2009 June « Chaletgirl

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Sunday Stash #14

June 28, 2009 at 8:15 am | In Fabric | 6 Comments

I have to say, I think this is one of my favourite ever fabrics.

It’s a Japanese light twill and it reminds me of Kellie’s beautiful, vibrant, colourful quilts.

I would love to make something for Emmeline with it, but kid’s clothes scare me. I should invite the expert up here for a week and she can teach me!

If you love it too, you can get some here. It also comes in a blue/purple colourway.

Swap Fun

June 27, 2009 at 9:10 am | In I love this | 5 Comments

I’ve been having a ball over at the Flickr Designer Fabric Swap group. Lots of lovely ladies who are just as addicted to fabulous fabric as I am.

One of my first swaps was with Valerie. She wanted some Japanese mushroom fabric that I had, and so I popped into her Flickr photos to see if she had any fabric that I wanted.

And what I really, really loved when I saw them, were her box bags.

So I suggested to Valerie, that if I sent her the mushrooms that she wanted, and enough additional fabric to make me a bag, would she consider that a fair swap? Fabric for sewing a bag?

She said yes and I said hooray, and two weeks later, I have a beautiful bag made by Valerie. And a gorgeous little pouch to match.

I have to say that Valerie’s workmanship is just superb. Both of these are beautifully sewn and finished.

My box bag is packed and ready to go to The Craft Room tomorrow. {Yes, I know I said I never get out, and I don’t, truly, but I am busting a gut to get there and the little pork chop Emmeline will be coming with me}. Can’t wait.

Thanks Valerie for a great swap!

Mother of The Year (again)

June 26, 2009 at 4:17 pm | In I love this | 2 Comments

My mother this time.

Whilst it might appear that I solely adore my loved ones for the things that they buy me, I assure you that my love for all my family runs much deeper than might be obvious.

Having said that, how can I not adore my mother for what she recently bought for me?

And it’s delicious.

Mum, you’re the best!!!

Husband of The Year

June 26, 2009 at 1:06 pm | In I love this | 15 Comments

You know, I can be a real asshole when I want to be.

This morning, I was not lamenting the fact that we didn’t win the $59.2 million OzLotto lottery this week. I was lamenting the fact that if we did, my life wouldn’t even change that much.

I would still be tired, still not getting enough sleep, still not be able to eat cheese or a Magnum and still be at the beck and call of a 6 month old baby who can also be a real asshole when she wants to be.

Unless wet nurses still exist.

When I explained the concept of that to my husband, he grimaced and promptly exited the house to go to work.

Which made me realise that if we won Ozlotto, he wouldn’t be going to work and he would be under my feet at home and we would probably be divorced after a week.

It’s true, money doesn’t make you happy. I am downright miserable at the thought of winning $59 million.

See? Asshole.

So it was sweet to get a phone call from him an hour later.

“I know you are tired, and I know that it’s hard being at home so much and I know that it’s hard when you can’t even relax with a bit of comfort food at the end of the day. At least if you are going to be awake half the night, would it be nice to be able to spend it with this?”

Well. I guess so. Maybe. Maybe just a little bit.

Maybe a lot.

It’s coming tomorrow.

I guess it paid off leaving all those brochures around the house after the Craft Fair.

Just don’t tell him I was ready to divorce him if we won Lotto. Okay?

Misadventure

June 23, 2009 at 10:28 am | In Miscellaneous | 13 Comments

I had a little adventure in my local Coles supermarket last week.

I took Emmeline shopping in the pram and was a little erratic in my aisle-following (ie, I didn’t; I was back and forth all over the place, just fitting what I could in the pram basket).

And eventually I noticed that a particular man started to appear in the same aisle as I did. Repeatedly.

Now, I don’t care what anyone else looks like or what they wear or what they do with their facial hair. I don’t care if you have tattoos or if you like to look tough. Some of the nicest, gentlest people I know would scare you in a dark alley at night.

Except when it becomes clear that someone is following me around a supermarket and they look like bad news. Like trouble. And he did. That’s when I care.

I tried a few tricks, so to see if he followed me, and he did. Every time. He wasn’t that interested in what he was looking at on the shelves and was only carrying two packets of biscuits.

I started to get nervous. I presumed he was after my purse and was waiting for me to be distracted enough that he could grab it out of my bag hanging over the pram. I hoped he wasn’t desperate for a baby or a bright pink pram. (Man, that baby would have given him a run for his money. I suspect he would have returned her begging me to take her back).

I gave up at that point and went straight to the checkout. I was nervous about being followed out in to the car park on my own.

I whispered to the lady on the checkout.

“Do you see that man, over my right shoulder, with the scary beard?”

“Ah, yes, yes, I do. The one in the navy sweater?”

“Yes! Him! I think he’s following me around. Have you seen him before in here? He is making me very nervous.”

“Um. Er. Actually he is store security.”

“What?”

“A lot of people with prams hide stuff and steal it”.

“Do you think they could hire someone a little less scary? And tell him to sharpen his act. He’s hardly inconspicuous.”

