AJ's Antics

Okay so I sort of failed big time at BlogtoberFest this year. My post were late and sparse! But I'm rocking this Totally Pinspired Challenge! This will be my 3rd Pinterest project this month! It was 'World Teachers Day' last Friday.  I wanted something to give Aden's Kindy teachers. I wanted something quick. I wanted something easy. I wanted something handmade. I wanted something useful. So off to Pinterest I went! I found these cute little zippered pencil cases . What teacher doesn't need a new pencil case to stash their pens in! I was super delighted to find everything in my stash, including the 2 zippers! They were lovely and quick to sew up with great instructions. I'm adding a few more to my 'make for Christmas' list. The best part was watching Aden hand it over and  say 'I helped Mummy make this for you' (he didn't it was waaaaaay past his bedtime when I made these!) And then the very best part was watching the t...

    Okay so technically I made this last month to send to a sweet new babe with his quilt .   But I haven't blogged it yet so it counts for this month right?   Aden saw this sweet little dino on my Pinterest board and asked if he could make one. It is child-friendly-ish but at 4 he is not ready to make things on the machine on his own!   The fabric and ribbons were all his choices though!      Mummy did the tricky sewing and Aden was able to help with some of the stuffing...truth be told he just liked sword fighting with the knitting needle!     Little dino has been on Kindy visits and sleepovers. A big hit with my dinosaur loving boy!   You can see the ribbons are a bit closer together and a little smaller for the gift version I sent.     Pattern from here

I started a new craft last month. I'm not very good at it but I have some wonderful friends who are willing to help me.   A gifted hook, some wool and a 'how to' book and I was on my way! A few youtube videos and it was all making sense!         

This fabric has been sitting in my stash for a while now and I'd promised the boy that I'd make him some more shorts for Kindy. A metre of fabric gets me 2 pairs....just! The second set of leg band cuffs need to be made out of contrasting fabric. When ever Aden gets new shorts cousin Bailey gets some too! These are made from my 'go to' pattern 'Little Explorer Shorts'      Any suggestions on a new shorts pattern to try??       A little piece of cute ribbon in the back make a tag so the boy can dress himself!    This Lightning McQueen fabric was a lot tricker to get 2 pairs of shorts out of. The cars are not all going the same way and Lightning McQueen needed to be as prominent as possible. But I still wanted 2 pairs of shorts to make the fabric worth while.       And because Bailey will be getting a present in the mail his sister needed one too! I dug out The Tilda Sash Skirt pattern I've had f...

I did the Moonlight walk again this year. Last year we had a team of about 20. This year we doubled our team members and also doubled the amount of money we raised!

All the three's today! My wonderful hubby took my sweet son shopping for a present while I went to work for the day.  Heading to work for the day Aden was beside himself excited when I got home. His chocolate covered face, gave away the surprise in the fridge!    They headed to the toy section, where all little boys know the good presents are hiding, and hubby had to talk him out of a few things before deciding on a Pillow Pet. Aden loves his dinosaur one so it makes sense that Mummy would love one too.   Dairy-free chocolate cake made by my boys Thanks Hubby and Aden you did a wonderful job! Love you xx

As much as I wanted to get this quilt to beetle before he was 1 month old I was a few days short of my goal. I always get stumped when it comes to the quilting....my ideas and my skills are quite a ways removed from each other. I didn't want to ruin  anyone's blocks with dodgy quilting! I ditched the blocks and thought I'd try out something a bit fancier on the borders where I could hide it in the  busy orange print. I used a yellow/orange variegated  thread and copying a quilting design Emma has used on this quilt I bit the bullet and went for it! I am so super super super happy with how it turned out! There are of course errors and it is in no way perfect but I did something different and I like it.   The central block has 'grass' quilted in the green (Thanks Bear!) and 'wind' quilted in the sky. The plan was to quilt a tree up passed the giraffe and over his head but I chickened out! It is done with an stipple...