Matching Pegs

Amelia’s Capital A is finished!  We both had a lot of fun making this, and I think it is a really great birthday present.  I had a look around and you can buy them here.

Amelia did get her ears pierced the other day, and she was so brave, not a tear.  I was so impressed.

Doesn’t she look grown up.

Today I mocked up the bottom half of my mug bag design with a scrap of calico that I had lying around.  It already had some pellon ironed on to it, and I wanted to test out how large I needed to make the size of the base area.

I also wanted to test out how appliqueing onto a backing, with batting adhered to it already, would look.  This little flower was just the quickest thing I could whip up, because of course, there will be a teapot.   I am still thinking through the design, but I know that the base I planned with take a range of mug sizes.

We are going into the second week of the school holidays, so I am not sure how much crafting will be going on, but there will definitely be lots of park visiting and drawing and lego and trampolining.

I have a small collection of teapots on my kitchen windowsill.  There are 3 (I said it was small).  I have been drawing them for my mug-bag design, and now I am drawing them up neatly in Illustrator, so much fun, (the pencil part more than the computer part).

The design is most likely to feature this bamboo handled one, as well as one of my butterflies and a cherry blossom.  I think I will start cutting out paper copies of these drawings at different scales to work out where I am going with this.  I just wish I had a super-teacher to teach me how to use the parts of Illustrator that I need to use.  I keep thinking in a tech drawing, auto cad kind of way when I am using it, and it is the wrong way to approach it.

Here are adorable photos of two of my kids.  It’s my blog, and I like to admire my handiwork - I just gave them both a haircut.

Michaela is going through a skirts and dresses phase, hense the skirt and pants look.  I cut her hair to angle in at the back.

I am no hairdresser, but I think I did OK.

Rory told me a minute before I took that shot that he would only pose if he didn’t have to smile.

I love my son so much that I took both he and Amelia to see Star Wars, The Clone Wars this afternoon.  I almost fell asleep.  Next week we are going to see Wall-E, which I am really looking forward to.  Tomorrow I am taking Amelia to have her ears pierced - so I will probably be posting her new look tomorrow.

Yesterday Luke came home with a fantastic surprise, the first DVD of Season Two of “Rome“, from the video shop.  Woo Hoo, get the kids to bed and break out the Maya Gold Chocolate (Fairtrade, so guilt free)!

We both love this show.  The first season screened quite some time ago on free to air TV (very late at night), but the second season was picked up by a cable channel here, so we have not been able to watch it until it hit the DVD store.

Luke has quite an interest in Rome and read his way through the Masters of Rome Series by Colleen Mc Cullough.  One of my favourite reading pleasures is re-reading The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay (also a favourite author).  Although this is based on the Byzantine Empire and set in a much later period, much of the culture is the same, I don’t know how many times I have read it.

Last night’s two episodes didn’t disappoint.  I was even glad to see the Roguish Titus Pullo, despite what he did at the end of last season - strangely charming and thuggish all at the same time.

So enough links, and enough about Rome.  Here is a photo of the next little project to join the list.  A mug bag to take my new mug to sewing each week.

I’m not sure exactly how I will make this, but I think there will be a teapot motif involved :-).

This is the other side of the Mexican Ladies Apron. Thanks Debbie for reminding me to take a shot of it.

While the sun was shining, Luke and the kids cleaned out the car.  With the back seats down, the kids discovered that there was even room to lie down.  Of course they didn’t want to get out for ages.

Tomorrow we are going to hop in our nice clean car, and drive into one of the busiest suburbs in Melbourne to see Luke and his new office.  I’m a bit nervous about the parking, I have never been there before, but we have a plan for day one of the school holidays.  After that, I am making the plan up as I go along.

Sometimes the weeks are so full, that if you take the time to post, you will have nothing to show.  In no particular order, here are some of the things keeping me off the computer……

On Thursday I finally had 3 hours of delicious “alone time” and spent it with my felt, a hot cuppa, and the CD of Les Misérables.  It has been years since I listened to it, and I loved it all over again.  This time I made one of my flowers a little larger and turned it into a brooch.  I also made a couple more of the hair clips, all in my cherry blossom design.

