busy little hands....

Warning...Spell Check is not working today...if your precious about good grammer and spelling do not read on...unless you want a laugh!
Three cheers for February, phew what a month January was, usually I like this month, this year however it stuck to the tradition of being a bleak month!!! So lets move on and get on with the nicer things in life. I started the day off with a swim, the pool was vertually empty and I enjoyed listening to the swishing of the water as I ploughed up and down. I came home via the supermarket and filled the fridge with food for the weekend, a nice cup of coffee, I made a telephone call I was not looking forward to and now its time to relax a little in blogland... SO what have these busy little hands been up to? Quite active actually...I mentioned in my previous post I had got my hands on some super cute and excellent quality baby fabric so I made some bibs. I had one of my bibs out for a test drive to make sure they wash well, the hole is not to big or small, the fastening is suitable etc...I did ask the tester (well the Mom of) what her feed back was, I had to tell her not to be polite I really wanted to know.
Anyway it was all good feedback so I went ahead and continued with the pattern to make up a couple of batches...
As promised...my cards. The link is How about orange. You know how it is when you surf and you start reading blogs you do not usually read...suddenly one really grabs you and gets you so excited...well this one had me...so much lovely stuff and to come away with the print out to make these cards and less than an hour later to have a whole pile of cards using up some of my cute buttons...EXCELLENT. Go check it out, the PDF is linked from the post dated 29th January.

Now its not just been me that has been nimble with the hands...my older child, who is now much better...just a little wiped out by the illness, made this bird with the foil that his cookies, in his lunch box, were wraped up with. He just fiddled about with the foil and when I next looked...
Now there has not been much retail therapy in January as I have been watching my pennies, but when a couple of cheques came in...well out the money went...After all the playing with felt I did the other week I needed (OK OK wanted...) to top up my felt stash, so I poped over to paper and string and she had a little sale on...Whats a girl to do? Oh and it all arrived so fast...the felt is a nice quality and as for the purse...it is making me happy. Plus a little freebie (we all like freebies) a roll of her super cute tape with little ducks on. I am keeping this away from the children...Thanks Sarah.
Knitting...well I have to admit I have been buying yarn more than actually knitting with it and its all Dunelm's fault...Remeber a couple of weeks ago my friend sent me a box full of big wool at a silly knock down price of 99p a ball (should have been approx. £7.99). Well I paid a visit to our nearest Dunelm last week in search of a pattern and they had different yarn, still Rowan ,so excellent quality and again for 99p.
I ask you again...'What's a girl to do?' ... One huge pile of Holiday yarn and I have the pattern book for this yarn...Not all of it is for me...9 balls are heading to my knitting friend, I am now officially overflowering with yarn stash...
I have a cupboard filled with yarn, a basket in the livingroom and one in the sewing room, a big underbed storage box full and now this...I better get knitting!!!

Wishing you a happy and healthy weekend...

The breaking of a new day...

As we sat and eat our breakfast this is the view we looked on to... After all the rain, wind and floods, not to mention the absolute bleakness of this time of year... Today seemed to be the start of something NEW. This month really has been full of illness and apathy. My poor little patient is now on the mend, although his hearing is still quite an issue, he went into school today and I have just come from giving him his medicine and he seems to be coping well, he has a great 'Best friend' which is helping. SO after a week of 'full on' nursing I have taken the time to tidy up, to fill the cupboards with food, and catch up with general household duties...This afternoon I am going to hit the sewing room...YIPEEE!!!!
My head is full of things I want to make, I got some beautiful baby fabric so I am thinking bibs with matching blankets backed in soft fleece, maybe even a nappy wipe bag....how I hated the plastic of those nappy wipes...I have my bag design to finish off, nearly there with that one. I also have the binding of my sons Pokemon quilt to finish off.
Last night I made a whole load of cards to top up my card box, pre sewing days I used to make so many cards and sold them to businesses around the village I used to live in, once card making became so popular...my arty cards where not really what people spent their money on, so I slowed down my production and made them just for me. A few friends request customised ones every so often. I do however like to keep a nice pile for my own use. I came across a free design on a blog and thought 'OH that looks lovely' so an hour later and I had a great pile of button cards. I will take pictures and give you the link later in the week as its such a simple 'Happy' design I am sure you will all like to have ago. I managed to finish the two quilt blocks off whilst I looked after my little poorly chap. I love the colours on the first block, I am not so sure about the second one...SO not a complete lack of crafting and I am getting back to it now...
So yesterday was the first sign that good health was returning to the 'Suzie Sews household' and I managed to tempt my patient into eating a little food, it helped that we had all the quilts on the sofa and the fire going with a DVD to watch.
Ah after a little food we managed to get the energy to get dressed and we spent some time in the kitchen together...nothing like the promise of having your favourite cookies made for you to get you into the kitchen...whilst Mommy baked a little friend joined in for some cuddle time. Charlie one of the GPs from Charlie and Lola fame is actually my older child's GP and she is so skittish. In the company of her owner however she is just the sweetest thing and so loves a cuddle...although eventually I had to sit with Lola as she was squeaking for some attention too...

