Wash the dishes, dry the dishes…

turn the dishes over!

I had a little helper this morning as I was trying to get the kitchen tidy. “Mummy, washing?” the plea would come, as a ball, or a car came flying across the bench to land in the sink. “I help washing?” a little voice pleaded. I wanted to get the dishes done, and do something fun, not to mention the piles of bookwork on my desk, clammering for attention.

The compromise? A toddler sink!

An old nappy box, that had been hiding under a bed, awaiting it’s fate, was dragged out into the harsh light of reality, and attacked with a knife! Oh the cruelty! I simply cut a hole large enough to fit a smal mixing bowl, then sticky-taped on a toilet roll, snipped two little cuts to form a spout, and voila! A sink for a small boy to ‘help’ mummy with! I also provided a felt ‘dishrag’, and filled the bowl with bottle lids from the craft box. The small one was in raptures, pottering about, singing his little song. “Washing, washing, I washing” came the melodious tune behind me.

 

Now just to keep him this enthralled with housework as he grows up!

 

Spreading the blog header love.

After my post yesterday for Ruth’s blog header, a few of my other quilting girls have requested I have a play for them, so be prepared to be inundated with blgo headers.

 

This one is for Tracey. I hope you like it, I won’t be offended if you don’t!

 

Just click on the image to see it at full size.

 

Now I’m going to have to make a new one for myself, I hope you girls realise! Mine was a quickie I whipped up so I had something, because I didn’t like the default option. Now I look at these prettier ones, and want one myself! Never mind, I’ll just add me to the list! Bee & Car, I haven’t forgotten you, I’m just still looking for some stuff to use!

 

blog header for Ruth

A fellow blogger asked me to have a go at making her a blog header, and it’s just as easy to host it here!

 

I hope you like it Ruth, no pressure to use it if you don’t like it!

 

 

Sunday Sewing…

I was all inspired to do some sewing on Sunday, so I dug out the fabric I scored at the op-shop a couple of weeks ago, and whipped up a little apron for myself, for crafty things. I often come home from wherever I’ve been, and am reluctant to do five minutes here or there, because I don’t want to get my good clothes dirty, and it’s not worth getting changed for a few minutes. So, I made myself an apron so I have no excuse!

 

A very simple design of my own making, but it’ll do the job!

 

Climbing the Ladder

The Jacob’s Ladder quilt I have been working on for what seems like ages is finished! A few flaws, but good enough to keep a small boy warm. And what a great good it did of that! The last few nights have been too many degrees below zero for my liking, so this quilt came just in time. I even got to try it last night, when he awoke, and wanted some sleepy mummy cuddles (as one does at 2 in the morning). As mentioned, t has been a wee bit on the nippy side, so I slid into bed with him. And oh how toasty & warm it was!

 

The boy isvery proud of his new quilt, and drags ‘his’ visitors in to show it off at every chance he has! “Wook, bed! Bankie, mummy for me! Mine! Mine bed!” Very cute it is, and lucky for me, he’s too young to see the puckers & uneven stitchings!

 

So without further ado, the quilt:

 

It is a full size single bed quilt, but it was a windy day, so I had to fold over a far bit to stop it going for a wander!

 

Life’s certainties

The only certainties in life, the saying goes, are death & taxes. Whoever said this obviously had never had a child, and so I would respectfully suggest an alteration:

 

“The only certainties in life are death, taxes, and newborn poo when out & about!”

 

When my sister-in-law recently announced she was expecting, my mind went into overdrive trying to think of an appropriate gift to celebrate this new life joining our family. Having been somewhat recently on the wrong end of an explosive nappy, I felt possibly a custom-made changemat might be an ideal solution. I made it quite large, and added a pocket large enough to hold a nappy & a packet of wipes, just perfect for chucking in the bottom of the pram.

 

The whole thing is padded with wool wadding I had leftover from a previous quilt. THe top two-thirds are quilted around the small chocolate triangles, and the bottom third, which is PUL for easy cleaning, isn’t quilted, save for a single row of top stitching where it joins the patchwork, just to help it lay properly. The back is also chocolate PUL, again, easy to wipe down after being on icky public change tables, and the binding is PUL as well. I chose PUL over a completely waterproof PVC cover so that it would be gentler on tiny bottoms. I thought PVC may be cold & sticky, whereas the PUL is a lot lesy plasticky (is that evene a word?). I’m quite happy with how it turned out, and am thinking I may need to make myself one as well.

