52 weeks of happy

{18/52}

1.playing around with my fabric scraps has resulted in an obsession with making a scrappy stripy quilt top! this one might take a while, but i get a big smile every time i catch sight of those fabric scraps

2. lazy Sunday morning, pancakes for breakfast = very happy

3. having to get up early on a work day was made a lot happier by catching a glimpse of a pretty moon & the most beautiful coloured sky

4. sorting through the baby clothes, this is a double edged sword, i'm going to become an auntie again which makes me very happy, but it also means no more babies for me, i must have a big clear out - but  being able to pass onto someone special certainly eases the blow

dresden plate pillow

amongst some of lovely books i was given this christmas was the Cath Kidston 'patch' one, it's quite a sweet book, with some patterns & ideas i'm sure i will make in the future, but it also comes with some small fabric squares to get you started on a project, so whilst leaving the snow play to the little kids & their big kid {oops i mean dad} i set about to re-cover a small pillow, i really enjoyed this porject, it was just the right mix of hand & machine sewing, & small enough to get finished quickly, i used some fabric i already had from yonks ago {i think it came from Ikea?} to make the pillow slip, then just sewed the dresden flower plate to it, the pillow is the perfect size for little O, it would however also be the perfect size for my desk chair, luckily enough i have another pillow the same size in need of a new cover - i'd better get started then!

dresden flower placemat

another quick project to use up the fabric scraps, although i think i had enlarged the pattern more than was called for, as the placemat came out rather large, in fact if i'd added some wadding it would have made a rather lovely chair cushion! ho-hum, it will look pretty under a vase of flowers or as a table centre piece, i followed the pattern from the book 'quilting in no time' by Emma Hardy {which i had picked up at a great price from the book people through our pre-school} i love these quick 'pick me up' projects & they are a great way to use up some of the many fabric scraps i've collected

scrappy happy pot-holder

still here! just plodding along with the daily routine which is a real time zapper right now, last week i got a real urge to sew something quick & easy, as we were visiting my sister at the weekend i whipped up a quick gift for her, a sweet scrappy pot-holder, it satisfied the sewing urge rather nicely

another quilt

this is the quilt i finished off last week, if there hadn't been a delay in the {right size!} wadding arriving i would have probably finished it off last year, well when the right size did arrive i got stuck right in & finished it off within about 24 hours! {it's really rather a small sized quilt}

i tried out making the binding following a tutorial i'd found on pintrest, it really did work, although i did find it a little tricky at first, i'm sure after a few attempts you'd get the hang of it, the vintage sheets i used to make the quilt top were from 'little tea wagon' & had already been cut into squares for me, as was the fq of vintage flannel used to make the binding, then the dotty flannel on the back & the wadding both came from 'prints to polka dots' - which always seem to have lovely fabric at great prices {i am so in love with flannel, i'd really love to get my hands on some more Anna Maria Horner flannels - please message me if you know of any good uk sources}

i did some simple lines of quilting & machined the binding on & then added one of the sweet labels Laura had sent me, which i think finished it off perfectly!

a long time in the making

it's finished, it was finished on friday, but seeing as we spent new years eve without power i wasn't able to post this yesterday, yes we really did have a power cut from about 3pm in the afternoon to somewhere about midnight - not quite sure when as we'd given up by that point & gone to bed {we did sneak out to friends who did have power for a early curry though, so it wasn't too bad} still, back to the quilt! the top was made way back when last year before we moved to this house {oh my nearly a whole year ago} in fact i remember planning to have it done before we'd moved, i'd brought the wadding & backing way back then too, as with everything, once i got going again with it, i really enjoyed finishing it, even hand sewing the binding on, i also think i now want to back every quilt i make with flannel, as it really makes them so much warmer & perfect for snuggling up with, this quilt is a keeper & think it will become one that is shared amongst us all {although it's on my bed right now}

day 23

finding peace - escaping the madness with the soothing repetition of hand sewing the binding on my pin-wheel quilt {& enjoying keeping cosy underneath it whilst doing so}

day 20

christmas is creeping closer, we've been keeping ourselves very busy, christmas parties {i honestly had not coordinated her top & hat combo} theatre trips {to see the firework makers daughter - do go if you're in london & have a child of at least five} last minute quilting, snuggling on the sofa to watch the snowman, scoffing christmas chocolates, as i type the children have turned the front room into a huge den, i was hoping to get them making some hama bead snowflakes {still i'm quite happy to get with these on my own} looking forward to lighting the wood burner & making some mulled wine later - hope you're all keeping cosy

