This, that and t'other

I have had limited computer access as I still have not had my computer fixed, nor have I bought a new one so I am behind on keeping up with little people joining their brother at school ...

(only in the nursery that is!)

And the weather turning colder..


I didn't even manage to blog that last weekend I was kindly given a place to do a Shibori dyeing workshop which I thoroughly enjoyed...

Ode to Vicki W: my attempt at hearts! :-)

Love this one: looks like a dental x-ray...



Then Thursday we had a flying visit from my wonderful brother.


What a treat!

Thanks Bro!!

And thanks for bringing zips and buttons from Mom!


I am always on the scrounge for zips and buttons ;-)

This week I also managed: 'A gift for a poorly person':


Our dear friend and neighbour is in hospital and we are thinking of him... (Come home soon!!)

In the meantime, I made him a bag to fill with hospital essentials like water, the newspaper, sweets...


And my dear friend Vicky gave me a super kitchen present. Gorgeous red spotty mugs in a gorgeous polka dot bag.


Thanks Vicky! I'm saving the mugs until we've had our first cup of tea out of them together. (The chillis are from a friend and I made 'chilli confusion' i.e. it was meant to be chilli jam, the ingredients are, according to her husband, chutney-ish, but it's more like a sauce. However, it is YUMMY!(even if I say so myself!)

Mummy makes a present

Today my littlest boy is three years old!! Where does the time go.

The other night we had 'Postman Pat makes a present' as his bedtime story.



He said that he wanted me to make him a present for his birthday. I offered to make another cake. No, he wanted something made. (And wrapped up with a ribbon!) All hopes of making and finishing the boy's a quilt each by this birthday flew out of the renovated window so I only managed a backpack and matching wallet...




Don't look too close, it was my first attempt at a wallet without a pattern

And here's a photo of a birthday present bag that got delivered to a little friend who had his party on Saturday...

On the nose front, I have been having a few early nights as I've really felt like I have been knocked out, but I'm sure it will pass.

Good luck, bad luck, frozen peas...

The Good Luck?
I have been undeservedly spoilt again!
Not 1, but 2 random acts of kindness!

Thanks Jodi for inviting me to join the Hedgehog revolution.



Actually, in this house they are called 'Hehodge's', but that's because some people in this house are only little :-)

Thanks also to Kandy. Kandy offered to send me some bobbins, but sent me lots of other lovely things too!


Look at the size of this gorgeous Log Cabin.

I love Log Cabins, but scrappy mini ones are even cuter!

The Bad Luck?
Well that's why we needed the frozen peas! Yes, there was blood on the trampoline!!! I was playing with the boys when DS1 ran into me as I bent my head over and hit me full on the nose with his knee. I heard a crack and was suddenly gushing blood. Blood ran down my arms, covered my hands, I thought I was going to choke, I had so much blood in my mouth and throat, but I remained semi-calm. I sent him in to get daddy, held my head back, used my sock(!) to stop the flow of blood and cried and laughed at the same time!! DH said not to bother with the hospital, just lie down, put some frozen peas on the swelling and not to worry as it's not too skew LOL.



(It's not easy taking a shot of your own nose ;-)
It looks ok now, so there's no more lying down for me. I had better get cracking on my made gift for DS2's birthday!

Back to being a bag lady

I do love making bags!

I bought this pattern at the Harrogate quilt show in September so it's not been sitting around too long :-) It's a 'Melly & Me' pattern and I used some yummy green silk for the lining and added an inside pocket and a cord for your keys.

Now to try it in another colour scheme...

A little birthday blanket for baby cat

Happy birthday my super-softie!!

My biggest little boy is 5! I had hoped to finish his dog quilt, but with weddings, overnight guests, renovations, birthday parties etc etc, I just couldn't get to it. We had previously had a conversation about Mummy wanting to make him something and him wanting something shop bought. I told him Mummy had no money and he suggested I try and find some LOL. Then a few days later he comes to me and says "you can make me something or you can buy me something, but just get me something" LOL

Then last week we were driving back from swimming and he asks me for a 'little blanket for my baby cat'. I can do that! I had made a hoo-hah about wanting to make him something surely I can make a toy cat a blanket in a few days?

I sewed together some orphan scrapbuster blocks. Basted it, quilted it, bound it, wrapped it and all just in time for the big day...

