A Swap and a Clean Sewing Space!

Here's my package to Christy for the Favourite Things Swap - good fun to pull together:

• Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Maple Tea
• Alba Mango Vanilla Shave Cream (love the scent)
• Two lace hankies (love collecting them from the thrift store)
• Two pre-loved copies of Mixtape zine (love a taste of home)
• And chocolate (which I added after this photo was taken)

I'm looking forward to getting a surprise in the mail sometime soon!

This was my effort yesterday and today: cleaning up my sewing space, and the rest of the space, in the basement, in preparation for my Mum coming to stay with us for around two weeks next week. SUCH a nice feeling, having a clear sewing table. Sew often (ha - I really did write that without thinking!), I sew amidst a great mess. I am dying to finish that flirty skirt for Piper on the table there (from this summer edition of Quilts and More), but I really don't know if I'll get to it before the kids and I leave for Edmonton tomorrow (to meet my Mum and visit my rellies - whoo!).

Lookithat space!!!

Piles of red for the next project coming up - some kind of red and white quilt.

I know it's not perfect, fabric stacked on a disused microwave, but hey, they're kind of colour-coordinated and neat, so I enjoy looking at them!

This morning began at 7am, when Jasper decided he was done sleeping. So I took my two thrifted jars of buttons upstairs, and he kind of helped me sort them out. At least, he enjoyed hitting them and making them bounce with two thrifted knitting needles! Is it okay to let a one-year-old play with knitting needles? (Hey, at first I wrote kneedles! Must be that glass or two of wine I had after dinner, combined with a week of detoxing and eating remarkably healthily!! Hit me hard, I must say!)


The end result!

Wallet

I wish I blogged more. I really do. But the days just seem to get away from me, and the bottom line is, I can't totally justify blogging over other stuff that should happen, like playing with the kids or cleaning up or having people over or going to the library... normal life stuff...

Anyway, here's what I made on the weekend, a wallet I've been meaning to try for a while. The pattern was from Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and More - Winter 2007. Here's a different look. The thing I love most about this is the colours of the fabric - mostly Joel Dewberry with a bit of Denyse Schmidt.



Only issue is, I dunno if my money's going to be safe! For one thing, it's way huger than my old wallet, and kind of flops around as I fumble for coins, and two, the money pocket is right up the top near the clip - ie. if I open it with rather too much zest, I run the risk of throwing my cash in the air! Reminds me of the time I dropped $300 on Malvern Rd, trying to get it into the right compartment of my wallet! Not good!

Date and flax scones

Last week I ended up in Wolseley, munching on a date and flax scone from the Tall Grass Prairie Bakery. I've been wanting to make some ever since, so this morning, before breakfast, I did! I had a lovely start to the day, sitting on the back deck step in the warm sunshine with a fresh coffee and scone. The kids were watching KidsCBC, so I got to enjoy more of this fantastic book, Savage Breast: One Man's Search for the Goddess, which I also picked up in Wolseley that same day. Bliss!


Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup flax
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp butter
3/4 cup dates, diced
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until fine crumbs. Stir in dates. Combine milk and egg. Reserve 2 tbsp mixture for topping. Add sour cream to egg and milk mixture and add to dry ingredients, stirring until dough forms a ball. Knead 10 to 15 times. Shape or roll to around 1" thick and cut out circles with a glass or cutter. Brush with reserved liquid. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 mins.

Knitted helmet

What's wrong with this picture? Oh yeah, it's spring and past the time for hat/scarf combos! Still, at least I'm ahead for next winter (which will be a while coming cos we're flying back to the southern hemisphere in October, towards warmer weather - yay!). I've started another one as a gift for a friend, cos I was so pleased with how it turned out, despite its old-fashioned military look! The pattern is from Knitty: Toasty Topper. I added the red diamond detail after it was completed - very satisfying to add stitching/embroidery to a knitted work. Finished it off nicely, in MHO...

Favourite things swap

I signed up for this last night:



Should be fun... Got a few ideas...

Shopping!

After a bit of a break, I'm back into knitting. Got grand plans of knitting a whack of winter gear as gifts for when we leave. We'll see how much I get done, but in the meantime, I have enjoyed shopping on etsy, drooling over gorgeous handspun. I've decided to learn how to spin when we get back to Gembrook - that's exciting...

I've bought:
1. Koi Pond by WhirligigYarns.


2. Childsplay by YarnbyAshleyB.


3. Green Peace by YarnbyAshleyB.


4. Merri-go-round by YarnWyrkz.


5. Thrift Store Treasure by TerraBellaSpun.

But what I loved most of all, and what I can't at the moment quite afford (bummer!), is the gorgeous yarn from Mud.Creek. There's not much in the shop cos it sells out so quickly, but check out the sold items here - I just love this one:
Horizon.

Anyway, wish me happy knitting!

Finished rag quilt for Piper

I managed to finish the rag quilt for Piper that I started in early April, I think. A rag quilt is a simple project, but still required putting in the time. For example, cutting the seams so they would fray in the wash took me around four hours, I think, but I did most of it in the car on the way to the Narcisse Snake Pits and back.


I underestimated how good it feels to have made something like this for Piper, some tangible love for her to wrap herself up in. It adds so much to my sense of 'home'. Makes me think I really should make one for Jasper, seeing as that was the original plan. I was inspired by this one on etsy, but when I was shopping for fabric, I couldn't find the green/turquoise/chocolate/animal fabric I wanted, and hence Piper got lucky!