The Chocolate brown one may even have to be for me.

While I was looking up some felt things on the great and mighty inter-web last week, I found this amazing array of work that defies description.  Take a look, if you have a few minutes, it is quite inspiring.

Thursday was a whole lot better than Wednesday, when I had yet another of my children sick on the couch all day.  Luckily Michaela improved by the next day after a bit of TLC, and was not as sick as Rory had been.

Thursday night I went along with my friend Debbie to North Of The Yarra Quilters Guild for the first time.  It was fun, and I sure need a regular night out midweek.

This is a Wooden “A” that Amelia was given for her birthday, along with some lovely scrap-booking paper and cut-out flowers. Today we mixed up some paint to paint the edges and the flowers.  Tomorrow we are going to cover the front and back face with the paper.  Such a lovely creative gift, (thank-you Kyra).

Yesterday was the last day of term, and the kids finished an hour early.  Instead of 3 kids, I brought home 5 for the afternoon.  The kids played really well together, and all four of the older kids allowed Michaela to join in, rather than complaining to me about her pestering, so there were happy people all round.  Let’s hope the next two weeks of school holidays continue on in the same vein.

Finally here is a Baby sized T-Shirt for a yet to be born baby on the other side of the world.  This is the Aussie native that I managed to sketch and stitch - hopefully tasteful rather than kitch.

What’s keeping you busy at the moment?

Finished!  The Emmeline Apron Pattern is lovely, and the Mexican Ladies so bright and cheerful (thanks for your generosity Lily).  I am really happy with the result.

I probably should have worn a few less layers to model it - it looks less shapely than it should, but it was cold and windy here in Melbourne today.

I will definitely be wearing this a lot, and I will be sure to make this apron up again.

This, my friends, is a Blushing Bride (Serruria florida).  It was a purely sentimental purchase of mine at the plant nursery a couple of months ago, and this is the first of the blooms to open.

Almost a year ago I had one of these in my hair, and my friend Suzie had several, as we walked through the gardens on the way to meet her groom, for their second wedding ceremony in 2 weeks, but their first on Aussie soil.  It was a magical day, and I felt honoured to be part of it (I had never been in a bridal party other than mine) so I just had to buy one when I saw it.

This flower is a native of South Africa, and has the beautiful form that other Proteas have.  I would love to create a complex form like this out of felt, but that may just be beyond my capabilities or available time, so instead today I made this little bloom.

A friend of mine recently asked me if I might make these for sale, which I have not done before.  I don’t really know how to put a price on one of these.  I use mostly hand dyed, pure wool felt, which is a lovely material, but the main cost to me is time.  They take about 30-40 minutes to make (the cutting out is very fiddly).  The flower is just under 6 cm’s (2 3/8″) in diameter.  It is such a hard thing to do, put a price on your work.  Anyone out there want to suggest what they think is a fair price, or what they would be prepared to pay.  I’ll consider it market research, and it may help me with an awkward conversation ;-).

Here is something else from my garden, a lovely Aussie native this time.

I have been taking lots of photos of flowers and birds lately.  I have been thinking of stitching a simple Aussie native animal or bird, if I can manage to draw one that doesn’t look too kitch.

I have also always dreamed about designing a few modern Australian Motifs that could be used as a range of patchwork fabrics, because I strongly dislike the very kitch range that is available in stores currently.  That one will perhaps remain a dream for a few years more, unless someone gifts me with more hours in the day.  There are a few people on the case though (or improving Australian themed stuff that is available). I find lots of the hand screen printed fabric that is being produced by the Aussie Fabric Mafia very exciting, and particularly love this new one of Lara’s.

Today I almost finished my beautiful “Mexican Ladies” apron.  If I finish it in time in the morning, I will have to take it along to Playgroup to get another adult that can take a picture of me in it, during the daylight hours.  This apron really needs a photo on a body, as it is really flattering.

Stay tuned.

Yesterday morning the girls said good bye to our old car before school, there were even kisses bestowed.

