Oh the smell...the DELICIOUS smell :)

Forgot to mention the Lamb Korma that Mr WKDN has simmering away in the slow cooker.

::drools...just a little::

My house smells soooooooooo good. Just what is needed for a wet and rainy and miserable weekend (see - he is good for some things!!)

UFO Updates

Phew ::wipes considerable amount of sweat from brow::

Have thus far managed to complete TWO items - count 'em, 1, 2!!! - UFO's. Or FO's as they are now.

Green scarf is finished - blocked even - and ready to go ;)

Needlepoint 'cushion' front is finished. Well the embroidery anyways. New plans are not so much cushion, but more tote bag for (sort of) mother in law.

Got the bestest item ever from Sammies yesterday. What I thought was just a cute little tablecloth with purple pea pods embroidered in the corners turned out to be a VERITABLE CORNUCOPIA OF EMBROIDERED FRUIT AND VEG!!! It is so cool. Photos to come.

Also fabulous fabrics purchased off eBay and online stores, Sublime Stitching pattern book and a swag of scrapbooking and card making stickers etc from (of all places) Target!

Anyhoo - must put nose back to the grindstone. Am moving onto my hardanger napkins. Possible Christmas present in the making...

TTFN :)

Decisions, UFO's and Blog Set up.

Decided to have a UFO completion weekend/binge/fortnight (could go on for some time...)

The list is extensive.

1. Lacy scarf for friend from work;
2. Baby blanket for another friend. Whose baby is about to turn 2...
3. Heart quilt that I sewed up and now want to unpick as I don't like it;
4. Really, really, really old crewel work cushion cover;
5. Magnet set using plastic canvas;
6. Set of 6 hardanger embroidered napkins;
7. Thimbleberries BOM quilt top. Two borders left to sew onto quilt top. Still havent purchased the fabric for the backing;
8. Assorted cross stitch projects, partly started...
9. Bento quilt - needs to have the quilting finished and the binding attached;
10. I am sure there are more lurking.

The oldest item outstanding is a toss up between numbers 5, 4 and 3. Despite best intentions, got bugger all of nothing finished from the above list, although have made some inroads into the scarf. Nearly cried when I had to unpick two whole sections of the pattern due to one dropped stitch...

Anyhoo, must soldier on ;)

Of course I managed to START some new projects - but in my own defence I also managed to finish those as well! A little tote bag to cart my latest small craft project to work with me. Turned out v cute from some FQ's of Japanese fabric I had in my stash. I even managed to do a lining AND a matching handle. Sorted out some of my DMC thread stash, and took them out of the little plastic bags I was storing them in and wound them onto some cardboard organisers I made. Looks great - just like those paint cards you get from the hardware. A couple of cards including a Fathers Day one with some cute origami shirts on the front. A big hit with my Hawaiian shirt loving papa.

Quite frankly, I would probably have got a lot more stuff done if it wasn't for Mr WhatKylieDidNext (or Mr WKDN as we will now refer to him as). Jeez, some people are HIGH MAINTENANCE!!! Completely derailed my plans for a crafty little weekend. Note to self - might as well save these sort of weekends for the ones when he is away at work. Would be MUCH MORE productive.

Apologies for the (quite bare and bland) state of the blog setup. I haven't quite got my head around this whole HTML business (computer nerds out there....I needs your help and I needs it bad...), so things will be changing off and on until I am happy with how it is going :) I did manage to get the HTML Handmade Pledge badge doohickey thingy set up properly, so perhaps all is not lost.

Also ordered some FABULOUS fabrics from various locations. Great ones off eBay. Luscious. Some from Amitie. Some from Etsy. Cannot await their arrival. Plans for fabrics? None. Stash value? Priceless.

Ooh, and I signed up for my first two swaps with SwapBot, so I guess we will see how that goes ;)

On that note, I will leave you with this thought for the day...

"Failure is the condiment that makes success so delicious".

Aha! Photos (as promised...)

Well, this is what I got up to (mainly!) on the weekend. The photo above is of the denim apron I made for my eldest niece (please excuse my exclusive chair model...). The only addition to the apron pictured were two yo-yos in the bottom right hand corner of the denim and a couple of small, white flower buttons on the pocket trim and around the yo-yo. Very pleased with my result.

Of course, when you have two sisters, if you give one something you generally have to give the other something similar (unless you want armageddon to break out!!). Thus, the little pink trimmed apron above came to life.

I think I am proudest of the pink apron as I had to make up most of the pattern myself - and for someone who hasn't made any clothing type sewing since Year 8 Home Economics, I reckon that's a pretty big achievement! Yay me!!

My final photo is my icecream pincushion.

It rocks!! (even if I do say so myself...) This is the first pin cushion I have ever owned - I DO NOT know how I ever sewed without one :)

I managed to survive the local City to Surf here in Perth - it was a long, hard slog but I've come out the other side of it in not too bad physical shape. I was expecting to have to wear flat shoes to work for the next week, but I'm already back in the teetering stilettos. Champion!!

Op Shopping and Spotlight

Well, took a little trip out to my local Spotlight. And by local I mean it's about a 15km round trip ;)

The trip itself probably would have gone a lot better if I had bothered to check exactly what the opening time of the store was....it's 9.00am for those of you who are interested. So I got there at 8.25am. *sigh*.

Anyhoo, got all the supplies I wanted (as well as a few little extras!!). Photos on the way!!

Then I hit the op shops. Jeepers! At the Sammies got a great duvet cover in a nice thin blue and white stripe which will be great for quilts or softies or dolls clothes or something!! Also picked up two great blue glazed pots (I'll find a use for them too!) and a pair of $1 jeans that are destined to become an apron. More on this later...

