Meet the new crew....

I was at the library the other day and was thrilled to come across this book.

So far Ive tried my hand at these....

I thought I might start making some gifts for some of my friends who are expecting. Ive become quite partial to the red one though! I think the green one will be going to my god son as part of a christening gift ( I hope its not too girly for a boy?)

Added 1st June - I decided it was too girly - forgive me Mez if you're reading this - as I know you will!

Its a fantastic book and the directions are very easy. Both my girls have chosen there favorite softies to be made at some stage. Zoe the Kangaroo (probably the most complex - of course) and Meggie Moo the donkey.....say no more!

Now speaking of the girls toys, remember these and how I said the girls wanted to paint the faces themselves? I had a feeling this was not going to bode well.! Zoe was so keen to turn hers into Courtney from "so you think you can dance - Australia" Little did she know how difficult it would be to paint so when she tried to paint streaks into the dolls felted blonde hair - it was a disaster. Zoe cracked it, Mummy cracked it and the doll was ruined. 8 hours later after a much needed rest, I got the mummy guilts and was off to make a mend. I re-sewed the head and re-stuffed her (Courtney not Zoe!). I then shopped around from some courtney hair. This is the result thus far......

Now my only problem is I have no idea how to attach the hair. Its just sitting ontop of her head at the moment. Its really strange stuff this dolls hair and Im not sure whether to glue it or sew it. If anyone has any experience with such, I'd love to hear from you!

Have a great weekend all!

This is how I recycle & something Ive got but havent used!

This weeks belated "this is" excuse is that I had my SIL's significant (read 50th) birthday. It was a weekend long celebration of family, joy, love & happiness. So my apologies for my tardiness in posting late once again!

This is how I recycle....

Yep, its Meggy Moo's finally finished quilt. I used the left overs from this project as well as this project to get this job done. (Thank to all who offered me advice on the binding!). I also love to collect fabric scraps from friends and family and turn them into also sorts of things. These were all made from scraps from other projects.
I also get involved in all the normal recycling of rubbish & vegetable matter for the garden compost.

This is something I've got but havent used.... This was a toughy. Do I post about all the unused fabric I have, or the scrapbooking paper I have, or the multidtude of rubber stamps I have???????? Aagggghhhh its a little scary when your realize the extent of what you purchase but dont consume. Anyway this is what Ive got but haven't used. I bought this around 6 months ago, and Im likely to get to it in the next month (fingers crossed).

Ok now Im feeling ridiculously guilty Im off.

Will try to post again before this weeks out....I promise!

This is.....a late mothers day post

Happy Mothers Day to everyone out there.

Our mothers day consisted of getting up very early (with kids and DH in tow) to participate in this. Then we went on to Geelong to meet my folks for breakfast and to share the mothers day love.

This is my mum. She's great & has always done silly things like this with my daughters. Funnily enough the best piece of advice she has given me might have been given to me on Sunday. Without going into too much detail it was about not losing sight of the person you are just because you are a mother. It is possible to follow your pre-children dreams post children (challenging.....but possible). Ive since made a fairly significant life changing decision since that conversation so thanks for your advice mum, it really helped.

That evening we went on to my dear MIL's for dinner. It was as gorgeous as always.
Thanks to all who gave advice about Meg's quilt. It is just about finished and I should be able to post the finish product this weekend.

Happy Days!

This is...& Quilting help please

This weeks theme from Hip Hop & Banana Bread is:

this is the pair of shoes that I would sleep in if I could..

Im not really a shoe diva however there is something about the chunky, industrial look of the shoes handmade by Melbourne Shoe Designer Johanna Preston (and hubby Peter Zly). Check out their other stuff here. For summer shoes, I also love these. To see the shoes everyone else wants to sleep in, check out Angela's blog.

Thats about all I can manage this week. I've come down with the dreaded lurgy (on Friday Afternoon - how unfair is that!)

Ciao for now

Ok Im back & in need of some advice...

Ive be pottering away at Megs quilt at times today.

I'm almost up to doing the edging. Problem is Ive never done binding before. Basically I just want to fold the backing over the wadding & sew it down with mitred corners. I cant find any tutorials on this technique. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

Libby.

Softies for Mirabel

The girls and I made a few Black Apple dolls over the weekend.

The blonde one is Zoes, the brunette Meg's and the red head is going to the Softies for Mirabel cause. The girls are keen to paint the faces on themselves. Mmmm what can I say.....

For those of you who missed Emily on Martha, you can find the tutorial here.

The dolls are very easy to make and Emily is happy for them to be used for the Mirabel cause.

Happy Sewing

This is....

...my favorite book


It was impossible to choose just one fiction piece, so I went with this non-fiction beauty. My mother passed it down to me. Im thinking its probably vintage 50's but not 100% sure. I love the pics and the accompanying "advice"....


"Beauty Outdoors - Through Woman's World you will learn how to extract every ounce of enjoyment from your days outdoors and still remain safely your glamorous self "


"Etiquette - It's so easy to get a bad reputation. We may not deliberately do the wrong thing but sometimes circumstances catch up with us and before we know it we are labelled with....She should know better"


"Home Decorating - Home decoration today is a very vital and practical science. An understanding of it is a must, so do rever to this section when the need arises!"

And finally my personal favorite...

"Domestic Bliss - Being a successful wife and mother is a most desireable achievement but it is also a full time profession for which, unfortunately there is little, if any, formal training....Consistently bad or unispired cooking, a neglected appearance, a disorganized and chaotic home, an unbalanced budget, a constant feeling of pressure caused by the absence of a proper household routine, and generally an inability to cope with the many demands life places on a woman, make it an impossibility to achieve domestic bliss...There is no magic formula for domestic bliss, but Woman's World will take you a long way along the road to enjoying fully this pearl of great price."

Thanks Dee for a great theme this week. Check out Angela's blog to see everyone elses favorit book.
Happy Week - Everyone

Just stuff....

My labels arrived today...
I think I'm happy with them. I ummed and ahhhed for ages about color, font, title etc.
Anyway this is they...



Also, Cam suggested a great idea for storage in my new sewing desk.
Shoe box lids, to fit in the slide out tray. Well I didnt have any shoe lids spare but found these gorgeous cardboard boxes for around $3 each at Big W.




Anyway I doctored the first one up a bit cause I thought the lid was not overly practical.



I've got fabric scraps in the second one & nothing in the third as yet. I think I'll leave the other two with lids for now and see how mad it drives me. Thats a sneak peak of Megs quilt in progress in the bottom right hand corner.

We're off on a family trip to Barongarook this afternoon. Enjoy the long weekend everyone.
Cheers

PS For all those who one my PIF contest....you are not forgotten. I'm just having trouble sourcing a particular item I need. Thankgoodness I still have around 300 days to track it down!