Mainly shopping!

When I got back home from the school run this morning and I heard a rustling sound - not Saffy investigating something she was asleep on the spare bed.  No something fluttering up by the skylight - a little blue tit!   Imagine my surprise!   Eventually got it outside but how had it got in???




Next job was to take the cat to the VET for a booster jab - she was not impressed!  But we met her twin there - the vet must have thought she was seeing double...


All this rushing around was so that I could go on a little trip with my friend Eloise for some carrot cake and a bit of browsing.....at the Cornstore in Pulborough.  I have taken you here before but there is always new vintage and antique goodies and lunch and/or tea and cake!  What more could you ask for??

Would this little chap help you save a penny or two?

Well after all this browsing we were like this lady .....

 in desperate need of a cup of tea...what did you think I was going to say??

And the carrot cake was as good as we remembered!

Here is what I brought home

Two tree cutters ready for Christmas, a little packet of glitzy crystal beads, and a necklace...I really need another one!

Two SIA candlesticks - love that Swedish look!  Ok not antique, but lovely all the same! 

And back to my Celtic roots this very big pewter brooch - 3" across!

This brooch is huge!




And if all that wasn't exciting enough look what came in the post....

Well Mandy at Simply Solids was giving me 11% off!  She could give you the same deal too....and you can choose other fabrics too....


Just in case you do not win this....in the Christmas Gifts for Quilters 7 (+ mahusive giveaway)

chez madame Lynne at Lily's Quilts


PS if you have been having problems commenting on my blog I am hoping I have fixed the problem so please try again as I do love to hear form you - even  if you just tell me you an comment - sorry and thanks!

Gorgeous fabrics from Seamstar!

I made a dangerous visit to the Seamstar website.  Well it would have been rude not to as they did invite me on their newsletter to have a look! 




Strange that just visiting leads to parcels arriving on your doorstep!

I love these newly arrived prints from Lotta Jansdotter - they are Deep Indigo Moira, Brass Mesh Little Florine, Catalina Moira, Urban Sunrise, Catalina Aneta,  and Little Dusted Plum Florine! I have seen that they are in the UK before the US!  Must say that makes a change!




And am thinking what I can make them.  This is not my usual colour scheme - and I love that too - you are asking where is the green???!   I will add a few solids in the mix and see what other textural prints I have in my stash that will go with them.




So what pattern would you make with these fabrics!  It would need to work with the big patterns as well as the small..I would really love your input here as I am sure you will come up with suggestions I haven't even heard of!


My nightmare is that I will love every idea and want to do them all!

Purchased at the Eternal Maker!

I have been keen to visit Chichester and the Eternal Maker bricks and mortar shop since I visited their booth at the Festival of Quilts.  Why has it taken so long?    Well my dear friend Eloise or I had something on just about every time we tried to get together and go on this outing so it has been postponed a few times!


Never mind we got there and this is what we found!

A bit unprepossessing, I thought, but it seemed to be the correct address!  My mother used to tell me not to judge a book by it's cover and this is true about  this shop because look what it is like inside!

There were apologies from staff as a lot of the fabrics - particularly new and Christmas ones had gone to the Knit & Stitch Show at Alexandra palace!  I hadn't noticed an empty feeling and wondered where on earth they would house any more...


Well here are the bits I picked up....


Those two dark prints are actually a rich plum colour - not showing true on my screen...Something Christmassy this way comes...

Strangely drawn to that goat! - No Eloise couldn't understand it either!  Not sure I do, but I think it reminds me of an illustration from Alice Through the Looking Glass...where a sheep had a wool shop, or was that a dream...?

Top right I am using as the centre of my spool blocks!  Couldn't pass those others by...

Then two Japanese scrap packs with a variety of different prints

And the next day at the Quilt room I picked up these - my cutter was not working well so I needed a new blade as I will need nice cuts for the Christmas fabric swap, the ruler is for a friend and the rest is to practice a few more machine applique ideas...

