• Dolls quilts - handmade - Patchwork & Quilting - sewing

    Decorating our home with quilts

    Two new quilts have been added to my quilt gallery wall. Over the Christmas holiday I re-arranged some of the pieces to include my Wild Olive Winter Stitching Club piece which was a snowflake shaped quilted mat. I love the colours and unusual shape. I have also added my finished ticker tape quilt. Last year I wrote about the Hand Quilting workshop with Charlotte Newland I attended. We had to bring an unfinished quilt to work on and this little quilt was stuffed in my sewing box. Since I messed up the binding I just didn’t wanted to finish it off…

  • crafts - gingerbread house - handmade - Handmade gifts - sewing

    Monthly Makes – December

    I completely failed to make as many handmade gifts as I wanted too this year. As I got nearer and nearer to Christmas I persuaded myself to move items from my little handmade list into next year! Which means instead of rushing to make things I will be able to spend more time making handmade gifts in the New Year. There’s not much to report in my Monthly Makes. I made one wall hanging for my sister which I can finally share with you. I used a pattern from Home Quilt Home by Janet Clare, which is one of my…

  • Christmas - handmade - kawaii - sewing

    A snowflake-shaped table mat

    I was hoping to make some seasonal doll quilts for my quilt gallery wall but I’ve only managed to make one. However it’s one I’m really pleased with. A few weeks ago I finished the final seasonal stitching club from Mollie Johanson – the Winter Stitching Club. As usual each week a new embroidery pattern was introduced. They were all fun seasonal patterns like this sweet thermos flask. I enjoyed stitching them so they came together really quickly. Each hexagon became a puffy hexie. I used fabric from Moda’s “In From the Cold” which is so pretty. There was plenty…

  • book review - Kids crafts - sewing

    Looking back over 2014

    Is it too early to be feeling a tiny bit fed up about Christmas? I’m beginning to feel the strain of two excited children, a very cluttered house, presents to wrap and quite a few meals to plan and cook too. So I thought I would take a break from reality and instead look forward to 2015 with a little look back at this year. For me this has been the year of books as I’ve really got back into reading. Some of my favourites have been The Teashop on the Corner by Milly Johnson and A Single Breath by…

  • crafts - gingerbread house - sewing

    Monthly Makes – November

    You’re probably not surprised to hear that my Monthly Makes have had a decidedly festive feel this month. The union jack cot quilt didn’t get finished in time for Little Sis’s birthday (bad mummy). It’s made it to the top of my WIP list for 2015 and I’m going to blog about my progress every month until it’s bound and quilted. I have made some smaller projects. My favourite has to be the felt busy bag gingerbread house I made for my children. They absolutely love it and it’s really captured their imagination. I love it too but then I’m…

  • baking - gingerbread - gingerbread house - sewing

    Monday happy things

    I love looking back over the photos I’ve taken. There has been a lot of sewing, baking and crafting with the children this week, in between a blur of  PTA meetings and wrapping presents for my daughter’s 3rd birthday. I made bite-sized gingerbread house biscuits one day as a special sweet treat. There has been the discovery of new sewing patters and decorations for the Christmas tree. We also attempted this lovely and delicious gingerbread tree. In non-gingerbread related news, we had a fun trip to the Science Museum to escape the torrential rain on Saturday and I finished the…

  • Christmas - gingerbread - handmade - Handmade gifts - sewing

    Monthly makes – October

    This has been a great month for some grown up crafting. I’ve cut back on my blogging which means lots more time for making the things that make me happy rather than hours spent staring at my laptop. I completed Wild Olive’s Winter Stitching Club pattern which made a really lovely table mat or wall hanging. I loved stitching each hexagon and making them into puffy hexies. I think my favourites are the embroidered Christmas jumper and quilt. Wild Olive’s Winter Stitching Club I’ve completed some smaller projects too, such as a cute little gingerbread man I bought from Asking…

  • crafts - handmade - Handmade gifts - sewing - swaps

    Monthly makes – September

    September was a pretty busy month for making things. Aside from crafting with the children, which happens pretty much every day, there was also some baking with carrot cakes and a lovely Victoria sponge. There was the finishing off of WIPs and making a start on handmade gifts for Christmas so I thought I would write about my Monthly Makes. The month started with the London-themed ATC I made for a swap. I embroidered a London bus (from a pattern in Annela Hoey’s Little Stitches). I received a lovely ATC from my partner, she created a sandcastle and used a…

  • book review - Handmade gifts - sewing - What I'm reading

    Crafting handmade gifts

    I feel bad writing about Christmas but it’s my blog so I think I’m allowed. Christmas is fun, especially when you have two little children. They’ve been writing their Christmas lists for weeks which means we’ve all been thinking about it perhaps earlier than normal. I love crafting handmade gifts. Every year I say it but I never start early enough but this year I am going to have. As my family read my blog I can’t say too much but I’ve planned a few super cute projects from some of my favourite craft books. First of all I really…