Rory was on the couch, where he has been since Monday with a sore tummy and intermittent fevers.  Every time I thought he was improving, he took a turn again.  Yesterday morning he seemed to be a fair bit better, so I gave him the choice between him going to Grandma’s house or Grandma coming to stay with him.  I was crossing town with Michaela to pick up our new car (and leave the old one behind).  Rory decided a change of scenery was the way to go, so I dropped him off at Grandma’s house on the way.

By the time we returned to pick him up, Rory was a lot worse.  I packed him up in the new car, and brought him home.  As we pulled into the driveway, Rory threw up.

Luckily, he managed to aim it all in the sickie bag that I had transferred from one glove box to the other.  I was so impressed.

As he seemed to be getting worse over the course of the week, it was straight off to the doctors that evening.  The GP was concerned at his localised pain, so we were redirected to the Hospital, with appendicitis on the cards.  From the GP we went to the train station to pick up Luke, and after a quick change of clothes and a hurried sandwich, Luke went off to the Childrens’ Hospital with Rory in the new car.  I was more than a little concerned about Rory, but some of my worry was also for Luke, who was trying out our new car, in the dark, with a sick little boy moaning in pain in the back seat.

Rory was clearly quite sick, but as he was able to climb up onto the bed, handled driving over speed humps on the way in, and seemed to improve a little as the evening wore on, it was looking like his appendix could remain inside his body.  Of course, it took several hours to reach this decision, and Rory was not able to eat, drink or have pain relief during this wait, so the evening took it’s toll on both of them.  The pain may possibly have been caused by the lymph nodes surrounding his appendix, being inflamed by his illness and causing the localised pain.

In the wee hours of the morning, Luke was advised that the could either take Rory home, or they would find him a bed for the night.  Luke choose the former.  Today Rory was still pretty sick, but not in the same pain, and starting to improve.

On Monday, Rory and I did a little drawing to pass the time.  I taught Rory the magical rule about drawing eyes, which I always wish I had known earlier on (I think I was in my teens when I learnt this).  Eyes should be drawn in the middle of the face, not towards the top.  We drew a page of oval faces, each one quartered to show us the middle.  Here are two drawings from that page.  The one on the left is Rory’s Yoda, and the one on the right is a little baby I drew, when I was playing with head shapes, and proportion.  He does look at little blocky though.

This baby led to a whole new page of babies (and no, I am not clucky, but an idea for a little cloth baby is brewing).

Rory loved the slightly angry/spooky looking baby in the top row, second from the left.

Perhaps Rory and I will do some more drawing tomorrow, and I may even answer some emails, and reply to some comments.  Tonight I am off to bed, for hopefully a less eventful night.

This beautiful Helleborus, or Winter Rose (also known as Christmas Rose in the other hemisphere ;-)) has been growing in the garden for quite some time.  Today I decided that it was OK to cut some blooms to bring inside, as with the warmth of spring, I am not sure how much longer it will be in bloom.

I have also finished my scarf, just in time for the warmer days, isn’t it always the way.

It is a much larger version of Michaela’s scarf, it took 4 balls of Bamboozle yarn (70% Bamboo 30% Cotton) to make it up.  This is the 5th scarf I have made, using a 2×2 rib, following my beginners book.  This is the first time I have “cast off in rib”, my beginners book only showed me one way to cast off.  I had no idea there were others, and this way works so much better (as you cast off you just follow the pattern of knit two, purl two).

Rory took the photo above, (under direction). I think he did a fantastic job.  He is home today with an upset tummy following a very big weekend.  We packed in Swimming Lessons, a Spring Fair (I was a face painter extraordinaire), Fathers’ Day and the purchase of a new(er) car (4 years rather than 13).  It looks a little like this………

On Wednesday, I have to trek back to the complete other side of town to pick it up, and bring it home, probably by driving on the notorious Punt Rd/Hoddle Street - one of the busiest roads in all of Melbourne.  While it will definitely be worth it, I am a little nervous.  Anyway, this little beauty (A Toyota, Avensis Verso) has 2 extra seats tucked away in the back section of the hatch.  They fold completely flat, leaving a boot capacity similar to the one we have in the old Liberty.  This will enable us to transport other additional people occasionally when we go out (when the kids want to bring a friend) which I am sure will come in handy.  We will still be a one car family, but have a little more flexibility.