Thank you so much for all your well wishes, especially for the comment about getting my child to read to me when he can not hear me to do any story time...this worked out a treat. Thank you again and hopefully with the end of January insight, the sun shinning, the rabbit is lopping around the garden and the promise of a few hours sewing...life is starting to enter into a better rhythm...

Corners of my home...the sewing room!

Corners of my home...a peek into the magical world (well it is to me) of my sewing room. I still have a little patient at home which means not a lot is getting done around here except being on call for drinks, cuddles, cool flannels and medicine giving...
So its 'Nurse Suzie' rather than 'Suzie Sews'.
Along with this new role comes the sleep deprivation...up most nights with my little one...The ability to concentrate is quite poor at the moment...if you read my blog you will know that spelling is a little off in this space anyway so when I am tired...well its best just not to write much...
So its mostly eye candy today of all things that make me smile in my room...

Piles of yarn, batches of fabric ready to use, rows of books oozing with inspiration and of course little tokens of love from my children...pinkie pig to some cbeebies buttons and woolly sheep...
I am working on my knitting in the evening and trying to finish a few sewing bits. OK I am trying, actually if I am honest I am just collapsing on the sofa in a bit of a daze...
My patient is on the mend, although he is still worn out from the virus and his hearing is working at about a 90% loss...so I can not even read to him at the moment.
For a little chap that loves his story time this is quite hard.
Still we find happiness in other things, cuddles on the sofa, lining the cars up in neat rows, trying to draw Pokemon and finally getting around to making all our thank you cards for all the gifts at Christmas...If you look hard enough there are always simple pleasures and silver linings...until next time...keep well...

Keeping the patient happy!!!

Well, this weekend has been all about keeping the little patient happy...Once we eventually had the temperature under control and the sickness had worn off, my little chap was left feeling like he had been in a boxing ring (not that I know what that feels like)...So what's a Mommy supposed to do? Get a craft table going...what would you expect from this household? Well thanks to Simple Sparrow, I read her post about her origami lights...I had forgotten about all the origami the kids and I had done in the summer...so I pulled out all those prefect squares and we got busy, although I think I enjoyed making them the most. So once we had a huge pile of these little beauties we went through the craft box and pulled out the pirate ship kit, this was such good value it was only £2.50, I wish I had bought a few more...anyway we had great fun, painting and putting it together...it now lives on display in the living room.
I have to admit that this past week has been rather emotional, watching your little ones in pain is such a hard thing to do, I am fairly laid back about the kids being poorly, I am not a fan of sitting in the Dr's waiting room...but I did have a few hours when I was torn about what to do especially when a few friends asked if had I taken him to the Dr. which made me feel worse, not that I could have moved my poppet...some friends helped out with the my youngest, which was such a blessing so I could concentrate on the patient. Eventually the fever broke and it was just a case of waiting and nurturing until it passed. I found it hard to sit and do anything, I spent most of my time just watching my babe. At night he slept with me and I was unable to settle or sleep, every cough or move I was up checking him...I was feeling a little low myself...so when the postman knocked on the door on Saturday morning with a parcel..my spirits lifted somewhat...
Just look at all those goodies...once again I say 'How lucky am I?' Two great magazines to read, a whole heap of beautiful fabric, some great felt to top up my box after all the felty things I have been making lately and some zippers...you never know when your going to need zippers!
Just have a closer look at these, gorgeous cool pink elephants and this adorable dog print...
Who sent me these goodies...well the wonderful Lin of Queen of the Froggers fame this girl's knitting is amazing!!! She emailed me to say she had a few bits she is not using and thought I would like them...How is that for perfect timing? I thank you Lin, such a kind thing to do, I really am overwhelmed by the generosity of this crafting community of ours.

