Patchwork quilts

I am desperately, desperately, desperately trying to make a little girls cot quilt/yummy lap quilt. However, it seems EVERYTHING, including my baby son is trying to stop me this week! I have managed to piece the top together in stolen moments. I finally managed today to lay it out ready to baste together when a friend turned up, so I had to put it away! Maybe tomorrow will be more fruitful? I am planning on quilting it entirely by hand, so it may take a while to finish....

quilting, sewing...feeding baby!

Being a Mum is only glamourous if all you have to do is pass on your genes and then employ someone else to help you bring your kids up!
I have desperately been attempting to be Wonderwoman and have accepted, eventually, that it is not possible. So my days recently have been alternating between trying to encourage children to pick up after themselves (meaning myself and James end up doing it!) or saying 'sod it!' and sewing instead (making more mess to clear up). Plus, of course, trying to feed my little man who feeds every 3 hours still (but sleeps 9 at night so NO complaining).
I have managed however to finish Jacobs playmat (apart from the robots faces...)

And 6 lovely campervan cushions in 3 different designs

And of course spending time feeding the cherub!

Craft Fairs and feeling stressed!

A lovely friend of mine runs a 10 day Art Exhibition and Craft Fair, and it's pretty amazing. However, with Jacob  being so small I felt very wary about doing it. Instead my lovely Mother-in-Law took over and with James' help set up a collective stall of wares! Sues bunting was a big hit!

Far too busy-apparently...

I cannot believe how long it has been since my last blog! I think I have a valid excuse though, as baby Jacob came early on the 29th May, weighing 6lbs 13 and a half ounces! He is very good, but takes up my entire 24 hours with feeding, changing and lovingly gazing at him-which has increased now as he is really smiling!

It is amazing how much he has changed!

So this week, somehow, somewhere, I have snatched a few 20-30 minute sessions to sew his playmat. Well, start it at least, as he is currently lying on his quilt I made for him-which although gorgeous, it isn't very bright as you can see!

I found it so hard to decide on colours because it was only getting snippets of my attention.

Doing the robots was a bit of a challenge...

But the finished centre panel is pretty good-even if I do say so myself! Just got to decide on what to do for a border next...

and give the robots their faces...and hand quilt it....hope he isn't 5 before I finish it!

Cushions!!

I just love making cushions and having them around my home. I love making them to sell too! There's nothing nicer than a cushion to snuggle up to and my little girls love to give them as presents to their friends and getting me to tailor them to their friends interests. This week I made a really pretty pink girly cushion which is now listed in my Folksy shop alongside some other lovely cushions. I just wish I could get a clearer photo of it, or am I just a perfectionist?

I love my beautiful cowboy cushions too that I listed a while back-it seems that people don't buy for their little boys bedrooms though,which is such a shame! My little boy is going to have just as many home made lovelies as my little girls have-I have all the robot fabric slowly building up for quilts, bunting and of course CUSHIONS!

This snuggly little selection adorn some of the rooms in my house and I still have lots on my 'to do' list to work through!

Folksy Friday-Sugar!

Ok, so it seems an odd theme. And I am terribly naughty as I haven't blogged since last weeks Folksy Friday. I haven't made anything for my shop either-generally on the surface it looks like I am not getting anywhere doesn't it? But I have been busy with my college course, doing all the bits I find boring (spent this morning painting white to colour, black to colour and grey to colour scales-with a grumpy face and a bad mood!). I am so bored and tired and need a little pick me up-which has involved me raiding the cupboards for sugary stuff!
So I thought it was better to raid Folksy for sugar instead (can't get a sugar crash from that I hope...)

This beautiful sugar rose is from kinnaird

This yummy looking sugar soap is from girlonarock

This brilliant doughnut is by Woolly Duck, and just makes me hungry!

These little cookies from Helen Janes Designs just made me chuckle!

I'm not entirely sure if my sugar craving is actually satisfied, or if I will finish this last bit of college work, but at least I've had a bit of a break and a chance to procrastinate (as obviously it is something I need to practice....!)

Folksy Friday-Looking for Summer!

Although it has rained a bit today, I still feel like the past few weeks of sunshine have hinted at summer...and that means my garden will be awash with beautiful flowers, there will be BBQ's and water fights with my little girls and of course my new lovely baby will be here! With this on my mind today I thought it would make a lovely Folksy Friday theme!

Looking for summer by Polymer Clay Beads

Summer cottage cushion by HollyJollyStockings

Summer fruits yummy soya candle by the pink fairy cake

Summer tree print by Sascalia

Stripey cream felt necklace by Molly and Me

Come on Summer-bless our days with sunshine!

