Maia's Quilt

One of my best friends just had another baby.  Her twin boys are aged six, and I think the question of whether to go for number three was thought about for most of those six years.  Happily her then unknown presence was finally deemed very much necessary, and now she is here in the world and how very exciting and pleasing this is for us all.  Unfortunately, I won't get to meet her right away as she lives in Italy... Oh, how I would like to zip over and see them!

So, I made a quilt for her.  I pieced the top in a weekend which is unheard of for me, I don't know how I did it really, I think I may have been neglecting my children and husband somewhat.  Then it took me a little longer to back and quilt and bind.  The fabric is American Jane Recess.  I bought a FQ stack of this line yonks ago, and sadly I think this will be the last quilt it makes, but it has served me well.  It did this one, and this one.  And clearly that duvet cover picked up in the charity shop has done me well too, as it backed the three Recess quilts and this one!  Gosh, I am predictable aren't I?

So, sewing is being slipped in between the rest of life.  Although this 'rest' of life is proving to be rather stressful.  We have sold our home and are in the process of buying a new one.  The new one being 200 miles away.  Eek.

And, I would like to thank Knotted Cotton for this post, by reminding me that I have a blog.

How to make a lady very happy

I made a new bag!  Whoopee!  I have had this t-towel since my hen do... we went to a car boot sale on the Sunday and I came away with, among other things, a stack of kitch souvenir kitchen linens.

And, I made a bag... look!  I am so pleased.  This morning I went swimming and took my new bag and oh what a bright start to the day. Check out the fun illustrations... how could that not make you cheery?

The green handles and lining is Lime Klona Cotton.

Did I tell you that I love it? 

Mils Blue Quilt

I hadn't meant to blog this morning.  I logged on to look at my much neglected blog reader and realised I would rather write a post.

I have neglected this space and it distresses me so.  I wish I had the time to dedicate more to it... perhaps this will change in time.

Anyhow, want to see what I finished?  I'm not sure I even told you I had started it, but I made a quilt for Mil.  It's blue, it's a simple nine-patch, it is quilted in a very simple way, and actually I am really pleased with it.

And the best thing is that Mil likes it.  This is remarkable as he has an inherent dislike of all that is new.  But as I put it on his bed and started to take some photographs, he came upstairs and immediately got into bed and closed his eyes for a moment, then got back out and took great care in straightening it back out again.

Last night after bedtime he came back downstairs and said 'I really love my quilt mum, thank you for making it for me'.  I don't doubt for a moment that he knew how much that meant to me.

Speak to you all soon!

Patches and scrapes

My little Mil never crawled, instead went straight to walking.  This was great for us, as we could sit him in the middle of the room and as long as he couldn't reach any furniture then he wasn't going to go anywhere.  He was even pretty safe if left by a piece of furniture or wall as he used to shuffle his way around the edge of the room going in and out of the alcoves, until he got where he wanted.  We never had to have a stairgate at the bottom of the stairs as along with crawling, he didn't get the climbing thing until later either.

However, even with an early start with walking, he didn't take to running in the same way.  Now, he can run pretty well, but like any 3 (nearly 4) year old he still goes flying on a regular basis.  And flying boys means scraped knees, and holey trousers.

I have not been doing much (any) sewing recently.  What can I say?  I've been busy.  I am determined to do a bit more though, and before I can make real progress I have some small 'clearing the ground' jobs to do.  One of which was this patching job. 

I think they look super-cute and am dead chuffed to be back in the sewing saddle.  Of course, now they have patches on Mil will probably not go near these trousers with a barge pole.  He's very fussy about what he wears... but that will remain to be seen... I'll keep you posted.

Clickerty-clack

I can't get enough of knitting at the moment! I am seriously missing sewing but just can't get my backside off the sofa. I think B is getting a bit bored of me saying 'I know what I'm going to sew next' and then not doing any of it... I have masses on my 'to sew' list and zero motivation for it.



But, those knitting needles? Click, clack, click, clack. I'm in heaven!

I've finished this unborn childs second pair of shoes... I know, daft. I am fully aware that babies don't wear shoes, but those cute little bootie patterns - irresistible! (Saartje's Booties, ravelry link here). That's it though. I've moved on to some serious functional knitting.



I really wanted to knit the boy a cardigan. He likes cardigans over jumpers really, but I couldn't find a pattern I was happy with, so I have opted for the placket neck jumper from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I am knitting it in this super-soft Stylecraft 100% merino.




But, anyone have any ideas how to get me off this sofa and up into that sewing room?

I love my ironing board

So, ages and ages ago I picked up an old wooden ironing board from a car boot sale for £2. Yes! A whole two pounds. Up until this point I was using a duvet cover laid out on my cutting table.

