Isla's Unicornia Quilt {Progress} || Pattern by Claire Turpin Designs

I can't explain how thrilled I am to see how this border worked out! I'm a terrible procrastinator at the best of times - but that's when I have lots of great options and I can't pick my favourite. This time, I couldn't find a single print that I liked! I found the blocks to be so busy and colourful that nothing seemed to match. And my other battle was that I had originally planned on making Isla a more pastel/quieter quilt compared to her last rainbow triangle quilt. I fell in love with the gorgeous border on Claire's original - it's a white fabric with tiny grey dots. See it here. Claire had used it throughout the quilt blocks and then on the borders, and it balances the design so beautifully. I followed the same direction using a white with grey words in the same blocks, but it just didn't work as a border! 

So, I ditched my pastel ideas and chose that stunning Plummy Metallic print by Cotton And Steel, purchased from Carols of Midland. It is the opposite of pastel, don't you think? I can't help myself, and it just looks perfect in her room against her Liberty bedhead (see first pics above).

Useful Links

Unicornia Quilt Pattern by Claire Turpin Designs 

Fabrics from Carols of Midland 

Liberty fabrics from The Strawberry Thief and Materialise Your Life 

Rhapsody Dolls from Rhapsody and Thread 

Polka Dot Cloud pillow from Kmart 

Unicorn Painting by Courtney King 

Dream Even Bigger banner by Zilvi 

Liberty Bow Garland by Rhapsody and Thread 

Unicorn banner by Little Olive and Co 

Mirror Name by Arlo and Co

Isla's Unicornia Quilt {Progress} || Pattern by Claire Turpin Designs

Sewing the blocks together today was a tiny bit stressful as I made a couple of mistakes when cutting (whoops). And I had forgotten to add a butterfly - see the last picture?! Isn't she pretty?

But easily fixed and overall the blocks look amazing! I love how the colours compliment each other so perfectly.

This pattern is Claire Turpin Designs > Unicornia Quilt.

Liberty fabrics are from Materialise Your Life and The Strawberry Thief.

Remaining fabrics are from Carols Of Midland.

Now to join the blocks!!!

Isla's Unicornia Quilt {Progress} || Pattern by Claire Turpin Designs

Half way through the appliqué and I can't decide if I love the unicorns or the rainbows more! Adding the eyes to the unicorns has added personality too.

Just keep going, just keep going...

Unicornia Quilt Pattern || Claire Turpin Designs

 

NEW Unicornia Quilt Pattern by Claire Turpin Designs

I couldn't resist this gorgeous new quilt pattern "Unicornia" by Claire Turpin Designs. 

Isla is cah-razy about unicorns. You might remember the Unicorn Doll I made her last year. Here's a link to that post. So adorable... I may have even made her another one a couple of weeks ago... Eep!

Of course I didn't factor in what a huge project this would be as I don't make a lot of quilts. Well actually, I've only ever made two. Both for Isla. And I cringe when I think about taking off the last one that I worked so hard on, but the look on her face is just going to make all of that worthwhile.

Stay tuned!

xxT

Liberty Backpack for Isla

So my baby girl, who is now three and not a baby anymore, started pre-kindy this year! Unbelievable. I'm still coming to grips with the realisation that she's growing up so fast, and spending most of two days a week with people I don't know. So I wanted a project to keep my mind distracted and I wanted to make something for her. I originally had thought I'd make her a library bag, but that's not the case now - for two reasons. Firstly, I now know that they don't visit the library at this age. And second, it's so beautiful that I'm not ready to let it out of the house!! So I've hung it in Isla's room to enjoy it and only bring it down when Isla wants to be a turtle and carry her unicorns around on her back.

 

So, I hunted for a pattern and remembered a really fun backpack pattern on The Purl Bee Blog a while back. Click here for link to pattern. I adapted the pattern in three ways. I personalised it with felt letters on the front. I swapped nylon chord for braided chord, and for this reason I had to double the height of the channel pieces and holes at the base to fit the bigger size of the braid.

