covered

now, I suppose you were wondering a few months ago when I went through that little phase of quilting hysteria, why I never made one for the willow? Well, it wasn't because he's the middle child and therefore misses out on stuff, it was because he already had one, the "puzzle blankie". This is basically just an ikea cot quilt which I made a patchwork cover for when he was just a wee babe in his cot. Now, as you can probably imagine, five years and many bowls of ice cream later, this poor quilt has become quite bedraggled, and is in fact threadbare and texta-marked in many places, so I have made several attempts to patch it. Willow has been pointing out one rather large hole to me for the past couple of weeks, and when I finally got around to fixing it this weekend, I had to admit that the puzzle blankie was beyond repair. Because I am on fairly limited time these days, a quick fix was needed, and just as I was about to make a basic cover out of two contrasting sheets, I suddenly remembered a recent vinnies purchase.
our kids are kinda nutty about any kind of wildlife, and when I showed this particular tablecloth to willow, his face turned into one gigantic smile (and fin also grumbled that there are no animals on his quilt...no sweetheart, but there are mushrooms, and mushrooms are fun, right?). So, I just used some red spotty seersucker as a border and backed it with, yes, an old sheet, and bob's your uncle. Well, he is, actually. So now I'll salvage all the good bits out of the puzzle blankie and put them together with some new pieces for a quilt that willow can keep . Not right now, though. The other great thing about the new quilt is that it reminds me of my nan, I thought of her as soon as I picked up that tablecloth in the op shop. My nan is about as australian as they come, and at 77 is still towing a caravan around the place. It's her birthday today, and because I'm the kind of person who forgets to call important people for their birthdays, I am writing about it here, because I know she'll be reading this in the next couple of days, and will probably email me to tell me all about it, because she's computer-savvy too. Happy birthday nan, I love you!

all he wants to do is chew

since sprouting teeth last week, (yes, "teeth", he ended up with three in four days, there's nothing like getting these things over and done with in one hit), jasper has decided that he is now a big boy, and will only eat grown-up food. So, now I have a nice little stockpile of frozen mushy veggies that he won't touch, it's all toast and vegemite sandwiches for him. I have to sneak mouthfuls in between bites. Lucky he is still a big fan of the boob, and has been treating it gently, so I guess he won't starve! Some other neat new tricks include waking up four to five times during the night, sleeping erratically during the day, and sitting up:
he likes to sit in his cot to watch me make the bed (heaven forbid I lay him down), and laughs as I throw back the sheets, and pile my pillows around him. He's still sleeping in our room, I can't bear to move him just yet, being the last baby and all. Also, I don't fancy having three children wake each other up all night. One at a time is all we can manage right now. Willow still often wakes feeling lonely and scared during the night, so I toddle off into his bed for a while, if I can't be bothered waking mr arran, and fin has been having growing pains. I tell ya, it's like the twilight zone around here most nights. I know I'm not alone on this one, though.
I also realised the other day that jasper is now quite big enough to have his car seat facing forwards, a fact which had entirely escaped me. So now trips in the car are a little bit more enjoyable. This child has been known to cry for thirty kilometres in the past, but now he seems to be quite happy, being able to see what's going on. Funny that.

buttoned up

so it seems that my little package has arrived safely in vancouver, and the lovely erica liked it! Some buttons made from one of my favourite vintage fabrics, originally some cute little cafe curtains, one of which we have hanging in the lounge room. If there was actually any light in our lounge room, I may be able to share a photo of that, but there is not, so I can't. I made for erica a sunglass case, which was the most universally useful thing I could come up with. It's hard to make something for someone you know nothing about (I didn't know about her blog until after I'd posted the package). I think I did alright.
There's not been much sewing happening lately, as you may well expect, just finishing off some orders and gifts, and also working on a website for my good friend helen. Yes, apparently I am now a web designer. Helen is my yoga teacher and is one of those people who makes you feel good just to be around them. She does pregnancy, postnatal and astanga classes, as well as birth rehearsal workshops. I'm really loving doing the postnatal classes. Now, if I could just manage to pull my finger out and actually do some at home as well...

it's been a while...

but we're still here. Again, we have been afflicted with the winter chills, and I've spent the days mostly comforting a miserable babe. The thing about babies is that it's hard to know exactly which ailment to treat, as the child is suffering from a runny nose, sore throat and chesty cough, and has also started to hold his head on one side, princess di style, obviously with a sore ear. Thank god for panadol. Oh, and the vapouriser. I can't believe how much good a bit of steam and eucalyptus oil can do. We've been watching two white patches appear on his top gums for some weeks now, and I was sure they were about to pop through at any time, but tonight I felt his bottom gum, and there was a little tooth! Suddenly it all makes sense. I'd forgotten how exciting these milestones are (and also scary for the breastfeeding mamma), we were cheering and praising him for his efforts, like he had actually done some amazing thing. He, of course, lapped it up.