WIP Wednesday

I haven't done one of these posts in a while, but I have definitely been busy.  My Moda Friendship blocks keep breeding, and I now have a healthy stash of ten.  That's 1/3 of the way through all the blocks!

 

 

I didn't get any done over the Easter break, but I did try to see if I could perhaps challlenge myself to make another baby doll, this time with an embroidered face and some soft sculpture.  This one has a cute little booty!  I won't even pretend to know what I am doing.  There are certainly parts that look a little demented, but then again I am sure anyone would look a bit strange after being poked several times with an untrained needle! (yes, I am blaming the needle, not my hand...) 

 

 

 

I think I will have to see how she turns out before I go and enter this little one in the competition.  I definitely didn't take much notice of the warning that little 8" dolls like this one aren't really the best for beginners.  They look so easy until you try them.  Ahh, it's all practice and Maddy likes her. Now, let's see if I can get that other eye to match.

 

Speaking of Maddy, I brought home the pieces of a very bright pink costume for tonight to be sewn up for her Calisthenics exercises item.  Most cali Mums will know what comes next - tedious hand stitching of tonnes of sequins!  So perhaps my Moda stack will remain at its current size for just a little bit longer.

How could I resist...

... a Tikki Knit Along!  Georgie Hallam (designer of Tikki knits) has just released a new pattern for the boys, and with the release came a knit along in her ravelry group for the month of March.  As I was a little late to the party, and making one of the bigger sizes (a size 7 chest, with 8-10 length) I did worry that I wouldn't be finished in time, but I just scraped it in, blocking it yesterday.

 I do love a vest and collared shirt on my boy - isn't he so deliciously handsome?!  I couldn't help but tell him he looked so delicious I could gobble him up.. forgetting how he takes things so literally. 

    "Don't be silly, Mum" he told me.  Then hesitantly, "You couldn't really eat me could you?".
     "No darling". 
    "Then why would you even SAY that!"

He still modelled nicely for me and tried super hard to give me a nice smile (okay, I admit - he was bribed with a red frog lolly!)

I started knitting on the 17th, as I had to wait for my yarn to arrive, and then dyed it myself.  I was aiming for a deep navy colour with some lighter patches, but it decided it wanted to be less varigated and more of a denim shade.  I don't mind - it works well with jeans, and goes with just about every shirt in his cupboard.

The pattern was a little tricky to get started, I haven't worked "saddle shoulders" before, but once I got going it was easy... and addictive.  The cable was a nice simple design and the rolled hem on the sleeve edges is a cute touch.  Another one of Georgie's patterns to add to the "I love" list! 

I used just 200g of the 300g I dyed.  The neighbour just gave birth to a baby boy, so perhaps I can use the last 100g there... maybe a baby vest just like this one is on the cards!

Seeing Orange

Harmony day, which was celebrated here last Thurday, is often recognised by wearing the colour orange, or cultural dress.  Being a very Aussie family, we don't really have anything "cultural" in our wardrobe, so I decided to be prepared, tie dying a t-shirt for Austy to wear to school for the occasion.

 

I am usually not this prepared, (and there has been one harmony day where hubby had to drop Austy at school and rush off to find something!) but knew that with school half an hour away this year there would be no chance in any rectification if I overlooked it.  So I did the shirt anyway, even though there had been no notes home about a casual day that I could recall.

 He didn't end up wearing it, as it seemed this school doesn't really do anything for harmony day.  Luckily his teacher decided to do a few related activities with the class, because Austy was a bit upset about the fact that he has always celebrated it at school before. Alas his t-shirt is still unworn (that's what I get for beiung prepared!).  I think I might applique a charcoal fabric in the sillhouette of a guitar to the front though as I am pretty pleased with how it came out (after my last tie dye attempt was little more than a failure!) and I'd like him to get some wear out of it.

 

On Wednesday night, I came home with Madelyn's harmony day dress for kindy still looking like this:

 

So I decided to let my WIP Wednesday post slide for the third week in a row to turn it into this:

 

I must admit, I did contemplate sending her to kindy in her brother's size 8 t-shirt, and regretted not throwing one for her into the pot with it as I was also trying to bake raspberry jelly cakes as my "cultural dish" for our shared harmony day morning tea at work.  I pushed on and she was very happy with the results.  Unfortunately the only modelled photo I have is an iPhone shot hubby sent me at work, with her grinning as proud as punch!

 

Madelyn took home the kindy's "cultural awareness doll", Sima for a sleep over a couple of weeks ago, and the thing was dreadful - it was sticky, filthy, had horrible messy hair and very stained, and falling apart clothes in it's little pack.  Most of the clothes were cabbage patch doll clothes and didn't fit properly.

