Present to self:0)

OK, how many of you have bought yourself a little (or big) crafty Christmas pressie eh? I did. This is my first purchase from ‘Winterberry Cabin’ – I even saved it up to open on Christmas Day LOL. How sad is that!! Te he he

 

Chuffed to (woolly) bits with my purchase I am - I’ve bought two kits. The woollen sheep kit I’ve wanted for ages and the other kit, melon hot pads, just looked nice and as I was ordering from the USA, I thought I may as well make it worth the order ........... and so I then added some swatch sets too. The curious thing though is that I also received a lovely pattern book which I didn’t order (and I haven’t been charged for), but does contain the pattern for the melon hot pads. Anyway, I’ve emailed Phyllis at Winterberry Cabin to see what she says about it.

Can’t wait to get started on my woolly sheep ........... !!!

So what did you buy for yourself?

Christmas pressies:0)

Just a quick little post to show you the contents of a lovely surprise package from my lovely friend, Wendy. Now because Mr ‘stupid’ Postman had left the package on the doorstep (!!!) on a rainy (a very rainy) day, the package was rather soggy, so because of that I felt obliged to open the package – that’s my excuse anyway and here we have a lovely little snowman head tree ornament, a sweet little prim gingerbread man, a Mason jar ‘banana nut bread’ candle ........ and a couple of choccies which lasted for about 10 seconds after the photograph was taken – delicious!! I even love the gorgeous Prim tissue paper they were all wrapped up in!!

Thank you so much Wendy – I love them all.

Christmas stitching

I think my motivation for sewing has started to return to some degree, although finding the time for it is a bigger problem now ......... apart from working full-time, I now also have to keep a much closer eye on my 85-year old dad who has the early stages of vascular dementia poor thing. He’s still just about okay with day to day routine things, but anything outside of that causes great confusion, so as his sole carer, increasingly my time is taken up keeping a watchful eye on him! 

That said, the Christmas/winter bug has caught me recently and I’ve managed to complete two relatively quick projects. First of all I made this quirky looking ‘Prim’ ish snowman carrying his skis

 

I have to confess to the idea for this having been ‘nicked’ from somewhere I simply don’t remember now. I saw something similar, probably on a website or blog at least a couple of years ago and saved the picture – goodness knows where though!! He’s rather cute anyway don’t you think? 

And then secondly, I’ve completed a small cross-stitch pincushion. This wasn’t ‘nicked’ thankfully, it’s a freebie from ‘The Drawn Thread’ and it’s called ‘Four fat Friends’ – also rather sweet and didn’t take too long to finish.

 

Oh yes, I nearly forgot – not on a sewing theme, but homemade all the same is my Pear & Fig Chutney – very nice with a bit of cheese, yum!!

I now have an itch to have a go at crocheting some squares with a view to making a blanket ........ I’ve bought some wool so watch this space.

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas!
 

It's me again!!:0)

Well, I know I sorted of wrapped this blog up in January, but due to enforced rest and relaxation at home following a hysterectomy 5 weeks ago, I have had the opportunity to do a bit more stitching than usual, so I thought I may as well share it with anyone whose interested.

My first ‘finish’ (totally out of season I know) is my Father Christmas rag doll – I had planned to make him last Christmas, but time simply didn’t allow. I’m really pleased with him, although bearing in mind how much he has cost me to make, I should be pleased, ha ha!!

He has a pair of proper little spectacles and sheep’s wool for his hair and beard. His coat and trousers are made from 100% wool fabric sourced from one of the Scottish isles (it took me forever to track the right colour down)!

I’ve embellished his coat using silk velvet, other scraps of wool fabric, tiny buttons and holly fimo buttons, and I’ve sewn rusty bells around the base of his cape.

And his sack is made from a beautiful sky blue silk velvet with a lovely iron-on vintage image. He has a sweet little bear in his sack, and I shall add one or two other toys in the sack as and when I can find what I want.

Next is this pretty little velvet cushion.

I just hope the camera does justice to the beautiful lime green colour of the velvet, which perfectly matches the iron-on vintage image in the centre – can you tell I’ve been getting in to vintage images?!! The image on the front of the cushion is edged with ivory lace and the back of the cushion is a lovely rose colour raw silk (sorry forgot to take a photo of the back!).

My last ‘show’ isn’t quite a finish and I shall only show a little of it here, as it’s a birthday present for a family member. She probably won’t see this, but just in case. So this is just a bit of embroidery and you can see some of the tiny beads I still have to sew on.

Well, I shall probably be back at work later on next week, so time for sewing will drastically reduce once again. I have enjoyed completing a few more things, but it will probably be a while before I have anything else to ‘show off’. I haven’t unfortunately been able to work on my quilt (see last post), as having had a hysterectomy, it’s too heavy at the moment to work on. Onwards and upwards though as they say (I think)!!

So until another time!!

PS. Blogger has changed since the last time I posted and my lovely font seems to have disappeared - oh bum!!

Bye .............. for now at least!

I see comments from lots of other bloggers about the need for taking a break from blogging ..... and for varying reasons. Blogging can become a bit addictive for some of us (there are worse addictions of course) and I definitely think that I was an addict! Since my second divorce (about 5 years ago) I’d been content to spend a lot of my spare time on my own enjoying my sewing .... then add to that, the discovery of blogging (blogs about sewing) oh joy – I was hooked, and every spare minute was spent either blogging or sewing!! Lately though, over the last year or so, since the sudden death of my wonderful brother, Colin, my priorities have changed – I’ve re-evaluated so to speak, and to some degree I’ve lost a bit of interest in my crafting. I now prefer to spend more of my spare time with family and friends, which I’m sure is a healthier and more sociable option to sitting in by myself. SO, this post is just to let you know that I won’t be blogging, at least for now – whether I come back to it another day, well we’ll see.

Anyway, talking about healthier options (which I was), part of my new routine will definitely include more walking (with family/friends), particularly as my best achievement over the last year or so is my weight loss – very proud of myself I am too (as I believe my brother would have been too) – I’ve lost 5½ stone (that’s 77lbs if you’re in the USA) – a shocking amount I know, but I feel so much better for it, and not to sound too big-headed, ........... OK, so I am being big-headed, I look a lot better too. And just to show off about it, here’s a current photograph of me (enjoying a cuppa) ............. which is soooooooo much better than this one taken about 18 months ago at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC.

Now if you happen to be a reader of the ‘Slimming World’ magazine, do keep an eye out, because my Slimming World leader has asked me to submit my success story – she thinks I stand a chance of having my story published. I haven’t submitted anything yet though, so it won’t be for a while – I have to write it yet!!

On the sewing front, I’m not giving it up altogether. As and when I have a spare hour or two, I shall work on this patchwork quilt I started over 2 years ago, but haven’t touched for about 18 months ........ I aim to finish it hopefully this year – well that gives me plenty of time doesn’t it as it’s only the 16th January!!!

So bloggy friends, I thank everyone who has followed my blog, and for all of the friendships that have been made as a result of it. Thank you all for sharing your sewing and your lives, and for the inspiration that I’ve gained. I hope that some of you will keep in touch with me and write. I would welcome contact through emails, and do hope I hear from you. It has been a brilliant and fun experience, and it is hard to believe the 3½ years that have gone by since I started it.

Take care everyone and who knows, I may come back to blogging one of the days!!

Lots of love