unexpected gifts....

Last week sometime my friend Jen who blogs here, made a fabulous cape for one of her boys! Her blogging of this coincided nicely with 'Master M' bringing home this terms topic homework, what should be on there but make a costume for a prince or princess.....


I tweeted Jen and asked where she got the pattern and being the kind gal she is she not only photocopied the pattern for me but sent me the pattern on pattern paper too! 


I was so surprised when I opened my package that she had also included these lovely goodies too:

photo taken using Instagram App on iPhone

There was a yummy lavender bag, hair clips for 'Little Miss H' and a crayon roll too! As I'm sure you can imagine I'm now only left with a lavender bag!!!!


This last couple of days has also seen me piece my 1st Swoon block:

photo taken using Instagram App on iPhone

And last night I finished the Fairytale Quilt ready for delivery today! It's in the wash as I type!!

photo taken using Instagram App on iPhone

I'll do a full Ta Dah! post on the quilt when I have some better pictures and all the statistics sorted out!!

stacks & stacks

Well this year is whizzing by me in a daze! I can't keep up there's that much going on! 


I had fully intended to blog over the weekend but 'Little Miss H' ended up in hospital with a nasty Urinary Tract Infection, she was having terrors, refusing to wee and drink and it was all very stressful. The stress then caused me to have a case of serious Braxton Hicks and by Sunday evening I was convinced this baby was going to appear!!! Anyway, he hasn't and 'Little Miss H' is on the mend thank goodness!!


I've spent all this week cutting fabric for the silly amount of quilts I'm making. First up is my nearly completely cut stack for the Swoonalong on Katy's blog.

I'm hoping to get 1 or 2 of the blocks pieced this afternoon - excited about that I am!


Then I have cut 180 3.5" squares for the Made in Cherry QAL plus 20 3.7/8" squares that were turned into 40 triangles!

Next up are the 284 2.5" squares for the Bust Yo Scraps QAL. I must confess I cheated here and just raided Katy's pre-cut stash of squares as I could not face any more cutting - my poor pregnant back!

I've also started the cutting of 10" squares for a lap quilt for 'Master M' in Dr. Seuss fabrics, he's been begging me for so long I kinda feel guilty I've been neglecting his needs.

I've had to get organised in my storage of all these projects!!

Even my yarn projects come neatly stacked these days....

Well all I need to do now is decide how I'm going to divvy up my sewing time!! Should I just work on a quilt until its finished then start the next one or have a dedicated time per week for each project??


Let me know what you'd do!!!

QAL's, Fabric & Crochet

In all honesty I've not quite got my sewing thing on yet this year. I'm finding it hard been so tired and pregnant so instead I've been stalking the postie waiting for my pre-Christmas fabric orders to arrive!!

Here they are in all their glory. I just love me some fabric shopping!

I've also decided that I need to use up my stash of Creative Cotton Rico yarns and make the baby a blanket for when Hunter arrives! I've decided on a simple granny square blanket and I used this tutorial to help me along. I'm using the gorgeous lined drawstring bag that Katy made me for christmas to store my supplies in for this project and I take it everywhere with me, just in case I get chance for some hooky!

In order to help with my sewing mojo I let that Katy talk me into joining not one but two quilt-a-longs!! 

The first is here and is making the fabulous 'Made in Cherry' quilt by Sarah Fielke with options to make a 60", 80" or 90" quilt - exciting eh??

The lovely Chelsea will be posting the first official post on the 13th January and you can also find the Flickr group here.

The second is here and is making the very popular and gorgeous Swoon quilt top by Camille Roskelly.

So if you're like me and in need of inspiration - hop on board too because as we all know 'the more the merrier!'

Hello 2012

Blimey it's New Years Eve! I can't believe how fast this year has gone, can you?


2011 was a pretty good year for me both personally and in terms of creative production and I intend to make 2012 even more so.


Here's a mosaic of my favourite makes of 2011

There are still 3 WIPs that I need to finish before the end of January and then it is onto pastures new! 

I've decided not to set myself any resolutions as such for 2012 as having a baby due in March I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I'm most certainly going to be making more quilts from my stash fabrics and I will definitely be doing more knitting and crochet!!

Finally one last surprise happened for us yesterday when we went for a 3D scan of our baby - it appears baby Honey is indeed baby Hunter!!! We were told at our 20wk NHS scan that the baby was a girl, good job we treated ourselves and splashed out on a private 3D scan as the baby is definitely a boy, we have photographic evidence of his wedding tackle so to speak!!!

I was very reassured by the scan as it showed he's doing great and is already 2.5lb at 28wks!! I'm having another private scan at 35wk as Hunter is currently breech and I want to check he's got himself into the correct position for the birth!

So this is me saying farewell to 2011 and welcoming in 2012 with open arms!

I hope you and yours have a really lovely New Year and may 2012 be happy, peaceful and prosperous wherever you are.

XXXXXX

sewing up a xmas frenzy!

