Happy Halloween!

The decorations are up, the pumpkin is on the front step (puking his guts up), there's a ginger skeleton making a mess of the previously tidied sitting room, the table is set, sausage rolls are cooling in the kitchen. I think I am all ready for Miss G to get home from school and the house to become invaded by 20 kids dressed up and ready for spooking.

Happy Halloween - have fun, be safe, sleep soundly tonight (despite the sugar overload!)

a baby quilt for me? possibly....

I don't really want to share this link with you, because I want to win - which is a bit mean of me, but I will link it (coz if not I won't get entered).
Over on jchandmade, she's all babied out but wants to make a baby quilt/playmat. Seeings as I really, really, terribly badly want another little baby monkey it couldn't be more perfect, could it? What colours would you choose? I'd go for red and white - perfect for either flavour.

Go and see...but don't win, because I want to ;)

sickness, museums, shopping and stuff

A week. Actually 8 days, so that's over a week. I am slack, I apologise. But it has been half term here in Monkey Land, so I've had the pleasure (take that with a pinch of salt) of Miss G around as well as the Ginger One. Miss G needs constant entertainment in the holidays, or she complains of boredom (which I think is healthy, so I like to leave her to moan for a bit) but her teacher had told the class about a children's fashion exhibition on at the museum of childhood and she seemed rather interested (if only to tell the teacher she had been) and I love any excuse for a quick trip down to the big smoke, and so off we went.
Ginger decided to have a cough, and spent the whole of Monday night barking like a dog, so I had second thoughts about taking him, but he climbed into the car and sat there, defiant. He was going to London.

Once we got down to the hotel, had some lunch and settled in, Ginge was much worse, so we stayed in the hotel with our PJs on and some medicine whilst Daddy and Miss G (and one of Daddy's friends) went 'up East'. Apparently the Museum of Childhood was (according to Daddy's friend) CLASS, Daddy did say the fashion exhibition was a bit random and he thought it hadn't been curated particularly well, but he bought a book (again - it's a bit weird, set out like a dictionary rather than a timeline, which would have been more useful, I think) so Miss G can tell the teacher next week. They did phone me from the museum to tell me I would have loved it, and so would Ginge. Well, we were VERY busy watching dinosapien, thanks.

Wednesday morning, we were off to the natural history museum to see the dinosaurs. Ginger could spend all day going backwards and forwards to the same bit - the t-rex, but we were on borrowed time before the train home, and I could only grab a flying visit to spend some money before we went home.





Since we got back, Ginge has continued to cough and I am now only functioning thanks to extra caffiene since he's taken to sleeping in my bed (he's poorly - I couldn't make him sleep in his own bed, that's just mean). I have got some new picture books to look at, which make my poor tired eyes ache less. I say picture books - if I could read Japanese, or if I was less tired and my head could make sense of anything they wouldn't be picture books. I bought the strip lovers one (great name!) after seeing a picture of one of the quilts in the book on flickr. And then I bought the Japanese craft book (it's amazing - full of projects involving houses, so cute) from the person that had made the quilt on flickr, as she has an etsy shop selling craft books and supplies (plus she's in the UK, so it was nice and fast to arrive).





And I got a box of amazing post from Beth which has me drooling and grinning and ever so ever so happy...



I have said it before, I'll say it again - Christmas is sneaking up on us. Those small gifts you have to give your kids' friends? Make them a patchwork drawstring bag following the tute on Ayumi's blog or one of the other great tutorials she has. They are really simple, I'm going to make loads and fill them with little bits and bobs and use them as 'emergency presents' because I always forget someone. I have made 3 so far. No, 4 actually. One of them isn't patchwork though. But I am getting a little addicted - sorting through my scraps, finding little bits I'd forgotten about. It's rainy day fun!

remember I banned myself from buying fabric? (update)

Well, it lasted about a week (that was quite impressive). And I am trying ever so hard to be better behaved than normal. And I am using a lot of stuff I've had for ages (see previous blog of my new quilt top).
But, whilst wandering the internet and land of blog I found Jane. She has a million (slight exaggeration) different 1930s repro fabrics for $1.50 a fat quarter - that's about 80p (so £3.20 or so a metre - stupid cheap). I have bought 16 fat quarters, and am now patiently sitting waiting for them to turn up. EDIT - LOOKY LOOKY, THEY TURNED UP THIS MORNING, AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL!!!!!????? (that was quick, less than a week from the US - wow!) I just bought some white on red dots for the back of the elephant quilt as well (thank you kind blog friends for sharing your wisdom).

