Over the Weekend...

It's a great feeling, getting small things finished and off to their new homes! A Hobby Horse for a friend's daughter...

A zip makeup case for when I finally manage to get round to doing a shop update... I love the way those two fabrics go together...

And a pirate, for the same future shop update...

In other news, this weekend Christchurch was thrown into turmoil by a large earthquake. Here in the Bay of Plenty we have our fair share of earthquakes too (although none as large as Saturday's Christchurch one since 1987) and they absolutely terrify me-even the small ones. My heart goes out to everyone living in Christchurch who has been through this awful experience-especially those who are now homeless as a result of the earthquake. There are already quite a few organisations that you can offer assistance to the victims through-my choice was the Red Cross. Kia Kaha Christchurch.

This and That

In between nana naps and coughing fits ( I thought I'd totally escaped Winter bugs this year-almost made it but not quite!) I've managed to get quite a bit of sewing done, hooray! Lots of bunting, in "boy" colours, some to be given to friends and some to go in the felt shop. And two headbands, an order from one of my colleagues.

In other news, I've been busy learning how to use the software to record my radio show. Hopefully it will be available for public consumption on Sunday. So exciting!

Small Stitches

This weekend has been a goodie for stitching little things. A recent trip to Rotorua assisted me in filling up the fabric drawer.

I made this pincushion, using the pattern and instruction from the book I mentioned here.

The pincushion is almost large enough to accommodate my huge collection of pins and needles!

And then I made some headband's. I never would have thought of putting the Omiage flowers onto headbands. I've used them on everything from little purses to fridge magnets and frequently on hair ties but I followed a suggestion on my Facebook page to make them on a longer headband with pleasing results.

With nothing but rain, rain and more rain outside, it's been lovely to sit by the window stitching small things and daydreaming about Spring.

An Isla Original.

She's rather into fashion, my girl. I really should take more photos of her fabulous outfits! I adore her individuality and also, her creativity-it's not unusual for her to bring me a piece of ribbon and ask me to braid it into her hair a certain way, or to bring me a scarf and ask me to tie it "like a dress". She loves to browse The Satorialist and The Uniform Project. Tutus are everyday wear, as is a two sizes too big flamenco dress from the op shop, in fact, just like Rhiannon-pants are out for Isla. Skirts rule. Ayway-yesterday she suggested we get out the sewing machine and make one. She chose all the fabrics and the overall design. An Isla original.

Finally the sun is shining after two days of continuous, heavy rain. I wonder what creative adventures today will bring?

Happy Tuesday xx

Woof!

My sweet Zac. I love him so much.

For ages I've been meaning to make him a bed of his own, and with inspiration from this website (make and build dog stuff.com-all about making things for your dog using recycled materials-how cool is that?) a rainy grey day outside, and my two not-feeling-so-good children to help, we set to work!

I wanted to use a fabric that was washable, but quite durable. In the end I opted for a curtain that I bought from the Salvation Army.

My sewing machine and I are getting along so well at the moment- it's wonderful!

Sweet dreams Zac!

Babies and Hoodies and Bunnies Oh My!

Two rabbits I've made recently, all stitched by hand, because that's how I roll...
This one is for sweet baby Nathaniel Joseph, born on Thursday, whose Mum is one of my dearest friends.

And this one is for little Archer, from the Squidygums family!

Kristin made some amazing hoodies for my two children, and as soon as I manage to get a decent picture of them wearing them, I'll share it because they are just gorgeous (the hoodies AND the children!).

Babies and hoodies and bunnies oh my!

Fluro Day!

I feel like I'm the world's slackest blogger currently-it's funny, but the same thing happened this time last year-I guess life interfered with blogging! Craft-wise I'm not up to much, just still slowly chipping away with the squares. I've got this whimsical image in my head of myself snuggling under the completed quilt in front of the Winter fire, watching one of my favourite movies, which I received on DVD for my birthday and am yet to actually remove from it's plastic wrapping...

But I just had to stop by and say "Happy Fluro Day Everyone!"

Contented.

What a great day! Stitching, eating and chatting with gorgeous friends while our children played together happily. 'nuff said.

Teddies and Daisy Chains

First there was the train, then the kiwi, and now this teddy. The first teddy I've ever made actually. Three vintage-print kiwiana teatowel comission projects featuring Whakatane, as prominently placed as possible.

