The Power of Words

I love having an emergent writer in the house.  I love the little notes that get left in unexpected places.  I love the quirky spelling.  Most of all I love that my own daughter is beginning her own love affair with literacy. Just like her Mum and her Author Auntie, she is a bookworm, and a writer, and she is coming to know the power of words.
p.s. if you can't quite read it the text says "you have to make this" with an arrow!

Weekend Sewing

What a lovely, busy, sewing weekend.  Last holidays my children began their first patchwork projects.  Hannah decided on a quilt for her dolls and Dan began a tablerunner.  It was great to see the projects developing through their eyes.  Hannah, at 7, was more thoughtful and concerned about placement of colour and pattern.  Dan, at 4, just went with what was pleasing to his eye.  When Daniel's runner was pieced we put it on the table and I could see the disappointment in his face.  "It doesn't fit!" he said indignantly.  Clearly, in his mind, he was making a tablecloth, not a runner, so we had to find something to bulk it up a bit!  A thrifted pillowcase (which had been earmarked as jammy bottoms for him but never gotten around to) had just enough fabric to make it big enough.  As we had changed from runner to cloth I then just backed it with some tan coloured leftovers from another quilt backing without worrying about binding or batting.  At 4, instant gratification is a good thing.  My boy was so happy for us all to eat homemade pizza on HIS tablecloth last night!

Now Hannah will be keen to do the quilting on her project.  I had a lovely afternoon with my Apple Piecers Quilty Friends on Saturday and managed to finish the binding on my "It's a Hoot" quilt.  So now it is goodbye "Chooks in Clover"

and hello "It's a Hoot!"

"Chooks in Clover has been our couch quilt from the time Hannah was small.  All of my babies have enjoyed looking at the chooks and flowers and tracing them with their chubby fat fingers.  Not surprisingly, this quilt is now beyond repair - worn out with lots of snuggles and baby spit and impromptu cubby making.  I am donating it to the dog but Maddie keeps dragging it back inside and putting it on the couch again LOL

I am already wondering about the practicality of having a quilt with so much white and light fabrics as our couch quilt?  I think this quilt might quickly migrate to my workshop room as a Mummy only quilt and be replaced by something more practical (which is a shame because it just looks so good on our couch!)

I ducked off for a bit of Mummy time on Sunday and went to the Woodpatch Quilters Exhibition.  Lots of lovely inspiration and I made a start on my Christmas shopping at their trading table too!  I also found a lovely piece of pale purple fabric on the bargain table for $4 and came home and made this:

My version of the ubiquitous apron skirt.  I love the detailing on this doiley - it is beautifully stitched.  Because I used the full length of the fabric there were no messy seams and then I cut a bit off the top, sandwiched the apron edge inbetween the two cut pieces and stitched then turned the top edge over the stitched seam and top stitched so there are no messy raw edges anywhere and it was soooo easy and quick (maybe Dan gets the instant gratification thing from me LOL)  This will be lovely for Hannah in summer with a yellow or green or white tshirt.

So see, a busy weekend!
Next time I'll show you my first ever sock knitted on two circular needles!
Happy Monday,
Keep smiling,
Nell