An explained absence, and more baby-ness

Oh my, it has been another long, long time. The past month has passed in a flash, with more illness (me), travel (France for Moot and me, Africa for her dad) and general busy-ness.

There has been some crafting, however. Mostly cutting up bits of fabric for various projects.

The wip that needs to be transformed into a finished item is a baby quilt and ball set for my step-brother's newest daughter, born last night! No name yet, and worst of all, no pictures. They live in North America, so I need pictures.





Back to the quilt. It's my first, and it's made from old linen napkins, bought as a lot from eBay and cheap as chips. I love the way the white squares bounce off each other, with damask shinyness and cotton crispiness. I wish it was easier to get that across in a picture. The backing fabric is an old Amy Butler print. I am at the point of sewing the binding, which is really just the backing fabric folder over and slipstitched in place. When her parents come up with a name, I'd like to embroider it on the top somewhere.



The ball was great fun to make. The fabrics are a mix of my stash and my grandmother's stash. They were pieced together using the English method, with thick paper. I really enjoyed the hand sewing, making careful tiny stitches.



Then I stuffed it with wool and - a bell. Both were from Myriad. I can't recommend the stuffing wool enough, it came in a huge fluffy bushell, and I had to rip bits off to poke into the ball. The ball isn't exactly round, but it tinkles so I don't think this new baby will mind.

Next on the list are summer clothes for Moot from this book, a dress for me, and first in line, a Girlie Dress for my sister out of this fabric.

Oh, and another thing that has been making us fidgety is my regular fantasy of selling up and moving to the Gulf Islands in western Canada. Not helped by bad habit of browsing estate agents and finding this little piece of paradise. One day, one day...