Yesterday was the felting class. Hmm. I'll take pictures and be back later - it's still sat in the boot of my car as I try to block it out of my mind ;)

And look what else Mr Posty brought this morning....a beautiful £15 voucher for the bestist shop in the world, and just for spending some pennies with them throughout the year. Aren't those lovely people at Liberty's kind and generous? Now, what to spend my free pennies on. What's that you say? Why yes, some fabric, of course, silly me, whatever else would I buy?

dinos and elephants

I bought a quilt kit from an Australian fabric designer called Saffron Craig. She has the most beautiful fun prints, and really cool Christmas kits too. Originally I thought I'd make the quilt for one of my pregnant friends, but after cutting the fabrics (which was painful, I hate cutting into beautiful things!) I thought I'd keep it and give it to the new baby that isn't yet in my belly (maybe next Summer we'll start trying, I really need a new little baby now that Ginge is 3 and Miss G is 9, there's not enough teeny tiny stuff in my house anymore).

The quilt top was unbelievably easy to piece, and it looks (if I do say so myself) great. The pregnant friends will have to make do with something else. That is, of course, if I don't start something for them and decide I want to keep it again.
I just want to add another white border, and decide on the backing (any ideas?) and then maybe, just maybe I might get over the free motion quilting fear and quilt it all over....





I'm having a clear out sale in my etsy shop, to get rid of all my stock. I am going to take a little break for a while, and then be back in the new year, I think. Christmas is taking over. Everything is half price or less, and I will take offers if you see more than one thing you fancy. EVERYTHING MUST GO, as they say.

It's wednesday today, so that means more felting. And then a 2 week break for half term. I won't say I'm not pleased, I can't wait to have a couple of weeks off! I did buy some beautiful wool tops from fibrespace's etsy shop which I am sure will make this week's class less painful as the colours my tutor has for us to use are pretty bland. I'll no doubt let you know of my interesting attempts later this week. It's just so bloody difficult compared to sewing, and not nearly as relaxing (although felty types will disagree, I'm sure). And I really need to make a start on an advent calendar for the kiddywinks. I saw some wonderful ones on flickr, but if anyone has any ideas for me - please shout, I can't have another year without a beautiful advent calendar - I really need to pull my finger out.

A Christmas Wreath Tutorial

It's coming...the Goose is getting fat, it's already the middle of October. Let's talk about Christmas, shall we?
Every year I buy a wreath, it's beautiful for a while, then the foliage goes all brown and dies, and I have to throw it away. This year I thought I'd make one, using up Christmassy scraps and that way, once the tree comes down and the decorations are put away I won't need to chuck it in the bin, I can save it for the following year. It's kinder to the planet, and my purse.
I have seen loads of beautiful fabric covered wreaths in blogland and flickr, so I am not suggesting I have had some kind of brain wave or original idea, but if you want to make one like mine the instructions are following.

Ok. Let's go..... (if you click on the pictures you'll get a better view, ok?)

Assemble your bits and bobs - I used a polystyrene (styrofoam) full wreath form - one that is rounded all the way, not flat at the back. Mine came from a craft shop, they sell them on ebay, some florists sell them too, so they are easy to find (and cheap too). I cut a heap of approx 2 inch wide strips (they need to be about the same width, as you'll sew them all together, but they can be whatever length you fancy). I also used some ric rac, buttons and perle cotton for embellishing, but you can leave it with just the fabric if you prefer.


Sew the strips right side together so you get one very long strip (mine was about 20 feet/6 metres long)


Fix one end of the strip with a pin to the wreath shape


and wrap it round, making sure it's nice and taut as you go round.


Once you get all the way round, fold the raw edge under and fix with the same pin.

