Creative Mischief Handmade

My son loves the Octonauts , a TV show on ABC for Kids based on a series of books by Meomi. I have recently bought him stuffed toys of the three main characters and decided to try my hand at crocheting a toy or Amigurumi (the Japanese name for a small crocheted toy/animal) to go with his Kwazii, Barnacles and Peso. The OCTONAUTS are a team of undersea adventurers who are always ready to dive into action! Their mission: to explore new underwater worlds, rescue amazing sea creatures and protect the ocean. The result is this little octopus. Im really happy with how it has turned out. I found this pattern online and made it up, without the bobble stitches on the underside of the tentacles, as I knew an 18 month old would just not appreciate the time of all those extra stitches! I also used a double crochet stitch to join the top and bottom together as it gives a nice orange 'border' to the white underside. It is approx 7cm tall x 14cm wide a...

This weekend I have cleaned my sewing room all ready for the next project and when my sewing room is in order I feel my life is in some sort of order. It always becomes a dumping ground and complete mess when Im focused on finishing a big project and I like to clean it up before I start the next one. There is always fabric, thread and other supplies to put away and now I have the added bonus of items my son has occupied himself with while I sew.... mainly he had pulled out all my quilting magazines from the bookshelf and taken all the pencils from my drawer and posted them into various containers around the room. I also decided it was time to clean my sewing machine as I havn't done it for ages - WOW the amount of fluff that came from under the foot plate was amazing! (Sorry but that would only be of interest to other sewers) But everything is back in its home (mostly) so I can get back to the fun stuff - SEWING! I have a few things on my project list -...

My Dad's birthday was Monday and I have finished his quilt today - only 4 days late. But considering I have spent over 10 hours just quilting the border design, Im really happy it is only 4 days late! I used the backing fabric as my pattern and stitched around all the scrolls and florishes, creating a really rich brocade look. Im really happy, but it has taken ages . Honestly though - I have loved it. Getting onto my machine each night for an hour or two has been fantastic. I have bound the edge in a cream and brown stripe with small music notes. I fell in love with this fabric as soon as I found it in the store and knew it was going to be my binding for this quilt straight away. I love it when you find the perfect fabric and I wasn't even looking at the time. I hope he likes it, and given Brisbane's cold weather lately Im sure he will appreciate being able to snuggle up on the couch with his new quilt - that is if he takes some time off from working to watch a t...

I have finished the top of Dad Quilt #2. Im really happy with it. I added just a simple 4" border in a complementary dark blue. Like most of my quilts it has turned out larger than I wanted - It is the size I designed, but larger than I like working on these days but it is the perfect size for snuggling on the couch. I have backed it in a cream and pinned it together, so this week I will be quilting. I haven't decided on a stitch pattern yet, but have a few ideas. I normally love meandering but my dad likes clean, simple & traditional, so I am thinking just some diagonal lines to highlight the patterned squares. I think it is still on track for finishing for his birthday at the end of the month, as long as I can put my crochet hook down long enough to get into my sewing room! Yes I have a new love - Crocheting! I don't know if I will ever make any clothes or hats or anything like that, but I am loving just relaxing on the couch and making little blocks. I fe...

Ive been far too busy.... and Im starting to get withdrawals, so Im off to do some sewing tonight. Ive been volunteering my time working on the new Sands Queensland website. They have had it re-designed to fit in with a new national look, to go with a new logo and new colours. I have been transferring all the old data into the new site which at times has been quite arduous having to use the new interface but all the while it is me doing something for my girls. It was going to Sands support meetings, talking with other bereved parents, that made me feel not so alone after my twins died. It was a life-saver. I am giving my bit back to them by doing volunteer work since early 2009. Doing many things but for the last few years I have been looking after their website. It has never been a big job, just a little thing I'd update every month with upcoming events and maybe a notice or two. But transfering all the content over, reformatting it, adding in lots of picture...

Ive started a new project for my son, It is going to be a Quillow (A quilt that folds up into a pillow). Ive recently purchased some really cute cat fabric from an aptly named shop called Cat Fabrics  that has got these funky cats that are a little like sock monkeys dancing all over the fabric. When I showed my son, he smiled, pointed to the fabric and said "at, at, at" (his word for cat) so I know he likes it and the smaller print fabric has butterflies and hearts on it, so my girls approve of it too. I also love cats so it is just perfect and I'm adding a selection of blues and greens from my stash (WOW - I didn't need to buy more fabric!) plus two other smaller blue & green prints with some of the stripe fabric being put aside for the binding. I haven't finalised colour placement yet but the quilt will be a selection of squares and rectangles randomly all over the quilt. Havent made a decision about the back, but I have enough of t...

Ive added the blue sections to half the blocks on Dad Quilt #2. Im really happy with how this quilt is coming together and should have the top done this weekend. On track for completion by end  June.