In the next few days, I will have to post some pictures of some painted faces, but it has taken me ages to write this short post, so I will save it for another day.  Why is it that having two kids at home today makes me feel like I am moving through quicksand.  I don’t seem to get anything done.  As much as I love my kids, I am craving a little alone time, and that little glow of satisfaction that comes with finishing a project of two.

This picture shows a small quilt that I made for Baby Michaela, to roll around on as an infant, and a tiny co-ordinating wall hanging that I made as my first ever attempt at needle turn applique.  The wall hanging was a small trial run for this quilt (which I am still working on 2 1/2 years after I started it in March 2006).

I started making this very basic quilt when I was quite large (pregnant) and I remember how awkward it was, crawling around on the floor as I made the quilt sandwich.  It is machine quilted with basic diagonal lines, and technically it is pretty ordinary, but it has stood up to being washed, time after time after time, (baby vomit, grass stains, mashed banana).  The lavender coloured gingham backing has taken on that lovely puckered appearance that comes with being well washed and well loved.

I particularly love the colour combination on this quilt and wall hanging - it is a little unusual, and has elicited quite a few comments over the last three years (I especially love the cinnamon colour with the lavender).  I have a little of each of these fabrics stashed away to applique a doona (duvet) cover that I want to make for Michaela’s bed, out of lavender gingham sheets.

See Mum I am much bigger than a baby now!

Here is a look at some more bedding, a peek at what is on our bed at the moment.

More lavender!  This is a pure mohair lap rug that Luke gave me about 9 years ago.  In winter I sleep with it over my half of the bed - I feel the cold more than Luke does.  Yesterday I carefully hand washed it, and then was able to dial up a very gentle spin speed on my new machine to spin off some of the water.  I added lavender oil to the wool wash, so it smells lovely.

The stripey pillow case you can see is made of the same fabric as the binding on Michaela’s quilt.  It was all cut from the border on some sheeting seconds that I purchased years ago - I only wanted the stripes, but had to buy a whole garden scene piece of sheeting to get it.

What unusual colour combinations do you like?

………………..when you have been without a washing machine for two weeks.

Meet my brand new, energy and water efficient, front-loader.

I didn’t want to bore you all, by banging on about the trials and tribulations of my washing machine problems over the last month or so, but lets just say that the arrival of this machine yesterday has been a real sanity saver for me.  It arrived just in time for some wonderful spring weather - 3 loads on the line today!

The past week has been full of reunions for us here in the Matching Pegs household.  On the weekend we caught up with a friend that we studied with 11 years ago, and had not seen for 10 years.  She has been living overseas for 5 years, and on the other side of the country since then.  Georgina was briefly back in Melbourne for a visit and we met her out in the gardens of the Heide Museum of Modern Art (Former home of John and Sunday Reed - after whom Nicole’s baby, Sunday Rose, is named, people) which was a fabulous venue.  The kids got to run wild in the gardens, and we were able to admire the outdoors sculptures, and drink caffeinated beverages as we watched the kids and caught up.  I once read that people don’t really change as they age, unless they put on lots of weight, or loose lots of weight.  It’s true.  Georgina has not changed at all, in appearance or personality.  It was lovely to catch up with her.

On Tuesday we caught up with very good friends of ours that were visiting town, from their home in Northern Virginia, USA.  Suzie also studied with us way back when, and has made a life for herself in the the States with a wonderful man, who likes to masquerade as a strange human/donkey hybrid………..

Thanks Casey for making Michaela giggle so much.  I was only joking about putting this on the blog, but decided to do it anyway, after all, you can certainly maintain your anonymity!

Suzie and Casey are retuning at Christmas time, when Suzie is going to introduce her Northern Hemisphere husband to the joys of a hot summer Christmas Day.  Seeing them twice in one year is great.

I just wanted to share a photo of a couple of the beautiful Gerberas that they gave me, each a different colour.  The blush pink one was particularly divine.  Thank you guys.

Tomorrow I am hoping to actually do some sewing, so stay tuned.