A stitch in time...

First I just wanted to say a very HEARTFELT thanks for your wonderful comments and personal emails on my last post. I feel privileged to be part of this blogging community.I got an email asking me about the bunting on a previous post. So I thought I would share with you the sewing that has been going on here at the 'Suzie Sews Household" indeed my machine has been working quite hard and I am going through needles at a fair rate. Obviously Christmas is nearer than ever and I have been getting a little worked up about the lack of money in the bank and the amount of children to buy for. So I have thinking about the handmade pledge, so when I can retreat into my sewing room I DO at every opportunity.
Looking for fast but effective projects that hopefully will be received with knowledge that they have been made with love. From the choice of design, colour, fabric and how they are packaged.
So I have been making a little selection of child friendly goodies. I can show you this one as it was a birthday gift for a cutie, so no worries about giving the Christmas list away...
The bunting is made using a PLATE pattern, just the same as the bunting flags but using a small (or required size) plate as a template, just draw around half of the plate on the fold of the fabric. All held together with coordinating bias binding. The fabric envelope came from The lovely book - Patchwork Gifts.

Do you worry about your handmade gifts...I do, I know I can sew and the product is of an acceptable standard, I know the design is also acceptable, but when your giving handmade rather than selling it, you know if they buy it they want it. That little bit if insecurity that the recipient is smiling at you but actually thinking "OH NO, not another handmade gift" My insecurity comes from my Mom, she loves me but she does not get me. For years I always handmade her cards...one day it was mentioned that I did not think enough of my friends to go out and BUY a card. It was a harmless comment but it has made me question my gift giving. Now don't get me wrong, I have a couple of friends (yes that's you Kate and Caroline) who I know would actually be upset with me if I bought them a gift, so is it just me or is it just creative insecurity?

Forgive my indulgence here, my guys on the beach, I am so missing the beach, yes even in winter, on a cold blowy day, all wrapped up with your gum boots on, a warming mug of Hot Chocolate to warm up the hands... Yes time on the beach makes this Mommy a Happy Mommy!

Back to the sewing room...

LOVING IT!!!

Its my favourite time of year, no time table to follow, no place to be, no need to clock watch, just time to take it easy and do the things I love best.  Which of course means time at the beach with my guys...Eating yummy ice cream...
Taking time to appreciate the things that surround us...
time for creative play...
and of course some knitting and sewing time for Mommy...
What ever you are doing at this time of year I wish you love, peace, health, contentment and good company.

Yes these summer months are a time to treasure with loved ones and friends.

Accepting Autumn...

Accepting Autumn...

... Yes I have finally given in and actually admitted that the summer is at an end.  Whilst this saddens me it also gives me the freedom to go ahead and enjoy the next season...I look around me with a different view point now, just how could I have denied all the lovely things that Autumn brings us.  So with a weekend away we spent our time outside...the smell of the last mowed grass of the season...
The clear air and the special light that seems to be around at this time of year...
Walking through orchards, the crisp fallen leaves crunching under foot...
The final stages of harvesting just before the bales get all wrapped up like big sweeties for the winter feed...
Even the time on the beach this weekend felt different, the air was milky and without the warmth from the sun we pulled on our sweaters and walked for miles along the sea edge...
Splashing in the streams leading out to the sea...
Yes the beach had a whole different feeling to it, gone are the long days nesting in our little pod with sun cream and ice cream, the boys in the sea waiting till the tourist had all gone home so we could light a fire and watch the the evening light change.  No this time we just walked and walked, a little beach combing and some egg searching...
Egg searching...

Seriously...

The boys favorite story of this year was the Water Horse, so now inspired by this story and film we have a fine collection of eggs that need to be looked after with care...
and if we are lucky we might have a little sea creature of our own...
Or as my eldest one hopes... our very own dinosaur... May be I should curb their imagination and remove the stones (I mean eggs) from under their pillows so they keep warm, then again would you not love to have that time again when your imagination really does cross over into reality and everything is possible...

Yes Autumn is here and I have to admit that I am enjoying the season...

