My Tintookie treasure

Here's another show and tell as part of Clare's Tuesday Treasures. This week I'm sharing my 1983 vintage Brownie uniform, complete with all it's badges earned over many years of Guiding. All were sewn on by hand by my mum. It's travelled with me from house to house, and I can't imagine parting with it anytime soon.

I can remember the doll's clothes I knitted with blue wool for the Knitting badge, the hosting of an afternoon tea for the Hostess badge and the gardening I did to earn the Gardening badge. The little bee below the pocket was the Thrift badge. To earn this badge I visited an elderly lady in our town with one of my Guide leaders. She showed me how to re-use freezer bags, use stale bread as the casing for little egg pies (which I often make for my girls!!) and knit with strips of bread bags (which I don't do!)

The little pink character on the right was the symbol for my group, the Tintookies. The double gold lines under him meant I was a sixer (senior member) of that group. Each week the pockets had to contain the following: paper, pencil, hanky, band aid, piece of string (?!?!?!?) and 40c (20c for subs and 20c for an emergency phone call)!

Tuesday nights at the hall on the edge of the Westbury sports oval were great. And now, two nights a week, I take my older girls to guides here in our town. It's a bit different to when I went, with no little brown pinnies, but the basic ideals and principles are the same - as is the level of fun, friendship and learning. They absolutely love it - it's worth every cent and effort getting them to and from.

Be sure to visit Clare and see the other treasures that are special to us. We all have them, don't we?

Dorothy and Goldilocks

For weeks now, the characters for this year's Book Week have been chosen and planned - fabric bought, props chosen, styling decided on. Since seeing The Wizard of Oz at the Theatre Royal over Easter, Sarah was set on being Dorothy. Alice was keen to be a cute Goldilocks, her costume being copied from a favourite version of the well known tale. 

And so it was that I started sewing on Tuesday afternoon, just in time for Thursday's Book Week assembly. I'd spent the morning at Bible study, the twins and I had lunch and then I started cutting in to lots of blue gingham. To earn this little sewing session, I had to have empty dirty washing baskets and everything was to be on the line drying. After two evening sessions of sewing, the girls had their costumes finished and ready for one of their favourite days of the school calendar.

I didn't have a pattern for either the dress or apron so it was a case of trial and error and being a little creative here and there. (ie Sarah's bib has no button holes - the straps are sewn as in the apron and the buttons are 'for looks'!) One day I will overcome my fears and learn to make button holes. Alice's apron was a little big and the bib too wide but Thursday morning was too late to do anything about it! At least she can wear it for some baking for the next few years.

For the first time I did rag curls and thankfully they came out well. I followed a tutorial from Mel using freezer bags and it was easy. Having said that, the last batch of curls I tied were better than the first few. I think Sarah wants to try it for a bit of fun one day soon, so they should get even better!

Now the weekend is here: one girl to a birthday party, a Saturday night spent babysitting for a family in our club and Sunday morning church. Hopefully some early spring cleaning and tidying, a walk with Jack our four legged mate and a little resting too.

Have a lovely weekend, hopefully with a rest here and there.
x

To crochet, or not to .....?

With inspiration from of lots of lovely bloggers, and from one of my friends who took up the challenge recently, I embarked on teaching myself to crochet. There's lots of wool lying around in tubs and assorted bags here, so what better way to use up some scraps? But, with the absence of a crocheting relative, it was many lovely American ladies (and one American man) who taught me to crochet via youtube. After many, many videos and nearly taking on an American accent, I got it. But the journey had a rocky start. Let me share my progress (and you can have a little giggle if you want!)

After many hours of fiddling (two evenings worth) I came up with this - my first granny square! Who needs corners and straight edges, accompanied with a flat surface, anyway?

At least Jemima has a cute beanie for those chilly mornings when Hobart has snow on it's mountain! Someone just has to find her clothes.

So I thought I would try something different - a young child's beanie using a pattern from the lovely Corrie. She is a super crochet mum so who better to learn from. Her pattern was clear and well written, but I came up with this:

Very cute, I know. But not quite what I was expecting! Apparently, the hook size, size of wool and number of strands matters. And also, I wasn't doing the chain stitches at the end of each round. But, a cute beanie for a dolly. I bet I couldn't have followed a pattern for a doll beanie!

Despite all this, I got it half way through a Friday night football game. My granny square had corners and straight-ish sides. And so I couldn't stop. The following day, Sarah insisted I teach her - a case of the blind leading the eager learner! Now I can't tell what bits she's done from mine. She even took it to school and did some in free time!!

All with wool I already had - now that's a good feeling. We are learning and having fun - and that's a good feeling too.

Hope you all have some fun today too.
x

Finally, another treasure

Tuesday is a busy day here so this little post has struggled to make it onto my 'Tuesday list' for a few weeks now! I'm happy though to be sharing again as part of Clare's Tuesday Treasures - I do love seeing everyone's precious, special things. Nothing we can buy has the same value, I'm sure.

This week I'm sharing a gorgeous plate that sits on a shelf of my dresser hutch in the kitchen/dining room. Despite letting it get a little dusty, I do love it and it's definitely one of my precious things. I grew up with my grandmothers as a central part of my life. Many of their treasures are now mine and they hold many lovely memories. Grandma is, as we speak, knitting more wonderful treasures for my girls to wear - her creations are so special.

But this plate did not belong to my grandmothers. It has in fact only spent the last few years in Tasmania, having travelled south from Queensland's tropics after we got married. It belonged to my husband's paternal grandmother and quite remarkably, he remembers it being in her home. I never met my husband's Nanna as she passed away before we met, but the connection to this plate is therefore even stronger.