 

The first thing I wanted to do was wash the doll, but on reading the kindy's booklet that came with her, the first thing that was mentioned was "Please do not give me a bath".  I contemplated it for a moment, and nearly left her, but I couldn't handle the thought of not knowing where she had been, and feeling that grime upon her plastic skin I decided to give her a bit of a wipe down with a soft cloth and dish detergent anyway.  We spent some time brushing her hair with Maddy's Australian Girl Doll brush, and some leave-in conditioner, and all that was left was to make her some new clothes.

Since we only had her for the one night, she had to go back with just the outfits she came with, but at least she was cleaner and the children could get a comb through her long black hair once again.  Then today I discovered this Mod Kid dolly pattern that I have had unopened for ages, and decided to make a new slightly longer skirt for Emily (the one I made to match Maddy's was slightly to short), and two new long sleeved tops, one for Emily and one for Sima.  So Madelyn has a belated Harmony Day present for Sima the cultural doll tomorrow - a pretty new top, and Emily's too short skirt (which should still cover Sima's knees as she is a smaller doll).

I think I have had enough of orange for a while now!

Designing for a special little showcase

I have been designing again, but this time for a different cause.  I will be releasing this pattern as another freebie on ravelry in the next few days. 

 

Chevgirl Knitting is hosting a showcase called "Hats for Ethan" to raise money to help pay for Ethan's treatment.  Ethan is just 6 years old and has been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.  You can read about his journey here.

As soon as I read about this, I knew I had to make some kind of contribution, so it was the least I could do to design a hat especially with him in mind.  This prototype hat will be offered up for sale in the showcase on May 10 (which I think will be held on her facebook page).

Surprisingly, my not so obliging model became my obliging one, while the other wouldn't have a bar of it!  So yes, that's my daughter, happily modelling a boy hat.  I am so happy that she did exactly as I told her and amazingly... STOOD STILL!  I wish I could get her to do that in the dresses I make her.

Sole mates!

After nearly two years in waiting, my sock has found a friend.   I think I am just as much in love...

 

 

Being a me project, these socks took position at the bottom of my list.  I am also famous for Second Sock Syndrome (a knitting conundrum where you just never get arounsd to making that second sock).  But I am glad I did.  There is nothing like lounging about in some soft, pretty, handknitteed socks.  Especially in winter - they are warmer than anything money can buy.

 

 

Lotta thinks they are fabulous too - she slept on the first sock while I knitted the second, and I am sure she thinks they are hers.  She tried to lick them while I took my photos!

 

Knitters - the pattern is easy, and free on ravelry here.

Because little girls aren't always young ladies

Madelyn is a knicker flasher.  Like many 4 year olds, she has no idea of modesty.  Sometimes I feel like a broken record... "Madelyn, put your dress down!"...  "Madelyn, put your legs together!"...  "Legs down Madelyn!" 

Often we give up and keep her in shorts, but we have a few little denim skirts from Gymboree, that all have little cotton shorts attached.  Marvelous inventions!  But not quite enough twirl for a princess.


So once again, Tie Die Diva came to the rescue, with her Twirl Skirt pattern with attached bloomers.

Sweet. 

I see a fair few of these in our future!  I think I might try it with some little stretch knit shorts underneath though, the bloomers really are more like bloomers than shorts and quite "boofy".  But then again, perhaps that is what makes the skirt so puffy and twirly looking.  Some experimenting is in order.

I do love the ruffles.

6 FQ OUT

And another star on the pile

 

I love it when I have enough blocks to make at least a 2 x 2 grid.  You start to see some cohesiveness.  That's exactly what happened today, when I got to sew up the March block:

 

The Ninja Star.

 

 

Loving the sparkle in the background!

WIP Wednesday #7

When you are out of the house for 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, and have to cook dinner, feed and bathe kids and read stories before you can clean up and sew, making progress is slow.  Very slow! But I am glad that I have been pushing past that wall of tiredness and switching on the machine. There is something about piecing bits of fabric together that I find so relaxing.  I have to tune out the world and focus on cutting accurately, making seams meet, pressing carefully and I get to watch a block appear before my eyes.

 

Given that I have just gotten over a stomach virus and now considering staying home in bed tomorrow to get over the head cold that has been plaguing me all week (and harassing me with an asthma flare up that has made me just want to sleep), perhaps taking on another QAL was not such a good idea.  But if I think of it as medication to keep me sane… I am so happy to be joining in! So I am following the Moda Friendship Blog Hop and QAL and loving every minute!

I was inspired by the gorgeous “Simply Sweet” fabric range I have used on Madelyn’s latest dress (made this week – just needs buttons).  I told you I was excited about this one, because of the fabric selection, right?  Well now I have an excuse to play with these colours some more! 

 

I bought the fabric at an end of bolt sale, so had a minimum 1y cut.  So I grabbed 1.5y of each the green and the white prints.  This means I have plenty left to make Emily a little matching dolly dress (and sqee! Just as I was considering drafting my own dolly version, Tie Dye Diva released it in dolly size!).  Unfortunately this fabric is hard to find now, so I can’t make an entire quilt from this range, but I have plenty to use in a few of the blocks.  And an order of coordinating prints on the way (woops – that stash busting doesn’t look like it’s going so well!).  How could I resist some of this Pam Kitty Love?

