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I've just found the Blogger Map over at Latte Love.  She's trying to geographically map blogs throughout the world!  Ambitious?  Yes!  Great idea?  Oh yes!  Hop over and add your blog...

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What am I doing?

Good afternoon ladies.  Well, I was resolved to sew this weekend, sew anything, just get back into the groove.  Saturday didn't work out as expected as I was far too busy doing housey stuff, then cooking (most unlike me!), then having a nice long bath!  I settled down in front of the TV in the evening and did a few rows on the baby blanket I'm making for my nephew.

He's due in just 4 weeks and I'm only halfway through, then I'll have to add a border.  Factor in the going-to-buy-ribbon trip, the posting time (he lives about 300 miles away) and the fact I want this to be his receiving blanket, i.e. a blanket to receive him when he's born, I really had better get on with it.  Two rows later, it ended up back here.

I've taken to stuffing it back in my yarn bowl at the end of each session!  By the way, the yarn bowl was handmade by LittleWrenPottery and is absolutely stunning.

So why did I give up?  Because a sudden cross stitching urge hit me full force in the face... scramble for the felt, dig out the waste canvas, get out the floss boxes...

I'm planning to add some beads to this.  No, it's not a flowerpot!  I went to bed a few rows in and for the first time in my life was still awake at 1am, completely wide awake.  I got up and Eastenders and a film saw me stitching some more.  I went to bed at 4am!

That probably explains the long lie-in on Sunday.  I did manage to get some sewing done on Sunday, but not as much as I wanted due to the long lie-in and the need to give the shelves another coat of paint.  My brother's girlfriend had requested something specific for the birth of their baby and so a design was drawn and a prototype was made.  The prototype was then thrust into Mr CA's face as I urged him to "look!  look!  I made that!".  I got his stock reaction - "very good", but decided to push on, but to make some extra...

5 little cuties awaiting their eyes... the eyes are now sewn and I just have to sew them up and I can show you.  I got the eyes done that evening after cooking my first ever roast dinner (it was amazing!) - far too much cooking this weekend, I think I'll go on cooking strike for a few months, no change to the norm then - and spending a ridiculous amount of time updating my shop.  It was half empty and I had loads of stuff I hadn't listed.  I wasn't sure why I hadn't listed it until I started and remember it takes FOREVER to list something... nearly done now, just a few more items to go.  Feel free to take a look if you fancy, but don't if you don't!

Now, I've shown you everything I've been working on, so until the cuties are born or the cross stitch is finished, this blog is going to be rather sparse again.  I'm really sorry ladies, I know this blog's been crap so far this year - bear with me and normal service WILL be resumed, I promise!

Sorting stuff out

Afternoon ladies.  I'm afraid I have nothing crafty to show you.  Again.  I really do need to sort myself out!  Unfortunately, I haven't got time.  I got up this morning and took 6 rubbish bags of rabbit poo to the tip, then I cleaned out the bunnies and took another 6 bags of rabbit poo to the tip.  I came home and started painting some shelves, then had to sort my husband out as he's locked the car keys in the boot and we don't have a spare set!  Luckily I remember my breakdown insurance had expired... I renewed it 2 days ago!

That's Tiff chewing through the "window" of the cardboard "castle" I'd made for the bunnies.  Anyway, I thought I'd drop in and tell you about the home-sorting challenge I'm involved in and show you some pictures of what I'm working with.  I know it's a bit off topic and I usually write about crafts, but this will have a crafting element to it and to be honest, if I don't publish these pictures, I don't think I'll get round to doing anything about my mess of a home.



Cherry Heart is running Pretty Crafty Home which is all about sorting out your home, getting rid of clutter and adding handmade touches - so it is sort of about craft.  I bought my house 4 years ago, it had been a student house for about 15 years and it showed.  Brown or red carpets through, textured wallpaper that'd been painted over with about 25 coats of GLOSS, chipped and peeling wood-work, brown bathroom suit (yes, brown!), ancient kitchen... 

The plan was always to do it up, but time and money have kind of got in the way.  So far we've only really painted what is now my craft room (because my cousin lived with us for a while and we couldn't ask her to pay rent the state it was in) and my step-daughter's room, and done some work to the living room / dinning room.  Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures of the downstairs as the pictures were on my laptop which was stolen in a burglary about 3 years ago. 

The following photos are of the dining room and living room as it is now.

Originally, there were two rooms downstairs, as is common in Victorian houses (my house was built in 1884) but we knocked through to make one large, light room and added a coat cupboard as Victorian houses lack storage.  Above is the tip of a dining room.  I decided not to clean it up as it will look even better when I show you the "after" pictures!

