[Tamara]

It must’ve had a feed before it got your nephew as they build up the venom daily I think. I’m not an expert!

Just dropped off a very cross daughter at school claiming she doesn’t want to do piano ever again -probably because she won’t practise and feels guilty for not doing so! I’m feeling like I want to cry! She is having lunch time lessons at the moment because the piano teacher is filling in for the bus driver who is on bereavement interstate so she is probably feeling fed up with giving up a lunchtime once a week. Only next week to go and they finish for the year but she can choose to stop this week if she feels this way. Fatigue at this time of year gets to us all. They have so much on at school that I try to limit their after school activities just so they can be kids. Piano is her only all year thing and we don’t have any other hobby we could do instead of it that doesn’t entail extensive travelling. If she has a break she may want to continue but knowing her she makes her mind up and sticks with the decision which is infuriating sometimes.

I can’t wait for school holidays and we can just chill out for a while! Spend time together doing fun stuff and showing my girl how to use her machine properly. Maybe them she will feel a little happier about life.

For now though, I think I will go and sew for a little while in between attempting to get this house resembling some sort of order. Bad start to the week but doesn’t have to continue hey?! I showed the ids the designs O did on a panel I had made up and they chose their favourites. I plan to incorporate what they have chosen into the quilting so that in a way they were a part of the process without knowing it.

[rastis]

my sister was told that apparently dry bites from brown snakes are not uncommon! apparently brown snakes will dry bite more than other snakes and they do it as a defensive thing rather than as a “i want to kill you” thing… the snake chooses NOT to put venom into you but bites you as a warning! but it could easily have gone the other way, depending on how irritated the snake is..

anyway, i don’t want to think about yucky snakes anymore (they give me nightmares)- we are finally getting some rain which means- it’s time to go sew! yah 🙂

[with love Heidi]

Glad he’s OK rastis, thats not a nice snake to get a bite from.

[meleliza]

air conditioning is pricey here too. We have a circa 1860 Victorian row home of solid brick, so we had to run lots of ugly soffits to get the ductwork in on the second and third floors. Cost thousands upon thousands, but i cant live without it! and since its standard in modern American homes, it would be really bad for our house value if we skipped it when we restored the place. Whenever we get around to the ground floor system, well have to use floor registers, though as I will also hate to out holes in my floors. They’re 1920s oak with walnut inlays and one of the reasons we bought the house in the first place. Meanwhile, though,we do what lots of city people do and keep a window unit on the ground floor. These cost only a couple hundred and you install it yourself and plug it into the wall like any other electrical appliance. It’s not attractive, but it works.

Anyway, over the weekend I played around with the sleeve for the fairy tale dress and re drafted it to a regular puffy sleeve. I have my Liberty but I’ve also ordered some crimson radience to maybe add piping and a sash. I’m thinking of a smaller sash than the pattern that’s a separate piece and goes all the way around. I’m clearly still recovering, though, so I haven’t really jumped into this project yet. I’m exhausted, so it’s hard to find the energy. In addition to sick, we’ve been working on the kids bathroom. I really wants that finished before I get out Christmas decorations, as its crated a huge mess. The mess in the house really drags me down! If we could just manage to wrap that up and get everything cleaned up, I could really dig in to the sewing. And I know I will be happier if I have a beautiful little Liberty Christmas dress!

[DianaH158]

Oh my, rastis, glad you nephew is alright. We have copperheads here in North Carolina and I am paranoid about them although the insect man told me my kids would survive fine (although needing a hospital/doctor) if bitten.

Finished the School Photo dress for Miss L and it looks lovely if I do say so myself! It’s a red with white polka dot corduroy and she has red and white striped tights so will look quite in the spirit of the season! I am currently working on a Sketchbook shirt in some Christmas-y (green with red) shirting for Mr H. Then we can finally take the Christmas card picture!

[Tamara]

I was happily sewing away yesterday and luckily just before the storms hit because the other summer thorn decided to grace us with interesting events, that thorn being fire! When someone gets on the Two-way calling your husband and fil saying “you have a fire. You have a fire” and the neighbour calls up saying there is another fire, what’s a girl to do but to try and call, ring, yell and drive around try to find the blokes to tell them all because fil decided it would be best to change the channel to the one for fires! I went home in the end after following their tracks to where I thought they were and gave up after the tracks disappeared. Came home to two children making a “panic bed” as if that would have done any good and feeling rather fed up got on with dinner. Then the power went out! In the end to boys knew about the fire and it was a different one to what was described by the neighbour who is our volunteer brigade captain. I was rather cross with them both for not being on channel and not taking the mobile phone and not bothering to inform me of their whereabouts! Men!

So today after the drama, I am putting my feet up (so to speak) and sew. I didn’t get to sandwich anything yesterday with a busy day in the morning also. So I will make quilt sandwiches (gigantic ones) and get started quilting the jolly things.

I asked the teachers what the kids have to do for Presentation night and they, being very vague, said any superhero or action figure (easy) and Christmassy clothes – ok here we will be all dressed up with the other classmates in shorts and tshirts. They are “rocking around the Christmas Tree” Miley Cyrus style. So I am guessing something that she would wear to a Christmas party. The weekend is the time to sort all that out. That will give me a week to get them both sorted. I’m thinking a red and white possibly Fairytale dress but I will let her choose from the vast array of patterns as to what she really wants to wear.

