comfortstitching

strange autumn

Outside - it should be autumn but instead the sun is shining and it feels like September is pretending to be August (or maybe they just swapped places this year?).  I don't think the plants in my garden know whether to shed their leaves or spring into bloom again.

Inside - I have been stitching up this little girl sized handbag for miss A, who informed me one night around 8PM that she NEEDED me to make her her very own lady bag for the next day.  She didn't get one for the specified date but I did manage to stitch this one up a few days later ( I used this pattern).

My favourie detail has to be the pintucks (can't believe I didn't botch those up).

I decided to add a few buttons to provide extra security against losing those precious trinkets within.....

You know the kind of things I mean.

Miss C has been very busy knocking out a few more turtles, square bears, mini bears and huge rabbits (miss A has been to busy doing her homework).

I have a special fondness for this little fella.

Not to mention mr square bear.

Just don't tell miss C that I play with her toys while she's not at home ;)

cooking

Yes the title of this post really is cooking.  And not cooking as in another quilt but cooking as in - in the kitchen cooking things to eat.

To begin - I have a question for you - How do you cook?  Or rather more specifically 'how do you cook so that it fits in around all the other things you have to do and all the other things you want to do'?

My story is I used to be a pretty OK cook.  Not as in cheff-y, dinner party palaver cookery but as in cooking stuff up from scratch from traditional recipes - pies, quiches, toad in the holes, lasagnes.......(oh those were the days).  Then there were the cakes - the basic Victoria Sponges and the not so usual (thank you Nigella) recipes such as coca cola cake and lemon meringue cake (yes cake).  And then there were the jams (as in jellies/preserves) - I used to have a jam and chutney making habit, yep! I was an at least two new jams a week girl.

When I wasn't cooking - I was off at the library borrowing more cookery books, copying out recipes I wanted to try in a series of sketchbooks and illustrating them with little sketches.

And then I got a bit bored in the kitchen (really it was that never ending pile of dishes I think) and discovered gardening, then I discovered I got allergies from the gardening and discovered sewing.

I don't think my husband has ever recovered from the change.

He even bought me this custom made couscousier which is hardly ever used and lives dustily on top of the fridge.  Really it has no hope against the lure of the Pfaff.  Of course I do still cook and feed my family, it's just never very exciting anymore so I'm in and out of that kitchen so fast you'd think there was a revolving door.

So I had an idea.  It involved getting my sewing machine out (so I quite liked it) and making some pretty fabric things to perhaps lure me back in to spending more time in the kitchen.

Tea towels to make drying the dishes a less drudging task,

Dishcloths at the ready for the washing up

And a few tortoises to keep me company at the oven door...

Really I am not holding out for this idea to actually work but I think it is worth a shot to see if I am capable of becoming a kitchen goddess once more.

I'll keep you posted......

So what about you, what's your story, do you cook or are you like me and only good at cooking up excuses ???????????

harvest

(Firecracker quilt by Katy)

Thank you to everyone who entered my FQ stack giveaway!  I LOVED reading though all your comments to find out what gets you through the day, so glad to see that we all think along the same lines when it comes to pleasure ;)

the name of my FQ stack giveaway winner, is..................no. 502..

...Amy!!!!  Who said...

hi Aneela!  I'm so ashamed of this, but my guilty pleasure is reading tabloid mags while waiting in the checkout line.  And we love us some "fantastic Mr. fox" around here, too.  My son likes to eat like the fox ;) xo amy

Congrats to you Amy!!!  I've sent you an email!

I'm not feeling very wordy today so I'll leave you with a some quilty eye-candy from my Flickr group to get you through the weekend.  Enjoy!!

Apple crate quilt by Angela

quilt by Crystal

garden fence quilt by Jeannette

garden fence by Julie

pillow design by Julie

Happy Weekending!!!!!

A is for A+

(if you are looking for my giveaway you can find it here)

A quickie little post for you today to indulge those of you avoiding the housework or the in tray in the name of indulging your inner thirst for inspiration of the fabric eye candy sort of thing.

All these little beauties were found in my Flickr group, I am simply humbled by the amazing talent out there creating awesomeness with fabric ingrediants.  First up is the charming little tea set (above) by Lydia, are you kidding me??? how irrestible is this quirky combo??

This pretty little 'dumpling' (how appropriate!) bag by Amy had me shaking with excitement (note to self - must sew faster...)

