Autumn has arrived

It has suddenly turned quite chilly here in Canberra, almost overnight it has gone from blazing summer days to breezy autumn weather, so I'd better get a move on finishing this jumper for Thomas:



So far I've done the back and have moved onto the front. It is such a simple design that it has been quite fun to knit in front of the TV. I've been practising knitting without looking (kind of like touch typing) generally this works but I have dropped a few stitches - that crochet hook has come in handy for picking them up!

We have just got home from a very unsuccessful expedition to a local second hand baby clothes shop. For a few weeks I'd been walking past their sign which suggested that we should do our bit for the environment and recycle our baby clothes. However, when I took in a bundle of things Thomas has outgrown (all freshly washed and ironed), hoping to swap for some bigger clothes, they were almost all rejected - apparently they will only take things which are designer brands or which look brand new. I couldn't help feeling a bit affronted that they didn't think our clothes were good enough. Never mind, we will save them to pass on to friends or perhaps we might one day have another bub - certainly not thinking about that yet though!

We have been out in the garden lately, trying to find some plants which will grow in a tricky spot Warren calls the 'wall of death' , against a shady courtyard wall. Everything we plant there meets a sad end. We have now put in some red flowers (verbena and dianthus), but the new buds have turned white - that is surely a bit strange? Perhaps it's something in the soil.



Finally, a gratuitous photo of my two lovely boys. This was just a spontaneous shot in Thomas' room, but the lighting seems to be very nice and soft, almost like a studio.

Thomas is now letting me know in no uncertain terms that he is awake and wants milk immediately, so it looks like that is it for the time being. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Still waiting for the tooth fairy

Sorry for the lack of posting, it has been a tricky week here. Thomas has been very upset most evenings, and one night he screamed hysterically for twenty minutes when I tried to breastfeed him, and nothing we tried would calm him down. We were getting quite frantic, and were about to drive to the hospital , but then it subsided and he slept straight through till the next morning. It made me realise how lucky we are that he doesn't usually cry much, it is so upsetting being unable to help him. I don't know how parents cope with 'colicky' babies who are like that all the time.

I took him to the doctor the next day but she couldn't find anything wrong with him. On the bright side, he went to sleep without a fuss last night, and has been a happier chap today so perhaps whatever has been troubling him is easing up. Still no teeth to be seen though!



Thanks so much for the feedback on the quilt - it is really great to be able to get all your creative input. I am going to follow the popular consensus and go with the red sashing - I've cut up the pieces and made a start on the sewing. Kayla asked about the fabrics I used in the quilt - actually they mainly came from a local quilt shop in Canberra, in a rather touristy place called Gold Creek Village. They have an amazing range of Japanese quilt fabrics, the only downside is they are around $24 (AUD) per metre.



Although of course I should be concentrating on finishing the quilt, as often happens when I am in the midst of one project, I suddenly want to start another one. With the weather finally turning cooler here I had an urge to learn to crochet (it has been so popular in blogland lately). I thought it would be nice to have something I could do in the evening in front of the tv, when we collapse in a heap after getting Thomas to bed. So I bought a hook and some yarn, and after many unsuccesful attempts to follow drawn diagrams I found this website with videos of the stitches which was very helpful.

I still found it difficult to pick up though, and my ineptitude with the hook made me hanker for knitting needles, even though I haven't knitted for years, but at least I know how to knit and purl! That inspired me to start a little jumper/sweater for Thomas out of the red wool (this is just a tension square in the photo, it is not going to be that small!), but I would like to persevere with the crochet and might make some kind of chevron patterned cushion or bag.



I wish I had the patience to make a big blanket like this one we inherited. Lucy seems to have taken a fancy to it. I think she is pretending to be one of the toys. She is probably hiding, in case that annoying new little human starts screaming again.

Teething troubles

We haven't seen much of this little smile lately, as it seems that Thomas is teething. He is usually very sunny, but at the moment he is quite grizzly and chewing on everything. Not much to show for the sleepless nights yet, but I think I can see two tiny tooth buds in his bottom gum.

