Random Nuisance!

Oh my week, not a lot of random, but a hell of a lot of noise!

The men who inhabit this...

Pooview, W. Sussex

... are not in my good books, nor is the neighbour; but I had nothing but smiles knowing they told her they'd probably still be about when her kids got home at 4.30, she said goodbye and went off to work at 2pm; they packed up at 2.30!

All the drilling, has given me a 3 day headache, I hope it shifts before I help out with sewing at Rainbows tomorrow night, as I fear that will bring a whole new level of shrill!

Linking with the Randomeers, who have probably got far better random than me!

Keep calm..

... and sew on.

Despite the best efforts of the builders next door to drive me out of my mind own home for the day; pneumatic drilling, 30 seconds on, 5 seconds off, from 9am to 2.30pm, 5 meters from my conservatory door; I gritted my teeth, (and swore loudly when they couldn't hear me), and stitched up my Cherry Christmas quilt top.

I used Sarah Fielke's Ups and Downs block pattern from Hand Quilted With Love.  I had charm packs, so I simply used the 5" squares, plus my yardage to make the HSTs...

It measures up at 54.5" x 68", which will be a very useful sofa-sized quilt come the festive period...

 I just have to ponder the backing.

I was thinking some minky or fleece, but am a bit worried about quilting that, so maybe flannel may be the solution?  I have plenty of time eh. 

Famous last words!

Knitting Nancy!

My sweet, (but obviously misguided), friend Rachel claims that all quilters can knit - I wish!

All over blogland and instagram my pals seem to be whipping up hats and socks and all sorts of fancy business whilst I can't even cast on (get me and the lingo).  I probably need another expensive hobby like a hole in the head, wool really makes me itch, and hats give me bad hair, but I still wish I could.

I tried once, the stitches got tighter and tighter until there was no way the needles were going to be set free without scissors.

One of the girls got this as a present a couple of birthdays ago - it has sat, looking scary for too long.  I am thinking I might borrow it, just to see...

But for now, and for those, like me who are not all that with the big needles, here are a few things I have spotted recently...

Lindsey's super cute bear, in a Liberty skirt!

Fancy a cuppa?

Don't mind if I do!

xxx

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...nah!  I wouldn't do that to you, but I have spent the earlier part of the evening playing with my Cherry Cxxxxxxxs charms and cutting some yardage into more.

But what I was going to say was, it's beginning to look like my vision is coming to fruition!

My first Stitch Tease blocks have arrived from Di (Quiltova).  I love them, and here's what they look like with mine...

So happy!

Not happy however about the next door neighbour's builders who are here for the next 3 months or so. 

Today they started breaking up the old conservatory's concrete floor, very slowly, and very loudly and very when the sun came out for the 30 minutes between work and the school run and when I very much wanted to have a sit outside.  Oh baubles!

Getting stuff done...

Today was a good day to get stuff done.

By the time we had our Sunday roast for lunch, (yes it is officially winter!), I had cleaned the house, changed, washed and tumbled all the bedding, done all the weekend's ironing and basted my Holiday Memories mini quilt.  Rough with the smooth.

I quilted my mini this afternoon, and will get the binding on in a bit; I am just waiting for a paper-cut to stop bleeding, as the binding, and much of my mini are white, and that's not a good combo!

As promised, a quickie-piccy of yesterday's Eternal Maker haul, minus the wadding...

The multi-coloured bag is a scrap bag of wool felt, with some excellent sized pieces and lovely colours which will be perfect for a bunch of needle books and the like.  I used the Aurifil 40wt for the quilting today, just for a little more definition; 2021 I heart you, no matter what you weigh!

And because I am so kind, as to be honest, I would really really love to win, if you are in the UK, please pop over to my friend Verity's blog, as she has the most amazing birthday giveaway going on right now.

If you do decide to enter, and why the heck wouldn't you? - please mention my name (or I will track you down), thank you.

So that has been my day, but now can we have some sunshine again?  I am done with all this indoor stuff for a bit!

Presented...

Well I managed to get one present finished and the other half way there last night, before I needed to snuggle on the sofa with a cup of tea; I finished the second one this morning...

I didn't do anything fancy with the zipper tabs, and they worked pretty well...

I think I used 8" zips, and Vilene H630, which means these are really lightweight and finish at about 9" x 7".

Purse one, the Laurie Wisbrun chairs, was handed over this afternoon, after the girls and I had popped to Eternal Maker to get what I needed; Aurifil, wadding and some 1" webbing.  Then once they were re-shod, and ready to bowl, I went back for a peaceful potter and a little extra shopping, because I could, which I will show you next time.

The promised storms have not yet arrived, but I have my rainy day plans for tomorrow of the Holiday Memories variety, and no plans whatsoever to leave the house.

