A quilt for Poppy

Hello peeps,

It is about time I share with you two quilts I made last year.  Both were presents for dear friends having babies.  I didn't share many photos on social media when I was making them, I did not want the recipients to know what I was up to.

The first quilt was finished in August for baby Poppy. I wanted to make a quilt that their baby would grow into, that their child would be able cherish for years to come.

 

It had to fit in their modern, bright, inner city apartment.  The gender of the baby was not known before birth.  These friends have their own wonderful style and flair. I wanted to add to this, not clash with it.  

I thought hard and long and believed triangles would suit them and that the Carolyn Friedlander fabric range "Botanics" would be perfect. I added a few coordinating solids also.

This is the 6th quilt I've made. It was my first time sewing triangles.  I quilted it myself in very wonky lines, outlining all the triangles.  I love how the back of the quilt looks.

I learnt so much making this quilt.  I learnt to embrace "wonky" even more.  I loved making this quilt. It was made with love for our friends, their friendship means so much to our family.

 

I love the orange binding, I feel it makes the quilt pop.

   

It is quite big for a baby quilt, Poppy will grow into it. I can't wait for the adventures that Poppy and my girls will have together, in the future.

   

Here is a silly photo with me in it. Hi {waves}

I'll share the other quilt soon. 

Have a great week.  Cat xox

Handmade Christmas Gift Guide 2013: Gifts for the sweet littlest ones.

Hello peeps,

Welcome to the first in a co-authored series of blog posts with Cat from Wouldn't it be Loverly and I. 

Our series of guides focuses on handmade, homemade, local and also includes some DIY tutorials. Over the coming days we will have some little surprises for you so stay tuned!

On Day 1 we give to you our guide for babies featuring some of our favourite makers and generally clever clogs'.

It seems it's been influenced by our love for clouds but there are some gorgeous pieces to suit any budget here.

Row 1:

Baby Mobile/Owls and Clouds Hanging Mobile/Nursery Mobile $358.28 HKD by Gosh and Golly - etsy store here

Chalkboard onesie by Bubby Makes Three $175 HKD- madeit store here

Baby Bib "Somewhere over the Rainbow" by CurlyPops $108.23 HKD – store here

Customisable world map print by My Sweet Prints $252.55 HKD – store here

Row 2:

Organic and bamboo cloud trackies by the smallest tribe (seriously, you can't go wrong with ANYTHING Kathryn makes and we had to stop ourselves listing her in every category) $288.63 HKD – store here

DIY Tutorial: Hot Air Balloon Mobile e-Pattern (PDF) by Craft Schmaft $71.66 HKD - etsy store here

Wooden blocks alphabet 26 letters by little sapling toys $358.28 HKD - etsy store here

Special Offer: The lovely folks at Little Sapling Toys are offering a 10% discount on any toys purchased in their etsy store.  To redeem just enter the coder LOVELY10 at the checkout.

Do you have anything on your wish list for babies that we need to know about?

Have you started thinking about your Christmas shopping yet?  

Have a great day.

Cat.

6 years ago today, it was a Tuesday.

Six years ago today, it was a Tuesday.  I was 8 months pregnant with my first baby.  I was baking a double batch of Anzac biscuits.  It was Anzac day in Australia after-all, and it was a public holiday (bank holiday), I had the day off work.  I took some of the Anzac biscuits over to my Grandma, we had a cup of tea and a chat.  I then went shopping, and bought the first set cot sheets for the baby.

The Shropshire boy was out for the day, he had gone to the MCG to watch a game of AFL, the Collingwood versus Essendon derby that is held every Anzac day.  He did not take his mobile phone with him.

I was happy.  Work was kindly holding a morning tea in my honour the next day, which was to be my last day of work before starting Maternity leave.  I was looking forward to being on leave, maybe catch up on some sleep before our baby was born, pack my hospital bag and to get the room ready for the baby.  I needed to research which cloth nappies I was going to use and I definitely needed to buy some baby clothes.

For the first time, I was suffering from fluid retention.  I put it down to probably overdoing it during the day. I went to bed with swollen ankles, hoping they would go down overnight.

I woke up at 4-something-am busting to go to the toilet.  I ran as quickly as an 8 month pregnant woman can run, to the toilet, but just did not make it.  I could not believe it, I had wet myself all over the toilet floor.  In my half asleep state, it took a few moments to realise that there was a HUGE amount of liquid.  It did not look like wee. It smelt different.  It literally took a few minutes before I thought maybe my waters had broken.  Then I froze.  Sitting on the the toilet, a pool of liquid all over the floor, terrified that indeed my waters may have broken.  I was only just 8 months pregnant, in week 35 of my pregnancy.  It was too early.  This was not happening to me.  I must have sat there for at least 10 minutes, frozen by fear.  When I manged to move,  I consulted a book I had handy, Kaz Cookes Up the Duff - The real guide to pregnancy.  This confirmed my fears, my waters had broken.  I grabbed a towel from the nearby linen cupboard, and placed it on the floor of the toilet, hoping it would soak up the liquid all over the floor (luckily they were tiles!)

