Sew Wednesday...

Well I am considering myself lucky to have been able to stop indoors for most of the day, dodging the rain storms and listening to the howling gales outside.  With power, heating and plenty of tea and biscuits, I had a pretty good sewing day.

After dropping the kids at school, I stopped by the little village newsagents, and re-arranged their displays a bit, Love Patchwork & Quilting 5 is in the shops from today...

Then the sewing.  Sadly it was of the secretive kind.  I have February's Brit Bee border additions made, and because Susan is such a super-speedy star in the round before me, I am already 1/2 way through March's with all fabric cut.  I made the siggie I had forgotten for her under-wraps Stitch Tease month and have just sussed out what I am meant to be doing for Siblings Together, so that's a job for tomorrow.

What I can show you though are the two blocks I made last night for Bee Blessed...

Aren't these blocks superb!?  I'm sure Sarah and Judith wouldn't say no if you wanted to spread the love and contribute a couple too!

PS. To all my West Country friends, stay safe, warm and dry.  xxx

Mini Makers...

Today we finally got down to making the first things from Santa's book.

So now we have a pompom hairband, and a little pet-monster...

The book has really inspired the girls to get sewing, although there were plenty of 'oh can you do that bit' moments.  I would recommend the book for first-time stitchers, there are bags, and gadget cases (for kids who don't have gadgets!), as well as doll quilts and bigger.

The projects in the book potentially have a lot of unfinished/pinked edges and things that would niggle me, but I am happy for the girls to be happy with them.

I just spotted that I won Reene's scrappy giveaway, woo hoo, and I got a lovely delivery, that I have realised didn't get the picture treatment, so that's Sunday's post sorted then!

S-S-S-Saturday!

Super, smashing, sun-fuelled, sewing-filled and smiley Saturday.

All the cleaning and washing stuff completed nice and early; hubby took the kids to town, something to do with birthday shopping I believe, and that left me to sew in peace and quiet with the conservatory doors flung wide open.

So I now have 5 out of 7 June Bee blocks made.

That's two nice quick and easy Woven blocks for Bee Blessed...

Two not so quick, but still easy blocks for Katy in Stitch Tease, paper-pieced flying geese and an AMH-esque feather...

And the first of 2 stars for Brit Bee honey Terri...

After those, I sat in the sun and sorted some teeny scraps for my entry into Jennifer's Modern Mini Challenge; I made a mini already for the bloghop, but it just doesn't feel or look like me, so I am having another go...

And more blog hopping, I whipped up a little yellow pepper from Patchwork Please! for me to take to work; I'll get some snaps and show you tomorrow.  Honestly, so simple and I want to make more already!

So that was my day.  Hope you had a good one too xxx

On top of it!

I felt like I had finally caught up with myself by lunchtime today, for the first time in ages.

Girls packed off to the Bluebell Railway on a school trip, (I was meant to be helping, hence my day-off swap, but too many volunteers and not wanting to pay an additional £9 on top of the £37 already paid, I got to stay home); hubby at work, dear son in school and the big yellow sun in the sky. 

The house got a wash and brush up, 3 loads of washing on the line and then I got to sit in the garden, clear down almost 200 emails and listen to Rhonda's new podcast, (honestly, barking as ever!).

I had some stitchery all planned out in my head; but it was so gorgeous outside, and the prospect of a not-quite-so-nice tomorrow, I just relaxed outside, got a bit pink, and enjoyed the silence! 

Oh, I may have purchased this pattern too, you know, for when I have nothing else to make!

This evening I have cracked on with my Patchwork Please! pouch, added a de-constructed pencil case or two, and now I just need to attach the binding tomorrow.

I do have something to show you though, my first blocks made for Stitch Tease II.  Di gave us the low-down on what she'd like here, and this is what I came up with...

I think Di's concept is really lovely, and the quilt will be a beauty.

I also have the latest Brit Bee fabric from Jo in da house, mostly Liberty prints, pre-cut into triangles, and with free reign, I have this sketched out already.

So on with the weekend; whatever you are doing, and whether or not you have a long one to look forward to (!),  make sure you make the most of it xxx

Saturday Stuff...

Today was one of those Saturdays, the house had to be put back into some semblance of order and the level of cleanliness raised somewhere above pigsty; this was followed by traipsing round the supermarket to replenish the sad looking fridge, whilst hubby got to endure a 5th birthday party with the monsters.

I did get my FQ Retreat Name Tag in the mail though, so my partner should be getting that early next week.

Late afternoon I managed a little comfort sewing; I now have half my Precious Retro Flower curves sewn up, and even managed to take a photo between downpours to prove it...

Now you will have to excuse anything untoward about this post, I am using the new Blogger interface for the first time.  I don't like it, but I've have got bored reverting to the old one and nothing is where it should be!

