peony

peony, originally uploaded by mosswoodstudio.

For a little Friday cheer amongst yet more rain, I thought I'd share my peony. My VERY FIRST home grown peony! I think I like their blowsiness and ruffles far more than I like roses. A pity that they take some time to mature and aren't terribly prolific. Oh well, I guess some things are just worth the wait.

Composition Book Grey

It's been many a week since I last blogged. School holidays and work seem to have taken over my life until just this week. Spring was here briefly and now seems to have completely disappeared.

However, one consolation was this parcel of wool that I ordered to knit an abalone. I knit from time to time because I love the tactile quality of the craft and the beauty of the fibre. This wool has me enraptured!

It's silky soft quality and smoky colours give me pleasure every time I pick it up and hold it in my hands. Madelinetosh yarns "Composition Book Grey". It's my new favourite colour and it seems wherever I look I find this lovely smokey grapey colour that I cannot get enough of.

I stumbled across some beautiful homes this morning via Vosges.Paris , and these images are taken of the home of Tine Kjeldsen of Tine K Home. So much lovely grey and white with splashes of purple and grape.

Isn't it great to feel inspired again? I have even dragged out the dreaded curtains to finish before the in-laws arrive.....

Curtains Up

So here are the curtains! I promise never ever to unpick or change them again. What seemed so simple an option turned out to take ages and be something of a headache....when you pull things apart they don't always fit back together quite how you hoped......

They do look better though and I get to see more of that beautiful DG tulip fabric now that it sits higher. It's only taken me 10+ years to find exactly the right use for it! I 'm pretty chuffed with the inverted pleat heading and the lining gives them some extra body. I used two pairs of unbleached Ikea Aina curtains for the main fabric (unpicked and reworked..)

So the tulips are in place for Spring and I can lie in bed and admire them.

birthday limoges

birthday limoge, originally uploaded by mosswoodstudio.

What could be better than a bunch of hellebores and a new limoges cup to add to the collection?
Thank you to my lovely Mum and sister who are always so thoughtful.

spring, baby

Where have the last 2 weeks gone? The needs of children have seemed to take all my spare time. It's not a resentment on my behalf, more just an acknowledgement that sometimes you just have to down tools and be there for them. Especially when they are going through some personal struggles. Growing up isn't any easier for them it seems, than it was for me. Same issues.

To top that little chapter of life off, I have inched closer to some sort of maturity myself. Another birthday celebrated on Saturday. Yes, I am a true Spring baby. Spring sends me dizzy with excitement. Warm breezes and little wonders of the garden popping up out of hibernation every day. Less layers of clothes. More daylight. Energy.

I woke up to the rain and lay in bed looking at gentle light and mist. Beautiful girls clambered onto my bed in excitement to watch me unwrap presents. So much thought and care went into their choices. Thank you my love for the beautiful gift of so many stories that I can carry everywhere in my Kindle. I will never be without a book. Bliss.

Coffee and cake at Sturt Cafe and a trip past this tree to the gallery, to look at the work of talented artisans. I walked out again with a beautiful necklace to remember the day. I couldn't have found such a perfect piece had I been looking for it.

I am very thankful to be right here, right now.

Linen

Amidst a week of activity; school netball grand finals, work and play, I decided to alter the bedroom curtains. I initially made ground sweeping beauties from Ikea Aina linen panels, unpicked and sewn with a hand pleated heading and a border of Designers Guild fabric that I had carried around for over 10 years. Finally, as I was about to pass this fabric on, I realised it was a perfect for our bedroom. The beautiful cobalt blue giving the donkey coloured walls that little touch of excitement. The two linens met remarkably well and all was happy.

Unfortunately, we somehow managed to trip over the folds and an inconveniently placed heating vent was cause for a fire hazard. So, I decided they needed to be raised. Like so many great ideas, the execution takes so much longer than the thought.....

The panels have been removed, (unpicking taking ages!), the curtains shortened and now they have to be re-attached with the trim on top. So close to the end. It will be worth it!

Knitting

I finished this shawl several weeks ago but needed a decent photo.

Such a lovely pattern! Everything I need in knitting: fast, interesting and lovely to touch.

You can find the Pattern on Ravelry here and the wool is Sublime Baby Cashmere. Cashmere and silk - beautiful.

Have started another in cotton in anticipation of the warmer weather....

Hope everyone has a great week!

yellow smock

yellowsmock2, originally uploaded by mosswoodstudio.

As I look at this photo of a yellow dress against a grey wall with a piece of liberty at the neck, it's hard to see what's wrong.
No visions of Vicars are floating past.
Maybe it's the colour against my skin.
Maybe I need to alter the pattern more.
Am I ready to pull it all apart and start again tomorrow?...

Alice

pdolls3, originally uploaded by mosswoodstudio.

paper dolls

pdolls, originally uploaded by mosswoodstudio.

I was lucky enough to have a weekend in the city recently. A good friend offered to have the children and our hotel was gratis. So, I spent a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon wandering around Surry Hills. These shots are the window display at paper2. Isn't it beautiful?

I loved paper dolls as a child and spent hours cutting out the clothes and swapping them around. No, I didn't puchase any of these, but what lovely eye candy.

The Victorian looking Alice in Wonderland characters are my favourite.

voila!

"I want to make you this dress", I said.

The little one replied, "only if I can choose my own fabric".

So we searched through the cupboard and this was what she chose.

In many ways it couldn't be a more obvious choice, and yet it is so perfect.

The end of roll piece I picked up some time ago when on sale.

Sweet Suzanne is now complete.

Just waiting for sun to shine so we can go out to play.

the smocks.....

What is so seductive about these sweet little patterns? I could barely contain my excitement when a package arrived from Paris.

Suddenly they are flooding blog space. I first saw them on itty bitty's blog and also here. I have had a few issues with the French translation and thought the diagrams would be enough. The lack of finishing instructions has been a bit of a challenge.

So you will have to wait a little longer for the real thing to appear! Not far off....

This is Albertine. I ran up an adult version for myself yesterday and the children just shook their head. One daughter told me it looked like something the Vicar of Dibley would wear. So back to a few alterations and resizing ( I have discovered that they are a bit notorious for being larger than stated on the pattern)

For more beautiful and totally French images go to Citronille.

for the love of liberty

My little package of liberty fabrics has arrived! I've fallen in love with their designs all over again and look forward to using them in ways that are not quite so Laura Ashley 1980's......

Those little "screams" to the right will really deserve some special place, don't you think? They are almost subversive.

The online service from Calico & Ivy is fabulous. Their range of designs is extensive (making it very hard to choose) and they express post.

Mmmm, some will definitely be binding those French smocks I'm dying to make - when I finish some of the other projects ;) x

welcome to mosswood

How exciting to be starting my very first blog with such a beautiful image!

I cannot think of a better way to represent the essence of what I hope this blog can contribute.

The artist responsible is Valerie Roberts from Daylesford, Victoria. Valerie and her husband Roger have just opened a studio and gallery at their property. They recently had an opening and this sold straight away. Not surprising.

For those of you who have admired Valerie's other work, you may want to take a look at this. It is called "Road to Creswick". A little hard to quite capture it's detail in this photograph.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and thank you so much for taking the time to visit.