Contented

Pootling

It's been another one of those kinds of weeks where nothing very much has happened.  This is fine with me, as I am very happy just pottering about at home.  Being at home most of the week means there has been time for some sewing and I have been trying to get back into the bag making groove.  This morning I finished a pleated tote, another free pattern from Artsy-Crafty Babe - made from a thrifted pillow case. 

 

My success with the buttercup bag meant I was a lot more confident when it came to the box pleats, and I really like the way it turned out, although the print is not really my style.  I've also been sewing lots of felty things.  There was a PTA committee meeting on Wednesday, where we began discussing the summer fair, and that got me to thinking again about whether or not to try my luck and take a stall.  I think I'm going to go for it, and have starting planning what I want to make.  I'm inclined to think that smaller items will sell better than big - I'm thinking brooches, hanging ornaments, keyrings/bag charms, that kind of thing - and then maybe just have a few examples of bags so that I can make them to order, should anyone be interested.

 

I am also absolutely ITCHING to get cracking on some new quilts - the Georgina one and I really want to make another with my Prints Charming collection - but I am still awaiting the arrival of an order of white cotton from the states.  I'm starting to get a little worried - the last batch of Prints Charming fabric that I showed was ordered just the day before I ordered the white - I just hope it hasn't got stuck in customs!

On Sunday we have the school's easter egg hunt - I'm on raffle duty so keep your fingers crossed for a sunny day for us!

Have a great weekend!

R x

P.S.  Next week it is my blog's 1st birthday, so make sure you stop by as there will, of course, be a giveaway!

Marvellous mail!

Good grief, two posts in one day!  Whatever next?  Well, yes I know I already blogged today, but I received not one, but two parcels in the post since then, and just couldn't wait til tomorrow to share them with you - you know how excited I get about nice things in the post!

First was this gorgeous parcel of fabric that I ordered from Z&S.  I had secretly told myself that I wouldn't place any more overseas orders until the exchange rates improved, but when I saw that they had the new Prints Charming fabrics in stock, coupled with 15% off, I just couldn't resist!

 

The pale turquoise fabric on top isn't Prints Charming - it's by Clothworks but don't ask me what it's called! - but is very lovely nonetheless.  I think I might make another buttercup bag with it.  I now have quite a collection of Prints Charming fabrics, certainly enough to make a quilt with!  Perhaps I will, eventually, I'm not sure yet.  For now I'm happy just looking at it all!!

Anyway, shortly after that there was a knock at the door and there was the parcelforce man with another package for me! 

 

This enormous box was from Lissy Lou, my heart swap partner.  Eventually, after much rummaging, I pulled out this little lot!

 

Ooh, how exciting!  I very quickly ripped everything open and this is what was inside:

 

Some stickers, a set of heart cookie cutters, some pink jelly beans, chocolate hearts, loveheart sweets, some gift tags, some mini pegs with red hearts on and a very sweet fabric heart decoration.  The chocolates and lovehearts made me laugh as I had sent the very same to Lissy Lou!  Thank you Lissy Lou, this has been a great swap.   This is what I made for her:

 

a soft fabric basket,

 

a beaded felt heart decoration,

 

and a fabric/felty brooch.  I also sent some stickers, cupcake cases, clips and the sweets, but stupidly forgot to photograph all that until it was all nicely wrapped up!  Never mind, I think she liked it all! 

Many thanks also to Catherine of Mollycupcakes for organising the swap.

R x

The weekend

Ours got off to a very good start with the schools quiz night on Friday.  It was a great success, and our team came third!!  There were only 4 of us on our team too, AND we beat William's teacher!  Result!  Saturday saw us getting up bright and early so that we could go off to Bromley to spend Peter's 15 year employment bonus - £150 worth of Debenhams vouchers.  We left the kids at my mums which is just as well as the shopping centre was HEAVING!  Tip: don't ever go shopping the day before Mother's Day!  We managed to spend all the vouchers (as if that was ever going to be difficult?!!) - Peter got me some White Linen perfume, then some shirts for himself and a couple of things for the house.  When we got home in the afternoon, there was a little package on the doormat containing this:

 

It came from Shelley, as a thank you for the bag of scraps I sent her.  Thank you Shelley, it's so sweet!  It's pinned up on the wall above the laptop, so I can look at it while I'm trying to think of what to type!!

Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day.  I was woken up with a cup of tea in bed and a lovely box of mini toblerone chocolates, plus the boys had both drawn me pictures, as well as cards. 

 

This is Joe's - extra special as he so rarely draws anything.  It's him with two bunches of flowers.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend too.

R x

Go check out this song

Have you heard of Lenka?  I hadn't before today, but this song has got to be an instant favourite, it's such a happy tune and I can't stop singing it! 

R x

Buttercup

Good morning!  Isn't it a beautiful day?  I was a bit worried yesterday afternoon when it suddenly became freezing cold and very grey again, but this morning is glorious sunshine again.  I'm feeling quuite chirpy today because yesterday I made a bag and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

 

It's the buttercup bag which is available for free here.  As it's a free pattern, it's for personal use only, so I can't sell this design but I don't mind one bit because it's actually the perfect size for me (I prefer small bags) so I can imagine making this in all sorts of different fabric combos (a different one for every occasion perhaps!!)  and it will be lovely for gifts too.  This is the most complicated bag I've ever attempted - only because up till now I've only ever made very simple tote type bags with straight edges - but actually wasn't too tricky at all (once I'd got my head around the pleats and how to pin the curvy bits!) It was also the first time I used interfacing and magnetic snaps and, whilst there are probably a few little details that I would do differently next time, it still turned out remarkably well for a first attempt.

   

Have a fab weekend everyone!

R x

Busy

I feel like I've been really busy this week (although I suspect in reality I've been nothing of the sort - I'm just so lazy that it seems busy to me!).  So far, I have:

* Made and bought stuff for the heart swap

* Been to Tunbridge Wells where I bought, amongst other things, these sweet little Easter egg ornaments

 

and the cutest teatowels in Paperchase!

 

I have already made something with one of them, but it's going to be for my blog's birthday giveaway in a couple of weeks so you'll just have to be patient!

* I also went into the sewing shop to look into getting a walking foot for my machine - HOW MUCH???!!!  My jaw almost hit the floor, I had no idea they would be so expensive (for the record, £37!!!)  Suffice to say I shall be investigating ebay for this particular item!

* I have hemmed 5 tablecloths for the school fundraising committee for a quiz night this Friday. (I also have to make a tray of brownies and bake 20 potatoes!)

* Placed several online orders, some of which have arrived already - 11 squares of lovely felt from Sarah:

 

I also ordered some bag making supplies from U-handbag, so hopefully there will be some bags to show you in the not too distant future!

* Filled in and posted another impossible questionairre about Joe (for the Social Comms clinic - I'm hoping this means he's in the system and that we won't have to wait too long for our appointment).

* Had a conversation with someone from the speech and language dept who saw Joe yesterday (school didn't let me know so was a bit of a surprise!).  She basically agreed with everything that has been said so far and is referring him on to a specialist speech & language therapist, but also gave us a couple of good tips for using at home.  His actual speech and vocab are very good, but his listening skills are poor so that's something we can be working on in the meantime.

What else, oh yes, inspired by that lovely easter twig tree in Country Living and my little mini egg ornaments that I bought, this morning I had a little play around and came up with this:

 

It actually turned out almost exactly as I imagined it, so I expect I shall be making a few more over the next couple of weeks.

There's still plenty going on in my "to-do" book for the rest of the week, and then on Saturday Peter is taking me out to help spend his 15 year employment reward!!

Enjoy the rest of the week.

R x

Reasons to be cheerful

 

A lovely, new, embellished Moleskine notebook, destined to become my next to-do-list book, bought from this lovely lady. (Thanks Jane!)