Meanwhile, I have finally finished all the quilt blocks, and am now wondering about how to put them together, and whether to put sashing between the blocks to outline them.



This is how the blocks look when put directly together



This is how it might look with red sashing between the blocks.

I can't quite decide which I like - the sashing makes the square frame block shapes clearer, without it the navy pieces blend together and creates stripes and other patterns.

I'd love to hear any thoughts on this.

Brain on holiday

As the quilt progress does not make exciting reading (another ten squares this week), I thought it might be good to break things up by making something quick and crafty. I stumbled across the Softie Awards 2007, and even though it was Wednesday, and the closing date was Friday, I decided that I could whip up something fun, just for a change.

I saw there was a category of 'Best Holiday Inspired' softie, which appealed to me. I must explain that in Australia, 'Holiday' generally refers to what Americans call 'vacations' - usually involving travel to somewhere more interesting. So I started thinking of soft toys inspired by our holiday travels.



I have a real soft spot for the cats in Turkey who lounge around on the carpets in shops and streets all over Istanbul,



So I had a go at making a Turkish carpet cat, painting a kilim design on a remnant of furnishing fabric.

I was making a pretty bodgy job of sewing him together - that fabric is a bugger to sew. Anyway I was just getting around to his face (I've drawn it in in Photoshop, just so you get the idea of what I was intending), when I thought I'd have a look at some of the other entries.



I looked at the Holiday category, expecting Arabian camels, exotic geishas and softies in Hawaian shirts. Instead I found lots of mice and owls inspired by Valentines day and Christmas, with a few Halloween creatures thrown in.

What on earth do Christmas, Valentines day and Halloween have to do with Holidays? I wondered. Then the penny dropped. Ahaa.. those Holidays, like "Happy Holidays". So a Turkish cat would not be so much what they were looking for...In fact he would look pretty damn silly in that crowd!

Thomas wondered why I was suddenly cracking up with laughter. To be honest it was a bit of a relief, as I wasn't very happy with this effort and it meant no more rushed embroidery today.

In other news, Warren officiated at a triathlon on the weekend, and took Thomas along to help direct the traffic



Nah, just kidding, don't call child protection, this is what he was really doing, lounging around at the picnic afterwards. The boys just thought it would be fun to dress him up.




Well, that's all from me in an exciting and productive week.
Happy Holidays to you all!

Baby Steps

Well, it's Friday, and I've sewn together ten blocks, only thirty to go! I think this project is growing beyond a playmat and into a proper quilt (it will be 5 by 8 rows of blocks, each will be about 7 inches when sewn up- I haven't really worked out how big that will make it).

Progress has been very slow, because Thomas has decided that sleep is boring, it is much more fun to be entertained all day. Initially I was getting quite frustrated, but I think it is easier to relax and just enjoy the time with him, and not to get too focused on getting things done.



Today we spent a fair bit of time in the garden, with Thomas rolling around on a blanket under a leafy tree. I noticed this spiderweb catching the light - I love that lacy pattern.



Happy weekend everyone.

Another quilt layout

I was very thrilled to recieve such kind comments about my quilt layout. I still wasn't quite satisfied with the triangles though, so I continued to play around with the design (luckily I hadn't cut the squares yet). This is the latest incarnation, with the blue squares cut into rectangles framing the brighter ones. I must confess that I did visit the local quilt shop and have added a couple more navy and red fabrics to give it a bit more zing.

Seconds after this photo was taken our cat Lucy ran through the middle of the carefully laid out design, pouncing on the pieces and scattering half of them under the couch. She has a crazy fabric fetish, and thinks I put out this array of tantalizing scraps as an elaborate game for her. No amount of swearing has persuaded her otherwise.

I managed to get it back in order and I think I am now ready to sew, as soon as I can convince Thomas to have a little nap. He's not looking very tired right now though, as he sits in his bouncer next to me as I type this:

Hopefully I will have a bit more progress to report before next week.

