BubbaChic

Gifts and a Giveaway!

Its always the last few finishing touches to an outfit which seem to take me the longest - and this dress is no exception. It has been sat, finished for about 10 days, except for button holes and buttons. So this morning when my wondeful boy woke me for the day at 5.45am, I figured I had enough time to sit and finish it....

I have made it for a very special and brave little Lady at our Church, who is currently undergoing chemo. A sweet lady called Brenda, who I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting face to face (only online) sent 16 hand made bows and three soft headbands for the bows to attatch to, to go with the outfits. I was overwhelmed with Brenda's kindness in reaching out to send me her beautiful bows, thank you Brenda, thank you.

I used the Fabernmix pattern - Cara for this dress, a favourite of mine as it is such an adaptable pattern. I added the little ruffle trim to give the dress a really girly look.

I also managed to pick up some rather cute little tank tops from Old Navy, and when I brought them home I realised that the colour was a perfect match to some wonderful Amy Butler fabric...so I made a little ruffle skirt and added an applique for a second outfit to give.

and here they are in all their glory - beautiful aren't they!!!!!!

and lastly - this week marks the first anniversary of my little blog, so I am putting the finishing touches to a garden inspired mini quilt....perfect for any nature table or sewing room....or anywhere you want to put it really. Just leave me a message and next sunday at midday (Central time) I will randomly pick a winner!

Giveaway!!

As part of the Spring Bloggy Giveaways, I will be offered a hand crafted mini art quilt to be given away on Monday 28th at 1pm (central)

Just leave a comment and you will be entered into the competition!

Good Luck!

Mini quilt swap

I recently signed up to do a swap with another mama for 2 doll quilts - and I finally got around to finishing them this weekend.

There was certainly something very satifying about doing these little projects - not least that I could use up scraps of hard-to-find materials like Munki Fireflies or the japanese hedgehogs - but also because their manageable size means they go together well and I haven't got the chance to get bored and move onto the next project before finishing!

Planning Planning Planning

Our house seems to be filled with lots of things to make and finish right now for a Valentines Day deadline - and you think that would be motivation enough for me to get my bum into gear and focus...not so.

I (we) have Valentine dresses to finish, handmade valentine cards to finish for Maddy's classmates, heart shaped cakes to bake for teachers and so, this weekend I start the very time consuming project of cutting and piecing Joshy's baby-clothes quilt - oh and get inspired to make a little quilted birdy picture...organised as ever!

Tomorrow we will endeavour to fit in all that needs doing - and I am sure that my trusty side-kicks will bolt over to the kitchen counter to see what I am doing, drag chairs over to stand on and help me in the way only a 4 year old and a 2 year old can help when you need to get things done fast.

Joshua's help, usually revolves around eating spoonfuls of butter whilst my back is turned whilst Mads proceeds to do her best to control the spoon enough that whatever is in the bowl doesn't end up on the wall (which she isn't always entirely sucessful at!)

Its at times like these that I have to remind myself to relax and enjoy the process and take in all that goes with the experience of living in the moment with two very precious little people.

Winner!

The very important drawing for the Bloggy Giveaway  took place this morning, under strictly controlled conditions....and the winner is:

Congratulations! Suzanne from A family Created I will email you to get your details to send you the finished little quilt - as beautifully modelled by my sidekick!

The House on Heart Hill

I seem to have precious little time to do anything other than *keep up* today, so an hour to myself this evening (whilst the kiddies slept) produced the beginnings of this mini-quilt that I am just really enjoying...

I am looking forward to working in the details tomorrow -

Its unclear what will be going on here tomorrow - we are all waiting for the morning to see the impact of the snow we are expecting - a day at home, in the warm watching the snow fall outside sounds dreamy right now though! Just what the doctored ordered...especially when you have an off-colour toddler (molars coming in) and a very stroppy little drama queen who looks like she could do with a day of relaxing and chilling...

Giveaway!

Inspired by this lovely Mama, whose blog I enjoy endlessly - I have officially signed up for the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival, by the wonderful Shannon from Rocks in my dryer (have I mentioned that she is an Okie Mama like me!)

So, my little giveaway will be a mini quilt, which would be perfect for hanging on the wall in your sewing room, or using to tuck small dollies or teddies into bed at night - or anything, in fact that you want to do with it...here are some mini quilts that I am working on right now for a swap to give you a glimpse of what the it will look like....perhaps....

The quilt will have lots of hand sewing details and I always sew bindings on by hand also - so they are little works of love!

To enter - leave me a comment and the winner will be decided on Feb 3rd by a random number generator. How exciting! EEEEEKKKKKKK!

twas the night before Christmas..

Well, strictly speaking - this photo was from the day before Christmas Eve, but Maddy was wearing her Christmas dress I made last year (which seems to fit her better this year!)

The rest are truely photos from Christmas Eve - Both guys were excited with the arrival of our visitor - Austen from England. Austen has now become Maddy's new best friend and Joshua's initial shyness has now worn off and he doesn't look down and giggle every time he sees Oz.

