Winter in Sydney

The last few weeks have gone by in a blur. The eldest had two weeks school holidays and it was nice to just let the kids reconnect with each other and not have any "need to be anywhere" pressures plus we ALL had a cold the first week! I loved having the whole day to tackle projects without the interruptions the school run brings.



There were a couple of outings, a birthday party, teaching M to sew, a night out for my Mothers' Group Mums, catch up with cousins, play date with a school friend etc. I took some random photos with Instagram so here they are:

Waiting for Light Rail on a chilly day

Looking at Sydney from Harbourside

Outside the National Maritime Museum

Making banana cake

Afternoon tea

M wanted to do some sewing today - we made this Ooshka

At the park on a warm day

WIP - progressing slowly

A "new" washing machine

Too much of this

Not enough of this

A new haircut

Pretty Lined Drawstring Pouches

A couple of weeks ago I had a niece celebrating her Holy Communion, a niece turning 13, and twin niece and nephew turning 11. Perfect opportunity to use Jeni's drawstring pouch tutorial. I made these pouches over the space of 4-5 days but it should only take a couple of hours to make one. I got lots of interruptions and I made one then decided to make the other three... Wait for fabric to arrive... You know how it goes.

As soon as these were made my kids were asking if they were for them, especially my two year old!

 





This one is for my 8 yr old niece who is very much into pink. Her family have just gone on a European holiday so I hope the pouch was useful for packing some little travel items.






 

In other news the kids have just gotten over a really bad flu virus. I was lucky to dodge that one. I have been trying to find a balance between sewing time and home duties. I find the home duties a real drag and get by on doing the basics. I feel like that's not good enough and I want to make our home more of a priority. I also have the incentive of a house guest next month so I'm aiming to spring clean and declutter one room at a time, I know having a clean house makes me happy (it's just that three littlies can trash it in the blink of an eye).

 

Happy Mothers Day

I'm enjoying a lazy day, it's 3pm and I'm still in my PJs!!  The kids wanted to make me breakfast in bed, nothing fancy - muesli & passionfruit yoghurt, sourdough with vegemite and coffee (don't you love my latte art?).  

I got Mad Men Series 4 on DVD which I have been hanging out to watch, it's only running on Foxtel now so we had to buy the DVD to keep up.  JB Hi Fi is a good place to get these fairly cheaply in Australia, if you order online it can take a couple of weeks though.  (We are 6 episodes into Breaking Bad Series 4 too, OMG it's such a great show).

I also got three Haighs midi chocolate frogs (125g each) - milk, dark & milk peppermint (the kids got to give me one each and told me that I had to share them).  Haighs is my favourite chocolate, the only place you can get it in Sydney is at the Strand Arcade.  

I also need to go shopping for a new pair of PJ's which I'll do this week.  Last year I bought two pairs from Target that are really soft and stretchy, one pair has totally had it - I accidentally ripped a hole in the pants on the safety gate and the top has stretched too out of shape.  I'm aiming to get to Target before Wednesday as they have 20% off sleepwear.  Very practical presents.  

A couple of us have the sniffles so a lazy day is not a bad thing, it's a bit chilly and very windy outside.  We all had a big day yesterday, I'll update you on the markets tomorrow (I scored the most amazing thing!!).  We will venture out a little later to go visit my Mum who went to a nice fancy lunch with my brother.  

I hope you're having a lovely day and you get a little spoilt.  While I'm writing this I'm talking my husband through how to make bolognese!!  He hardly cooks but I really appreciate it when he does.

Taali Wheel Quilt

Remember this quilt I was under the pump to finish last weekend?  I didn't even start until Sunday morning because I flaked out in an upright position on the sofa at 9.15pm! Gee, what a Saturday night party animal I've become! :-)  Well, I managed to get the 4 pieces of the circle completed by mid Sunday afternoon (thanks to an extra day-lightsaving hour from the clocks being wound back).

I thought it would then take no time to finish it off... um, well, no.  I got the whole thing pieced this afternoon.  It's been a busy week of needing to do various errands and I only managed a little bit here and there and then the final trimming took way longer because I was being quite pedantic about making sure everything was going to line up.

