like buses

Having not blogged for ages, I'm now on my third post in as many days. Just a quick one today to announce the winner of my giveaway....drum roll........

and the Denyse Schmidt book goes to the lovely Tanya, who is a little indie chick after my own heart.

Second Chance Tan16 September 2012 22:39

When I remember, I put spotify on, and either listen to old music from when I was young and trendy! Or, I listen (over and over and over again) to whatever I am currently into. It's recently been a Florence and the machine phase x

 

Well done, Tanya.  I've sent you a wee email.

 

And thank you to everyone who took part.  Now, off to pull fabric for my mouthy stitches swap.  Have a great Sunday x

beauty school drop out

Yesterday I dyed my hair pinky orange.  It was meant to be auburn but it defo isn't the colour on the box!  I look like Frenchy off of Grease (and not in a good way!).  I will admit that it does look better at night, in the dark.  So thank goodness for the lovely Amy Crafty Shenanigans.  A while back I signed up for her Craft It Forward mahoojy and received some lovely papercraft items this week...

lovely envelopes - the paper is think and glossy and beautiful

with sewing decorated notelets, gift tags and a thank you card

My mum was a great paper crafter and so I especially like these gifts.  You rock young Amy!

So (stealing the rules directly from Amy),  now it is my turn to "Craft if Forward". If you would like a handmade gift from me, add a comment below and say so! I will make and send you a gift {handmade by me} to the first five interested people. You will receive your gift in the next nine months. You, in return upon receiving your homemade gift, will create a blog post showing what you received from me and then ask for comments in the post for interested and willing participants. You then have nine months to make something for the five interested people.
I'd love to make you something so what do you say?

visitors

We've had a lot of visitors over the last couple of weeks and they all stay in our spare room, which is also my sewing space so it's been very quiet sewing wise round here.  No fabric strewn all over the shop, no thread cut-offs on the floor, no spare pins stuck into the mattress for safe keeping, no scraps or selvedges kicking round the outside of the scraps basket.  All very neat and tidy and full of people!
Last night however I reclaimed my space and the mess has returned.  I am trying to make a quilt before Saturday *never going to happen* as we're off to a little birthday party but I have at least finished the quilt top..

it's actually square - I didn't have anyone to hold it for me!

Lots of HSTs made using my 12 1/2" square ruler (LOVE!) and the sewing round all four sides then cutting into quarters way.  It's for one of the wee man's little buddies and came together really quickly.  I even managed to have some sharp points!  Result.  So I finished it last night (ahem...needs another ironing...ahem) and then spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decide what to back it with.  In the end and seconds before I was about to press "BUY", I found some Ikea fabric that I think works well...

Iron me too please thank you!

The pieced front is a little serious for a 1 year old now I look at it (I was going for a little sophistication as she is adorable with a very regal smile) so I think that this will bring to fun into the quilt. 

I've decided (perhaps rashly) to make quilts for another three of the wee man's wee friends so I have a shed load to do, although all mums have been advised that they may receive the quilts a little later than the birthdays.  And there was me taking things slow....;-)

The Sparkler

don't forget there is still time to enter my giveaway

I've often thought about joining in a quilt along but was never brave enough until January of this year when I decided to join Elizabeth Oh Fransson's Sparkle Logic QAL.  I started at exactly the same time as everyone else but have only just finished now, a whole 8 months later.  Well, it's not a race is it? (thank goodness!).  I am pretty stoked to present, for your viewing pleasure, the Sparkler....

look it's sparkling in the September sun!

not quite the width of a double bed but a good lap quilt?

Mostly made with some Amy Butler, Momo Freebird, Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley and Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow, with kona snow (natch!), backed with moda extra wide dotty in aqua and bound with some more Hope Valley. Oh and hand quilted with a natural guterman hand quilting thread too.

As it is a house warming gift for some lovely french friends, I added a cute label..

label bought from Jennie at Sublime Stitching

I'm pretty chuffed with this quilt and it's off to the Post Office tomorrow to head to Brittany, just in time for the nights drawing in and the chill off the sea.