Bit orange that one.  There is a chimney breast and two alcoves.  We've fitted the alcoves with bookshelves and I've painted the shelves on the left.  I'm currently painting the shelves to the right (just waiting for Mr CA to come home with some more paint before I can continue - after he gets back in the car...), then we'll finish loading them with books.  You can see my little computer desk above which is where I'm sitting now.

This room is painted and has the wallpaper and floor done, all that remains to do is the shelves and the beading.  Then I'll add a touch of homemade.  I'm thinking of painting the furniture white, making curtain tie-backs, chair seat cushions, table cloth etc.  The oven will be in the kitchen when Mr CA gets round to sorting it out...

Here's the view into the living room.

Oh, and the kitchen door needs painting and putting back on its hinges!

The living room is also done bar the beading (I've now been waiting 2 years for Mr CA to do that!).  I'm thinking of painting the coffee table in here, adding a crochet blanket or two, some more cushions...

And some more shelves to the right of the fireplace.  See the fireplace?  It's beautiful, it's made of slate and is divine.  The previous owner had painted it gloss white.  It took weeks to strip it back and I love it.

Definitely room for something hand made here.

I'm thinking the curtains look a little boring - I could embroider them? 

So there we go.  Here is my home at the moment, stay tuned to find out what it turns into.  And no, it wont be next week!

Winter Stitching Update - Halfway through!

I've rejigged the list and taken off Christmas stuff that just didn't happen.  No use beating myself up about it!

Birthdays before Christmas

1. Crochet hook case for mum - completed at the end of October

2. A thread catcher for mum - completed at the end of October

3. 2 x car kits, 1 for my dad and 1 for my FIL - completed at the beginning of November

4. 2 x mug rugs for the same 2 men - completed at the beginning of November

Other pre-Christmas stuff
5. An item or two for a private swap - completed at the beginning of November
6. Advent calendar for my goddaughter - completed at the end of November

Christmas presents
7. Finish the CRM cushion for mum - completed in December
8. Glasses cases x 4 for mum, dad, FIL and an aunty - completed in December
9. Frilly apron for the MIL - completed November
10. Spa kits of my own devising x 6 for MIL, SIL, niece and 3 friends - completed in December
11. Finish the Petit Ecole table runner for my brother and his girlfriend - completed in December
12. Wine cosy for my brother - Completed in December
13. Iris cross stitch bookmark for Nana-in-law - completed in November
14. Tea cup candles all round -completed in December along with a lot more candles!
15. A frog x-stitch pouch from Cross Stitcher for my best bud - completed in November
16. Something for my friend's baby. - I've already made him a linen bunny, and now two bear hats. - completed in November
17. wash bags for dad and FIL  - completed in December
18. Gift tags - completed in December
19. Cookies in a jar x 18 - completed in December
20. Scrubbies for dad, brother, FIL - in progress - I just made one in the end
21. Bird feeders - in progress - these all got finished
22. Reinbeers for dad and FIL (stolen from Pinterest!) - these were finished too

General Stuff

23. 4 PIF gifts - put off til after christmas - still not done!

24. I'd like to finish the alphabet chart for my goddaughter. I'm on N. - No progress
25. Amigurumi pig for mum for mother's day - nope, not done

My nephew's birth in February
26. Quilt - the top is pieced, next the quilting!
27. Crochet receiving blanket - half done
28. Sewn booties - not started yet
29. A cushion for his nursery  - not started either
30. Trousers - no, not started!
31. Crochet bear hats - done in November

32. Appliquéd baby grows - again, not started

Stuff for myself (for a change)
33. The dining room chair cushions
34. Matching table topper
35. And placemats
36. Crochet hook case
37. A coffee mat as my coffee pot drips
38. A lunch bag
39. Shopping bags for the supermarket
          None of these have been started

40. A handbag - yes!  This was done in January, quite spontaneously

41. A needle book or 3 - not done

Brother's birthday - none of these are done
42. Coasters with cross stitch - quotes from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
43. Matching coffee mat
43. A cross stitched towel (just a band, not the whole thing!!) again with the quotes. 
44. Flash drive keyring

45. Yoda ami

46. crochet R2D2

WIPs
47. Giant granny blanket - no progress
48. Granny square cushion - no progress
49. Sampler blanket -  no progress
50. Hardanger - no progress
51. Crochet bag - no progress
52. Tea cup embroidery - no progress
53. Secret project - can't tell you about it! - Yes, some progress!  But I can't tell you about it...

