December December full of Christmas Cheer

The moon is full and there is a nip in the air that can't be ignored. The wonderful smell of wood smoke fills the senses as all the fires start to be lit. The first of December is near.Busy little fingers are making, baking, sewing, knitting and getting busy with a hook, my days play along to the hum of my sewing machine. Yes its that time when this Mommy gets too busy to blog as I am so busy making for the big day. Wanted to pop in and say hello and wish you a Happy December. A lot is going on in the Suzie Sews household, some good and some not so good, but presents and decorations are busy underway, my calender is filling up by the hour, school concerts, appointments and all things BUSY!!! Its the time of year when the house comes alive, people popping in to say hello and being warmed by a glass of mulled wine.

The school fair has been and gone is a flurry of baking a few dozen cakes, its the first time of not being able to help on the day. I have to admit it was nice to go along and support the event with my children, especially meeting Santa.

By the end of each day, the children are asleep, I have plans to settle in my sewing room or stand over my stove to make some more tasty money saving treats...somehow though I only seem to manage to curl up on the sofa in front of the fire with a warming class of rich red wine ...dreaming of all things cosy.

Watching the seasons pass by...

Is it an age thing, that suddenly the time is going by too quickly? Is it that I see my children growing too fast? Is it the end of another summer, time to hunker down for the worst of the British weather...

I am aware of each and every passing season this year, more so than usual, the changes, the smells and mostly the colours that each season brings with its own particular time.
The way the light changes, the warmth or lack of it from the sun, the colours of the moors around me, what the farmers are doing with their crops and what animals are snaffling around.
The seasons are also marked by my hands, what I desire in my hands changes with the passing of the seasons, cooling cottons in the summer and rich warm wool in the winter, I sew more in the summer and I knit more in the winter. The food I cook changes also, my cookery books lay out before me as I try and look for economical heart warming dishes and I think about getting the slow cooker out for another stint of 'stew' cooking...
So as it gets darker and the weather chills the heart of the home, a new 'hottie' cover is made to keep me snug at night...
I love this spotty fabric, I love spots, but I bought this years ago and have used many meters of the fabric, it always makes me smile, especially when I look at my youngest babe and I remember I made fleece nappy covers with this happy fabric, hard to imagine now as my youngest runs into school with mischief in his eyes... Yes the passing of time features daily for me at the moment. Lots of thoughts of this time last year, so much is the same and equally so much is so different.

Whatever you are up to as the last days of Autumn pass us by I wish you happiness and good health. Half term here next week, I am busy sorting out crafty things for the children and I to do as we run off for our last week to our little place by the sea and bid it a heartfelt sad goodbye.

Show and Tell...

I can only apologise for my unintentional blog break... I lost my groove there for a while, the snowy days and blue skies changed into grey wet and generally damp January days, I missed the children and generally felt a bit like the weather... GREY!!!So in order to chase the 'greys' away I have been reconnecting with the creative need and finally getting some stuff done.  So I picked up my knitting bag and I got a little busy whilst curling up in the evenings with a glass of rich red wine, the fire on and clacked away my needles in time to my music...
As usual I am unable to stay faithful to one item of knitting, so in the knitting bag I have a few projects on the go, a beautiful easy knit sweater for my littlest one... 
A little hat to match my RED winter coat...
and a completed hat, the same as mine but a little smaller, for a special little person...
Its always a good feeling when you complete something.
As my name suggested I am Suzie Sews, so with a birthday of one of my friends coming up and pennies being a little short after the Christmas madness I made my friend a gift, a totally useless but rather cute little fabric book and a matching pincushion in adorable Amy Butler and Moda Fabric...
My children and I are doing a little baking together after school, to get them started you just can not go wrong with pizza... so after binding the ingredients together...
we split up the dough and kneaded it for a good fifteen minutes...
We each choose our own toppings and then once cooked we sat down to enjoy the goodness of our efforts...
Comforting food to chase away the misery of the month...

