Birthday Presents

Charlotte's off to a birthday party this afternoon, a pamper party. I'm thinking it should be the mums staying for the pampering. Along with the bought present (Aqua Sand) I made the little girl a pencil case with her name on it and I also used one of the additional face panels I got from Lisa to make an Ooshka.

Her dad is a mechanic so that's why it has the pink cars on it

And my Dr Suess clock finally gave up so I dabbled with this one. It's an original page from a Richard Scarry book. I'm thinking of doing some more and listing them on Made It

Stay tuned the giveaway is on it's way.

Happy

I've been tagged by Sophie so I just have to write 10 things that make me happy!

1. My family - pretty obvious really.
2. Sewing
3. Sydney Swans - I'm a big Swans supporter.
4. Glee - I was a latecomer but I can't get enough.
5. The great friendships I have formed with people I have met on-line
6. Op shops - especially when I'm lucky
7. Bargains - according to Jeff I am a sucker for the word sale
8. A good book
9. Holidays especially if it's going to New York
10. Sleeping in

I'm not going to tag anyone but feel free to join in and if you do let me know so I can check out what makes you happy!

{Handsome} Hexies Swap

My {Handsome} Hexies arrived in the mail today and they are great. A big thanks to my swap partner I love them all and I love the little pouch you made from them, although the kids are trying to sneak it away.

Ice Cream Social

Well I'm finally finished the Ice Cream Social. I love the finished dress now but I found some of the pattern instructions quite strange and at one stage vowed I would never make another but I will probably just do some of the things they way that makes sense to me.

I'm not sure if these colours actually suit Lucy, they seem a bit pale for her skin tone but she was happy with it.

I did View A with the double hem and I did the underside hem in the same fabric as the bodice and the outside hem in the yoke fabric.

A big thanks to Amy without her I am sure this dress would be sitting in the UFO pile.

{Handsome} Hexies Swap

I made it in to Round 2 of the {Handsome} Hexies Swap. These are the hexies I made for my secret partner.
I made this little pouch for them to go in, although I think I am going to make one of these for myself. Unfortunately I already had the fabric cut before I spied this tutorial.
I hope my partner likes them I struggled a little with the boy theme.

I'll be back tomorrow with my Ice Cream Social wrap up and keep your eyes out as I will be having a giveaway next week, as I missed my 4th blog birthday on the 27th.

Happy Birthday Mum

It was my mum's birthday yesterday so the girls and I baked her a cake, which I don't have a picture of, gave her a book she already had and I made her some new heat packs. She had done some serious damage to the last one, definitely over-heated it.

I made this one with some squares I had lying around and I backed it with some vintage chenille I've been hording for ages.

This one I divided into small sections as she has a sore shoulder and I thought it might work to drap over the top. She loved them both but this was a favourite.

Happy birthday to both Jeff's parents as well as they had birthdays last week and this.

I'm behind on my Ice Cream Social Dress, I've finally attached the front yoke and front panel and hopefully I'll get the back done tomorrow.

Whale Watching

We turned touristy today and took the girls Whale Watching. We had an awesome time and I won't bore you with too many words. We followed two whales and while they didn't breech they swam right around us and even under the boat a couple of times.

Ice Cream Social

Next up in the Ice Cream Social is the pockets. I made one pocket using the instructions in the pattern but I wasn't happy with the curve so I re-made them using Amy's tutorial and I was much happier with the results.

The one on the left is following the pattern directions and the one on the right is following Amy's suggestions.

And here it is seewn in to place. Sorry about the dodgy photos but it was early evening so not the best light.

Quilt

During the holidays the father of one of the girls in Charlotte's class passed away. There is only the mother and daughter, the mother doesn't drive and they lived quite a distance from school so they have had to move to temporary accomodation closer to the school. It has been quite a terrible time for them.I decided to whip up this simple lap quilt for the little girl this week. I used some vintage fabric from the Vintage Sheet Swap that I had cut up ages ago at the very first Hills Craft Room this year. I backed it with some Jennifer Paganelli (I think).

I absolutely love it and I hope she does too.

Ice Cream Social

I dashed home from work today to sew up the yoke on the Ice Cream Dress.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. You can check out what everyone is up to by clicking the Ice Cream Social button over on the right.

Fabric

I don't think I showed you the fabric I bought from Amy recently. Firstly these charm packs. I was going to use them for a couple of quilts for a friend of Charlotte's and her sister but I think I love the Dream On one too much so I will probably keep that for myself.


And these Cosmo Cricket fabrics which are great.
Then yesterday the postman put a pick up slip in the letterbox, even though we were home when he came. I didn't have car yesterday so only got to pick them up today. They are all from Spice Berry Cottage who had a sale recently.

Some more Cosmo Cricket, some Sandi Henderson and the pink is Hunky Dory to be used as a backing for the charm pack below.

More Cosmo Cricket, Patty Young and some charm squares to use instead of the Dream On.

I'm all ready for the Ice Cream Social too. I'm making it for Lucy so saving the really good fabric until I make sure the size is right.

Friends

We had a lovely morning catching up with the gorgeous Lottielulu family. I feel very lucky to have developed such a great friendship with Ingrid that started, I guess, nearly 5 years ago online. Although we usually only get to catch up in the holidays the kids get along fantastically and we usually have to drag both Charlotte's apart at the end of today. We took advantage of the sunshine and caught up at the park. Here's what happens when you try to get a group shot on the way home.
I spied this (scroll down a bit) on the lovely Sara from Willow and Moo's blog and knew my girls would love them. I picked these up yesterday and of course the girls had to wear them today. I didn't get the best photos, sorry Sara, as they were too busy playing.

I also made some of the Curly Pops/Donna Hay chocolate crackles, Charlotte and Lucy love them but we are waiting on the seal of approval from the man of the house, who thinks of himself as a chocolate crackle expert.

A Baby Boy

We're back from our little break. No photos as my camera battery was flat but I did manage to finish off the quilt I started at The Craft Room. It's for some friends who just had their third little boy.Can you believe I actually hand quilted it, which was lovely to work on in the evenings in front of the television. A big thanks to Peta too for lending me a large embroidery hoop. I finished off the binding while we were away over the weekend.

I did manage to pop in to My Place and I picked up some fabric on sale. I think I might use these for the Ice Cream Social.I only got a small piece of this Japanese beauty but it's gorgeous and the little pictures are perfect for buttons.Hope everyone is having a great week.

Quiet Evening

Quiet Evening
Originally uploaded by Timothy Valentine

The kids are away for a few days so I am enjoying the quiet. On Thursday I'll be even more relaxed as I am using my birthday voucher from here.

Have a great week

Craft Room

I had a great day at the Sunday Craft Room, bringing together the Northern Beaches, Hills and Inner West Craft Rooms. It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones and a big thanks to the Inner West girls for hosting in their wonderful cottage. I didn't get many photos but I am sure there will heaps popping up on the blog soon.I actually got the two things I wanted to get done finished. Firstly this quilt top, it's a gift for a friend who just had a baby boy.

Also this little pouch for a friend of Lucy's. I loosely used Toni's instructions

I was also very lucky in the swap and got these goodies from Fiona, Jen and Fran.

Lucky I got this scarf from Fran because it was freezing here today.