Quilt Update

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Posted on June 13, 2013

I have done some more work on the quilt today. The blocks are all sewn together, the batting and backing are attached and I have machine quilted between the blocks.

Here is a view of the backing with the stitching.

This is the fabric I will use to make the binding.

I was undecided about the binding until I had the quilt assembled. This was a piece which I had planned to use when making reuseable Christmas gift bags. I will buy more if I actually need it for that purpose.

No more craft posts until I show you the finished product. However, I am pleased to have set myself this challenge otherwise this would still be a pile of fabric on the sewing table.

A Bit Less Fabric

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Posted on June 12, 2013

Last night I made a start on the teddy bear quilt. I have cut out 24 blocks of fabric.

It is all spread out on the kitchen bench as I had to work out the combination of colours. Although there are 24 blocks, it is not 8 of each. I actually have 9 patterned, 8 navy and 7 calico. This evolved because of the amount of each fabric that I had. It really is a matter of making do with what you have.

I chose to make it very simply from large blocks of fabric because otherwise the look of the teddy bears would be lost if each piece just had a bit of a leg or an ear.

The first 8 blocks are sewn together.

I plan to have the remaining blocks sewn together tonight.

Fabric Update: This project has completely used the navy and teddy bear fabric so they are now gone from the stash. I still have some pieces of calico left but it is actually a slightly different weight and colour to the piece that I used for the quilt.

Craft Challenge

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Posted on June 11, 2013

It is Tuesday morning here and we have had a long weekend. My mother came to visit and I have been spending time doing things other than blogging. On Saturday we visited 6 open gardens as part of the local Garden Club’s weekend titled, “Gardening on the Edge” which is a specific reference to the escarpment location where we live. These were large, mostly ornamental gardens with stunning displays of camellias which are in full flower at the moment. One garden had a large, productive vegetable patch so that was of particular interest to me.

We arrived home at about 3pm just as it began to drizzle with rain. We have had consistent rain since then with it barely stopping, day or night for 64 hours. The rain is not heavy – just gentle, soaking rain which is predicted to continue for another 3 days. I hope my new vegetable seedlings don’t get waterlogged.

A 3 day weekend meant that I achieved most of the essential housework so I had time for some other activities. Since it was raining I turned to my sewing room. As always, there are some projects underway and many others planned and waiting to start, so my goal this week is to make some real progress and I will share it with you here.

This is a pair of pyjamas I have made for Izz. I had finished the bottoms except for the waist casing and elastic so that was the first thing on my list. This fabric was given to me and I had already made pyjama bottoms for myself and another pair for Izz. This pair used the very last of the fabric and necessitated having an extra join in the back but it is not visible due to the casing. I then found the tshirt fabric in my stash to make the top. I was left over from when I was making school polo shirts for Belle (over 20 years ago).

The next project was another top made from scraps. It can be a pyjama top or would be equally suitably to wear to daycare with her jeans. The white ribbing for the neckband and cuffs is cut out and ready to sew.

This is some material that I cut out and prepared to make a sundress. It will fit a little girl from about 12 – 18 months. The style means that it is very flexible and can usually be worn for at least 2 years. I am not making it for anyone in particular but may sell it or give as a gift.

Here is a piece of plain calico and a smaller piece with teddy bears. I plan to make a patchwork cot quilt – once again, not for anyone special.

You may wonder at me making random items for which I have no specific purpose. Although I do not have a room full of fabric stashed to the ceiling, I do have a reasonable quantity of good quality fabric and smaller offcuts. I love designing and creating garments and useful things that use what I already have so my goal is to gradually work through the pile.

This week I hope to complete several projects and I will share more photos as the week goes on.

Please let me know what you are doing in the craft room, too.

Project 333 – Winter Wardrobe & Wishlist

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Posted on May 28, 2013

Since it will officially be winter in 3 days I thought a post about my winter wardrobe was in order. We live in a relatively mild climate but it still gets cool enough to need more than summer-weight skirts and t-shirts.

Over the last 10 months I have lost 8kg so that has necessitated moving a number of items along as they were simply too big. This has pared down my wardrobe even more. However, a bonus is that I can now wear these 2 jackets.

They were a neat fit when I bought them a couple of years ago and a little over a year ago they were destined to be given away.

I also have a black cord jacket and a pink suede one.

