A Quilt For My Girl

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Jacinta

I wanted to make something very special for Scarlett for her 8th birthday.  I ordered fabric and a pattern back in January so I would give myself enough time to make her a birthday quilt (Tenneille is still waiting for hers).  I was so close to finishing it for her birthday on Monday, but with Jairah’s mishap Sunday, I didn’t stand a chance.  4 days after her actual birthday, I finally finished her quilt.  I stayed up until 1.30am, hand sewing the binding while watching Breakfast At Tiffany’s and Sleepless in Seattle to keep me company, as everyone had long gone to bed.  I bundled up her finished quilt and placed it at the end of her bed to find in the morning.  She loved it.  Oh, I am one happy mama.

The reverse of the quilt

Close up of reverse of the quilt

I changed the material layout but not the pattern.  I left off some of the circle apliques and ric rac.  The back of the quilt is my own design and I am really happy with how it looks.  I used scraps of the material off cuts which, when joined with the white cotton, were just the right width to match the front.  I wanted the quilt to be reversible.  I machine quilted it, as I didn’t have the time to hand quilt it.  I used a walking foot for all the lines and on the outside border I used a free motion foot and did basic swirls.  I must say it was fun doing free motion sewing.
The best part is, I didn’t really stuff anything up.  I cut the binding thinner than was suggested, but I prefer finer binding. I did rounded edges on the quilt, as I didn’t want to have to do mitred corners.  I find is so much easer just to finish with a bias join instead.  I think I am a fan of rounded edge quilts from now on.  The quilt measures approximately 66″x66″.

Close up of rounded edges on the quilt

 

The pattern and fabric were purchased as a kit online at the Fat Quarter Shop (very lovely to deal with and shipping was prompt).  The quilt pattern was called Marabella by Amy Hamberlin.  The fabric was by Henry Glass & Co.

Now to get started on Tenneille’s quilt!  Jacinta x

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This Moment

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Jacinta

An idea via Soulemama

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Feel free to leave a link to your moment in the comments for others to see. Thanks for stopping by and have a gorgeous weekend!  Jacinta x

 

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What A Week

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Jacinta

This week seems to have evaporated before my eyes.  It didn’t start well, so that doesn’t help.  Jairah decided to cut his forehead while my mum was looking after him for a couple of hours on Sunday.  I can home with medi-strips as requested by mum (I figured this wasn’t a good sign).  We put them on his wound and I wondered at my marvelous medical skills, until Jairah decided to pull them off.  As he so conveniently did this on a Sunday night, we decided that it would need to be seen to, so Greg and I headed off to the local hospital A&E department.  As soon as we walked in we knew we were in for a long wait.  I mean, haven’t people got better things to do with their Sunday nights other than being sick or needing wounds put back together?
After waiting for over 4  hours and well after midnight (I can’t complain too much as Jairah had the kid area to himself and Greg and I watched TV, a rare thing indeed), we were finally shown through to the doctor on duty, by this stage, Jairah had thankfully passed out from sheer exhaustion.  The doctor did a bit of a panic as she was trying to wake him, Greg and I were persuading her not to wake him as he had been awake for for a good 18 hours straight!  Of course she was paged twice and they couldn’t find the dermabond (aka skin glue), but finally the planets aligned and his wound was glued back together.  It looked better instantly.  The best part, he slept right through the procedure.  We were very glad to be out of there!

Jairah in hyperdrive, hence the blurry photo, might have something to do with the late hour!

The latest fashion!

He has been out of sorts up until today, so it has kind of overshadowed anything I have wanted to achieve.
Scarlett turned 8 on Monday and thankfully she only had one friend over for a birthday dinner (she has a sleepover party coming up in the holidays which is in lieu of her birthday).  I was really tired, having had multile late nights.  I had been madly trying to get Scarlett’s birthday quilt finished, but alas, I am still trying to do so.  I am up to the binding, so almost there!  She was pretty upset on her birthday when I told her her present wasn’t quite ready, but she felt better when I suggested that her birthday is going to last much longer with gifts still to come.