Linking up with Jenna's Manic Monday

 

Lots of firsts

At 6.03pm, on this day last year, the wee man entered the world and filled it with such joy...

from this beautiful baby...

to this beautiful toddler (almost)

We went out for lunch to celebrate and a very very rare thing happened. A photo of the three of us!



thank you auntie sylvie x

Not only that but I finished the Sparkler and it is in the washing machine as I type.  I will reveal it tomorrow. 

I've been hanging out for my 100th post to do my first ever giveaway but as I'm on a slow blog vibe AND it's the wee man's birthday AND I finished the sparkler, I've decided today is the day.

So here's the prize.....



it's just gathering dust on the shelf and deserves a better home

Yup that's right - this book could be yours, no matter where you live.  Two chances. 

1. First one, leave a comment and let me know what accompanies you whilst you're sewing (I'm a 6Music gal myself but am always looking for inspiration)
2. Follow my blog and let me know that you do

I'll let Mr Random Number Generator choose the winner in two weeks time (my dad is visiting next weekend so I can't promise to be around).  If you feel like letting people know about the giveaway, then I'd be really grateful.  If not, then that's ok too.  **GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED**

Enjoy what's left of the weekend.  I'm off to hug my boys x

simple pleasures

Not much sewing going on last week.  I managed to make a reversible drawstring bag and another applique top for the lovely Flynn's 1st birthday party, which was a very chilled and sunny affair yesterday afternoon.  We left the house at 2pm for the party and the Mouthy Stitches 2 sign up opened about 4 minutes later!  I got home around 5 and sent off my form with little hope.... but I got the email this morning that I'm in.  Yay!

Other than that, I indulged in one of my most favourite parts of quilting, squaring up a quilt ready for binding.  The sparkler has been hand quilted and as I was doing the last bit I said to myself "only a bit of machine quilting to go" then remembered that it was totally quilted already.  I think I may have hi-5'd myself!  So instead of washing the kitchen floor yesterday, I went from this....

to this....

This simple thing makes me so happy every time.  It's the time when I fall back in love with the quilt and can see the end in sight.  Oh and worry about how much smaller it looks now ;)  I'm aiming to get the binding on today so I can hand finish it this week.

the rhythm of life

I'm one for rhythm.  I mean I love Strictly Come Dancing and often imagine myself being able to do a passionate Argentinian tango, all staccato legs and whipped hair.  At the moment, I'm all Anne Widdecombe!  Stomping around in a guddle, trying to look poised and elegant but getting nowhere with the maximum of effort.  I need to simplify things, take the stress out, relax my shoulders and find life's rhythm again.  So I've jumped on the wagon for at least a month, I've cancelled my keep fit class for the rest of the year (half 8 on a Monday night with a teething wee man just wasn't working) and I've tweaked my working days to suit a little better.

And, I'm going to join Catherine's band of slow bloggers

I'm going to stop stressing about all the projects I want to start and do the ones I've got on the go when I can.  So after a week of stomach flu (me) and extreme teething (the wee man), I finally managed to finish my BQS3 quilt....

went for straight line quilting but I think it works

I'm a wee bit chuffed about the crisp corners!

the whole package before it gets wrapped up

I do hope my partner likes it.  She is such a good quilter that I was worried that she would be disappointed at my lame quilting efforts but I think it works and in the spirit of simplification, in this case less is more ;-)

When I was feeling right sorry for myself a couple of days ago, I got my BQS3 package from the delightful Terri and it perked me up no end

It is exquisite and quite the most beautiful thing anyone has ever made me.  It came wrapped in lovely blue tissue paper and included chocolate, a pin cushion and a key fob (all echino), a beautiful embroidered card and some really neat embroidery patterns (which I forgot to include in the photo sorry).  I love being in swaps because people are soooooo generous and make such beautiful things.

Also linking with Jenna's Manic Mondays