Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Caffeine withrawal sucks

I really didn't mean to neglect the blog.  Life has just been super busy, and not because of Christmas.  I don't celebrate Christmas in a religious way.  I grew up in a Jewish household, so I'm more familiar with Chanukah.  

First up the building activity was full on leading up to Christmas. There was the huge hole cut in the middle of the house.  We didn't have a bath or shower for a week.  I was starting to get scared that we wouldn't have one at all before Christmas, but we have a bath, so no need to avoid us. We don't stink.

Mollie's social life was crazy.  Two birthday parties, a couple of playdates and a trip to the Colo River.  The kids had a blast at the river.   It was good to escape the chaos at the house, but it was tiring.

I've slept in every day since Christmas day.  I've been enjoying cooking in my crazy insane kitchen.

I have my prep area in one corner of the big room
tempkitchencorner

And the stove on the other side of the room
lonelystove


I missed making something special for Col's birthday, so I made him profiteroles/cream puffs. As per usual I was enjoying the finished product too much to take a photo. The recipe is out of The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

I was most impressed with the choux pastry. I've made it before years ago before I had a decent oven. I read the directions except for the part about how many puffs I should be making, so mine have turned out a little large.
on the tray before baking
chouxunbaked

in the oven all puffed up!
chouxbaking

yummy pastry cream
pastrycreammade


I picked my sewing machine up on Christmas Eve. I'd sent her for a service to get her out of the dusty house. Now that I have some time I'm itching to sew.

I've cut some boxer briefs for the guys in the house.
boyproject

I've traced out and modified Antonella. I've pulled out another tracing of an Otto top that I've made before. I want to trace some leggings.

My biggest problem? Lack of concentration due to NO coffee machine. I hope it arrives soon.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Blissfully ignorant no more

I always knew this home renovation gig was going to be hard, but I've been able to live in ignorant bliss for a couple of months as the work all went on without really getting in my way. But now I have holes in the ceiling where cornice has been ripped off. I have exposed walls. I have walls with no gyprock. I have kitchen cupboards in one room, my stove in another and the sink in yet another room! Tomorrow the slab that was our old laundry room floor is going to be cut out. I've heard it makes a HUGE mess. Without that my house is full of dust, never-ending dust. And today or tomorrow I lose the bath/shower for 10 days or so. You might want to avoid me in the lead up to Christmas. Everything everyone says about renos being hard is true. At least I sort of knew what I was in for when we started this.

Now here's some inspiration to get me through the hard parts. 3d renderings of my kitchen. The colours aren't right, but you can get a good idea of the layout and style.

Sara.jpg Main

Sara2

Sara

Sara1


I am going to have a Corian type counter top. I did look at Ceasarstone (composite stone), but I decided that a Corian counter is better for me. It's more chemical resistant, so if I am naughty and weigh dyes in the kitchen, it shouldn't be a problem. Plus the plastics used for a solid surface counter don't echo like the composite stone benchtops.
This is the one that I'm getting
crysta lvanilla

The cabinets are going to be Dulux Fair Bianca half strength which Colin describes as eggshell. Love it when the colour-blind boy can call the colours. He does surprisingly well. He's only red/green colour-blind. And yes, I am going for a neutral toned kitchen. I would have thought about another red kitchen, but it could potentially clash with my lounge and by having the kitchen neutral I can add in colour and change it more easily (or so my colour advisor tells me!).
Oh and my super sweet Jura coffee machine in white is going to look fabulous in the new Kitchen. Col and I made the decision on Sunday to just get it. Now I can't wait for it to arrive.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

It's being naughty again!

It's that darn coffee machine again misbehaving!  Now it won't complete the warming up cycle, and it won't steam milk.  We can get hot water out of the wand, but no steam.  We've been able to trick it into working, so we can make shots of coffee.  Col says the need to repair the machine is becoming exponential, so perhaps it is time to replace it.  I hate to just toss such a large kitchen appliance aside, but I think it may time to let go.  I guess it's no different than a car.  You wouldn't keep a car that costs you lots to keep running.

So I ask you my friends, if anyone has a Jura machine.  I am specifically looking at the Jura J5 because we have lots of points with our credit card rewards, and can use them to pay for most of the machine.   I know true coffee afficianados would say a super auto machine isn't that great, but for us we truly love the push button convenience, and in our opinion the coffee we get from the super auto is much better than so many cafes.  I can buy nice beans and use organic milk, so I'm happy.

For reference we have a 6 year old Saeco Magic Comfort Plus, so we thought we'd try a different brand of machine.


And now for some pictures which are already out of date because the house is speeding along..we have even more, bigger holes now.

Hallway hole in the current living room
101209 hole in living room wall

Looking at the front door from the back room. The opening will go to the ceiling. Originally we were going to have doors there, but have decided not to have them.
101209 view from back of the house to the front door

First coat of paint inside
101209 first coat of paint is up

Painting outside
101209 the back has been partially painted

 

Friday, December 11, 2009

Bird Girl

Well, I'm not really a girl, but I think it sounds better than bird woman.  Just doesn't have the same flow.  Since the announcement of Jolijou's Valeska pattern via Farbenmix, I've been waiting to get my hands on it.  Valeska arrived at my house a couple of weeks ago, but I was in the midst of finishing off some custom orders which I've realised that I haven't shared!