Machine Embroidery City and Guilds

I decided to take three (yes three) City and Guilds this year to fill up my week and improve my sewing skills. It certainly filled up my time, and although I didn't learn as much as I expected to I picked up a few things from some other lovely students in my class and made two FANTASTIC friends in the process. (I am hoping to feature them on my blog in the future as their work is just sooo lovely!).
This week I finished my final piece for my Machine Embroidery and I am thrilled with it. The downside to it is that it has to be handed in, along with the mountain of paperwork and samples that go with it and I probably wont see it again until June (after the verifier has been and marked us all-eek!!). I really really want to list it for sale on my Folksy shop (well, actually, I wanted to keep it, but his lordship pointed out that I will be carrying a baby nappy bag for a while and it would just sit looking pretty but unused...).
Anyway, I really wanted to share it's journey of construction with you all!

Working the machine embroidered sand...long process!

Skip forward a few hours and there's layered and embroidered sea and an appliqued brolly, deck chair and bucket...it's coming together!

A sand castle and a spade-quite fiddly to embroider neatly, but I managed it

Phew! A finished panel of embroidery-drawing with a needle is NOT easy or quick!

A bag front appears....

Followed by a large zipped pocket and a funky lining!

All assembled and enjoying the sunshine!

Fingers crossed for a good grade!!

Folksy Friday-Toys!

I had a lovely time on Tuesday at my neighbours house-she runs a little sewing group from her home which involves making things to sell for charity or occasionally something for yourself. This week it was just something for yourself, so out came a lovely book with some cute little characters to make. I'm not that well practised in following a pattern for sewing as I plan and design my own, so they are in my own words if you know what I mean? Undeterred, I set to my task whilst drinking some yummy decaf coffee and munching on some scrumptious cakes and biscuits (no figure watching whilst growing a baby!). A few hours later and this was the fruits of my labour!

This led me to wonder what lovely handmade toys could I find on Folksy?

These are from Valjadesign and are so pretty! 

This lovely ball is from Doozer Toyz-I love it!

These crayons are fantastic from Shuffle Cake-perfect for your budding artist!

And of course something to cuddle, like this owl from Sketchstitch

All of these toys are available from talented designers on Folksy

Gardening and sunshine.

Once upon a time when I bought my new-build house (about 4 years ago...) I was pleasantly surprised to find it had a large garden (50ft x over 60ft is big for a new build! Plus a 20ft front garden!). I have always loved gardens and with my Mothers guidance I embarked upon planting and landscaping. I had very little money, so most of it was grown by mine and my girls own love and care from seeds and tiny plug plants (far cheaper than buying established plants!).
Two years ago we decided to rent our house out as my Mum became very ill with lung cancer and as she lived directly opposite we felt it better to be somewhere else locally to relieve some pressure off our girls. Now unfortunately our tenants weren't garden lovers....
Last October the pull for my own house became too strong, especially as we were living in a rotting and damp smelly house! I yearned for my lovely home and we decided to go back.
How wonderful this Easter then to have such gorgeous weather and the time together to really go for it in our garden! James has worked amazingly hard-especially as plants and gardening are not really his interest-but he has indulged me and helped me as I am 7 months pregnant and lacking in dexterity and stamina at the moment! The girls have been amazing at weeding too.

I think we still have several days worth of work to go to clear the weeds and grass from the flower beds, but the removal of brambles (half of them are in James' hands and arms...) and the tidying of trees and shrubs has made a major difference!

Here James has finally got to the last bit of our old Cornish stone wall which was overgrown level with his head with grass and brambles and goodness knows what else!

     Here is just one of the piles of weeds and brambles and plant prunings....

           An almost cleared bed and some pruned plants-hope they survive!

                                            James building his herb planter!

The finished and planted up herb box-just needs some more slate chippings and some gorgeous chives.

Heres hoping that this lovely weather continues and that our flowers, herbs and vegetables grow well this year!

Cornwall, cream teas and campervans...

Now I am a massive fan of all three!

 I am lucky enough to live in beautiful Cornwall where the landscapes are wonderful, the beaches are close, the ice cream is delicious and I can have a cream tea whenever I wish with lots of Cornish clotted cream (which I indulge in all too often...)

I'm also lucky enough to own a VW Campervan-but unfortunately we are not rich enough to own a split screen!

If we were we would own one just like this! Beautiful!

However ours is still handsome and just a little bit younger, being a 1976 Type 2.She is called 'Merle' (as it was my Mothers middle name-tee hee!) and she is cream and white. She is lovely but I cannot put up any photos of her just yet as she is in a dry storage facility being slowly and lovingly worked on by my lovely James-when the day comes for her to emerge she will adorn this page often...!

So this morning, with Cornwall, Cornish cream teas and VW Campers on my mind, I set to work to create a lovely and inspired tea cosy! She is available in my Folksy shop-just click on the link below for more details.

Campervan Tea Cosy

It just seemed fitting for it to be as retro-styled as possible! What do you think?