It's been a while!!

It's been a while since I last blogged, after I completed kcw and my sewing machine decided it needed a service that was it! It's been in the shop since and I finally get to pick it up this afternoon! YAY! I misjudged how much I would miss sewing these last couple weeks. I strived to put my energy into something else like cleaning or cooking, the cleaning? ha not that it helped at all, the house

Looks the same as it usually does! And cooking? It actually went well! The boys have been on a gluten and lactose free diet for the last 6 months, and I'm finally actually cooking most of it from scratch!

I've successfully made rainbow bread, sultana bread, (and they taste like normal bread- oh but more delicious!) chocolate cakes, sausage rolls and pies! In the past I have done a little here and there and since the boys were born I haven't cooked many family meals! Afternoons are routines, we play outside, we come inside for dinner bats an bed, there isn't time of day to cook in that with 4 kiddies! So, mum (and sometimes my hubby) do most of it! I'm so greatful for my mum who lives downstairs! She works at Ellarys school and does the school morning routines and comes home with the kiddies and then makes us all dinner (except the boys dinner which I do because of the special dietary needs) speaking of special diets, we had blood tests a few weeks ago, did I mention that? I'm not sure, oh well. The tests came back and we went to see the doctor, he was not for coming with the test results and told me there was no magic pill to 'fix' my kids! Gah! He rattled off some numbers saying allergies will show higher than a 1000 counters in an igA! I did some research and it wasn't the right numbers for the boys age group which made me really question it further, the doctor (who isn't our usual gp) shut down the test result pages just as quick as he opened them but I got to see Roos count was at an 8. I'm not a doctor but from my research his count was below normal range and if at their age they had got a count of 1000 it would basically mean they were allergic to absolutely everything edible and probably everything not! Long story short we need a new doctor! Yesterday Juju had an episode of horrible reactions, the chemist and nurse confirmed it was a reaction that caused his stomachs acids not to break down and he ended up (TMI) pooing acids and had an acid burn rash which is apparently common with gluten and lactose allergies! His face the came up in hives

and he got the shock shakes and passed out! It wasn't very nice :/ so cooking is a must in our house now, although the boys would live on rice noodles, crackers, bananas, grapes and gf spaghetti from a can if I let them! They do need variety and to attempt new things as their texture preference allows!

Back to sewing- I have many things cut and ready to go- you didn't think I could leave my sewing room completely alone did you!? Gosh no! I have a hand stamped t shirt, a cot tidy and a party dress all cut ready to go, and a few fix it jobs that are piling up- who likes them anyway! ha.

(my new fabric challenge bundle!)

So, sorry I have been absent and sorry for my rant on allergies and doctors lol, I will be back with some more sewing projects soon, and a couple of tutorials and patterns too :) next post will be up tomorrow with a crochet project- tutorial/pattern for a toddlers cowl scarf! Sneak peak- Roo was gardening - he likes the mint :) 

hauck alpha high chair cover

I know its not exactly a tute, but shh. (and there is a link to a "how to") When I entered the world of blogging I was searching for this! A pattern or a tutorial to make a cover or seat padding for my highchairs. You know that inevitable and cute moment your baby falls asleep in the highchair and you just absolutely have to take photos before carefully trying to take them out to out them somewhere more comfortable and safe, without waking them? This was it, I ran (tippy toed quietly) to get my camera! Haha, unsure why I tried to be quiet, I had been using the blender to make baby food while he was happily watching... Until he crashed out. So really if he could fall asleep while I used the noisiest machine in the house, then he couldn't possibly wake to anything! So anyway after taking a couple of happy snaps....
(insert cute pic of sleeping baby in highchair) 