—

Now, I understand stores have shoplifting problems, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea to scare your honest customers away?

Sunday Stash #13

June 22, 2009 at 7:56 am | In Fabric | 2 Comments

Surely it’s still Sunday somewhere in the world?

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last two posts. Bit of a change to see some sewing around here, hey?

For today’s Sunday Stash, I have, for you, more Japanese cheater fabric like the one used in the Pram Quilt. In blue and purple.

Thanks to Tamara for hosting Sunday Stash!

Kelli’s Quilt

June 21, 2009 at 1:00 pm | In Large Quilts | 13 Comments

Kelli is probably my oldest friend (well, not the oldest, I mean she’s the friend whom I have known the longest). Although she is older than me. Only just though.

Some time ago Kelli asked me if I would make her a pink and green quilt if she bought the fabric. I dismissed her with a wave of my hand and a glance at my very pregnant belly and told her surely I would not have any time to be making quilts in my immediate future.

And then I secretly began finding pink and green fabrics and quietly started a little project. You might remember back in February there was a picture of some fabric.

Well I have been working away, and it has actually been finished for some time. Today we are driving about halfway from our respective homes (we live 309 km apart) and meeting for lunch. It’s a chance for our kids to catch up and see each other, without the hassle of packing that necessitates an overnight visit. And I am giving Kelli her quilt.

I’m really pleased with the fabric choices. I’m not that good at mixing fabrics, which is why I tend to use fabrics from a particular range together. But I tried really hard here to get a good variety and not make it too Barbie pink, if you know what I mean.

The pattern is the fantastic Mixtape from Oh, Fransson!. I have said it before, but Elizabeth’s patterns are the best I have ever seen. So comprehensive. Highly recommended.

Being quite an anal, mathematics-lover, black is black and white is white kinda gal (obviously being an Aries and all) I love a well-thought out pattern to follow that gives a really random “oh I just threw this all together” look. Perfect!

I used white Essex cotton/linen in the sashing and border. It’s a favourite of Elizabeth’s and I wanted to give it a try. What I love about it, is that it shows up the quilting pattern so beautifully. Much more so than plain white cotton.

What I am not that fussed about is that I think it makes a slightly coarser quilt top. It doesn’t feel quite as snuggly as 100% cotton. But I would use it again. It’s easy to work with and looks spectacular with the machine quilting. (I send most of my quilts to professional long-arm machine quilters. One day I hope to change that.)

The back is mostly pink Kona cotton from my stash, with a corner of one of my favourite daisy prints in green. The binding is a perfect pink and green stripe. I love the binding!

Here it is in it’s entirety:

Kelli, I hope it’s of some comfort during these cold, cold winter nights we have been having. Take this a small thank you for nearly 20 years of friendship; of tears and laughter and sharing all the ups and downs of life. You have been a great support and friend to me and I am ever so grateful for your presence in my life.

Now go and get cozy under your quilt!

Pram Quilt

June 20, 2009 at 12:35 pm | In Baby Quilts | 7 Comments

I ordered a pink footmuff for the Bugaboo a while ago, but for some strange reason, no one in Australia thought it was a good idea to stock up on them before winter, and so there is some ungodly wait for them to arrive from Europe.

In the meantime, we are off to Berrima tomorrow, and, dang, is it cold down there!

Which meant I could justify letting the dishes and the washing pile up yesterday to make this.

I’ve always loved the look of the Super Quick and Easy Baby Quilt in Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. And I think it might become my go-to pattern for quick baby quilts in future.

The fabric is a lovely Japanese cheater print that arrived in the mail this week. The reverse is a pink Amy Butler Daisy Chain print.

I made it a lot smaller than a bed quilt, and included ties on the top corners to tie it to the pram. It’s filled with washable wool batting, and quilted by making little embroidery stitches with the sewing machine. It’s lovely and light and lofty, and, I hope, warm!

PS I gave myself a big pat on the back for picking an error in the instructions. A Google search showed up this errata. I rock.

Miss Scarlett

June 19, 2009 at 9:21 am | In Baby Quilts, Emmeline | 12 Comments

Sorry, folks, I’ve been a bit absent this week. I owe about a million people about a million emails, so I apologise if I haven’t responded to you.

I’m not sure what I have been doing.

Loitering over at the Flickr swap group. Trying to get the house a bit tidier. Trying to get washing dry in the constant rain.

Trying to figure what what I can eat, let alone what this dear sweet baby can actually eat. You know that dairy is out. Well, now I have a good idea that soy is out too. I am now having rice milk on my cereal. Hooray.

Although not for long, since it has become apparent that baby rice cereal gives her terrible tummy pains.

And this morning I came in to find her covered in vomit. It even reached as far as the walls. And I think she had slept all night like that.

It is wearing me down. I feel like I am playing a constant game of Cluedo. Was it the rice cereal and the sweet potato in the dining room? Was it the pear and baby oats in the kitchen?

—-

On a prettier note, I will leave you with this. I think it took me three days to sew this one block for a baby quilt for a friend.