Matching Pegs

I started this quilt 31 months ago in March 2006.  It has been quite a labour of love, and it is very close to completion, as I am now working on the binding.  I hand quilted around these words a few days ago - it could have been the motto for the whole quilt, and, it seems, the entire week.

In the past 24 hours the Matching Pegs household has been hit by a tedious irritating problem that we have all had to deal with, (a member of the family asked me not to be specific).  The problem is not serious, but not dealing with it promptly would make our problem multiply, if you catch my drift.  So I have been practicing my deep breathing and remembering to be patient.

When I was shopping last week for the binding for this quilt, I also picked up some binding and backing for my Chez Moi - Charisma quilt.

The red fabric (which is for the binding) is a perfect colour match, because it is another Chez Moi fabric, but this time it is from the Posh range.  The green fabric is a plain green homespun - it doesn’t match quite as well, but it will be used only for the backing, and it goes well with the binding.  I am toying with the idea of marking a design on the backing, and free motion quilting the quilt from the back, but I am not sure if my skills are up to it.  It might be a good way to learn.

Today Michaela and I were enjoying the afternoon spring sunshine, and blowing bubbles, as well as our cares away.  A little wander around the garden turned up a surprise, a ranunculi from a few years ago, growing where I thought they had been finished.  I thought I would share it with you.  I hope your week is full of happy surprises, but if it is not, I wish you patience.

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.

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.

I guess it was inevitable. Michaela and I have succumbed to the dreaded virus.

This weekend was full of family related birthday activities for Amelia’s birthday (Going out to a Chinese lunch being one of them), which I managed to make it through, but completely crashed on Sunday.  Here is a shot of Amelia with her candles, wearing the scarf I secretly made her about a month ago.

The cake is a pretty run of the mill (but yummy) chocolate cake.  Amelia has put in an order for a castle for next weekend’s birthday party with her friends.  At this stage I am not sure if I am up for it.

Mickey Moo and I were packed off to bed on Sunday afternoon, and apart from sleeping for a couple of hours, I also made a little start on this.

One silver lining, from Rory’s horrible ear infection (a secondary infection from the virus I now have) is the little bottle from his medicine.  The glass bottle with the childproof lid was perfect to keep tiny buttons in, that I purchased for this project.  Now a certain little person can look safely.

Tonight I am going to stagger off to a Preschool Committee meeting, to present 4 alternatives to the current (appalling) logo.  I will give you all a peek when I am well enough to think straight again.  I will leave you with a look at the last candle standing, I am quite pleased with the photo.

This is Mr Chocolate. I made him 4 years ago for a close friend. This little chap was actually the logo of Rebecca’s Online Children’s Clothing Store, which is currently inactive - having your fifth child will do that to you :-).

I finished Michaela’s Bamboo/Cotton scarf. It is tiny, but perfectly proportioned for her.

She has worn it quite a bit lately, as it has been quite icy.

We have a jam packed weekend, so the post ends here

My little bottle of Mod Podge is going a long way, and I am loving it.

Here is another really quick project, that has been seen all over the craft blogs thanks to Anna Maria Horner’s appearance on Martha Stewart (there is a link in Anna’s sidebar to the video tutorial). It’s called Fabric Silhouette Painting, and while I was looking at the video, I had a great idea for what I could make - A decorative house number. Just the right kind of project for a gloomy Melbourne winter day.

The tutorial starts with a pre-stretched canvas and a piece of fabric, cut to size, that you staple to the back of the canvas. Unfortunately, I only had a domestic stapler, and not a staple gun, so I didn’t really get the fabric tight enough (hence the slightly wrinkled appearance of the finished numbers), but I carried on regardless. I chose to use a great Heather Ross fabric that I got in NYC at Purl, called Matrioshka Dolls (in beige)

Here is the fabric covered, Mod Podged canvas, with a paper stencil that I have made to trace out the numbers. All that was left was to mix up a colour to match the trim on our house, and paint out the background, and then a final coat of Mod Podge. Check Anna Maria’s tutorial for better instructions.

I really like how the nesting dolls are peeking out of the numbers; a detail you can’t see from the street, but will notice as you approach our front door.