One of the few things I have bought for this winter is a new pair a tailored black trousers as I did not have any trousers suitable for wearing to work in winter. I gave my only pair away at the end of last winter as they were too big. Last week I had to buy a belt because even my new trousers are a bit on the loose side. I did try the next size down but they were a bit too tight.

I generally wear a collared shirt (3/4 sleeve) under the jacket to work as I don’t want to be rugged up because I work in an air-conditioned office. I have 5 striped shirts. There are also these 2 lightweight knits.

A couple of sleeveless vests, 2 pairs of jeans, 3/4 sleeve tees and a couple of rugby tops pretty well round out my work and casual winter wardrobe.

My shoes are 2 pairs of flats – red and pewter, red lace-up casuals and RM Williams boots.

Now for the wishlist:

Black skirt – purchased and waiting for me to shorten the length
Grey patterned cord skirt – waiting for me to refashion it from a skirt that is too big
Plain black lightweight knit – in the cupboard but need grey skirt to wear it with
Grey/charcoal trousers – need to buy
Black flat/low heel court shoes – need to buy
Black low heel boots (knee-high) – need to buy to replace the high heeled ones I have given away as they were too high and I did not feel confident walking in them
Black stockings – need to buy
Scarves – I would like some lightweight plain coloured scraves – probably black, fuschia and red with possibly mint green or purple as well. Just need to go looking.

I need to try on some boots to see whether they will suit me as I am not overly tall.

I have 6 pairs of grey stockings (most unworn) that I bought last year in the USA and after wearing them a couple of times I have decided that I do not really like the colour, hence I need to buy some black ones.

Recently, I bought 2 pieces of cotton lycra fabric which I hope to be able to make some 3/4 sleeve tees. One is black and cream striped (narrow stripes) and the other is plain in a raspberry colour.

Now that I have written it all down, my plan seems quite realistic and doable. What do you think?

Christmas Shopping

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Posted on May 7, 2013

Yes, you read the title correctly.

I did some Christmas shopping yesterday. Belle and I had previously discussed the possibility of taking the girls to see ‘The Lion King’ when it comes to Sydney at the end of the year.

I received an email advising of the pre-sale release of tickets for ‘The Lion King’ so I have bought tickets to the show for Miss O and Izz for Christmas. Belle and I will take them to Sydney to see the matinee session on New Year’s Day.

By being organised I was able to take advantage of the pre-sale offer and have managed to get excellent seats at reasonable prices.

This is a perfect solution as we will not see the children on Christmas Day this year, nor do they need any more ‘stuff’. Experiences such as attending live theatre and musicals provide so much joy and the benefits are immeasurable. Miss O is still talking about when she saw ‘Mary Poppins’ 18 months ago. How many toys have that sort of longevity?

My Day

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Posted on May 4, 2013

Most of what I post is about a particular project or activity but tonight I thought I would share my Saturday with you. Our weekends are precious and we try to make the most of the time.

I work full-time and have a lengthy commute, so during the week it is usually all I can manage to prepare and eat dinner and make our packed lunches. Sometimes I do the ironing but that is about the limit.

The Duke and I are the only ones at home and many things have been simplified and streamlined.

I woke at 5.30am so I quickly hopped up and put a load of washing on. I am trying to be more diligent about using power before sunrise and after sunset. This means we maximise the benefit of the solar panels by exporting to the grid at 50c/kWh and using it (at night) for 28c/kWh.

Once the washing was on I crawled back into bed and read my book for an hour. Then it was time to be up and going.

Breakfast eaten, dishes done and washing hung out. The Duke put a loaf of bread on to bake in the breadmaker. The bed stripped and remade. A second load of washing sorted and ready to wash this evening. Handwashing done.

Floors swept, vanity and mirror cleaned. While I am doing these jobs, The Duke is sorting out finances and adjusting the budget.

That is enough housework for the day so it is time to head outdoors on this gorgeous autumn day to work on some of our projects. It is not quite 9am.

At least one of the chickens has been doing a fine imitation of Houdini recently so we need to make some repairs to the chicken run to make sure they are contained. We use some tent pegs to anchor some of the wire to the ground so hopefully that problem is sorted.

In January The Duke and my brother-in-law replaced a large portion of our front boundary fence. We also put new wire along the front of the house below the verandah. This was not finished off and tensioned and it has been a source of much debate as to exactly how we would do it. A few weeks ago, The Duke painted some timber which he attached to the metal posts at each end so that we could secure the wire. Today we tensioned the wire and attached it to the posts.

