A Bag for Boo

Boo moved up to the big girl class at Nursery today, and owing to some bizarre no backpack rule, a drawstring bag was required instead, and so a drawstring bag I did make.

I found an embroidered panel buried in my UFO pile, and as I had some red polka dot fabric kicking around, it was the perfect quick fix for a little bag for my little Boo. It took me a while to find the original blog post, it turns out this embroidery has been hanging around for four years!



Miss Boo is most pleased with her little bag, which will hold her blanket - or at least one of the remaining chopped up bits of her blanket, her dodo (otherwise known as a pacifier) and a change of clothes.



Apologies for the poor photos, I had to take them at night and the flash is never kind to me.

Lovely people

Lovely lovely blog friends, you are so sweet, thank you so for your supportive words and good wishes! It certainly lifted my spirits to know there are so many kind souls in this big world holding me in their thoughts right now.

The whole burglary debacle was quite horrible, finding ones entire life's belongings (or at least what is left of them) tipped on the floor is quite a sight, and not one I wish to remember. It took four days to pick up the pieces.
That said, it was lovely to return to France and visit some very dear friends. We ate, we laughed, they cheered me very much and rallied round en masse to help list all the missing items and deal with the Gendarme.
I drank rather a lot of homemade Sloe Gin and rather too much Eau de vie, the rip your head off after one sip kind of apperatif that I generally avoid, but as they say, when in Rome.... or France, as it were.

So, I returned to England with my heart a lot less heavy and with a good deal of our family treasures (thankfully not treasure in the eyes of nasty burglars).
After a tiring 16 hour journey, I arrived back home to find the most prettyfull parcel of loveliness to greet me, all the way from Australia no less.



These treats are from my very sweet friend Dot, what perfect timing Miss Dot, you are such a peach!
I am bowled over by her darling collage birdie, which I have adopted as a kind of good luck charm and have thus been carrying to and fro from home to office each day. Oh yes, this little birdie is so far very well travelled, never mind that it has come all the way from sunny Aus, it now looks over me as I set about my daily tasks. Whilst I sleep, it sits soundly in the dining room waiting for my little family to troop down to breakfast, where it greets us with all it's vibrant, twinkly cheer! I do love this birdie so, Thank you SO much Dot!

Miss Dot also included a delicious stash of colourful fabrics, a postcard featuring one of her collages and oh my, that trim, I am so in love with the leafy trim, I have a thing about leaves at the moment....



This is the third oh so sweet, and all together kind, gift I have received from lovely blog friends, in as many months. I am so moved by the kindness this community has shown me, you all rock so hard!
Alas, my crafty little hands have been working overtime to prepare wee treats to send out, seeking little treasures here and there, stashing them away until the packages of pretty things are just so.

I have also been sneaking a few minutes each day to stitch my woven cloth, progress is slow on account of sheer lack of any real time to dedicate to this project right now, but those few minutes each evening feel so good, so indulgent and very satisfying.

The wee caterpillar has appeared in his rightful place.....



and the prettyfull butterfly has been dancing amongst some newly added flowers (some not yet stitched down), as butterflies do...



I do love the colours in this cloth, I love the story, I love everything it means to me right now, a journey of sorts, and a jolly nice one at that.
Big love to you all, and thank you again for being such perfectly awesome and wonderful blog friends! <3

Catching Up

Gosh, has it really been three weeks? What can I say - work has been crazy, 4 kids and two parents in full time employment makes for much mayhem, it is a real juggling act. Whilst I have found time here and there to stitch, I have struggled to find the time to photograph my work and post it here (the dark evenings do not help!), alas, I am back for now, and will be posting a few updates over the next few days.

Anyhooo, I am feeling much better, MUCH better, and before I prattle on too much about this and that and my stitchery, I simply must show you this....



This is the Peace Angel Cloth, stitched completely by hand by my very dear friend Jacky, in Australia. I have been following her progress on this cloth for some weeks via her blog, and then lo and behold, it landed on my doorstep, courtesy of Mr Postman.
To say I was surprised would be somewhat of an understatement, words cannot even begin to explain how honoured I am to own this beautiful piece of art, and the gratitude I feel for the generosity and kindness that Jacky has shown in sending it to me, what a sweet treat she is, and oh what a lucky girl I am.









