butterflies
Showing posts with label butterflies. Show all posts
unwound
When life is stressful there's nothing quite like sewing. It got to the point last week where I have had to prioritise trying to relax and getting back to sewing has really helped me unwind.
I finished this Bee A Brit Stingy quilt row for Di:
Di has to take some of the credit for this one because she made all those small butterflies. I added some nine patches and made large butterflies on the ends, the shapes of those wings and the row underneath were inspired by Lori Holt's instagram.
Spurred on by this successful machine sewing I decided to start a new English Paper Piecing project. I have created a pattern and hope it'll work out so I can teach it!
I also got some pretty goodies for my planner, I mean Totoro, Hello Kitty and robots are bound to make me more organised, right?!
Of course I had to have some sewing machine sticky notes too :) These are all from The Idea Owl.
Here's to a productive and tension free rest of the week!
treats
I've been treating myself. I couldn't treat myself to the doughnuts I've been craving since I'm still not eating/drinking processed sugar but fabric and gorgeous soaps work as treats for me :)
First up this bundle from Patchfinders:
From left to right: Freshly Cut Hyacinths, Meadow by Leah Duncan; Piggy Pirouette #3172 by Benartex; Gentle Breeze Red, Meadow by Leah Duncan; Butterflies and Cat Dream, Catnap by Lizzy House.
I'm planning on doing something with just these prints and I'm hoping they will play nicely together.
Recently I've been neglecting my skincare routine and my skin has felt really dry and sensitive as a result. Now I'm 35 I figure I really need to get back to better habits and taking care of myself. I'm not one of those people that freak out about wrinkles but I know my skin is changing and doesn't repair itself as quickly. I have a lot of hormonal breakouts but mostly very dry skin. I came across the Wild-Olive website and thought some of the soaps would be a nice way to cleanse my skin.
I got a couple of smaller ones to try, I have dry skin on my body too so couldn't resist the Oatmeal and Vanilla. The Coconut Clay one smells utterly incredible. The French Clay Soap is full of minerals and it lathers really nicely, the oils used in this one are Lime and Himalayan cedarwood and it smells so gorgeous! They included a free Bath Tea Bag with my order, I always love getting samples of other products from companies especially when I haven't used their products before.
Once I've used them for a while I will give an update on how I like them but I imagine I will order more! The company is family run, producing natural and environmentally friendly hand made soaps in Derbyshire. I think they would be lovely gifts and it's nice to support a company that is actually not too far from me!
I love vintage
I really do. Vintage notions, vintage furniture, vintage buttons, vintage fabric... I could go on and on.
Vintage quilts are what inspired me to ask my bees to make butterfly blocks, I have been thinking a lot about the tradition of quilting and wanting to try applique. Making a butterfly quilt for my middle daughter is a chance for me to try something new while keeping a vintage aesthetic. Lovely bee blocks have already flown in to play with mine - thank you Bee A Brit Stingy ladies!
One of the options for the bees was a paper pieced version by Leila, the 'Alice Brooks Butterfly'.
Since asking for these blocks I have been a bit obsessed with trying to google information about that butterfly block. Firstly one of the comments on Leila's post was from Q is for Quilter, who has redrafted the block and has a scan of the vintage pattern. After searching for the pattern I believe that it was a mail order quilt pattern, I guess that was popular with quilters before magazines! Alice Brooks was the name these patterns were published under and the design is by Laura Wheeler.
Interestingly I then came across an award winning EPP quilt using those blocks by Frances of Fabadashery. She has written about her inspiration and research on the quilt, as well as further posts about making it and showing it. I really recommend reading her blog and taking a look at her quilt!
She also mentioned that the pattern is available in the book New England Quilt Museum Quilts by Jennifer Gilbert.
And if you're into vintage (and in the UK or Ireland) you might like to know that Mary is having another vintage sheet swap. I took part last time and it was brilliant, she's very organised and I've got a lovely bundle of FQs from the first round. Check it out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)