I wish you a good weekend and I will catch up next week...

Everything stops!!!

Every thing stops...no matter how many plans and commitments you have it all stops when one of your babes are ill. SO forgive my lack of posting this week as its been a bit of a poorly household. Since January all of us have been poorly in one way or another and with two hospital trips to boot...well how does that song go 'January I am sick and tired of you hanging on me' well that's how we feel. I know I am not the only one with this miserable January vibe...after all its the worst month of the year in this part of the world and has been for many hundreds of years. The last twentyfour hours my older child has been poorly. He is all curled up in bed and I can hear him give out the odd cough...Oh bless him, a friend is picking up my youngest from school so I don't have to drag him out, not that I could anyway!!! SO with all this going on not much crafting has got done, I spent a few hours this week working on a bag design, a belated birthday pressie for my friend in Australia...I need to put it all together...I have completed my quilting blocks from the weekend and that's about it...Today I have been anxiously curled up next to my sleeping child...
SO as not to have a post full of just words I went through my January file and pulled out these pics...A little corner of my home...this is it in the evening state, after all the toys have been put away. I love this time in the evening, usually after a cuddle filled bedtime for the children, I venture back downstairs and tidy up...then there is a moment and it is just a moment...when the silence is pleasing and a sense of peace flows over me...or maybe it the glass of wine waiting to be drunk that does it. Its a time to be on my own, usually I sit for a few minutes and reflect on the day and then either curl up to watch an hour of TV with my knitting or read or maybe if I am feeling very creative I hit the sewing room...
Now the second picture I would love to tell you that I made these socks...OH how I wish I could knit socks...No, my knitting partner who know lives too far away for us to knit together anymore started these socks when she came for a visit pre Christmas...I was inspired but not enough to pick up the double pointed needles myself...scary. She only got one sock made for her hubby in time for Christmas...but look at her go, a couple of weeks later not one pair but two...Just how cute is that picture?

The last picture is just for cuteness too, a Christmas present of a Country Living basket filled with lots of chocolate goodness and these amazing mugs...

Accept my apologies for the rather random post, I am sure you can understand that I am just popping in with a few words and pictures to say Hi...

Weekend baby!!!

Not a lot got done this weekend, but do not get me wrong, it was a good weekend. On Sunday I spent most of my day being snuggled up with my babes especially the littlest one as the wind and rain continued to attack the area...We did a bit of this...
Why...Mommy had the day sewing on Saturday and had a rare day away from the children...well they missed their Mommy and Mommy missed her babes so the next day my cuddle tank got filled to over flowing...
I did have a good day sewing I spent the day working on some basic blocks, I worked on three in all and just need a little time now to finish them off so they can join the pile for my next quilt...
So at the start of the week its been an exciting day, mostly filled with water...lots of water...I am surrounded by floods, the school evacuated some of the the children for fear of the roads becoming to flooded to use. I drove past a house I love in the village and have enjoyed watching the convertion from a derelict barn to a lovely family home, as the water rushed over all the sand bags straight into the front door, such sadness...
The Suzie Sews household is actually quite safe at the moment as we are on a hill, so after all the excitement, the children asleep, the house is tidy...its time to relax and I will worry about tomorrow when it comes...for now though its a glass of wine and a bowl of cherries!