Photo courtesy of: http://www.fatquartershop.com

I managed to finish my CP cushion top, and nearly went ahead and quilted it so it was ready to stitch into a cushion cover when I eventually get to a shop to buy a zip.  Fortunately, sensibility took hold and I tucked myself into bed before midnight hit, and turned me into a pumpkin.  This block is so easy and quick to make, which makes me confident enough to cut into my Pieces of Hope stack.  Joining them and matching up seams was a little tricky, but I got the hang of it, and I think on larger blocks I will be wondering what I was worried about.

 

And thanks to Vanessa from Punkin Patterns, for her design wall post, I now have one of my own!  Mine is only small; 500mm by 700mm and I had room to go bigger, but  I chose to use foam board rather than polystyrene (for the sake of the vet bills I didn't want, as my cat loves to eat the stuff!) This was the only size available when I went to Officeworks on the weekend.  I paid the extra dollar and got the self-adhesive foam board.  Fabulous!  All I had to do was peel back the backing paper, smooth on some flannelette, and tape it to the back.  Done! 

(okay so my desk is a little messier than Vanessa's....)

I deliberated on turning it into smaller design boards to help with cutting and laying out sampler blocks, but the design wall won out.  I may go back and get some more but at $11.50 a piece I wanted it to be the size I would most use.  DH doesn’t let me hang quilts on walls… but he said nothing about design boards!

Okay, time to link up with Freshly Pieced and hit the couch with some knitting...  No sewing tonight, I am exhausted!

WIP Wednesday #6

Hmmm.. time to reflect on what I have been doing in my creative zone this week and again feel like I haven't enough to show.  I am still settling into things, but I think I am finally starting to find my feet.  New quilting books have arrived and been drooled over, and I feel inspired more than ever to get brave with FMQ.

With the realisation that the month is nearly over and I have yet to find the time to buy batting, I think it is safe to say Madelyn's quilt will remain on the backburner for a little bit longer.  I could rush it through with some straight line quilting, but I think it might be the perfect canvas for some new (to me) quilting techniques, and given that I will be looking at it every day, I don't want to think "If only I had..."  The borders scream out for some free motion, don't you think?

I have finished my February Lucky Star I showed you last week:

Made a dress for my little girl, and cut out another:

(Seriously excited about this one - couldn't fathom a more perfect fabric and pattern combo!)

And started on a cushion to test out the pattern I want to make the AIP quilt with.  I am using a 4" block, however the quilt will be done with a 7" block.  I didn't have many scraps left big enough for the 7" size, and wanted to use my cherished Central Park leftovers. This will have pride of place on my lounge, along with the matching Blockapalooza quilt (that is waiting on final borders).

Next weeks goals:

1. Sew up another dress  for my girl
2. Finish piecing my Central Park cushion top
3. Frolic on some fabric to practice FMQ

Linking up at Freshly Pieced

She's apples!

I haven't been too well over the past few days, but when my little Miss requested a pink dress I decided not to let a dreaded stomach virus keep me away from my machine!  I bought this fabric from Spotlight just before Christmas, when there was a sale on, and I was feeling motivated to make my little girl's summer wardrobe rather than buy it.  Unfortunately, as always, time got the better of me, and the fabric went straight to my stash,

The pattern is Tie Die Diva's "Sweet Summer Girls Halter Dress".  I loved being able to download it and use it straight away.  It is a really simple little dress to sew up, and comes in two sizes (baby-toddler, or little girl - 8yrs).  The hardest part is sewing the curved part of the straps to the bodice, but it's doable, and you get that out of the way straight up, and it just kind of falls together from there.  Exactly what I needed when I still had a bit of a foggy, achey head.

Unfortunately my camera wasn't focusing properly, and when I realised that the lens wasn't clicked in all the way, it was too late - she wasn't cooperating anymore, so these are the best shots I could get. She is never still for a moment - then complains when we have to walk more than a few metres.  No wonder, she burns off all her energy at a rate of knots!

I made the size 6 but her chest size (surprisingly!) is not much bigger than a 4 in this pattern.  It looks tight across the chest in these photos, but I think it is more that it is sitting a little too low.  I should have put a shorter length of elastic in the back as it falls a bit and then pulls across the chest.  Not the pattern's fault at all,  she has a little growing room.  She is 4 years old but generally wears size 6-7 in bought clothing, because of her chest size and giraffe legs!  I think it looks gorgeous in real life, and would definitely make another.  Although I have plans to make another of Tie Die Diva's dresses first - they are so easy and quick to make, yet so pretty.

The little headband is another ruffle headband, from the tutorial I used a couple of years ago for her Christmas dress.  I just love it!  Really easy to make, clever construction and it actually stays on her head (when she's not fiddling too much).

Have to finish with the obligatory twirly shot!

That brings my stash count down by 7 FQs.