Hope your weekend is going well, and that you get to do a little of what you fancy too xxx

Birthdays are a coming...

No sooner have we returned to the hum drum of school and work than the invitations for parties start rolling on in.

The girls are going bowling tomorrow for their friend's 7th, and next Sunday dear son is going to a girly class-mate's 9th...

 So I am going to turn these into zippy purses...

... tonight preferably!

PS.  Bowling just happens to be next door to the cinema, next door to Eternal Maker - strike!

Busy doing...

... bugger all really!

Playing with my Cherry Christmas stash, ordering some more of the white prints from the ladies at Pin It & Stitch; they have loads you know, if you are trying to get in the festive spirit too.

And I have been master-minding in Touchdraw...

I am thinking of using Sarah Fielke's ups and downs block as a starting point.

So I am going to get back to humming Christmas carols, and you can roll your eyes all you like; I am determined to have a festive quilt this year!

My Day!

Having sacrificed the last couple of non-working days before the summer to FQR and the end of term, I don't think I managed to be alone for more than an hour at a time, and in total for about 5 hours during the last 8 weeks.  I do love my family dearly, but sometimes the lack of silence is overwhelming!

Today I dropped the kids at school, nipped to Waitrose for essentials, including my free cuppa, and by 9am I was back home and sewing.

First I made the notebook cover for my friend.  I had to trim the ends off the cover by 1/4" so that it all fitted perfectly, but I am sure she will understand and be able to cope with doing likewise should she get to the re-fill stage!

I think it looks very spring-like on this grey autumnal day, so I am hoping it will put a smile on her face.  I will be helping her at Rainbows (she's a leader), and doing sewing with the girls on a couple of Fridays soon, so I hope she doesn't decide she won't need my help after all!

So then I finished my Holiday Memories quilt top.  It looks great, to me.  I have tried to explain the abstract nature to the kids, and they are humouring me by saying 'oh yes I see'; I am sure you will all do the same in due course!

That done, I grabbed my KISS tapestry and snuggled up on the sofa and watched the first two episodes of Top Of The Lake.  I would have loved to have been able to grab some garden time, but that was not to be, damn clouds, but as far as a day off goes, it was wonderful.

I am feeling a little more energised, and I even pulled out all my Cherry Christmas and have decided on a plan of action!  Go me!!!

Tuesday tease...

OK I have been engrossed on my Holiday Memories mini quilt again this evening.

I now have two thirds pieced, and am hoping to have the whole top put together tomorrow.  It'll be up to the maximum size (24" x 30") before quilting, which will shrink it down somewhat, and I am still in love with it.

So here's a sneaky peek...

... a little porthole block.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow, I don't think I will be able to sleep!  Bring on the peace and quiet xxx

Flo-Jo!

Happy to report that my mojo is back in full flow this evening, and on a working Monday to boot!

I spent a happy half hour with a 6 year old assistant laying out mini charm squares of Honey Honey and Glamping to make another notebook cover, this time for my best school-mum-friend's birthday this week...

Trying to avoid the same pattern and/or same colour being next to each other made my little helper make the observation that now she knew why 'doing my quilting' took so long!

We saved our row selections, minus the freaky lady with my lovely pins, from this talented young lady, and am all set to sew it up on Wednesday - my day off, alone, no children, me, in the house for 6 hours, that's more time than I have had to myself than over the last 8 weeks combined!

So enthused I have spent this evening making improv 'blocks' for my Holiday Memories mini.  I made 8 to add to the three I made as soon as we got back from Menorca. 

It is shaping up nicely, I think.  Very out of my comfort zone, but I have all the pieces pinned to a noticeboard now and it honestly looks like nothing I have ever attempted before.  I am quite excited to get on with piecing the top together.  I am trying to save it for a grand reveal at the end of the month - but I am sure that a few sneaky Instagram pics may become necessary, just to stop me exploding!

The weather may have gone, but I am back on form which of course means the emails and blog reading are backing up, hey ho; you win some, you lose some xxx

The morning after the night before...

I finished off the Architextures Spring Carnival cushion last night; I was not happy.

Don't get me wrong, I love everything that's there, but feel like maybe piping or binding would have made it better, but I am not going to unpick again.

Just to top my day off, the pillow form I thought would fit, was way too big, so I had to cut open a smaller one and then give it some extra stuffing and hand-stitch closed.

Oh and then, whilst parent's were no doubt away, some local teenagers were doing the sleep-free party thing all night, so not much sleep for us either, and more than usual grump round these parts today!

I did manage a few front and back shots inside and out before the rain came, and came and came...