I simply cannot stop staring at it! It is incredibly tactile, every tiny stitch is absolutley awe inspiring, it is so very, very precious to me, I will treasure it always. It now has pride of place above the mantel in our living room, which has until now, remained very forlorn and bare. The Peace Angel cloth was just what the doctor ordered for this rather sparse spot in the house.

Jacky also included this beautiful hand dyed embroidery thread, the colours make my mouth water, it is so eye poppingly yum I just want to lick it.



I have stitched with it a little already, on a secret project which I shall reveal shortly! (oh I do love a good secret!). Thank you Jacky, you really made my day and put a much needed smile on the faces of this family of 6! <3 My woven cloth is really taking shape, progress is slow but progress is progress and I am pleased with how it is coming along. Jude's workshops are incredibly inspiring, though if I am honest, I do feel somewhat overhwhelmed to be in the presence of such an extraordinary talented group of artists, I have very much been a lurker, watching, listening, learning....



This cloth is taking on a life of it's own and it's story is unfolding in my minds eye one stitch at a time. I have added curly branches and some more leaves....



One wee nibbled leaf...



What have you been creating lately?

A Hoola Fairy for Katy

Katy has received her wee pressie, so I am able to share it here.



I first made one of these fairies a couple of years ago for a swap, this one is complete with ginger hair and twinkling butterfly polka dotted skirt (I want one!), her little wand is fashioned from a tiny branch of elder, and her shoes are in felt with dinky buttons.





Hopefully she will bring lots of good crafty vibes to Katy. I love the colours on this one, her body and skirt are both favourite fabrics from Kaffe Fassett.

I must dash, a second woven cloth awaits, I am oh so busy stitching, will share more in this space soon <3

2 YEARS in the making

When I was pregnant with Miss Boo, I wanted to make me a quilt for the new babe. Back then, I had not been sewing for very long, and had not yet become acquainted with the sewing machine, actually, it is debatable if we are yet good friends.
I bought some scrumptious Lecien fabric with matching polka dot cotton, and looked at it for a while, stroked it lovingly and after much deliberation, realised that if Miss Boo was going to have a quilt before she left home, let alone before she arrived, then I probably needed to get someone else to make it.

In steps the lovely Miss Katy, she was my first and only choice, because not only is she a marvellous quilter with an eye for colour, but she is also charming and her dead pan Yorkshire humour always tickles my funny bone.
Anyway, Miss Katy did make the most lovely quilt for Boo, and it still sits atop her bed today, she snuggles it every night. It is a most perfect and prettyfull quilt. Miss Katy really is a super sweet treat.





Almost as soon as said quilt arrived in my posession, I set about making something for Katy. A stitch here, a stitch there, on it went, and on and on and on.
I have asked Katy for her address twice, in very bad form I have even promised to post said treat, alas, it has sat, rather lonesome, waiting to be completed, for over two years.

Today was a dark day. Sometimes I wake up and it is like someone has drawn a veil over me. I feel heavy, sad, fuzzy headed and often quite tearful. Today was one of those days, though I am thankful the good days are becoming more frequent and the dark days less so. Despite my inner darkness, outside was to be the first sunny, blue skied day I have seen in weeks, the whole house lit up under the soft glow of the low winter sun, and when I finally dragged my sorry ass downstairs, I noticed a pop of colour atop the dresser. There, twinkling in the sunlight, vibrant against the sunlit white background, was Miss Katy's treat.

It is difficult to sew when I am having a bad day, inability to focus or concentrate is a common symptom of PND. I can sometimes manage the sewing machine, but hand stitching becomes very laborious. Even so, I realised, right there in my dining room, admiring the colour and sparkle of this project I had started so long ago for Katy, that really, it could not wait one more minute. It represented, to me at least, a huge personal failing and indeed a failure to show grattude to a very sweet friend, and one failure I could not live with, one I felt I must address with immediate effect.

I gathered my tools about me, my beads and trinkets, scraps and a wee stick from the garden, and slowly, oh so slowly, I stitched.
As I stitched, I thought about the kindness Miss Katy had shown me in making a lovely quilt for Boo, the patience she has shown in waiting so long for a promised gift which never arrived, and she never complained and never asked, and really she ought to have the most lovely gift, and the more I thought about it the more I stitched, the more I embellished, until it was just so.