Carry on being silly....

Yet more of the silly stuff...
The little cup cakes are just such a quick and fun project, very suitable for the school holidays when time to sew or knit is so limited...I am saving my better ones (knitted with 4ply on small needles) for sale, but a few of the first ones went missing and I later found them in my youngest child's play kitchen all ready to serve up with a pot of "pretend' tea...
Well if my Mom thought my cupcakes silly, goodness knows what she would think of my latest project...Last night after the babes had all drifted off to sleep, tired after a busy day playing, I spent a good hour putting the house back together as we had had a few friends over to play.  I poured myself a rewarding glass of chilled white wine, opened up the french windows and watched the night roll in over the hills whilst cutting up little bits of paper...to make my own little beach hut...you  know how much I love beach huts...now I have my own...only it did not stop there...I got a little carried away and made a whole beach full!  I got the idea from this months Craft Beautiful magazine, I am not really a big fan of this magazine, I feel it has got a little too run of the mill, but being the summer holidays and wanting fresh ideas to entertain the children I picked it up and I have a plan to make a few little things from it.  Talking of idea's if your looking for fun stuff to do with the kids get yourself over to The Crafty Crow, there are some great inspirational ideas, and if you have no kids, its still worth a look.

This week has been spent at home with the children, we have had lazy mornings, 'lie ins' with a pot of tea for Mommy and glasses of milk for the little ones, time to read a selection of books and magazines, and even make a cupcake or two, all before breakfast.  We have spent time with friends and had a few days splashing around in wetsuits getting very wet indeed...This weekend we are off to the beach again and we are hoping for the weather we had at the start of the holidays...I shall be taking my sock knitting with me and I am in the process of looking for a small hand sewing project to keep me busy.  I am so missing my time at my sewing machine, I keep wondering into my sewing room and picking up my fabric and longing to make things...
So may the sun shine on us and here's hoping for another weekend filled with memories that will keep us warm when the winter chills blow in....Have a good one...

  

Memories are made of this...

So the reality of normality is with me again and that brief moment of time is locked away in my memory. Spending a last minute week away with my little family now feels a long way away and yet if I close my eyes I can imagine the wind blowing in my hair, the warmth of the fire that warmed us up and the fresh smell of a deserted beach. Yes it was a special week. So indulge me if you will a little walk through the memories, a little off the 'Suzie Sews' topic I know but, whilst no evidence of making was done the seeds of many ideas got planted and are just waiting to germinate... The cottage itself was so sweet, wooden floors and situated in the heart of Yorkshire surrounded by gently rolling hills, pretty floral furnishings gave it a homely feel, lots of animals, from the goats that lived at the bottom of the garden who would rush to fence as soon as we sat down to supper in the hope of a little tasty treat, to the many chickens roaming around leaving their little eggs of goodness for us and I must not forget the little bunnies that lived within the barns and would pop out when they thought no one was looking. Oh and the owls...yes the owls!!! I love owls but when they are screeching outside your window ALL night...well I might have to think again about how much I love them!!!
We had a few days with severe weather warnings so we would hunker down in front of the fire, read, play, draw or eat popcorn whilst watching a movie...the wind beating against the windows and howling through the fire place...cosy cosy cosy!!! When the weather improved we enjoyed a couple of outings...I have boys...what can I say - an inbuilt love of trains and you don't get much closer than this...We enjoyed a lovely trip through the hills and across stunning countryside and came away with the evocative smell of the steam engine on our clothes...
The funny thing was despite being on a farm we still went to visit a petting farm...as the schools are all open we had the place to ourselves and spent a few happy hours walking around, petting the babies-so much life truly does burst out at this time of year...calves, goats and lambs with the highlight of the trip being given a bottle each to feed the hungry little lambs, the children loved this treat...
As another storm blew in (landscape picture taken up the road from the cottage) we settled down for another night of poor weather...at least it kept the owls peaceful as they retreated to a less exposed place for the night...Then we awoke to the first of the two birthday DAYS...my children are born one day after the other (and a few years in between) We spent the morning in bed opening our pressies, eating Muffins for breakfast (with a candle in just to get the party feel going and of course singing Happy birthday...the first of many times) we had a swim and a birthday supper with a big cake and all my child's favourite party food. We even had our traditional birthday hat to wear...This is the part I shatter your illusions of my family, so many beautiful handmade crowns out there in blogland...what can I say...I meant to make them one each but resorted to a shop bought and rather cheesy white cake hat including ridiculously large candles on it...well its the thought matters....

