3D Flower taggy and other baby sewing

Some nights grandmas have sleepness nights so rather than waste the time I often do my best thinking during those non sleeping hours and came up with this idea for a 3D taggy  for my granddaughter who loves textures and colours.   I knew that one day there would be a use for all those scraps that are quickly multiplying in my sewing room.  Instead of using ribbons sewn into the edges of fabric the petals can be grabbed and flipped - hence the 3D effect - by small hands.  

Those scraps  have also come in handy to cover foam blocks.   I have put them away for the moment until she is a bit bigger.

Bub, her mummy and I went fabric shopping last week and the dress and little knickers - still to be fitted with elastic around the legs which I will do tomorrow when I have bubs to measure  her -  are the result of our expedition.    Fabric was also purchased to make rompers for when the weather is cooler.  

Still no grab ball finished yet as I thought that I had stronger thread to sew it altogether so that will need another trip to the fabric shop.  

Back soon and in the meantime happy sewing.

A new bag for me

Now that I am retired from the workforce and hubs and I are doing some day tripping around I found that a handbag was no longer practical to stuff all those items in that one needs "just in case" plus all the necessary items so on our way home from Leura last week I had hubs make a detour to call into a fabric store at the base of the mountains and I found and fell in love with this fabric and knew that I would be perfect for a new bag that I was formulating in my mind.    

The first piccie shows the front of the bag with the flap

And this piccie shows the back with a pocket especially made to slip  my Ipad in if I need to take it with me.

I also put in two pockets on the inside and made a base to give it firmness.  The base is removable  for washing and  I have enough fabric left over to make a sunglasses case plus a tissue  holder to put into one of the pockets.   I have given it a trial run around the house and very pleased that everything has a place  and the weight is evenly distributed across my body instead of one side.  

I am still working on the grab ball that I started a couple of weeks ago and hope to get that finished sometime this week.

Be back soon and in the meantime happy sewing. 

A short break away to.....

celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary is what hubs and I have been up to for the last 3 days.    We decided to mark the occasion by heading up to our favourite mountain town Leura and checked into the Fairmont for a few days of luxury and pampering.   On our day of arrival we had summer and enjoyed strolling around the village

Checked into our hotel and enjoyed a swim in the pool

Walked around the lovely grounds enjoying the gardens

Had a pre-dinner nibble and drink in our courtyard

Day two we woke early and headed off to the Three Sisters before the crowds arrived to be greeted by a rather heavy fog

After walking around the area we headed back to our "digs" for a swim, then breakfast and by that time the fog had lifted.    The same Three Sisters - minus the fog - taken from Scenic Railway.

By now the sun had come out and we enjoyed wandering around country lanes

Met up with one of the local lads whilst he was enjoying the view from his room

By this time the weather had turned from summer to what could be described as"mild winter" with drizzle so we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a glass of champers inside the room instead of in the courtyard.

The drizzle kept up all night and we woke to this

After many visits to the mountains over the years we always go prepared with clothes for all seasons and brollies.  

While away I also took the opportunity to call into some quilt shops and I bought a lovely piece of fabric to make myself a messenger style bag.    Hopefully I will get that done by the end of the week and be back with some piccies real soon.  

In the meantime happy sewing.

Little boxes and other items

Whilst blog hopping a few weeks ago I fell across these cute fabric boxes and just knew that I would have to make a few.

As you can see I made 5 using three  different sizes.   I also used a stiffer interfacing in four of them from the first one that I made.    These would make cute tissue box holders, bits and pieces holders, thread catchers, gift bags  or whatever you decided to do with them - they would certainly brighten up a room.   If you would like to make one or three or ???? you can find detailed instructions at the website below.

http://seaside-stitches.blogspot.com...-tutorial.html

I enjoy making small useful gifts to put in Christmas stockings or to add in as an extra into a gift and the kitchen towels below were gratefully received by relatives and friends

My next door neighbour had a baby boy just prior to Christmas so out came the burp cloth pattern for some boy themed burp clothes.      My DIL has a cousin who is due to have a baby later on this month and she asked if I would make her some burp clothes as well.   I just repeated the same fabric as they do not know what  the sex of the baby is.    Well  they are not revealing if they know.    

