Yes it does look an awful lot like the one in the last post I know… This was partly an economy of scale thing back when I wasn’t sure how many (if any) of my planned craft projects I was going to finish this pregnancy. But mostly it was because the fabric for both quilts was bought long ago, when I didn’t know when (or if) we would ever get to this point, but wanted to make sure I could make both babies one of these quilts if we did. Little did I imagine quite how close together the two babies would be due to arrive!

I fear that I may not have done quite such a nice job of this quilt as the ones that were made when I wasn’t pregnant. But it’s done, and it’s sweet and cuddly. Which comes as some relief given the months it took me to find some flannel to back it with. Though that flannel came in the form of a rather pricey doona cover that I had to butcher in the process. The backing is a better colour match than it looks in the photos, the velour cord does weird things in the light and is very hard to photograph.

Isabelle was adorable at cousin C’s party, she slept beautifully right up to the third hip hip horray as the formalities started late in the evening. Though she did toss around a bit, first covering her head and exposing her feet and then getting too hot and throwing the covers off. Apparently at one point she also woke up, looked at Jesse and then pulled the covers over her face and went back to sleep.

C is a member of the university choir, at a guess 70 - 80% of the guests were choir members, or at least it sounded that way. Have you ever heard Happy Birthday sung by a large choir? It was just magical.

Once the usual birthday singing and formalities were done the choir sang again, doing a stunning rendition of a song I had not heard before so I can’t tell you it’s name. I was trying to pat Isabelle back to sleep at the time and I had my back to them, but it was so beautiful that I was very surprised to turn around and find they were all still seated at their tables and not standing together on the other side of the room. It seemed to me to be a wonderful 21st gift for a musician, such beautiful singing especially for her.

There were two or three more songs as the evening went on which involved the entire choir clapping as well as singing and Isabelle gave up trying to get back to sleep. She migrated to Jesse’s knee just in time for pavlova and chocolate cake.

Isabelle’s travel quilt

I have been trying to get a nice set of photos of this quilt since we arrived in Adelaide. The constant rain prevent me from taking them outside and the poor light has prevented me from taking them inside. And then yesterday I had a break through with my camera - Yay! I finally figured out which of it’s shooting options will allow me to do a white balance and suddenly indoor photography is so much easier. So here you go, a picture of the whole quilt and one of each of the applique squares.

The quilt top is made from velour cord and the backing is flannel. This is the fourth piece of flannel I bought to go with this quilt top, the others were all from the same range, with the same colours. One was almost identical but with a hot pink background and the other two were the same colours but in a thin stripe pattern. The first piece of the striped flannel was the first backing I bought, the pink spots came second and then I bought the second piece of the stripes after deciding that I wanted to use it on the diagonal and realising I didn’t have enough yardage in the first piece. I picked up the piece I actually used at the same time as the second piece of the stripes, just in case I was wrong again and it ended up being the best choice.

The lovely soft fabrics make the quilt oh so snuggly and Isabelle loves it, but best of all she know’s it is her “away from home quilt”. Grandma Robyn (Jesse’s mum) asked her if it was for her bed the other day and she said “NO!” (insert horrified tone) “It’s for when I am away from home.”

We made it to Adelaide earlier than expected having had a better journey than expected. Who could have predicted that every time we tried to stop Isabelle would scream “NO! DON’T STOP! Just drive - I want to go to Anne-ma’s house NOW”. She was so patient and well behaved, a dream to travel with really. I haven’t got the energy tonight to write anything sensible but the extended entry has a ton of photos from the journey, mostly from our brief visit to Threadbo yesterday.

(There is more where this came from … )

I have finished the quilt top for Isabelle’s travel quilt. The question is - can I layer and quilt it tomorrow (Thrusday) night? The trick is I have to pack too. We leave Friday, straight after our IVF nurse consult. The binding will be stitched down by hand so it can happen in the car, but the layering and quilting has to happen tomorrow night or the quilt won’t be coming with us.

The Debbie Bliss Cabled Jacket will definitely be coming with us and I hope to finally get some photos over the weekend. All I need is a second pair of hands, some daylight and perhaps some nice scenery…

A few photos from yesterday.

You will notice the photos stop mid process. That would be because I never did manage to complete the next step. About 5 hours after this last photo I gave up trying to sew the pieces back together and detached the whole upper piece of the left front. I then frogged it, wound it, wet it, microwaved it, re-knit it and finally re-seamed it. This morning I attached the last two buttons and put it straight on.

One of the things I hated about sewing my own clothes is that I would always be so sick of the garment by the end of the sewing that I couldn’t bear to wear it. If anything I have ever made deserves to be hidden at the back of the closet for years, this sweater is it. But you know what? I love it. LOVE IT. It’s too warm for our weather but I will probably wear it anyway because it’s gorgeous. I will post some photos as soon as I manage to take some that do it justice.

Tonight I have been working on Isabelle’s quilt, I would show you some photos but the light is just too crappy.

Well the latest velour baby blanket is done and it is gorgeous, even if I do say so my self. Photos to come as soon as I had it over to the blog reading recipient.

You know hand sewing is not really my thing and I dreaded sitting down to sew down the binding on this blanket. But just like last time the 4 or 5 hours I spent snuggled up under this blanket in order to stitch it’s edges down were just lovely, this was in fact the happiest part of making this quilt. Somehow those moments when I am actually cuddling up to the nearly completed item are the most like knitting. Those are the moments when I really feel the love and joy I am hoping to infuse into this new little person’s life with the gift of a hand made blankie. The hand sewing is worth every minute.

Also making me happy tonight is the launch of Mem Fox’s new website, Mem is Isabelle’s favourite author and our favourite client, go say hello. In case you were wondering the graphic design is by the lovely Annette of NiftyCorp.

The quilt top is assembled, the layers are basted, I am ready to quilt this little baby blanket - and my fingers are just itching to start knitting the second it’s done. It feels great to be back on track. It’s funny (sad?) how despite the fact that I find making things so soothing it’s when I need it most that I am least able to craft. I don’t seem to be able to start new things until I have recovered but I can keep slogging away at whatever is already underway, I did finish my vest this last cycle, which I have been wearing all the time by the way. I think I need to plan carefully to have a big (long), but not too difficult, knitting project just barely started when I launch into my IVF cycle. Once I have something on the go I keep working until it’s done, the trick is not to finish mid hormone disaster. Can someone please remind me to start something time consuming just in late July? Perhaps I will be up to Market Squares by then.