Quite a few treasures from the tropics have come to live at our house. My in-laws have carefully packed goodies in their suit cases and even asked Australia Post to deliver some safely to our door. They are truly special treasures. It is wonderful to have a collection of precious things from both sides of our family. Already our girls enjoy having these family treasures dotted around. Thanks goes to my in-laws who have entrusted them to us!

A little baby quilt

(Don't ask me why there is such a big space - there shouldn't be!)


Hope you're all having a great week and finding some time for pleasure! This week is all about getting back to the normal routine and enjoying it very much. Last week was a test for everyone here so a fresh week is very appealing. The plan is also to finish knitting the final scarves of the season. Lots of night time couch time, I hope. 


A couple of weeks ago I finished this quilt - nothing girly about this one! Friends of ours relocated to Canberra last Christmas and have since celebrated the birth of their third child. Now that's a busy 6 months for you! After living in the same street as us for 9 years, Canberra seems a long way away.

So I decided something handmade was a little more special and so set to work finding suitable boy fabrics in my stash. Not much choice there! This was all I found (except for some very dark, stiff denim!) but it came together fairly well, I think. I just fiddled with a few triangles, squares and strips and came up with something suitable for tummy time or snuggling in the pram. I think Canberra, like Hobart, is still a little chilly! The red bias binding is from my late grandmother's collection of supplies - and there's plenty more of it too. The back is blue and white gingham with one strip of the doggy fabric on one end (the back missed out on the photo shoot)

It arrived safely and is settling in with little Alex and his family. The lid of the fabric trunk is nearly closed - but not quite! More of the same type of project is needed, I think. As much as I love buying new fabric, there is nothing like using what you've got.

I hope you get to do the same this week.

x

A quilt for the tropics

Wednesday saw me finish this little quilt. I started it during the Winter Olympics earlier in the year and then set it aside while I got on to some of my other projects (nothing like a little variety to keep things interesting, don't you think?!)

I had my mother in law's birthday in mind as I began to quilt it - I knew it would suit her lounge and she loves the colour green - the shades are so soft and pretty in this Hunky Dory range from Moda. As I told the girls who I was making it for, I was questioned on the logic of my intentions by my second born: "But Mummy, it doesn't get cold in North Queensland!" (ie. why would you bother sending a quilt to Grandma - she doesn't need one!) After a good laugh, I explained that she was right, it doesn't get very cold at Grandma's house, but that we don't always need to be so practical. I was sure that Grandma could find a use for it - even if it was just draped over the sofa for her to look at. Hopefully, Ali was happy with my reasoning! She is so adorable. I couldn't help but notice that her comment was much like the things her very practical Daddy says!

I machine quilted it using a Pfaff ClassicStyle machine belonging to a dear and generous friend of mine. It manages the layers so well with it's integrated dual feed system and keeps everything smooth, aligned and in place - just what I need as I feel my way through this quilt making business! The stitch length stayed the same regardless of the layers and seams of the fabric. My machine doesn't cope so well with quilting - the stitch length varies from teeny tiny to big and bulky depending on how much fabric it needs to get through. Thanks, Kerry!

The backing fabric has been lying in the fabric chest for years - I'm talking years before I even met my husband, and we've been together for 12! I was at uni, starting out with some sewing on an old Singer machine with a knee lever that I  bought for $5 at an auction. I bought metres of the backing material, and three other fabrics to match, for a quilt that never happened. Now it is serving a worthy purpose - finally!

It was a rather bleak and grey day so these photos aren't very bright but I was pleased with the finished product. I hadn't made binding for years (not this much of it, anyway) so I was pleased it came together so well. I picked up the binding fabric from SLight recently, but with another project in mind. It's perfect for this job, though.  I found a terrific tutorial on quilt binding at Sew Inspired - the best I've seen, so it was pretty straight forward after that. I also learnt ladder stitch, thanks to Mr Google, for hand stitching the binding to the back. Now that's a clever stitch to know - virtually invisible and very quick and easy.

The quilt has arrived at Grandma and Grandad's house. She loves it, has it on her burgundy sofa and plans to take it in the car for chilly nights on long road trips. I had so much fun making this - I hope the rest of my family are happy to be given something similar in the near future!

Playdough days

Here is a little taste of what we've been up to lately. Lots of indoor winter activities and busy-ness - craft, cooking and playing, sewing and a little knitting and lovely walks with our dog on sunny winter days. There have been grandparents visiting, piano concerts, MS Read a thon reading and Alice has been madly knitting her first teddy scarf!

We have lost one loved guinea pig but adopted a new baby one. Much time has been spent helping her settle in and make friends before the move to the hutch outside. An indoor pet certainly keeps the kids entertained and happy. Having to juggle guinea pig cuddles with piano practice and home reading is tricky!

This playdough session, crossed with playing dress ups, was worth a photo or two I thought. How cute is that hat on Ruby? A recent purchase from a gallery and gift shop in Richmond - $5 in a reduced bin - could do for a Book Week parade one day I think? Just have to come up with a character to suit!!

Hannah didn't combine play dough with dressing up but she did do some serious playdough biscuit making. Very serious business, as is Mummy's 'tasting' of her produce. It seems this part of the game is very important. Don't they just light up when we 'eat' and love their playdough 'cooking'? And how sweet is that face on Hannah?

This is the picture I first saw when I looked up and realised we had the hat on while playdough playing. Very cute I thought - looks like Little Bo Peep at pre-school!

The concentration and focus on Hannah's face in this shot is priceless. Combining playdough with the tea set seems to be a good idea - makes for busy little girls. And doesn't a pony tail make them look so much older? Hopefully there'll be many more mornings like this one before they grow too old for them.