Just for those who like a stat or two...
Fabric - Architextures - Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman
Pattern - Ferris Wheel aka Spring Carnival, templates from Katy Jones/I'm A Ginger Monkey
Pieced with Aurifil 50wt in 2021
Quilted with Aurifil 12wt in 2021
Wadding - Vilene H640
Finished size - 19" square

So I did not get my sewing machine out today; I thought it was better not to tempt fate, but played with Touchdraw, spent a few merry hours in a Brit Bee 'email conflab' and watched trash TV instead.

Hoping your weekend felt a lot more successful than mine xxx

Changeable...

The weather and my mood have swung from good to bad and back again today, and quite frankly I will be glad to start again tomorrow.

Legoland plans have been abandoned for this weekend; long car journeys, irritable kids, queues and rain are possibly my least favourite things, so no thank you!

Instead, the girls and I went to the leisure centre 'fun day', where, to be honest, all the fun to be had was watching the lady trying get the candyfloss to stay on the sticks!  We collected some goodie bags and were home in 30 minutes.

Pah!

And I had a misadventure in piping.  I finished my Spring Carnival cushion, I added piping as I thought it would be a brilliant finishing touch, having seen Svetlana's beauty last night.

Wrong.

I have just unpicked the whole cushion and piping and zip, and I am not happy.  I will be back tomorrow.  I will be smiling again... I hope!

Research...

After 2 whole days at work; OK not technically whole days, about 9hrs in total to be honest, but after such a shock to the system, along with the turn in the weather, I thought a little research trip was in order!

Just before the holidays began Eclectic Maker opened their bricks and mortar shop about 2 minutes drive from my office but I never managed to get there with the kids (probably a good thing); so today was the day.

There's something about seeing all the fabric in real life that online shopping just can't compete with!!

I was there for about half an hour chatting with Jo, and I know for sure I will become a regular!  I went in for some Moda Calico and Vilene, but also came out with a superb scrap bag and some Sweetwater Boo Crew - Fly Trap which is an awesome print to rival all the sketches and cross-hatches etc that have gone before...

 

Everywhere was wet, hence the dodgy tray photo!

The scrap bag, which is c.1m of fabric for £6.99 is amazing value, and gorgeous to boot; I can see me buying more of these...

So I think you can now see where my pay packet is going to be emptied!

Jo was lovely, and is coincidently the sponsor of the quilt backing for my month (May '14) in the Siblings Together Bee, so it was obviously only right that I vetted the shop, and sampled their wares first hand ;)

Oh and before I forget, here's this month's mega 18.5" block (not 24" as I originally put!)...

The fabric is S'more Love by Cosmo Cricket for Moda, and it is going to make a great quilt for a young lad.  This will be headed your was soon Maria x

So I will be using some of my purchases this weekend, weather-permitting.  It's kind of a win-win weekend.  Bad weather, I get to sew, good weather, and we will be headed to the land of plastic bricks; personally I fancy a bit of both xxx

Any Porthole in a Storm...

... I've been at work, you didn't expect wit and wisdom tonight did you!?  I survived though, and the kids are all enthused and eager to go back tomorrow, hoping that some of that may rub off on me.

But if the weatherman is to be believed, this time tomorrow the summer will have gone, the temperature will have dropped by 12C, and we'll be needing that Ark after all!

For now, it is still mighty warm, and I managed to get some decent pictures of my Porthole cushion as promised.

I decided shortly after Retreat that I was going to stop at the two portholes I made in Lu's class and turn them into a cushion.  I bought some Aurifil 28 12 wt in my favourite 2021 off-white and when I got those bargain feather inserts at the boot fair, I was good to go.

I added 1.5" borders to the 10" blocks, fused them to some Vilene H640 and quilted in straight lines about 1/2" apart.  I had absolutely no problems machining with the thicker thread, and it looks and feels lovely...

Because it's double-sided, I had to put a zip in.  It didn't exactly turn out invisible, I sort of only read one online tute, and obviously didn't read all the important bits, but I am happy with this first half-arsed attempt!

So there you go.  Nothing Random for you this week I'm afraid, but check out all the other madness over at Cindy's, but linking instead with lovely Liz and her Brit Sewing Thursday...

My only actual sewing today has been 2 Rainbow Puzzle badges and a Cub Camping one - not even worthy of a photo!

Hasta luego xxx

To the wire...

I know the kids and I have been off work and school for the last six weeks, and I have known that we would all be going back on September 5th for even longer, so why I always decide on the last day that I need to make things for our return, I don't know!

For the girls I made some mini (5") key fobs for their new lunch boxes; these are for quick identification when the bags are all lined up on the trolley and they can only see the tops...

So they are happy.

For myself I made a new lanyard; when I pulled my pass from the bottom of my work bag, my grey FMF seeds were looking like I felt, worn out and a bit grubby; so a little Liberty spruce up was required...

... this will be my favourite thing about being at work!

Boy-child didn't need anything, but once he has got to grips with the new Year 4 routine, I expect there will be requests.