On a personal note, I am sticking to new years resolutions and along with everyone else my looking after myself better in 2009 resolution is actually coming along quite well.  With my swimming two to three times a week, and walking to school I have just joined a Nia class, I was a little unsure it would suit me, a friend of mine was taking the class so along with a couple of other friends I went along, I have to say it was great fun and very addictive... if you like dance and yoga I would definitely suggest you give it ago, if your a little self conscious, stand at the back of you class until you feel comfortable.

Have a great weekend and once again I apologise for my little blog break, but as you can see, 'stuff' is getting done...

A mixed bag....

Its a mixed bag today and what could be nicer than starting off the day with a little thank you gift,  a wonderful bag of beautiful chunky yarn, how lucky am I?  Mmmmmm just lovely 100% wool and a gorgeous shade of baby blue...I am thinking a nice cosy throw knitted on great big needles to cuddle up with over the Christmas holidays.Now that is my plan of what to knit and I actually promised you completed projects, so on with some silly knitting... cute little felted hearts... a free pattern from the talented Mochimochiland, yes free! You just print it off and knit, I made them over breakfast with my little ones chatting away about their day to come... The eyes are optional, but kind of make me smile!
Talking of hearts a little knitted mobile for a new baby... I had no heart pattern at this stage and I was trying my hand at designing my own pattern, it needs a little work, but the end result is rustic and that's the look I wanted...
So on to sewing... I am being inspired by this new party skirt, just far to pretty to hang in the darkness of a wardrobe, it is in my sewing room, it is just the most beautiful fabric, it makes a wonderful swishing sound when you move in it and it is guaranteed to make any girl feel like a princess...  
I seem to be making more clothes now than bags, maybe its seasonal? Funny how these patterns of creating  go.  With all the rain we have at present a fabric bag is far from practical. Whilst I am limiting my fabric buying at present (saving up for a blow out at the Harrogate show) I have made a small purchase... I went to IKEA for a new table cloth, I was uninspired by the selection but spotted this fabric, I think it will jolly up breakfast time a treat and with a clear plastic cover over it, I can relax around the children and their creative endeavours.
I have been playing about with some Christmas gift ideas, I am planning on backing a couple of journals for some friends that will appreciate this kind of gift...  this tree idea is appealing, its not perfected yet but its fun playing with the idea... seasonal trees... 
Summer Tree... Autumnal Tree... (click on to picture for greater detail) 
Ideally  a silk painted  landscape for the backing fabric would be stunning, in reality time will not allow this.
A couple more blocks for the quilt have been finished, some applique and a block which involved a protractor... I have not used one of these since my school days and even then I had no idea what to do with it, suddenly it all comes together...
Its also a chance to raid the button stash.  The green Amy Butler fabric is by far one of my favorite designs, the colour is perfect, its my favourite colour!
A mixed bag of things today and no flow at all, I have yet to find my Winter groove and I am so not feeling it yet... I am trying, maybe trying just too hard... the cooking is no longer summer foods, its been replaced with stews, chunky crusty bread, soups and for the children they seem to want warm rich flavours.  
With the onset of the dark evenings, the outdoor play is no more after school, instead we are having to think about what we want to do, some nights we just chill out and others we...well, make a mess!!! 
But with some smile inducing results...
Ah I have always had a secret passion for play dough, the colour, texture and smell... 
SO how to escape this winter funk that I find myself in, looking around the house and my garden I am reminded  that summer is a long time off, how I long to stand on the beach, to listen to the movement and power of the sea, to feel the grains of sand scratching at my skin, the wind making my eyes stream with tears and the smell of fire burning in the evening light... this is what I do when I need inner strength.  BUT, with the sea so far away and prospect of cold wet winter days ahead, whats a girl to do?
Time to move on, and look at the positive.  The rich, lush  shades of red that mark the coming of the  holiday season, its that in between time, Winter is here and the festivities are just around the corner, right now however they all seem so far away. I received my first Christmas card today, the calender already has a few parties dated in  and I am well and truly involved in the Christmas planning at school, but just now the only bit of this promise is a room in my home, a room every spring I want to paint yellow and every winter I am pleased I have not... I love the reflection of the light in the glass of the picture and you can just make out the horizon of hills that can be viewed from the window.  Yes it feels like a transitional period... a time of change, in a short period of time Christmas cheer will be all around us... 

