Progress Report...

Well, it's been quite a productive week! Knocked quite a few things off the dining table and am feeling great about it! Tomorrow I'll show you the yarn I bought while up the Dandenongs yesterday... mmmmm!

I'm determined...

Things have got a little out of control in my studio so I've decided to lay out a bunch of things that need not too much work to get them finished... on my dining room table! Don't get too shocked!!! I have been working my way through a huge pile of mending and finishing of late and this is what's left! Hopefully in the next few weeks it will all be done! I'm going to make a special list for it!

Some photos from around my house... part 1

Well, I have decided to show you little bits from my house... since some of you have quietly raised doubts as to whether I ever actually finish the things on my lengthy list of UFOs!!! These photos are from DD2s room! Tomorrow I will show you another room!

I finished this rather cute cross-stitch while I was pregnant with DD1! It now hangs in the room of DD2!



The little mouse on the pile of balloons with big mouse about to pop on and wake him up is very sweet!


Nothing like the Reject Shop for a sweet shoe basket!







The view from the window... cupboard for toys/linen/nappies! A bargain second hand from the friend of a friend!


The view from the door... drawers are also from same friend of a friend! Curtains are a doona cover converted... cheaper than real curtains!



I loved this design from Handmade Magazine! It has silver thread through it and though it was a simple design it is rather fun!




Made this button heart cushion using a favourite piece of material and some buttons from my stash! A great way to use up buttons you like! It was done in an evening at a church craft group I used to run!



Stayed up late one night to work on this with a good friend a few years ago when my children were much smaller! The white cat is a gorgeous soft fur which had some sentimental value!







This papercut (scherenschnitte) was done by a very talented friend of mine for my DD2s birth! The detail in it is amazing!

Well, now you've seen one room... and as you can see quite a few things have been finished! Wait until you see the next few rooms!!! Now it's time to go do some more finishing but first I'm going to show you one more photo...

Some photos from my phone...

My daughter wearing the stripey jumper I knitted for her last year! It is absolutely gorgeous! I knitted it with a Lincraft brand machine washable yarn and it is lovely!
This is the bag I made for my Spring Swap partner! Very cute!
It was a good friend's birthday yesterday and I didn't have a present for her so while DD was asleep I whipped this up in about an hour! I had purchased the material for this purpose about a week ago so I was all ready, just not very organised! One handle is longer than the other and slips through to make a kind of dilly bag. Great for a few items on the go! Something I'd make again I suspect! Came from "Quilts and More" magazine. The inside of the bag was grey with red spots! Quite fun!

I really am trying to make a concerted effort to use up some of my yarn and fabric stash! It is starting to take over the house! Okay, perhaps this is a fairly out of date statement... it took over the house years ago! Still... it is getting a little ridiculous! I "discovered" two hanks of this variegated yarn (10ply?) that I bought at the Wangaratta Woollen Mills last year and decided to crochet it into a cushion for my DD1! She seems to like it so that's good. It's a quick crochet in treble. Lucy at Attic24 has a great tutorial if you want to learn how to make a round crochet cushion in no time at all! This is the effort from this morning!

Getting the hang of this blog thing!

Well, I've had a bit of a play with layouts... obviously have lots to learn about setting out a nice looking blog!!! Any advice gratefully received! Now I think it is probably time for me to go get the chores done for the day and the uniforms washed and the house a little tidy before we have some young guests over for a play after school tomorrow!

Some photos of recent progress...

I finished this cross-stitch last week at 1am the night before I went to visit a friend in her new house! She's moved to a lovely country place and when I saw this design it just felt right for her! It's always hard moving to a new place and making new friends so it was kind of like a message I felt God wanted me to pass on to her!! I wish I'd taken a photo before the glass went on but in all honesty I didn't have time!
I finally have finished this blanket for a friend's 4 year old! I started it about 2 years ago and then got pregnant and had a baby so it has only now been finished! I will be posting it this weekend! I loved the colours and the look of it. It was actually a fairly cheap Spotlight yarn (cupcake, $3.50) but beautifully soft and seems to wear well. It hasn't pilled at all so far. It has a lot of moss stitch and double moss stitch which drove me nuts but adds wonderful texture to the design. The edge is crocheted. I hope he likes it!
The framing of this was easy... went and got a mount cut... pre-purchased frame... spot of spray adhesive and voila! If I had more time I probably would have paid a whole lot more to get it properly framed but I'm not sure it would have made much difference! It was nice to see how well the colour matched the design and her furniture!
I just thought I'd throw in a picture of the very simple cake i made for my daughter's birthday! She wanted a beanie party so I just made a sponge, jam in the centre, and a ring tin sponge, also jam in the middle... cut the bottom off a plastic cup and some foil in the bottom, iced the cake, sat the beanie in... jaffas around the edge to hide the daggy icing... sprinkles on the top... the easiest birthday cake I've made by far but it tasted great and still looked fine!
I spotted these fabrics in a pack (5x10inch rectangles) and they "spoke" to me about my friend!!! She was going through a trying time so I made this in an afternoon as her "calming quilt"!!! They are not my colours at all but they worked great on her grey couch!

Blogging yet again...

Well, since I last blogged I have had a baby so now that she's a year old I'm thinking that it's time to stop just reading other inspiring blogs and get my own up to speed!!! So, what have I been up to? Well, this week I finished off a cross-stitch to say "Welcome" to her new house; finally finished knitting a blanket for a friend's 4 year old son; made my mother a bag for Mother's Day... wanna see photos?