Back to the light

Yeah, I know it's been a while but all with good reason. We've been home for a month now and it's taken me that long to get back into the swing of things. I'm still adjusting to the light back in Brisbane - up at 5am and by midday it's so bright my eyes burn.

I have so many things to write about so expect sporadic posts here and there over the next few months about what inspired me the most of the 17 cities we visited (the thought of that still freaks me out). I continued to write every day of the trip, just not on the blog. Here's the final run down of our itinerary:

Singapore
Frankfurt
Kassel for Documenta 12
Berlin
Munich for Oktoberfest

Vienna

Budapest

Bucharest

Istanbul for Istanbul Biennale

Athens for the first Athens Biennale

Rome

Venice for Venice Biennale

Nice

Barcelona

Paris

Amsterdam

Rotterdam

Frankfurt

Singapore

...and home. Documenta and the Biennales were really inspiring but more about that later when I collate my list of visual highlights. With the weight of the exhibition catalogues the only thing I don't miss now is my beast of a backpack.

I should be ...

I should be packing my bag for Europe ...

but I can't stop playing with my new camera

I should be paying a pile of bills ...

but I'd rather anticipate fabric stores like Nunoya in Barcelona

I should be cleaning the house to make life easier for when we get back ...

but at least I finished the cover for my sketchbook. Now I'm definitely ready to go.

Following Up

In my last post I said I would give a more detailed description of Ruby Doll's home and accompanying book. She lives in the front pocket of this library bag.

Once at the library she likes to sit back and read her book, it's filled with stories about tulips, cats chasing fish, and ducks.



Ruby Doll is very excited about reading lots of stories with her new Mum on 21 September.

On the travel front I'm treating myself to a new camera this afternoon so we can all enjoy better images and videos with sound! I'm so pleased with my decision to finally bite the bullet and get one.

Much of a muchness

After much deliberation I finally decided on these books for my travel reading. I think it's a pretty good selection and maybe I can trade them with other backpackers for their books when I'm done with them.

The Lonely Planet also received a bit of a make over last night, hopefully this will make us look a little less like tourists when we need to whip it out. Oh yeah, it's previous life was as 2 placemats.

And I'm finally getting there with the pre-sewing madness for the birthdays while I'm away.

This is Ruby Doll and you can whip her up in no time using the pattern at http://oneredrobin.com/

I had to add a skirt because she was looking a little too bulbous around the hip region. And because she's going to a bookworm she has her own little book to read which also doubles up as a brooch (details in the next blog entry). She'll have a home in the front pocket of a library bag but more about that later too.

Days are flying by ...

Tonight was all about choosing fabric for a sketchbook cover

Drafting the pattern

and wondering if I have the patience to attempt this (from knitting daily)

Four sleeps to go ...

Counting down the days ...

It's now 10 sleeps till we leave and it couldn't come sooner. I'll be pumping the creations out over the next week.

Have you been to Wee Wonderfuls? If not, you must! It has great patterns for making gifts for wee people as well as gorgeous embroidery kits. These butterflies were made using the new hand sewing for fun patterns. Yes, it was fun and super quick.


I often feel an urge to make little changes as I go along, that's why they have little smiles. Oh yeah, and their heads are sewn on sideways.

When I get back I'm planning on ordering a kit for the kushu kushu scarf from habu. I originally saw it on Kirsten's blog. It only took her 2 weeks to knit up. The rate I go with knitting projects it could take longer but it would so be worth it!

Why are pirates pirates?

Cos they arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


Yeah, I know it's a lame joke but it's in the spirit of the most recent gift I gave which was a pirate doll James and I collaborated on for his nephew for his naming ceremony. The pattern's inspired by Claire Garland's Toys to Sew.


It's 2 weeks today before we leave for Europe. I have 3 sewing projects on the go. Just finished cutting the fabric for all of them. You see, one of the problems with planning a big trip is that you also have to plan the presents for birthdays while you're away so there's been a crazy mad dash to create as much as possible in a very short period of time. And no, I'm not thinking about the one month count down to christmas when I get back. It will all be worth it though.

It's the first day of Spring today in Australia so I'm leaving you with this image of a hibiscus flower in the bottom of a freshly poured glass of champagne from a recent celebration.

Just hanging out

Cats, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

It's been a busy week planning our trip and catching up with family and friends before we head off. Only 3 weeks today till we leave. I believe I'm at the awareness/shock stage now where I've realised in 3 weeks time I'm going to have a 2 month holiday. I think the next stage is panic/chaos but it will be worth it.

So, before I go there are a number of projects I need to finish off including gifts for birthdays that fall during the time we are away, a book cover for our lonely planet so we don't look completely like tourists, a scarf for James and a knitted headband on order. Could be tight.

