Twitterfied

 Ok I've done it!

I've finally succumbed and joined Twitter!

Click the icon in my left-hand column and follow me - the more the merrier. I figured it might be a good way to keep the chit chat going when I haven't got lots of blog time, like now. Mid-way through 3 night shifts. Tired springs to mind.

Christmas Came Early Here!

Fab fabric delivery from Seamstar!

I've been awaiting all week for this HUGE delivery and have nearly pee'd my pants more than once this morning whilst tracking its journey online. Yes I am aware that most of you will think me mad. Or sad. Let's face it probably both!

So where to start? At the beginning I think. I'd had my eye on the Christmas bundle over at Seamstar for a couple of weeks and was waiting, patiently, for Courtney to list the Halloween bundle.

I'm in a few swaps that are Christmas themed and I also wanted to make some Christmassy things for our home this year too. 'Master M' is Halloween mad so I thought I could make him some bunting for his bedroom using this cute bundle.

My Mind's Eye - Boo To You

I'm also making quite a few quilts and bits that require a lot of light grey so after much deliberation and chatting with Courtney I decided to buy a whole bolt from her. Wow, my first bolt. I'm shocked with myself for taking the plunge, really I am. Courtney had to organise a courier to get the bolt to me so I decided to make life easier and just order everything I needed in one fell swoop rather than a bit at a time.

My Minds Eye & Alexander Henry Christmas Bundle

With the Christmas bundle you get a free mini Christmas ribbon bundle and as I ordered my bundle as a 1/2m bundle rather than a FQ bundle, I got 2 free ribbon bundles which is a massive 28m of Christmas ribbon!!

Free ribbon bundles from Seamstar

Now because Courtney is just such a lovely gal she also chucked in a couple more freebies for me too. The ribbon bag at the right of the above picture is a scrap bag of ribbons she popped in and the fabric wraps shown in the picture below were another little gift.

Moda Jelly Roll & Fabric Wraps - Seamstar

Now these little fabric wraps are very cute and make an ideal treat for you or a friend. They're available now here and are a great idea for getting some instant fabric gratification without breaking the bank!

Courtney also ordered the Moda Solids Jelly Roll in especially for me too as I needed it to make my niece a quilt for Christmas. More on that later! She had to order a couple of the jelly rolls so the rest will be appearing at Seamstar soon!

Echino, Kona & Chez Moi - Seamstar

Finally there was this little lot in the delivery too! Some Echino and Kona to make me a bag and an offcut of Chez Moi (now sold out) just because. 


So now I can get sewing into full swing and hopefully have a very productive few weeks in the run upto Christmas. Speaking of which if you check out the Seamstar blog there is a great tutorial for a travel wallet which would make a fab Christmas present.

I'm going to go hide all my fabric now before 'Mr. G' gets home........

Help Please?

Just a quickie!

Can anyone point me in the right direction for either a tutorial or a purchasable pdf pattern for fabric buckets.

I feel the urge to make some but have no idea how!!! Help required or I may just go mad looking.

Take a lookie at this little lot, now you know why I need some.

photo courtesy of:: lesleyandsara

In the Post

My lovely pincushion for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap. I sent a few other bits in the parcel as well including some felt balls, felt cupcake and some scraps from my stash. Hope you like it partner!

I was led to this lovely giveaway earlier this  morning and just had to enter. The fabric in the giveaway is TDF.

photo courtesy of Me? A Mom?

I love everything about this bundle, not least the colours and the prints, some of which are rare now. Wish me luck and if you enter too:: Its mine all mine!

My Scrappy Mug Rug is well under way, as is my bee block for Lynne oh and the crochet I started at the weekend! I'll post again soon with pictures to show you, promise.

This week I've......

been feeling the hooky love!

