So little time!

In between this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

...I have very little time left!  Cannot believe I have taken on all of these projects for my home decor when I must get started on the holiday gifts!  It is September already, the new term is crazy at School and I am getting more and more frustrated as I don't have enough hours in the day.  I really could do with one of those watch things that Hermione had in the Harry Potter stories where she was able to fit in extra lesson, that would be my idea of heaven!

From top to bottom:

Willow Crochet Doily blanket - I just had to make one, it is so pretty!

Cross stitch dove - for me!

Cranberry muffins - for the boys 

Wild Olive inspired zippered pouch - for me! - had to organise my thread before starting new projects!

Cross stitch bee - What Delilah Did pattern - this is for me and it is taking ages!

Crochet draught excluder - started a tapestry one and got fed up so am quickly using all my scrap cotton yarn and will stitch it together and stuff it!

Doing lots for me by the looks of it doesn't it, but hey my house needs pretty things in it too!

Autumn walk

What a surprise we had when we found these community project sculptures dotted throughout our favourite walk in Ellsemere!

The Sssh is my favourite. Found in the woodland clearing, it gave us a great opportunity to encourage the boys to listen to the sounds of the woods!

Finished quilt!

I finally finished the patchwork quilts for little bear!  Yippee! Must get it wrapped up now ready for Christmas or I will end up using it myself. 

I used fabric from Heather Ross's Far Far Away III collection for the front.  I particularly wanted the Playing with Horses print as Little bear is always playing with his toy horses (well he did much more last year when I bought all the fabric!)

I used the lovely Far Far Away 2 Roses for the back.  I couldn't bring myself to cut into the lovely grey rose print, so after taking it to my local quilting shop and begging for some advice, (I had already purchased all the fabric online, so felt a bit cheeky really)  this is what we came up with.  

The wonderful ladies at ZigZags in Newport were excited to help when I told them it was my first quilt.  They managed to convince me to add some more depth to the back by adding complimentary borders.  I wanted a single colour for the back as it would have been simpler to put together.  However they did the calculations for me and worked out how much fabric I would need and how to lay it out.  After I had finished the back I still wasn't convinced that I liked it.  But after I put it together and matched it up I am so pleased I had gone for a double sided look.   

As for the quilting, I didn't really know what to do so I just started in the middle and followed the fabric pattern and went round in a spiral.  This led to a bit of rucking up near the end but it was late and I didn't care by then!  If you ignore the mega crinkles I think it looks just fine. I will never do it that way again and will seek advice next time!

I know that the back is a bit girly for Little bear, but it means that I can use it too!  Perhaps he will give it to his children one day and it would be suitable for both boy or girl.  Or I will be able to keep it for myself as it looks so nice on my armchair in the study!

I hope you like it.  My pictures don't do the fabrics any justice.  Thank you to the lovely ladies at ZigZags for helping me with it!

x

Avengers cross stitch

Captain America, Iron man, The Hulk, and Thor. Hope my boy likes it. Just need to find a frame, Ikea trip maybe? : )

Wee little stitches

Can you guess who's next?

Quick Quilt project.

Having been 'in the middle' of making a quilt for bear for nearly 7 months now and with no effort still no time to finish it I decided to make a really quick quilt.  Bear needed a simple lap quilt that was light enough for summer to sleep under.  He had an Ikea baby duvet and cover, but it kept rucking up to one end as he tossed and turned in the night.  The solution?  Quilt it!

I simply put the duvet into the cover and used the Purl bee lap duvet tutorial to piece them together.

After machine stitching at intervals throughout the quilt I decided the stripy side need a touch more colour.  So I stitched and knotted some wool that through the layers.  I love how the colours of the yarn match up with the front.  Purely a coincidence! 

I will, at some point pluck up the courage find the time to bind my patchwork quilt, but in the mean time, this was a quick and easy project!

Cloud dough fun!

With all this rain lately we have had to have a lot of indoor playtime! Thankfully I came across an amazing site The Imagination Tree. A wonderful site filled with lots of fantastic sensory play based ideas to do with your babies and toddlers.

We had a go at making and playing with 'Cloud dough'. A quick and simple recipe using just flour and oil. Both boys spent a full 2 and a half hours making and playing with the stuff. Best thing was that it was so easy to clean up!