What a lot I've got to show you today - a veritable feast of handmade loveliness for your eyes!!

First up are my goodies that I received from the lovely Brioni on Friday. Really I should have posted about these over the weekend but I was ground to a halt with a nasty head cold that left me asleep on the sofa for the best part of the weekend!! Now I'm feeling a bit better I've got lots to catch up on!

If you're a regular reader you'll know that myself, Lynne, Mandy, Katy & Brioni have regular sew-ups where we chat, chat, eat, laugh, oh and sew (sometimes), it's like our own mini sewing guild and I love it!! Anyhow we decided to do a Secret Santa for our last meeting of 2011 and so we got Tacha to decide who we were all gifting to, I got Mandy to give to and Brioni to receive from!! Woop Woop!! 

Here's the hoop bag I made for Mandy, it was filled with an embroidery hoop, threads and pattern, as well as chocolates!

I was so excited to get Brioni as her work is amazing and scares me quite frankly, she's one of those people who loves intricate complicated quilts that are just so far out of my league right now, I can but wish! Anyway here's the loot I received from her.

I got a thread catcher which is something I've been wanting for yonks! I actually nearly pee'd myself when I opened it!! A very cute hearts fob that will hang in my sewing room, a crochet set and some yummy chocolate! Brioni nailed it with this lot let me tell you, she remembered my ranting about 'needing' a cute thread catcher and she remembered a random conversation we had ages ago about me wanting to develop my crochet skills - that's a good friend for you isn't it?

Anyhow I'm in super sewing mode now to catch up on my essential Christmas sewing that I still need to do. I whipped up these two cute lined drawstring bags that will be filled with goodies before been gifted at the weekend.

And I'm well on my way with an iPad case for 'Little Miss H'.

Here's a cute sewing jar I picked up as a gift over the weekend and a really cute drawstring bag that Katy made for 'Little Miss H'to store all her hair stuff in!!

Speak soon and hope all your sewing plans are coming together in time for the big day!!

handmade christmas

I love handmade presents and I try to include some each festive season. Now that doesn't always mean I make everything myself, I like to support other crafty folk too and buy their wares to give as presents!


Something that is becoming a bit of a tradition in our house is the giving of Linen Cat mice to 'Master M' and 'Little Miss H'. Remember these from last year?

Well this year Beth has surpassed herself and designed these beauties, I absolutely adore them and know my kids will too! 

I also bought these three baking kits from a designer children's wear shop local to me. They have been hand made and were a snip at only £14 each, filled with a handmade apron, bun cases, baking utensils and a cookie cutter. Perfect for my 2 little nephews and niece!

I've also bought cute little handmade sewing kits as stocking fillers for my two. 

I got the idea from Louise who blogs at Sew Scrumptious, she did a post a couple of weeks ago on stocking fillers which is excellent, you must go read it!
Finally yesterday I made another pair of Anna Maria Horner's Quick Change Trousers from her book, Handmade Beginnings. These are a gift for my friend Kyleigh's baby girl, Nella.

Now I'll be sewing up some more gifts this next few days as well as receiving some more handmade goodies in the post - hopefully! Does Christmas post scare you like it scares me??? 

holidays are coming...

I seem to be disappearing under a pile of Christmas crafting just now!! Which is all well and good as it's great to try and give handmade gifts isn't it?? I'm just not that good at recording what the heck I've been up to on this little old blog of mine!!!


So in no particular order here are the goodies made so far:


Mini coin purses in Melody Miller fabric. I used this bakeshop tutorial for these cuties and they came together really easily and most important quickly!

A couple of Grinch cushions/pillows (depends which side of the pond you live I suppose!) These are personalised for 'Master M' and 'Little Miss H' who both love the Grinch enormously. I'm just waiting on delivery of some plain Christmas red fabric so I can bind them. The Fat Quarter stack I used to make these is lovely warm flannel so these are cosy cushions for sure!

Speaking of flannel I've also made up a mahoosive flannel quilt top from Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi flannels. You may recognise the pattern as I blatantly stole/borrowed from Katy whose quilt is here! 


Anyhow I was going to make a simple patchwork squares top and she said 'No No No' have a go at a turning twenty block, it's so easy and I guarantee it'll be faster than squares to piece. Well been the instant gratification kinda girl I am I said 'Ok' and I swear this huge quilt was cut in approx 2 hrs and pieced in a morning. No joke. I'm sending this one out to the longarm quilter as it's way too big for me to quilt so I'll show it again when it comes home.

I've also finished piecing another smaller quilt top using at last my Sherbet Pips by Aneela. I've followed the 'Confetti' pattern from Fat Quarterly Issue 5 but added my own twist!! I've taken a section of the stacked coins out and inserted a piece of coordinating Bella Solids Grey on which I am going to embroider the girl on a swing pattern, again from Aneela. This is proving harder than I anticipated with not much light to allow me to transfer the pattern!! 

So that's it for today and I promise I'll post again soon with more Christmas makes!