At present I am in the process of making a grab ball for my granddaughter.     I hope to be back soon with a photo of  it completed.  

In the meantime happy sewing.  

2013 was a .......

Momentous year for me personally.    January saw hubs and  I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, February I was elected as President of my quilting group.  During the year we purchased a new car, hubs and I became first time grandparents to a lovely little girl who is a delight to both us as grandparents and her parents.

I developed a mystery illness and remain to this day a complete puzzle to my dr and cardiologist.   Fortunately I have no ill effects  and life is now back to what is was before it all began.

I also retired from the workforce after 40 years.    If I had not  retired I would have been due to go back to work on Tuesday and at this stage I am far from ready mentally to go back.   I have settled into this retirement mode very quickly.     I have surprised myself at just how much I have achieved in the garden as well as finding time to read, cooking, getting back into going for my daily walk, doing jigsaw puzzles and being able to enjoy shopping at a leisurely pace instead of racing in and grabbing what I need and run out again.  

On the sewing front I made a lot of items for the baby including this tummy time quilt which I wanted to be all different textures for  her to feel.   I used chenille, wool, satin, fleecy , suede and ribbing to achieve those textures.

Now that I have retired I will have more time to spend  making clothes for the baby as well as for myself and of course quilting.    I have a few WIP's  that need to be finished.

Best wishes to everyone for  2014.    May you find time to do all the things that you need and want to do and all your UFO's and WIP's turn into completed items.

Happy sewing

"R" is for Retirement...

Which is what I did at 5 pm on Thursday 19th December 2013.      I have been in the paid workforce for 40 years and thought it was time to leave and make a start on that long list of  "to do things" that I have been compiling for quite a few years now.     Hubby has been retired for the  last 10 years and has been waiting very patiently for me to come to this decision.     Me not working will also mean a break for him not having to drive around to the office, collect me for lunch, the return drive back after lunch and sometimes of an afternoon.    As you can see he has been doing a countdown for me each day

Below is a piccie of the cards that I received from family and friends, gift cards I received from the office and the flowers were from hubby.

The Westfield Gift card was very for an extremely  generous amount so I will take my time and buy something very special with it.

Retirement for me means not having to be at the same place at the same time everyday and instead of having to look at the day behind a window I can be out enjoying it.   It will mean the freedom to just look at the day and say lets do this or that.   Pack up and go off  wherever and whenever we decide and be able to join in for lunches out with our other friends who are also retired couples.    More time for sewing, gardening, shopping, reading, movies, blogging, friends, family and us.  

And of course as you all know I became a grandma 10 weeks ago and it will mean that I can spend more time with our precious little angel.

Well that was my announcement that I referred to in my previous post.

Back soon with some piccies of what I have recently finished.   In the meantime happy sewing.
 

Nature in my back garden

As we head into the summer months Sydney is known for its thunderstorms which mainly brew up out west and drift across the mountains then head out to sea and as we are quite close to the water we are often in the line of fire so to speak.   I took the photo below from my patio mid afternoon a couple of weeks ago as we watched the storm clouds gathering overhead

I took the next  photo of a huge spider web which was  across a walkway in the garden.    As you can see it is rather large but we never did find the "builder".   Just as well I am thinking by the size of the web.    I often walk into webs around the yard and spend several minutes trying to detangle myself from their stickyness.  

Ever heard the expression flat out like a lizard drinking well here is one that I found just after sunset "drinking up" the last of the warmth from the bricks.

And of course summer in Sydney is not summer without the constant noise from cicadas which seem to go day and night depending on the heat.   Living in a bushy area sometimes the noise can be deafening and you have to be very careful not to stop too long under a tree as you will be "rained" upon by them.   Most unpleasant.   They are quite a strange looking insect with their big bulging eyes as can be seen below.

I hope that you enjoyed  looking around my back garden as much as I enjoyed showing you.  

I will be back later on this week with an announcement and some things to show you that I have recently made.

In the meantime happy sewing.