• Dolls quilts - handmade - Patchwork & Quilting - sewing

    Grandmother’s Garden Doll Quilt

    August 30, 2014 - By 

    So I’m blogging about doll quilts a lot at the moment. I love making them and trying out different techniques. One of my favourites was the Grandmother’s Garden doll quilt. I really enjoyed working on it although the shape gave me a few headaches over  how to finish it. However, finishing off the Summer Stitching quilt gave me a few ideas which helped. Grandmother’s Garden Doll Quilt Firstly, I added a couple of green hexagons to the short sides of the quilt to make it into a rectangle. I spent a weekend unpicking all the basting stitches and removing the…

  • Autumn - handmade - kawaii - sewing

    Autumn Stitching Club cushion finished!

    August 23, 2014 - By 

    Due to the Summer holidays I’ve been blogging a lot less than normal (for me). I love spending time with my children and have really enjoyed picking up some sewing in the evenings rather than my laptop. My latest project is Wild Olive’s Autumn Stitching Club project. This was quite simple compared to the Spring Stitching Club quilt I recently finished. There were only 13 hexagons to make but they were all really enjoyable to stitch. I love the Pumpkin Spice Latte, Caramel Apple and this pretty hexies of potted mums. I used a Moda Posh Pumpkins charm pack for…

  • crafts - days out - handmade - London

    A good nights sleep with DryNites

    August 21, 2014 - By 

    This week I was invited to a really fun crafting event with former Great British Sewing Bee finalist Tamara Melvin. She has been working with DryNites to create a series of craft projects to bring some grown-up touches to kids’ bedrooms. She is aiming to help parents through the bedwetting stage of their child’s development by highlighting the importance of age-appropriate influences at night time. Created on behalf of DryNites, and with support from child psychologist Emma Kenny, Tamara wants to provide a fun way to normalise this phase, which affects almost 600,000 children every year. We met at Tea…

  • crafts - days out - handmade - Knitting and Stitching Show - Local Review - London - sewing

    A trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show

    August 17, 2014 - By 

    This time of year (distinctly Autumnal!) makes me think of the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally. I’ve been every year since 2007 and I started blogging about my purchases from the Show. As there are just so many lovely to things to buy I have to be strict with myself so I blog my purchases and what I make to justify my purchases. In 2010 I bought a Clothkits doll cushion, Advent calendar printed panel, gingerbread man cross stitch and Union flag quilt pattern. I made everything except the Union flag quilt as I couldn’t find the jelly…

  • Dolls quilts - handmade - kawaii - Patchwork & Quilting - sewing

    Wild Olive’s Summer Stitching Club doll quilt

    August 16, 2014 - By 

    I love joining in with Wild Olive’s seasonal stitching clubs. I like to share my progress too but it seems that I often forget! Last summer I took part in Wild Olive’s Summer Stitching Club. You get sent a pattern each week and it builds into a cute little doll quilt or cushion cover using English Paper Piecing and hexagons – my two favourite things. This was the first I took part in and to be honest I found it hard to set aside the time but had a big push and made the bulk of it over one weekend.…

  • Back to school crafts - Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts - handmade - tutorial

    Back to school no-sew shoe bag

    August 12, 2014 - By 

    My son starts Reception in a couple of weeks. We’ve been keeping busy to prevent the dreaded Summer holiday brain-loss and have been working our way through basic phonics and puzzles. We started a holiday journal too where we add a photograph for eachday and he writes a little about what we’ve done. I’m feeling super organised as we’ve bought most of his uniform. This year he needs a PE kit so I thought I would make a shoe bag for him to keep his plimsolls in. I wanted it to be as easy as possible so today I’m sharing…

  • crafts - handmade - sewing

    Summer sewing

    July 27, 2014 - By 

    I don’t have a particular project on the go at the moment. Last week I finished my maverick star dolls quilt for Little Sis. It was a bit of an impromptu make and now I don’t know what to make next. Instead of crafting I have been reading, mainly the new Quilt Now magazine and Mollie Makes blogging bookazine. I love the new quilting magazine and have been picking up some great tips from Mollie Makes blogging. I have a couple of subscriptions to craft magazines such as Mollie Makes and Love Patchwork and Quilting but I can’t help browsing…

  • crafts - days out - handmade - Paper craft

    Afternoon tea with Kirstie Allsopp

    July 24, 2014 - By 

    Yesterday afternoon I was delighted to be invited to have afternoon tea with Kirstie Allsopp (and 49 other crafty ladies) at the V&A. I’m sure you’ve heard of The Handmade Fair which is taking place this Autumn at Hampton Court Palace. As a Super Pinner (are you following me on Pinterest?) I was able to spend a really fun couple of hours enjoying an afternoon of tea, cake and crafting. I love paper cutting but so far I haven’t been very adventurous. I was excited to learn how to create beautiful paper cut-out bunting with the help from artist Poppy…

  • competition - crafts - Dolls quilts - handmade

    Win a bundle of Truly British fabrics from The Bead and Button Company

    July 22, 2014 - By 

    You know how much I love to sew. I’ve been making lots of doll quilts for my daughter as the size means I never get bored! I was recently sent an amazing fabric bundle of 6 Truly British Fat Quarters from The Bead and Button Company to craft with. The Truly British fabric selection contained 6 different fabrics, each measuring 45cm x 55cm and 100% cotton. The selection was really good and I decided to use five of the pieces to make a maverick star doll quilt from my favourite craft book Doll Quilts. It was surprisingly easy to put…