A while ago I got this lovely yarn pack::

photo courtesy of Lucy @ Attic 24

Lucy had featured the yarn on her blog and as I love her colour choices and tutorials (excellent for beginner crocheters) I decided to treat myself! The yarn is 100% cotton and called Rico Creative Cotton I got mine from first4yarns as this was where Lucy recommended. Due to the huge influx of sales this recommendation from Lucy received, the store put together a pack called Lucy's Creative Colour Pack! At the time (back in May) I had to wait a approx. 3 weeks for the order as the poor shop keeper couldn't keep up with the demand! You can still order the pack and I bet you get it a lot quicker now!!

So first up I had a go at this::

A cute crochet jam jar cover that now houses pens and pencils on a shelf in the kitchen. I learnt huge lessons with this little project, mainly because I chose a huge jar that tapered in at the neck so I had to teach myself how to decrease stiches on the way! Anyway I managed with a few expletives (little people in bed I assure you!) and I'm pleased with this as my first attempt. I'll definitley be making more.

On the hook now::

using the same yarn pack, is a little WIP. Promise to share more as it grows!

I'm also loving these this week too::

Gorgeous, gorgeous Lilies bought from a roadside van near my house at the beginning of the week. This is the first one to open. Beautiful isn't it?

So plans for the rest of the weekend = attaching 'Master M's' blind now 'Mr. G' has finally got the wood batten in place. Voile curtains in 'Little Miss H's' bedroom window and more hookin'. 

What's in store for you this weekend?

Introducing.......

the newest love in my life. Candy Carnival.

I really cannot believe I actually, really own her. My first Blythe doll. My only Blythe doll according to Mr. G!

So you've seen CC before right? Yes that's right she's in the 'Things I {heart}' section of my right hand side bar. Well this is actually that self same doll, after much discussion and negotiation and umming and aaghhing (on my part - these dolls are expensive you know). I finally bit the bullet so to speak and purchased her from a lovely girlie on Flickr. Alas she did not come in the gorgeous outfit she is wearing in the pictures that captured my heart (my budget unfortunately could not stretch to that) but at least she didn't travel naked, that would have been just plain rude! 

So it seems another obsession has been born, another avenue for my creativity. As you can see from these poorly styled pictures I need to practise styling and photographing CC so that she looks uber-cool, just like all those beauty dolls out there that started me wondering. Wondering if I dare enter this cool world of Blythe!

How cute is this bunny hat?

So October 2nd it is. I'm off to Blythe Con where I hope to pick up lots of sewing tips so I can make my own goodies for CC and no doubt where I'll get the beginnings of the uber-cool wardrobe my lovely is in need of.

Finally. Katy, thanks (!) As if I needed another obsession, you tipped me over the edge, you made me do it, you evil girl you! Thank-you. See you at Blythe Con. 

Pincushions & Bee Blocks!

So I've managed to get a little more sewing completed on my ever expanding 'to do' list!

As some of you may be aware I am taking part for the 1st time in the 'Scrappy Pincushion Swap' which is a great little swap that happens over on flickr. Here's my finished pincushion::

S

So what d'ya think?

It's totally hand sewn and I love it. However, I have learnt many lessons for next time:: 

Choose a closer weave linen as when you stuff your pincushion a more open weave gives too much - obvious now I've made the mistake!

Make your stitches much tighter and closer together so they cannot be seen when the pincushion is stuffed!

I love the pincushion but am undecided whether because it's hand sewn it's up to expected standards - Mmmm. Do I make a machine sewn one???

I

I've also completed another bee block for bee quilted, quilt as you go. This one has been pieced for a while and just needed quilting, I'm no longer taking part in this bee and will now be concentrating on my Fresh Modern Bee 2 commitments (Lynne, your block is next I promise!!).

Finally, remember these beauties Jo showed off on her blog::

photo courtesy of Muddy Puddle Crafts

I loved loved loved them and simply had to have one! Can you guess which colour?

Hooray for red and aqua!!

Anyway must dash just taken delivery of something really special (Yep, Katy if you're reading this she's arrived!!)