Helen sorry to keep you waiting so long...

In A Handbag!

Quoted in a loud aristocratic English outraged accent!  Denouement scene from The Importance of Being Earnest by the outrageous Oscar Wilde!  Always loved that bit !

Nothing much to do with the rest of the post but hey why not??

These little purchases wheedled their way into my basket while visiting Lisa
Lam's website U-handbag.com.  She wrote the book I recently showed you which I am going to use to make a bag with the lovely fabric Lynne kindly gifted my way!

What on earth are these things?

I have here a purse frame - I have to admit I thought English purse as in coin purse when I put it in the basket but no this would be a coin purse suitable for a giant!  It's a purse as in US style ie a handbag!  


A tube of glue that Lisa recommends for using with the purse frame!


A metal strip flex frame - more suited as a coin purse 


And a That Purple Thang! good for pushing, poking, pulling and generally turning things inside out or threading ribbon and elastic through a small space!  Emminently useful I would say and less dangerous than my usual assortment of tools....knitting needles, scissors, pencils etc


So I hope to be making more goodie type things in the near future...


In the meantime I have caught up with the Across the Sea QAL as you can see here...

Here is the quilt back in it's vast whiteness....and below are close ups of my blocks which I think have turned out well but I just feel the whole thing above isn't quite doing it for me!

The weeny one came out blurred in the photo so I will try to get a better shot later if the sun ever gets here....

Here are the two tops side by side and I know which one I prefer.....Maybe a scrappy border will lift the back .....it needs a little something!

I hung them back to back to check out the dimensions and although I didn't put the second border on the front as I ran out of Caribbean I am surprised at how much spare fabric I will need to cut off after quilting these two together...or did I get it wrong?

[Just noticed one thing I got wrong - switched up block 2 and 4 there!  That's the problem with late night piecing!  Looks like I'm taking it apart again anyway!]


A few more things to sort out and catch up with and I will be back on track...until the next swap starts.


Talking of swaps have you seen the Modern Christmas Runner Swap that Susan from Canadian Abroad is running.  Signing up deadline is 2nd October!  Go and have a look ....and join in the fun!  You never know I might be making something for you - though I hope that doesn't put you of!

A Surprise and a new Obsession!

I went to my postbox yesterday and what did I find but a squishy package for me!  What have I bought and forgotten about I asked myself ?  But no I have not paid for the contents at all. 




Inside was a beautifully written card from Helen aka Archie the Wonder Dog thanking me for the gentle nudge I gave her to start blogging - well I am sure she really almost jumped before I nudged but I am happy to receive gifts any time and here is the sweet fabric she sent me and teeny, weeny buttons.

Thank you Helen and so glad you joined the party - blogland I feel is a much better place with you in it!  If you do not know Helen go look at her blog Archie the Wonderdog, at once! 




Now I may not have revealed my obsessive side to you before but it has been coming out in a frenzy of sewing activity up to date....and now a splurge of purchasing...


Look at this lovely fabric I bought at the local fabric shop 

Lots of lovely linens in gorgeous colours and the bottom pinky one is a Klona cotton which is slightly heavier than the Kona cottons!


Not for patchwork these, no these are for my new obsession - Free Motion Embroidery(FME)!  




Here is what I got up to yesterday - a little butterfly on some patterned upholstery weight fabric - a 40p scrap from the remnant bin of my local fabric shop!  I got to practice shading on the butterfly body - needs a little more experimentation and practice I feel before I get it sussed but not too awful for a first attempt!

All I need now is to find a little tutorial to make this into a journal cover and go and buy a journal!





I am really bitten by this bug and will try to keep both FME and patchwork going along but what a great way to use up those tiny scraps!  One feeds the other - a perfect crafting marriage!

Ok now we are in trouble I will be the one emptying your bins looking for gorgeous scraps I can use - in fact I had better go and look through my own first!   

New projects of a different kind!