I even managed to catch some of the remaining afternoon sun in the garden, so that I could take a few photos of Miss Katy's gift. Once it was all done, I felt lighter and not quite as low, and pleased that Miss Katy will wait no more. I will post photos another time, as I would really like it to remain a surprise for it's intended recipient.

Thank you Katy, again, for the lovely quilt, and thank you also for unwittingly lifting me out of the fug today. It is true, I am getting better, slowly, surely, one stitch at a time.

Time for Tea

Miss Boo got a new tea set for crimbo and a farm, amongst many things. I have gone drawstring bag crazy and have been sewing up wee bags for her toys.
The first is for the tea set, the second is for the farm, but as yet not quite complete.

Both have embroidered reversed appliques, stitched to flowery felt shapes which were then stitched to the main body of the drawstring bags. The embroideries are my own design, and were drawn freehand straight on to the fabric. I am a dab hand at these now, they are so quick to make and I find myself thinking about all the bits and bobs floating about the house that also need a wee bag. Now I just need to buy a ton of hooks to hang these little babies from!

I love the colour combos on these.... ah, sweet colour.

Christmas making

Phew, 2011, didn't that come round fast?
I did manage to get a few handmade goodies on to santas sleigh in time for Yule delivery, it was quite busy and lots of fun.

My lovely sister Sophie visited us from Spain and spent a whole week pottering about with us, making, playing, cooking, talking, walking, visiting friends and rather a lot of eating and drinking, we had a lovely time!
When Sophie saw my doodle monarchs, she was most enchanted and asked if I might make on for her, and make one I did.





Young Princess Sophie of Marbella, AKA my little sister, and she is a Princess, oh yes.

Just a few days before Christmas, if I am honest, I was having a bit of a crap time with PND until Christmas cheer arrived, wrapped up in a box from Kentucky, USA. It was jam packed with so much, SO much loveliness. Prettyfull fabrics and pillow panels for moi, wee boxes of vintage buttons, a Book about a Miss Tallulah who makes Blueberry Pancakes, oh yes. For each of my 4 sproglets there was a gift, dolls for the girls and the most darling vintage snowsuit for the Bear, everything was wrapped beautifully and dripping with satin ribbon. Oh and there was more, a whole raft of Kentucky souvenirs, including chocolates, sauce, wine glasses, oh, just SO much. Needless to say, I was quite overwhelmed, and so deeply touched by the incredible kindess of my dear friend Sena. It was such a delightful and unexpected treat, and touched me so. Thank you Miss Sena, you rock so hard <3 I will snap some photos of the prettyfull gifts from Sena, first I think the pancake recipe is going to be knocked up tossed in action oh so soon, with blueberries, of course.
In the meantime, I have already started using some of the fabrics and pillow panels, a few went into christmas gifts for the little ones.



This cushion was for Hazel, the blue and red fabrics are from Sena's stash. This is my first real attempt at something patchwork, it is a bit wonky donkey, will mark where the seams need to be stitched next time, so they align properley. Hazel was super pleased with it. I made her a wee bag for her dolly clothes with the left over scraps.





Sena also sent me a super cute vintage christmas pillow panel, which included these charming little snowmen. I sewed up one for each of the children and added a ribbon hanger, they have each had them dangling from their bedroom door.



Ambers cushion was finished on time and turned out square-ish!



Amber also got the book bag she asked for, I chose the owl fabric from Tina Givens because Amber has a thing about owls, the polka dot was kicking around in my bag. The appliqued spots that cover the strap stitching were quite necessary to cover up the masacre of thread beneath. I have discovered that I am abismal with the machine on little fiddly bits like this! Practice, practice...





Miss Boo got a rice bag number set, with a little + - and = to get her going with some easy maths, not surprisingly she currently just stacks them into piles (they do feel nice) and can more or less name each number, but not quite ready for the sums yet. I made a wee bag to tuck them into too.





And a dolly from the Sena stash (thank you again!) a vintage fabric doll panel, this is Mary and her little lamb is included and still needs to be sewn, the lamb is melt your heart gorgeous.



Hoozel got a stocking at about 9pm on Christmas eve..... bit um, last minute, but I more or less beat the deadline.



Phew! Busy, busy, busy. Oh and there is more, I will be back.

Best Wishes for 2011!