Fuzzy Felts and postal goodness!!!

Nothing beats a good Full English Breakfast...well actually this morning I had muesli!
I had such fun with all the silly sewing I did a while ago I got back to it...yet more play food for my son's kitchen... Whilst the felt was out I carried on with a project I am designing, I have a boring old black wool coat, I saw a Boden coat similar in the winter 2007 brochure the coat had felt circles sewn on...so being of a flowery nature I thought I would have a go. I am so loving these colours, most of the felt is my VERY best felt, wool felt, Oh the difference to craft felt is amazing, as its going to need to be cleaned I thought it was the best felt to go with. Although I like the colours so much I fear a black background might not be the best setting for them, maybe a pastel skirt...I might save them till spring and see what I can do...
Sticking with the felt thing...I had a try at Betz (Warm Fuzzies) acorns, I have yet to make my acorns with buttons and balls of felt...this will give you an idea...again a quick and easy project with cute results, now out of season and I have no idea what I am going to do with them...yes silly sewing indeed making me HAPPY.
I have always had a little felt lying around, I have a stash for the children's 'useful box' also. It was only when I went looking for some colours I realise how many pieces I actually do have, so I am sure this will not be the last of the felt projects...I might have to get myself an order in with Paper and String, you know for the odd colours I do not have, also her felt is a wool mix...yummy!
Now on to the postal goodness. Not one but two knocks on the door, this usually means its a parcel..I was not wrong...I get quite a lot of my fabric stash from Sal of Sal's snippets, so when a package was put in my hands I thought 'I don't think I am waiting on any fabric' so imagine my joy when I opened a BIG bundle of bright cheerful fabric with this lovely note in from Sal. She says she hopes I can use these bits...can I use them....FANTASTIC!!! As for the piece which she very sweetly says remind her of me...well I am tickled pink, Sal your generosity is overwhelming. I thank you...

How lucky am I? Well if that was not enough I got a belated Christmas present from my Knitting partner who now lives at the wrong end of the country...I know most of you know this book and now I too know what all the fuss is about, the little stories that go with each project is adorable. As you can guess the children are already picking out which ones they want me to make...I think it might involve a family sock shopping trip!!!
Wait there is more...this said same friend phoned me up on Saturday evening, I nearly did not pick up the call as it was late, I am pretty pleased I did, I had a very excited person on the end telling me how a yarn we both like was in Dunelm (sorry I think its only in the UK)and had a sale on for only 99p, this yarn is usually over £7.00 making a knitted garment very expensive, we both have patterns for projects we want to knit with it, due to the cost though they are just wish list! UNTIL NOW!!! So off she went to Dunelm the next day with a few orders from friends and family and a couple of days later my box of goodness arrives...
...Well that's about it for another week, on reflection its not been a bad week, it was full of appointments, lots of time spent in hospital waiting rooms and with my sore finger (not the reason for sitting in hospital waiting rooms), I have been limited in what I can make, still I got through a whole bunch of stuff, I even got to go swimming this morning, on driving back through the nearest town sand bags had been delivered so I guess we are in for yet more rain...
Saturday is my patchwork class so I am looking forward to a day spent sewing. We also have to make some time for children's craft this weekend as we have to finish our 'Mythical Sea creatures'. This was the result of the shopping list my son left me, he had watched a new program...Mr Makes...something like that, after watching these sea creatures be made he wanted to have ago...who was I to stop him...so once the clay is dry...

Have a great weekend.

A blurr of knitting...

Indulge me, I am showing off another picture by my little photographer, no one is safe in our house at the moment, if you go to the loo you must lock the door...his camera is being carried around with him all the time and he snaps away. Sadly he has a cheap camera and there is quite a delay from clicking to taking...hence all the blurriness. So a little insight in to the Suzie Sews household, a usual shot, Mommy sitting knitting, in my PJs, OK they are not really proper PJs, as soon as I come home in the evening I like to pull on my slouching pants and get cosy, especially with all this rain and howling wind around the house at the moment. Can you spot the third family member? He is doing his usual thing, sat next to me with a pile of vintage books and a couple of magazines.
I am very frustrated at the moment, I have a sore finger that is making sewing very difficult, I can just about manage my knitting...lots of 'oaches' as I work...hence why the sewing work has had to slow down, but hey the knitting is doing great.
I have been instructed by my older child today to make sure I have clay, paint, cotton buds and wool...Mmmmm what are we going to make when school is out???

