the very dib dab!

Check out what I've just won!

It's a bundle of Sherbert Pips fat quarters through the lovely Rita's blog anniversary giveway.  Rita's blog is a real inspiration for me and I had already used one of her patterns to make the ruby ruby ruby quilt.  This collection has been hotly anticipated by fabric junkies across the world and my mother in law is now one of them!  We may be sharing the loot :-)

Well, my aim to "sew, sew, sew" now that I've got the nausea under control was a little premature. I have nearly finished binding JoJo's quilt and nearly finished a couple of bags that are gifts (with two more to go before next week).  "Nearly" seems to be my watchword at the moment.  Oh and I've started a playmat quilt (to be fair I've done one block!) 

I'm trying not to be too hard on myself because, not people to do things by halves, Laughing Boy and I have decided to get married!  It's ok - we gave ourselves 10 weeks to organise it all.  8 weeks to go before a small wedding at Lothian Chambers in Edinburgh.  Of course, as most of you know, my family means that small isn't necessarily small!  So perhaps I can be forgiven for not jumping right back on the sewing horse with full focus. 

It's been a bit of a year so far....  good times!

sunday stash talk

So, now that I'm finally getting my energy back and the nausea is receding, I decided to tidy up my facric stash.  Up until now, I have thrown each purchase into the cupboard so that all "sets" are together and I can't really see what I have or where I need* to improve.
(* not need need, more want need)
So I decided to store by colour - like most normal sane people do.  And here is the result:

you can tell I got bored towards the end by some of my rubbish folding!

It came as a bit of a surprise that blues and greens dominate quite so much.  I also have another shelf of linens and home dec material that hasn't been sorted out yet.  So whilst it was a pfaff getting them in piles like this, at least I can see better what I've got and what I could benefit from getting.  Note on the far right, the large pile of black and greys too - note sure how that happened :-]

As I haven't been feeling so hot for the first couple of months this year, my fabric purchases have been minimal.  Now I'm getting back to feeling ok, the urge to buy has returned and I bought this pile of fabric to make a playmat quilt for the munchkin:

Circa 60 by birch fabrics bought from fabricworm

Do you like?  Laughing boy's mum hates it and is already worrying that her latest grandchild will be dressed like a goth from day 1! Just because I like a more muted palate :-/  It's hard to find good gender neutral colours though I think.  Mind you, after buying clothes for my gorgeous niece Grace just after she was born, her mum took me aside and mentioned that colour would also be a good option!   I need to work on that I think.

Hope to start sewing again this week - getting a little excited by the prospect - woot!

side project moves centre stage :)

I mentioned earlier this year that I was working on a wee side project and if all continued to go well, I'd let you know all about it.  Well, it has now firmly taken centre stage and I think it's ok to let you in on what is going on....

Laughing Boy and I are having a baby! 

I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and all is good.  Our scan went well and test results have been great (we don't need to go for any more).  We're only just getting over the shock of the news ourselves and have enjoyed the "shock and awe" that the news has generated amongst our families.  Everyone is looking forward to the new arrival in September.

Of course, this means that I now have to draft a new "to-do" list and have already ordered some fabric to make a playmat quilt.  I also want to teach myself how to crochet and the knitting needles are getting a dust off.  Come back Mojo, all is forgiven!

My head is swirling with how our lives will be changing over the coming months and years.....  all is good :-)

mums rock!

Intense discussions are underway with my sewing mojo, in a brave attempt to negotiate a return to normal service.  It's tough but I think we're getting somewhere!

In the meantime, I'm mentioned Laughing Boy's mum a couple of times in my blog.  Well, she is called Carol and is quite adorable.  For her 60th birthday last year, we bought her a sewing machine and she has become quite intoxicated with quilting.  So I thought I would showcase some of her work here.  Carol has taken some english piecing patchwork classes and is way more technically proficient than I am (I know it's not a competition!) so here are some of the results of her classes:

Aren't they good?  Now, we have the odd differences of opinion when it comes to fabric choices but she is much more accurate than me and is showing me a thing or two.  Carol's also finished her first full quilt, using a free pattern from http://www.modabakeshop.com/



if you look hard enough you can see Laughing Boy's legs!



