Cute kids

Okay, okay, as my eldest son turns 15 on Saturday (where did the time go?), I guess they are not really in the "cute" catagory anymore but they were both so sweet yesterday.
They knew my plan was to lie on the couch wathcing movies so my youngest son compiled a little pile of DVDs so i would have a choice of what i wanted to watch. Then he removes one of them (The Notebook) and puts it back on the shelf saying "we dont have enough tissues left for you to watch this". Funny little bugger. I haven't watched it in front of them; i like to watch my sad chick flicks on my own and have a guilt-free sob without spectators!!  But he knows i think it is sad so back on the shelf it went! 

My eldest son's contribution was Finding Nemo which I am about to go and watch.  I am feeling much better today but have been grocery shopping this morning, by necessity and not by desire; so am going to take it easy for a couple of hours, watch a movie. Then i will be dusting off some nice clothes and going out for dinner which a very nice friend has just invited me to.  Yesterday that wouldn't have been possible but I guess we humans are resilient creatures.  So while i dont feel well by any means, I do feel better than I did and hope to continue that way, with frequent rests I imagine.
The other sweet thing was the bowl of jelly my youngest son made me the night before.  I always make them jelly when they are sick so he made one for me. Awwww, what a sweetie!

So it is off for Finding Nemo (to show my son that even though he was being a smarty pants; I will watch it anyway!!) and some jelly! 

Some garden pictures

I thought, in the absence of any crafting, I would show you a couple of the pretty things we have flowering in our garden.
First off is a kangaroo paw, which I am allergic to but these ones seem to be not so bad.  And as i have no plans to roll around in them, I think it will be fine.

Like many things we have planted, these have taken a couple of years to really get established. It didn't help that they were eaten quite badly after we planted them (which has happnede again to some new ones we put in not so long ago - darn rabbits).  But these ones have come up well and they are so pretty along the front of our carport.

In a recurring rabbit theme; we planted pencil pines down our driveway and left a space between each, where we alternated some dwarf lavender and some of these;

The tag says they are called dianthus but I know them as carnations.  They are looking very pretty, most have at least one or two flowers; one is covered in them.  As for the rabbits; well they have seen fit to feast on the lavender so we will have to rethink that option.
Lastly is one of our roses:

They are all looking so nice this year, but I do need to go out and do some deadheading.  I love the garden this time of year. it is alwasy so green and pretty. 

As for the lack of anything crafty; I have come down with the flu, or something like it.  I spent the weekend resting and yet still had to call in sick yesterday.  I spent yesterday on the couch which is todays plan too!  I haven't been sick in aaaages (except for my ear problems) so I am not happy! Over the weekend I wanted to knit a bootee to match the single, lonely, one that has been sitting on my table for a few weeks now. it took me all weekend to get it done, obviously my energy levels are not where they should be.  So today and tomorrow will be spent resting and then hopefully it is back to work on Thursday.  My scarf is looking good; I have almost reached halfway, and ia m really really pleased with it. But it has been put away at the minute as well.  Maybe tomorrow I can get it out and plug away on it again.

It is going to be quite warm today; over 30 degrees. I have the house opened up this morning, catching the cool early morning air.  I would much rather have the house opened up than closed but with the heat expected today the doors will be shut shortly.  It does look like being a beautiful day though.

Some knitting to show you

Well i really should be finishing off some christmas presents that are almost done, but instead I bought some beautiful wool last week and couldn't resist so have been plugging away and knitting until my hands are too sore.
I am not sure if I have told you but i can't wear wool. We have some gorgeous baby alpaca where i work so I bought a skein of 2ply, hoping I could wear it and guess what: I think I can!! It is oh so soft.  it is a basic feather and fan pattern but done on 4.5mm needles so it comes out nice and lacy. i can't wait to finish it, by which time it will be well and truly Summer and it will be put away for next winter. it will be something I can look forward to.
So anyway, here it is.

The colour hasn't quite come out right but it is close enough.  On the skein all you really see is the lighter colour and I wasn't too fussed but I took the gamble. I am so glad I did as once it is knitted the darker colours ome out more and it is really lovely (i think so anyway!)

oops, just looked at the time, it is past time that i should have dinner on so off i go.  we had a wedding on Saturday, an old friend of mine (her family were very fond of saying on Saturday when I was introduced to anyone that I had known the bride for years and years; was starting to make me feel very old!! Anyway, I will get on tomorrow and share some pictures; if there are any good ones, I haven't checked yet.  It was a fun night and hey both looked very happy which is good as it was not either of their first marriages.

More Dr Seuss

How can there be more you ask?  A friend asked if I would make quilts for her nephews for Christmas to which I promptly laughed and said catagorically NO!  I do love her dearly but the quilting of the Dr Seuss quilt was a nightmare, and that was before the drama with the washout pens. So i compromised (as she is a very good friend LOL!) and offered to make her a couple of cushions for her to give to her nephews.  So, in a first for me as Christmas is six weeks away my kids tell me, I did not leave it until the last minute and have done them and handed them over yesterday. Phew, that is one thing off my list (well two actually).
So here they are:

I am really happy with them and am thrilled withhow they turned out. I made the blue one first and really just made it up as i went along.  When I was finished i stood back to admire my crafting genius. Obviously DH had seen that particualr look in my eye before as I was told sternly that I was NOT to keep them LOL!  The red one came next and was easier in one way as i knew what i was doing but it was harder i that i was trying not to just use the same material as the first one.
One of the good things about this whole project is the material is left over from the quilt, except for the centre panels, the zips and the cushion inserts. 
My friend seemed quite happy with them so hopefully her nephews like them too.  They are aged two and five I think. She is going to package them up with some cat in the hat books too. A great idea I think.