This week was an online extravaganza. I joined Indiepublic which is the best creative answer to My Space ever and Facebook where I caught up with some old friends.

These little felt kitties were made for Leila and Ava so they had a present to open on Chloe's birthday. Both kitties received kisses and a day out at Movie World. The pattern is from Craft Issue #3.

Chloe Apron and Miss Buttons

I've been working so much lately and finally had a weekend off so I finished an apron for my niece Chloe for her 4th birthday.
The details are really cute and she just planted her first camellia so I think she'll like the garden theme.





When I was in Melbourne in April I came across the Miss Buttons pattern http://sewyourown.com.au/patternskits.aspx
It is the easiest soft toy ever to make so I whipped one up with the scraps from Chloe's apron so she'd have a little friend to cook and garden with.





It's just over 4 weeks till we leave for our 2 month escape to Europe. I have loads of things that need to be designed, sewn, knitted etc before we go so I'll be moving along quickly over the next month.

One final thing to share is this flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/embroideredstuff/ Be warned though, it has the potential to consume hours of time ...

new header

do you like the new header? it's inspired by this image which I created based on the embroidered bag on my flickr page.

speaking of being inspired, have you seen this ad? http://www.bravia-advert.com/commercial/braviaextcommhigh.html

update to this post: some blogs have linked to this post rather than the home page of my blog so for recent posts click on the header above or click here

eyespy another blogger

This morning I was waiting for my takeaway sfw when I spied a girl staring intently at the top of her cappuccino. She took out her camera and took an extreme close up of the frothy perfection. It made me wonder what she blogged about other than good coffee...

The lavendar is blooming

Lavendar, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

I know, I know it's a pretty lame attempt at growing lavendar but I was happy to get it through its first week alive so now that it's finally blooming I'm thrilled.

Throw in progress

Throw in progress, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

Look out, it's another knitting work in progress. A throw for the couch, knitted with 3 different balls of yarn in garter stitch. Who knows how long this will take to finish!

A new skarf

Skarf, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

A gift for Mum I made earlier in the year.

Update on the tomatos

Tomatos, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

Three new tomatos this week. They look quite big here but they're about the size of a pea.

And one for me

Headband, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

I'm loving these headbands, you can whip one up with a ball of wool and a couple of hours. So easy and so warm.

Pocket Tote

Pocket Tote, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

Another tote done. This one is based on 2 patterns from The Crafter's Companion. There's a large pocket on the inside which flips out and the netire bag can be folded up into the pocket. Great to have on hand when a shopping urge strikes.

Headband #2

Headband, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

The second headband is done.

Another Tote

P6220046, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

I love this bag. I made it to sell but am thinking of giving it as a gift. It's lined on the inside with the red fabric and has little pockets inside too for a phone and keys. The embroidery on the front is based on an image from a fashion magazine.

The 10th knitting work in progress

Headband, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

I have so many knitting projects on the go at the moment, I can't seem to finish one without starting another. This one will be a headband for my sister. I have 2 more orders for headbands and am hoping to make one for myself too. They keep your head really warm without having to hide all your hair under a beanie.

Loving shrink plastic

P6220068, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

I discovered shrink plastic a while ago. It's really hard to find in Brisbane and I ended up findng an online quilting shop in Caboolture that stocks it. I used permanent ink markers so the drawings didn't rub off and made a series of brooches, you can check out more of them on my flickr page. The ink still rubs off a bit so I think I'll have to varnish them somehow.

Patchwork Coasters

Coasters, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

These coasters were a gift for Mum a while back. I made them from a tutorial I found earlier in the year but haven't been able to locate the linke for it again. There's six coasters and a little bag for them to live in.

Dinosaurs

I made these dinosaurs for a beautiful baby boy. They're made with felt and the pattern can be found in Claire Garland's Toys to Sew book, ISBN 1 84340 351X. The blue egg shape thing is a zip up bag that the dinosaurs live in. Some of the pattern templates in the book were incorrect but other than that it's a great book for whipping up gifts for kids.

Patchwork Bag

Patchwork Bag, originally uploaded by edwardandlilly.

I made this bag for Mum for her birthday back in April. It was meant to be a fold up wallet thing but I got a bit carried away when I started sewing the fabric strips together. The little blue bird on the front is just a cut out from one of the fabrics, embroidered and appliqued.

The first harvest

Tomato plant, originally uploaded by rebeccacason.

There were 5 in total

It's a tomato

Plants, originally uploaded by rebeccacason.

About 3 months ago a small shoot came up in one of the plants. I thought it was a weed, turns out it was a cherry tomato plant.

it's done

ok, there, it's done, now i'm committed to it.