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Christmas gifts

11 Dec

I’ve been busy making gifts for Christmas. My original intention was to make gifts for everyone, but that hasn’t really gone to plan. That elusive thing called time. And I think I was being over-ambitious!

Here are some items that were gifted last weekend – coasters, paper covered pegs (what a fun project to do with Miss 3!), hair clip holder, headband and baby tag blanket. Christmas gifts

I enjoy making things for family and friends, and hope the recipients appreciate them as much as I enjoy making them.

Are you making any Christmas gifts this year?

Making a donation

9 Dec

I cleared out my wardrobes and will donate the clothes I no longer wear to charity. I try to do this twice a year. I’m always amazed at the clothes that I’ve kept. It’s like a walk down memory lane – the top I wore to my first client meeting, the skirt I bought in Rome because after 2 months of France & Italy my clothes no longer fit, the pants I fell in love with and then recieved them as a Christmas gift. And on it goes!

I’m sentimental about my clothes, but have been ruthless. I would rather someone else wear my clothes, then have them sitting in my cupboard like a time capsule.

How often do you clear out your cupboards and donate?

 

Completed: Miss A’s quilt!

28 Nov

Hello neglected blog! I knew i hadn’t written a blog entry for a while, but didn’t realise it was almost 2 months!

I am so pleased that I finally finished Miss A’s quilt last week. I really enjoyed making my second quilt, and loved how it all came together. The colors worked well, and I had such great help from the ladies at GJ’s with selecting backing and binding material. The pattern appeared quite straight forward, though I found elements of it difficult, such as making sure all the rows lined up correctly. I am very fussy! My very talented mum helped me MANY times for assistance and advice. Thanks mum!

Miss A's quilt - front  Miss A's quilt - back  Miss A's quilt - front and back I gave the quilt to Miss A, and there were smiles all around. I hope Miss A likes and uses her quilt now and in the years to come.

I’ve been working on some other things too, more on that in the next few days. Promise it won’t be in 2 months’ time.

Thanks for stopping by. xo

Progress of Miss A’s quilt

1 Oct

I have been busy piecing Miss A’s quilt. Thought it would be easy-peasy, but it took me a little while to line up the rows. Read: unpick and call mum for help! Today I purchased the backing material, binding and batting so I’m almost ready to start quilting – which is my least favourite part of making a quilt. Wish me luck. Miss A will be receiving her quilt next Saturday, 7 day countdown is on.

Stacked coin quilt

Picture quality and colors not the best – photo from my phone!

 

 

 

Love a fabric bargain

21 Sep

Today I went to Spotlight with the intention of buy the sashing material for Miss A’s quilt. Instead, I was sidetracked by the sale table. Oh my goodness, I could not believe the stock that was reduced. Such lovely material. And at $6 a metre, how could I turn a blind eye? I think I did well with my purchases. I have a few projects in mind, and now just need to find the time and slot them into my projects.  What bargain material have you picked up?

Father’s Day present

5 Sep

Miss B and Master M adore their daddy. Their faces light up when he arrives home and they rarely leave his side. Their daddy is much loved, by the kids and me! Both nonnos are also much loved!

I decided to make personalised t-shirts for Father’s Day. Miss B had recently drawn a picture of Daddy and Nonno. I photocopied and enlarged them, purchased plain white t-shirts and some Crayola fabric textas. Then I simply traced the picture, using the same colors as the original drawing, ironed and there you have it – 2 personal Father’s Day presents.


I might make this a tradition – a new t-shirt for each Father’s Day. Would be good way to capture the kids’ creativity and development.

Oh – and the t-shirts were much loved by Daddy and Nonno.

Felt food – great for imaginative play

29 Aug

I recently saw gorgeous handmade felt food and thought I would give it a try.  A beautiful toy that stimulates the senses and encourages imaginative play. With the help of some online tutorials, I made a few sandwich and fillings for Miss B, which she loved.

I made breakfast, lunch and dinner for Master L’s 2nd birthday present. Snacks and dessert were also on the menu but I ran out of time. Mum popped around the night I was sewing, and I handed her a needle and thread for some hand sewing.


It was fun to come up with ideas and adapt the tutorials I found. I prefered to machine sew as much as possible, hand sewing not being my forte! Hope Master L likes his present.

Have you made felt food? What’s your favourite to make?

Hair clip holders

27 Aug

I’ve been making hair clip holders for some of Miss B’s little girl friends and cousins. They are super easy to make – and a great way to store hair clips.

The size I make fits perfectly into an A4 sized frame, so you can hang it on the wall or display on a dressing table.  You could use a plate holder or lay it flat in a drawer. The colorful/girly material adds a burst of color to a bedroom.

I might try another version of a hair clip holder, which also stores headbands.

Thanks for stopping by! xo

Little Miss A’s quilt

17 Aug

Our very close friends moved to Sydney last year. We miss them a lot – Miss B and their Master O get along really well. They recently had a beautiful daughter, Miss A. Looking forward to meeting Lil Missy soon!

I offered to make Miss A a quilt and the request was that the material be not baby-ish. I selected “Giddy” from Moda and have made a start.

I still feel like I’m on quilt-training wheels, so it’s slow but steady progress. Slightly nerve-wracking to be gifting a quilt too… hope they like it!

Check back on my progress soon.

Pretty headbands for little girls

3 Aug

Miss B has a few parties coming up for some of her little girlfriends. So tonight I made some pretty headbands for the birthday girls. Perfect for a 3 year old, don’t you think?

I’ve made a few headbands and feel like I’ve perfected my technique, including exact material width and length. Makes for speedy work.

Thanks for stopping by.

Amanda xo

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