Anyway whilst you're here, please could you make yourself useful and pop over to The Quilting Gallery and vote for a few of my favourite people in the Just Squares & Rectangles Competition...

Krista's Full Circle
Sarah's PictureBox
and t'other Sarah's original Stained Pink.

Pretty please ;) 

I am so glad you can vote for up to 7 entries, and there are loads of others you may wish to consider (but not vote for) too.

Chores done, I should get some more sewing time tomorrow, although I'd like a lie-in that goes all the way to 5pm if that's OK x

Binka and Pearls...

After a stroll to the park, and bit of relaxing in the warm sunshine, it was home via the paper shop, and time to give the girls the talk yesterday.

They are 5, they need to be able to sew now!  They were keen, after I tied the big plastic needles to the thread.  These are going to be a purse and a handbag, apparently...

The mad one.

Hopefully we/they will get them finished during the week, the call of bikes in the garden was too hard to resist after a few rows.

I, on the other hand was able to get my Modern Mini Challenge quilt finished.  There is still something about it that I am just not sure about - it is frustrating me.

There is nothing I shouldn't like, I love all the fabrics and colours, it's just... different to my usual style, and I suppose that was the whole point.  So I will keep looking at it for the next week, then let you and world see what you think.  (That, or I'll whip up another one and forget all about it!).

Just 'cos I felt like it!

Well a lot of frantic pinning to get me in the mood for Christmas, lead me to believe that Felt was definitely the way to go!

So a quick trip to Dizzy Izzy on etsy and today these beauties arrived on the doormat...

I won't apologise for the sunshine glare - it's the first time the mist and fog has cleared since Saturday!

Today I have also spent a couple of hours 'cutting and sticking' at school, doing a big shop at Tesco, joining rows of hexies at ballet and then some really lovely making!

I have only just finished, so no late night pics; you'll just have to hold your horses and wait until tomorrow... hope you'll think it's worth it xxx

Oh and if you are now twiddling your thumbs - head over to Pings' place, she's got one of those giveaways, and I'm only telling you, because I have to!!

Going for Gold!

I hate 'gold' gold! 

Sorry if it is your precious metal of choice - I am more of a platinum girl myself, though white gold and silver are fine by me too.   Don't get me wrong, if anyone has any bullion lying around, I will happily take it off your hands, but when it comes to stitchery-business, it makes me cringe!

I have "Wise Man 1" to dress for the school Nativity, and this went to the top of the Christmas-makes list last night.  So, I have had to put my prejudice to one side...

Eugh!

This evening I have made a rather basic "outfit" - I daren't say 'dress', but you know where I am coming from.

I need the young man to try it on tomorrow so I can see if I have got the side splits long enough, otherwise his 'striding towards the stable' may look more like an inappropriate 'secretary shuffle'.  So I wound my bobbin, but didn't get my teeth into the gold embellishment (dammit) just in case I have a lot of seam ripping to do!

I know I could have gone to Tesco and bought a shiny outfit for a tenner, but you know me and 'the easy route', I keep missing the turning xxx

How old?...

I set to it at full throttle last night, determined to sew a cake in the time it would take someone to make a real one - I, on the other hand like to keep Mr Kipling et.al. busy in the baking department, so all timings are approximate.

So here is what I came up with...

I think it looks pretty good, in a '90 year old lady' kind of way!

I would have liked to have gone more wonky, scrappy and colourful, but it's not for me.

The finished block measures 18" square and I am planning on using one of the other blue florals on the back, with a couple of buttons to close.  I'll bind it in the same print as the top tier.  I need to line this panel as the back is a rather messy, but I am not going to quilt it, as am happy with it as is and don't want to spoil it.

I just need to read up on how to do buttonholes, I know I have the 'contraption' somewhere!

November 5th is my deadline to get it all finished and delivered, so panic over, for now. 

Thank you again for all your help and direction on this one - I hope you think I have cooked up a good 'un.

Flown...

Off they all went, battling the elements on the first day of term! 

There was a little emergency waistband-reduction required just before the off; how can Age 3-4 be too big!?

The girls loved every minute, until home-time, when one book bag was AWOL, which I am generously putting down to first day parental nerves of a mum unable to remember her own child's name after a few hours of separation!  It better be back tomorrow, I can't go through placating a devastated 4 year old for another afternoon!

I got tonnes done in the 3 hours of empty house though; I'll provide photographic evidence tomorrow as long as we don't have to build an Ark overnight!  I had to wear wellies at pick up time, for goodness sake!!!

I have hexie bag and Across The Sea news, and a number of trolleys on my eBay watchlist!  Although today, a rubber dingy would have been more apt!  Roll on tomorrow xx

Monkeying about!

I managed to finish one of the felt toys I cut out yesterday.  My secret commission for the 'ballet brother'.  I hope he likes it!

The recipient is a bit of a funky dude, he's only about 7 but with a gelled mohican and wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt on Saturday, I reckon this shouldn't jeopardize his 'coolness'.