I think they like it :-)

And as I yet again had tension issues with my machine while quilting this mini quilt, I am pleased I didn't tackle his single bed quilt!! Looks like I may have to bite the bullet and get my machine serviced. I have tried new needles, adjusting the bobbin tension, adjusting the needle tension, changing the thread, cleaning the bottom of my machine... Any tips for tension problems???

Giveaways

I won a giveaway! I've been so busy I forgot to blog it. Thanks Caryn - it's so cute!!




I'm inching up to 300 posts so I better get thinking what I'll be giving away in my giveaway!

T.G.I.O.

Thank Goodness It's Over!

We had the boy's combined birthday party at home yesterday. (DS1 will be 5 on Monday and DS2 will be 3 just over a week later.)

Yet again there was much baking in this house! A homemade 'Ben 10' cake. DS1 wanted a shop bought one, but when I went to buy it I was told that it was best to order them a week in advance. Unfortunately I didn't have that much time so out came the icing sugar and an attempt at 'Ghostfreak' LOL



DS2 wanted a smartie cake. I added the pigs as an extra. (It's unfortunate that pigs are pink as it made his cake look a bit girlie, but then again he is only 3!)



Not a single cupcake was left begging even with their ugly faces (and their wheat-free bases LOL)

The new kitchen came in handy...

Now I can put my feet up for another year!

Something Old, New, Borrowed & Blue

As I've had quite a busy week, and I'm quite tired, I'll be a woman of few words (and many pictures) of a friend's wedding that we attended on Wednesday, near London:

Here the boys make a run for the church after their 5 hour car journey...

(I missed the arrival of the bride due to an unforseen circumstance involving copious baby wipes and much embarrassment)

I am not a pink girl, but roses in any colour get me every time (especially when the bridesmaids roses matched my blouse!!)

The matching blouse (I wore it at our reception too!)

Pretty blonde girls...

Beautiful brides...

Happy couples...

Confetti monsters...
Partners in crime...

Horse drawn carriages...

My kind of cake!
(not wheat-free, but layers of marzipan - yum!)

Who ate all the (Gluten-free) pies?

I did, I did! And the sponge cake too!
Ok, not all of it.

The first pie was made for 'the girls'.

The sponge cake for Sam and his Mum.

And the second pie for my DSIL.

So I only ate a bit of all of them :-)
(especially as I'm the only gluten-free one)

Homemade Thimbles

a.k.a. the re purposing of old leather gloves...

My blog-friend Toni wanted to know what thimbles people recommend. Well, I recommend these ;-)



When I lived in Germany, I had a summer job working on a production line at a company that made heating components or some such thing. The other girls showed me their thimbles which were cut-off leather glove fingers and these were indispensable for doing something that we did with cogs (memory fails me here...)


Anyway, a few years back, I bought a pair of purple leather gloves at a flea market/antiques-type fair and thought they'd be great for these homemade thimbles. When I mentioned to the vendor that I wanted them very snug as I was going to cut the fingers off she looked aghast LOL. Never mind, I probably use the fingers more than anyone ever used the gloves as they were in mint condition.

I use these 'finger-hats' for just regular stitching as well as quilting and they work a treat!
I think I threw the other glove away after chopping off all the fingers, but this glove still has 3 thimbles left :-)


(To make your own, remember that a really snug glove or pair of gloves works best as the leather does tend to soften and stretch with age. And ideally in red or purple LOL!!)

Self portrait

I can't get enough of this weather

I have waited the whole summer for this!

It is so goodness gracious me beautiful around here when the sun shines (this is on the road to DS1's school from our house)... I just can't get over it. I know I am going on about it a bit, but after all the rain, I feel I'm entitled LOL. The red berries are everywhere. How come I have never noticed them before?

Even the sheep enjoy the views (this is up towards the moors - a slight detour, but I had to see the heather in the sun and believe it or not, but the heather looks better in the rain!! So here are views withouth the heather, but with sheep instead...)

The views up here are so tranquil. I have a thing about clouds LOL. I love 'Simpson' clouds as I call them. Big puffy white ones against blue skies - those are my favourites!

Here is DH strimming the lane...

On the food front: The blackberry's are out.

DH and DS1 went blackberrying and the fruit this year is better than last, so I've made jam and a pie. A neighbour also gave me some plums which made delicious plum jam. I love a bit of home-baking ;-)

And when the sun shines you can get your quilts washed!!