The miniature room is finished

My room started out with the thought of it being a lounge room. I think it has turned into an elegant sewing room! I bought a chaise lounge for it today but it is too big; it will go into the doll house. There is now a second cat, which gives my first cat something to pounce on. They both look about to play. 

I am now thinking about what is going to go into my dollhouse, I chose the carpet for the bedroom and tiles for the bathroom today. I want to have an open kitchen / dining room so am thinking about polished boards. The parquetry flooring was nice but maybe to dark, I'll have another look at it next time I go. I'm undecided with the other rooms; plenty of time to decide.

Caturday

What else was there to see?

I could probably have spent all day in the Arts, Crafts and Cookery pavilion but there was so much more.

Dressage

Sheep shearing

Animals

All the fun at the fair

On Tuesday my friend V and I went to the Royal Melbourne show. We watched, with a mixture of delight and horror, people on crazy rides like this one:-

Yarn bombing was everywhere, around poles, bicycles, a tractor but I think this was the best one. 

Imagine my delight

Last Saturday I arrived at the Needlework Tapestry Guild to sew with my friends for the afternoon. I was greeted with "Congratulations". My tapestry piece won first in the "Novice Tapestry" section at the Royal Melbourne Show.

Here it is in situ where I saw it on Tuesday

Caturday at the town house

This is boring! Open the box.

What is this?

Are you crazy?

I have my townhouse!

More accurately I have my doll house / townhouse kit.

Together, I and my two friends H and D went to The Doll House shop. D wisely took along his trolley. The box is now lying on the couch waiting for me to unpack and check that I have all the pieces. When it is finished it will look something like this. Inside it has eight rooms, two are in the attic, and there is staircase to each level. 

This lovely clock also came home with me to go into my miniature room.

On my walk today.

It may have been cold and damp but there were sttill more trees showing their spring colours. I saw the first roses today, a bit bedraggled with the rain but pretty nonetheless. My rosebushes have buds but no blooms in flower yet.  

Amber Waves

Over the weekend I finished the first pattern in 'Amber Waves'. 

The next step is to stitch the grid lines; which have to be accurately counted!

Sewing Machine & Treasure Chest

I went to The Doll House today to buy a sewing machine for my miniature room. 

Then I spotted this, a chest full of tiny treasures. 

I might keep it to go in the dollhouse.

(they aren't red, they're a mahogany brown)

Caturday

Mumu cow

My brother brought me home a mumu cow mug from Geneva. It's quite cute and the shop had put it into a brightly coloured paper bag. J gave it to me last night when we had tea together, chatted about his trip  and looked at his photos together. It was a very pleasant evening.

For a precious baby

These were so much fun to knit. The pattern is adapted from 'Bonnets and Bootees' by Cleckheaton. I found the little top-not was easier to knit as an I-cord rather than 6 stitches on a set of 4 needles. The crotchet flower is a freebie I found on the net. 

Caturday

A friend sent this to me. It's the feline version of "Where's Wally". In the picture there is a grey and white cat. Can you find it? The only hint I will give is that you are looking for the whole cat, not just its tail or its head. Have fun finding it and don't give away the answer to others.

Happy dance

A big thank you to Bob, the framer. I picked up my tapestry this morning and he has done a wonderful job with the framing. It's now all packaged up to be delivered to the Royal Melbourne Show next week.

There's no photo of it today as its under wraps until it has been judged. So just to make the page pretty here's another photo from my walks!

Furnishing the miniature room

I've begun to furnish the miniature room. For some reason the mat won't sit flat and it looks like the cat is about to dive under it. It's definitely what my Emma Lou would do! I've just placed it under some heavy books to see if that will help.

I decided the vases needed to sit on a runner or doily so rummaged through my lace stash and found a flower shape that makes a nice doily on the fireplace mantle. A length of lace works as a runner on the side table. 

Caturday

I looked up from what I was doing when I heard the sound of a cat kneading...

Ollie, that's my hand knitted mohair wrap that you have decided to turn into your blanket!

Shhh! Can you keep a secret?

I found the cutest pattern to knit and embroider. I bought the wool yesterday and today I went to Bustles and Bows to buy the embroidery wool. What is my project? Ah, that would give away the surprise but here is what I have bought. 

I was also looking for a birthday present, which I found, but whilst browsing I saw another embroidery project that will make a gorgeous birthday present. It is simple crewel embroidery that I can do and the birthday is far enough into the future for me to have it finished in time. No, there's no picture, you'll have to wait until its finished!