(OK no more blurry pictures...)

cup cakes and catastrophes...

Cup cakes and catastrophes...yep that was the kind of day Monday was...I had planned on some serious sewing room time and sadly I only got to my favourite room at home for a couple of hours...Now I am showing you the results in reverse order as the horror of my fist creation might be too upsetting to start with... SO the day started very well with a ring on the bell and a visit from the postie with a lovely BIG brown box from Amazon, because you know I just did not get enough books for Christmas, yer right! The book that got me really jumping for joy was Warm Fuzzies by Betz White, apparently she is one of us, a blogger and jolly good one at that, her lovely little pin cushions just shouted out to me 'MAKE ME and make me NOW'. I should have sat down there and then and made them instead I followed my crazy idea to design my own stuffie. The result was a catastrophe, so I decided to make a pin cushion to restore my faith in my abilities...I made it for my littlest ones new kitchen and I can see many more of these being made...easy and fun...half an hours work max...
So on to the designing, right many of you are really great at this, so being inspired I thought I would be OK. I picked a project I like...owls. Easy enough, I wanted to make the design mine so I approached it from a different angle from ones I had seen...BIG MISTAKE...So with a lot of mess and fiddling around...

I present to you my owl...brace yourself...you have been warned...the front view...
The side view...
The back view...
I showed Owlie (the name given to my little creation) to my children at tea time, my older one looked at it, lifted up his wings, fiddled with his eyes, had a good squeeze and then said 'Mommy the colours are great!!!' Oh bless how diplomatic:-) If it was meant to be a penguin it might have helped...Saying all of that, the best bit of the day was when my youngest handed me his bedtime bears so he could sleep with Owlie!!!
If all that was not enough to make you turn off your computer...its Self Portrait Tuesday...this was taken by my older child on Sunday morning, minutes after I had got up, this time I am very thankful that he is a bit wobbley when he takes photo's.

I can not Ok this post without giving credit were it is due... I name Small Fox and LucyKate Crafts and the Queens of owl making...

Weekend gad about!!!

This weekend seemed to just whizz past us. We had planned a lazy weekend as the children are very tired after their first week back at school. So whilst we seemed to be working at a lazy pace we did managed to get so much done. Saturday was the out and about kind of day, a visit to a park, some time spent in the garden and best of all a little time shopping in a craft store. I am not usually a big fan of these big craft warehouse style shops, I think they are bad news for the small retailer who puts their heart in to their shops...As I only wanted a refill from my glue gun, needs must. Yes, of course we came out with rather more than glue sticks, a few small kits for the children as they had Christmas money to spend and I finally managed to get some quilting safety pins. As the store is quite a drive from my home and near to my Moms, we phoned her from the car and asked if we could call round for tea...sadly her reply was she had nothing in to offer us and could we do it another time...I know I do not talk much about personal stuff, so forgive me but, it sets up the rest of the weekend...My Mom loves me and the children, I fear though, that we are a little too much for her, as a family we moved some distance to be nearer to her...I think we actually see her less than when we lived a few hours away. As a Mom I struggle with this and without going into too much detail, I feel she is missing out so much on my children's lives and they could offer her so much in return. So once my rejection complexes had kicked in I felt the need to do lots of quality stuff with my own children just correct the balance...
The next day we woke up and had a sleepy morning chilling out in our PJS, we read books, I did a little knitting and we got all the pens and things out for some crafty time. Once the rain had slowed down a little we put on the winter gear, knitted tops and mittens and we pulled on our wellies...Off for one of our WELLY WALKS...Wellie walks are such fun, we get as mucky as we wish and have names for all the types of puddles we wade through, welly washers, welly dippers etc...
Suddenly we realised it was actually getting quite dark, a little scary too as we had walked for a while, so with a last go at POO STICKS we headed home. A few last pictures more got taken, did I tell you my children are as crazy at taking pictures as I am, yep even the wee one...with comments like 'OH Mom, look at this shot, that is sooo interesting' or 'Mom why is this picture so wobbly?' etc...between us we had taken over 100 pictures on this one walk... So once we got home we pulled off all the heavy winter clothing and had a cuddle to warm up, we thought some biscuits and hot chocolate seemed like a good idea. So out with the recipe books and we got busy in the kitchen...
Peanut butter cookies, chocolate and cranberry cookies and oaty biscuits, we had to make three different types as we all like different things...

