Frilly bloomers

Aren't these just gorgeous! I purchased this lovely nappy cover design from Whimsy Couture on Etsy .
The hardest decision was deciding which fabrics to use from my stash and there is literally hundreds there. Decided to go with a lovely pink fabric for the pants and some white and green for the frills. This size is 18 mths but the pattern is for premmie up to size 6. What do you think for a first attempt?

MEST get together

Melbourne Etsy Street Team had a lovely informal get together on Friday 19th November at The Works, Burwood Rd in Hawthorn.
Lovely store with gorgeous knic knacks for any occasion with a lovely cafe upstairs.
Present were Kate, Sylvana, Andria, Kass, Liz and Jan, Robyn, Clare, Maryann and myself.
Good food, good company what more can you ask for?

In bloom

Lots of other lovely cactii have opened up this week, the lovely huge cream one (several flowers) and also the pink one (forgot to take a pic). Also this lovely flowering bulb and I can't remember what it is called.
See the lovely cactus in my last post with the small pink flower just emerging? Well yep the flower is now black and I have removed it in the hope of saving the last flower to emerge. Hmm this bug/insect has good taste!
Anyway have bought the cactus indoors so I can keep an eye on the remaining flower.

Cactus is about to flower

I have a lovely collection of cactii some given to me and some purchased. But my favourite one is this lovely cactus I bought at Victoria Market some years back. It has lovely pink flowers which you can see at the top (almost about to open) however last time it flowered I missed it, perhaps it only flowers at night not sure.
I also have another cactus called "Queen of the Night" bought as a cutting last year and its growing like crazy but no sign of any flowers yet.

Christmas is coming....

Not long to go now till Christmas, only 8 1/2 weeks away. I have already made two Christmas bibs with 3 more to go so I thought I would share them with you. I have also purchased some lovely Christmas fabric so more presents to make over the coming weeks, stay tuned.

What did I buy at Gardenworld?

Forgot to mention yesterday what I actually bought. Yes I always say I am not going to buy, but then something catches my eye and I just have to buy it.
They had some lovely garden ornaments turkeys and peacocks were everywhere but I managed to resist the urge to buy and come home with something much smaller.
Three cactii and one Tillandsia or air plant as they are more commonly called.
The rats tall cactus is a lovely red and I already have but this one but in pink and the two smaller cactii one has yellow flowers and the other very pale pink.
The Tillandsia is huge and I also bought the board to glue it on now to find the right spot to hang it.

Cactus garden

Ever been to Gardenworld in Springvale? Well I took my parents there today for lunch and a wander around. The brand new cactus garden is finished and now open to the public. Couldn't resist taking a few pics although I was generally disappointed. For those who remember the old garden it was completely full of cactii with many reaching up as high as the roof and constantly having to be pruned. Somehow this garden seems much smaller and will take many years before it is as big as the old one.

Christmas tshirts

Yes I know Christmas is still some time away but I just couldn't resist making these lovely personalized/monogrammed tshirts.
All the younger nieces and nephews will receive one so this will be my project on the side for the month of October.

Unexpected visitors

This afternoon we had two unexpected visitors to our front yard. We have a wetlands area not to far from us but still nice to see the ducks visiting suburbia!

Birthday tshirts

To accompany the blankets I made recently for birthday presents I also made some tshirts. I have already made all the kids tshirts with names so this year I am making tshirts with the appropriate number birthday on them. Numbers are from the lovely Kate at Big Dreams Embroidery on Etsy and you can find her here http://www.etsy.com/shop/BigDreamsEmbroidery

Another birthday blanket

Another birthday in the family meant yet another blanket to embroider. This time I decided to keep it nice and simple. I choose a cupcake theme for this one so its the name with a choclate to the left and a cupcake to the right. Just gorgeous don't you think?
I also embroidered a tshirt as well. The fabric used in the appliqued capital "K" was also used in the making of a library bag and reader cover for the same girl, so hence it was matching!

Can you name all 9 reindeer?

My husband's niece turned 8 yesterday and she wanted a blanket with reindeer on it. Thats all, nice and simple eh? Originally I was going to put some lovely reindeer appliques on the minky blanket (purchased) then I realised you cannot iron minky so had to rethink. I found these lovely reindeer (all nine of then with names too) for my embroidery machine so set about using them. I added some snowflakes as well seen as the blanket was so huge (150cm x 170cm) and I cut the two layers apart to make the embroidery process a little easier.
So can you name all nine reindeer without looking first?

More pics of reindeers

Reindeer - cont-

September freebie

Having a baby or know someone who is? Have you seen my September offer in my Etsy store? Purchase one personalised baby tshirt and receive one matching newborn bib for free. Tshirts are available in sizes 000 or 00 with short sleeves only and I have used a lovely pink (or blue) check quilting flannel for the appliqued capital letter. Newborn bib has the same fabric as well, making this a great gift! This bib retails for $10.00 but you will receive it for free along with the tshirt, only until September 30th 2010.

Lovely ladybugs

How many times have you found a fabric and thought to yourself I just have to have it?
Well I did just when I found this lovely ladybug flannel fabric. So cute I almost was too afraid to cut it up. But cut it up I did and made a lovely baby gift set. One newborn bib (personalized), one regular bib and one matching burpee. What do you think?

Lingerie bags

I needed to make a few birthday presents this month so I put my thinking cap on and thought just what do you buy for someone who has everything? Well I started to think of the little things, things you would probably not buy for yourself. Then I thought of a lingerie bag. How many times have you bought bra's, nickers, teddies and not bothered to buy a lingerie bag? I know I for one am guilty of that. So I set about making a bag for each of my friends. The front of the bag is satin (dance satin purchased from Lincraft) and the lining is a poly/cotton gingham. Also made some bias binding to match - cause I like things matching!
The bag itself measures 40cm in length and 30 cm across, the embroidery was purchased from Lesley designs on Etsy. So what do you think?

My clean sewing table

I found the time this week to clean my sewing table. Yes under the many mountains of fabrics and trims I found my table.
Now this week I have set myself the mammoth task of cleaning out my dozen or so tubs full of fabric. Some I have not used in well over a year so I am going to be ruthless, if it hasn't been used it must go.

August offer - Buy 1 get 1 free!

Brand new to my Etsy store this week are some lovely bibs which I have been working on. Something different these bibs feature gorgeous pintucks, are personalised as well and for the month of August you will also receive a FREE newborn bib as well.
More fabric choices coming soon! Write a comment and let me know what you think?

Christmas in July

So following the theme of Christmas in July I thought I would share with you some Christmas quilts that I have made and adorn out house come Christmas time. All but one are here as I lent one to my sister and it never made its way back home! Oh well its gone to a good home so I shouldn't be complaining!
These quilts are all small so I hang them in the kitchen or hallway or wherever there is room.
These quilts were my first attempt at stipple quilting. I learnt that there are no "rules" just practice first, wear some gloves and off you go! I also have some cloth "Santa" dolls but these are packed away in boxes and the shed is definately not my domain.