Still a wee-bit on the shy side in this shot!

We spent the day preparing menus, buying last minute gifts, chilling at home - and of course, Mads made some Chocolate cookies to leave out for Santa (Although Oz did comment that the cookies already looked like they had been digested by the reindeer...nice!)

Here is a shot of Maddy and Daddy leaving the cookie out...

and following in the old family tradition from my family - the kippers and champagne was at the ready for breakfast on Christmas morning.

and then came the last of the sewing - the dolls!

I finally finished both dolls on Christmas Eve - hoorah! Although I had grand visions of making Maddy cute little floral nighties for her one and pretty little dresses - I completely ran out of time, so all I managed was a simple nightie for the doll and a matching one for Maddy. I also made each doll their own quilt.

Joshy's doll got a few more clothes than Mads, because they were super simple to sew up. He is also the proud wearer of a hand knitted jumper by Grandma (which I will get a photo of soon!) which is adorable.

and both dolls together...

I was very happy to be able to sit down and have a glass of wine on Christmas Eve and actually enjoy an evening without sewing!

We found Jesus...

He's back! Maddy located Jesus this evening, after dinner...so we can continue with our Nativity scene now and hopefully get it finished tomorrow!

I have been making lists of lists today - things have suddenly started to become clear of how little time I have until Christmas and how much I want to do. So, tonight being the sensible and logical thinker that I am, I spent the whole evening concentrating on something from the bottom of the list...2 doll quilts for Maddy - for a doll that I haven't even started yet...hmmmm..

The beginning of this chain of event came a couple of months ago from our trip to Dallas. We saw a wooden dolls bed in Ikea that we managed to sneak into the trolley without Mads seeing - I thought how nice it would be to give her the dolls bed for Christmas complete with Mummy-made bedding...then I saw this post, and realised how lovely it would be to buy Maddy a doll to go in the bed. A beautiful Waldorf-styled doll with blue eyes and blonde hair just like my little petal.

A few weeks later - I saw this post...and realised that I also wanted to buy Joshy a doll just like him. So the hunt began - I found lots of talented mamas who make beautiful Waldorf dolls - but it seemed that I have just left it too late to get custom dolls made...which left me with just one last option - make them myself.

So I ordered the patterns and all the materials on Saturday and I am eagerly (although slightly nervously) awaiting their arrival. In the mean time, I could be productive and tackling all those things I really need to get done in order to meet the deadline for sending things to the UK to get there in time for Christmas...but no, tonight I made doll quilts for a doll that isn't even made yet.

Perhaps tomorrow I will be more sensible....

Lazy Days

Both kiddies were down in the dumps today with colds (along with Mummy) so we chilled at home and let our creativity flow - without worrying about the things we can usually shape our day - like getting dressed, being out the door on time etc..

I find it completely satisfying that when we spend time at home and its the activities like drawing, looking through books and playing in their kitchens, that overshadows any other time playing with the variety of novelty toys that they have (like Mermaid Dora)

Which adds fuel to my fire even more (along with all the toy recalls) to want to stay clear of the plastic novelty play stuff which we usually buy at Christmas and invest in some things which will promote their creativity.

Here is a close up of the back splash for their kitchen which I made on route to Dallas::

And here is Joshua cooking up a storm in his kitchen::

Sausages anyone?

Mini Quilts and Christmas

Inspired by the need to finish decorating Maddy's bedroom - I have been sewing up some mini quilts/pictures for her wall...these are the two I pieced today:

Since Maddy has been talking about Christmas so much today (and her NEED for a bike!) I got fired up to sew my first santa.

Daydreaming Lazy Days

We had a relaxing day today - spending our time playing, eating and reading.

I have been finding myself experimenting with small embroideries in my quiet times. There is something very calming about just creating without an end vision. I also find embroideries good to attempt when the kiddies are up and playing happily, as they are so portable and I am able just stop when I need to.

We made a trip to the library this morning and I ended up getting a few more books than I meant to! (This little pile does not include the books that the kiddies chose either!)

I am finding that I am being drawn to getting baking and cookery books more these days. Perhaps its because I am able to find just a teeny bit more time to cook without having a child hanging off me, or perhaps its just because its getting very autumnal and I am subconsciously trying to fatten us all up for the winter.

Anyhow, I picked up some cracking cookery books, including one very large book on breakfasts....oh breakfasts - it has to be (hands down) my favourite meal of the day. I must admit 5 days out of 7, we don't tend to do it justice in this house and opt for cereals, toast, muffins and other easy stuff. But when we are able to enjoy breakfast - proper breakfasts, I love them..we all do.

My absolute favourite time of the week happens on a Saturday morning when we all head out early (depending on what time the kiddies wake up) down to our favourite breakfast spot and have some good food and good coffee with wonderful company - just the four of us.

It really gives us some wonderful family time - even when Joshy is slightly irritated by the length of time he is having to wait for his sausages, or when Mads decides to draw a big smiley face on the wall whilst we are focusing our attention on ordering *sigh* It really sets the tone for our weekend - being together.