'Baby' quilt for the 19 month old

I finished this a month or two ago; baby boy even then couldn't really be considered a baby, but he will be in the cot a little while longer.




I'm really happy now with the tumbler blocks, although I think I spent more time cutting them out than anything else which was pretty miserable.  I took Mum's advice and starched all the fabrics before cutting to help keep shape, as I was a little apprehensive doing my first piecing involving something other than squares or rectangles.

Fabrics are my usual mix but in a slightly less multicoloured palette- I wanted a clean boyish-looking quilt in brights and navy.  There are quilting cottons including several from the previous kids' quilts, and the Spots and Stripes poplin from Spotlight.  I keep using Spots and Stripes because it is cheap (often on sale), lovely as a binding, and has not faded in my other kids' quilts (unlike some far more posh fabrics).






Quilted by machine 1/4" from all seams.




Backing was from East Coast Fabrics at Lawnton; navy stripe (Spotlight Spots and Stripes) for binding.




This is typical of my life at the moment- I am back at home, trying to do lots at once but there is always at least one little someone plus a big baby bump getting in the way.  Happy chaos!

Worm love

A great quick fix made as a gift for a lovely friend...



This is Evelyn Inchworm from Wee Wonderfuls.  Fun to make, although I found it a little tricky to get the bumps lined up evenly- at one point she was very twisted looking.  Though here she is now, looking nice and stable.



Love her! And can't wait to make more cute toys.   

Happy 2012!

A few of the many things I meant to post in the last year...



Cat from Stitch magazine (Spring 2009) made for a baby gift,




April Showers scarf from the Purl Bee,




and an Oliver + S popover sundress for dolly.

More to come...

The proper stuff.

You'd think the highlight of my year was making a decent custard.  This is the first time I've made one (without custard powder) that hasn't split.  Recipe is a hybrid of the two in Nigella's How To Eat and this one.  Not as thick as I'm used to, but so much better!

So, I have made the decision it's better to be a once-every-ten-months-blogger than a non-blogger.  Of course there's much I should've posted but didn't.  In summary of 2011 so far, life has been good and yet still full of challenges, the family is great, and I am back at work full time again (which is okay, thanks to my wonderful husband and Mum picking up where I left off).
Hoping to share more soon,

A.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a wonderful time this Christmas!

(Pattern from here).

The Family Piano

Delivered today and already being pounded by the next generation, oblivious to how badly it needs tuning.  So looking forward to making our own Christmas music this year!

Falling through the days..

... to the point that this poor blog is quite neglected.  When I actually do something blogworthy, it's a struggle to capture it.  So we have this new strawberry dress for Strawberry (the Oliver + S ice cream dress made entirely from stash materials) which has been around for a week or so, and this is my best shot of it.  It's a case of put the dress on her to model, get distracted by a phonecall and other kids, and she's asleep on the couch.



I only just noticed the snotty nose!

Proper shots to follow!