Putting the Pieces together

In the spirit of 'using what you have' I am trying to make another playmat, this time for a boy, using the fabric scraps I have here. Even though I love all these fabrics individually, it is a puzzle to try and get them to play nicely together. I think there are too many dark colours, perhaps I need to introduce some more neutral light colours? I am very inspired by Melissa's gorgeous quilt on her banner. I love the mix of colours and the lovely random patchwork.



I cut up some squares, but they don't really work, so I am thinking of triangles. I think this could be a work in progress for some time.



It has otherwise been a good week. Warren bought me some beautiful lillies for Valentines day and the house is filled with their fragrance.




Thomas has also amazed us by sleeping through the night, three nights in a row. Hooray! It is incredible how much better life seems after an unbroken sleep. In a week of firsts, he has also had a go in the jolly jumper (pictured here) and tried some rice cereal (he made a face with each spoonful, but continued to ask for more.)

Sadly for my crafting, the sleep at night seems to make him less sleepy through the day, so projects may be moving a bit slowly around here.

Home again

We had a great weekend back in Sydney, celebrating my little brother's 21st and seeing this gorgeous new girl. Look at all that hair!



Here are the two proud dads. Hard to believe that Thomas used to be even smaller than this little one.



Thomas was wonderfully sociable all weekend, coping with loud music and lights at the pub, and smiling a lot for my parents, which went over very well.



While we were staying at mum and dad's I photographed this applique cushion which I made a while ago for my mum. Warren thinks it is cheating to show things I 'prepared earlier' , but I am quite proud of this one. The border fabric is some shot chiffon I screen printed with butterfly images (taken from one of those Dover books, alas I am not that inventive) the applique fabrics are silk satin and the background is a dark purple/blue cotton velveteen. This applique is satin stitched rather than raw edged. It takes forever and uses heaps of thread, but does look nice. I like his kooky sequin eyes.

We are back home again now, and poor Thomas had to have his 4 month immunisation shots today. The last lot weren't so bad, but this time he was inconsolable afterwards. I know it is for his own good, but I still feel terribly guilty holding him still for the injections. Ouch. He didn't feed well this evening, so I have a feeling it will not be a peaceful night. Hopefully he will have forgotten all about it by tomorrow.

Kimono playmat

We are off to Sydney tomorrow to see our friends' new baby, so I rushed through a playmat during some brief times when Thomas was either asleep or content to play by himself which was not very long. He has been very sweet, with lots of smiles, but wanting a lot of attention - I've been singing every playschool song I can think of today - I'm glad no one else is here to hear it.

Anyway this was the first time I have actually tried quilting something and it was harder than I expected. It probably would have been better if I had done the binding properly rather than cheating and just sewing it up like a doona cover with the batting inside.



Here it is

I think I might need to buy a walking foot - this might make things a bit easier. I thought straight lines would be easy, but they show up flaws much more than an elaborate design. Still, I'm glad I started with this project before tackling the quilting on this one.

Overall, I was reasonably happy with the design - it reminds me of a kimono with an obi sash. The back is just the plain grey/blue flowered fabric, so it is reversible (probably a good thing in case they think all that black is a bit strange for a baby).




If I have time tonight, I'm hoping to add her name in embroidery.

Something fishy

Thomas has been very active today, so we've only had time for a super quick project. Lucy decided to help cutting out the fabric- she's lucky she still has all her whiskers.




The result - a quick jumpsuit for Thomas with fish and waves.



Detail of the applique, just two squares with edges turned under and stitched on (with rather wavy stitching).




Speaking of little fish, we took Thomas to the pool for the first time this weekend. A friend organised a family picnic with cake and watermelon, lots of babies and splashing - it was lovely. Thomas took to the water remarkably well, considering he's only been in a warm bath before. Here is the family photo. I can't believe I'm posting this, but it is such a happy shot. Motherhood is so glamorous.