When it was the second birthday day we had good weather, sadly my plans to hire a beach hut for the day fell through, not to be put off though we packed up the party people and hit the beach..the first visit of the year. If you have read my blog previously you will know that the beach and I...well we have a thing going!!! The beach is the place for me, I feel relaxed, happy and rejuvenated here so it was a big thing-the first visit of the year...to blow away the bleak winter moods and welcome in the birth of spring...Yep that's me in green...Scarborough Beach in Yorkshire on a dull but dry day...
What can I say...just fooling around...all the toys and fancy food of birthdays yet the highlight for all of us was walking along the beach with a piece of seaweed each...simple things for simple folk!!!
Making ripples...
and jumping the waves...
and you can not beat an ice cream on an English seaside with the wind blowing through your curls....

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Thank you for letting me share my memories...I have so many things running through my mind, lots of ideas and things to be finishing, I did manage lots of knitting whilst away and even finished a little bag, I have my Easter egg tree to put up tomorrow...so bare with me, the usual 'Suzie Sews' activities will resume soon, I am off for a little hospital stay on Thursday and depending on how I am feeling I will be back to share with you the delights of another swap, my bunny swap (See side bar for button) I came home to a great package from Kitty and I have finally broken into the package from Weirdbunny and started to decorate the house with all the goodies from that swap...

The sun shines on...(Corner of my home)

Wow what an Autumn we are having we have just had five days on the row with glorious Sunshine and no rain, the sun is pouring through all the windows and in its rays of light it veils the rooms with a dusty glow...Its been a bit of a roller coaster this week, Lots going on and after my time withdrawing from all around me, I do this when I am feeling down, I have started to get out there a little. Including an emotional trip to my Moms today, the first trip without the boys in eight years, its nearly two years since my Dad passed away and at this stage he was very ill in hospital as yet he was not diagnosed with terminal cancer. So to do the trip home and continue to go through his belongings is just so hard for me. My Moms healing is keeping herself busy sorting out the house, for me I can not cope with all the change. Anyway the visit is done now. A few funny moments to confirm just how different my Mom and I are. Anyway I will not go into all the details, but just say blogging and 'making' are, well for want of a better word 'odd' to her, when you can go out and buy something why on earth would you waste your time on making something? This is from a women that made me amazing party dresses when I was a child and I have many memories of her sitting knitting, sadly though never teaching me...All that said it was lovely to sit and chat without running around making sure the children did not mess up the house!!!
As for the crafting this week, it has slowed down, to carry on at the pace I was doing might not have been a good plan, a girl need s to sleep occasionally...I did sit in the garden and finish off my rabbit, the pattern came from an old Homespun magazine, I love this Australian magazine, so much great stuff in it and two large patterns that do not need to be enlarged. I used some gorgeous fabric that I bought in the summer and added a little lavender bag (using vintage Laura Ashley fabric, that will not be seen, but I know its there!!!) into her tummy so she will help to keep the moths away from my fabric stash as she was made to sit on my sofa in the sewing room.
I am leaving you with a beach shot taken this time last year of my little one, you just can not beat a picnic on the beach all wrapped up against the cold, accept of course unless its the summer and your in your swimmers!!! I am having a blog break for one week only, the boys and I are going to spend some time together and I can not wait, come rain or shine I am sure there will be a few visits to the beach. We plan on getting the fire foing and snuggling up in the evenings with taosty toes and reading our new books and I have few projects planned, some knitting , a little sewing and of course my on going granny squares thanks to the inspiring Simple Sparrow. I wish you an amazing week, may this fantastic sunshine continue to come out to play...