Moooooo!!!

Well I finally did it, I actually followed a pattern for a stuffie...you have seen some of my disaster...for some reason I just can not get my head around stuffies...I try and indeed I keep trying...so finally I gave in to the correct procedure and thought maybe following a pattern might be a good idea so I can learn to walk before I run... What a perfect pattern to work with, from Melly and Me, their super Moo Cow...in true 'Suzie Sews' style I just started cutting out the pattern before I read the instructions so I did move away from the instructions a little...which is just what I am like...I think he is super cute and I have proof too...
The recipient was very happy with his MOO, my little one sat at bedtime and told his usual bedtime cuddlies that tonight he would be cuddling the Moo, he gave each of his cuddlies a kiss and sat them down at the edge of his bed and Moo went in for the big cuddle.
In the morning I received a little breakfast made for me to say thank you...I enjoyed this pattern and whilst I found the little horns difficult to turn and stuff....I also forgot to sew in the ears so I hand sewed them on...I put patches on his back to add some personality of his own...I had fun and I was pleased with the results...so a little internet shopping later I have ordered a few more of their patterns...WATCH THIS SPACE!!! This might get addictive...
So the sun is still shinning and I need to spend some time on swapping my winter wardrobe over to my summer one...the problem being it is too nice to stay indoors and in the evening I sit and Knit...yep its all about priorities...so I have a couple of linen trousers, a linen dress (see how that linen takes over my life at this time of year) and a couple of Tee shirts plus last years rather beaten up crocs and that's my wardrobe so far...THIS WEEKEND...I plan to swap over the clothes to the right season. In the meantime the children and I have been doing some serious garden work, lots of exciting plants are being seeded and if they all grow we will have an abundance of loveliness going on around here...
The summer vibe really makes me rethink so many areas of my life and cooking is just one of them, actually this is a forced issue as my cooker has not been working for nearly three weeks now and I am relying on the hob and BBQ...but there has been a change around of cooking books in the kitchen...I have a whole of heap of cooking books each marking a time in my life from when I learnt to cook, from student cooking, single life cooking, dinner parties, feeding toddlers and now the more family orientated and organic style cooking...So this is the selection that has been pulled off the bookshelf and put on to my kitchen work space...The spiral bound one is actually my old school cooking book which is always to hand, well used as you can see, this has all the basic stuff in...pancake mix, different sauces and cakes made the proper way ( usually I just through all the ingredients in a bowl and mix it up!!!).
I am working on my summer menu planner so I can be more economical in my shopping...Well its a good idea in theory!!!

Finished....

Oh thank you guys for the wonderful comments about my little ones picture (see previous post)...well as promised here is the end result... He adores it so much, I wrapped it up in colourful paper and gave it to him in the morning (having been up till 1.00am to finish it). 'Mommy that's my picture'...followed by 'Mommy you made this for me'...
I don't know who was happiest..him or me!!!

Now a few goodies have arrived in the post this week, amongst all those catalogues for children's toys!!! SO when I opened one to discover it was my giveaway win from a special blog friend at Wildcraft Farm, I was rather excited. I was not disappointed...its a card...well I like cards but, this one was special...see the lovely embroidery design on the front, well inside the card are the instructions and design sheet (full size) to make it up...what a great gift idea, you could send the card and if its a very special person you could buy them the threads and fabric to make it with. Now that's one great pressie do you not think? This lady is full of ideas like this...go check her out...