To top off the week, I have forgotten at least 2 birthday’s, my cousins and a friend’s son.  I have a friend who was upset with me because I didn’t mention I could attend something last week.  I feel a bit overwhelmed to say the least.  I think I am in need a of a tropical holiday.  Who wants to join me?  Jacinta x

 

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This Moment

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Jacinta

An idea via Soulemama

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo (ok, 2 photos, read the box label on photo 2) – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Read the label on the box, I didn't notice until after I uploaded the photos. Made me giggle!

Feel free to leave a link to your moment in the comments for others to see. Thanks for stopping by and have a gorgeous weekend!  Jacinta x

 

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Oliver + S, Little Things To Sew

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Jacinta

This lovely book arrived the other day.  It is full of cute things to sew for little people.  The photos show off all the projects nicely.  My favourite things are the Cozy winter hood, bento box carrier, the messenger bag, the backpacks and the tutu.  Although I must admit, I would try all the projects!  The instructions seem well written with drawn diagrams throughout.  A great book for the beginner or advanced sewer.  I love the fact that the projects would be fairly quick to sew up.  Definitely an advantage for me!  Now the hard part, which one to sew first?

Oliver + S Little Things To Sew, by Liesl Gibson

Messenger bag, two sizes to make

Puppet Theater

Cozy winter hood

Penguin backpack

Enjoy, Jacinta x

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Yarn Along

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Jacinta

Joining in with Ginny at Small Things yarn along this week.

I have finally finished piecing and sewing together the blessingway baby blanket.  It has come together quite well considering all the different sized pieces people had contributed.  I had to knit a couple of small pieces to fill in the gaps.  I think it looks rather like a crazy quilt. I had to be rather creative in sewing it together as some pieces weren’t square, but I think it add character to the blanket.
It is currently in the wash and then I will block it to get a neat rectangle.  Hoping it will be given to the family this week.

As for reading.  Sadly I haven’t really had time this week.  Although my copy of Little Things To Sew by Oliver + S arrived today.  It has some cute projects that I will tackle in the near future.

Can’t wait to see what everyone else is up to.

Jacinta x

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Domesticated!

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Jacinta

I was in the kitchen preparing a meal the other day and noticed that Jairah was being oh so quiet.  I took a peak around the corner of the door to discover Jairah busily ironing (the iron was unplugged).  I quickly grabbed the camera to get some photo evidence.  He was very proud of his efforts.  Especially when he discovered that water came out of the iron if you tipped it up. I honestly never knew ironing could be so much fun.  Oh, and that scrunched up fabric in the background on the table (second photo down)?  Well that was Scarlett’s birthday quilt all laid out nicely, ready for my next step towards finishing the top.  Oh, hum, guess I shouldn’t complain with the help I was getting in the meantime.

Jacintax

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Another Day At The Beach

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Jacinta

Scarlett had Nippers yesterday.  Which mean a lovely afternoon spent at the beach.  The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.  Jairah and Tenneille loved walking around in the shallows of the bay.

Scarlett looks like a pro now on the body board.  Unfortunately I only had my phone so couldn’t get a good photo to show you.  I think I ended up with about 50 shells in my pocket that were gifts from Tenneille.  Each one she gave me, she promised was the last one, but of course there was always ‘one more’ that she liked ‘the best’.

We enjoyed good olde fish and chips afterwards before all heading home happy, but weary.  We were told by one of the group leaders that Scarlett has improved the most overall in the group.  Now trying not to get a big head, but we have noticed how far she has come too and we are so proud of her efforts.  We only have 2 more weeks to go before the season ends.  It has been a fun journey.

Jacinta x

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This Moment

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Jacinta

An idea via Soulemama

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Jairah is a bit blurry, but I think you get the picture!

Feel free to leave a link to your moment in the comments for others to see. Thanks for stopping by!  Jacinta x

 

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Happy St Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Jacinta

I love Irish sayings.  What better day than today to share some with you all.  Hope you have a great day, however you celebrate it (or not).  Jacinta x

Sourced from the internet

Sourced from the internet

The following one is cheeky, but I love it just the same!

“May those who love us, love us; and those who don’t love us, may God turn their hearts; and if he doesn’t turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we’ll know them by their limping.”
Traditional Irish Toast

“It is easy to be pleasant when life flows by like a song, but the man worth while is the one who will smile when everything goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is trouble, and it always comes with years, and the smile that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through the tears.”
Irish Saying

Posted in Celebrations | Tagged | 4 Comments