I had been tagged by the fab Weirdbunny-7 honest things about me...
1) I am amazingly messy, I would love to be tidy but this is something that has always stopped me being creative, once I get into the flow of creating something I forget that I am actually making a mess, if I stopped to tidy up I think I would never make anything.
2) As a child growing up into a women I believed with all of my heart in a knight in shinning armor, who would whisk me of my feet and treat with like a princess and hang on to my every word...Mmmm then I grew up I guess!!!
3) Having my babes really is the best thing that has ever happened to me and my love of my children often overwhelms me.
4) I am a depressive eater and an eater of chocolate, when I am down or worried...well I eat and preferably chocolate!!!
5) I have a weird thing about smells, when pregnant anything that smelt, good or bad, would make me feel so sick, since then I am really sensitive to smells, especially anything chemical, I loath air fresheners, they really irritate me, my nose and my head hurts, so I go around opening windows in the morning and if I want to freshen the air I use candles, but only certain ones, Ikea vanilla is popular with me and Emma Bridgewater candles, her older ones (no longer made) are much nicer than her newer ones.
6) Two years ago I learnt to mow the lawn, I now find it to be a hugely rewarding experience, yer I know... sad isn't it?
7) I have more books than I could possibly read in my life time, that goes for fabric, yarn and wooden stamps!!!

So there you go, a little more bizarre 'honest' information about me. Now I need to pass this on. I do not want anyone to feel any pressure, so if you are reading this and would like to join in...have a go, you might learn something about yourself...


So many words today, thank you for still reading!!! Added late....I have just read over this a day after I had posted it and felt it was rather depressing, I assure you all is well in the Suzie Sews household, I am just still trying to adjust from the empty nest feeling so a week with the children is just what I am needing at the moment. Have a great week and sorry again for adding even more words to this post!!!

Angels

Well what a welcome back to blogging, thank you so much for taking the time to actually comment. It amazes me that anyone reads my witter (as it does my family) the fact that you actually take time out of your own day to leave a comment really does make such a difference and for that I thank you so much. Well I have managed to read a couple of blogs this last week, and there is so much talk of Autumn. I have to say that I will be taken kicking and screaming into it as I so want this summer to continue just a little longer, after all, here in the UK we have only had a couple of weeks of it. SO I am still thinking outdoors, sunshine and playing with the children. Do not get me wrong, since my last post an amazing amount of sewing and knitting has been accomplished. I am sure over the next couple of days I will share with you the the products that my hands have been working on, especially my memory quilt for my cousin Linda, its finished... I also have my giveaway to do. But for now its a beach post once again. I love, I so LOVE this picture of my children, as most Moms do, I call my babes little Angels (and sometimes they are, but not always) to me this photo really captures the spirit of them from their Mommy's prospective. Holding hands, bare feet, outdoors and just so cute, yer I know I am biased!!!!
This weekend we took a trip in the camper van, I have a bit of a tradition in going to Wales for the start and end of the summer season. We packed up on Saturday morning and took the long drive to the coast. We got there early evening and went straight to our favourite restaurant and had a great meal outside. This trip we took an extra person, the children's Daddy came with us. After our meal we drove down to the beach, there was very little daylight left and the boys just ran straight into the sea, casting aside their shoes and shorts as they went. As soon as the chill hit the air the boys started moving around stones in the hope of a camp fire, sadly this was not to be and a damn was built instead, later we cuddled up in our blankets my older babe was sad to see very few stars and he commented on his wish for lots of stars, 'Mommy last time we came here at night you and I lay on the sand and made sand angels and looked at the stars.' Once again, how a child can touch your heart with words alone. Sadly our traveling partner is not a beach fan and it breaks my heart to see him try so hard to join in with something he just does not feel. We are all different, but the beach is such an important part of my life, I love the feelings and emotions it brings and I so want to share them. To see someone just not feel it is a sad thing indeed. I guess I am more reserved too so as not to come across and the silly Mom that I really am when playing with my kids.
I awoke before anyone else the next morning, I was also the last to go to bed for I sat and knitted and listened to Brenda's Cast-on podcast. The view that welcomed me was amazing, the beach, the sun rising and the silence, Oh so silent! We packed a picnic and headed to the beach, well two beaches, one is a wild beach with dangerous sea, but so amazing especially when you have it virtually to yourself. The second is a child friendly beach we dug out boats, swam in the sea and curled up in the tent. Again the boys Daddy watched the children play, but with the irritation of the sand and the chill in the air, it was not the amazing beach day for him that was for the children and me. You know when you care for someone and you really want to share with them your hopes and dreams and what makes you , well you!!! Sometimes it just does not work. I guess it works both ways, he is more into jumping off mountains with a bit of fabric to break his fall, flying in the sky without a parachute, the rush of adrenalin that he enjoys is the stuff of nightmares for me. Still for the children we do what we can in the hope that they get a varied zest for life.
We did manage to get him to pick up a few stones though when we went beach combing:-)
Now in case I had not tortured this poor man enough, on the way to the beach we made a diversion to Abakhan fabrics, it was a stop for a picnic and for me to stock up on fabric, after all I needed more, right? So I am off to wash it all and get it put in the stash all ready for action and a promise to you that the next following posts will return to the the works in progress. Forgive my beach time indulgence.

