Baby bibs

I started making baby bibs the other day. There are plenty of tutorials on the web for this, and this particular idea was really easy. I bought white towelling for the backs of the bibs (nice and absorbent) and went through my stash for the fabric fronts. On some of them I added applique and on one of them I just left it blank because the fabric is pretty busy.

Before anyone asks - no, I don't know that we are having a girl yet. I just happened to make four girly bibs first. I've picked out some boy fabric too, that I will start on today. The pattern is a little small, these bibs will be good for a relatively young baby, so I'll need to re-draw the pattern and make some bigger. It is so fun!

I was thinking there is the potential to add ribbon and all sorts of stuff on there, and they work out to be super cheap and pretty quick to sew up.

I'll keep you posted of any new creations!

A little sewing project

I like to be organised. That is part of the reason why my husband and I are going to find out what gender our baby is - and I can't wait! We find out in a little under three weeks, and then look out sewing machine - I'll be sewing up a storm - creating a baby quilt, sewing some cute little clothes and creating the nursery.

Last year I made the boy version of a little raggy patchwork quilt - super easy design, out of flannels. My idea was to have a "travel" quilt that stays in the car and can be taken around the place when our little one gets cold. So, with the idea that this baby could possibly be a girl, I had to make a girly version too, just in case. I made this one out of pink flannel and a monkey design. I really love them - what do you think? They are super cuddly.

I'm now thinking of making simple little cotton carry bags to put them in. I'm really itching to sew, but I'm finding that I can't really do too much more until we find out whether it is a boy or girl. There are so many beautiful ideas on the internet and so many unbelievably creative people - it is very inspiring.

Anyway....I'm off to get some more ideas. Have a great day.

Crafty update

I finished sewing a little Babushka doll for my god daughter's first birthday this coming Thursday. While I was making it, I thought it would be cute to make her a little matching t-shirt. I had a new white singlet and drew up a design and this is how it turned out. Hopefully she'll like it! It was fun to make, definitely one that I'd do again.

It is 'Australia Day' today - a national holiday for all us Aussies. My husband and I are going over to my best friend's house, along with some others for dinner and to play board games, go for a swim and hang out together - it should be great.

I go back to work tomorrow (I'm a teacher) after about five and a half weeks holiday. I'm not dreading it, but it is always a little difficult to go back after such a nice break. I work part-time, while we wait to hopefully start a family of our own very soon. I'm looking forward to meeting my new classes, and teaching some of the students I taught last year. Please pray that it is an easy transition!

Back to baking and thinking about creating...

After being away for three weeks, I've really been looking forward to getting back to my kitchen and cooking again. Tonight we are going to my sister in laws for dinner, so I thought I'd bake some cupcakes. Nothing fancy, just added chocolate butter icing and a chocolate freckle on top. Yummo!

The last few months I've been collecting pink and aqua fabric to make into a quilt for a daughter (if I have one, one day!). I love the range I've collected so far, and I'm quite surprised at how many different fabrics I've collected - now I just have to pick a pattern (and have a little girl, ha!).

The other thing I have to start this week is the doll that I am making my god daughter for her first birthday on the 29th January. Here is a picture of it, I have chosen some really sweet pink and green fabrics rather than the blue and red. Isn't it sweet?!

If you can, please pray for Kelly who has just had her first baby, Harper. Harper is having trouble breathing and has been diagnosed with serious pneumonia. Please pray for this lovely family, that they will know God's peace and comfort at this distressing time.

What a week it has been!

Well, this week has been a busy one - no time for blogging. Today I enjoyed a bit of a sleep in and then when out for breakfast with my husband. It was a very nice morning.

Today I finished off a present for my 10 month old niece. I have made a sign to hang on her wall in her bedroom for Christmas. I bought a canvas, covered it with a pink and light green fabric , painted it with mod podge and then painted her name on it. I'm not sure whether to paint a flower on it aswell.

I also offered to make her a dress for Christmas day. Because it is summer here, it should be nice and cool for her. I'll make sure I take a photo of her in it.

Anyway, I'm off to finish watching a Christmas movie on TV. Have a great weekend.

New fabric

I got some new fabric on Saturday...not sure yet what I'm going to do with it. I bought some brights (aquas, hot pink - when I took the photo it looks more blue), which should be fun to use. And I bought quite a lot of the pink fabric with flowers on it. It is really sweet, would look great in a single bed quilt for a little girl. Oh, and I thought I would post one more photo of the progress on the Christmas aprons for the Gingerbread House Construction Party next Tuesday night. They are coming along nicely I think - mind you, it is a very simple design.

Some of my quilts

I've made a few quilts over the past six years, mainly for other people. Here are some of them.

I made this one for my husband - before we were married - it is quite simple, but we use it a lot.

This was one of my first quilts before I really knew what to do! It is super cozy and I love the colours.

This is a double bed sized quilt. A friend of mine made one in pinks and whites and I absolutely loved it - so I tried it in blue and white. I made it a bit bigger by adding the flying geese border.
This one is a baby sized quilt made out of flannels. It is a really easy design (raggy patch style). I thought the frog fabric was so cute. I'm keeping this for our baby and think I'm going to keep it in the car for those journeys where they need something over them. I'm currently working on a pink one for a baby girl too. (Yep, I've made quilts for babies that don't yet exist...you can never be too organised, don't you think?!)

I made my niece and nephew a quilt of their own a couple of years ago. Joel's was pretty simple, I used robot fabric along with some brights. This was Casey's. I love it. It did take quite a while. I followed a pattern for most of it, but for many of the applique blocks, I did my own thing. The colours were great. I might have to do this one again one day!

More to come another time - I'll have to take photos of the other quilts that live at different homes!

A new system and aprons to make...

Well, I love to cook - I'm not quite sure where that originated from. I didn't grow up in a family that spent a huge amount of time in the kitchen...but I absolutely love it. I think I like it so much because it is another outlet for me to be creative. My friends and family know me well and often for my birthday and Christmas I receive a new cookbook. So, my collection is getting quite large. Sometimes I enjoy just flipping through them, for no other reason than to see the lovely pictures of well displayed food and delicious ideas. But with this growing collection of recipes, I tend to forget which ones I've used and if they were good or not. So, I decided to try a new system - not very sophisticated, but easy. I bought a packet of the coloured star stickers and after each recipe, Craig & I will have a chat and rate it. Gold is for amazing, silver is for really good, blue is for good, green for ok and red for stop! (ie. never do again!) I'm even starting to write down little comments or changes to the recipes directly in the books. Some people may not like that, but I think there is something great about looking at an old cookbook of an older relative, seeing that it has been used well and even documented. It's like a little piece of history. Here's what dinner looked like last night, thanks Donna Hay!

Changing the subject now...in two weeks I have organised a 'Gingerbread House Construction Party' at my house for a group of girls from church. Usually we do this as a church event running over two nights where we see around 120 women constructing and decorating gingerbread houses to take home to eat or decorate (or both). This year we aren't having one at church, so I decided to throw my own party, although there will only be about ten of us. It should be heaps of fun. I decided last week that it would be extra fun to make Christmas aprons for all the girls coming, so when they arrive they see an apron on their chairs that they can wear and then take home afterwards. I've cut all the aprons out of a dark apple green coloured curtaining material, I just have to sew them now. I've got just under two weeks, so I have to stop procrastinating and get to them! Here's what they are starting to look like. More photos later.