To Lavender, Bare Feet and Picnics at the Beach

After a long and arduous week, 10 month old Eve Lily and I are proud to announce the arrival of TWO new pearly whites. FINALLY!

 

So to celebrate this fine achievement, Evie slept a total of SIX HOURS today, giving us all a well earned rest and that wonderful feeling you get when you know that something awful is finally over (till the next teeth)!
 My reward for several days without sleep was a day at the sewing machine. (Well, who wants to go to bed when you can sew?)

Before the onslaught this week, I had started madly sorting through my huge mess of a scrap bin, cutting and sewing 2.5" strips together according to colour, and cutting them into large triangles because all my drawstring play mats had sold out within 2 weeks of opening shop! I've been so excited by this response because I love them too!

Rachel, over at Stitched in Color is hosting a competition called "Celebrate Color" to welcome Autumn to the Northern side of the globe. Here in Sunny Newcastle, Australia, we're just starting to enjoy wearing t-shirts, playing outside without shoes on, going to the beach for picnic dinners and watching the iris' and lavender come into bloom in my garden. So, to celebrate the 'in-between' seasons, a time of mildness, fresh air, bare skin and colour, I made this happy colour wheel.

 For those who have dropped in for the first time (welcome!), this is a drawstring play mat. A funky shoulder bag steps into a phone booth and becomes a fun, hexagon quilt! (We like alter egos around here.) Use it to carry your toys to playgroup, a picnic to the beach, or to rest your head under a big red autumn tree and read a book in the park.

 I loved the way my old stash of Anna Maria Horner fabrics went with my new acquisition of "Children at Play" by Sarah Jane, finished off perfectly with Joel Dewberry's "Ginseng" for the bag. I used soft cotton wadding and machine stitched around the hexagon's lines.
 

 Celebrate Color includes a competition to enter colourful handmade goods. You should duck over and see the beautiful things other people are making in autumn colours. In the next few days, five top entrants will be shortlisted for people to vote for their favourite. (Ooh, I can't wait!)

 This funky bag/play mat is now available in my shop!