comfortstitching

lifes a stitch

Tommorow will be my birthday, another year ( almost ) older but not much the wiser.  Predictable as I am this year and this post will be full of more STITCHING!  Well I'm not a magician you know so the element of surprise is not my concern.  On my birthday last year, me and the girls accompanied by the lovely  Zoe went on a haberdashery crawl of sorts, we (well I) took so long in each shop that we only managed to visit three but it was my kind of birthday.  Of course we took in the lovely Liberty and I spent my way through stash stocking style.  Zoe presented me with the above envelope ( which was a gift in itself )  filled with lovely money, which I used up buying fabric, buttons and yarn.  As if that was not enough she also made me a lovely birthday breakfast and a cake for tea!!!  AND treated us to lunch!!!!  OOOH I wish I was back there oh birthday of yesteryear!!  This year will be a somberer (if that is a word) affair.  I've asked the girls and PJ for no presents or cake, simply because I don't need anything well I buy what I want straight away, can't wait until my birthday style not like mums from the olden days who always went without and spent little on themselves.  And if I get cake I'll love it but if I don't a cuddle on the sofa will be all the cake I need!!

I also got to thinking how this time last year I was busy stitching up my selection box blanket.  I remember this because on the bank holiday Monday we went to a village summer fayre and of course I took my crochet along and stitched merrily as we watched the pig racing and mayfayre queen parading etc.  I remember this because I overheard a little fella asking 'mummy what is that lady over there doing....' whilst pointing in my direction and I did think 'heavens child does your mother never crochet' .......well obviously not..

 

meanwhile...

 

..the free-motion-fever.......

 

......continues...

 

..flowers bloom......

 

.dazzle..

 

..and open slowly..

 

...hooking continues..

 

.and crinoline ladies skirts for pillowcase edgings are born....

..until next week happy hooking and stitching.  Enjoy the bank holiday!!!!

 

free motion rollercoaster

 

I have been enjoying a different quilting outlook, something I have been wanting to try for aaagggeesss!!!! and the reason I bought my Pfaff.  Known in quiltspeak as free motion quilting and described by me as...... a white knuckle rollercaster... ride...scary.....but..oh....so..ADDICTIVE.

I think my palour has turned quite grey several times, my hands shake but I can't get enough freeeeeee motion fever!!!!!!!!

When I am not f.m.-ing I can be found with a micro mini crochet hook, size 1.25, in hand with size 20 mercerized cotton crotcheting a crinoline lady pillow case edging.  I love this new (to me) micro crochet, it is so gently, ladylikey.

Other hobbies, when not working, houseworking, school trekking or the above include..

 

..dreaming patchwork style of all the yumminess I am going to make from this book!!  Said book is known in bookshops as 'quilting in no time' by emma hardy and ever page is dreamily saying 'make me NOW'...

 

 

and checking on the fruity progress...one day these petals will all be yummsome crunchy apples...

Please please please !!!!!!!! CHECK OUt this site for quilter's acronyms ( in the sidebar) HIlariOUs!!  I especially LOVE wombat and sable.

Oh marvellous...

flowers, frills and housework too

I am dreading next week, sorry to put a cloud on a sunshiney week but IT CANT LAST.  It never does, rain always dampens a sunny outlook and whilst I can stay in and sash my quilts, I have to venture out each afternoon near 3pm to walk 2 miles in whatever the weather throws at me. 

So here I am being dreary and fearing the worst and a-maudlin to my hearts content while it's still sunnily sunning away outside.  How pessimistic can you get?!!!

This week has been G_L_O-R_I_US!_!  I haven't even minded the 1 hour school trek each afternoony or going to the dentists or hanging the washing out to dry....

or ironing it all.  

 

or putting it away.

Of course the flowery scene outside helps

 as well as the homemadey and patchworked pillowcases and duvety bits.

(Drying duvet cover with matching bicycle accessory)

 

frilly lady tulips to inspire my fabric purchases..

 

frilly/patchworky/crochety  material bought by the metre at John lewis!!!  says pillowcase to me, what do you think?

Roll on next week........

quilt festival

 

Just for a change I'm talking about quilts, again.  As part of Amy's blogger's quilt festival,  so favourite quilts this time, though I don't think I could ever decide on just one.  This is my favourite quilt today!  I called it my spring umbrella quilt, just because the hexagonal blocks reminded me of opened out umbrella's and I made it in early spring this year. 

 

It's based on the My fair lady quilt from Kaffe's Kaleidoscope of quilts, but I had to use my own special fabric choices,  lots of Philip Jacobs and Liberty (just for a change!).  It's a really fun quilt to make, you sew long strips into groups of three's then cut 12 triangles out of them, this makes up 2 hexagons which look different!

 

 

sunshine quilts

You will need :- ......

A quilt top.....

..Sunshine and a window......

...Time on your hands..

..A camera of sorts.

Just click!!! click! click!

quilt block showcase edition

As you may know I have been delighting my quilty needs by stitching up a couple of quilts for my daughters.  I decided to make sort of sampler quilts only with more modern blocks, making decisons about what to try next as I went along my merry stitching path.  I patched up hexagons, triangles, flying geese, log cabins, scrappy bargellos and whole blocks of crumbs.  I worked out the sizing of the blocks and sashing all by myself on many scraps of paper which I usually lost unfortunately quickly as is what you might call my working style.  I call my style scrapping happily along.......  So far these are my exhibits, my runway darlings of blockiness in the quilty style...

 

Model A is seen wearing a cocktail of crazy crumbling log cabiness.

 

Whilst model B can be viewed sporting this seasons must-have flying geese border....

 

Here model C is sporting a repetition of log cabiny floralness.

 

Sewing..

 

..sewing....

 

..sewn.