[Nicole]

I finished my Portfolio dress and was very pleased with it,love that pattern!

The shark costume is awaiting some felt to make his teeth.

I am cutting out a CC dress for a special friends daughter for Christmas.

Next up Christmas dresses for my girls,O+S FairyTale for Zara,Vintage pattern for Elsa,CC for Lidia and I am still undecided on Matilda’s…..

[Mama_Knowles]

I am looking forward to seeing your Christmas dresses Nicole!! And the cool shark costume!

I am working on another Apple Picking pinifore dress for Sweet pea in her choice of flannel plaid fabric. This time I am making a mini tutorial on it. Then a much needed pair of Afterschool pants for Prince C. I will have to make them 12m size with 6m length. The funny thing is he really is quit a skinny little fellow but his 6m pair is too small already. I already have a Sailboat top made in winter sock monkeys for him to match. I am hinking that we need an elf as well….

[meleliza]

That fire alarm sounds scary! There can be big scary fires out in California too. It always looks terrifying. We don’t have any of that here. I can’t wait to see everyone’s Christmas dresses!

[needlewoman]

I hope you feeling a little better, Mel; I sympathise with the lack of energy after your lurgi. How’s the liberty frock coming? Your house sounds amazing but tricky when it comes to installing 21st century mod cons.

MK, how generous you are to organise a tutorial as you work on SP’s pinafore. I’m looking fwd to it, and to seeing the plaid made up.

[with love Heidi]

Mama_Knowles I love your now Apple picking dresses, It might even encourage me to get the pattern! Just a question, why did you angle the front placket? It dose look great.

I’m drafting my second Harry Potter robes this time size 8.

[Lightning McStitch]

I’ve just finished my LEGO messenger bag for my brother in law for Christmas. All it needs is a label which I’m hoping to get someone to embroider early next week. Then photos!

Second messenger bag I’ve made and the lesson: I really MUST get a thimble!

[Mama_Knowles]

Heidi, I just did ths because I liked the look of it, something different. No reason other than that. 🙂 It opens on both sides of the button placket too not just on the left side.

I just cut out a afterschool pants for baby C in cord. I hope to have them today but first I have to clean the two middle boys’ room. It looks like a tornado has blown through there. Then I must make an elf or two! and Sweet pea a Hello Kitty Christmas dress. I hope to get this all done by Friday beacuse then it’s onto 70 stockings for school. I am making small ones for the treat bags, i think they look way bettter than plastic bags!

[meleliza]

So as I’m getting ready to dive into the Liberty Christmas dress, family drama breaks out. My cousin, who is very clearly single and childless and therefore has all the time in the world to lounge around in pjs, dream up last minute ideas and go shopping, thinks it would be fun to have a “breakfast” theme for Christmas dinner. Her mother, my aunt, is hosting this year. They want us to all come in pajamas and to serve breakfast themes Christmas foods. One one hand, that does sound like fun. Of course, I’ve long since bought holiday outfits for the boys because that stuff sells out early, as do kids pajamas! Most likely, it’s too late for me to buy Christmas pjs for the kids. I’ve also got the fabric ready to go for baby girl’s Liberty dress, though I haven’t actually cut it yet. I was planning to do that this weekend. I’ve been looking forward to working on that dress.

I myself haven’t prioritized pajamas in years, so I have basically old maternity pjs that are huge, old ones that are still too small and stuff that only hubby should see. 😉

I don’t like to be a party pooper. when I was young, I loved doing fun stuff on the fly. Isn’t it annoying when people have these fun ideas that just aren’t practical to carry out? And you have to feel bad for not going along with the fun?

[Tamara]

Oh this neighbour who happens to be the volunteer brigade leader got it wrong! He saw a different fire then the guys saw and put out and with the whole lack of communication thing, it wasn’t a great start to the week. The fire the other neighbour rang about wasn’t on our place but even he got it wrong as to where it was. It did jump the road but got no further than the firebreak and burned about 200acres of harvested paddock on the other neighbours place. We did get rain to help put it out and no houses were under threat – not like the towns down south of the state that are evacuating. I think it is a sign of thing to come this summer but we haven’t had anything like this in years.

Anyway…. I have done all of three blocks on the pink quilt with quilting and each block has taken 2 hours to fill! So I have come to the conclusion that they won’t be making the present pile and I will work on them intermittently in between the Superman costumes and Christmas clothes and other sewn gifts I have a list of. It will be a miracle to get it done in time and without the children suspecting to save myself the stress…. I shall proceed but slowly.

I have decided I hate pinning quilts! And I severely underestimated the amount of time it would take to quilt one block of this design that Imogen chose (unknowingly) no wonder they say in all magazine patterns to stipple or get someone else to do it!

So instead today, I have to get started on some sort of red and green concoction Imogen has chosen a Hannah Montana dress for her Presentation night outfit – have to trust her judge,net and hope this works.