Promise I'll share soon.....

Sewing Yay!!

Well after the huge moan on my last post I have at last some sewing for your perusal! Well this is meant to be a sewing blog after all.

A little bit of hand sewing done yesterday. 

A cute red felt needle book complete with teeny tiny hexagons and two felt flower brooches. The hexagons were made out of the scraps of fabric I won a while back from Kerry. Cath Kidston's Stanley dog looks very cute, don't you agree?

The cute pink and red polka dot material (I should've ironed it!) is Lecien and is part of a FQ bundle I got from Kerri on Etsy.

I'm also quickly (thank heavens!) catching up on my bee block commitments. Here is my final block for the bee quilted group.

I've only completed two months in this bee as I'm trying to reduce my commitments. 'Little Miss H' is struggling at school and needs more of my time and I need to spend more time keeping an eye on school! Sounds strange I know but I have a gut feeling I'm going to have a fight on my hands to keep her in mainstream this year. Anyway, enough. That's a whole different issue!

I've received my partner's details for the scrappy pincushion round 2 swap so I'll be getting started on that mini project this week too, pictures to follow I promise.

Finally a little fabric splurging! I got a FQ bundle of Far Far Away 2 again from Kerri! 

And I also got this::

This is from another Etsy seller called Fresh Squeezed Fabrics. I got this 0.5yd bundle in a 24h sale they were having last month! It's clearly Christmas fabric and is all from Michael Miller. 

There's a good selection of funky Christmas fabric cropping up here in the UK at the moment, my favourite currently is this::

image courtesy of Seamstar

 If you're in the market for some Christmas crafting you should check out Seamstar, Courtney has a great Christmas section on the site!

Giveaway.........

over at 'The Quilted Fish'.

Fabby prizes including FQ bundles, quilt kits with patterns and buttons for your stash all by designer Riley Blake.

Head over there NOW. Closes soon.

Long time no blogging.....

I cannot believe over a week has passed since I last blogged. Seriously I haven't got time to grab a coffee at the moment let alone have the luxury of spending time with the laptop.

Something weird must be happening, honestly! My time management has gone out of the window, my poor sewing machine thinks its been put into early retirement and all I seem to be doing is housework. Poo. I can't understand why this has happened all in the week when the kids have gone back to school???

I was so looking forward to much time with my sewing machine and my blog, free days with no little people. HaHa. Someone else had other plans, the voice in my head said 'NO'. You cannot indulge yourself in your hobbies when your credit card balance is so high and it's going to be Christmas soon. You cannot allow poor 'Mr. G' to work 7 days so you can sew. You must do extra shifts at work. You must work many hours to clear the balance on that credit card. You must kill yourself and work days and nights in the same week!

So that's what's happening around these parts. Work Work Work. I know I'll smile when I can clear the credit card. I know it's a temporary glitch but I still don't like it. 

However, I have done a few things to make me smile this last week. I have signed me up for a few swaps. Hooray! I have ordered fabric. Hooray! (Don't tell 'Mr. G')

My 1st swap is:: 'The Christmas Stocking Swap' and here is my inspiration mosaic. You can visit my flickr for more details on the mosaic and click on the icon in my right hand column for details of the host, Selina.

Now the 2nd swap is a Flickr swap:: Scrappy Pincushions (round 2). Again we had to do a mosaic of our inspiration, here's mine.

And the 3rd I'm very excited about! It's the SavVy {Seasons} swap hosted by Heather and Kerri. Here is my inspiration mosaic, it's yummy isn't it?

This swap is going to be twice yearly I think and have a seasonal theme to it. Heather and Kerri host lots of amazing groups on flickr and if you don't know them already, why not? Go! Now! Check them out, you'll be glad you did. Lots of lovely homemade eye-candy!

That's it for now, got another hectic few days ahead of me work wise. Gotta grab it while I can I suppose.

Hugs to you all!!