You can leave it as it is, but I like to add a bit of fancy, so I attached 2 pieces of ric rac to the wreath, using that same pin again, and wrapped them round, one going one way, one the other to make crosses (see the first pic for details), and used the pin to hold the ends secure.


Again, you can leave it as it is, but you've started so why not add a bit more fanciness? Find some Christmassy coloured buttons and some perle cotton (or some other thick thread like an embroidery thread).


Tie a knot in the end of your thread and sew through the ends of ric rac where you pinned and, pulling taut again, wrap the thread around the wreath like you did before with the ric rac.
Every now and again put a small stitch through the fabric and secure a button, then carry on wrapping round until you get all the way to the end again. Secure your thread with a couple of stitches and knot, and cut off the excess.


To make a hanging loop, take a length of ribbon, and fold in half (depending on how long you want your loop, it's best to cut it too long, try it for length and trim down) ). Fix using the same pin as before, wrap around the wreath once, and secure again, with a new pin, or staple, or both. You don't need a hanging loop, you could just balance the wreath on the mantlepiece, or hang it on a nail without a loop.


There you go - all done! I made a couple of holly leaves for mine, and sewed them on afterwards with a couple of tacking stitches.
For the leaves I took a sandwich of felt, a bit of cotton wadding, and another layer of felt and then (using a contrasting thread) sewed a rough holly leaf shape, cut the shape out (so you can see the wadding between the felt layers). and stitched them onto the wreath when it was finished.
It's super easy, and super quick, let me know if you make one, I'd love to see it!


(any questions please ask - I have tried to be as thorough as possible, but I'm sure I've left something out!)

finishing up on things

I got the liberty prints cushion finished, and I am really happy with it. Although the cushion inner needs to be bigger, I was making do with what I had lying around, so it's not as fat as it will be when I get around to buying the proper one. (One day, eventually, maybe...)

And I am working my way through the list of swaps and the christmas to do lists too. But I shouldn't show you those until I know they are at their new homes, right?

I am thinking about a tutorial for the Festive Season. Something to pretty up the house. Just got to make sure it works first...watch this space.

some things to consider?

Just in case any of you don't have enough to think about or do now we are into October and on the run up (panic panic) to Christmas, I thought I'd share a couple of swaps with you.
First up is a Christmas Decoration Swap. I did one last year on a different blog, it was huge, a bit too big to be honest, the numbers were immense. This one seems to be smaller, and it's an easy one - so go and have a look, see what you think. Sign ups close on the 10th.

Next up is a fabric scraps swap, 'spare change'. I love these. You send either a 1/2 yard, or 24 squares (5x5inch) to chickpea sewing studio and she will sort everything out and send out parcels with a little bit of everyone's fabric, so you can make something using your scraps and some white fabric. I love this idea, because it is amazing to see how everyone thinks differently. At the quilting workshops I have been going to we all do the same thing, but the use of different fabrics makes each person's work completely different. I'll have to remember to take my camera next month and I can show you.

And the last swap is one I am helping out on. I took part in the last round and this time I get my very own group to whip into shape (can you tell I am looking forward to that bit?!) It's a great swap, and with christmas a-coming every little girl (and some boys...mine is one of them!) needs a doll quilt, right? !!!!!!!SIGN UPS CLOSE TODAY AT MIDDAY PST!!!!!!!!! so that'll be at least 5 or 6pm UK time, I think? What's PST? Pacific standard time? That's the West Coast...so....about 8pm Uk time. But I would go and sign up right away to be safe. It's right here and if you go to the flickr pool you can see some of the amazing quilts from the previous rounds.

