A Stitch In Time

Smile!

Have a look at this video, it will either get your day off to a fabulous start or end it on a high note (depending when you're reading this obviously) (try again- hopefully it will work this time!)

Make-over

Here's a project I started and finished in one day- my favourite kind of make because I don't have time to loose momentum and have my head turned by a new and more exciting project!



The seed for this project was sown when I had to take my cutlery tray out of it's drawer because it wouldn't fit in anymore due to the humongous amounts of clutter I chuck  into it. I couldn't open the drawer for a few days because all the junk had slid under the cutlery tray and pushed it up too high so it kept jamming. When all the teaspoons from the draining board had been used and I found myself making coffee with a desert spoon, I decided to take action.

Any normal person would probably have had a clear out but to be honest, this isn't the first time the drawer's jammed and I knew it wouldn't be the last, things just accumulate and multiply in there. So now it's become the junk drawer (everyone should have one).



I keep all sorts in there: paper scissors, wooden spoons, hair slides, hole punch, calculator, two odd mittens, cellotape, bottle opener, hair brush, screwdriver, Annie's pretend nail varnish, the jazzy bits from Eliza's scooter's handlebars, some things I don't even recognise but I don't want to throw away because their use will become painfully obvious once I have. Where's all this stuff supposed to live if not in a junk drawer?

 

But this meant that my cutlery tray had to live on the worktop, in full view of normal people, and as you can see it was pretty grotty. I briefly considered scrubbing it but that was totally uninspiring. I'm not into housework at all unless it involves some kind of major transformation: I can't sweep the dining room without re-arranging all the furniture, or dust shelves without changing what's on them. So I painted it with a tester pot of white emulsion which I found lurking in the drawer(!), stuck some pretty, left-over wrapping paper inside and around the edges and finally applied a few coats of clear varnish, ta-da!

Glad Tidings of Great Joy part two

Well, I'm making some progress, I can't yet change the type (hooray!) but I can now show photos, so here's one I referred to earlier:

This is the kit and here are the contents:

Luckily Annie was as excited as me, so we started as soon as we got home from school; we had great fun making the figures. She loved the little baby Jesus too and chose to make him first. Then we moved onto Mary, two kings and a donkey!

We soon developed a rhythm of working which involved her choosing who was to wear which fabrics with whatever trimmings. Then she did all the decorating  while I concentrated on the construction. She showed a lovely flair for design although I'm not sure the virgin Mary would have had blond plaits!

Fairly glad tidings

Well, I now have a new comuter which is beautiful and fabulous in many ways.

Obviously, as it's me, there has to be a drawback... I've changed to an apple computer which Typepad doesn't seem to like, so for the time being I can't post pictures or change the size or colour of the type-face or spellcheck. Unfortunately the treat them mean method doesn't seem to be having a positive effect. Which is a shame because in the post this morning I received a fantastic peg doll nativity kit from buttonbag and I took some photos to show. The kit has everything you need and more, including needles, pins, thread, glue, a paintbrush, a super selection of fabulous fabrics and, best of all, it even has a tiny peg for the baby Jesus and a little bag of straw! I can't wait for Annie to get home from school so we can set about making it together!

And I can't wait to sort this glitch out so I can show you some pictures!

Has it only been 7 days?

About this time last week I put my computer away (OK, I chucked it in the cupboard) in total frustration. Then I began to have severe blogging-withdrawal symptoms, so I got it out again this evening, on the off-chance, and Eureka! (or at least so far so good...) I do advocate the 'treat them mean' method of repairing electrical goods, my washing machine and hoover have responded well to a hefty kick in the past, and I've whacked a malfunctioning microwave or hairdryer with great success.

Anyway, I was really disappointed to not be able to post last Sunday because I saw two wonderful films at Cinema City. You have to see Little Miss Sunshine, and if my recommendation isn't enough (and why should it be?), it received a round of applause and a good few cheers and everyone left the cinema beaming. The same evening (and this is after a fairly barren few months of cinema going), I saw the Neil Young 'Heart of Gold' film. Now, music films can be a bit hit and miss and even though I was looking forward to it, I was a little apprehensive, but it was fabulous. It was the closest, I'm sure, I'll ever come to seeing him live and it really felt like being at a concert, but it was even better than that in some ways because the camera man/woman zoomed in really close at some points so it seemed really intimate. And it was strangely calming. Although I love listening to music I never sit down and do nothing else but listen (can any crafters do that?), so I became totally absorbed in the music. It really was a wonderful experience, I hope I get the chance to see it at a cinema again because the setting made all the difference.