Just a short post today as my little one is curled up on my bed wrapped in a big fluffy blanket as he is off school poorly. I will not have time to post tomorrow as its a difficult day for me, its the second anniversary of my Dad's passing. So I will be going to see my Mom and brother. Not to leave you on a sad note though I thought I would show you a little knitting heaven...well it makes me happy...very happy!!!

A little crafting going on around here...

I wanted to once again thank you for the very thoughtful comments on my last post. It was not an easy post to write, it involved a few tears and some reservations about it being too personal. I do this blog to journal about my 'making' and try to keep my emotions out of it, but as 'making' is such a big part of my life it is difficult not to mention other things that interact to it. The weather is holding out for us here in the UK so I thought I would share with you a few activities I have been doing whilst making the most of the last days of summer. A little outdoor crafting, or as my youngest says 'What a mess Mommy' Can you spy my Lotty Rabbit? I am sure you all know who made her... the very talented and one of my favourite bloggers Little Cotton Rabbits. I am trying to get a few pin cushions, fabric pins and lavender hearts in some Cath Kidston and Liberty fabric made up, they all involve pretty buttons so my special stash of mixed buttons, vintage and old have come out. Or as a friend likes to tease me...Tat and old.
My youngest is settling into his school and is just so cute in his uniform with his little chubby legs popping out of his shorts, he is only in school in the mornings at the moment so in the afternoons we are making the most of our time together only a few more days and he is full time. We did a little baking, pea nut butter cookies from the very brilliant BILL GRANGER book. Have you seen his lifestyle cookery programme, its on most Sunday mornings here in the UK. It is fab!!! I adore the way its shot, the beach lifestyle (there's a surprise) and the simplicity of his cooking. OK I also think he is gorgeous!
Most summers since giving up work I invest in a cookery book, to try new ideas out, last year it was 'Apples for Jam' again another wonderful look to the book with great pictures although a little fluffy in the wording for me. I invested (or so I thought) in her other cookery book and as I learnt to cook in Greece I thought it would be a great for me, I was sadly disappointed and have not made a single recipe from it. The year before that it was our very own Nigella Lawson 'How to be a Domesticated Goddess' well it turned me into one, not to mention the extra weight I put on, I think every recipe is sinful. Oh enough witter about cooking...just try the cookies, if you like pea nut butter you will love these and talk about simple. A great tip from him is to use an ice cream scoop to get the perfect sized and even shaped cookies, simple but what a tip, as a big cookie maker its a gem for me.

The granny squares are coming along a treat I must have over thirty now and can do them with my eyes closed, well nearly. I am so pleased I took the time to learn to do this, I know I am a bit behind on this and most people have already got great quilts made in blog land , but if it was not for the wonderful Simple Sparrow I would not have taken the time. I was so inspired to read her postings about how she learnt to do it I persisted and it paid off. Go check it out she has lovely colours going in her squares, plus a lovely blog...oh to live by the sea.
Continuing with making the most of the child's play...look what we made yesterday. Yes I have a lovely Cath Kidston cow boy tent, but we wanted something straight away, so with a bit of string and my Greek bedspread my little poppet and I came up with this. Given some thought I am sure something really cool could be made here, maybe I will work on that for next year. I am thinking big quilt with pockets for the stones. I think this idea is inspired by soule mamas beach rugs, she made some at the beginning of the year with little pockets to weight down the corners so as not to get caught with a gust of wind. I think in the UK this is a very good idea...It made the perfect place for youngest to take a nap out of the sunshine, but still be outdoors after all the activity at school and then playing with Mommy.
Talking of the little guy and an even littler one, here they are, do you like his tank top? Yep that's another finished project. He looks adorable in it and cheap to make, so soft! The piggies are now rather big, they are going through a bit of a power struggle at the moment and are grumpy. They went to stay at a kind neighbour for a couple of days when I was away as my usual sitter was unavailable, she put them in with her piggies (pleased to say they are all girls) which I would have been far to scared to try and they have not really been the same since, Lola is very skittish now and gives lots of warning nips although never to the children. I am trying to sit with them each night and give them cuddles to see if I can get them back to being the best of friends, they have even started to sleep in different parts of their home. If anyone has any words of wisdom about them please feel free to leave advice. As for Archie (THE BIG) bunny, he is adorable and just follows me around like a little puppy at the moment, I think he misses the children too. One of the school gate Moms said she was going to get a dog now her babes had started school as she needed something to fill her time with, funny how we are all dealing with this stage in our lives.

