New Skirt

Well, this pile of fabrics had been staring at me all week and it was time to do something about it.

The easy answer was a little girl's three tier skirt using the pink floral and solid fabrics. I then added an underskirt and waistband using the orange polka dot fabric.




Our nearly-three-year-old granddaughter came to lunch yesterday with her family and I had to hide it from view. She's my resident model and I knew if she donned the skirt, it would have been impossible to claim it back (guilt, guilt).




I hope she forgives me, but my Etsy Shop was crying out for new stock!

What's in the bag?

Oooooooo ... baby's first designer shoes!



I have a friend whose shoe collection would put Imelda to shame. I can hardly wait for her to become a grandmother.

They are cute from any angle




Click on my Etsy Shop link to see them in more detail.

Birthday Boys

It’s my birthday today and I share this celebration with our two grandsons. On Friday our youngest grandchild, Christopher, turned one, and the next day our eldest grandchild, Stephen, turned five. Chris lives in Sydney, so sadly we could not be there to share in his day, but from the photographs emailed to us, he had an extremely happy time. Luckily, Stephen is within an hour’s drive from our home, so we helped him celebrate yesterday.

Birthday cake etiquette is an art form. This is what a one-year-old looks like Before Cake:

This is how a five-year-old tackles the cake eating process:



And this is how a one-year-old tackles the same problem:



Notice the subtle difference?

Stephen’s little sisters prefer the Chris method:






While Chris’ big sister is, frankly, horrified!

I finished hand-sewing the binding on the Bunny quilt and it is now up in my shop. This morning I wandered into my studio and gathered up the scraps from various recent projects. I felt guilty and knew I had to do something with them, so I have declared today baby booties day. Well, it’s my birthday and I’m allowed to indulge in a little fun with scraps if I care to!

Bunny Quilt

Well, I managed to finish machine quilting the cot quilt today and will take it to my quilting group, Schoolhouse Quilters, tonight to finish hand-sewing the binding.



I had enough fabric left over to make a matching tote bag, big enough to fit the quilt in. It can also be used as a library bag, toy bag, or even a shopping or diaper bag for Mum.




I figure this would make a great Easter gift for a baby or small child, and I am throwing in the matching bag as a bonus. Hopefully I will finish the hand-sewing tonight (wishful thinking - it's our first night back after the Christmas break and there will be lots to catch up on). Still, I should have it ready to launch on my Etsy shop tomorrow - or maybe Saturday.


I'm really looking forward to our meeting tonight - there should be lots of show & tell!

The big wet

Well, the sunny Queensland summer rolls on, minus the sun. But we can't complain - the drought is breaking and we had a glorious, fine weekend. It's perfect weather to start a new project. I had a pile of Ruth McDowell designed bunny fabric sulking away with neglect on top of the cabinet in my studio and with Lent well and truly with us, could Easter be far away? I had downloaded a pattern ages ago and it was time to get cracking.




Aren't the fabrics just adorable? Having such a large central panel, the construction was easy. The only section which needed piecing was part of the border.

Once the piecing was done, it was a simple matter of adding the borders and corners to the central panel. A no brainer - it was like taking a holiday from my usual quilts, which take many months to construct.

The way the day is turning out, it looks like a great time to baste the top and start on the machine quilting. Maybe it will make a perfect Easter gift for someone on my Etsy shop.

Earlier this morning, I heard a melodious bird call quite close to the house. There sitting on the clothesline, sheltering from the rain, was a butcher bird.



Two minutes later, he was joined by a noisy minor.



We watched the Hitchcock classic The Birds the other night. Should we be alarmed?

To market, to market

It was a glorious Saturday morning, so we ventured out early to the farmers' markets. It's such a pleasure to shop in the open air in a friendly atmosphere, surrounded by exotic aromas and the sounds of enthusiastic vendors.

Luscious figs, peaches, green and yellow bunches of ladyfinger bananas, ripe, red tomatoes, and all the other fruits of summer. Who could resist?

After a quick stop at the coffee vendor to re-charge the batteries with a short black, it was on to the butcher, the baker, and preserved olive maker.

Next on the list was the Mushroom Man, who sells the best Swiss Brown mushrooms in town.

We take in the colours of the beautiful flowers before heading home.

Here are some of the stalls we passed on the way back to the car.




And now it's time to recover before setting out to babysit.

A frill a moment

It was time to add a new skirt to my Etsy shop, so I chose a pretty blue with contrasting pink tiny floral fabrics, and a stripe to add as accent. I finished it by the end of the day and now it's up and running in the shop.

This design has proved very popular and sells like hot cakes. One of my resident models was very happy to pose in her skirt - very cute, Emily.

Tomorrow we get our week's supply of grandchildren hugs when we babysit our three Brisbane grandchildren, Stephen, Josephine and Gabrielle. Josephine is very fashion conscious, which has caused some conflict in the past. Every time she tries on one of my items for sale, she figures (quite justly) that it's fair game and it belongs to her. So I always make more than one before she deigns to pose, so that she keeps one, I sell one. She's such a little charmer - and has quite a wardrobe!

Meanwhile, Josephine's big brother Stephen commenced prep school this week at the same college where his father teaches high school. He is causing a ripple among the staff. Take today for instance. When the after-school care teacher came to pick him up until his father had finished his classes for the day, she said, "OK Stephen, let's go ... after you." To which Stephen, five next week, replied, "No. My daddy says ladies should always go first. So after you." What a boy!

Too Little Time

Well, at least I finished the new library bag, but other plans for the day went out the window.




This is what it looks like inside:




However, I have started on a frilly skirt and hopefully it will be completed by tomorrow.

Great chunks of the day were spent trying to get the Flickr slide show onto the blog site - very frustrating. But as you can see, it's now up and running - hope you like it!

Emily's Balloon

Just like her namesake in Emily's Balloon by Komako Sakai, our Emily took her balloon for a walk with a spoon attached to keep it from flying away. She was wearing her Hot Fudge Kombi Van pants for the occasion.