I apologise, I have just looked at the pictures I took of the finished cushion, and they are not so great, so I will take some more after work tomorrow, I promise, sorry.

Some of us are not looking forward to tomorrow, others can't sleep they are so excited; no prizes for guessing who's who!  See you on the other side xxx

Making the most of it...

Time is ticking until I have to go back to work.  Today I worked with the girls on their Out & About books, scrapbooks of their summer; their teacher is going to get complete deja vu when she looks at the second one, but they look pretty good and the girls are chuffed to bits with them, although they had gone to bed by the time I remembered to take a picture...

There was also time in the sunshine, as it looks like Autumn is coming knocking on Friday, and I am not ready for that either.

I meant to take some photos of my shopping from yesterday to show you, but the clothes have been put away, did I mention that I got a Cath Kidston pirate scarf?!

I also got myself a lunchbox - the kids all have their new ones, and as I am on a healthy-eating, lose-weight mission, I thought having a nice coolbag would entice me to take good food with me, not pick on biscuits and other crap all morning...

... we'll see.

Lastly, I managed to finish my first Architextures cushion this evening...

I machine quilted in 28wt Aurifil, and it looks and feels amazing, I'll get some finished pictures tomorrow.  I am aiming for the big one to be complete by the weekend, here's hoping. xxx

Ahoy there...

I have been hither and thither over the last few days.

Trips to my parents...

... and Sunday lunchtime cinema to see Despicable Me 2, at last; and then today we went to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

It was really excellent.  We got there super-early and were able to go into the new Mary Rose Museum as soon as it opened, avoiding the queues and crowds completely.  It was so good to see the wreck and artefacts in the new building, and to bore the kids with the tale of how I remembered it being pulled from the seabed when I was just a bit older than them!

We went round HMS Victory and HMS Warrior and had a go in a helicopter simulator.  There was a picnic, and ice-cream and then we finished the day off with a wander round Gunwharf Quays.

There may have been shopping, with White Stuff, Cath Kidston and Paperchase all within 100yds of each other, it certainly was not my fault!

So there has been very little sewing, but maybe tomorrow I will be able to show you something; although, if my To Do list is anything to go by, it may well just be name tags and Rainbow badges!

Now I need to rest my achy feet and take a look in my Inbox...wish me luck x

Fresh Sewing Day - Holiday edition

So August was all about our family holiday.  Preparing, being there, and then trying not to lose that holiday feeling.

I love being away.  I love not having to shop, cook, clean or make decisions;  I love knowing tomorrow will be sunny and that all I will have to do is relax.  Shame it's only a couple of weeks a year eh?

My August makes were therefore pretty few and far between, but I managed to scrape a little mosaic together...

And not forgetting my favourite make of the summer...

I am hoping September will be a good one stitching-wise; the work/school routine will kick in all too soon and so I am going to need that little window at the end of the day to focus my crafty thoughts on!

Linking with Lynne and the Fresh Sewing Day Crew xxx

Never Mind the Vomit!

Woo Hoo, September, tomorrow(!), and it is my month wielding the Stitch Tease crown.  I knew what I was going to ask for so long ago that now it my turn, I am busting with excitement!

Ladies, we are making a low volume Scrap Vomit, but without the vomit!

I know the theory behind the original Vom is to use up all those Oh My Eyes scraps that have seen better days, creating something wonderful in the end.

OK, but this is me!  I am looking for beautiful low volume, text and prints, maybe the odd fussy-cut too, so it looks gentle and pretty, not full of fuglies and grotters that just happen to work.  That said, I don't believe for one moment that any of my fellow Teasers have a stash full of munters, and I trust them!

I made a mosaic a while back...

... just to show that low-volume doesn't mean just cream and white!  The one in the bottom right corner is an example of what I don't want.  Not enough colour and waaaaay too much brown.

The quilt uses two types of block, so I would like one of each from the ladies.

Here's my first block...

For the cross blocks I would like greys, dark pinks and turquoise, not in solids, again in a mix of fabrics...

All the instructions that anyone could need are on Katy's blog, as part of the quiltalong.

I realise these blocks are 7x7 for a 14(1/2)" block rather than 6x6, but I am hoping my fellow Bees will see that, without any wastage on these blocks, they will probably be using less fabric than more complicated 12(1/2)" blocks require... here's hoping!

I think this quilt has the makings of awesomeness!

For the siggy blocks, I would like 3 x 2.5" blocks sewn together with a centre white square with just first names signed in the middle.  These will be sewn together to make the elusive 25th block.  I haven't made mine yet.

So I've told you what I want, what I really really want, and hope that rest of the Stitch Teasers are pleasantly surprised that I have not dreamt up anything too difficult ;)

Now to just sit back and wait for the postman, hee hee!