PS Trying to contact Foxgoves in the breeze...if your reading please drop me a contact.

Went away came back again!!!

Oh man, what a start to the summer holidays, we are only on day three without school and sooooooo much has happened, which is why I have not been around to reply to all your lovely comments, I will get to you eventually...The first day was so relaxing we had a lazy morning and eventually got ready around lunch time and off we went to a little end of school celebration for the children. This was great fun...came home and hastily packed for a week in the English Yorkshire Dales for a little holiday. On the way I had a flat tyre, as I had no idea what place I was in I was very silly and drove on the flat to the nearest place. Great start... When we eventually got to the idyllic cottage retreat we nearly turned around because of a horrid smell that just jumped at us as soon as we opened the door. The next day after nearly being 'ick' (as the children politely say) a plumber came out...horror it was not a drains smell it was a rotting animal under the floor boards. As you can imagine we came home quite quickly...
So the children needed some fun, we started a fresh day with home made pan cakes and chocolate sauce, its all healthy stuff around here at the moment!!!
'Mommy can we make a project' my usual reply 'Oh yes, what could we do?' to which both children shout 'painting' So that's just what we did, we got my Dads treasured box of paints out and we each picked our own colours and mixed them up with white to see the colour change.
We had a little practice each and had some fun with the cleaning up of messy hands and feet. Let me tell you, we are all very happy with our art work, what do you think?
Just a few canvases I had picked up cheap to originally do some Baby and Christening paintings to give as gifts, sadly it never happened so I thought I would put use to them, the kids are at an age now that they like to see an end product, gone are the days of just a colouring book and a few pencils...Once we had cleaned up it was time to take a break and enjoy our hard work which is now displayed up on the kitchen wall. What better way to make everyone happy on a dull wet day but Hot Chocolate and marshmallows, I know this health kick we are on is just too much.
SO we all went to bed happy and content with our lazy day at home looking forward to the next day, sadly this brought a flood, no not the horrendous ones that have been doing so much damage around the UK, no this was more of an over active bath time, my two children, a deep bath and a pair of goggles each...OK I saw a bit of water go over, when the electricity went out I thought it was a storm, now once the boys had got out of the swimming pool, whoops I mean bath! I realised that the reason I had not seen the water was the loo roll holder full of rolls had absorbed the visible damage. I went down stairs and it was here I got the full picture of the damage, coming out of one of the rooms under the bath was water, the light was blown and the bulb full of water, the ceiling of this room and into the kitchen was a dirty big water mark. I went to bed reading with a camping head torch, it took hours and hours for it to dry out enough, of course that meant no computer, no telly, radio or cooking...So forgive me for being a little quite over the last few days, its been a bit of a drama to say the least, still to the floods that so many have had, it just makes a funny story really...No seriously I am laughing...Honest!!!

I did managed to get some knitting done whilst the TV was out despite my still sore arm, wow such a great bruise so many colours! I have been making little mice, the first one, well he had character, they get better as I make more, so a trip to the wool mill today to cheer myself up and buy some odd balls of wool to fulfill the desire to make a ridiculous number of mice...Oh I feel better already, yer OK I admit I bought more than just the odd ball...

Here's to the sunshine...

UPDATE UPDATE....My doll quilt has arrived and it is just brilliant, I will not spoil the surprise, I will get a good picture and share with you all the info.