Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree....

Apart from wrapping pressies and put decorations back on the tree after littlest fish has pulled them off, I've been making some little stitchery decorations for the girls.

Last year I made two little ones for them and thought it would be a nice idea to make them one each year. This years are a little deer and a little penguin, both the designs were from here and were quick and easy to make so this could become a tradition.

Oldest fish also has a half dozen pairs of new shorts as she has grown so much since last summer that we had to make some new ones.

And i've traced out a few stitcheries to take with me to do over Christmas (going to the inlaws for a holiday) as it is nice to stitch at night once the kids have gone to bed. they will be for littlest fishes wall hanging which will be similar to the woodland hanging I did for oldest fish. I had so many lovely designs left over that another one is needed to use them up. I started on the first one already and have a few more ready to go.

Visitors and a finished present

We have had a busy few weeks of late and I have been busily stitching away on a few different things. The wall hanging stitchery I have been working on is finally finished and I am happy with the way it turned out. I hope you like it Sylvia (stace said she will have it if you don't!) (sorry the pic is looking a bit wrinkly, I didn't remember to iron it)

We had a short but lovely visit from my s-i-l and the kidlets for a bit of a crafty holiday. We did lots of sewing and thought of more ideas of things to sew and went op-shopping and actually found some chenille (it's harder to find chenille in Mackay than to win lotto) and had a general crafty time full of crafty gooodness. Claire got her sew-jo back and is keen to get sewing again and I now have even more things on my list to sew. (cause I really needed more things to add to that list). So a big thanks to them for driving all that way to see us and now I can't wait for xmas when we are heading south to see them and the rellies and hit the oppy's down there and of course the fabric shops!

I have not got any pics as most things I have been working on are still half finished but in the works at the moment are- a super hero, a dolly softie, a cabin in the woods, and in the planning stage are some xmas pressies involving little houses and cute stitching! will give you a peek soon.

Some recent projects

These are a couple of things I have been working on lately that I thought I might post.

The first one is a skirt I made for Stace out of some super cute elephant material we got off the Stash Queen (a.k.a. Claire) and some red I had in the cupboard. I really love it and think it's great but she won't have a bar of it! She seems to be going through a stage of not liking anything new or unfamiliar and it's driving me batty! I hope she grows out of it soon as I really like making things for the girls.

The wall hanging in progress is something I've got planned for my M-I-L who has a birthday coming up. It took me a while to do the stitchery in the middle and now I've just got to finish some embroidery on the first border and slip stitch the binding on. I decided to do a sea dragon as we went on a trip to Underwater World last time we were down there visiting and she really loved them, so I thought I'd make a wall hanging to remember them.

And I have been playing around with iron on tranfer paper and came up with a cute bambi print (from a little golden book) and think I might do some more, it's really quick and easy and fun! I can picture some birthday pressies in my head.

Have also been busily sewing up chenille pants and have a pretty good stockpile now. I am keen to get back to making little things and working on whatever takes my fancy as I am now a bit sick of chenille! Am in a sewing kind of mood (not clothes sewing) so will have to see what happens.

Woodland wallhanging is finished!

Well, it is finally done! After taking a few months to get all the stitcheries done, the wallhanging came together suprisingly quickly. The fabric squares are from two ranges that I love and had to use as well.

One range is Wildwood by Erin Mcmorris and the other is Woodland Wonderland by Jay Mcarroll. They blended together quite well!

The stitcheries are (clockwise from top left)-

1. Clip art deer off internet (sorry I can't for the life of me remember where exactly)

2. Tabitha Toadstool by me (pattern in earlier blog)

3. Acorn Cap by Cate Anevski

4. Gnome by Badbird

5. Love Bear by Badbird

6. Beary Much by Nicole

7. Is a mix of The parties over by Tamie Snow and Mushrooms by Doe-C-Doe

8. Squirrel by Annieoakleaves

9. (Centre) Spring Pixie by Badbird.

The finished size ended up being just under a yard square so it's not huge.

It's currently hanging in Stace's room and looks lovely. Now I'll probably have to make another one for Zali!