So I've added them up and it seems I've done 24 items and have 30 left to do.  That doesn't add up to 53 but I've checked it twice and can't see where I'm wrong!  I've got a long way to go and having an unproductive January isn't helping! 

Resolved to Sew

The first month of 2012 is almost over and I've made practically nothing.  I have hundreds of books and magazine with sewing projects marked, hundreds or even thousands of bookmarked webpages and pins on Pinterest*, a list of to-sew items as long as my arm yet I'm faced with "what should I sew"?  An overload of inspiration maybe?  Sometimes I just sit on the sofa, staring at the TV, but then the next day at work I wish I could be at home sewing!

Then I read about the most amazing giveaway at Very Berry Handmade and decided to resolve to sew!  This weekend, I'm going upstairs, I'm grabbing a craft book/magazine and I'm going to sew... something.  When I take a break, I'll get on Pinterest and find something I want to sew and just sew it!  OK, so I want to win the giveaway, and this is the prize I'd choose:

Fat quarter bundle (10 FQ) from Erin McMorris’s Summersault from Backstitch, but I also want to get out of this creative slump I feel I'm in. 

Now, you can't have a post without a photo, so here's a photo of the flannel I won on a giveaway at The Sewing Directory before Christmas.

Those piggies will be perfect for something for my mum, I'm just not sure what yet!  If you're in the UK and haven't checked out the Sewing Directory, you should, it's a directory of UK based fabric shops and they run frequent giveaways.

I'll be back soon with a post about this:

And I might even get round to showing you the crochet project I've got going on.  After the weekend, there should be (hopefully) loads of sewing posts!
Edited to add:  ladies, I'm having problems commenting on most blogs - the pages just wont load.  I'm also having email problems - I can't email many people and I can't email anyone with a hotmail address!  These things come in threes, so I'm guessing Blogger will go down now!
*A note on Pinterest: I've read loads of blogposts recently where the authors are bemoaning the fact they can't join Pinterest as they don't want to join Facebook.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO JOIN FACEBOOK TO BE ON PINTEREST.  I have a Facebook page, but Pinterest doesn't even know about it!  You can sign up with an email address.  If anyone does want to join, I still have some invitations left, so just give me your email address and I'll invite you.  And if you want to follow me, I'm here.

A long-overdue crafty post! - Lap top stuff holders

Good afternoon ladies.  I flew back from Sousse on Friday - it involved a 2 hour drive to Tunis to the airport, a 2 and a half hour flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle which was pure hell due to turbulance the whole way, then a dash through CDG which is the size of a small country, onto a bus which took us to the plane.  Another hour and a half flight to Birmingham, then an hour and a half drive home.  By the time I got home, I was still sick to my stomach from that turbulance and I'm still feeling ill today, but I don't think it's the turbulance. 


Anyway,  Before I went to Tunisia, I realised I had nothing to hold my laptop and didn't like the idea of carrying it a thousand miles just in my handbag.  So I made myself a laptop case.  I used a pattern from One-Yard Wonders which was pretty good, though not perfect....


I chose my fabrics.  I've had this lovely green flowery linen for ages and I love it, but I only had half a metre so didn't know what to make with it.  I decided to try some other fabrics with it and to my astonishment, it goes with this Amy Butler Bali which I also had half a metre of.
 Don't they look cosy?  I still had a massive tangle in my suitcase though - Skype headphones, phone charger, camera charger, camera lead, hairdrier, hair straighteners...  I can see a lot more "cable cosies" coming on for my next trip!

The green of the linen is actually a little more green that it shows on the photo... but it's the same as the green on the Amy Butler.  Even though the patterns are world's apart, I decided to use them together as I like the combination, and that's what counts, isn't it?


First I had to quilt.  Typically, I had no cotton which matched any of the colours of the fabrics, except the bright pinky/purple in the flowery print.  So bright pinky/purple it was!

I thought I did a fairly decent job with the quilting.  There are a few puckers on the AB side, but as it is the inside, I'm not too bothered. 

Unfortunately, I should have realised that with my novice quilting "skills" there was no way the top layer, bottom layer and wadding would all stay perfectly aligned, so I had to trim them down afterwards, meaning the case was too short - mind you, I only took off less than an inch so I think it would have been too short anyway.  If you make this pattern, I'd advise you to add additional length to it, in case of quilting mishaps, but just anyway as the pattern doesn't take into account the depth of the laptop.

