Celebration!

We are off to Devon today to see these three little scallies!    I love this photo, the girls are gradually doing more with their little brother and he just loves all the fuss.

Tomorrow we are going to my friends 60th in Cornwall, the person I made the bag for http://www.finelinenandpurple.blogspot.com/2012/02/birthday-bag.html                              (She is actually my late father in laws second wife)

I will have photo's to post from that celebration I hope.....it is going to be exciting :)

But I can't wait to see my darlings too, we will stay with them for two nights and that is really exciting!

Finished a Couple of Things

I finished the crocheted baby blanket, it was lovely to make, the cotton yarn is nice to work with. I am considering making one or two more as two of my nieces are having babies later in the year...cant decide whether to make them like this or to use bright colours like Lucy uses on attic24. I am pleased with how my dress turned out. It looks a bit sacky in this photo but fits well...not sure what that says about me :) I will definitely make another one. Maybe sleeveless next time. 

Planters

My daughter showed me the following idea on a Montessori blog. I cant remember the blog name so made the planters from memory. I have saved milk cartons,washed them and removed the labels. 

I then cut away part of the carton

Found two pieces of wood which I painted white

Then slid the cartons onto the wood, I will need to make a few small holes in the bottom for drainage. 

I have made two rows of planters to take down to the twins this weekend. I will take compost and get some seeds for them to plant and then Daddy can hang them on the garden fence.

God's Faithfulness

Yesterday my husband preached from 1 Samuel 11, the passage about David and Bathsheba, I then read part of Psalm 51, David's prayer of repentance
 
'10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.'

I never cease to be amazed by God's faithfulness and readiness to forgive us whatever we have done when we come to Him and lay our lives at the foot of the cross.

Dress Making

Today we ventured down into Sussex to visit some friends near Forest Row. There's a lovely toy shop there called Bramble Corner so I popped in there and bought Gilby a little donkey to go in his wooden stable that he had for his birthday. I also bought some cream dishcloth cotton from the craft shop. I crocheted these cloths for Christmas gifts but think I may knit some this time

We then stopped in Westerham, haven't been there for a few years and parked right next to this lovely little shop. They haven't been open long and although they are advertised online I couldn't find a website. It was certainly worth a visit, not very big inside but had lots of lovely fabric and wools. I came away with a knitting book of hat patterns and two metres of lovely fine denim. 

 I had ordered a pattern from .http://merchantandmills.com/ for a dress. I have never been successful in making clothes for myself but saw this website some time back and decided to try again. Their patterns are made of thin card, ready cut out and rolled up in a cardboard tube. You lay out the pieces on the fabric, weigh them down with something like food cans and draw around the card with tailors chalk before cutting out. I will give it a try, hopefully it will work and I will use the pattern again and again...making it worth the £20 I spent on it.

This is the dress, the pattern comes with short sleeves which I will add to the dress. When we arrived home the pattern was waiting on the doorstep, that's tomorrow planned out then!

Woodstock

The 7th February was our 36th wedding anniversary, we were pretty busy with family staying and so didn't do anything on the day to celebrate. But last Friday we drove to Woodstock in Oxfordshire. We have driven through the town before but never stopped. We had a lovely lunch in the Woodstock Arms, sitting by a log fire. Had a walk around admiring the beautiful Cotswold architecture before driving home

Baby Blanket

A couple in our church are expecting their first baby. I have had this cream cotton yarn for a few years, I bought 900g of it in a charity shop, its very fine, probably 4 ply and after making the twins dresses in 4 ply cotton I knew I would never knit in that thickness again! So I decided to try it with crochet, it works well and so I am making a baby blanket.

And guess what? they are having a boy!

Lap Top Cases

I was asked to make two more mac cases for my other daughter and her husband...|I thought they were joking, I couldn't imagine my son in law would want one but he did. They gave me the measurements and colours that they would like. I cut strips, joined them together, quilted wadding to the back and sewed up the side leaving enough for a flap at the top. I then made an inner bag for the lining. Fitted it in place and sewed up around the edge. Adding a button and loop to fasten.

Liberty Fabrics

I love Liberty, I love going into London to visit the store and I love what they sell...albeit a little expensive. Over the years I have collected quite a stash of Liberty cotton lawn. Lawn is a plain weave textile originally of linen but now chiefly cotton. It is designed using fine, high count yarns, which results in a silky, untextured feel. It is really good to work with.

I have some that is already cut into squares that I have been given and some in larger pieces that I have picked up at charity shops and when reduced in fabric shops. I plan on making myself a Liberty quilt at some point in the not too distant future :)

Grandchildren

These photo's cheered my Saturday when I looked at my son in laws blog, while taking a little break from the ironing.

Birthday Bag

 We have a number of friends/family who are 60 this year. So for the first friend I have made this bag. I just used the same idea as when I made my daughters a few weeks back. I somehow deleted the photo with the fabric before sewing together. I had had these fabric pieces for years waiting for a project. 

I joined strips of fabric, then sewed up the sides, added the boxed base. Made a pocket and sewed in place to lining. I sewed wadding to the lining and then fitted the lining inside the outer bag. 

 Made straps and sewed in place 

A Few Snaps!

Life has been pretty hectic recently with family and house guests...the last of which left yesterday. Our eldest daughter flew back to South Africa and will arrive home in a couple of hours time. I am missing them all already. BUT...I have lots of sewing projects planned and so as I have a few days left of Half Term I will crack on in a minute.

Just thought I would post a few recent photo's before I begin.

 Gilby with his Valentine cards from his sisters :)

 Enjoying the snow at Grandma & Parpar's house

 Back home in Devon

Catch Up

My cousin spotted on facebook, the hats that I made for the twins and mentioned that she would like one. So I made this for her over the weekend.

Below are some lovely vintage/retro fabric pieces that my daughter bought for me in a charity shop...not sure what I'll make yet but I love retro fabrics

I hadn't appreciated how wonky this is till I looked at the photo. I made this for a competition back in the summer. I coastal quilt theme....I didn't win anything :( but enjoyed designing and making it. 

Romp in the Woods

Our youngest daughter and her family have gone home to Devon today but before they left we all went out to the woods, had hot soup in the cafe and then went for a romp in the snow. The house is very quiet again now..... and tidy