.... and taking him to his cot to further rest up I got back to tossing fruits and veges in the blender and got to thinking... How uncomfortable that chair must be, we got it for function, easily cleaned, grows with them etc, not for looks or really even for comfort, but why not? Especially when the boys seemed to like being in them to watch us on our level, even when not being fed! So with that I finished up preparing food and packing the freezer and got online searching, a couple days on and off searching turned up nothing appropriate to suit our highchair, there was originally a company that did make them to fit but I couldn't find them anywhere anymore so I had to try something myself. That's motivating enough. But what I did find was this with a basic run down about making your own high chair pattern SO I got out a roll of wrapping paper and cut it roughly to size of the chair back and seat, placed it in the seat and marked where the edges were and also where the centre belt was, I folded it in half to make sure it was symetrical and cut it out to fit the marks and tried it again to be sure! Success! I grabbed my wrapping paper pattern and went to work! I used polyester wadding and fabric on either side, I ran a couple of lines diagonally through to quilt the layers together, made my first button holes in each for the seatbelts and then added bias trim, it was my first attempt at using bias and I had no idea what to do with it haha. Wearing my Learners license I just folded it over both edges and ran the sewing machine around it, wow how silly was I! It worked but I felt very silly when I found Dana from danamadeit; she shows the RIGHT way to do it! (she is wonderful isn't she, makes everything so easy to understand) I machine sewed (is that right?) lengths of bias to use as ties on both front and back, long enough to tie around seat and around the back. I used just cotton so I could machine wash, I had put laminate aside to make another set with but decided against it, machine washable was better for us as you can probably imagine.

 

 The first one I made was the 2 pieces and the second was one piece, I think the second worked better. If I did it again I would use sew on Velcro for top and bottom and stick on Velcro in the same size  for the chair to anchor it better, with the ties it did move a bit when putting them in and out. We stopped using our covers only a couple months ago because we started having to fuss with seatbelt a instead, thanks to Mr Roo becoming a climber!
Now just to update you on my research, I did find that target sells the seat padding (in america) and also a few other companies that have websites in different languages. So if you are in one of places that do have them -good for you! if not, good luck. the above link to the how to is shown on a different highchair but the concept is the same, if you have trouble getting the right pattern pieces to fit let me know and I (may) be able to try scanning mine.

Saturday Share

Ok attempt 2 at posting, Gr at blogging bugs! Ok I'll make it quick, seeing as Ive spent the last half hour typing up a big post only for it to have all disappeared, leaving me a nice little pop up with an error code, oh joy!
I'm sharing my 1st queen size quilt, only my third ever, my first was a simple panel and backing bassinet size, my second was a pieced top and back and still only a small size so this is huge! unsure how my little low range brother machine did it, but i gave it a work out and its survived! this project was a special one, my sisters my daughter and i planned this one together, in secret, we all picked our favourite blue and white fabrics, and split the costs. i spent a couple of nights up later picture messaging my sister (who lives 6 hours away) about piece placement for the top, eventually we settled on the right way and she told me to go to bed ha ha. another few late nights later and another of my younger sisters came to keep me company while i basted the quilt, she spent a lot of time stuck in her phone of course but she was company :) my daughters didn't know what the project actually was, up until they helped me wrap it, and i bargained away any hint giving or telling Mumma about it or they would lose Christmas, it worked, mum was not onto us! my youngest sister didn't even see it until Christmas day when mum unwrapped it! so here it is

You will notice it is on the bed sideways, it is summer and so it is all but a decoration for this season but I'm sure it was be so cosy when the weather dictates the need to actually use it.

My son Roo, just had to have a sticky beak.

Ok so the quilt is 8" squares, 8 squares across and 10 high, the batting is beautiful bamboo cotton blend more bamboo than cotton. the back not pictured, is a light blue jacquard cotton thick weave, the binding is straight cut pieced single fold, the top is pieced from lincraft fabrics, a few kaufman, and a couple of fillers from my stash, and even a lovely Japanese print we were given by an exchange student a few years ago. the throw cushions are the same, matching fabrics, the pinwheely type, ( you can find the tutorial I adapted from Here at moda bake shop) is 16 pieces, a yo yo and a button in the centre, I didn't add piping to mine, simply because it isn't a large cushion and had enough going on already. I love it! the other is a cover, (zippered!) size 16 insert. i love the lace detail.

So what do you think?
My next quilt is in progress now, its a single size, has to be done by Friday (apparently I'm a sucker for deadlines pushing me)  for the birthday girl! my little girl will be 4!