• Crafts for adults - quilt - sewing

    My Shipping Forecast Quilt {update 1}

    It has been an embarrassingly long time since I wrote an update about the Shipping Forecast Quilt I have been stitching. In fact the one and only update I have posted was back in May 2015! I am a little red-faced right now. As part of 2018 and my Year of Craft I am trying to finish my WIP’s and this is my biggest one. So I eventually located my project bag and had time to look at it. I hadn’t really made as much progress as I thought I had. My Shipping Forecast Quilt update This quilt is based…

  • book review - crafts - handmade - Patchwork & Quilting - quilt

    Wise Craft Quilts by Blair Stocker

    I’ve been reading craft blogs for a long time and one of the first I discovered was Wise Craft. The author, Blair Stocker, has followed her very successful book with a second, called Wise Craft Quilts: A Guide to Turning Beloved Fabrics into Meaningful Patchwork. Quilts are stories we compose with fabric and thread, providing physical and metaphorical warmth, and Wise Craft Quilts is about creating these stories. Whether making a quilt from baby’s first clothes or from a collection of Tyvek race numbers stored away in a box, sewing pieces like these into quilt form creates a new level of appreciation…

  • Lego - mindfulness - quilt

    Monday happy things – Week 73

    Yay, we made it to half term! I’m writing my weekly post about the things that have made me happy before I get back to the important task of enjoying being with the kids. I stitched a cute little mini quilt inspired by love hearts. I totally meant to hand stitch some messages on each one but didn’t have time. I gave my children boxes of Love Hearts yesterday and was surprised by the modern sayings on them. I think I prefer the ones I grew up with. Last week I had the termly Parents’ Evening for both children. I’m lucky…

  • Patchwork & Quilting - quilt - sewing - subscription box

    A patchwork letter J for my quilt gallery wall

    Today I wanted to share the latest subscription box I have tried. I love to sew so I thought I would try a subscription box from My Fabric House.  I bought myself the Explore Package for £10 and a little parcel arrived containing 4 pieces of fabric, some bobble trim, ribbon, appliques and buttons. I love the colours of the fabric and had the perfect project in mind for the strawberry fabric. A while ago my Instagram feed was full of the most gorgeous patchwork letters, which were a free pieced alphabet from Moda and their amazing designers. I really…

  • quilt - sewing

    Monthly Makes – January 2016

    I have let my monthly round ups slip in recent months. The end of last year was insanely busy. This year is all about making time for me and spending more time on doing the things which make me, and therefore my family, happy. Unless you’ve been living under a cloud you’ll have probably noticed I’ve been sharing lots of pictures of the Liberty quilt I have been stitching this month. Making I started and finished my Liberty rainbow quilt which I am so pleased about. I am terrible at buying fabric and never making anything so I’ve started the…

  • homestyle - quilt - sewing

    The Life Planner and looking forward to 2016

    I’ve been toying with the idea of using a Planner to get organised in 2016. I’m a bit of a list keeper and find writing lists and crossing things off really helpful. The only problem is where to keep them. Add to my lists the family calendar in the kitchen with the children’s activities and playdates, the calendar on my iPhone with my PTA and choir commitments and then scribbled ideas for blog posts and that is a lot of things to remember. The Life Planner I invested in the Life Planner from Lollipop which I first heard about when…

  • handmade - Handmade gifts - Patchwork & Quilting - quilt - sewing

    Union Jack flag quilt

    My goal for the first half of this year was to complete the Union flag quilt. A couple of days late but I’m pleased to say this weekend I went to Quilt Camp, otherwise known as my mum’s house, and finished it. I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it in Hexa-Go-Go: English Paper Piecing 16 Quilt Projects by Tacha Bruecher. Union Jack flag quilt I really enjoyed collecting the red, white and blue fabrics for it and picked it up every couple of weeks. My progress was slow but last month I finished piecing…

  • quilt - sewing

    Monthly makes – May

    May has gone by unbelievably quickly for me. I think I say that every month but this month has flown by. I’ve been really busy this month and barely made anything. Even my 5 year old noticed I hadn’t been sewing and suggested I stay at home to do some sewing whilst everyone else went out for a few hours! I really want to spend more time being creative and my heart just doesn’t seem to be in blogging at the moment. Perhaps after blogging for 10 years that’s not surprising so I’m hoping for some amazing inspiration when I…

  • Patchwork & Quilting - quilt - sewing

    Shipping forecast quilt

    I like to have a few sewing projects on the go. Top of my list is just about any of the projects from Hearty Good Wishes, a beautiful craft book of coastal quilts from Janet Clare. Pre-children I always went to sleep after I had heard the shipping forecast on Radio 4. Now my bed time is much earlier but I do still love to catch the shipping forecast whenever I can. Hearty Good Wishes contains several patterns for quilts and wall hangings and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to make the Good Old Blighty…