On Friday

 

Strange, that I mentioned my father-in law here on Thursday.  Not 24 hours later, he was gone. 

His life spanned 81 years, from war-torn Europe to the peaceful suburbs of Melbourne.  He built a life for himself and his family here, continuing on his own after the tragic early death of his wife - mother of his 5 children.  He saw his children, grandchildren and great-grand-children grow and was proud of their successes, small and large.   The strength of his loving family is testament to the values that carried him through the toughest of times. 

He was a strong character - complicated, funny, fiery, and fiercely independent.  We loved him, and feel blessed to have spent the last 14 months with him in our everyday lives.

There's a big gap in this household now, but the pain of age and illness is gone for him.

  You deserve a good rest, Illias.   Rest in peace.

New playground equipment

Or rather, a re-purposed old and scruffy one....

A public holiday meant that I had the choice of a child-free day at work to catch up on things (and a disgruntled family at home), a catch-up on an enormous pile of ironing or doing a spot of knitting under the apple tree.

I had dreams of knitting up a storm (or a pair of socks) today.  Mostly, we made a red hair ribbon from some scrap tencel yarn.  We did it twice - the first being too wide and too short.

 Several weeks ago, I spent an evening or two working through this machine knitted sock in cheap Lincraft sock yarn.   I wasn't in love with the yarn so wasn't willing to put another night or two into the project.  I gave it to my one-legged father-in-law (waste-not-want-not). 

I made some toe-up socks by hand in my bamboo sock yarn, following the same short-row process for toe and heel.  It's been a slow project but I finished them today.  They're dodgey-as (and I tried a new cast-off that looks really rough) but the socks feel beautiful to wear.  I'm completely smitten with this yarn.  Considering that they were meant as a learning project and they're just for wearing about the house, I really don't care about all the little short-row holes and wonkiness. 

Today I made a bamboo yarn sock on the machine - I'm hand-knitting the rib as I write this blog post.  I'll blog them as a finished pair... when they're a finished pair.

And I'm leaving the ironing for another day...

...again.

Little Big Girl (Dress)

The idea is still tumbling around...  I want to make a pretty, age-appropriate summer dress for 5-10-year-olds. I know I'm not alone in not wanting my girl to look like a Bratz doll.  And she doesn't want to look like a baby anymore. 

My girl has had a bit of a week of it - lots of learning about kids with no sense of  "the golden rules" of play (co-operation, consideration and compromise rule at our house). 

I'm struggling to grow past Mama Bear protectiveness and onto sensible, guiding-hand parenting.  It's probably a bit like trying to navigate the path between the sweet, open innocence of everybody-loves-me infancy and the reality of learning to get along with people. We're both feeling a bit bewildered and out of our depth here.

 ...and (back to the dress, because that's SO MUCH EASIER to deal with) ...as much as I like it, I think we have to lose the bow on the back and perhaps make a more grown-up belt with buttons (or at least offer it as an option).  I've been told that bows are for babies. 

The sun-smart cap sleeves are staying.  And I have another skirt variation or two to try before I settle on one in particular. 

Edited to add: My girl only likes LONG dresses, preferably with a bit (or a lot) of twirl. She somehow climbs trees in them, bows and volume of fabric and all. I won't be making a short version for her because it won't be worn, so I'll be looking for pattern-testers (at some point soon) who want to try that variation for me.


It's a work in progress... as we all are.

When I first saw it, this fabric* spoke to me of vintage frocks with big skirts.  It cried out for a gathered waist and a party-frock feel.  I'm working towards the modern, age-appropriate twist.

*Sorry - I cut the selvedge off and forgot where I bought the fabric.

It's all about subtlety and nuances right now.  We're working through things as best we can.

So.... any thoughts on age-appropriate dresses for 5-10 year olds...? 

Back to it.

We've started back at work this week and I'm feeling all the better for the three weeks of rest and quilting. 

I'm finally able to look at a yearly planner and think about workshops and courses.  I'm pencilling in dates, moving them around and thinking about new workshop ideas.  And tomorrow the lovely web-techie guy is coming to discuss web-techie things for the website. 

