Patchwork Ball

In South Australia, CYHWS organises a Mother's Group for people who have had their first child, usually with the babies being around the same age. For six weeks you go to a local outlet and talk about various things with a facilitator and the other Mums or caregivers. We covered settling, feeding, growth, creative play, discipline and so on. I learnt a fair bit, but the best aspect was meeting other first mum's. D and I don't have too many friends with children so it was great to make some new one's.

I wanted to make something for all of the babies as a gift for the last formal meeting we would have and eventually settled on a patchwork ball. My mum had the pattern in a 1960s pattern book, and rather than just use bought fabrics, I thought I'd do some gocco patches also. I settled on the kids name's, printing some patches with all of their names and other's with the individual baby's name. I also used some of Lara Cameron's fabric I bought at the Stitches and Craft Show.

I was very pleased with the end result, and by the end of the 10th one I was a pro!




I was going to make a pdf pattern of the ball, but I stumbled across a very similar pattern whilst on flickr here. The main difference is that I machine stitched mine and added a bell. If anyone wants tips on a machine stitched ball, let me know and I'll make the pattern up.

A big thank you to the women in my Mums'n'Bubs group, Nat, Sue, Natalie, Kerry, Kate, Sam, Deanna, Sarah and Rebecca! We're now meeting fortnightly here in the Rugby Building, and the other week at various cafe's/parks/pubs about the place.

5 Months and still crafting...

Yesterday, Ruby turned 5 months. Seeing her so much more alert, responsive to her surroundings and generally taking delight in all things, is wonderful. She's definitely my best creation.


Now she's getting a bit bigger she's starting to entertain herself for ten minutes here and there. Craft core is calling, I have many new projects in mind!

I whipped this crochet roll up for a belated birthday present the other day. It was a quick project, apart from the cord which was handsewn.I think I will need to make one for myself now.

1 Spot Left - Pay It Forward Giveaway

One spot still open, if anyone is interested in the following:



Go to this post, and comment and I'll be in touch : )

Bestil my Heart!

This morning we went down to Darling Harbour for a breakfast meeting for work, followed by a walk around the Harbour and a visit to Kinokuniya, where I bought this:


Bestil My Heart! Possibly my two favourite genre's together as one!!!! Period drama/romance and Zombie action! Ha ha! Most excellent.

Favourite period novels:
Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
North & South - Elizabeth Gaskell
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Emma - Jane Austen

Favourite Zombie movies:
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
28 Days Later
Resident Evil Trilogy
Shaun of the Dead
Land of the Dead
Day of the Dead
28 Weeks Later

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day was spent mostly in transit (or packing for transit) to Sydney. However, D made us waffles for breakfast which were exceptionally delicious.

Ruby and my Mum on Mother's Day:


We are staying here, which we found after the place we were booked into didn't have any access up stairs for a pram. Our accommodation is great, perfect for us.

Mail Love

This arrived in the post from Cass on Thursday. She was very sweet to send me some lovely goodies. Lilly will find her way into Ruby's room, the bag will be perfect for a project I am working on and a suprise item which was lovely and will continue to remain a secret... for awhile anyway!

Thanks again Cass!



We're off to Sydney tomorrow, DB has some work obligations and Ruby and I are tagging along. Amongst other things, we intend to spend a lot of time here and show Ruby this. Unfortunately we are going to miss this, which I am pretty bummed about, but nevermind!

Snailblazer Swap

Cass over at Snailblazer posted about a swap back in early April. She was very lovely to add me as a latecomer, but unfortunately had mis-counted, so I am not participating this time, but will be up for the next one, that's for sure! Thanks Cass for running the swap, and I hope she's still not feeling troubled by the mix-up!!!

Ruby's Albums

I made these albums as thank you's to our family for all their wonderful support throughout our pregnancy and the first couple of months of Ruby's life. I gocco'd the fabric and then covered some albums I bought from the local cheap shop (I got a few looks buying ten of them!). The albums are the type with the screw attachments folded under the spine. Really easy to pull apart and cover.

By the end of it I was a pro, and only took 5 minutes to make them. I finished the cover off with a black and white photo.