Baby clothes quilt

Source: www.ticcheandbea.com

In a recent newsletter for my local mothers' group an article featured crafts that capture and preserve memories of your child. There were many good ideas, such as turning your child's artwork into a poster or notecards, but the one I liked the most was turning your favorite baby clothes into a quilt. Now Mama N and Mama G could probably make such a quilt on their own, but for the rest of us there is a website that offers a baby clothes quilt kit. It offers two levels of DIY. You can cut squares from your favorite pieces that your child wore as a baby and mail them to be sewn for you into a quilt. Or if you are feeling a little adventurous you can buy the kit with instructions on how to sew the quilt yourself.

I have started setting aside clothes as Master Q and Miss V grow out of them. Some of the hand-me-downs will be used for Miss L's quilt because they bring back such vivid memories of when Miss L was a baby. I love the thought of having a quilt for each of them that holds so many memories from their first year of life. I picture having the quilts on their beds as they grow up (until they hit those rebellious teenage years when I will box them up for safe keeping until they will appreciate them again as young responsible adults!).

I am tempted to try to make one myself. My great auntie has a sewing machine that she would like to give me. And I did notice a listing of beginner sewing classes at the end of the newsletter article which definitely caught my interest.

Royal Mail

When a package arrives at our home with the Royal Mail stamp Miss L and I are beside ourselves with glee. We know it must be a beautifully handcrafted item from Mama N. Yesterday one such package arrived!

Even Mister T was anxiously waiting to see what was inside. Since receiving the twins' handknit cardigans he refers to Mama N as a "professional knitter." All three of us sat on the sofa giddy with anticipation.

I tried to help Miss L open the package but she quickly motioned me to stop and told me very firmly, "this is MY present" with a special emphasis on the "my". As she unwrapped the tissue paper her eyes got really big as she said, "oooh, HOW nice." A lovely handsewn floral dress!!

In all of three seconds Miss L had taken off her clothes, put the dress on and started twirling around the room with a huge smile on her face. And I had a huge smile on my face. I am so touched by Mama N's kindness.

Miss L's dress is the most beautiful little girl's dress I have ever seen. It captures the whimsical and carefree summer days of childhood.

I think I know what Miss L will be wearing again tomorrow!

How not to entertain your toddler

Master R loves cooking. He's actually really good at helping me in the kitchen. He gets up on his step at the bench and mixes, measures and pours. He gets so excited about it! I made a big error yesterday though. Forgetting that toddlers need instant gratification and don't understand the word "wait" I thought he'd enjoy some jelly*.

He had so much fun stirring and stirring. I was very anxious about the hot water. But the problem started when he just didn't get the bit where it needs to set in the fridge. We had massive tantrums and tears. It took ages for him to forget about it and stop opening the fridge.

You should have seen his face that evening when I gave him some jelly! He was really excited to see how it had set and wobbled.

Today we baked a scrumptious orange cake together. A much better idea - he can lick the bowl and spoon then in 45 minutes eat a slice of cake. Later he got to make the icing and lick the bowl again! (Must post the recipe for the cake we baked. It's an orange cake made with 2 full oranges - skin, pips and all! Yummy!)

*Sorry I don't know the American word for jelly but I think you call jam jelly? I'm sure you'll understand what I mean from the picture.

Homemade playdough

Lately I've been thinking of creative ways to entertain Miss L at home. I'd much prefer arts and crafts to television, although I will admit that Miss L and I do watch Curious George on PBS on a regular basis.

Here are some of the ways we spend a morning or afternoon at home:

1. I set up a playlist on my iPod with Music Together, Baby Loves Jazz, Lisa Loeb, They Might Be Giants and Dan Zanes songs. I play the music and dump a ton of musical instruments on the floor and Miss L dances and plays the instruments while I sing along to the songs. I've also found that she loves Latin pop music so I created a separate playlist with Juanes, Julieta Venega, Laura Pausina and Lenine.

