Delivering the Quilt

What I didn't tell you in yesterday's post was that I delivered Olive's quilt to her in person.....some of you may remember that the little family live in Hawaii - so that meant a bit of travelling for me!!

Grabbing a couple of spare weeks, I went over to help out my daughter-in-law while our son is still in NZ. Ultimately it would have been ideal for him to be on the plane, and not me, but he is patiently waiting for paper to be shuffled around (and visa approval) in order to return there

Olive's mum is back at fulltime work so it was really good to be there to support her while I could.

Olive continued attending childcare but I still got plenty of cuddle time. 

While they were both away during the day, I prepped meals, filled the freezer, did the washing, walked the dogs, and so on.

But I also had plenty of time to walk and explore. NO, I did not drive (!!) but I walked lots, and biked to the beach one day.

And of course I took Olive for walks too.

All in all I clocked up quite a few miles. 

The weather was beautiful while I was there - it was lovely and warm but not muggy, so although I did get hot and sweaty while walking or biking (ugh!), it was quite bearable.

I was there for my birthday, which was nice. My daughter-in-law told me she had to pop into work for an hour and would I mind the baby (of course!) but she came back with a delicious GF cake which my son had organised online.

And then the next day was Fourth of July. We didn't go anywhere - snotty baby - but had a great view of the fireworks and heard plenty of happy people in the streets below.

I took some stitching with me, but only pulled it out a few times, and did a little crocheting (another cat blanket). Another Holly Jolly block finished —

I spent longer than I should have trying to make eyes for the little octopus I'd bought Olive when I was in Australia back in April. The original eyes were glued-on felt and not the best for sucky mouths and small fingers. I had very limited resources (just some variegated yarn from the cat blanket crocheting) and gave up trying to achieve anything more decent after an hour. My daughter-in-law liked the 'unique' look but I thought the eyes were a little evil!

I was also able to deliver the kiwiana counting cloth book I'd made for Olive a couple of posts ago.

All in all it was a wonderful visit. I've decided I quite like Hawaii. Especially when there is a baby involved!

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Raewyn

A quilt finish

I can't believe that I haven't blogged since June - and here we are in August already.

I actually started writing this post late in June but, obviously, I didn't get any further than a few introductory words.

In my last post I was busy finishing up Olive's baby quilt. I was about to start the quilting and was hoping for a good run with that. 

I can happily announce that the quilt is finished and delivered so now I can show it in its entirety.

I was inspired to add lots of little personalised bits in the quilt.  I chose the dog for the two they have,  and which Olive is fascinated by. The design is from a BOM, Wag Tales, by Suzy Sitcom.

A touch of Hawaii (applique design from EQ8) —

A touch of Delaware,  which is where her mum is from; a Delaware cross patch (also from EQ8) —

A touch of Japan, where her parents had been living; haha if you cant find it, it's the cherry blossom used for the dog's bow!

And of course there's a little bit of New Zealand in there too, with the kiwiana fabric I used on the final border —

And I backed it with fabric from one of Mum's nighties (or nightgown, as she would say). There was nearly enough to back the quilt. I had to join a piece of white on but I put the label on top of it and no one is any wiser —

While customised, I kept the quilting fairly simple and overall I was pleased with the result —

Naturally there needs to be a photo of the quilt with the baby —

I'm going to finish off here as I have plenty more news and this will just go on and on if I don't stop now.

I'm thinking of trying a post a day throughout August---hmmm---that should get me all caught up!?

'til then,

happy stitches,

Raewyn

Random Round up of Creating and Cats

The start of last week saw me basting Olive's baby quilt......she's now over 4 months old but there's been a serious lack of sew-jo around here for the last little while and I've only just gotten back to her quilt in the last week or so.

And some quilting has even happened!!

SO, watch this space😊

I've also put together a cloth book for Olive, using one of those easy-to-sew panels....cut the pages apart, layer with scraps of batting, sew around the outside, turn it through and sew the pages together —

A little bit of kiwiana for our Hawaiian baby ♥

I realise that I haven't yet shared the pouch I made as a gift for our Make It, Fake It, Bake It swap for our Scrub Stitching retreat. It's always fun to see what everyone comes up with.

I came across a pattern for a wee bag which looked a little different - and Christine ended up with it —

Luckily Christine is a better recorder than I am and I have stolen the photos of it off her blog!

The top folds up to open the pouch (Christine's Luna Lapin is modelling the bag) —

(I used leftover fabric from my kiwiana dress for it. Dress shown in *this post*.)
And I included a cute scissor keep that Mum had made.

I found the pattern for the *Malmo Pouch here*.

While Sue and I were travelling for retreat, I completed the last few rounds of the crochet cat blanket I'd started whilst spending time at the hospital with Mum last year.

I've made three of these simple Afghans now - I just love having something mindless to crochet and the cats really do appreciate them!!!

Last year, in preparation for the arrive of McGeorgeous I made a little cat cubby. It was such a fun make but sadly once I'd finished it, the cats barely waved a whisker at it. Recently I realised it needed better structure so it would look more like a cat house than a cat bag. I found and inserted some foam coated wires. (These are intended for gardening and I bought them for making a Barbie tent. That didn't eventuate and recently the kids have been using them to dangle toys off when playing with the cats.)

Look at Miss Tammy! Success!

I very nearly had a very sad tale about McGeorgeous to tell this time. One evening last week he suddenly disappeared. We looked for him for DAYS and had given up all hope of ever seeing him again.

Thank goodness our son looked up at just the right time and spotted him at the window of our little garden shed one morning!! (We hardly ever go in there and seldom leave it opened.) He's a shy boy and the men had to empty the shed to get him out - and then he shot under the house.

After a lot of food and water he returned to life as normal and is wondering what all the fuss is about!

I had been in town and had 11 missed calls from the MOML trying to let me know he'd been found.

I think Tammy may have missed him a little as I've caught her letting him sleep near her a couple of times now! —

This winter, to celebrate 10 years in existence, the NZ Premmie Knitting Club has had a publicity drive, encouraging people from all walks of life to pull out their knitting needles and make some peggy squares. They're then sewn together to make blankets for premature babies across the country. It's been quite fun to see politicians, sports people and TV personalities promoting the cause by knitting squares themselves.

I've made a few squares which I will send off this week, along with some tiny booties and a beanie which I knitted a couple of years ago. I would have liked to make a few more but I started a bit late (they want them all by the end of this month, I think) but have also been struggling with a minor wrist strain/inflammation which seems aggravated by the knitting motion. So I've been limiting myself to a few rows a night.

I'll finish with this lovely sunset we had last night —

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Raewyn