They've been really great challenging projects, but now I'm ready to move on from tea towels and on to other things, because I've got this gorgeous Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabric (a little birthday gift I bought for myself!) just dying to be stitched into things.

Isn't it beautiful!

I've got a sharp needle and a head full of ideas so I'm off! It may be a few days before I resurface from under this fabric.

Extreme Patchworking Tutorial

Okay... Turns out it's not called "Extreme Patchworking". It's called "Cathedral Windows". There's a fabulous tutorial here . Thanks very much to Louise for sharing that. This is the way I did it, I'm making a little make-up bag. Feel free to give it a go and share your finished products!

1. Start by cutting 24 8cm squares. Fold square in half and sew up the sides as pictured.

2. Bring the ends of the sewn seams together and sew the opposite sides together, leaving a small opening so you can turn it out.

3. Turn it right side out and fold the opening in so that it can't be seen. Don't worry about sewing it back up, it will be turned under later on. I would suggest not doing your opening in either of the corners or in the centre-those bits are quite important geometrically...

4. Iron your squares down. Your iron is your friend with this project.

5. This is where it gets quite fun and foldy. Take your newly ironed squares and bring the corners to the centre, making a new, smaller square.

6. Sew the corners down to the centre with a couple of tiny stitches.

7. Sew your squares together, using tiny slip stitches . Each side of the make-up case comprises of 3 rows of 4 squares.

8. Make the "Windows" by folding back the edges of the cross-folds and carefully stitching down. They naturally make that lovely curved shape with hardly any coaxing.

9. Sew in your zip and there you have it! The pros of the project so far are-great for using up small pieces of fabric, it's fun folding and manipulating the fabric and the result is very textural and interesting, and you don't need any lining. Cons are-very very fiddly, and you have to keep your stitches so neat and tiny, but still very enjoyable and worthwhile and definitely much simpler than it looks! Happy stitching xx

So much more fun than drying dishes...

Instead, why not cut up your tea towel to make an iconic softie? This is a commission project that I'm proud to say I completed in a week. If you're not familiar with Kiwi birds, they are a flightless and somewhat strange looking but nonetheless very sweet native New Zealand bird. The brief was to create a kiwi from a New Zealand map, ensuring that the Whakatane was in a prominent place. You may remember the NZ Map train from a while ago?

Right-I'm off to finish my decorations for the great swap! Looking great so far everyone! I just lOVE those colourful birds. Mine are going to be less traditional, but very New Zealandy-I think the Kiwi above has reignited my love for Aotearoa xx

Giddy Up!

I've been flat out, flat out, making horses! No less than 5 in the last week. Here are two- going to my lovely colleagues' children-as Christmas presents I think so sssshhhhhhh...

And the other thing taking up my crafting time is below. Yes folks, it's time once again for the town's Christmas Float Parade, and I've been busy crafting 25 or so Superhero costumes. It's been fun, colourful, sparkly, all those things that make me smile. The parade is next weekend and I can't wait!

In other news, I'd like to wish a huge (albeit rather late) CONGRATULATIONS! To the beautiful Janelle of Heart Felt, on the birth of her lovely little son Oscar.

The annual Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap is on again! Check it out at 2o Cent Mixture

And here are two things I can now definitely say for sure... Firstly, Summer picnics are gorgeous, even if they're only in the back garden.

And, after last night's power cut, I can promise you that candlelight really does make things look more magical.

Stitch Therapy

I've become obsessed with sewing little squares together. By hand of course 'cos that's how I roll! I've been travelling a bit lately, and while my fingers still had the itch to stitch, I needed something portable. But more importantly, something therapeutic, rhythmical and soothing.

So I pack it all into my Queen Elizabeth 1953 Coronation tin (love that tin) and off I go. Because sometimes I think that's how you have to approach life too-just one little bit at a time.

Still Here

It's not that nothing's been happening. On the contrary, I feel as though this is the first time I've sat down since my last post! This made me very sad, and at the same time, love, appreciate and value my children's safety even more, if possible, and for that I will always be grateful to little Aisling. My heart goes out to her family at this time.
Then there's been work, stockings, work, housework, the flu and all those other general miscellaneous things during which time seems to be sucked down a huge vortex and leaves you wondering where it went so quickly.
So, this is my 100th post, and that is the only real news I have to share, but I still wanted to stop in and let you know that I'm still here.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years"

Abraham Lincoln