I based him on a pattern I found here, reducing the size, making him out of felt and blanket stitching him together with a little stuffing for good measure.  Finished fella is about 5" top to toe.

One down, a few more to go!

...and I'm back in the room!!

Hello world!  How have you all been?  I will try to drop by your blogs over the next few days to catch up - I bet I've missed loads, and I have missed you loads!

It's been a long couple of weeks, but BT and Virgin finally got their act together, so here I am at long last!

The move went as smoothly as it could despite the torrential rain - the removal guys were great, the money moved around the virtual universe quickly enough for us to have the keys by midday and dear son came home from school just in time to see the last bits being unloaded.  We put the girls in nursery for 'long days' for the move and following day, so they didn't see the house or garden in daylight until the weekend, but they have all adjusted to the mayhem very well!  No-one misses the old house at all, me included.

We are still surrounded by boxes and piles 'to be sorted', but after the months of packing and deadlines, it's quite nice to know that we only need to unpack to keep our sanity, we can take as long as we like.  The fact I have not seen my new iron, or a few other probably quite crucial things since we've been here is a bit of a drag, but we can survive for now.

My urge to get on and make things has been kept in check by utter exhaustion, but I did make a couple of trinket pots for the girls from kits that their great-aunty sent them for Christmas, (not the easiest with a plastic needle provided - but all my bits and bobs remain as yet unsorted!).

I must confess that we were back online yesterday, but there are so many things to buy for the house, that without the internet we were going a bit mad, so surfing for a TV cabinet/sideboard took up most of the evening, with a quick diversion c/o Mandy at Simply Solids for a little shopping spree including an 'Its A Hoot' layer cake to make some bunting for the girls' bedroom.

Some of my lovely things have made it into the open already, and the stained-glass leaves from Dad have taken pride of place in the conservatory and cast the most amazing coloured shadows.

I have received some great mail in the post here already, some unexpected fabric, with the sender's details obliterated by the redirection sticker and my fantastic '40' sign thanks to Benita of Chez Larsson.

We have ordered some furniture from IKEA - some tall white Billy bookcases that would never fit in our car, and some bits for the bedroom, and I spent last Saturday evening putting together a superb Lotus lampshade from Next, which we haven't put up yet, but I'll take a picture when done.

So much to do, and so many (changing) ideas... but it's good to be back!

Even better in reality!

Today we took a trip out to look at another house 'just in case' the one we really want doesn't pan out (ie. the sellers don't get a shifty on and we get fed up waiting and schools need applying for etc etc).  It turned out to be a beautiful house but not in an ideal (but not that bad) location.  We still want the original the most, but with a vacant possession, newly renovated home waiting to be lived in, we have a good contender.

The journey out to Chichester meant that I had to go to The Eternal Maker, it would have been rude not to.  Buying online is one thing, but going in for a 'feel' has got to be better!

So with hubby and children left in the car, I had about 15 minutes to have a look and spend, (OK, maybe I was a little bit longer, judging by the looks on their faces when I came out!).

What a fantastic store!  I could have been in there for days, there was the most wonderful selection of fabrics, buttons and craft items.  There were workshops being held in various corners, and boxes, baskets and shelves of pre-cut FQs, half meters etc, as well as bolts and bolts of glorious fabric and inspiring displays all in organized chaos.  I could have spent an absolute fortune, but I was quite restrained and I only bought some (more) Echino prints and cute Kokka Russian Dolls.

Back home for the afternoon I decided to have a go at the freebees from the Homestyle Crafts magazine.  I was able to run up the doorstop in about an hour, apart from it being absolutely enormous, and would take about 5kg of rice to fill completely, it turned out nicely with the material provided.

The Long Good(ish) Friday

Can you believe it's October?

We went for a second viewing of the house we want this morning.  It still ticks all the boxes, even in the pouring rain,  HOWEVER we are not in a position to buy it yet - viewing here tomorrow, so who knows!  So frustrating :(

I picked up my Meet Me At Mike's from the post office - I want to make everything!  So, as I was in town, I had to go the fabric shop, had to buy some cream heavy-weight cotton to use on the Echino cushions, and had to stop myself from buying lots more!

This evening more web-designing, uploading, reloading and shouting at the screen, but we are 90% there.  Patient husband just needs to re-size it all so laptop-folks like me can see it all without scrolling, then it'll be done, and I'll post a link.

Has anyone got plans for the weekend?  I don't envy Kate over at M for Make, she's doing a 10k run and the weather forecast is dire.  One of my 3 year olds has decided that we should all stay in bed all day on Sunday, and eat up all the remaining Easter (yes, really!) chocolate, and who am I to argue with that!

I want to buy the new Sew Hip magasine, get the cushion tops cut and sewn, and stay out of the rain as much as possible (oh, and sell the house), so not much to ask.