2. We set up crafts at her little play table. We use crayons, easel paper, construction paper, toddler scissors, toddler glue and yarn scraps. As I mentioned to Mama V sometimes we have a finished object, and oftentimes it gets taken apart by Miss L a few minutes later. I try to focus on the act of crafting rather than having something finished, especially with the short attention span of a toddler.

3. Small puzzles have been great. Miss L has a box that contains four puzzles with each puzzle only containing four pieces. This makes it less frustrating for Miss L and more likely that we can finish it and then talk about what is in the puzzle picture. The Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles are great too. Miss L's favorite puzzle right now is a farm animal puzzle that has mom and baby animals.

4. Recently we received a recipe for homemade playdough from Miss L's yoga/art class. This is wonderful to mold into different shapes. You can use cookie cutters or stamp molds with it too. Here is the recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup water

1/2 cup salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons oil

Food coloring (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a pot. Cook over low heat until thickened. Cool, knead and have fun!

I am wondering if you have any other creative activities for home!

Some completed gift knits

I had vowed never to knit a gift again following a bad experience. But since Mama J is a fellow knitter I decided it was a safe gift. Given how much Master A loves George I thought his brother would too so I made him a George the monkey. It's a great quick crochet project that is very cute! And believe it or not I actually ran out of the brown so I had to give him a tshirt and shorts.

Then I knitted up a vest for Master L. I love this pattern. It's normally done in thick yarn and is also a quick knit. Not wanting to leave out Master A, and because two boys look so cute in matching clothes, I also knitted him a vest. It's done on thicker yarn so was just as quick as the small one to complete. Actually it was quicker because I didn't put the grey around the sleeves. I didn't have the right yarn so left it off. It looks cute anyway. NB. The vests are the same navy but the lighting was different in each picture so one looks a bit washed out.

The top picture is Iggle Piggle a children's TV character here. Master R just loves the show and it's one show I don't mind him watching. If you saw the pics of me catching a bus to the hospital to give birth to Master T you'll see me crocheting this. It was my goal to give it to Master R when I left hospital as a little present. But I didn't quite get it finished in time. Unfortunately Master R showed zero attention to it. He's never liked any soft toys! Oh well, it looks cute on the chair in his room. Maybe Master T will like it.

The urge to finish

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with being in the final days of my pregnancy but I've had this sudden urge to finish all those projects I've had lying around - some for nearly a year. While it looks like I've been ultra-productive, in most cases it has been about putting in a couple of hours to just get the project finished. That's what I've been doing the past couple of weeks so I now have a few finished projects to share.


First is this dress. I bought the fabric about 3 months ago. The style is the same as a $1 dress I bought off ebay and wear and wear and wear. With the elastic top it was great to breast feed in and it is just so comfortable. I'm wearing the old dress literally to it's death. The idea was to make this one for summer. As the nights get longer and summer draws to a close I probably won't get much of a chance to wear it this year but it's a great dress anyway and was so simple to make!

The fabric comes with the elastic already sewn in the top. You just whip up the side seams, top and hem. Viola! Easy! The yellow, red and green stripes mean it will look great with red sandals and red cardigan.

Sorry about the picture. I had to use the self timer on the kitchen bench.

Sorry also for this picture. But nothing I could do would give this cardigan justice. It looks wonky here but it's not. I'll take a live shot once I fit into it again. It is a stunning design with lovely 3/4 length sleeves in the same lacy pattern and a scalloped edge. However, this was the most difficult knitting project I have ever undertaken! Only because the pattern was written so badly. It was almost as if they wanted you to fail from the outset. Just terrible. Mama J and Mama H, I promise I'll always help you with any knitting and crochet pattern you do EXCEPT this one!

Just a very basic blankie. Master R is such a little blankie boy (which I find very cute). But his wonderful 3Marthas blankie is in a sorry state. No matter how much I wash it I can't get out the ground in dirt. They don't make them anymore and I couldn't find one in blue and white on any of the US sites I searched so I thought I'd make one. The knitting was very simple but sewing the ribbon around wasn't so easy because my poor old machine didn't like sewing through the thickness of the wool. So I'm rather ashamed of my sewing and won't own up to it!