The other quilt that is being made is coming along nicely (shhh it is still a secret!) and it is being sent away hopefully next week to be professionaly quilted which I am loving the idea of.  I will still have to handquilt a section in the middle; something I haven't done before.  I have decided that trying to quilt anything larger than a table runner in my normal little sewing machine is a fool's job and so I am excited to see how this goes.

strawberry bootees

Over the weekend I managed to whip up the strawberry bootees that are on the front of my little knitting book (yes, i do have other books, but this one is so sweet that I am slowly working my way through it).
So here they are (and aren't they simply adorable????):

I have no-one to give them to at the minute but they can sit and wait for a suitable recipient. They are oh so cute and very easy; except the flowers that require a basic knowledge of crochet which I do not have.  So a big thank you to my boss who kindly whipped these up for me. They do finish them off beautifully. 






The other thing I have managed to whip up last night is this; yes another bag. Also from Keykalou.   It is a little camera case, and I have to tell you, it fits my digital camera like a glove.  Just perfect.  I didn't make it for that however as we have a little case for our camera, but I htought it would be handy for the days when I go out just with my keys and phone.  It is sadly just a tad too small for that but my plan is to enlarge the pattern by 50% and see how that goes. 

 If the material looks familiar, it is not the same as the fabric I used for the last bag, but it belongs to the same range. The design is much smaller, making it perfect for such a small bag
 Please excuse my post today, I cannot seem to arrange the photos where i want them and it is messing up with where the text goes.  Anyway, doesn't matter i suppose.
So, this is my weekend's work, I am very pleased with both projects.
And now back to the christmas sewing I go.  The two table runners are not far from being done, the quilt I am making for the shop is also almost done (the quilting is being done by someone else thankfully). Then I need to make the quilt I am doing for a personal present; that one I will have to do. And by hand by the look of it.  Not sure if it will be done by christmas but I think the person receiving it will forgive me. 

   

More bags

sigh, do I really need more bags?  probably not but I was chatting to Linda the other day and she pointed out a website to me that has bag patterns; bags, bags and more bags!  What a great site, with patterns that you pay for and then download; no waiting for mail to come.  So off to Keykalou i went and found some great things i couldn't do without.
i did love the clutch purse pattern, which I see Linda at Billabongs to Bling has also made.  I bought the pattern on tuesday morning and spent tuesday and Weds dreaming about some fabric we have at work that I was dying to use. So after waiting two days, off to work I went and bought the material and voila!, my new bag.

I love the stained glass fabric range we currently have in and this material just called to me. It is a little unusual though as I am a soft pink and blue girl, not hot pink and bright colours.  I am not sure what is happening in my "old" age but my tastes are definately changing.  Or maybe they aren't changing, maybe I am just more confident to wear/do what i want without worrying what others think.

What I do know is this: I have a wedding tomorrow and then another one in two weeks where i will be wearing black and silver, and this bag is going to look fabulous with that!!
I will point out quickly before i go that I wanted straps on this bag and there wasn't any in the pattern so I am joining one on. I dont want to have to hold this all night.
The pattern was great, easy to follow and the bag went together well. The only problem I had was the interfacing. Being in somewhat of a hurry to do this, I didn't have time to look around for some decent interfacing for bags so found some in a shop that was thick and nice and stiff. Great. Only the stiffness isn't the problem but the fact that it is papery so the bag isn't soft, it creases like paper and is really annoying.  it shouldn't matter as it is going to be used as a going out bag and not for every day.  I did buy more interfacing than I needed though, I was sure it would be wonderful stuff, and better than what I had used before. i think the lesson I will take out of this is that the interfacing should work better if I sew it in rather than ironing it.  Life is just a series of lessons I think and I will learn this one and hopefully get a better result next time.
I am looking forward to using this tomorrow.
And now it is back to the Christmas sewing!!!

Dr Suess quilt

It isn't a great photo; red is not a good colour for getting proper photos but you will get the idea.
The binding wasn't done yet but besides that it is done.

I am happy to report that while none of the remedies worked, the blue pen is finally washing out and losing it's blackness. So it is not half as obvious and I am much happier.  And while my children were very bemused when I brought the material home, it hasn't stopped my 14 yo from snuggling under it at night to watch the tv. So much for "my" quilt LOL!!!

So now I am frantically working on christmas things; two table runners which are getting there, not much to do now; two quilts; one for work and one for a present (time is ticking Karyn!!!!)  and also a couple of cushions out of more Dr Seuss fabric for a friend to give to her nephews.  They wont take long but I better not leave them until the last minute.  Is that it i wonder?? I really really need to make a list; I am useless without one.