I solved the problem by adding a 4.5 inch wide strip of the lining fabric, with a piece of wadding sandwiched in between.

I had planned on binding the top edge with the lining fabric, but as I'd had to use it to extend the case, I bound it with the green flower linen instead.

I'm pretty chuffed with it, despite two small issues.  I forgot to trim the corners so they are very rounded, and the flap is a little bit wonky when fastened.

The inside edges are bound.  I used bought white bias tape for this.  I hate bought bias tape and can't see me using it often, I'd much prefer to make my own. 

Though to be honest, if I made this again, I don't think I'd bind the inner seams, I'd quilt the top layer with a piece of muslin, then make the case up as I usually would, inserting the lining inside to hide all raw edges.

Ta-dah!  Here's Mr Laptop all snuggled up inside.  I also had extras that get in the way.  My power cable and my mouse had tangled themselves up in my bag just on the trip home from work, so I thought I'd better make them each a little bag for the trip to Tunisia.  I mean, how annoying is it trying to find your purse in a bag full of cables doing their best impression of spaghetti?

And so two zipper bags were born from the leftover fabrics.  They're not quilted as I don't think cables are that delicate.  They are lined though.

One in the Bali print, but that was all I had.  The linen had been a wider cut than the Amy Butler, so I used it to line the second bag.

Don't they look cosy?  I still had a massive spaghetti-mess in my suitcase though - phone charger, camera charger, camera lead, Skype headphones, hair drier, hair straighteners.... I can feel more "cable cosies" coming on for my next trip!

The bag could have done with being just a few inches taller, but overall I was happy with it!

I don't think normal service will be resumed just yet on this blog.  I've got about 900 new blog posts and a billion emails to catch up on.  I also have made much, I did take a little crochet with me to Tunisia so I can show you that - oh, and I can show you some fabric that arrived chez moi whilst I was away, but I can't see me getting much crafting done this weekend as I feel really quite ill and it's back to work tomorrow.  Oh, and I'm behind on TAST now too!  How stressful!

Bonsoir de Tunisie... encore!

Bonsoir ladies - I've just got back to my hotel, it's nearly midnight so I have to go to bed, but I wanted to drop in to say that I'm not ignoring you all!  I haven't had a spare moment to read blogs or reply to my emails, so please don't think I've gone all silent on you.  I made something at the weekend before I flew out, I have the photos ready to show you but I just haven't had the time to post.  I'll leave you with a quick photo - this is what I found when I got back to my hotel tonight - what do you think this arrangement of my pajamas might mean???

Bonsoir de Tunisie!

Hello,

Just thought I'd drop in to show you a quick photo - this is the view from my private terrace.  Work trip eh?  It's a hard life...

TAST week 2 - Buttonhole Stitch

Good morning.  It was my intention to post last night, but yesterday sort of got away from me and besides, I was too cold.  Our boiler has packed up and our up-to-now very mild winter has decided to take a dive for -5.  Not so cold?  No, probably not as cold as Canada or Siberia, but in our old, big, drafty Victorian house, it's a bit like being outside. 

Yesterday was a day of running around getting ready for my business trip to Tunisia on Monday (25 degrees - yay!) then a hasty trip to take my washing to my mum's.  I felt like a teenager doing that but there's no way it'll be dry enough for me to pack on Sunday night if I try to dry it here - it probably wouldn't be dry by the time I get back!  Then when I got home at half past 8, I was too cold to do anything but sit infront of the TV.  You should have seen us, both in wooly hats, layers of jumpers and fleeces and a hoody, thick socks and slippers and covered in a blanket.  We gave up and went to bed early, under layers of blankets and still in the wooly hat! 

I'm now sitting here in my nightwear - fleece, thick socks and wooly hat included - too cold to get in the shower or get changed, though I have to at some point as I've heard John Lewis is having a half price sale on fabrics such as Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry (I'm not not sure that's his name!  It's the cold, I have frostbite of the brain!) and I have vouchers!!

Don't panic about the wordy-ness of this post - I do have photos!  Not many though, it's been to cold to make anything.  First up is my TAST for week 2. 

This week was buttonhole stitch - a stitch I know as blanket stitch and have done plenty of.  I enjoyed trying out some different versions of the stitch, but my work below looks a little pathetic!  I'm such a slow embroiderer. 