We're also updating the pattern information for the Pattern Review shop and updating the STOCKIST list, so you'll know where to source my patterns and supplies.  (NOTE: Pattern Review is at least another week or so off being up-to-date.  It's a complicated process to upload all the information)

Lots of work that is quite invisible, on the surface of things....

 And there was a bit of a reworking in the showroom late on Monday night, with more shelving, the shiny new patterns and everything moved around (so the girls couldn't find anything when they came in to work on Tuesday... oops!).

 Some bargains are to be had for in-store shoppers...

(Excuse the poor light in these shots.  I only thought to snap a few haphazard shots this evening before I left for home.)

 And I have ideas a-brewing for a new pattern.  Thanks to my assistant, I also have a booklet in which to write it down.  (Yes, she's now making kits for me to make kits... spot the kid who has grown up surrounded by craft...)

 For the hour before I left tonight, I allowed myself a spot of sewing time, to work through a few of those pattern ideas.  A reward for an otherwise non-creative few days.... and I'm itching to get back to it.

It's good to be back where I belong. 

Quilted!

The holiday project is complete.   The wonky-block, make-it-up-as-I-go-along quilt is finished.  Quilted and bound and amply covering the double bed.  I'm just waiting for a sunny day to wash and dry it to snuggly it up a bit.

 Today's little hang on the line was a staged photo opportunity.  Seeing it like this makes me feel a bit pleased (it looks like I invisaged it) and a bit annoyed with myself (that I didn't unpick and rearrange the blocks for the third time). 

 I'm not as sure about the chopped-off running-off-the-edges blocks as I was when I ran them off the edges and chopped them off.  (Ho hum.  You don't notice them when it's on the bed.)


The backing fabrics are a mish-mash from the stash, with a bit of Andalucia from the Quilt Fabric Delights sale page.

 The "panda quilt" is also done and has been claimed by the wee girl.    She won't notice that the wonkiest machine quilting occurred on the areas where black thread shows the most.

I've had a lovely stay-cation these last few weeks, but it's time to prepare for the year ahead.  We open for business again on Tuesday.

Sewjeen

In the Irish language, the suffix 'in' ("een" in English) means "little", and is often used at the end of a name, with affectionate connotations.  You may have noticed that I sometimes call the wee girl "the girleen".

Today, Lara and I had a little Sewjourn, for our little girls.  It was a Sewjeen.

The bigger girls used their own machines and 4-year-old Stella used my old Singer - unplugged and acoustic style (hand-turning the wheel).  Lara and I caught up on a few works-in-progress and a bit of a chat while the girls sewed all manner of creations.  I finished my big quilt (photos forthcoming).

 I also quilted the "Modern Quilt Blocks" quilt (known here as "the panda quilt") and hope to have the binding on by tomorrow afternoon. 

And another quilt has been started....

 Carefully made by my own girleen, these 'blocks' have been arranged on the studio floor.   I'm loving them, and hoping she sticks with the project long enough to make something from them.

And I'm hoping that this year, when I escape to Sewjourn, I don't have a stowaway in my luggage.

Getting serious

My little holiday in quilting land saw me back at GJ's yesterday, investing in some batting, thread, extra fabric and EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE (again).  I think I've learned as much about quilting from the help the GJ's staff have given me as from any other source.

 
And today, I fell in love with my machine and my studio space all over again, as I free-motion quilted the scrappy quilt.  Binding is tomorrow's task.

In other news, the wee girl decided that she must cut her hair.

But was only willing to let go of the length below the elbows.  And she wanted a fringe.  She looked a bit like this (and I didn't like it).

 Today she was fed up with mid-length hair getting in the way of everything she did, and insisted on a shorter cut.  We found a hairdresser with a vacancy and we now have "an easy little bob", which has been flipping about the place since, while the wee girl sings the praises of half a metre less hair.

I've been marvelling at my confident, competent girl.

Here she is, sewing up bags (of her own design, with no help from her mother welcome or tolerated), confidently threading the machine,changing stitches and ....ahem...wearing the wrist band from the swimming pool yesterday.  Doing her own thing.

She asked, "Can I go to Sewjourn?"