A lot of effort, well maybe, a lot of fun and giggles and sticky fingers...you bet...Worth it? What do you think?
So along with a jug of chocolate...a perfect recipe for this Mommy and her babes for some quality time together...
Fancy a cup? How could you resist when those little hands holding tightly to the mug say it all...as for the rejection complex...not after some time spent with these guys!
There is more too...it wasn't all welly walks and baking, when the boys had managed to snooze off in the evening I curled up in my favourite chair put in a DVD (I have been watching:Paris with Sandrine Voillet...must watch DVD...Pure Brilliance and amazing camera work) warmed my toes by the fire and got some knitting done...
So as we start another grey and wet week...I wounder what the following few days will hold as I have quite a few appointments ahead, I am sure I will get some blogging time in though...

Today I have been mostly making...

Just a short post today to start off the weekend...following on from my previous post I never managed to get the cushion finished yesterday, I got a bit hooked on blog reading...you know how it goes... So today, my easy day, I started the day off with a swim, then a little bit of food shopping (Oh man!!! how I hate food shopping) I returned home and baked myself a nice fish pie. Once the kitchen was all clean (or as clean as I make it) I retreated into my sewing room and got busy on the cushion...
So there you have it, the front view, the back view and the close up, all that's left is for me to sponge off the transfer pencil from the front cotton piece and I am already to invite someone in to sit on my nice comfy sofa filled with all my cushions...anymore cushions and there will be no room for anyone to sit there, still it looks pretty...
Last night I sat at the kitchen table with the children and we got the art stuff out, we thought it would be fun to make a farm as we are thinking about a little holiday I am trying to plan on a working farm...sometimes with the age difference its hard to get something they both like and can do, so this proved a good project, so I thought I would share a miniture tutorial with you...
If I knew how to do a pdf file (if thats what you call it?) I would, sadly as I do not, if you wish to have ago you will have to sketch the picture out to the required size, they are nice easy shapes so it should not be to difficult, just make sure the feet are straight!

Place the cutout shapes on the fold of folded card and then cut out, use a bone folder if you can, it makes it a nice crisp line, my little one likes to do this...then once all cut out, get the colouring pens or pencils out of your choice and go a little crazy, I liked this bit best and indeed ended up making more than required just so I could colour them in!!! As I was doing this I let my imagination go and thought that you could add googly eyes or bondaweb fabric on to card and have textured animals, or lovely fabric for really funky animals...this would maybe make a nice gift from one child to another...anyway don't forget to glue the horses head on and make sure you get the weight distribution right or you will have a tipsy horse...

So its the start of the weekend, I wish you a good one, what will the Suzie Sews household be doing? Making a barn of course..Have fun and be well...

Candy!!!

