clare and the machine

 Can one ever have too much patchwork?

You may have noticed the hand sewn heavy posts of late.

No?..really?

Well the truth is I have been afraid of my new machine.

You see this new fangled all singing and dancing thing 

(janome qxl605)

is quite a different animal!

Given the choice again I probably would have stuck with an 

old skool machine.

That said I am sure the love will happen,

its just a slow burner...

...even the constant humming seems to be fading,

or maybe it's just my tinnitus getting worse!

 I am supposed to be tidying that stash..

funny how we always get side tracked!

Have you seen the impromptu wall hangings?

 They are tea-towels from one of my favourite bloggers

dottie angel

Some very good advice there I think.

My mini quilt/table mat/wall picture

is a little practice piece.

Ooh but wouldnt it make a lush quilt!

(love how my camera finds my late grandmothers face

with the face recognition feature  : )

Thank you for all your inspiring comments on the quilting of the quilt.

Although I like hand quilting I'm not loving the thought of actually doing it.

Plus the quilt is really very busy already,

I think simple machine quilting would be less fussy.

I'm putting it off for now!

Back to the stash I think.

Here is a recent acquisition, 

a piece of vintage material which I shall use for a 

fussy cut tutorial.

news alert*

John Lewis have Rob Ryan stuff!!!!!!!

I am seriously coveting this umbrella.

Roll on my birthday...and some rain?

Gosh this post is hard to write.

I just wanted to say my thoughts are with everyone caught up in yesterdays tragedy.

I am fortunate enough to have visited Christchurch 

and crowned it the most perfect place to live.

mo-hare monday and my top 5 memories of the 80s

  I know I said I was done with critters..

..I just had to get this one out of my system.

 Before anyone leaps in with 

omg whats that hideous thing she's wearing..

or

omg whats that gorgeous thing she's wearing!

It's a 'my Mum' vintage 

knitted for me in the 80s.

..said through 13 year old gritted teeth..

'it's not itchy at all Mum!'

I was going to unpick it and use the thread but I don't thing I can..

oh the nostalgia (and the talent!)

So 30 pence lighter and here we have Mo.

 He is from the amigurumi book..
mentioned here

me like mohair to crochet with?

not so much!

As I've mentioned the 80s in this post here are my

top five
childhood memories from the 80s

(an homage to High Fidelity by Nick Hornby)

5. wearing my first kitten heels...
and making them sound like stilettos!

4. it's blind date...and here is your host Mrs Cilla Black!

3. pot noodle and a can of quattro,
Saturdays didn't get any better than that!

2. smoke machines (that smelt like raspberry)
and strobe lights at discos.

1. wearing blue mascara in church as a girl guide..
what a rebel!


ps* I will not be wearing the vintage mohair it's far too outdated itchy!!


Okay so I wasnt sure if Mo was cute or just darn scary?
My husband just came home and he is definitely erring on the side of scary!
Wasn't there a film attack of the killer bunnies??
She says making the psycho 'eek eek eek' noise

I feel free!!!

 Well I wasn't going to post this yet 

but it's so sunny I couldn't not!

( I feel free by Cream,

must be sung whilst reading this post!)

 I have finished the patchwork stage of this quilt.

Hooray!

 I'm so glad I added that extra row,

because now it just about fits our king size,

which is a nice option considering

I've made it for the double bed in the loft room.

 Here is the backside,

still with the majority of the papers still intact.

I almost love the back as much as the front!

 Next job then,

snipping all those tacking knots!!

 Ooh get that super reflection.

 Not sure if my hands were shaking due to being star struck

or just low blood sugar, from not eating lunch yet!

So now I need your help...........

backing, quilting and binding options??

One choice for the backing is

a pink floral 70s vintage sheet that I have,

with a plain white binding.

But I'm not sure if it should be something plainer??

Then there's the quilting!

OMG what to do?

I have only ever stitched in the ditch (in the seam),

however because I have used lots of vintage fabrics 

they are a little more fragile so I was considering 

straight line quilting,

to strengthen the whole quilt.

My issue with that is not wanting to mess up the star shapes

with too many lines.

So another option would be to stitch a cm inside the star....

....but can you imagine the turning of the quilt under my machine!!!!!

What to do?

wordless wednesday

love to sew?

 Hi to all you lovers....

lovers of fabric that is!

I won this sweet little book over on Katy's blog

I'm a ginger monkey

thanks Katy!!!

I will say hand on heart (scuse the pun)

that I'm not really a CK devotee.

However I'm not immune to their lovely fabrics,

so when I won this book I did do a little oohing!

Guess what my favourite page was??

Centre page spread!

 Is this porn for the ladies or what!!

I think it may be a reprint of a book that was out last year,

but as I don't own any CK books its all new to me.

It's a great little book full of inspiration, 

like the way the ric-rac has been used on the above cushion.

I think this may well be a do-er,

it's a bit like my vintage bag I bought from Donna Flower last year.

As for valentines...

valentine smalentine!!

pokes tongue out!

edited.
its not that I'm not feeling the love.
I just dont feel the need to celebrate on one day
when everyday should be special!!
and it is!

ps. we did have chocolate cheesescake however!

the magic porridge pot

 Anyone who knows the story of the magic porridge pot

(my favourite childhood book)

will understand this post.

This quilt is turning into quite a porridge of a pot,

in that it goes on and on!

The bigger it gets the more of a monster it is becoming!

 I know I know...

not another post with that quilt.

Believe me I want to see the end too.

Yesterday to my horror,

whilst filling the gaps along the edge,

I realised that I need to do another whole row!!

That's another 8!!

If I don't then the quilt will end with half a block.

(as above)

I was tempted to leave it,

but the angel (or is it the devil?)

on my shoulder wont let me!

 And so with a big sigh...

...onwards.
(ignore the pillow/quilt combo,
this quilt is for the loft room.
I'm just using our bed to lay it all out)

 On a cheerier note, some primulas,

that my mother in law gave me.

It was a table decoration at a charity event they went to

with my Mum and Dad. (who they see more than I do!)

How cute is the simple laurel leaf casing.

Righto then porridge with homemade gooseberry jam.

Just one bowl thankfully!

grin and bear it

So little blue Skye didn't find a Raye of sunshine,

but she did find Tootie Frooti.

Made with Kool Kotton which I am absolutely in love with.

It's a cotton/acrylic mix
and just feels so soft for a cotton yarn.

You can find it here

 This pair were made to order,

for two sisters

so they will be hanging out together forever!

I think I'm all beared out right now...

..on to something new.

a little blue skye

It is very much a grey day here..

..so here's a little blue skye.

She is hoping to make friends..

It's just a case of finding them!

I am hoping that some of you have

a little blue skye

this weekend!

Maybe even a

ray of sunshine...