I'm quite pleased with how it came out.  I chose these fabrics for Max since I really liked them and I thought we could possibly get away with turning it into a boy quilt.  When I started piecing I was a bit worried it looked too babyish and I was prepared for him to tell me he didn't like it, which was OK since a good friend is having a baby boy soon.  But on the whole he says he likes most of the fabrics, not so much the "pink flowers".  Luckily I pre-empted that and only used that print once instead of twice, it needed that little bit more red.

If I were to do it again I might have all the fabrics running in the same direction around the wheel but the way I cut them with the wedges interlocking had the least fabric wastage.  I bought a FQ of each of these prints (Monaluna Taali from Moona Fabrics on Etsy) and really have not made much of a dent in them.  The solid is a Moda Bella Solid but I didn't get the name, I bought it from my LQS in a sale last weekend.  On Googling it looks like it could be Horizon Blue?

The quilt top measures 42" square and I'm in two minds about making it a bit longer on top and bottom?  I have some time to think about it as I won't be quilting it straight away - I need to move onto the next urgent projects...

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines Day is not a very big deal in our household, before kids we'd go out to dinner to some fancy restaurant but now I'd just rather do something small and meaningful for each other, it's my way of rebelling against commercialism and everyone trying to cash in (has anyone else noticed that a certain large supermarket chain put away christmas decorations and replaced them promptly with easter in January!!).

I woke up to this sweet little box of chocolates by the bed this morning, apparently they'd spent the night only inches away from my head.

We had a nice dinner, Veal Marsala followed by Chocolate Mousse and a lovely bottle of Stoneleigh Pinot Noir (for the grown ups only).

Don't you love that happy glint in her eye!

Chocolate goatee

Let's make silly poses for the camera

By the time mousse's were eaten, chocolate overload had kicked in and there were some hyped up little people who were hard to get in the bath and to bed.

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In other news - Danielle Wilson from My Sparkle won Project Run & Play.  How good is that?

Scallop Bunting

I've been on Curves Camp this week.  Here's my first project made today, bunting for Scarlett's room.

She'll be two in June and this is the first thing I've made for her room, besides the Babushka doll for her birthday last year.  I've had yardage of It's a Hoot waiting to make a quilt, I'm feeling slack and guilty that it's taken me so long to start decorating her room nicely.

The bunting was easy and fun to make.  I decided to make mine longer than the pattern since this window is 3 metres wide.

I used pre-made bias binding - A Day in the Country from The Remnant Warehouse.  The fabrics are It's a Hoot and DS Quilts.

I had a hard time getting the lighting right (I had to deal with either backlit glare or flash).  Not sure how I could've gotten better photos with the curtain open?

Sunday at the Zoo

We headed off to the zoo yesterday to get a last visit in before our Zoo Friends passes expired today.  The weather was warm and humid as Sydney can be.  Taking photos is not a reflex for me which is why there are not many photos.  Oops!

We tried to see the Tiger cubs but there was a long queue and it was hot.  We were tired and the cubs were nearly due for their afternoon tea... so we ditched that idea and headed down to the Sky Safari which is free and definitely much better than walking back up the hill to the top entrance.  If you ever visit Sydney, Taronga Zoo is a must see not only for the animals but for the glorious views of Sydney harbour.

Goodbye 2011 from Melbourne

Did you have a nice Xmas? We spent the day at home playing with and building new toys. Max declared the Little Tikes 7' Trampoline to be "the best thing you and Dad did". At quarter to midnight on Xmas Eve I managed to finish 2 out of 3 Santa Sacks (separate post coming).

Boxing Day was spent with my extended family (I am one of eight so there is about 50 of us - just my siblings and their kids and now the next generation of their grandchildren!!).

A day to recover and then a really early flight (like get up at 4.30am) to Melbourne to have Xmas with my husband's family. We have had a lovely few days here catching up on sleep, swimming and movies. The kids love hanging out with their cousins. We'll be having a chilled at home in Melb with my inlaws NYE.

Merry Xmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year. Thanks for being interested in my little blog and see you in 2012.

dxx

Star Wars Party

This little guy with his huge dummy turned five over the weekend.  Hard to believe that five years ago we were still in hospital getting used to being parents, loving this little bundle that was so cuddly and beautiful, being so proud of finally being a Mummy and that he was all mine.  He's grown into a little boy who is very social, loves things with so much passion that he is almost obsessive, is wonderfully artistic and is going off to big school in the new year.