I had a go at the ideas on Sharon's post, including overlapping blanket stitch, barb stitch (though you can't see the whipping, I only used 2 strands and I think I needed more), up and down button hole stitch (it's like a little miracle, it doesn't look like it's going to work but it does! Love that one), some very unsuccessful circles and a knotted buttonhole which I don't think you can make out above.  I then turned to my Crazy Quilting book and had a go at the bottom stitch which is laced buttonhole.  My stitches are incredibly wonky, but I think it'd look great if I practiced some more.

That's all I've got to show you in the way of craftwork, but I do have a giveaway win and a purchase to show you. I've been quite lucky with giveaway wins recently, I won a $50 gift certificate for a handmade jewellery shop in Sew Mama Sew's countdown to Christmas giveaways - though sadly it has never materialised...  I've also won two stitching kits which I'll show you when they arrive and I won the book below in the SMS giveaway day.  It came courtesy of Kopeckys.

Oh!  Nearly forgot, I also won two PDF patterns from Jojoebi which I'll show you when I've made them!

And my purchase?  Well I've made a few, but the most interesting is this Hoopla Yarn.

Which I'm going to make a doily rug with - as soon as I find the pattern which I KNOW is in one of my recent magazines - can anyone point me in the right direction?

That's it for now ladies.  I'm not sure when I'll be back...

Just a little something

I'm not sure what's wrong with me but I'm finding it hard to get into the swing of things.  I don't seem to have made anything and I don't seem to be blogging much.  It's going to get worse before it gets better as I'm off to Tunisia next week on business (potential burglars!  It's just me that's going, my husband will be at home!), so wont be making anything and wont be blogging.  I'm hoping to find time to still do my usual blog reading though!

I have managed to make a little something, a very little something, for the weekly sew along over at Sew Much 2 Luv.  I've actually made two little somethings as I royally buggered the first one up!  Let's dive straight in and show you the buggered-up one.

I've actually made these little trays on two previous occassions.  The first time, I made the same mistake as I did above.  I just went to look for the post so I could provide you with a link, but I can't find it.  I got the pattern from the 2011 Sewing Calendar but it is a free tutorial online.  Somewhere!  See what I did?  I sewed the ties too far down and where they cross so that you can't tie the corners properly.  I started again.

Edited to add: I thought I'd had a bit of strange comment on this post, then I looked and saw that Blogger has stolen half of my post again!  Damn you Blogger - why??

So, as I was saying before Blogger so rudely stole my words, I made another one.  This time it went much better.

I think I blathered on for a while after that, but I can't remember what about, it was last night after all! Right, back to my Bills of Lading...

TAST and Embroidery Journal Updates

Good morning ladies.  In all my excitement about my new found fame, I forgot to tell you about my entrepreneurial mum.  We opened our Folksy shop about 6 months ago and I sold a couple of things, but over the past 4 days, mum has sold 6 scarves!!  She really needs to get her knitting needles out and stock up!  I never usually do this on my blog, but it's time for a little self-promotion, so if you fancy checking out her brilliance, the link is here.

OK, so on to the stitching!

I'm joining in with Sharon B's TAST challenge.  Week 1 was the fly stitch.  It's a stitch I've recently been doing with crewel wool for my secret project, so wasn't too unfamiliar.  I think I had visions of me producing gorgeous, unique pieces of work with this challenge.  Nah, just some random stitches!

I had a go at single flies, chains of flies, flies with a lazy daisy or french knot at the bottom, flies with long stems and short stems, flies with 2 or three stems.

Next I tried some leaves.  I'm quite chuffed with the one on the right.  I'm stitching on linen by the way, with 2 strands of embroidery floss.

Then I thought I'd try a little scene.  I only did the grass.  I might add to this with future TAST stitches.  Or maybe not!

Next up I did some stitching for the The Floss Box's Embroidery Journal challenge.  Again, I had visions of gorgeous pieces of work, all exquisitely stitched.  I think I expect too much of myself.   I had stitching block with this as Emily said we should try to stitch without a pattern and I couldn't think of the perfect thing to stitch.  In the end I realised that didn't matter and I just had to stitch something.

I have a vision of a circular pattern, going through the colours of a rainbow.  So far I hate what I've done, but I'm going to finish it anyway.  It's supposed to be a learning process, not a work of art and I think I'm being too hard on myself.

Here I've used several shades of red to do a line in fly stitch, a line of chain stitch, herringbone stitch and chevron stitch.  The dirty marks are my fade away pen which I used to draw out the central circle and divide the hoop into 7.  I've tacked along the lines as the fade away pen tends to fade after about 5 minutes - unless I want it to of course! 

I'll show you more progress on this as and when it's made.