Pretty neat, huh?

My mum and dad came down for a visit this weekend (thank you guys  it was lovely to have you) and mama p asked me to make a bag for her friend's 70th birthday.  [Her friend is also called Carol - I'm sensing a theme!]  So, despite the ongoing mojo negotiations, a truce was called and we rustled up a bag using a small satchel pattern from Keyka Lou in the time that it took Scotland to valiantly grab defeat from the jaws of victory against England in the rugby.

expertly ironed and modelled by mama p

I think this is the first thing I have made all year!  And, you know, it wasn't so bad......

sewing buddy

Apologies for the radio silence over the past month or so.  My sewing mojo and I are currently not on speaking terms - mojo decided she needed a break from me for a while.  I think she's planning to return and hopefully soon, as I kinda miss my mojo *sniff*.  In her bsence, I've even gone on a bit of a fabric buying diet - now that's been a real shock to my system (although not my bank balance!)

In the meantime, I signed up to Whipstich's Sewing Buddy Project 2011. 

Basically, you sign up and get paired up with someone who you can collaborate with to create some neat stuff.  My sewing buddy is called Sara and she not only has her own cool blog (http://theprettypickle.blogspot.com/) but also has an etsy shop (www.etsy.com/shop/MollyBlossomDesign). We've only just started to talk via email but she sounds like a real doll (and thinks I've got a lovely turn of phrase *blushing in agreement* - who am I to disagree?!). I have a feeling that Sara will encourage my sewing mojo to get back, get back, get back to where it once belonged sharpish - fingers crossed as my "to do" list isn't getting any shorter!

pesky education!

Just dropping in to say that my life is currently being hijacked by the need to finish (ahem....start!) a university assignment that's due on Friday.  It's at times like this that I ponder on my continued bad habit of procrastination and what is called hyperbolic discounting or temporal shortsightedness .....och, I'll get it done in no time! *shamefaced*

No crafting of any form has taken place for a while, although fabric purchase obviously has.  I'll take pictures and post them once this pesky assignment is done and submitted.  Damn me and my lazy ways....

showing off... family style

I've not been up to much sewing lately, partly due to needing the room as a guest room amongst other things.  So I've decided to use this post to show off about my big sister Carol and her amazing craftiness.  Carol is the complete opposite to me when it comes to most things - where I need to have read 125 different books on how to do something before I ever embark on it, she just dives in and fathoms it all out for herself.  This has resulted in her being a great knitter, crochet-er and sewer, leaving me panicking, in her wake, about knowing all the rules first.

Carol, Bethan and Hannah

Carol is also the mother of two of my nieces - Bethan and Hannah - both of who are completely gorgeous and amazingly well mannered and at university in Edinbugh and Aberdeen, respectively.  [I won't dwell on what they get up to there.... suffice to say, facebook can open the eyes of even wordly aunties ;-)].  They each got a handmade quilt from their mum for Christmas last year.  Here's Bethan's.....

with obligatory feet!

Now, Hannah has been a little slack in providing photos of her quilt so I'm hoping this will shame her into doing so!  My big sister is a genius and I am immensely proud of her.

Back to me(!) - we finally managed to get my sewing room straight yesterday so here's what's on Bertha at the moment...

I should finish in time for the next Skirts lunch!

Other than getting Jo's quilt done, I have a couple of bags to make and a new quilt for Laura to start.  I've got a side project on the go as well - not sure how it'll end up so I won't go into detail at the moment.  If it works out, I'll let you know.  Of course, I should really be working on my assignment which is due in at the end of the month but I figure I'm working it out in my head whilst sewing. How easy it is to convince yourself of things!