Doll clothes part 2

Hannah had to go to hospital to have her adenoids taken out this week, so she received this new doll when we got there, as a distraction. But of course, every little doll likes to have a variety of clothes to wear, and with such cute patterns at hand, Mum couldn't resist either! Hence the new 'wardrobe'. And if you have three pretty dress patterns and can't decide which is nicest, you just make all of them, of course! Hannah is very happy, and definitely loves the dresses best!
The doll's name is Hannah. Phil is still trying to talk (our) Hannah out of that, but she is quite adamant. (Her favourite well-worn teddy is called Ted - Hannah's creativity lies in areas other than thinking of names!)

Dyeing records

When I plan a dyeing session such as the one last week, I refer to records from previous sessions to make up a list of 'recipes' for the colours I require (in this case yellowy greens and warm yellow-ochre type colours). After the newly dyed fabric is washed and dried, I iron it and cut off a sample from each piece to record the new dyeing session - for future use. In this case, the colours were on the whole more green than I expected, which makes me suspect that my blue dye was a little stronger this time than what I used for some of those earlier sessions (I know that at one point two years ago I was inadvertently using a non-primary blue, which messed up my dyeing records a bit.

Doll clothes part 1

Rare patchwork purchase

Today I made a rare visit to a patchwork shop. Actually we made an outing to two favourite 'look-shops' - Calico and Ivy and next door to it, Fun, Form and Function, the best toy shop in Perth. We did a bit more than just look, though - we chose some patchwork fabric for new doll clothes. Believe it or not, I had no suitable woven fabrics in my scrap box. I am certainly looking forward to sewing these up these bright colours. Thinking of using the leftover scraps for some of these.

Finished quilts

Aaron and Hannah never seem to have enough blankets for building cubbies, snuggling up in, or playing monsters, turtles and kings and queens. So they are over the moon with their new quilts! Hannah's quilt is made mostly from vintage fabrics given to me last year, with a few new prints, while Aaron's comes from my scrap box (aside from the Eric Carle print). I love both of the fabric combinations, and enjoyed the simple process of these quilts.

Shall we share?

Please excuse me for this post, but I couldn't resist sharing these images. Last night Caleb learnt a little something about sharing. 'Drumsticks' were on special this week, but unfortunately there are only four in a box, so I was hoping Caleb wouldn't be interested :) Quite the opposite - so the deal was that Caleb and I would share (as you can see). Actually, once he got over his initial disappointment he shared very nicely, taking a bite and then pushing it back to me for my turn. Often lately, we are amazed by what he learns if we persist a little bit with teaching him.

Dyeing

We did some dyeing today. I realised I wasn't quite as ready to start making the golden elm quilt as I thought - I needed many more yellowish bits of fabric, including yellowy-greens and warm yellow ochres. I also needed more sky colours (ranging between light grey and light blue).
I had a big, happy helper today. She would have dearly loved to mix up some dyes and pour them over the fabric to help, so we had a discussion about how big she would have to be before she could do dyeing. She was very helpful in other things, though, like fetching things, and entertaining Caleb when he woke up before I was done!

Thanks to Phil there are some photos from while we were busy.Oh, I should also say, the WAFTA presentation went well the other night - at least, I was happy with how it went. There were way more people than I expected, but I ended up enjoying the experience more than I thought I would. I do have a list of things to improve on 'next time', though.

Downpour

While Caleb and Hannah watch the rain flow down the driveway, I enlarged my latest quilt design, and traced it onto iron-on interfacing. That one is now ready to make as well. Can't wait!

Golden elm

We have a beautiful golden elm tree growing close to our deck. It gives great shade in summer, while letting winter sun in when it loses its leaves. We get so much enjoyment from this tree - watching the leaves turn yellow and slowly fall off, then some paper-like blossoms appearing before the new leaves shoot out. We also enjoy the little finch-like birds that hop through its branchs. For a while a pair of turtle doves enjoyed the tree too. I have often looked at the strong lines of the veins in the leaves and turned them into quilt pieces in my mind.
In the last couple of weeks, I worked on turning them into a quilt design on paper. It's all drawn up now, ready for me to start making it. It's been put on hold for a bit though, while I get sidetracked with turning other ideas into quilt designs while the drawing is going so well. But I like the idea that there is a quilt design drawn out to full size all ready for me to get stuck into when the sewing bug bites again!

Still keeping our hands busy

Just briefly, here's what I've been busy with... I am enjoying stitching the binding to Hannah's quilt, and Aaron's quilt is also pieced and quilted, waiting for the binding to be stitched down. They won't be done a moment too soon, as Aaron and Hannah have been asking for more blankets to build their palace (under and over our coffee table).

In a change from things fabric and quilt related, this afternoon Aaron, Hannah and I had a lot of fun with card, recycled paper, punches and stamps, making gift tags, and a general mess.

Busy with our hands

Here are still some pics from yesterday. As you can see, we were busy with our hands. Hannah made a spider, some fish, a bangle, and egg which you can peel, toast, a microwave, and teapot and teapcup. I always like seeing what the kids come up with when they get busy with paper, pencils and sticky tape.
Meanwhile Caleb used his little hands to stuff Duplo up his pants, and stand the wooden dominoes up on end, that latter of which we thought was rather clever! My hands were busy too, but I didn't take any photos. Maybe today.

Preparing anxiously

Between various family- and church-related events and activities there hasn't been a whole lot of time for enjoying making things.

The photos depict our dining table in recent days, as I spent whatever spare time there was preparing for a presentation about my quiltmaking for WAFTA for next week Tuesday. I will be giving a talk and working through a demonstration and I'm rather nervous about it all. I agreed to do it on the basis that I thought it might be a good learning experience. I just hope I can look back on it (without cringeing!) and feel that I did my best.

Lots of pink paint

Well, here's the project involving pink paint... I'm not sold on the colour yet, but the kids are all very happy with their new kitchen! This project was inspired by a little picture spotted in an old 'ariadne at home' magazine.
IKEA was out of the plastic hooked cups I wanted, but I am very happy with our improvisation - the holes were made with a very hot screwdriver.

Strips of squares in the sun

It was a beautiful day today, as if it was spring. We were suitably productive, stitching together squares. We were also busy outside this morning, with pink paint, a stainless steel mixing bowl and an old chest of drawers, as well as some bits and pieces from IKEA. We'll show you the finished results soon!

On being organised and trying not to forget too much...

I got this filofax for my birthday last year and I don't know how I would ever manage without it. It contains most of my lists and important things to remember. Just recently, in a bid to clear out valuable mental space for more interesting things, I made myself some 'housework' lists (four different weekly lists, to fill a month, so that I never have to think about what needs doing for the week). Phil laughs at me, but I am rather pleased with these!
In my bid to remember everything, I can't seem to get enough of lists, and my visual diary is also filled with various lists of ideas, projects on the go, potential quilt series, and things to try. I rediscovered the list below this evening - it's inspiring all over again to revisit old lists!