Time for a break and lunch.

We also needed to find a solution to securing from the end of the wire to the wall of the workshop and had decided that we would construct a concrete block wall and then top it with a piece of timber lattice.

The Duke painted the lattice last weekend. We had also poured the first part of the concrete footing for the block wall.

Today we laid the first few blocks. It is quite a challenge working in a confined space so we will be very glad when it is done. We are certainly not giving up our day jobs but I am very happy with what we have achieved so far. Once the wall is built to level at the left-hand end in the photo, we will place the lattice on top of the wall and secure it at both ends.

Even though almost everything we have constructed recently has come from second-hand or salvaged materials I am mindful that I do to not want it looking like Steptoe & Son.

I have been working on the design and plans for our vegetable garden fencing and a new chicken run adjacent to the garden. This afternoon we marked out the position of the corner posts and discussed the location of the hen house. We also checked how many posts we already have and it looks as though we will only have to buy a few more. These are mostly the longer ones which we need for the higher fencing around the chicken run.

Once the sun had set I put on the load of washing I sorted this morning. Then it was time for a shower, prepare dinner and watch Gardening Australia (my inspiration). I checked the solar inverter – the panels generated 19kWh today. That is pretty good when it is only a little over 6 weeks until the shortest day of the year.

Dinner was eaten, washing hung out and the final load put in the machine.

The last load of washing is finished and once I finish this post I will hang it out. I use the clothesline under the verandah so it is safe and easy to access at night.

It has been a full and productive day. I am happily exhausted and will enjoy a good night’s sleep.

I hope you had a good day and I am looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow.

Slow Living – April

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Posted on May 1, 2013

Here we are with another month ended and it is time to for a review in the spirit of Slow Living Essentials

I must say that a do feel like a bit of a fraud as there does not seem be anything slow about our lives.

Here are the Slow Living categories:

{Nourish} We have continued to be very diligent with making our packed lunches every day. It is now 9 months since I changed my diet to one which is gluten and mostly grain free. I am feeling much better and as an added bonus have lost 8kg. My main focus has been ensuring that we do not waste any food. This makes for some interesting but nourishing meals. This was made from some leftover bits in the fridge last week. You can read more about it here

{Green} We are starting to reap the benefits of SAM – our Solar Air Modules. It is essentially solar airconditioning and we are using it to very effectively keep the bathroom and bedroom warm and dry. I can reduce the humidity from 90% to 65% in the matter of a few hours. You can read more about it here

sam15

{Grow} It is well into autumn but I have still been picking cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.

{Create} We have made 2 more raised garden beds.

{Discover} I have made a start on putting all of the family history research into a computer program and getting rid of a pile of paper in the process. I am discovering new facts and remembering some previous discoveries as I do it.

{Enhance} I have gifted 2 pairs of boots via Freecycle.

{Enjoy} I have celebrated my birthday, met a friend for lunch and spent a morning with another friend – morning tea and then window shopping.

Now I am off to check out some of the other slow living blogs.

Til next month………..

Deep Clean & Dressed For Winter

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Posted on April 18, 2013

Today I had a deep clean in our bedroom. I took the mattress and base off the bed so that I could vacuum properly underneath it. I turned the mattress when I replaced it.

I cleaned the windowsills, cornices and skirting boards.

The valance on the base was washed.

The valance was replaced and the bed remade with fresh linen. I have swapped the light coloured doona cover that we use during the summer months for this one.

It changes the look of the room. Although it is the same fabric, the darker colour feels right for the cooler weather. I have not yet put the feather doona on the bed – we have a cotton blanket and lightweight polyfill doona at the moment.

The weather is still quite warm at the moment but we will make gradual changes as needed.

Getting Back on Track

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Posted on April 14, 2013

I have had 2 weeks back at work since my holidays and I still feel as though I am chasing my tail at home. Somehow everything has been done but the smooth process seems to have flown the coop. In fact, last Friday morning I had to iron a shirt for The Duke as there were no business shirts in his cupboard. That was not good.

This weekend has been pretty busy as Miss O and Izz came to stay and that certainly limits what I get done. However, I have managed to finish the washing and ironing, written a menu plan and have the meals prepared for Monday and Tuesday.

Do you plan your meals? What is your process?