First the custom orders...nothing new as the customers' requests were based on some of Will's creations.

Imke tops for two of Tracy's boys. My hand-dyed fabric. Jolijou's fabulous Little Devils embroidery design.
james shirt

liam shirt


For Suzanne's boy I made a monkey top. It's from Stella cotton/spandex knits and these fabulous monkey buttons from Paulapue. I used the Farbenmix Quiara pattern, but I straightened the sides of the top to give it a more boyish, boxy look.
kai shirt front

kai shirt back

Thanks Suzanne and Tracy!

The Valeska...
is made from Joel Dewberry fabrics from the Aviary line. I'm sure you all recognise that well known bird print. I have a messenger bag out of this fabric in the green colourway. As I'm sure you know by now, I am a big girl, so had to cut the XXL 50/52 size of the pattern. If you are this size, you will not be able to cut the skirt on the fold when using quilting fabrics. The 44" width is not wide enough. This is why I have a ribbon detail running down the front and back of the skirt as there is a centre front and a centre back seam. The ribbon on the brown contrast band is a Farbenmix ribbon called Asia. It is a perfect match for this fabric!

I was really excited about this skirt as I made it with no alterations other than adding CF and CB seams. The fit is good, but I wouldn't say this style is the most flattering for me. But at the same time, I love the skirt. It's pretty and fun and makes me feel happy. I was so excited to make something for myself before I took my machine in for a service. Don't worry the machine is fine, but I've owned her for almost three years, and she's never had a service. So it's really just like a checkup (and a great way to get her out of the dust-filled house)!

Excuse the less than spectacular photograph. I had to ask Miss Moo to take a photo, and her camera isn't as good as the DSLR.
valeska1


A close up of the trim
valeskaribbontrim

I've also made the kids pjs. I just haven't managed to photograph them! And of course, two of the 3 pairs have been worn and are in the laundry!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

House update

It's been a while since I've done an update on the house. So here are few photos...

We have floorboards.

291109floorboards

We have walls.

051209gyprock

Here's a picture from the back. The back doors and windows are in.

051209backofthehouse


The weeks leading up to Christmas are going to be crazy, and my kitchen won't be done until January sometime. But it's all good.

Open Day, happy day

Yesterday was Open Day at Moo's school.

Even though I know what goes on at school, I always enjoy looking through the classrooms to see the work that the children do throughout the year. These photos are just from Mollie's class, Big Kindy.


openday1



openday2



openday3



openday4



openday5



openday6



openday7



openday8



openday9



openday10



openday11



openday12



openday14



openday13

Friday, December 4, 2009

Embroidery thread - all the colours of the rainbow and more

My friend, Tas, is getting a new sewing/embroidery machine for Christmas.  I told her that I'd make a list of my threads for her.  I thought if I was doing that for her, I might as well share with everyone.



embthreads

When I first bought my embroidery module, I was overwhelmed with the choice of thread colours.  I think it can be hard to figure out what you will use if you haven't already been doing it.  My friend, Lis, suggested for each colour to have a light, dark and medium.  I used this principle plus a few other ideas when originally selecting my colours.  Some other things to think about about are if you are embroidering people, you need skin tones and hair colours.  If you are doing animals (deer and hedgies!), you need browns.  This would be why I seem to have a large number of browns, and we all know by now that I am not a big brown girl.

The threads listed below are Isacord.  I decided to buy Isacord because I know it's considered a good thread, and I had a good source from where to buy them. The descriptions are mine, and are not the actual thread colour name. 


Colour number
my description
Most used
0015
white
*
0020
black
*
0108
silvery grey

0124
light grey

0132
medium grey – pewter
*
0142
light grey

0600
yellow
*
0640
Flax – good for blonde hair
*
0651
light tan

0660
vanilla
*
0700
golden yellow
*
1123
light brown

1134
medium reddish brown
*
1154
medium brown

1220
light orange

1300
orange
*
1342
brown

1346
medium/dark brown

1355
medium brown

1362
light peach

1366
dark brown

1800
red
*
1902
red

2101
Red – blue red

2155
light pink
*
2171
pale pink

2220
bright pink

2300
dark pink
*
2363
light pink

2508
fuschia pink
*
2532
medium pink
*
2620
medium pink

2640
lilac/orchid

2900
dark purple

2910
medium purple
*
3130
light purple

3554
navy

3611
royal blue

3830
light blue

3900
medium blue

4103
Turquoise – deep

4220
Turquoise – medium
*
4240
light turquoise
*
4531
deep turquoise

4703
gray

5411
green

5415
dark green

5610
light green
*
5613
medium bright green

5912
lime green
*
5934
olive green


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

I'm not a quilter

but a lovely friend on Crafty Mamas is having a baby.  She asked if we would like to make quilt squares that she would make into a quilt.  Here is my contribution.
rainbowsquares

I actually made six squares. That is what I ended up with after I sliced up the rainbow strip that I pieced together.

I hope to resize and upload some house pictures to share soon. We've had issues with roof tilers not showing up. It makes me want to use very foul language. This isn't the builders fault. Anyway, happy snaps soon...after I finish these last couple of custom orders.