Now this is what I call sewing.....won't you just look at that and drink in the heavenly taste of this bathmat brilliance by Patti?

Don't even get me started on trying to explain how I feel when I look at this patchwork beauty by Lorena.  I especially heart this colour combo - perfect for Fall.

There's lots more inspo. in the group on Flickr, go take a look for all the inspiration you may ever need...

Or check out this cute idea by Carrie.

Or how about this one?  Pure creativity.

So.......................... how are you feeling???  Inspired???

moda country fair

Welcome to my day of the Moda Country Fair blog hop!  For this stop on the hop, you find yourself in good old England, so won't you come in and join me for a cup of tea? (trust me you'll need it to get through this post).

My name is Aneela Hoey and I've been designing fabric for Moda for around a year now.  I live in the UK with my husband and two daughters about a stone's throw from the Queen's home (we share a postcode but things aren't quite so posh around here).

detail from my 'Fancy' quilt

My newest collection 'Little Apples' has just been released, I love the way the prints in this group turned out - this is fall mixed with a big heap of sugar filled fun.

I love to sew for my home....

as well as making the odd quilt, these blocks are for a new crazy scrappy quilt (there's a tute here).

On with the hop...

My favourite fair food? - At one of our local country fairs, they have a WI (women's institute) tearoom with homemade cakes, the lovely elderly ladies are quite slow in serving because they are always too busy chatting to their boyfriends! but I don't mind because 'homemade' cake and proper tea are my favourite things and worth the wait.

What's your guilty pleasure? - I probably have pleasures that I should feel guilty about (eating cream cakes when the girls are at school, reading blogs when I should be washing the dishes...) BUT I have to be honest and say the only thing I'm guilty of is not actually feeling guilty about them.

What's on your bucket list? - I would love to live in Italy, to be able to speak italian and learn to cook like an italian, I have no idea why but there is a hidden italian in me waiting to jump out!

What inspires your work? - Definitely children, mostly my daughters but also children's books and films (coraline, fantastic mr fox, alice in wonderland...) too.

 

My hop tute - A Quilted Tissue Box Cover

Make one of these and approach your next winter cold in style!

You will need -

A 15" x 10" piece of double face/ready quilted fabric (alternatively use two 15" x 10" pieces of regular fabric and a piece of batting the same size, sandwich together, quilt and you're ready to go).

A 55" strip of 2 1/2" wide double fold binding.

Cutting

From the double face fabric, cut -

Two - 9 1/2" x 5" pieces

Two - 4 3/4" x 3 1/4" pieces

 

From the binding strip, cut -

Four - 9 1/2" long pieces

Two - 4 3/4" long pieces

Instructions

Use 1/4" seam allowance throughout

1. Take one of the long quilted fabric pieces and two of the long strips.  Align the strips to the top and bottom edges of the fabric (matching the raw edges of the binding to the raw edge of the quilted fabric).  Sew binding to fabric.

2. Fold binding over to the wrong side of the quilted fabric and slip stitch in place at the back.

3. Repeat with second long quilted piece and remaining two long binding strips.

3. Place the two pieces one above the other.  Join the bottom edge of the top piece to the top edge of the bottom piece by slip stitching the first 2 3/4" on the left and right sides together (see detail pic below).

This will leave an unstitched central 'mouth' or opening.

4. Machine stitch a short binding piece to the bottom of each of the two small quilted fabric pieces.  Slip stitch the folded over binding to the back of each piece.

5. Fold one of the small quilted pieces in half widthways.  Position pieces as above, aligning the newly made 'crease' on the small fabric piece with the central opening on the large joined piece.

6. Flip the small piece over onto the large piece and pin the pieces with right sides together.  Stitch along the bottom (raw) edge of the small piece, starting and stopping 1/4" from each of the side edges (see pic above).

7. Repeat on the opposite side of the large piece with the second small quilted piece.

Your cover should now look like this from the wrong side.

8. Bring together each of the two raw edges at right angles to each other and stitch together to make each corner.

This is what your cover should look like wrong side out.....

And this is what it should look like when you turn it out!

Yaaay !  roll on winter sniffles!!!

(If you happen to make one of these please add it to my flickr group so I can see).

 

so, I hope you've made it this far, I really do because...

there's a bundle of fabric right here,

A whole FAT QUARTER set of Little Apples no less that is looking for a new home....