Have you got any candy, chocolate and other goodies left from Christmas? We are nearly through it...just this one jar and a few luxury chocolates. I love this jar, I made a few jars up for pressies this year (the idea came from the Country Living magazine). I saw a box of sweets from my childhood and thought they would make a great gift for someone I know with a sweet tooth... The little box was £40.00 I had a closer look at the contents and worked out that there was only about £10.00 worth of sweets, so whilst the box was adorable the gift was for a man who would just not appreciate the box so this was my solution...Of course I had to check that the sweets really did taste like they did when I was a little person...
Now on to a candy of a different sort...eye candy...more to the point my WIP...I bought this fabric pre Christmas and fell in love with it, I was planning on a wall hanging...nothing fancy just pinning it around a board and hanging it up...then I was looking through my latest copy of Homespun and saw this lovely wall hanging with an embroidered centre...so I copied the bird and sat the last two nights embroidering it, picking up all the colours form the fabric, hopefully later on today I will make it into a cushion...
I have also being playing with buttons, all the lovely button wreaths over Christmas and also some super cool buttons from artsycraftybabe gave some inspiration here. So I got the glue gun out and had a little play...what a mess...I am still picking buttons up days later...anyway I made a load of pins which as usual I gave away to some friends, but I made a special one for my new coat, yes its from Boden, a beautiful green velvet coat, it can not have escaped you that green is my favourite colour, usually I struggle to buy clothes in green, at the moment it seems to be everywhere, I don't know if I am happy or not about this, as it will still be my favourite colour once the fashion designers have moved on to another shade. Anyway I am very pleased with the result and it was just so SIMPLE!!! Glue a few buttons together and glue a pin to the back of it... Here is the funky scarf for my youngest. Last Christmas I made one for my older child, a blue one with a boat design, it was a fun and easy project to do over the busyness of the holiday period, not much thought needed and very portable. Once the desired length was achieved I lined it with some fleece for softness and warmth, as soon as I sew together all the pieces of the sweater to match it, it will be a cool set for my little chap...
Yes once I sew up the sweater, all the pieces are knitted I just need to sit down and sew them together...actually I have a couple of knits at this stage, I am always so eager to get on to the next project...as you can see from my current knitting basket which sits next to my chair so I can curl up in the evenings in front of the fire and click away.

I have recently started a HUGE project for me, a swing coat...now this will be an ongoing project, I imagine until this time next year, I know I will not have the commitment to stay faithful to it...Oh look...its green!!!
So here are the new additions to my fabric stash, mostly bought in the sales, first from my favourite ebay shop...Sal has some really super stuff that you often struggle to get in the UK and she is so so generous, I have always had one or two extra fat quarters in my order and on this order I got some little Christmas blocks for the children and some great little patchwork squares that I am itching to put together. Thanks Sal. You can link to her shop through her blog... I also made two trips to a patchwork shop sale, I was buying some fabric for my current quilt, but also to stock up my stash for the year...so yes I did go a little mad...
and there's more...
Of course storage is always a problem so I purchased another rack for my new goodies... With that lot, I am moving happily into the New year with lots of projects in my head and some already in progress...So much so, I shall away and get an hour in the sewing room before the school run...

PS Thanks for all the reassurance about the dynamics of friendships and the relationship to the status of children from my previous post, its good to know its not just me.

Getting Silly

Well very little sewing got done over the Christmas period, so I have eased myself in gently with some silly sewing, and what fun I have had...let me tell you its pretty addictive...first one apple (see previous post for the inspiration)... Then an orange...
This is how it gets silly...a whole bowl full...in our house we have a rule...if you want fruit you never have to ask, just help yourself. It is to encourage the children to eat fruit rather than sweeter things...so that meant I had to make a quite a few..so we have pairs, oranges and apples...I even got the children in on the fun and got them to stuff a couple for me...
So on the pathway of nice, satisfying projects I eventually got round to having a go at Simple Sparrows coasters...go check out her tutorial, she posted it around the start of the Christmas period, its fun, its so simple and I love the results, I even cut into my beloved linen...
So that's its...all the decorations are down and suddenly the house looks twice the size, we pulled the last remaining crackers to mark the occasion. I have spent the last week socialising, with family, friends and their children, the house seemed so empty with all the decoration down and the children not playing around, so I thought I would have a few friends over for lunch. So today four of us, without children, sat, chatted, drank and eat...