I started the above owl in the two hour gap between the two films, it has nothing to do with either but I hate to post without pictures. For the same reason, here is a picture of the back of the quilted birds. I do like to see the back of work, sometimes I think it's more interesting than the front because you can trace the routes the crafter has travelled along and see her touch more definitely. My mum always taught me that the back should be as neat as the front, so Look Away Now Mum!

So you would think I have lots of complete crafted items to photograph and blog about.. Well it's not that I haven't been making (honest, miss!), just that the projects I have on the go are all long haul jobs (apart from the owl but I'm refusing to start him until the quilted birds are done). The blanket is going to take an age, so I've adopted crocheting as my new favourite pastime. It's so much quicker than knitting and, as I'm learning, practising the new skills is keeping me interested. So my blanket may turn into a bit of a crochet sampler, and will be all the better for it!

Things to make you go mmmmmm

Several things have made me happy this week:

1. Annie dressed as 'The Cat in the Hat' for book week
She plays the part so beautifully! I don't know if I've ever been as pleased with something I've created as I am with that hat (apart from Annie herself, that is!)! There's something so satisfying about surprising myself with what I'm capable of making.

2. The arrival of this book which is just fabulous:

It's filled with contributions from crafty bloggers who share info about their inspirations, work spaces, materials and creations. It's beautifully photographed and totally inspiring. Usually I find with craft books I look at the pictures and scan the instructions, but I want to read every inch of this book, there's so much in it to linger over and savour.

3. I bought this duvet cover and skirt for bargain prices in a local charity shop:

They're both perfect for cutting up and making things with. I really like the idea of using recycled fabrics rather than buying new, it's not always easy to find good ones but a real buzz when you do!

And a really fun book from the same shop called 'Kids Can Quilt' filled with great projects like this:

I can't imagine Annie or Eliza wanting to make a 'ready-threaded needle case', but I certainly do!

4. And finally, this fabric arrived from E-bay:

So lots of goodness to counteract the misery-inducing effects of being told the mechanic can't fix my machine and the disconnecting-at-will of my rogue computer. Both of which should be rectified next week and then everything will be perfect(!).

The Revolution Gains Support...

I'm going to make this brief because my computer has joined the technological uprising that's taken over my home. I obviously haven't been treating my electrical goods with the care and attention they deserve. Either that or my Dad's right and 'they' just don't build things to last anymore!

So here goes: the craft fair was quiet but I met some great new people, including Antonella, an Italian lady who runs this web-site, selling all sorts of unique lovelies. Here's a picture of my stall, which looks, in retrospect, a little like a jumble sale...

I'm hanging on to the sewing machine I've borrowed until my angelic friend sends the heavies round. I'm trying to get all my orders completed before next week. This one:

is coming along nicely, the colours are much brighter and more saturated than in the photo. I extend my apologies to beautiful Baby Tilly for the delay in the completion of this quilt. I promise you'll have it before the winter snow arrives...

But will I have a working machine to call my own by then? And will my computer be fixed or will the washing machine and tumble dryer have joined the revolution?..... 

Vive the Industrial Revolution!

An angel has come to my rescue and lent me a sewing machine, so I have been busy making lots of lovely things, including these:

I've enjoyed hand-sewing and having to do it has reminded me that it's not as laborious or time-consuming a process as I remembered it to be. But it's so good to whip up a book cover in half an hour instead of two and whizz across the top of 21 bunting triangles in the time it takes me to hand-stitch 3!

Book Covers and Buttons

This is the first notebook I've covered: I used the yellow gingham in the background to line it. I was so pleased that I immediately cut out the fabrics to cover four more. The covers would be so quick and easy to construct on a machine, but as I'm still without, I'm sticking with the hand-stitching.  My Elna isn't coming back 'til after the craft fair (I heard today, but am trying not to dwell on it...) so there will be hand-made bargains-galore on sale in Wymondham on Monday!

Some new buttons: They're made of porcelain or china and are absolutely lovely. It's so gratifying to buy something on Ebay which is better in real life than the picture. They would look great on a satchel type bag, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to part with them!

The Long and the Short of it

I've promised myself to make this a quickie because I really need to get stuck into some sewing and I do find that once I start on here I can get way-laid for a whole evening. So, here is some Christmas bunting:

I made it in a slightly different way to the Blue Christmas one: I stitched a slot top and threaded ribbon through which makes it easier to hang and play with until you get it looking right.

I still think the triangles are too big though. So tomorrow you will probably see a ridiculously teeny tiny one!

A top arrived from Ebay today which is a really lovely duck-egg blue but the white buttons were doing nothing for me, so I replaced them with some dyed mother-of-pearl ones (also courtesy of Ebay) and now it's just peachy!

Until tomorrow...