Do you want it to come and live with you?????????????????

If you fancy your chances at winning - just leave me a comment below, letting me what YOUR guilty pleasure is (you know how bad I was at answering this question so I need some idea's on how to get guilty). 

I'll draw a winner in a week or so....

Best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to continue with the hop tommorow with Barbara Brackman.

Comments are now closed.

peek...

Just a little.  Teeny bitty peek, at the newest fabric I have been very busy working on.

This line will be called 'a walk in the woods' and is due for launch next spring.  I know that is a fair bit of time away but I couldn't resist a quick little spilling of the new beans...

I just hope you all like foxes????

short and sweet

Yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Yep! those apples have finally shipped and are coming out to play at a quilt store near you.  Listings have already been spotted here and here.

These prints are perfect for putting a little spring into your fall step.

and if you need a little inspiration, look no further than the heaps of awesome-sauce must stitch it now-ness from this bit of amazingness going on in Dallas.

tired

Tired is how I am feeling today.

We are three days into the new school term, which means so far I have walked 18 miles since Tuesday just getting the girls to school.  I have discovered I have muscles in places I never knew I had places (should not have sat on my bottom, stitching all summer long should I?).

What can I say except I was born to be a stitchlete not an athlete..

So, today you will mostly find me snuggled up to my hot water bottle with its brand new cover, cosied up on the sofa with my sewing machine on max, drowning my sorrows in stitches piecing together a new quilt top.

Any excuse eh?...

 

summers end

Today it's raining and with my eldest daughter back in school, it seems summer is more than over.  My girl's have left me plenty of reminders of their summer busyness dotted about the house, for me to think of them whilst they are busy in the school year to come.  So it was only fair that I stitched them up a little reminder of me for them to carry off with themselves each day.

And what could be better than a little fabric something to house a rainbow of colour (to get them through the more dreary parts of the school day)?

Cue - pencil rolls! 

My girls were all over these instantly - it might just have something to do with all those pockets, something so neat and orderly about those.

I used the Colored Pencil Roll pattern from Joelle Hoverson's book 'Last minute patchwork and quilted gifts' (which uses a pattern originally created by Kathy Mack).  I was heavily influenced by recent back to school projects which have popped up in my flickr group, such as these, this and this.

Of course you need more than just colouring pens, so I also knocked out a couple of pouches to house all the other instruments essential for daily educational needs.

As little C is back in school tomorrow, she is squeezing in a few last stitches in her latest obsession...

Knitting!!!  These are all the current WIPs I came across just by walking into the girls room this AM. 

Of course if you have this many knits on the go at once, you might just have to improvise occassionally when you start running out of those knitting needles..

september hop and a thank you

Me and my daughters would like to say a very big, heartfelt !!!!THANK YOU!!!!! to each and every one of you, who so kindly encouraged the summer crafting endevours of two little girls with a multiplying sewing obsession.  Every comment was read several times over and many were read out loud to me joyfully.  The girls were simply delighted by all that you said and fuelled by the energy of the compliments miss C produced this cute little cat softie that same evening - as you can see she has come a long way from that first one eyed cat feltie masterpiece of only weeks ago.

I am also very pleased to be able to tell you that all of Moda's designers will be bringing you a second blog hop throughout the month of September.  This one will be themed around the good old 'country fair' and features projects, answers to some fairly interesting questions and perhaps a giveaway or six.  All the details of who goes when are below so you won't miss a bite.

 

September 6th  Sandy Gervais

September 7th  Bunny Hill

September 8th  Me and My Sister Designs

September 9th  Camille Roskelley

September 10th Laundry Basket Quilts

September 11th Basic Grey 
September 12th Minick and Simpson

September 13th American Jane

September 14th Oliver + S

September 15th Fig Tree and Co.

September 16th Kansas Troubles

September 17th Blackbird Designs

September 18th Aneela Hoey (((me!!))

September 19th Barbara Brackman

September 20th Bonnie Olaveson

September 21st Cabbages and Roses

September 22nd Deb Strain

September 23rd Brannock and Patek

September 24th Lauren and Jessi Jung

September 25th Lily Ashbury

September 26th Cosmo Cricket

September 27th Kate Spain

September 28th Sweetwater

September 29th French General

September 30th Primitive Gatherings

October 1st    Kathy Schmitz

October 2nd    Liz Scott

 

I just hope you're ready to hop??????