CHARM ABOUT YOU

I finished this Bee A Brit Stingy row for Nicky. The blocks are Castle Walls by John Q. Adams from the book Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters:

I adore that little Cocoland cat!

The next block is clamshells, which I have never done before. I'm going to do needle turn appliqué because I'm feeling brave. Here's my fabric pull for the clamshells:

Sometimes I buy fabric with intention and then other times just because! Last week was a little mix of both...

At Patchfinders I got some Acid Green, Bella Solids because I can't resist that gorgeous colour and Coquette Collection by Art Gallery Fabrics, which I am thinking might be backing for my gtsb quilt. I also stocked up on glue refills (turned out I had some already but I know I will use them!) and another Styla water soluble pen.

Today I met up with my cousin from America, Jackie. We had a lovely lunch at my mums house and I got to take her to Patchfinders so she could see where I work and also buy some fabric. 

She had very kindly agreed to be my fabric mule and bring over an order from Imagine Gnats that I had sent to her address (saves postage!). I won a voucher from quarter 2 of the Finish-Along so I got some beautiful Artisan Cotton in yellow-copper - no real reason except I like the colour, some Chambray Union in indigo dot by Robert Kaufman that is so soft and beautiful - I think I might make a dress (easy pattern recommendations welcome!) and some hand sewing needles - because I had $1 left :)

Jackie is staying with my Dad's cousin who also very kindly brought me a treat today, these incredible vintage patterns. They belonged to my Great Aunt. I haven't yet checked all the pieces are complete, though I suspect they are. I need to try some very basic dress making before I can even attempt these! I shall just admire the pretty illustrations for now:

The best feeling when I'm sewing is loving the process. Enjoying each stitch, seeing my work come together and loving the result. Sewing satisfies me for different reasons and I enjoy machine projects but hand sewing is another level for me. It has a comfort and calm to it, my hands working away while my mind relaxes. It feels so good to get back to working on my green tea and sweet beans quilt.

I finished the appliqué on this Berry Basket:

The print is Hiding Cats, Cocoland by Kokka and all the Cocoland cats are so sweet.

I'm looking forward to putting these together :)

We had a 'family time' weekend and yesterday went to the Whitworth Art Gallery. It's been awarded the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2015 and rightly so. I love it, we had our wedding there, and I've been going with my family for as long as I can remember. 

I went to see the Cornelia Parker exhibition 'Magna Carta (An Embroidery)', here is the blurb from the website:

It was so incredible on every level and I was overwhelmingly inspired - definitely see it if you can. It's on from 8 August – 1 November 2015.

There was a really interesting documentary about the embroidery running too and Cornelia was fascinating, I enjoyed learning more about the whole process and the people involved. This was an epic project and the skill (or not) to produce such work is immense.
I chuckled that Jarvis Cocker actually embroidered two words, common and people!

Outside I discovered these fabulous stitchy benches:

and the adjoining park provided enjoyment too:



It was the kind of day that life is all about.

Today was the opposite, I was a mardy so and so. Hormones blazing, too many annoying jobs, missed calls, kids not listening to me, etc. It really does seem like I'm having a summer of good days followed by bad! Hopefully that means I'm due a good one tomorrow ;)

And in the spirit of goodness Fat Quarter Shop currently have 15% off all Robert Kaufman fabrics, use code RK2015 at the checkout. Valid until 16th August:


Stock up on lovely solids (I vote pickle, creamsicle and goldfish - is it weird that those are all also snacks?!) or whatever fabulous RK prints take your fancy! I will just point out that includes Architextures :)


I'm going to do a little bit of stitching before zonking out. Hope your Monday was better than mine?!

It has been one of those days but the kids have really been making me laugh today. I need it because I am still full of cold and little things have been really annoying me. 

I know they do it so you will use more product and have to buy more (annoying!!) but this picture shows the right dosage for my wash. It's so little! Even the grubbiest clothes in hard water areas need only 90ml according to the label. I can't imagine how many people just fill it up and waste product. I use Fairy Non-Bio liquid because it is the only thing that doesn't irritate my kids skin. When money has been really tight I have switched to cheaper options, or whatever is the best deal, but then they get itchy rashes and it's just not worth it. Have you checked how much you are supposed to use in your wash? I would, don't rely on those lying cups!!
Wish they could make the measurements on the cup more obvious and encourage people to use less. I mean their washing up liquid adverts are built on the idea of how long it lasts so they could do the same with this!!

That aside we have been hanging out around the house. My kids love Scooby Doo, I think it's that thrill of being scared but accompanied by really light hearted fun music that does it! I asked them which characters they would be...


Fred obviously has to be Fred, Joan said she is Velma (I feel so proud!!) and Lois, well I would have sworn she would say Daphne because she is the girliest little thing but no, she said Shaggy! For a two year old she is so funny and I know she likes him the best because he makes her laugh.

