So many things to do....

Oh, I have been a very bad blogger....I've just been a bit busy with my big project, which is nearly drawing to a close now. And I think.... (I really don't want to jinx myself by saying this!) it is all under control, and should be finished before the long weekend.

I've had a tiny bit of time to squeeze in a bit of crafting. I made little m a tiny patchwork blanket to clip his absolute favourite toy to, when he's in the pram. He's just discovered the joy of throwing things out of pram and leaning over the side to watch where they fall. He doesn't yet realise that I spend most of my day in a fog of tiredness, and am therefore highly unlikely to realise what he has done until it is too late, and the toy is gone forever.

He has lost a few beloved toys in this manner. But if the wooden ladybird goes, I don't know what i'd do! So this should keep it safe.
I embroidered a little bee onto it, he likes to do little buzzing sounds when he sees pictures of bees.
Other than that, I just spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to make, leafing through the pages of my craft books, piling different combinations of fabrics together, dreaming of all the projects I am going to start. I then realise there just aren't enough hours in the day. Where do they all go?
So instead I just continue to make little piles of fabric.
I can waste quite a lot of time doing this. (..I think that may be where some of the mysterious hours go....)
This may be a quilt for my lounge room to snuggle under in the winter months,


This may be a new quilt for a friends baby,Then there's the monster softie to make for little m, and many many birthday presents which need to be made in the next weeks. Thank goodness the long weekend is stretching before me!

My Creative Space

Thankyou for everyone's lovely comments last week! It took a few days, but by Sunday something was starting to happen, and the designs are well under way now. That doesn't mean that I'm not having design tantrums nearly everyday though, getting so frustrated with myself.
In fact I've just had one of those tantrums.....which is why my creative space looks the way it does today. I've pushed all my design work to one side ( you can just see some of it in the photo) and I've been making some more scrappy log cabin blocks. I don't really no why I'm making them, I just find it kind of therapeutic. And I like the way it just uses up all of those tiny scraps of fabric, of which I have so many. And they're pretty quick to make, giving instant satisfaction, which is always a good thing if you ask me.

Also in my creative space, is this little monster....
getting into everything, trying to eat everything, (including my fabrics) and generally getting up to a whole lot of mischief.

Have a look at some other lovely creative space over at Kootoyou....

My Creative Space

It's after midnight, the house is silent, and everyone is asleep. I am upstairs in my studio working. I've even managed to resist the sometimes overwhelming urge to look at my favourite blogs, for a while now. Maybe even a week.
I haven't been able to do any personal crafting. I have a big design project that I have just started, and I've been researching, panicking, drawing, then throwing the drawings away. I haven't done a lot of designing since little m was born, and I find it hard after such a long break.

But I've put new pictures up on my inspiration board, behind my computer. I'm hoping the fresh images will get some creative juices flowing, that my hand will finally co-ordinate with my brain, and something good might happen.


Oh please, let something good happen....

Have a look at more lovely creative spaces here at kootoyoo

Look what arrived in the post today....

the most delightfully packaged little parcel.....


with some sweet little paper clips.
Each layer I unwrapped added to my anticipation,



and finally, he was revealed,

Matt L'Oiseau

with a little cap, and his own little pocket. Beautifully made by a little sprout

I am in love.....

Fabrics and granny squares

Tried making granny squares again this weekend. Something just seemed to click this time around, there were no tears, I just kind of made some. They're a bit messy, I think my technique is probably all wrong, but I was so pleased with myself! It may turn into an obsession, like it seems to have with everyone else.....

My trip to Patchwork on Central was great on Saturday. No little m, just me, free to browse for as long as I liked, with birthday voucher in hand.


It actually all felt a bit frenzied. I was like a child in a sweet shop, just grabbing at anything that took my fancy, with no thought as to what I'll make with all my little bits and pieces.
I just can't stop staring at them though, re-arranging my pile, opening them up and folding them back again.
Happiness.

On my desk, on my mind

On my desk this week,
it all looks fairly orderly, but my mind is not....I have so many things that I want/need to make at the moment that I can't concentrate!

This is what is on my list so far:

1. Another baby quilt for a friend - maybe this time in shades of neutral and green
2. A birthday gift for my other niece who turns 1 in two months time (but I have to plan ahead, because they live in the UK)
3. Little m's quilt, much talked and thought about, but not yet begun.....
4. Make some drawstring pouches from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing book, for holding all those baby essentials that are driving me mad by getting lost in my own handbag
5. Make a bag from this tutorial on Oh, Fransson!
6. Start learning to crochet....I keep seeing gorgeous granny squares about the place, and i want desperately to be able to make them! I had an obsession with learning to crochet a while back, and tried to learn from books, it was a disaster. I blame it on being left handed.There was a lot of frustration, maybe even some tears...

But anyway, right now I'm just embroidering. Trying not to get distracted. Little m is having a rare, fairly lengthy afternoon nap, and I am enjoying the stillness in the house. Maybe this embroidery will be a square to put into the new baby quilt, or maybe not, I'll wait and see how it turns out.

And pop over to Kootoyoo to see more lovely creative spaces.

And for those who live in Melbourne, don't forget there's a sale on on Saturday at Patchwork on Central Park. (I have a birthday voucher just burning a hole in my pocket!)

Staying up late

I stayed up late again last night, to finish the birthday gift.


I think one of the only positive things about my husband being away on business at the moment, is that I can spend the evenings crafting, making a bit of a mess, spreading all of my things all over the couch and staying up too late, without having to justify myself. The other good thing is I can just skip dinner, and eat chocolate and drink wine instead. (Is that good or bad.....?)