 

Next, I dug out a piece of Liberty Lifestyle fabric, Bloomsbury Gardens Collection - print name Catherine (purchased years ago at Calico & Ivy). I chose this heavier weight fabric for strength and durability. Then, I found a matching spotted fabric for the lining (no idea where from as it's been around for ages). The bright pink felt is a rectangle that came with an unused Mollie Makes magazine project. And I got the gorgeous pink braid from Spotlight. I went looking for the nylon chord and came home with that instead. Happens a lot.

I vliesofixed the back of the felt and cut Isla's name out. I just hand-sketched the letters (backwards).

My favourite part is hand-stitching. I picked purple to provide a good contrast. My poor fingers and thumb were shredded from pushing and pulling through such stiff felt - but it was worth it. There's nothing more personal than hand-stitched letters, and the stiffer felt holds itself up really well. So I'm still happy with the choice of felt.

 

I didn't get any photos of the construction stage. The pattern was fantastic. So easy to follow and great big pictures helped me to work out what I had to do. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't as simple as Corinne's job, because I grabbed the braid instead of the chord. The braid was thicker - which meant that I had to remake larger channels and cut the holes at the base larger to squeeze the braid in. I also found that the braid doesnt slide as smoothly as a nylon braid would through the channels. But the backpack is still completely functional and looks fantastic!

 

Job well done xx For Isla Skye xx

 

For more pictures of Isla's backpack and her gorgeously bright Liberty-filled bedroom, pop over to my personal Instagram account @Rhapsodyland.

 

Tutorial Tuesday --> Make Rainbow Coloured Rice In 3 Easy Steps!

I just knew that Isla would love something like rainbow rice. She is such a busy beaver and loves playing with containers and water and most things she shouldn't. And rice would normally fit into that category - you know the category of "get out of the pantry, there is nothing in there for you!". But I must admit that rice is pretty harmless and although usually very messy like sand (I hate sand) - when coloured like a rainbow, I'm suddenly not as concerned about the mess!

Who doesn't love a rainbow mess?

So I thought I would make a huge batch to play with AND use in pots as table decorations at the kids double birthday bash! I got help from this great blog: Learn With Play At Home. The link is here.

I followed the ratio of 1 tbsp vinegar to 1 cup of rice, and even the advice of doing a mass batch of 4 tbsp vinegar plus 4 cups rice. But there wasn't a suggestion about how much food colouring, so I'm sharing mine.

My magic formula is: 1 tsp colour + 4 tbsp white vinegar + 4 cups white rice = coloured rice!

I was going to make 5 colours, but decided to leave out the red so that the pink really stood out. So my rainbow consisted of pink, green, blue, and yellow. My inspiration was Peppa Pig - Isla's favourite tv character and the theme for the kids birthday party!

So here is my interpretation for a beautiful pot of pink/green/blue/yellow rainbow rice!

Tutorial Tuesday: How To Make Rainbow Coloured Rice In 3 Easy Steps

All you will need

Ingredients List:

• Food colouring (approx. 1 tsp of each colour, and remember - bottled colour gives brighter colours than the combo packs)
• White vinegar (approx. 4 tbsp/80ml x 4 batches = 320ml)
• Long white grain rice (I used approx. 200g per piled-up-cup and my batches were 4 cups per colour. So 200g x 4 cups x 4 colours = .... hmmm let me ask my calculator ;oP ... 3.2kg! You might use less but a big 5kg bag of Homebrand long grain rice is only about $7 I think. And the leftovers would make a great apricot chicken casserole!

Utensils List:

• Baking paper (wet rice can stick to other surfaces like alfoil and definitely to paper towel!)
• Clip seal bags (the bigger the better for the bigger batches and to prevent popping colour everywhere)
• Measuring cups and spoons (you'll need a '1 cup', a teaspoon, and a tablespoon)
• Gloves and apron, protective glasses and a tent (I'm just kidding - but all would be very handy if you're as clumsy as me ;o)

3 Simple Instructions:

1. Combine ingredients in a clip-seal baggie.

I opened and spread a clip seal bag so that it sat open for me to just pour in the ingredients.

