Why yes I did!

I did get a bit obsessed with Bullion stitch...

And made more and more 

including some with roses and rosebuds!

And I did make Miss-Kalico a princess dress....

BUT I didn't make a purple one!

So a purple shirt underneath had to do.

And Minnie mouse slippers completed the look ;o)

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

A finish!

Single bed quilt.

Quilted with 'Swirling Daisies'.

These pictures were taken 

in a friend's lovely English Country Garden...

inclusive of local farm life ;o)

I think her sweet little dog

thinks I'm mad ;o)

*****

I've also finished some more little girl's dresses.

This one was inspired by the blue lace 

I bought from Coolcrafting.

I couldn't resist putting spotty buttons on too!:

 And these 2 new dresses are for Miss Kalico and her friend.

She kept nagging me to make her friend a little dress

so here it is... (or here they are!)

and looking at the 2 dresses, it always remind me of the book

by Julia Donaldson: ' Sharing a Shell':

"2 friends sharing a shell under a sky of blue,

romping all over the rockpool 

in their wonderful home for 2" (or something like that!)...

And I keep thinking when I see these dresses:

" 2 friends sharing a dress under a sky of blue,

romping all over the playground

in their wonderful dresses for 2" 

(or something like that LOL)

What's Been Up

Finally, I can dig my head out

and blog a little...

 Summer has been a great time for creatures.

Creatures in the house however have NOT been great.

This cat is on probation for Mousing!!!

(Trying to find a mouse under the sofa 

at one in the morning is not my idea of fun! 

Not finding it is even worse! 

Wondering for a few days if the half a mouse 

outside the back door was the same mouse is no good either LOL!)

*****

The school holidays are finally over and the little people

in the Kalico household are (mostly) back at school.

I didn't get much sewing done over the school holidays,

just a few dresses for Miss Kalico.

I cut a new dress pattern for her

and although it's a little on the large side,

she'll grow, and these dresses can be whipped up 

in a day...

Great for playing (and potty training!)

I made a reversible dress:

Roses on the one side... 

And baby cord with a pocket

on the other side...

*****

We had a week in South Wales: fabulous!

Family time is just so precious.

The other few weeks we were around and about locally... 

and just enjoyed the lovely weather...

A friend (and fellow blogger) 

and her family came to stay....

It was great having 'Southerners' to stay with us 'up North'

as we got to do some great walks and explore our local surrounds.

This is the walk from Clapham to Austwick 

and I had never done it before...

In Wales we'd done a 'herb walk' at the Botanical gardens

and I'd learnt that these were Burdock pods:

 Nice and sticky LOL.

We all walked through the tunnels to Clapham

 that were built by the local landowner many years ago 

so that he didn't have to watch his workers walk home...

Bit of a cheek, me thinks! But a nice walk.

*****

And now that the kids are out of the way ;o)

I have been able to quilt again

And why, yes, before you ask,

Miss Kalico does need another quilt :o) 

I cut the binding without measuring to check I had enough,

as I sewed the first side and a half on, I remembered I was going to measure...

But it fitted. Phew!

 With only a small piece left to spare!

*****

The next quilt is ironed and ready to be loaded.

Oh, I do love my Longarm machine!!

Mummy Made It

I thought I'd try my hand this week at a bit of dress-making.

Baby-Kalico dress-making!

I bought a lovely book which claimed to have 'full-size patterns'.

It didn't mention that ALL the full size patterns were printed on the 2 sheets

 and are just a mess of lines! :(

So I cut myself a pattern from one of Baby-Kalico's other dresses.

And made this little dress adding a flower that my mother had crocheted.

I can't wait to try some more!!

 *****

And my 'Mummy' i.e. Granny-Kalico sent Baby H a parcel this week

which included this gorgeous knitted set:

It's still a little big, but it goes nicely with her new dress:

It's a shame my mother no longer knits for me,
but it's my own fault!: As a child
I don't think I appreciated all her hard work,
but I do now!!

I just can't believe how quickly she is growing up -
sitting up, giggling... it won't be long before she's off!

*****
Our strange cat seems to be able to make herself comfortable in any position :)