Bunny love...

'Does my bum look big in this'??? said the bunny to his friends....'You BET'!!!
If you have been reading blogs for a while now you will know these little fellows, if not then I would hate you to miss out because these are cute cute cute. They are designed by the fab Wee Wonderful, you can down load her pattern for free and get sewing, its a great project to do along side the kids, although the flat circle bottom takes a bit of fiddling, maybe not one for small fingers. But so cute, my kids picked their own fabric and have given them lots of love. Well did you miss me? I think most bloggers are not getting the time to blog at the moment, especially in the UK as we are in the throws of summer holidays and at long last the SUN CAME OUT. OK today it has gone again, but for a whole week we had great weather. My friend and her three kids came up for a few days. I think we would both agree that we are little tired now. As for the children they had sooooo much fun. The paddling pool, water side and picnics outside all helped to make it a special time for them. The old saying Happy Kids make Happy Moms...well its true! Although once they had all gone to bed we sat with a glass of wine and got our knitting out and chatted till the early hours as only close friends do. Great times.
I now have some great memories to see me through the winter months. At last being outside and getting grubby toes and listening to the childrens laughter. Just the best time. I even got to knit another mouse!!!
SO you will have to forgive me for my lack of blogging, its just been so mad around here for all the best reasons. Sadly my friend and her lovely family have gone now and silence greeted me when we returned yesterday, I was rescued by an invite to a small party, which turned out to be great fun..you know the type of party when you end up in the kitchen with to many bottles of (empty) wine on the table some scrummy food and lots of chatter.
Well I actually should not be blogging now, we should be on our way to the beach for a weekend in our Bongo camper, sadly as previously mentioned the weather has changed and we are waiting to see how the day progresses, maybe tomorrow will be better and we could travel later in the early evening and just camp for one night, then again we might be rained off!!! Have a great weekend, I will reply to my emails eventually, I am sorry for being a bit slow this week...

Dreaming of sunnier days

Rain Rain go away come again another washing day....Its official, I am now totally fed up with the rain, even my children pull back my bedroom curtains in the morning and the youngest goes 'Mommy its gloomy' followed by my eldest saying 'again Mom' Not only is it wet its dull, which makes for not very good quality pictures, which is why I am posting pictures of what I think we should be doing at the moment, enjoying the outdoors.
Oh for the smell of suncream, sand between your toes (and every place else). Happy little people, no need for toys or telly, just good old fashioned fun.
Lots of picnics with fresh salad and cooling drinks, the colours of summer towels and beach windbreaks, ice cream stains of grubby T Shirts, feeling the wind blowing in your hair and the warmth of the rays on your face as people smile and children giggle.
Oh how I long for those days of summer, where are they?