Battling on

There are days when I would love to get rid of everything related to my quiltmaking and sewing, and live a much simpler life. Seriously. Although I believe that the point of everything that I do is to give glory to God, some days I still struggle with the 'point' of my quiltmaking, and then I also find it hard to enjoy what I am doing*. Yesterday was like that. Maybe its my mental state for the day, or maybe its the circumstances in which I am working at the time (such as, engaged in a power struggle with my one and a half year old). Maybe the step I am working on also comes into it... like this little lady...
She nearly had me beat yesterday... With artistic license to give her any hairstyle under the sun, what on earth possessed me to do plaits, and at this scale? If I'd had any doubts about the design of this quilt I think I would have binned it at this point. But I am very excited about this quilt design, so we pushed on...
and she was conquered, and before bedtime too! Now to 'conquer' the one and a half year old...

* Admittedly, on such days I also find it hard to enjoy other jobs and projects.

Fun for all

Just showing you some of the kids craft activities we have been keeping busy with:
- this particular drawing of Caleb's is definitely for keeping. He worked at it so intensely that he was huffing and puffing!
- Hannah's collage kept her busy for several days - that's the sort of craft project I like! First she covered the background of her large paper with magazine paper, sort of representing sky, water and grass. Then we drew lots of pictures for her to colour, cut and paste. And then she enthusiastically kept on drawing her own pictures as well as cutting out magazine pictures.
- the sequin-covered balls were inspired by this post. Be careful - this is VERY therapeutic and you might just find yourself distracted from the various chores that need doing!

Meanwhile, we are down to 1 more sleep!! Yes, Phil's coming back three days earlier than expected, which we're all rather excited about. I must say, though, that all those 'sleeps' didn't look half so daunting in the form of Hannah's lovehearts!

Ticked off

Well, its Thursday, and my goals have been met... the elm quilt is quilted, the house has been springcleaned from top to bottom, the car has been washed, the baby clothes have been pulled out of storage and washed, the herb garden has been planted, the christmas cards are stamped and ready to drop into the post box, the bulk of the holiday groceries have been ordered and packed away, and the birth announcement cards have been designed...
Now I'm waiting for the kettle to boil so I can enjoy a coffee, while I eagerly anticipate new projects! I'm hoping that the next week will hold a nice variety of sketching, piecing a new quilt top, sewing elephants, reading and probably some kids craft thrown in for good measure... sort of a little stay-at-home holiday as we count down towards Phils return!
One less-anticipated project will be to cut out a new quilt top, for when I have spare time to sew after the baby comes. I know, go ahead and laugh... but just imagine how frustrating it would be if I DO get spare time to sew, only to find there is nothing to sew! I like to be prepared! Last week I dyed some browns and skin-tones for this, with good results. After my recent experiments with red, I am now using a better quality homespun, and managed to find a source where I can get this at wholesale prices, which I'm rather happy about!

Any helpful tips for removing half a pot (no exaggeration!) of Vaseline from a head of baby hair?

Free stuff

In a moment of clarity: "Mum, it doesn't cost money to think!"...
...sometimes I would give anything to see into that little mind for a day!

Goals broken and made

I'm well and truly behind the unofficial (and probably unrealistic) quilting goal I set myself this week, but making progress all the same... Maybe there will be more sewing next week? (I'd love to have this one quilted by Thursday... for no other reason than that there are other exciting projects waiting to be tackled).

One job down

One of the odd jobs I needed to get done was to make Christmas cards. I found pre-cut cards (with matching envelopes) reduced to clear, and screenprinted these images onto them. The designs are inspired by old Japanese textiles, and I love how they turned out. I used my textile paint, which actually gives the cards a 'flocked' look.
I always try to make extra prints onto 'scrap' paper when screenprinting... this time there I also managed to remove the paper stencils from the screen without damaging them. They have dried nicely and I will be able to use them again!