A sneaky peek and some owls

Zali's little name owls are all finished and ready to be strung together. They were very easy to make and I am rather pleased with them. The hardest part was trying to find some matching buttons for the eyes.

And here is a little sneaky peek at a wall hanging I am nearly finished. I have been stitching the blocks for a while now and finally got them all done so was itching to get them sewn together. They are surrounded by little squares of fabric and I only stitched one in upside down! (I did unpick it and put it the right way round)

It still had to be quilted and the binding put on and then I will reveal all!

The story book print from thepoppytree (etsy) arrived and it is as lovely as I hoped it would be. We also got a bonus card and bookmark and a book label in the parcel.

We (Mr Fish and I) are going away this weekend to Mission Beach for a 10th wedding anniversary holiday. We have not been away on holiday except to visit relatives since I don't know when and we are really looking forward to a little break and a sleep in. Nanny and Poppy are kindly looking after the fish for us and they should have a great weekend at their house.

Some Pirates, some Bunnies and some stitcheries

We have been in the garden a lot lately, it's lovely outside at the moment (except for the mozzies). But I have managed to get a bit of sewing done in the evenings. The vegie patch is growing well and I am amazed that nothing has died yet. We got so enthusiastic we now have a little herb garden made from an old wheel barrow tray.

Back to the sewing now. I have been playing around making up some softies lately and thought I would try to make a few to sell at the markets along with some kids clothes. So we now have 3 Pete the pirates and 4 little bunnies ready to go. I have plans for a kitty cat and some babushkas next.

Also done recently are some stitcheries that will be put together when the others are finished and made into a wall hanging for little fishes room. It has a bit of a woodland theme going on as the other ones are all mushroom and gnome type ones too. Will post more pics as they are done.

Tabitha Toadstool

I started doing some random scribbling in a book the other night, and amongst other strange things came up with this-

I thought she had potential to become a stitchery so I traced the picture onto some white cotton and stuck some red dotty fabric on for a head with a cut out for a little face.

Then ta-da! she became Tabitha the Toadstool and now I think she might be going to live with some other woodlandy type critters in a new project I have in mind for Stacey's room.

I think she will look lovely in a little wall hanging with some friends and some pretty colours. What do you think?

I really should get my priorities right!

This is what I should be doing (ironing chair covers for the 5 weddings we are setting up next weekend).

This is what i'd like to be doing instead (finishing my stitchery).

And this is what I better get started on doing if I want to finish them before my 90th birthday. (yes, that folder really is full of patterns that i would like to make).

And this is what I need to remember to post tomorrow or poor Stacey will get her swap in the wrong month! (I seem to find it difficult to get to the post office with 2 little fishes, wonder why!)

Oh, to have another few hours in the day!

Have not been able to do a whole lot of crafting lately as i have been working a bit. And this weekend I am supposed to be pruning and weeding. After my stitchery (which is pretty much traced off my Kristen Doran Fabric panel) is finished, I think I might make a little felt mushroom or toadstool, or maybe a little bird. Or maybe a mobile for Zali's room. hmmm. Don't know what I want to make now.

Happy Birthday Little Fish!

Well, today my oldest little fishie turns 3! I can't believe she is 3 already, the time had passed so quickly. She is no longer my baby but my little girl and 3 just sounds so old!

We ended up having a couple of cakes as we were visiting her nanny and poppy (dad's side) a few days before her birthday and then were home for her actual birthday with other nanny and poppy.

Not that she minded of course, more cake for everyone. She has been very lucky and has received lots of lovely pressies from all who love her and despite being a bit sick with a cold still managed to have a bit of a play.

I have finally finished my stitchery I took on holidays to do and am going to frame it to put in one of the girls rooms. It is a pattern from http://oneredrobin.com/ by the very talanted Johanna and i just love how darn cute it is.

My very clever Mum just finished a quilt she has been making for littlest fishies bed and it is quite adorable. I asked for some pink and green squares of some sort and it has some lovely fairies and mushrooms in it that just scream 'how cute am I' to all who see it. The bunny in the shot was just hanging around feeling a bit neglected after easter so we let him be in the piccie too.