At the second op shop - Vinnies - it was a much smaller store, but got two great embroidered doilies ($1 each) two tweed coats to make owls from this website (www.moonstitches.typepad.com - check out the 'tutowrial') for a total of $7 and a pair of what are possible the most hideous pants ever to see the light of day. But the fabric will be great for the owls. Just not so great for pants... I thought the lady on the counter was going to refuse to sell me the clothing after I revealed my plans for it!!

So, have got a fair bit done today. Made a cute little icecream pincushion, inspired by some instructions I downloaded from a website (sorry - can't recall which one, but the instructions are by Michelle Verbeeck. Although, I didn't really read the instructions properly, so ended up "modifying' the icecream, and quite frankly - I think I prefer mine!! Too cute.

Then I set out to make a denim apron a la www.mybyrdhouse.blogspot.com. So, the instructions are very easy to follow and I was pottering along...but I think I underestimated either my own hip/thigh size OR the size of the jeans that I would need to make an adults sized apron. My apron was too small!!! But all is not lost. It was my eldest niece's birthday last week and as a part of her gift, I sent her a Fairy Cookbook. What better followup present than *ta-da* an apron!!

So, saved from the ignominy of wearing a too small apron, I finished whipping up the apron. It turned out GREAT!!! Might be a trifle long for her, but she is tall for 8!! Was so inspired by my creative skills that I then decided I would make her younger sister an apron as well - it is her birthday in a few weeks - so I winged it mostly, by adding a bib made out of the back of the jeans where the pocket is in order to make a bib with a pocket without having to do an actual pocket! I rock!! It turned out soooooo cute. So now all I have to do is make some matching yo-yo's with my templates, sew these on with some buttons to both aprons and awaaaaay they go. Favourite (and only) aunty status is assured.

Photos of all my endeavours of today will be forthcoming shortly - as soon as I can work out the techno issues ;)

Of course, very little in the way of housework got achieved today. But, no matter. There are plenty of other days left in the week....

Well, wish me luck - tomorrow is the City to Surf here in Perth and this year I (crazily) put down to run. Twelve kilometres. I was clearly under the influence at the time. I have packed all my gear, got my clothes and shoes and socks ready. My iPod is charged and ready to go. I have made my list and checked it twice and I should be ready to go. Now all I have to hope for is a) that it is not raining tomorrow; and b) I can manage to run most of the course. Go Kylie!!

P.S...

Oh, a little post script to my inaugural post.

A HUUUUUUGE thankyou to Pip from www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com for her nifty and v. helpful tips about setting up a blog on Blogspot. Ch-ch-check it out if you too are thinking of embarking upon a blog of your own.

Pip - you rock. Quite a bit :)

...so. Hi ;)

I've been doing the whole 'lurking' thing for a teensy while now, and have been toying with the idea of creating my own little piece of blog-space.

Soooo, I took a couple of deep breaths - but not too many as one does not want to hyperventilate, does one? - and jumped right in with both feet ;) whheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I guess the blog will be a word-torial journey through my crafting successes - but also the trials and tribulations which seem to beset the best of us!

A bit about me...

Name: Kylie...as if you haven't already guessed that from the blog name ;)
Age: *coughs* Impertinent young pup. One never asks a lady her age! All I will say is this: I am as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.
Where am I: Right now? On the couch. Under a quilt. Oh, you mean my 'location'. Perth, Western Australia.
My current crafty undertakings: Weeeeell, how long have ya got? Lets see....knitting. Cross stitch. Occasional dabbling in other embroidery. Scrapbooking. Folk Art. Card Making. Jewellery. Beading. Quilting.
What 'new' crafts do I want to experience: Oh. My. Word. Well, tomorrow I am off on a trip to Spotlight to pick up some fabric and notions for some softies that I am planning to make. For the first time ever. So that will be fun. Will probably also hit the op shops to see what treasures I can unearth. I also want to dabble in collage, screen printing (on fabric and paper and stuff!!) more embroidery such as hardanger and those cute transfer thingummies, apron making (have also got a simple one of these lined up for the weekend), bag making, and so, so, so much more stuff!!
In my spare time (HA!) what other things do I like to do: Gardening. Reading. Jigsaw puzzles (great, now I sound like someones great-aunt Ermintrude). Cooking. *blushes* cheesy and implausible romance novels. Triathlons (yep. That last one fit right in there...)
How many UFO's do I currently have: Umm. Let's see. Twelve-eleventy. Yup. Precisely.

So, over the course of the weekend I will potentially have some hilarious craft out-takes for you to see. Hopefully the softies turn out good as I am searching for a suitably cool and cute gift for one of my nieces who is turning 5. If all goes well, she will be the inaugural lucky recipient of One Of Auntie Kylie's Creations (note extensive capitalisation. Like God. Or The Queen). Others will then follow (it's sooo easy when they're that age!)

In any case, to keep you going until then, please find following the last quilt that I actually finished (as averse to all the half done ones hanging in my craft room) for my Darling Dad's birthday. Last year...

Circles on squares with a little very tight machine zig-gagging to secure
The top - half sewn together...
Aah, the Quilt-Pro. My baby. Oh, yes...and the quilt top mostly made up :)

The final product. No square background colour repeats in any rows. No circle colour repeats in any row (Pedantic? Moi?). Cream inner border. Green outer border quilted with a 'feather' design using my chalk-puffy thing which I <3.>Last words were that he loves it. Has it on his armchair. Score another one for Kylie, Favourite (and only) Daughter...