I went to wake up the sleeping Shropshire boy, it was like a scene in a movie.  "Honey, my waters have broken, we are having our baby".  He just mumbled something and rolled over until I shook him more fiercely and told him again, in a louder voice that we were having our baby.

Neither of us panicked.  The Shropshire boy suggested I phone the hospital, which I did,  and they told us to take our time coming in.  We actually lived in the same suburb as the hospital back then, and we could have walked there.  We packed the hospital bag, this took a while in our sleepy and shocked states.

By the time the Shropshire boy was driving me to the hospital, contractions had started.  We really were having a baby.  Our beautiful Abbey was born just after lunch, a quick 6 hour birth.  I was a mummy!  The rest of the story I have already shared on my old blog, over here.

So six years later, today, it is a Wednesday.  I am going to bake some Anzac biscuits.  Zoe and I will wrap Abbey's birthday presents and make her a birthday card.  I will remember why Australians and New Zealanders commemorate Anzac day.  Tomorrow, I will have been a mummy for 6 years!

Oddly enough, I made Anzac biscuits the day before Zoe was born......

Cat.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

My Creative Space

My favourite oppy recently yielded this gem. At first I thought it was a single bed sheet, but it really is an actual piece of novelty Paddington Bear fabric. It has been ripped and sewn up in weird places, but it is almost one metre of fabric.

I knew straight away I had to make some baby rattles.

I have used polyester polyfill for these two, but I am thinking of trying this new Inner Green stuffing I have just heard about. Has anyone tried it and can offer an opinion? Or offer an opinion on any other more natural toy stuffing I can use in these and my rattle cubes (has to be washable and baby friendly)

Kirsty is back from holidays, many lovely creative spaces over at Kootoyou.

Happy Thursday to you.

Cat

One: Love letter to Zoe

Dearest Zoe,

Today you turn 1. One. 12 months old.

How is that possible?

How has it gone so quickly?

Have I really only known you for one year?

It feels like I have known you forever.

I can NOT imagine a time in my life that you were not here.

Not much else can be said, I have already said it all before.

Happy first birthday Zoe.

Love you so much, gorgeous girl.

Mummy xoxxox

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Milk freak (I feel unusual)

I have written this post in my head at least 20 times, but I still don't know how to start it now. You know, when some thing very intense absorbs so much of your time and (almost) all your thoughts. I can barely articulate it all now I am trying to.

Zoe turns one next week. It has been an amazing 12 months for my own personal growth. I feel like such a different person. Such a better person. Her birth was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. To be honest, I was shocked for months afterwards at how awful it was. The intensity of it. The pain. The joy. The love. The magic of another child. Zoe. One day I will try to write about it.

But there was another issue I have been dealing with since she was born. For the first 8 and a half months of Zoe's life, I felt like a freak. I had an over supply of breast milk. I was engorged every day. I also had a very forceful letdown, almost painful. It was uncomfortable to say the least. It was messy. Some days I felt so alone. I felt that my friends and family were sick of hearing me talking about it. In the very beginning, my forceful letdown was making Zoe projectile vomit (milk in too fast = milk out even faster)

I phoned the ABA a few times, in the first month after Zoe's birth, and they were very supportive and offered much help with relieving the symptoms of my over supply, but there was no cure. All the health professionals told me to be patient, milk supply usually settles down in the first 12 weeks. So I waited. I got mastitis once. I got a blocked duct 3 times. 12 weeks came and went. Nothing changed. Each day I felt like a porn star with these enormous engorged breasts. Each day I was a leaky mess. I had to have a very hot shower each night and massage out the excess milk to prevent getting mastitis or blocked ducts again.

Our Maternal Child Health Nurse was very supportive, she could see I was distressed. She helped me see it was not all bad. She helped me to accept this was just part of my journey with Zoe. I had ample milk to feed Zoe. My baby would never go hungry. I put some in the freezer in case it was ever needed. I called the Mercy Hospital Breast Milk Bank, hoping to offer them my excess milk, and was told over the phone the only donations they were accepting was money. They had no interest in my milk at this point in time and could not suggest what else I could do with it.

Zoe turned 6 months old, and still no change. It was still a daily battle, but I was much more accepting. Of course I asked the internet, and every search I did said "milk supply usually settles down in the first 12 weeks". Nothing about what to do if you were unusual and past 12 weeks. I was a rarity indeed.

At Zoe's 8 month check up and weigh in, I mentioned to our Maternal Child health Nurse that I had slightly less milk, or Zoe was drinking a lot more. Ever so subtly, within weeks, I felt different. It was not a daily battle. I was not engorged all day anymore. This is what it feels like to be normal. It was such a relief.

Now, Zoe is slowly eating more food, and wanting less milk. She is gradually self weaning. I will be sad to finish breastfeeding her. It has been such an intense experience. At the same time, it has been such a beautiful experience between Zoe and I. We made it. We survived this difficult situation. And it feels good.

Still not possible to have too many lady bugs.....

I have said it once, and I'll say it again, it is not possible, in my opinion, to have too many lady bugs.

There were so many cute photos to choose from, these are just a selection.

Happy 11 months old today, gorgeous girl xox