Progress

Thought I'd show you how my tray cloth's going. I'm really enjoying sitting down in the evening and just stitching. It's very therapeutic, I think. Possibly obsessive too. Last night I couldn't go to bed until that tree was finished.

And today I worked on another Russian doll; I'm still perfecting the pattern. This one is wearing some of the beautiful Robert Allen upholstery fabrics I got a while back. She's thinking of happy things. Like potato soup and keeping her children warm this winter. Which is why she's going to Kraftbomb tomorrow to buy some Ruby in the Dust beanies and scarves. See you there!

Oksana the Great

After my complaints yesterday, I decided to spend today on a doll. It's quite indulgent; normally I try to make things for the markets on my days when the boys are in daycare, but today was different: I needed to make something for myself. A doll without limbs, I decided. The sewing and stuffing of tiny little arms and legs just wasn't for me today. Last night I wrote down 'matryoshka' on my to-do list, and that's all that happened in my workroom this morning. Three quick prototypes later, I was ready for the real thing: Oksana dressed in her very colourful dress with embroidered apron, hand-painted face and weighted base.


I'm very happy with her, and would like to make a couple more to perfect the pattern, and then, who knows, I might just decide to sell my first pattern! It's something I've been thinking about a lot; so many people find my blog by looking for doll patterns or instructions, and this would be a great beginner's project. Watch this space...

Hotties and skeletons

I've been a bit lazy with blogging; maybe because I'm not feeling very creative at the moment. I know just what will fix that: making another doll and a nice visit from my sisters. Only 3 weeks to go!

Speaking of said sisters, I made some hot-water bottle covers to save them from the NZ cold. I got the great idea for reusing a roll-neck jumper from Olivia who very generously shared it in a previous copy of WorldSweetWorld. This one was made from my sister-in-law Lesley's softest mohair jumper, the sleeve of which, by the way, became a dress for Lily.

The 'skeletons' in today's rather strange title refers to the song 'The wreck of the Diddley', which is Daniel's favourite song at the moment. He woke us up this morning to tell us he's been singing some of it (the chorus, beautifully!). It's by a NZ group called Fatcat and Fishface, who sing gory songs matched with sometimes quite gross videos, and our kids adore it.

Winter crafting

I've finally been able to make a few things I've had on my personal to-do list for too long. My favourite; the K-Mart cardigan with 9 new buttons made from an old tray cloth.

Next up is the fantail cushion cover, made from two old blankets to replace a burnt cushion cover. Toddlers and heaters are not a good combination. Thankfully only the cushion got burnt...

And finally, here's some new badges I made up today. Lovely colours, so fresh and happy. I still have a few items on that list, so I'd better get cracking. Have a great week.

36

It was my birthday yesterday. I'm a stubborn Taurean who loves beautiful things and delicious food. A magpie addicted to colours and textures, smells and flavours. Feeling very privileged that I can indulge most of those most days. Also feeling a bit surprised that I'm already in my late thirties. Hopefully the surprise will wear off soon and I can get on with making beautiful things and delicious food.

60 years old, never been used

Mother's Day was nice yesterday; hope you had a good one (or your Mum). We went to Birkenhead for brunch, and bumped into Craig's lovely great-aunt Marjorie. She's almost 93, and has a lovely collection of old, unused embroidery cloths. They're the type that are printed with the design, and you just work over it. I got a couple, and am very excited about starting (and one day finishing) one. Pictured here with my new cloths is my needle book by Mermaid's Purse. I bought it at the Devonport Market, and was also very tempted by her yummy-looking pincushions. They look so good!

Happy birthday, blog!

It's been one year and 99 posts since I started this little page. I love coming here; I hope you enjoy it too. I always find it thrilling to check where in the world people read my blog (who knows whether by choice or accident?): Gauteng, New Mexico, even Te Horo. Thanks for visiting, even if it was just by chance :)

Fabric

Here's a few of the fabrics I got last week. Being upholstery fabric, it's very floral, but that's exactly how I like my fabric designs anyway. I'm almost intimidated by all the new cotton, linen, wool and even silk pieces, and have started dreaming about making a quilt. Some of it will definitely end up as little pouches, but I'll let you know when something more creative happens.

A few people have asked me how the Devonport market went on Sunday. I was going to write about it earlier, but got side-tracked, so here's the news. It was quite busy, apparently 700 people came throught the doors, but not all of them brought their wallets. Maybe because it was on for the first time, not everybody knew about it and just happened to walk past on their Sunday stroll. Saying that, I had good sales and will definitely go again. Except for a few friends from K'bomb, the sellers were mostly unfamiliar to me. Some got snapped up by scouts from Toggle and endemicworld, which is a good sign. The next one will be held on the first Sunday in June and will be a bit shorter, from 10 to 2. You can see some photos of it here.

Four and two

No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, it's just that Vodafone can't spell my name properly and so we didn't have internet for a whole week!

Things I did while I was gone:

• Celebrated Daniel's 4th and Josua's 2nd birthdays.
• Baked those number cookies.
• Got some new books bound.
• Had a stall at the new Devonport Craft Market.
• Failed miserably at learning to crochet.

Another highlight was a carbootfull of beautiful upholstery fabric sample books that came my way via my generous friend Sam. I've spent today ripping some of them apart, washing the fabric and sorting it out. A massive job, but so worth it. I'll take some photos and post them later.