Max "Luke Skywalker", Lewis "Clone Trooper" & Scarlett

Weeks and weeks ago Max declared that he wanted a Star Wars party and wanted to dress as his favourite character, Luke Skywalker.  I bought him this good quality cotton karate suit off eBay and made the belt.  For almost the same price this will last a lot longer and he may be able to use the suit if he starts a martial arts class later on.

Hard to get a good photo when you're practicing your lightsaber moves!

I didn't have time to go shopping to the local party shops but I found this online store that had a good selection of Star Wars theme party products.  I bought the tablecloth, napkins, plates, lolly bags, stickers and Clone Trooper and Darth Vader masks.  The masks were a huge hit, surprisingly, only two boys came dressed in theme (a Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi).  We had the party at our local playground which doesn't get too busy, we had the park to ourselves and the weather was pleasantly cool (not hot as it would normally be in December).

The much dreaded birthday cake turned out really, really well.  My idea for a lightsaber cake came together with store bought sponge rolls (minis & a large one trimmed to size), loads of buttercream frosting, some licorice and a couple of M&M's.  Rolled fondant was used to make the words.

I'm off the hook now until the next birthday.  I was completely exhausted for the rest of the weekend!

Use the force Luke...

...or as we say in this house "Use the fork Lewis".

We have a birthday in the house later this week.  Max is completely OCD over Star Wars right now so it's no surprise the theme of his party.  He is living and breathing Luke Skywalker so I hunted around online for a good costume (I would love to make a costume but I'm trying to be realistic here).  Anyway, there are two commercially made: cheap and deluxe cheap, that's quality not price (even if you buy it from the US and have it shipped, it's nearly double if you buy it from an Australian costume shop).  So I've hatched a plan, whilst I'm not making the entire costume I am making a couple of components and have bought the others.  As long as it all works out, all will be revealed in good time.

I was five years old when the first Star Wars hit the big screen, and I got to see it twice!  How old were you when you first saw Star Wars?

Sunday

Family Day at Luna Park with Jack's work.  Playing with Instagram for the first time and wishing Blogger was more user-friendly with uploading photos.  Giving up and making my collage in Powerpoint instead (much easier!).  Being thankful for the southerly and rain and for hanging out with my peeps.  Hope you've had a nice weekend too!

Two years ago today...

Images of my wedding from Uber Photography

Jack and I got married.  We celebrated last night by going on a movie date!  It was really such a treat to go and see a grown up movie together, something we have not done in a few years (and we used to go all the time B.C.).    We saw Moneyball - not at all a romantic movie but I was just keen to see something really good and it did not disappoint.

Today I took my Mum to visit my Dad's grave, it's their wedding anniversary tomorrow (it would've been 59 years!!!!!).  Tonight Jack and I will be hanging out with the kids and then maybe watch Breaking Bad after they go to bed (are you a fan?).

Big School

My eldest is starting Kindergarten next year which is the first year of primary school in NSW.  We have been doing a Transition to School programme which is great because he's getting to know a couple of the teachers and make friends.  After our first session last week he came home and sat at the table drawing (which he does a lot).  This is what he made, all my three kids going to "big school" together.  He got so many details in there, the school uniforms, the lunchboxes, the coat rack with a jacket and hat... and you can't go to school without your swords!!

Winter Bonnet

Scarlett had her first birthday a week ago.  I had trouble working out what presents to get her since we have a house full of toys already.  I thought that I would have to give her a couple of Mummy-made presents along with a small assortment of new toys/books (and send some old toys to be recycled to new family members).  The first thing I made was this winter Little Betty bonnet.  Remember this old post showing off Scarlett's summer bonnet which she adored and wore everywhere? 

Little Betty recently released the pattern so I thought I would have a go at making a winter one.  The pattern is very well written and the bonnet was whipped together in a day (even with lots of interruptions by the small people!!).

The interior is some Robert Kaufman flannel I had left over from the infinity scarves I made earlier this year (blogged here & here).  It is the softest flannel I have come across.  The exterior is a fine pin wale cord from Spotlight.

As soon as Scarlett saw this bonnet she wanted to wear it, which is great since I struggled to get her to wear a beanie this winter.  You can get the pattern here.

PS:  Did you spot the second handmade present?  I'll blog about that later.