The ironing board was grubby and with rusty bits and the cover, if you could call it that, was pinned on very badly with multi-coloured drawing pins. Also, when you ironed it gave off a nasty whiff... Nice. I did take some before pictures, but it was so long ago that I cannot find them.

It took me ages and ages to recover it, and I have been doing it in stages, but it is complete. I stripped it down and beeswaxed the wood, tacked on some new luscious thick felt, and have just recently added some jolly red canvas.


Ta-da! One brand new spanking delicious ironing board.


I love it.

Edited to ad: Can I just make it clear that I only iron for sewing purposes, oh, and weddings and interviews. I didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea about me and ironing.

Oooooh, and I have been very slack. A few weeks ago, Petit Filoux awarded me my very first blogging award. A Sunshine Award. It is 'awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world'... do you hear that? Can you imagine!

Well, I am dead chuffed, thank you Petit Filoux, and sorry for being so slow with my response... real life has been getting in the way of this one.

I am going to be a bit naughty and not pass it on, but please do all have a look over on the right there and take a look at a few of the very many blogs that I follow. And go and check out Petit Filoux... that girl is a whirlwind of creativity.

And, bring on the sunshine.

my mate for life

Happy Valentine's everyone. We don't really celebrate Valentine's day in this house with any seriousness. Occasionally, if the other is lucky we might present a card. Like a lot of the world we try to celebrate our love and togetherness in small ways every day, and rather rebel at being told to show love.


However, I did feel compelled to make my love a small lavender pillow to keep his smalls scented. With a heart on one side and a swallow on the other. As well as some rather dubious homo erotic and criminal meanings, swallows also symbolise love and loyalty as they choose a mate for life.

And B? He made bagels... what more could a girl ask for?

Next project: a quilt for the new blog

I've started on my next project... a quilt for the Backstitch blog (which will be up and running soon) I was basting it at the weekend which is a bit of a job with an expanding bump!

I'm hand quilting this one so some dedicated hours in front of the TV I think.

Just desperately in love with this fabric though, which will be in the shop once I go live.

Finally Finished!

I have finally finished my 'first' quilt that I started back in September 2008. Yes, I know, it's a miracle, it only took me 16 months! Truthfully, I am overjoyed and relieved to have completed this project. I have started quilting it twice, and unpicked it twice, started with one type of batting, and ended with another... basically changing tack many times before ending up here, at the end.

I completed the quilt top in October 2008 after joining a quilting and patchwork class. Then I had to figure out how to quilt it on my own. It sounds daft saying 'on my own' about a task that seems pretty straightforward to me now, but I just didn't have the confidence, or (dare I say it) experience, that I have now. This quilt really makes me realise how much I have been learning over the last year or so, not just in being able to finish it, but in the quality of my stitching.

I am VERY pleased to have it finished. I love that it is no longer in a pile under my desk. I love (most of) the fabrics and it's rich and playful colours. I love that it is for us, and I won't be wrapping it up and giving it away like so much that I make. And, I love that we have already been snuggling under it rather a lot.

Kimono for May

My friends seem to be producing babies faster than you can say reproduction at the moment and so there has been a load of baby makes recently. This is the last for a while... I actually think that I am next... now there's a terrifying thought!



I liked the look of this 'Lucy's Kimono' in Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. Like a lot of people in the Flickr pool I did have some trouble with bunching where the sleeve seam meets the main body, but it is not too bad.



I made an error with the shoulders too - the shoulder seams meet each sleeve in a different place, but again, it hasn't effected the overall appearance too much.


I used a red flannelette so it's all cosy, and some floral bias binding that I got from my local yarn shop... I bought them out when I saw it! I think if I do this pattern again I will do a snap closure on the inside (rather than another tie) like some others on Flickr have done. I think a snap would be more practical.

Overall I am happy and I think I'll do this one again.

A little bag for little groceries

Look at these lovely wooden groceries. We bought these as a Christmas gift for my nephew who will be spending Christmas here at our house. These groceries are so tactile they are really wonderful. But what are little wooden groceries without a handmade bag to put them in?

I love making these simple little bags. And this turnip fabric is just the thing.

A couple more gifts to sort today and then I think we are done! Phew.

Lavendar bags and crockery love

I finished up some of my lavender bags I was embroidering as Christmas gifts. I still have to do a couple, particularly for the lovely lady who donated all the lavender to me. I am pleased with how they have turned out, but I don't think I will embark on production line embroidery again, it is too time consuming and rather takes the fun out of it. I'm now longing to embroider something else!

They smell lush too.