I was concerned that Master R would reject the replacement blankie but as soon as he saw it lying on the sofa he screamed for it and wouldn't let it go. Mission complete!

Last but my absolute favorite is this cabled hoody. I started it in October last year and had finished it by February but hadn't put in the zipper. I tried to get to the haberdashery store in NYC before I left but didn't get there. Finally yesterday I bought the zip and sewed it in. However, there is a big problem with this hoody. Those with a keen eye will see that there is a lighter strip of knitting around the waist line. I was furious - I ran out of yarn and went back to The Point and was assured it was the same dyelot. As you can see it was not. I've considered ripping it back but decided to just live with it in the end. It's a lesson that I should ALWAYS check the dyelot and NEVER knit if it's not the same. Mamas J and H - this is a great pattern for you. The yarn is beautiful and the fit is wonderful. It's a quick knit too because it's on big needles.

Now to get back to the sofa and finish some more outstanding projects.

Patchwork inspiration

Source: JenSport's shop

If you haven't yet discovered Etsy then you're in for a handmade treat. This website is a market place for thousands and thousands of crafters to sell their wares. Anything and everything handmade or home made or vintage or not. It's main downfall is that there is so much on offer that it can get confusing. But I've made a few fabulous purchases from recrafted vintage jewellery to baby bibs, vintage clothing, new clothing and now a patchwork quilt pattern.

I made my first patchwork quilt - or started my first quilt - when I was about 8 years old. Mum wouldn't let me use her sewing machine and made me sew each little hexagon and triangle by hand. I don't think I did ever finish it and I have no idea what happened to those little cut out scraps of pink and while fabric. Since then I have done a lot of sewing and inspired by Mama H's beautiful quilt am ready to tackle my own, this time with my trusty sewing machine.

My first project was going to be something boyish for Master R. However when I saw this Union Jack I just had to do it. While I'm not British. I've lived here since the end of 2000, with a two year stint in New York of course, practically all my adult life. I have a British passport and now so does Master R. I do feel a certain pull towards the Ol' Blighty but in a different way to my deep smugness and pride of being Australian*.

After searching ebay, I've bought some red, white and blue fabric and will be commencing this hopefully while my mother is staying so she can help me with the finer points of patchwork such as what backing and padding to use and the best method of finishing. Let's hope it's a quickish project and I can show you some finished pics in the not too distant future.

*During my very pompous group naturalisation ceremony the Lord conducting it turned to me in front of the others and asked where my allegiance lay in regards to the cricket. He said that was the true test of Britishness. I'm sorry to say I have zero interest in cricket but of course my allegiance is with Australia. If Australia and England play rugby, I'm rooting for Australia. If a Brit and and American are playing tennis, I'm all for the Brit. If Germany and England are playing football (soccer to you) I have to go for Germany or be booted out of my home. We are a confused household!

Sunbonnet Sue

When we arrived in San Francisco, my mother had a package for me. My aunt had made something for Miss L. I had no idea she was working on a project for Miss L. I also had no idea what it could be.

We unwrapped the package to find this Sunbonnet Sue quilt for Miss L's new room. It turns out that my great-grandmother had started sewing the Sunbonnet Sues decades ago and never finished the quilt. My mother remembers my grandmother having the pieces. Eventually the pieces made it to my aunt who kept them well-stored for years. She finished this beautiful quilt last month and sent it to us!

The fabric is in amazing condition and my aunt sewed a label on the back with her name and birth date and Miss L's great-great-grandmother's name and years living. Mister T hung it in Miss L's room so that it is the first thing you are drawn to when you walk in the door.





I can only hope that one day I can make such a treasure to pass along in the family. I did just learn that my neighbor has a sewing machine (and she quilts) and she offered to loan me the sewing machine if I ever want to learn to sew. But first things first, I must learn to crochet to follow in Mama N's footsteps.