 

A beautiful, handprinted fabric panel, all the way from Australia, purchased from this etsy shop.

 

 

The latest copy of Country Living magazine.  I love this Easter tree!

Also, yesterday morning I went to a clothes swap party, held to raise funds for our school.  (There were also Phoenix Cards for sale with profits going to Comic Relief so I bought quite a few cards too).  I didn't have any clothes to swap so I had to pay for any items I chose, but I got two cashmere jumpers, a Monsoon skirt and two tops, for just 50p each!!!  What a bargain!  A very cheerful end to the week indeed!

Have a great weekend!

R x

Joe's quilt

...is finished!

 

I sewed on the last piece of binding this morning.  I used the double fold method this time, much easier than the other way when you fold it like bias binding.  I still wasn't brave enough to try mitred corners though, so each side was attached separately.  Next time though, definitely. 

 

As soon as we got in from school, Joe jumped on the sofa and snuggled down under the quilt - a very happy bunny!  Wouldn't let me take a photo though - I just managed to catch the top of his head as it was disappearing!

 

Today I've also been working on some items for a heart swap I'm taking part in.  It's being hosted by Catherine at Mollycupcakes and my partner is Lissylou - another new-to-me blog.  With the theme being hearts there is no shortage of ideas and inspiration, so this is going to be quite an easy one.  I'm really pleased with the items I've made today - so much so that I really wanted to keep them for myself!   But I guess that's a good sign where swapping is concerned, so they will be going off to Lissy as planned, and maybe I'll get round to making alternative versions for myself one day.

I've also made a start on the "my so called scarf" pattern.  The pattern itself is actually not too taxing at all, it just takes a little more concentration on my part!

 

It does feel a bit weird using the long needles again though, after having knitted nothing but socks for the last few months!

R x

I like Tuesdays

Today is shaping up to be a pretty good day, so far.  First we had Joe's class assembly, which was very sweet.  Joe fidgeted throughout, but at least he was smiling and he held up his letter (the "o" in "courage" - the theme of the assembly) when he was supposed to.  After that, it was a quick hop across the road from school to my friend's house, where we have a regular Tuesday morning get together with various other mums.  It was one lady's birthday so chocolate cake too, yum!

When I got home there were two packages waiting for me - always exciting, even if I did have to pay for them!

 

 

A lovely, Country Living book on storage style, which I can't wait to sit down with and start browsing through with a nice cup of tea.

Then there was also a parcel of yarn from Colinette:

 

Isn't that the most gorgeous colour!  It's called Adonis Blue and I'm going to use it to make a scarf.  "That's not very interesting" you might think, but I'm going to try something a little more taxing than just knit and purl this time - I want to try the "my so called scarf" pattern, which I think you can find here, but I've also spotted it on Ravelry, which I joined last week.

Finally, I had six comments regarding the bag of scraps, so all the names went into a bowl:

 

I stirred them around,

 

and drew out.....

 

Shelley!   If you can email me your address I'll get it posted off to you asap.  Sorry to those who missed out, but it's my blog birthday next month so keep your eyes open for another giveaway soon.

Now I'm off to make that cup of tea and sit down with my new book!

R x

Clear out

My fabric stash may be small, but it is already threatening to overflow what little storage space I have, so today I had a bit of a tidy up and clear out.  All the decent sized pieces of fabric have been nicely folded and stacked in colour groups, but the scraps were really starting to get out of hand, so I have bagged up a selection and was wondering if anyone might like to have them?

 

It's a real mish-mash of plains, patterns, cottons, poly-cottons, plus a few bits of denim and decorating weight fabric too, and in a range of sizes, but i hope someone might find them usable.

 

I'm happy to post this to anywhere in the UK, so if you're interested, leave me a comment.  I'll leave this open until next Monday, 9th and if I get more than one reply I'll draw a name out of the hat. 

Have a great weekend!

R x