And the other day I was in the charity shop looking for Christmas gifts when I came across this gorgeous set of crockery. I spotted the jug and bowl first as they were priced together, then priced separately on another shelf were the plates. I'm becoming pretty choosy in charity shops now, but these I had to have... and, for myself! I'm also struck by how seasonal they are with their snowflakey pattern and colours.

They are Alfred Meakin, Morning Star. Yum.

Stitches...

It's all one big WHOOOSH at the moment. I am busy at work, and busy at home (but aren't we all?) and I've been busy with a little sewing related business plan up my sleeve. And so the blog has slipped again.

As I write this I realise that I've missed it. I like to blog, I do it for me. I like to see the things I have been making and thinking about posted all nice and tidy. It's very satisfying, in the same way that crossing things off a list is. I feel a sense of achievement. And as I collect together some pictures for this post I feel that same happiness.

And what have I been up to? I have clearly been teaching myself a bit of embroidery. I had not done any until recently and I am finding it very pleasing. First a little bit of study from a book (this old faithful).

And then a bit of fun to embellish the bag that I made to contain the HUNDREDS of biscuit cutters that we had in a horrid plastic tub. As you can see the bag is already mucky from kitchen fun.

Then some initials on a bag for my sisters birthday (now holding pencils for school, I've been told). And the current project can be seen in the top picture... lavender bags. I was the lucky recipient of a friends harvest and after a couple of nights of hand threshing (!) in front of the telly I have a nice lot of lavender to make some smelly Christmas gifts.

I could get used to this stitching lark.

Nanna

I went to my local wool shop for something completely different yesterday. I am in there quite a lot as there is no sewing/ haberdashers in my little city, and the wool shop is your best bet.


Whilst I was having a rummage, for it is the sort of shop that warrants a rummage, I found an embroidery thread box. Now, I have been hankering after one of these for a while and at £3.95 I was sold.

I have started doing a little embroidery, so this was very timely. My post, however, is not about this learning curve, but about my Nanna.

My Nanna was a very special lady. She died a few days before Mil was born, two and a half years ago. A few weeks after this, her descendants gathered at her Yorkshire home with the sad but necessary task of re homing what we could. One of the things I took away with me was a small sewing chest with all sorts in it.

And, in that chest was a book of embroidery threads. An old guide called 'Canada Today' published in 1954 by the Bank of Montreal. The pages had been used to keep her threads organised. All the colours ordered with 'palest', 'middle' and 'deep' tones marked out on separate pages with the colour codes recorded.


I took this book apart today and put all those lovingly ordered and referenced threads onto my brand spanking new spools, and felt like I was losing a small piece of social and family history. But I think my Nanna would have been impressed with how it all came together.

I won't forget, so there is no reason to hold on. Only reason to move forward. Yes?

Sewing for Knitting

Brendan took Mil to soft play on Sunday morning and I did some sewing. It was lush. I have not done any sewing for fun for ages, it's all been big thick velvet curtains which has been a bit of a pain, and had me yelling rather a lot.

It seems I have become a knitter. And, up until now, when I take my knitting to the park/pub I wrap it up in a plastic bag. But... no longer!

I made myself a neat and tidy drawstring bag which will hold my wool and notions, and if I am knitting something small like socks, the project and needles too. The idea is that I will also make a rather larger bag which will carry my entire project when I am working on something bigger.

The bag acts as a kind of dispenser for the wool as I am knitting... and it works! Hurrah!

All very simple, but making me very happy regardless. And, the husband socks are nearly ready - update soon!

Fabric used is American Jane's 'Recess' (green and red prints) and Denyse Schmidt's 'Katie Jump Rope' (blue print).

Big Granny Skirt

I think I just spent a long time and used up some fabric I love making what shall now be known as my 'Big Granny Skirt'.


The pattern is the yard sale wrap skirt from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing. I bought the fabric whilst on honeymoon in North Wales. It was £4.50 for the pair of curtains in a charity shop. Oh, sorry, had you not noticed that the skirt is made of a pair of curtains?! Arrrgh. I look like a bay window!


There are a couple of issues I have with this skirt. Firstly the pattern is far too curtain-y for if not anybody, then certainly for me. I had been bolstered by seeing Janet Clare's gorgeous skirt, but I don't think I can carry it off. Also, there is a lot of fabric in this skirt, having read the errata, and comments from others who have used this pattern, I added in a few extra panels (making 8 in total). I definitely needed the extra panels, but as the fabric is heavy it all feels a bit much. I think it would work better with a lighter swooshier fabric. A quilting weight cotton would have been more appropriate. Never mind.

At least I can start making something else now.

Funnily enough, the next thing on my list is a door curtain for our living room. I seem to be going round in circles here.