It funny how the cycle of friendships pans out, when children start school, or when friends still have babes at home, the dynamics shift...I have found myself over the past year or so watching friends move on to other things or think I do not want to be involved because they have babes and I don't. Whilst I understand why this happens, I can not help feel a little bewildered and somewhat...well...hurt by this. After all my friends are my friends, I have said before I am someone who likes just one or two close friends rather than lots of friends...although through all the changes we go through in life I am finding that close friendship is a luxury, I know some really super people who are a big part of my everyday life, they inspire me, stimulate and care for me...so why should the dynamics of your status in family life effect this...OK saying all off that, today for the first time, I enjoyed sitting, chatting, eating and drinking without wiping noses, making beakers of milk, potty runs etc...and if your a Mom with under threes you will know just what I mean when I say...I actually heard the whole conversation. The children got some serious cuddle time in this evening, I think we are all missing one another...

Tomorrow I am having a day at home, I plan to spend a while in my sewing room, I have a quilt to finish and I am still kicking lots of ideas around in my head...Maybe I will share with you some of the amazing fabric I have bought over the last week and some of the plans for it...

Holiday Traditions exchange

Well it is twelfth night tomorrow and I am having a little bit of a reflective evening, as I drove home this evening with the children in the car the game of 'spot the Christmas lights' was no longer appropriate as there seemed to be very little of them, I find it quite sad when so many of my friends are itching to take the lights and decorations down, me...well I could have them up easily for another week... Anyway back to reflection...was it really so many weeks ago that I signed up for the Holiday Traditions Exchange organised by Montessori by Hand. I was given my partner and had to get busy with my sewing. I had never read my partners blog previously and its great to be introduced to a new one, and when I looked at the goodies this girl made, well I was a little worried and excited at the same time: The Wool Food Mama
This girl is a whizz with felt and felting and I saw some lovely things on her blog...So you can imagine my delight when my parcel arrived just before Christmas day.
A huge box full of goodness...Take a look at all the stuff I was sent...I ripped open the box and my Christmas had come a little early...no way was this waiting till Christmas day...
I adore the little tree stump, it is beautiful and I had seen on The wool Food Mama's blog that she had made one for herself and had a little hedgehog popping out. So this is just the push that I needed to do a little frivolous sewing this season so I made the little mouse just to add to my happy little tree.
Look at all the other bits I got...the most perfect little tea cup to add to my collection, which was extra sweet as it meant that she had taken the time to read what I liked when she made up my package. A little treat for the senses too...some Cloves and Cinnamon sticks, candy canes (which the children thought great and rushed off to hang on the tree) also the cutest little angel...wait there is more...the most perfect hand felted orange...Amazing

As they say...'Didn't I do well?'

A HUGE thank you to my Swap partner.

I Wish You Your Best Year YET...

Well was it a good one? I thank you for all your lovely comments and emails...I have thought a lot over the last few days about blogging. It was my last years resolution to start one and commit to it for a year. So officially I can stop now. I have so enjoyed being part of this community, the support and actually not feeling like a complete 'NUT' because I get twitchy if I don't make something on a daily basis!!! So I thank each and every one of you who have read my blog all year, for those who have taken time out of their day to leave a comment, to anyone who has just read it for the first time, for those who dip in and out and not forgetting those people who have read it and will not return, well its not every ones cup of tea...So I am going to carry on, I can not face life without my creative time, it really helps me through the day and gives me lots of 'light bulb' moments!

As I am just recovering from the celebrations of New Year, the voice is just starting to return and the headache has at last gone!!! I danced in the New year and eventually had to leave the partying to those with more stamina and take my sleeping babes back to their own beds. I like New Year, I love the reflective part of it and the making of the new plans and all the promise that it brings, last night I sat up in bed with a pot of tea and my heated blanket on as it was so cold out (I am just such a kitten)!!! I made pages of notes on all my hopes and aspirations...I hope that some of them come to fruition - and those that don't, well, its good to dream. I wish you your best year yet...

Just a few more days left of the season then its time to find a new groove, facing a house without all the glitter and twinkle that Christmas brings and the silence as the children return to school...Ahhhh...my solution this year is to use up my sale purchases...lots of new fabric...Yum!!!

Photo: Gingerbread House...made by the little people on New Years Eve!!!