While it is under the eaves, it will undoubtably be exposed to some weather, (although, on the south of the house, it will not get direct sunlight) so my husband is sceptical about how long this will last. Nevertheless, Luke kindly drilled in some screws to hang it on.

This shirt is one I think Luke has had longer than he has known me. He recently rediscovered this to wear for weekend gardening, and the kids told him he looked like a farmer, which certainly didn’t make him unhappy.

So where are these Winter flowers I mentioned in the title? One lot grows right next to the house number, over the boring old grey lattice that surrounds our verandah. It is one of my favourite Aussie natives, Happy Wanderer (Hardenbergia Violacea). We have planted lots of purple flowers because I love they way they look up against the terracotta bricks of our house.

These are just coming into flower, and the flowers will last for months.

Here are the other winter flowers, but they are a little stranger…….

It might be a little difficult to see, as it was starting to get dark, but the kids have picked up a whole lot of Camellia blooms that have fallen to the ground, and they have decorated the Magnolia Tree. In a month or so, this tree will have lovely purple blooms of it’s own, but for now, it has bright pink flowers.

“Sometimes I wonder why I have to stay

Being the same person day after day

So out with the clothes box and on with the gear

And very soon somebody different is there”*

So here is my little Jedi in all his glory. It is a dress up day at school today, and the theme that the student team in charge chose was “Super-Heroes, or Careers”. The kids who dressed up had to make a gold coin donation, which this time is going to a fund for a nearby school who had a fire. Amelia chose to go as an artist.

I think they both look wonderful!

For those that are interested, Rory’s Jedi Robe is made of Polar fleece (no hemming required), and I used the details here (scroll to the bottom of the page, where it says “Making A Simple T-tunic) as a reference for this project.

And just because the other two are up there, here is an adorable photo of the littlest one, pretending to be all grown up with a towel on her head.

* And yes that is another quote from one of Justine Clarke’s songs.

When you are otherwise indisposed in the smallest room of the house, and your toddler comes to you, the last thing you want her to do is hand you a couple of egg shells and tell you that she is making french toast.

“But Mummy, I’ve got my apron”

You might notice in the background there are a couple of lovely Teddies. They had been having a lovely supper tea party the night before, with the girls, and the teddies could not tear themselves away from their cafe chairs. Michaela and I took a little time to restyle them, and take a lovely shot.

All of these beautiful creatures are hand made. The larger ones were made by the person from whom I inherited my creative genes, my talented Mother. That’s Daisy on the left (who belongs to Amelia) and Rosie on the right (who belongs to Michaela). Peanut Butter, who belongs to Rory was out to see a movie and didn’t join the party. Both Teddies are wearing clothes handed down to them from Baby Michaela. The smaller Teddies are all made by me, using a design of Rosalie Quinlans, published in Homespun No. 32 Vol. 6. No. 6.

The little one is the original size on the pattern, which I love, but the size makes it a little tricky to make.

I made a larger one for Michaela, and the other kids insisted on having one as well, which is why we have 3.

I love Rosalie Quinlan’s designs, when I grow up I want to be just like her ;-).

Here is a sneak peek at one of my designs that I am currently working on.

So, what is the funniest thing your toddler has given you?

So this is what I had been working on for the last two evenings.

Knitting is not something that comes easily to me. While I have found it quite relaxing, I don’t image that I would find making a whole garment to be quite so calming. This is only my second item I have ever made. Apart from the choice of wool, it is exactly the same as the first. It’s all about the wool, and if these two indicate anything about my preference, it is that I like a variegated wool.

The only reason that I had a go at knitting anything was that I spotted this divine wool in the local wool shop, (I was probably there to purchase wool for doll’s hair). My photo, and more specifically, the available light does not do it justice. It is a lovely soft fluffy dusky rainbow colour appropriately titled “Uluru“, it certainly evokes the colours of the red centre at sunset. I just had to have it, and if that meant learning to knit, so be it! So the lovely lady at the shop sold me a book on knitting basics, and suggested a pattern of stitches to follow, and Ta Da! Colours get me every time.