I took my son to his friend's house yesterday and I had coffee with his friend's mum.  And then as I was in the neighbourhood I took a bit of a detour on the way home..... to a beautiful shop full of lovely goodies, but not fabric ones this time.






The name of the shop is Giraffe Gems and it sells beads - lots of them, and all the other paraphernalia required to make jewelry.   The owners are two friendly and kind retired ladies whose love of the craft spurred them into opening a shop and such is their success - a story familiar to every craft shop owner -  they now hardly get the chance to enjoy what started them off.

Nevertheless they are full of advice, will help you realise your project and make suggestions on how to do something better often with a cheaper alternative.  I do not think you could find a better craft shop than that!


Anyway I dare not go too often as I get a bit carried away but the welcome is just as warm - and they supply tea/coffee and biscuits.


Here are my purchases

I love all the colours of beads - I am a colour loving person.  But with beads you also get texture - shiny polished beads, matt beads, extra sparkly faceted beads, ribbed beads, glass beads, ceramic beads, stone beads, resin beads, metal beads and of course plastic ones.  Have to say I love them all!


It's not as hard as you think to get started and I have my brilliant friend Eloise to thank for introducing me to this craft and I just hope she forgives me for going there without her yesterday.




Now if you are missing out on quilty stuff then I recommend playing with snakes on EQ - sorry peeps you do need the software!


http://www.electricquilt.com/Users/FunStuff/Lessons/July.asp

spotted at Barbara Brackman's Material Culture.  Have fun!





Nicky

I'm weak at the knees!

I go weak at the knees when I see such tiny bundles of loveliness....

I need to look at them a million times, in different combinations and settings....

I even have to build little walls out of them....

And dream about all the myriad uses I can put them to....

Am I the only one???

Nicky

Shopping!

We all like a bit of shopping don't we?

Well I visited my local fabric shop yesterday and bought a few bits and pieces.

I met the owner there and cheekily gave her some feedback on some of her products.  They have just started stocking lovely trimmings from VV Rouleaux and Liberty and such and I have added to my collection on every visit as you can see here.

Yesterday's trimmings

The growing collection....

So I gave my hearty approbation of these but turning to her knitting wool asked if she would stock something a bit more interesting than the acrylic yarn she curently has.  I suggested Debbie Bliss Cashmerino as I like to knit and crochet with those yarns in lovely colours.  She explained that her customers seem to ask for this type of yarn (?) - it is cheaper and washable, I know - and hasn't the room in this shop to stock more wool but is trying to find bigger premises.  Perhaps some improvement in the offing...?






They also stock some quilting fabrics among the dress, upholstery and every  other variety of fabric they carry.  They have a very few pre-cuts and otherwise sell off the bolt but do not cut fat quarters.  They also stock some fat quarter bundles in the oddest selection but nicely tied up with ribbon.  I have now found out that they buy them in - which I am glad about as I would seriously doubt their judgement if they admitted to putting them together themselves.  My problem is that I ask every birthday and Christmas for fabric that the children have chosen but they will go for these odd assortments and I end up with something that just doesn't go together and hence cannot make anything with.   It is frustrating as the object for me was to make something out of the fabrics they had chosen ..anyway I have given my feedback and she has taken my email so I will wait to see what - if anything - happens!    End of rant!!


I'd rather end up with these lovelies

I went to the bookshop as well and bought this little book. 

I have another by the same author which set me off making yards of bunting.  She has been featured on TV with Kirstie Allsopp making a quilted stocking for Christmas and runs courses in several local quilt shops - but I haven't been on one.... yet!?


I am all set to do some little stitcheries inspired by this book and many blog sites, espcially with some of the lovely cotton perle thread I have been buying, possibly in lieu of quilting, but I have yet to choose my project.


Ooh I am planning and scheming and objects of great loveliness are dancing in my head - whether they will get started or will be as lovely when/if I get around to making them is of course another matter...


In the meantime notice something different about Cyril?

Here's a close up

Just couldn't resist one more tiny embellishment...






Nicky