Storyboek baby quilt

a while back i won a giveaway over at 'm is for make', some of the sweet storyboek fabric from birch fabrics, i set it aside not quite sure what to use it for at the time, then when a friend very recently had a little baby boy i knew i wanted to make him something using these fabrics, they are just perfect for a mini baby quilt, 

i set about making this quilt in my usual way, having a vague idea of how i wanted it to turn out, then letting it evolve along the way, i added some blue striped fabric i had in my stash & used some blue checked fabric for the backing, i very luckily had some wadding in just the right size, the so they whole thing came together quite quickly, the binding was made from some natural linen left over from a past project {i also discovered that i really need to get myself a bias making tool - something else to add to the christmas list!}

a good start

i've finally got round to making a start on things for my stall at the school's summer fair, i'm trying not to think about the fact that the fair is only about 4 weeks away, eek! i'm clearly disorganised but am very much in denial about it

i've made a few doll's / teddy blankets, using up some scraps & odds & ends of flannel & wadding, 

they are very sweet, i'm pleased with how they turned out & it's a great way to make use of all the smaller bit's of fabric i've been hanging onto

i now really need to get a wriggle on & get making a few more bits & pieces 

been sewing

it's safe to say little O is over the worst of the pox, she's back to her usual chirpy self {i'm just wishing i could tie her hands together to stop her picking the darn scabs off!}only joking of-course!


a few days ago i took the opportunity to get at the sewing machine during probably the 10th viewing of 'Dora the explorer' for that day, having sorted a stash of fabrics i wanted to make some more zippy wallets with, i changed my plan & made a mat for my sewing machine instead,

since we moved i now have space to keep my machine out all the time, i share a long desk with my darling dearest, he has his computer up one end & my machine is up the other, it works well, he has a wireless keyboard & mouse, so they can get hidden in his draw whilst i'm sewing, then when he wants the desk, my machine just gets pushed up against the wall, so it really needed a mat you see {to stop it scratching up the desk each time of-course} not so sure it needed to be quite so flowery, but i was working with the scraps i had!

you might notice this was made with the scraps from the pin wheel quilt {which has still yet to be quilted} i just made it up as i went along, it's slightly wonky & clearly not the neatest sewing i've done, but it's perfect for what it's intended for

{little O had given up on Dora by now & was trying to get in on the act, by informing me that i had in fact just made this so she could keep her legs warm before swiftly whisking it off to her bedroom}

the prettiest pin-wheels

the finished 30's pin-wheel quilt top 

can't quite believe that i bought this fabric nearly a year ago (from the quilt room but don't think they have it in stock any more), then spent an age thinking about what i wanted to do with it! 

turns out it will be for little O, for her 'big' bed, when we eventually get it that is (i'm trying to hang on until we move - which is likely to be the end of feb, all being well!) this also gives me some time to find the right backing fabric & make a start on quilting it

once the pin-wheel blocks were all made, it came together really quickly, they were well worth the effort,  i feel i'm getting better at piecing my quilts, don't get me wrong, there are still a few parts that don't fit exactly right, but it's by far the neatest quilt top i've made

christmas sewing

having been so encouraged by how well the advent calendar went, i set about making something with my little tree patchwork squares, (having had no idea what i was going to turn them into whilst i was actually making them), 

a pair of Christmas pillows, 

made using some greenish scraps & some cheapo cream ikea cotton

a tiny amount of hand sewing & backed with some green amy butler fabric

all coming together to make me (& my sofa) very happy

now i'm off to finish my glass of warm winter Pimms & stare lovingly at the Christmas tree

feeling lucky

i have been enjoying the weekend & feel like i squeezed quite a lot in, i've pressed the blocks i had stared for my next quilt project

 found out i had won a little give-away over on kate's blog, she popped them in the post so quickly that they arrived on saturday!

didn't manage to see too many fireworks from the attic window but did catch a rainbow

enjoyed the sunshine on a family day-trip down to portsmouth

& visit to the aquarium (& then watching 'finding nemo' on our return home)

having cooked, eaten (a yummy butter-nut squash recipe) & tided up as much as is necessary, i'm now looking forward to a spot of knitting in front of the telly, after the little people are tucked up in their beds, 

(& defiantly not thinking about the fact it is monday tomorrow & we're already into the second week of november!!!!!) 

mmmmmmmm

hot buttered toasted tea bread (am happy to share the recipe if anyone's interested?)

with a cup of tea (my back from the school run / no work today treat)

& with the anticipation of some sewing at little O's nap time later

having finally cut into my lovely 30's reproduction fabric at the weekend

oh happy tuesday