 

Do not forget to play with all the embroidery your sewing machine allows, all at once.

 

Every quilt needs an embroidered elephant or two. 

 

Blocks are finished, bring on the sashing....

 

has summer started?

On Monday I stepped out into my garden to find it had undergone an overnight renaissance.  So magnificent was it's exuberant beauty, it was almost as if my little plot had been on a spa holiday getting a full 10 hours sleep each night, drinking buckets of water at a time and meditating itself into a blissful state of it's former self.  This appealing garden of attractive loveliness bore little resemblance to it's look only days before of bedraggled muddleddedness.

 

to die for, dicentra in bleeding heartiness

 

 

Tulipa cardinal de richelieu, if memory serves me

The most amazing thing to me is that I have not planted or done anything else to my garden for about a year and a half, apart from picking the seed pods of last years flowers and scattering them about to initialize rebirth.  No mulch or feed has been applied, no digging done, no endless watering......

 

garden with patchwork duvet accessory

 

Tulipa apricot parrot sunbathing

 

beginnings of granny bonnets

 

promises, promises

About two years ago I was obsessed with my garden always planting new nursery additions and tending to their every want, now I just let them get on with it and the tough love seems to work.  Now if only I could get the same by investing so little into my sewing, life would be truly a wonderful sight.  I love my little patchwork of floral charm, others may be far more glorious but mine is just right for me.....

Don't worry I haven't forgotten my usual stitchy self, my love of fabric chopping and jigsawing continues.....

much work has been done, which is why my blog has been a little unattended this week.  I'm planning a bit of a patchy, quilty showcase for my next post.  Today I'm making the last block for each of the two little misses' quilts,  hhhhuaaarrrayyyy!!!!!  then I will be chopping sashing, stitching the top and quilting in newly pfaff style....YYYYaaay!

 

Lastly I'm finishing today on a high, the above two vintage booklets of  crotchet charm were sent to me by the lovely Ladawna who has a lovely new blog called the craft of life pages, she sent them to me simply because I gushed a little about them on Flickr.  How lovely is that and proves how truly wonderful a place blogland is.  Watch this space I have plans to decorate the edges of many pillows, beginning with the very lovely crinoline lady of pineapple walk you see above.  Just as soon as I kit myself out with the right threads, something called best six cord mercerized crochet size 30.  So if any of you know where I can get something like this don't be shy let me know!

a little bit of this....

  

Welcome to my most jigsawed of posts yet!  I blame the daughter filled homelife the easter hols bring upon my usually pretty productive craftiness.  So far we've had many tidying expeditions, injections and tearfully tantrumised shopping tragedies amongst other sharing experiences.

We've bought second hand loveliness in book form

Drooled over sequined ducky felt masterpieces

Topped up our buttony selections, obviously seasonally inspired.I even found time to treat myself to a sewing lesson to get a little more insight into the workings of my machiny.  Was quite intrigued to find out I can actually sew blind hems and quilty stitches that look handsewn, hooray for no more handstitched curtains.According to the Pfaff manual I'm a 'stitching enthusiast', which I think sounds quite becoming.

Embroidering some of my life away

Fooling around with goosey goodness

When husbands buy flowers!!!!!!!???? Why?!! lilies!!!!!??? in ?!?! s?????pring

And so to finish, an easterly eggsellent card filled eggsravaganza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Have a happy choc and daffodil filled easter!!!!

sew fantastic

I'm writing this post weary eyed as I'm back to working 15 hours sales advising in the handbags section of a well known department store each weekend having enjoyed most of March as well earned holiday.  Despite enjoying work I miss my girls and sewing ( in that order, honest!).

 

My new toy!

Cannot wait to get re-accquainted with my lovely pfaff!  I was bowled over by it's embroidery selection, having previously thought I didn't like machine embroidery!

This is how I work each day.  As you can no doubt make out, this is actually my lounge disguised as a sewing retreat. 

 Friday's labours.  Scrappy trip around the world block..

 

Triangle blocks

Floral interval today is provided courtesy of apricot parrot tulip

Asha was quick to jump onto my old brother machine to sew up her first quilt

Sasha having a nose at Asha's efforts!

crumbs!!!!!!!

 

After the easterdec interlude of the last few days things are returning to a more natural comfortstitching flavour.I have a new quilt block love, CRUMBS!!!!!!!!!  Crumbs are the bread pudding of the quilt top construction world, they are made up from all the itty bitty so small it hurts type of leftover fabric scraps and you just sew them haphazardly as you go any style will do.  My kind of work!!!

I got my crumbly inspiration came from here and here

Other stitchy progressions this week include HEXAGONS!!!!  Something I've wanted to try for a very long time and at last have an effort or two to show for it. 

I started off machine piecing these but machiny wasn't playing nicely so I ended up hand piecing them.

 

Outside the sun is gently brewing up the weather into quite a summery springscape so I just went and got some floral pictorial evidence.

 

Buttery sunshiney cowslips, not that cows do any slips in my yard!

 

The waxy bowl like splendour of th Camelia.

  

Lots more sibling additions to the Gold Laced Primula family stem !

Thank-you to all who responded to my information request last week about sewing machines.  They were all really helpful and it seems all the major brands had a fan or two.  I have now bought my machine and it is being delivered today!! 

 

I went for a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0 which has all the quilty necessities I was hoping for and a lot more besides.  So I am now officially a pfaffer (always was truly).  I'm super excited but a little daunted at the prospect of having to read the instruction manual first which is something I usually attempt to skip.

My current machine is a second hand Brother model I picked up in a charity shop for £30  six years ago.  It is a moody mistress prone to tension tantrums and chewing fabric habits!!  I have sone all my sewing including quilting on the regular sewing foot so the quilt expression comes not a seam too soon!!

 

Quilty expression.