Towel rails in the studio

Well, I do apologise for that little blog break! Last week was devoted to being sick, and then this week... well, I don't really know what my excuse is this week... student free days? a day shopping (sans kids thanks to my mother-in-law)? various end of year activities?... probably just laziness...
I have been sewing, I just haven't been so good about taking pictures along the way. One little project this week was these new towel rails in my studio. These are GRUNDTAL towel rails from IKEA. We have them in our bathrooms, and now they are in the studio too - the perfect place to hang quilt-in-progress.
I don't like to put quilts into my quilt-storage cupboard until they are completely finished. These ones hanging up are waiting to have labels stitched on and photos taken.

I haven't forgotten that way back I promised to share more photos of the studio. There's a few little things to finish still, and then lot's of mess to tidy up! I'll also put together a post about my new quilt-storage cupboard, and once I have my new quilt-photography set up all sorted, I'll share that too. I can't promise when I'll get to it though, what with summer holidays coming up real fast!

Head Count

One, two...Three, four...Five, six...Seven... oh, no, wait - we've had that one already...

Seven... eight!

Someone we know has four children - two twins - which I've always considered a rather efficient way to go - two, rather than four, pregnancies and two, rather than four, post-natal hazes. But here's an even better option - kidnap some once they sleep through the night, are (mostly) toilet-trained, and can (mostly) feed and dress themselves.

We are enjoying our family of ten this weekend, although I can't imagine how mothers of eight keep up with them all as a full-time thing... I've spent all day making sure everyone is present and accounted for (with a bit of hand stitching in between, but no baking/cleaning/ironing - do I sound sad?).

Sketching boys at play

Besides eating, I have also spent some time in my sketchbook over the last couple of days. I've been trying to draw children playing.
Sometimes I like to try this 'from memory' but I find that then my drawings become very stereotypical. There really is no substitute for referring back to your subject matter and drawing what you see. Because the boys were in bed, I referred to my photo collection and found these...I love noting the various angles of the head, wrists and ankles, and the tongues sticking out......the fingers working to place the trains just so, and the position of the knees, chest and bottom working together for balance......all working together to create an infinite number of poses depending on the activity of the moment.Now wasn't that a sneaky way to include way too many pics of these gorgeous boys (and their daddy) in a post about sketching! Have a good day...

Lunch

Lunch today is inspired by the bowl of garden-fresh lettuce and herbs which arrived on my doorstep yesterday. Thanks Aimee!
I used shredded lettuce and basil, brie and avocado, toasted pistachios, and sprinkled it all with a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar. I would have drizzled honey too, if I hadn't used the last of it on my yoghurt/strawberries/muesli this morning.

(I've had you fooled if you thought it was all about fabric at our house - in reality it's all about the food, which may explain a few things...)

Today in my studio

Last week in my studio

I had a good run at my quilts last week - my stack of unfinished quilts are now much closer to being finished, with all their bindings pinned in place, ready to be hand-stitched down.

Caleb sews

Mummy sews six days a week, but it took a visit from Grandma to
inspire him to try it for himself...

The finished product! (It's a ball, in case you can't tell)(Mummy, I poked out my tongue on the photo!)