For each big batch of colour, I added the magic formula: 1 tsp colour + 4 tbsp vinegar + 4 cups rice.

2. Seal bag well and smoosh.

WARNING: Be Gentle/Careful/Cautious!!!!!

And don't wear anything precious - or better yet, wear an apron!

I thought I was a pro and started super-smooshing and ended up with yellow rice e v e r y w h e r e !

Thankfully it was only yellow rice and I wasn't wearing anything fabulous.

Smooshing in progress

3. Pour rice out evenly on baking paper to air-dry.

Depending on the climate, the rice should only take 3-4 hours to dry but if you have time then leave each batch overnight.

Drying rice

Once dry, I poured my batches in to pots that I was using as table decorations at the party - to be sure that I had enough rice. I made MUCH more than I recommended for this tutorial because I needed about 10 pots for tables... and I wanted to have some for Isla to play with ;) Of course!

My potted colour!

As you can see, Isla was desperate to get to the bowls and mix them up for me.

So I popped her up on the table to help and she LOVED IT!

Pour in and mix!

She mixed them up for me and I threw her Peppa critters in there.

She loved covering them with rice and digging them out again.

Peppa and friends playing hide and seek in the rice!

So that was my big batch of rainbow rice made for the party.

And I let her play with the leftovers :)

It was a lot of fun.

I hope you give this a try and your kids have just as much fun! You could even get them involved in the making depending on their age. I know I was too scared to let Isla near the colour or vinegar (for obvious reasons) but she loved pouring the cup of rice into the bag. The great thing is that the measurements don't have to be specific so the kids can get as much in the bag as they can. And they can even help with the GENTLE smooshing of the bag... maybe you should hold the sealed end and close your eyes and hope for the best!

Good luck!!

 

To Isla, On Your Second Birthday

To my beautiful Isla Skye,

Today you turned two and although that might not seem like a lot to some people, to me it means a lot. Every day you amaze me and to look back on the past 2 years, I just can't believe how much you have grown. I know that sounds cheesy because I'll probably say that every year. But it will be true every year. And I have no doubt that you will continue to amaze me every year that you grow brighter and stronger and more beautiful.

This past year has been a whirl-wind. First and without much warning you welcomed a baby brother.

Soon after, you gave up your favourite mode of travel (speed-crawling) and learned how to walk and talk.

You learned how to be a big sister.

And you tried new foods.

You had your 2nd Christmas.

And your 2nd Cake Smash.

And today, you had your 2nd birthday.

I'm so proud of you.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Every day is a new day when you tell me or show me something new that you have learned. Even when I catch you doing something you know you shouldn't. When you look up at me and you sheepishly say "hello mum". Those two words are more precious to me than you know at the moment while you're learning how to talk. You probably won't ever remember so I'll tell you that it was only 3 nights ago that I tucked you into bed and you took your dummy out of your mouth (a momentous task) and put your hands on my cheeks and said "I love you mummy". It was really precious because a) you rarely take your dummy out of your mouth once you have it, and b) for so long you have only whispered the words after I have asked/begged/told you to say it. In that moment I felt more like your mummy than I ever have before.

Yesterday I was reminded of how little time we have had with you and how lucky we would be to have the rest of our lives. It was at the supermarket. You were asleep in the pram (I have no idea how you slept through all that noise!) and Logan was charming a lovely lady in the line for the checkout. She asked your ages and I told her about your birthdays tomorrow. Later she wished you both a happy 1st and 2nd birthday and told us that her babies were in their 50's now. And she was shaking her head, grateful I'm sure for the years and the memories. And as your dad and I walked back to the car, we were reminded again of how lucky we are to have you and how lucky we would feel to have the next 48 years and more with you.

You are so cherished my baby girl xx Love Mumma