Sunday 29 March 2009

Molly

I have a new baby!!!!!

Molly joined our family last Thursday night & she is a little sweetie. She loves a game but when you pick her up she also loves a cuddle & a nap. Molly was born on January 7th, 2009 & is a ‘spoodle’ also known as a ‘cockapoo.’ She is half cocker spaniel & half (miniature) poodle.

molly 1st night

day 2 sleeping

She follows us around like a little shadow. 

Sybil is totally unimpressed & simply avoids her, Tabitha on the other hand has used some very bad language but still likes to sit out of reach & watch Molly’s every move.

Saturday 14 March 2009

What I’ve been up to.

Well I’ve doing my usual & working on several things at once. I’m having difficulty concentrating at the moment, so I find it’s best to just flit from one project to the next, rather than trying to stick to one thing.

I’ve also had to be on hand to help with the humungous amount of homework Rowan is now bringing home in Year 7. I don’t even want to think about what it will be like as he progresses through high school. I’m trying to teach him to get stuck into everything when he gets it, rather than waiting until the last minute, like someone I can very closely relate to, lol.

I have a bit of a knitting bug at the moment. I really enjoyed making Simon’s beanie so I made another using the same pattern. I finished it & started another, a different pattern this time. Once it’s finished I will pull out the top I started last winter & try & get it finished. Then of course I should sew together the top I knitted the Winter before! Why do I always put off the sewing up bit? :-)

beannie 2

beanie 3

The fluffy edge gets sewn back to form the brim.
I really need longer needles, sounds like a trip to Lincraft is needed.

lil's block

I just finished making this house block for my friend Lynne for her birthday. There are a group of us in the birthday block swap & we choose the block we would like. Lynne asked for us to make our house so I decided to make my dream house. It’s ‘loosely’ based on a house we looked at when we were house hunting in Melbourne last year. (see below) My dream house would of course have ivy growing all over it. As I was making it, it reminded me of the villas in ‘My Family & Other Animals.’

100_2366

 

sewing machine cover front

I’m also working on a sewing machine cover. I’m making a large cover to fit over the machine even when the sewing arm is in place.

The designs I’m using are from a yummy book I bought recently, called ‘Sew Pretty Homestyle.’ In the book the designs are used on a quilt. I’ve simply adapted the designs to suit my needs.
I’ve ironed the top onto pellon & have started the embroidery.

sewing machine cover top 2

This section will form the sides & top of the cover. I’m doing a ‘quilt as you go system’ to sew the strips to iron-on pellon. I need to cut some more strips to cover the ends!

sewing machine cover top

Close up of the ‘stripes.’

I also have to make some Birthday ATC’s. I cut out the cupcakes & just couldn't find the right background fabric. Today when I was looking for something else, I came across my collection of gingham. I think it looks just right.

birthday cupcakes

This will turn into 9 ATC’s in the next couple of days so I will have a little stash of them to post.

Friday 13 March 2009

Found It!

Well thanks to a little (lot) of help from my friends, thanks Marilyn & Ros, I have tracked down the quilt name & the actual pattern.

It’s called ‘Road to St Louis’ & originally appeared in Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol. 3 # 1. Even with the name there is not a lot to be found online & yet it is a really nice, easy quilt to make.

Mystery solved & much more fun than tracking down a murderer like Miss Marple does.

road to st louis

Road to St Louis, as made by Lois McCarthy.

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Quilt Pattern Search

I received a letter from a lady in Tasmania today, she is looking for a pattern for this quilt.

mum's

This quilt was made by my Mum & appeared in an article in Country Threads about 365 years ago. The article was about my Mum, dd Emma & me. It isn’t my design as the lady assumed, Mum made it from a pattern in an Oz quilt magazine. I’m pretty sure it was in Australian Patchwork & Quilting. This would be going back 8 or 10 or more years. Does anyone know the name of the quilt or better still which issue it was in so I can let this lady know. I’ve just spent an hour or so searching through old mags but I couldn’t find it. Mind you I did find a few things I’ve put aside for later. :-)

Now I’m pretty sure it was called ‘The Road to ?????.’ I’ve googled Road to California & Oklahoma but it’s neither of those.

If I can’t track it down I will go over to Mum’s & I can give the lady the size & details of the blocks. Hopefully that will be enough.

I’d appreciate any input on this, you can email me at:

mollyw14@gmail.com or leave a message in the feedback section.

Thanks!!!!!