.

Speaking of my son, we had an information night at his school to sort out subjects for next year, and for the two years after that. I was sceptical before we went but am so glad we did go. We have a clear idea of the rest of his high school, although he can change things around if he changes his mind.  We were told if he keeps his grades up he may be eligable for a scholarship for his chosen university so that was all good news. It feels good to have a plan in front of us and now the whole VCE doesn't seem like such a foreign idea (it was the HSC when I did it).

Work is good, was busy yesterday so that is good; when it is slow the day tends to drag, and your feet hurt more.  I am back to three days a week now, instead of the four that I have been doing while my boss was away.
So for now, life goes on as usual. 

Quilting

As well as the First communion dress that i have been making, over the last two weeks i have been busy with a quilt top for my work.  My boss gave me 10 embroidered panels and asked me to put it together into a quilt, using one of the jelly rolls.  i hadn't used a jelly roll before and must say that I loved it!  i loved the way i could pick up any two pieces and someone else had already done the thinking for me and it always matched perfectly.  I do understand that that is the whole idea but it is fabulous!!  
I didn't have a pattern so made it up as I went with some help from a friend who had done something similar recently.  Thanks Ann.
So without any further ado, here it is:

The colours aren't quite right but it is the best I could do on an overcast day.  This is what one of the blocks looks like up close; the embroidery is so neat.

I would like to give them full credit but have no idea who it was.  So no i guess it will go off to the lady who quilts the quilts for the shop and then it will come back for me to do the binding.  I hope my boss likes it, I think it has turned out quite okay.

As for the first communion; that was on Sunday and it all went off without a hitch.  Photos to follow soon hopefully.
I must remember to take my camera with me next time I go out; the local farmers' canola crops are all flowering beautifully; it is such a happy sight when the sun is out.

That is about all that is happening in this neck of the woods.  I am occupied with work and this week with helping son no 1 choose subjects for year 10 next year; what a big job that is. Luckily he knows what he wants to do when he leaves school, it is a bit hard to expect 14 year olds to have their life mapped out and know what they want to do for the next 40 years.  Oh well, it is easier for us, we just have to find out what subjects he needs to have to get into the university course of his choosing.  Three more years and he will be out of the house and on his own. Where does the time go and does it have to go so fast?

looking like Spring

The weather here has been cold and wet but some of the bulbs have decided after a few warm days that Spring must have come.  these are in the garden; I have some planted in a pot that dont even look like flowering; maybe they know something that these ones dont?

I have other bulbs that have come up but they haven't flowered yet either.

On the sewing front, I have finished the First communion dress that i was making. The communion is this Sunday and I an looking forward to it.  I dont have any good photos; they have all come out blurry so far so I will show you this one.  It is not a great one but it will do for now.  I will have the camera all set to go on Sunday and take heaps more.   It took longer than I had thought; I was forgetting that I am working now so not as much free time to sit and sew.
And while it is not as exciting as the dress; this is a quick little tea towel i whipped up to advertise some material we sell in the shop. Ignore the girl who is listing a little to the left; oops. I wasn't taking enough care when i ironed the transfer on. Oh well.

It was quick and easy and seems to be working as we have sold some of the fabric already.
Any other sewing I am doing is also for the shop. I have just made two aprons, no photos!! they are hanging in the shop. And I am in the middle of piecing a quilt together. Someone at some point had embroidered some jungle animals on panels so it is my job this week to make it into a quilt top using a jelly roll. I am making it up as I go along so hopefully it looks okay. I am hoping to have much of it done today.  I am also about to put a dress togehter; no smocking; just a little party dress. this is for the shop too.

Show season is coming up quickly, and all the sewing for the shop will be good as I can enter these things in the shows if I want to.  Now all I need to do is some pretty coat hangers, a cushion or two, some lavender bags.  Not sure where I will find the time though!!

Sorry about the tardiness of my blog; it has been so long since I blogged but I guess life just keeps getting in the way.

Christening gown done

Yes, finally, the christening gown is done. But more importantly; we have heat again!! My thanks go to the plumber who came out here after work (after his boss promised to come out in person during the afternoon; wrong), to fix it for us. So after six days without proper heating, i am happy again. 

So, to the gown.  The original had little cap sleeves but after trying and trying and being unable to get them in without puckers, I changed them to these puff sleeves. I do like the cap sleeves and being unable to fit them drove me CRAZY! So I had to give up, for my own mental health!!LOL!!  These sleeves look fine though.  It has other original touches, such as the placement and pattern of the smocking; they smocked the bodice, not the skirt.  The embroidery is not the original design either.  (also, I might point out, not my original design, it is from the Country Bumpkin christening gown book). 
I am very pleased with how it came out. the seams are all bound with home made bias binding.  Makes for a lovely finish; a bit more work than a french seam, but I couldn't do French seams with the way the pieces fit together so binding the seams was the next best thing.
Okay, enough waffling, to the photos:

So what to do with it now? I will show it, in the upcoming Show season and then I might just sell it.  Who knows.  I have two others here; one is too dear to my heart to sell and the other is not something I would really be happy to sell; there isn't anything greatly wrong with it but it does have flaws so I wouldn't sell it.  This one i might though. 

What next for me? Well i have started making a dress for the daughter of a friend who is making her First Communion in a month's time. It has a lot of smocking and beads on it; it should be pretty.  I have also bought some more material for the shop to make another smocked dress for the window. I heard today that someone was interested in the dress i have already made but we will see if that comes off or not.  I don;t mind if it sells or not really. i was hoping to have another one made before selling the first one but I will not complain (or knock it back!).  But this second dress will have to wait a couple of weeks until I have the communion dress under control. 
My quilt blocks are also still sitting here; lonely and waiting for the last three to be done.  They are not far off but might also have to wait.
A friend came into the shop the other day and marvelled at how I have been very restrained and have not bought much. Now don't get me wrong; I would looooove dearly to buy so very much from the shop where iw ork but it would cost all of my pay, and more, and I am really trying to get some things done; i have too many things on the go as it is.  Someone asked me today how many things I had on the go and I couldn't count them; shocking!!LOL!!  So i still want to get some UFOs out of the way, as I still work on new things; there should be a balance i can strike between them both.  And while starting something new gives such a rush, so does finishing something off. Although, it is August already and I have not achieved half of what iw ould have liked to by now.  Oh well, it will wait for me I guess!

not quite colourfast

While i waited for the plumber yesterday (who still hasn't seen fit to show up; day six without our central heating and counting...), I was in no fit mood to do much and in the end sat down to play with some embroidery.
My 12 yo son is still finding the days at high school to be quite long and the days I work i drive them home instead of them taking the bus. During the half hour drive he usually puts down the armrest in the middle of the back seat and tries to nap.  So I made a little cushion to make it a little softer for his head.

And while he is too old for Pooh Bear, I certainly am not; so Pooh Bear I did (it is going in my car so is cute and girly!).  I think he turned out so very cute, but take a look at the thread; so much for colourfast!!

  this bleeding happened when I washed it in cold water to remove the blue marker pen.  Oooops!  I have given it another rinse, to no avail, so it will stay as is.  Now i will have to wash my skein to get out the excess dye. it is such a prtty thread; i have been buying Threadworks threads over the last few months; I only have a few, but I love the way they change colours so much more often than DMC or Anchor. 
I managed to cut out way too many pieces for the prairie points, so I am thinking of another little cushion. And yes, Pooh bear may make another appearance.