 

Stay tuned - the Jacob’s Ladder quilt was finished last night, so once the boy has finished sleeping under it, I’ll take some photos to show!

 

Scrap happy…

Finally, a chance to try out my lovely Lime Tart kit!

I have been itching to a) dive into this kit, and b) scrap this photo, but I’ve been a good girl, and worked towards finishing my WIP’s first. But now, the binding is on the Jacob’s Ladder quilt, and halfway hand sewn, and the changemat is awaiting a delivery of PUL (please visit this afternoon Mr Postman!), so I took the opportunity. I love love love this kit. I found the papers so easy to use, they are right up my alley, and the inspiration was flowing!

Please excuse the wonkiness, I’m still perfecting the art of photographing scrapbook pages! Pretty much everything I used is from the kit, except the notepad page, and the buttons, which are from the packet I bought during my last outing to the op-shop.

And I can’t post without a close-up!

I really enjoyed doing some scrapping, even if it was hard to make the first cut in these gorgeous papers. Now I’ve just got to print some more photos & keep going now I’ve found my groove again. Plus I’m eyeing off the August “Half Tart” kit, over at Lime Tart, and I really should use a bit of what I’ve got before I buy more, shouldn’t I? Though I do need to replenish my Bazzill stash - I worked up to quite a collection, which has made me complacent, and now I’ve only got dodgy “don’t think I’d use that” colours left. And lots of pink. Very helpful, with one son, and I suspect another on the way.

 

I hope to have a quilt to show either tomorrow or the day after, plus I’ve got a few other sewing projects on the go that I hope to show soon.

 

6 things!

So, I’ve been tagged by Shannon!

Here are the rules …
1. Link to the person who “tagged” you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Right, well lets get started…

1. I can not completely finish a meal or a drink. I always leave a little bot on my plate or in my glass. It drives DH nuts, and he has even tried giving me less drink in my glass, but I still leave that tiny bit at the bottom.

2. I make DH’s side of the bed properly, complete with hospital corners, but leave my side untucked, hanging & messy. Good thing it’s hidden from the door!

3. Meal planning has become such a habit that when I planned for the week of DH’s birthday, not only did I forget to plan something nice, but I actually allocated *gasp* leftovers on his birthday, and didn’t realise until he reminded me *blush*. I quickly changed that night’s meal!

4. For some bizarre reason, before our last overseas holiday, I became addicted to Air Crash Investigation. When we were taxi-ing/taking off, I was then so freaked out at the number of things that could go wrong, I clenched my teeth so hard I gave myself a sinus headache.

5. I spend the weeks six to twenty-two of each pregnancy vowing this is the last time I will go through this, but by week 24, I am back to wanting four children, and will quite happily talk about “the next time”.
6. I am a complete nerd, and tend to prefer non-fiction to fiction if I am reading. I am particularly partial to popular science & history books, and remember really random things from them.

Okay, I’m tagging:

Lulu

Esther

Kayscha

Meika

Bee

Rose

 

Aprons, knitting and Mother In Laws

I am a bit behind in blogging, as we went to visit my mother in law over the weekend. I finished the apron as DH packed the car, so the photo is a bit dodgy:

 

I was reasonably happy with how it turned out. It was my first go at making my own pattern, and there are a few flaws in it that I am assured only I notice.

 

While there, MIL also dug out for me an old knitting book:

Full of different ways to jazz up knitting, lots of challenges, now to just find a project to try some of them out!

 

Speaking of knitting, I finished Pooh Bear’s blanket. He is very grateful, and assures me it is very warm.

 

I’ve also been tagged, but that will have to wait for another post with more time!

 

Thrift shopping

I popped into the Salvo’s op-shop on my way to the library this morning, and spent the huge amount of $5! I grabbed two vintage pillowcases, a bag of buttons, and two books, destined to be part of a collage.

My haul:

 

the fabric:

 

I’m not 100% sure what these will become yet, I am thinking maybe a cute little apron? Hmmm… don’t know!