I also need to give a shout out to Tracey who is having a giveaway on her blog to encourage breast cancer awareness. A wonderful cause. I think it's a safe bet to say we all know someone who has had breast cancer. So go and visit her, and you could win a fabulous pink apron. And whilst you're thinking about breast cancer, why not go get a mammogram? (and whilst you're at the doctors - have you had a smear recently? If not get that sorted too)

Foundation Piecing Attempts - part 1

I had a quilting workshop on Saturday, and tried my hand at foundation piecing for the very first time. I am not good at reading instructions and then translating them into actions; instruction manuals, patterns and tutorials (however simple) can baffle me. I need to have a few practise goes before I can come up with anything even remotely decent (notice the avoidance of the term 'perfect'). So the quilting workshops (run by a fantastic lady called Rosemary) are a God-send for me. When I go wrong, get confused, have a mental breakdown, the ever calm and helpful Rosemary helps out. And it's not just me, my table were the masters of the seam rippers on Saturday. Maybe a little too much giggling and too little concentrating was going on?
Despite having to unpick a couple of pieces that I got the wrong way round (probably because I used so many prints and my eyes were just seeing blurs by the end of it) I managed to finish my block, and baste it ready for quilting and turning into a cushion for my bed.
Foundation piecing (where you have a printed template and so along the lines to get perfect points) is amazing. Whoever thought it up is clearly a genius. The points (something I struggle with when using normal patchwork) are razor sharp. Perfect even. It kind of looks like someone quite clever made it (am I getting a bit carried away here? Maybe, but humour me, I am VERY proud). Wouldn't a whole quilt like this be amazing? I'm adding it to the list of to-dos. I have a workshop in January for a reversible quilt, and I think I'll use up the liberty print stash for that, so I can watch TV with my very lovely quilt draped over my ever so cold shivery knees (until then I will just have to shiver a lot).

When I do eventually get this cushion shaped I'll show you it again. Really I should make more, but I'm too overwhelmed by how pleased I am with this one to think about any more just yet.




57 of you non-UK residents entered the draw. 57. Wow. Thank you so much for your comments, for stopping by and taking the time to say hello. I am amazed by the amount of people that visit, the regulars (who know who you are), the 9 people following my blog (my special gang - thank you!)

I suppose I should get on with the draw, before I get all emotional and start on a waffling speech involving tears and big choking sobs. It's not lady like, nor is it attractive to see a woman with snot running down her face.

The trusty old teapot turned into a tombola......

giving it a stir round and poke about.....





the winners are.......AUSTRALIANS!!!!!!



Fi, you didn't even need to offer a bribe - the teapot chose you. Congrats! And Anna (an Aussie living in Singapore) - congrats to you too. Ok, you were first, so congrats to you first and Fi second. HOORAH! I'll email you both shortly and get your British parcels off to you (after checking the customs thingy on the internet - the Oz customs is a tough one, they don't like to let much in).

Adventures in Felting - part 2

Last week's was a disaster (in my eyes), so bad I was really not bothered about going this week. But I dragged myself there, to the 'adult education centre', with my tennis ball and some tiny pebbles (couldn't find a big rock, so I was trying to pretend I had bothered looking....which wasn't strictly true). And this week we made.....


(clearly a paperweight and small bowly dish thing - photos are dark because it's still dark here at early o' clock in the morning)

My faith is restored! Yesterday was fun, I grasped the concept of what I am supposed to be doing and whilst I am still not entirely convinced that I really like felt (not the kind I can make anyway), or that it's worth all the work (except some of those nuno felted scarves I've seen - those are rather special) I shall soldier on and even do my homework this week (as well as last weeks)

Annie won the giveaway a few weeks back (was it a few weeks? A couple, maybe?) and I made her a log cabin (ish) cushion out of scraps for the children to fight over (I am nice like that). She has log cabin cushion as a thing to do on her list, so I was hoping it might spur her in to action. In the box (forgot to photograph them though) were a tissue holder each for the girls, and a crafty wooden dolly set for the two of them also. Apparently, I have heard, the tissue holders are now a doll pillow and vessel for carrying small objects. Glad to see imagination isn't lacking over in the Milkwood house. But I suppose noses are still quite snotty. Ho hum.

Here it is, the log cabin (ish) cushion. Pretty innit? (I was rather pleased with it, and considered keeping it, but I will have to make another instead. Eventually)...



If you haven't entered the 'foreigners only giveaway' then do so here. W keeps telling me it is not nice to call it a 'foreigners' giveaway. I pointed out it was only for people outside the UK. Should I rename it 'not in the UK giveaway? I personally prefer foreigners only, it has a nice ring to it. A name will be drawn on Monday October 6th.