We have also been reading a lot, thank goodness for the local library and their summer reading challenges! Joan is coming on brilliantly and is thrilled to now be reading books with little words (as she calls them!). She has made herself a bookmark so she can keep place in the paperbacks. Lois mimics reading and it is adorable! She puts her fingers under the words and just makes them up. Fred has always read brilliantly and got a bit upset that I wouldn't let him take three encyclopedias home from the library - I explained he was meant to actually read the whole book for the challenge and we settled on one encyclopedia, one non fiction book about volcanoes and a regular fiction book. I also said he could borrow the other two when he has completed his challenge!

Since I've finished my class samples I have gone back to hand quilting this beautiful vintage quilt, a commission from a friend that was made by two generations of her in-laws. It really is so beautiful and I can't help but fall in love with so many of the gorgeous prints. Some of the dress making fabric is very hard to quilt through but it is a labour of love:



Have you seen the awesome collaboration between Pink Castle Fabrics and Samarra Khaja? The first in a series of SK designed t-shirts is now available for pre-order. Of course I had to get one!


Finally another fabric treat, Black Sheep Wools are offering 15% off all Joel Dewberry fabric until 9am BST 10/8/15. Use the code JOEL15 at checkout.



It's nearly the weekend, hurray!

The good:

I finished my class sample projects and am utterly thrilled with them. I will show them all fully when my class schedule is announced. There's a really fun quilt design I created and managed to finish sewing the binding on that last night. I also finished up a super pretty and useful make that I embroidered:

Can't wait to show you them all in full!

The kids and I have been baking. First some courgette muffins that Lois managed to sneakily devour (that's what happens when mummy is sewing and not paying attention. Oops!) :

And then we made some really yummy homemade granola, I use Lily Pebbles 'Breakfast and Dessert Oats'. It is quick, with simple ingredients and you can add whatever you like into it. I don't grind the almonds, I just use sliced ones and sometimes smush the bag up before I open it so they aren't so big. I add raisins after cooking it. 

The kids love this just as a snack on it's own, with yoghurt for pudding or breakfast. They aren't usually big fans of cinnamon and there's a lot in this recipe but somehow they still love it! They have told me they like it more than the shop bought granola. I also use organic ingredients and it's still super cheap. Healthy and easy to make :)

The bad:

I was attempting to make another project as a class sample and I failed epically. Yesterday evening I just gave up on it (and then funnily read this blog post by Angie, so good to know I'm not alone). It was stressing me out, my ideas weren't working, I ended up in tears. I had a chat with hubbie and realised if I'm not even enjoying making it why would I want to teach it?! So I just gave up. It felt so good. It was a relief and now I can concentrate on other things without worrying. Sometimes giving up is not a bad thing.

The exhausting:

I have a horrible summer cold and three energetic children at home ALL day. Enough said.

A while ago I did just that and got myself some sweet earrings with a very unique back, it's been a couple of months and I can tell you I only love them more! 

JewelleryBox carry these fabulous studs that have an Andralok closure. It's so ingenious, making it incredible easy to put the earrings in and they stay put. I find the normal butterfly backs fiddly but the thing that annoys me most is I always seem to catch them and pull them out. The Andralok fastening makes the earrings so comfortable, I even sleep with them in and don't feel a thing.

With prices starting at £5 they are so reasonable priced. I honestly can't recommend them highly enough. You also get free UK postage with orders over £10! It all comes so cutely packaged too:

It was hard to take a picture of and it's SO pretty in real life, to do it justice here is the website photo too. The necklace is £7.50 - £9 depending on the length of chain you want. Yes, that's right, you get a choice! JewelleryBox know how to do it right!

Here are some more things that take my fancy from JewelleryBox:

Sterling Silver Winged Keepsake Locket; Designosaur Toucan Acrylic Necklace; 9ct White Gold 25mm Sparkle Twist Creole Earrings and Andralok 9ct Yellow Gold Clear Crystal Small Faceted Stud Earrings

We went to North Wales today, a fun filled trip to the seaside. Only once we actually got there the tide was in and it was pouring with rain. The kids were not best pleased but thankfully there's a great play area in Prestatyn so they were able to do a bit of climbing and swinging until the rain got too much and it all started to get a bit hazardous.

Rather than give up we drove down the road a bit and went to Gronant Dunes, which was really beautiful and the weather very obligingly cleared up :)

The pebble beach was thoroughly enjoyed by us all and we loved looking at all the different colours and patterns of the rocks and pebbles.

Unfortunately the journey home was really long, after an accident somewhere on the motorway, but we played those annoying family car games and made it back without too much chaos!

This week I enjoyed a couple of nice quilty treats...

I got some of this fabric from Patchfinders, I seem to be oddly drawn to brown at the moment! I think it gives brighter colours a nice base and it's such a warm colour, I'm started to think it's underrated. Also this print is just cute.

These gorgeous papers arrived from Sew & Quilt:

I'm thrilled to be able to get papers in the UK and Sew & Quilt have a great range, including new curved shapes:

I also got my copy of Simply Moderne this week. It is the perfect combination of really inspirational quilts, fabulous patterns and genuinely interesting well written articles and interviews. I know that I will be referring back to it and expect to see it influencing my sewing too! You can see more and get your copy here. Congratulations to the wonderfully talented Rachael for the amazing Bubbles quilt cover!

and now I'm going to go and conk out!!