christmas

At the weekend I gave Mr gingerbread man my camera

and this is what he found..

Firstly plenty of snow in the garden..

..and lush blue skies

lots of goldfinch eating aromatic seeds 

such as lavender, lemon balm and agastache!

snow covered roads that look like 

a step back in time..

pretty new forest ponies

 winter wonderlands

and woolly sheep!

but best of all
home sweet home
with his buddies on the tree

where its very much warmer!

 Now I really should go as I'm still making my Mum her Christmas present!!

Have a fantastic Christmas everyone!

especially Diane at Heart Shaped 

who sent me a lovely card and this very sweet heart decoration

thank you Diane I love it!

See you all in the new year and...

XXX

are you fussy?

Well it seems that I am and I didn't even know!

After seeing the beautiful finished quilt on red pepper quilts

I thought I'd do a bit of stitching on mine.

Back to the fussy stuff,
and by fussy I don't mean fussy eaters.

I cannot abide fussy eaters!

(especially as I have become one of late

and I'm not happy with myself!)

I recently discovered that
fussy cutting is a term used in the

patchwork world for deliberately cutting the fabric 

in such a way as to create a new pattern when stitched together.

Who knew right?

And all this time Ive been blissfully cutting away, 

without the knowledge of just how fussy I was being!

 Even  here on the stars and stripes quilt 

which I made last year.

I cant get over how very un-similar they are!

How tastes change.

Some of my recent colour combinations

scare me!!

bertie and some crochet

 Okay before I get on with the crochet-fest,

I would like to thank my steadfast blog friends for

 sticking by me even when I don't post for a month.

Thank you all for your kind comments and best wishes, 

I really do appreciate your support.

I do my best to leave comments, 

but if I don't you can rest assured that I have read all your blogs!

I don't want to be one of those 'all about me bloggers'.

So on that note I'm going to show you what 'I' (er-hem)

have been up to whilst house-bound.

It's nearly a year since I learnt to crochet, 

it's crazy to think that this time last year I lived a
no yarn life.

I thought I would share my crochet books.

Remember I made Raymond in the summer?

Well this is the book I got the pattern from.

It has some crazy animals to make, 

but really I just wanted some inspiration,

so I've only made bears so far..

So this is Bertie a special order for my godmother.

I made him using the kool kotton I got from Texere

I think it's perfect for these toys and I love the colours too.

I think I shall definitely be ordering more.

Got any old Christmas cards?

I got this idea from creative Jewish mom

makes a change to my usual bauble

Simply punch holes around the card and granny stitch away!

This book is my crochet bible.

I would definitely recommend it if you want to learn to crochet.

It teaches you the basics as well as ripples, grannies, 

all the skills you need to make what you have seen in blogland.

Oh dear I started this with the rest of the Kotton,

now I'm not sure what to do with it?

Either a cushion or a giant blanket, 

it remains like this for now with no more yarn!

Okay this is my last book,

which includes this star pattern.

It has some really nice doilies and a nice alphabet.

It also has some crazily intricate ones, which I will probably never do!

This last one is my attempt to recreate a decoration 

that I saw somewhere in blogland.

Its really just a basic granny pentagon 

with points like the above star...

not sure I'm cut out for making things work!

Sorry for the lack of content of late,

I really haven't been anywhere,

 unless you count my adventures in blogland.

I hope I start feeling christmassy soon!!

edited to add
a must see hand pieced hexagon patchwork
over at red pepper quilts
its the one I am trying to emulate!
Lynne I think you will love it.
It's too wonderful for words!
Go visit you wont regret it!

8 years

1 year since my first craft fair.

2 years since my lovely grandma passed.

3 years since I started this blog.

4 years since I grew my first vegetable.

5 years since we discovered this house.

6 years since we travelled the world.

7 years since my dream of making stuff to sell.

8 years since we began trying for a family........

homemade home

 We all know how to make a homemade home don't we?

Do we need to be told?

 Back in the summer I gained the name of shelf girl, 

after my junk shop purchase,

that I dragged around Lymington 

on a girls day out.

 A project which I had been looking for 

ever since our trip to Barcelona

 After a few hours of stripping and staining

ta-dah!

I was going for the antique look rather than the faux painted distressed look 

which seems to be everywhere now.

 Its now part of our bedroom, 

and fits well I think..

.. vintage cheval mirror an Internet purchase,

oak wardrobe bought from friends,

homemade curtains,

handmade quilts..

 Back in spring I redecorated

Remember my tester patches of ladies foundation?

We went for the maplewood by dulux, 

which is really cosy and I like the way the
darker colour highlights the picture rail.

note: the sofa does not belong in the bedroom, 

it got put there and then left!

Okay so here's a sneaky peek of my big hex..

I'm thinking of naming it 'tutti frutti'

I would like to dedicate this post to Lily Allen

whom I have been thinking of a lot this week.

Life can be cruel sometimes..

..a pretty bedroom doesn't mean a perfect life...

xxx

snowflake season?

  Anyone noticed the unseasonable warm autumn we seem to be having?

I'm big on coincidences!

I cant help thinking that since I made my chunky scarf/cowl

the weather has been more
spring watch than autumn watch!

Therefore it is with crossed fingers that I bring you

snowflakes

I've gotten really addicted to these.

I like the challenge and the moment when the instructions sink in!

Here are a few of my favourites so far..

This is named the ships wheel by snowcatcher

Do stop by this lovely blog, 

the designs are inspired!

Now these snowflakes do look quite complicated

but truthfully they are not! This one is quite enjoyable.

The first two are about a hands width,

so I had a look about for something smaller.

And found the above on crochetville

Its my favourite, its so quick and easy.

This last one wasn't my favourite, but I do like how it turned out,

even if I did make a few mistakes!

Here they are!

These were crocheted on a 5mm hook using

sheba double knit cotton

(nothing too pricey!)

Blocked with many pins and stiffened with spray starch.

I have tried making my own, with water and cornflour,

I found that when dry, the flour left white specks everywhere

especially on coloured wools.

Also the majority of these patterns

are written in USA crochet terms

Great conversion chart here

Everyone get your hooks out!
And if I'm right..

..there should be sunnier days ahead!

update:
' Forever Autumn'  by Jeff Wayne
is playing on the radio!!
Darn it!