"The time has come" the Walrus said

"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

Anyways that is more in reference to the story of the Curious Little Oysters who ended up being the Walrus's dinner...

The girls have had some lovely big plastic place-mats for aaaages.  They were getting a bit munted and curling at the corners and just getting beyond their ability to be useful...

So we decided to sew some!  And being made from fabric we could just wash them!

I tried stippling/free motion quilting for the first time too and by the 3rd one I started feeling a little more in control of the process!  Quite tricky!

We have 3 delighted girls and in time I will get on to making one for Daddy and Mummy, as well as a second set ... and perhaps a few as gifts?  We'll have to see just how much energy can be found. ☺

Linking up over here.
L xx

A baby no more

My youngest, Liezel, will be 18 months soon.... Waaaaaaaa!!!

In the last couple of weeks she has graduated from a highchair to the big table with the rest of us and you can tell that, even though she was sitting with us, this little change makes her really feel part of things now.

She has also moved into a "big bed".  (We started the other two on a mattress on the floor and slowly moved the base in once they got the hang of staying on the mattress - so we are using the same approach this time round too.)

Last morning wake up in the cot.

She is absolutely thrilled with the freedom and loves that her sisters come to her room to play now, rather than her being too little to get up on their beds to join in...

Sound asleep curled up in the corner.

In retrospect she's probably been ready for ages... Funny how subsequent children after the first seem younger and younger than their older siblings at the same ages... or is that just me holding on to the last of the littleness? ☺

She has a new lease on life.  My baby is a baby no more.... I will miss it but I will enjoy moving on too.
Now to figure out how long I can justifiably hold on to the baby stuff... ☺
L xx

Not many more to go...

Recently I received two more blocks from the Modern Sampler Bee ladies.

This one from Cat:

And this one from Treena:


Love them!  Cant wait for the last few to arrive!  Once I have them all in my hot little hands I can start planning how to combine them all in a quilt for Anya.

This week I have also been loving:
- Disney's Cinderella becoming available after years and years.  I love love love animated movies and have never seen it!  The girls and I are thoroughly enjoying it.
- Finally catching up on the work front.
- I don't really care much about winning - I'm more about enjoying the experience, but I was happy to win a boardgame that has frustrated me immensely in the past :)
- Making progress on the Advent Swap goodies!
- Little sayings from the girls:  Anya is currently on an "actually" kick..., Liezel is in the "no" phase
- Conversation with Heidi: "Heidi can you please bend down for a second"; "I cant"; "What? Why cant you?"; "Because I'm too little"...
- Loving gorgeous gorgeous sunshiny days, and blowing bubbles outside.
- Crafting with friends - always a good time : )

Have a great weekend!
L x

Linking up here.

Wardrobe Wednesday - Orange Crush

I may have mentioned once or twice that my Heidi loves orange...  and for a while now I've been thinking she would fit right in with the styley Wardrobe Wednesday Ladies : )

So here is my Orange Crush girl...

She's always had style : )

And now Fashion has caught up to her : )

Linking up here.

L xx

A Labour Of Love

Back in May (!!) I asked for some help/advice/suggestions on an idea I was thinking about...  In July, after lots more research and planning I finally started cutting the various components for the quilt.

I have never made a quilt, and certainly never designed one.  The margin of error and potential to have missed a seam allowance was a high possibility...  So many questions and what ifs and how do I do that and what if I screw this up?

I learned ALOT.  From determining sizes, enlarging/reducing, ratios, colour/white, 9-patch/12-patch, cutting, cutting, cutting, appliqué, blanket stitching  hand quilting, machine quilting, batting options, backing, making binding, attaching, joining and hand stitching binding, mitred corners...  The learning curve was rather large... but there's nothing quite like deciding this is it and hope like crazy you don't end up wasting hours and hours and hours by making a fatal mistake at the end...

Each figure was quilted and blanket stitched by hand. 

8 weeks later it was complete and last week we celebrated my husband's Oma's 80th Birthday.  This quilt resembles our branch of her family - my husband and I, and our 3 girls all represented in each of our favourite colours.

Free-style embroidered message on the back.  And the border of blocks on the front comprises 192 individual  2.5 x 2.5" squares.

The greatest part was how much she loved it.  Mission accomplished.

Thanks to all you lovely people who advised, supported, encouraged and helped along the way.  I couldn't have done it without you!

L xx

Lovinnnn

I've been a bit slack in keeping up with my little daily rays of sunshine...

Here's what been making me smile:

- Heidi's expressions: "Same same" when pointing out that things are alike.  Two items are "same same".

- She has a very expressive little face and sometimes you'd ask her a question and the little face will contort and she'll say: "mmmm, let I think for a minute... mmmm I dont know"...

- My baby girl graduating to the big kids table for meals... bye bye high-chair (sob sniff)

- Arriving home after a few stressful days away...

- Grateful for a couple of nights' solid deep sleep... bliss...

- Flowers from a friend - totally unexpected.

-  Heidi playing with a $1 coin (no we didn't know she was playing with it) but the sound of it being swallowed and the expression on the little face was priceless...  She is now a little proud that she has money in her tummy :)

- Still loving reruns of one of my favourite shows: The Big Bang Theory.  Never fails to make me laugh.

-  Liezel randomly running up to her sisters and giving them huge hugs.

-  Finishing off a couple of sewing projects.

- Two successful incident-less airoplane trips with 3 little girls.

Looking forward to the weekend and some serious work catchup!

Have a great one everybody!

L xx

Linking up here.

Squeeeee!

It arrived it arrived!

 

Juliet is one talented lady and I am so so flattered that she ended up making this for me!

To read more about it go here.

Thanks Juliet - I LOVE IT! (ps it's been filled with hooks and bits and pieces now, and been on one outing!)

L xx

24 Hours a Day

It's been a tough old time lately but once I sit down and breathe the picture above comes to mind.  

This time, incident, moment - it will pass.  Tomorrow is a new day.  

Every day, every moment can be a new beginning, an opportunity to change, a chance to grow and learn or to cut your losses, put things behind you and move on.  To accept.  To Love. To Leave.

It's easy to feel that we are always listening, always there - but those same people don't LISTEN when it's our turn.   Forget.

It is easy to feel that we shoulder our own and other's burdens - but our burdens aren't significant enough for others to shoulder.  Forgive.

It seems easy to complain and seek sympathy but not doing what is required to "fix" what we can.  Encourage.

Life is hard - we are all fighting our own battles and in our own ways.  My problems may not seem as big or significant as the next person's, but they are the things that keep me awake.

We are all different.  We all suffer in different ways.

We aren't different in our need for love, kindness, support and to feel as if we matter.

Today I ask you to Listen, but more than that, to genuinely care.  

To show that for a day or two or three, someone else's life is just as important to you as your own.

Listen.  Hug.  Love.

L xx