The Old Quilt

I am lost in a whirl of paint samples, tiles, carpets, curtain swatches and door handles (that my husband doesn't like). My car has started to want to turn into our road when I drive past (we are still living in town whilst the renovation continues). Subconsciously, since we were supposed to be in for Christmas, my brain (and car) have moved back in. But my body is still in town amongst our growing piles of 'just stuff'.
I love planning. To me it's much better than doing, less risks, less physical effort, and I get to flick through lots of magazines and books. What's not to like.
So that is what I have been doing. As well as all the usual family stuff like shouting and overcooking food. And work, it's lurking there too. Plain busy.

FA LA LA, LA LA, LA LA LAA LAAAA!

Three things to tell you.

1) Show and tell craft.

2) Lovely blog I discovered

3) My advent purchase.

1) I have finished present number three! I am completely delighted, as if I hadn't done this, NOBODY would have got a handmade present. I couldn't give to two of the kids and not the other now could I? (This is my made-up tradition since last year. I make something for the kids each Christmas. Technically I only made one of them last year but the other was from ebay and was 2nd hand and a friend knitted the egg cosies. Actually this is my first year really doing it!)

So this is it.

I found this cardigan in a charity shop a few weeks ago and I felted it. (If anyone wants to know more about felting let me know). It is really soft. Just asking to be made into a cushion, and a feather filled one at that.

When I chopped the arms off it I was able to use some of that to make the flower. Felting is so easy and made the flower really easy to cut, no worries about fraying. I threaded the ribbon round it too to pretty it up a bit more.

I hope my eldest girl really likes this. She fell upon the cardigan when she saw it, she loved it but I told her it was for my crafting. So that solves my dilemma about who gets the dolls quilt.

 

2) I have discovered a really nice blog called Little Birdie Secrets whilst I looked for ideas on making flowers. It's now added to my side list of blogs I like, and is really worth a look at. Amazing craft ideas.

3) I wanted to show you my Advent House. I saw this in a magazine belonging to my Mum, and immediately bought it. I have been looking for an advent thing for a while now, and when I saw this from John Lewis I fell for it.

It was £30 and I was amazed to see a similar version, except with fewer doors and pictures in Great Little Trading Company, for £45. So I felt well justified in spending the money. 25 little doors or windows just asking to be opened. I squealed in delight the other night when I saw Jamie Oliver had one in his house. I can just imagine this getting old, chipped and faded over the years, and becoming a family heirloom. The kids do love it. I put three sweets in there and then they have to play a game like; 'okay I've thought of three colours, guess which ones.' And then they guess, until everyone has got one right and they got a sweet. Today it was 3 Christmas animals, which were robin, reindeer and em... another robin! Couldn't think of three after I'd told them, lol!

So 3 things for you. A whole themed post, and so soon after the last. What's going on?

Finishing gifts....and a cute idea for boys.

I finally got round to backing the dolls blanket. It's definitely a dolls blanket now. It changed several times, even during the sewing of the backing. I suddenly realised it would look so much better as a cushion, stuffed it with wadding and realised I had made it a funny length and I would need to find a custom cushion for it.

SO IT'S A  BLANKET. (decision made). Now I don't know which daughter to give it to.

I backed it with a teatowel from Homebase. Since all my fabrics are in storage still, I have to make do with what I can find. I really miss the pondering over and pulling out of fabric. The sheer enjoyment of looking at the patterns or feeling the oldness of the linens, is all waiting for me in several large plastic boxes. I can't wait.

So Homebase came to the rescue again. Quite surprising really, it's not the first place you wold think of, but I used a teatowel from there two years ago to make a little quilt for the dolls cot. Not exactly fat quarters, but you get a couple of materials that co-ordinate and also a teatowel that is not inspiring enough for sewing, so you use it as a tea towel. How novel!

Anyway I really liked the ones that they had in, and since one set were looking quite boyish I suddenly realised that perhaps I could sew something for Philip. I haven't sewn anything for him before. A dolls blanket would be a complete no-no. BUT how about a sleeping bag for his toy.

Meet Cowboy Joe. Yes he looks a bit bedraggled. He certainly has been round a few corners. I received him when I was a child, from an aunt. I absolutely loved him. My childhood teddy didn't survive as I gave him to a new Labrador pup to play with (yes, I'm kicking myself), so Cowboy Joe is my oldest toy.

I gave him to Philip when he was very small and he does love him too. He has a collection of toys that he takes to bed, but of course it suits Cowboy Joe to have a sleeping bag. You need one for all your cowboy adventures don't you?

So here it is. God, I really had to think about this one. How in God's name do I make something reversible? I managed it in the end, but it took a while to figure it out. Proudly only one seam was ripped out, and my machine behaved impeccably (I'm ashamed to admit I think it's because I changed my needle). There is a little built in pillow, and a turned down section so Joe can see out (he likes to look at the stars, and keep an ear for bears).

It didn't have to be reversible but since I liked the co-ordinating fabric I decided it had to be. Instead of completely sewing up the turned down section I left it open as I know Philip loves small spaces for storing things. Secret notes and little toys can be kept in there (or perhaps Cowboy Joes gun, remember the bears).

Much better than the CD storage box I had planned to decorate for him.

Crafting Again

Well the urge has hit me again. I rummaged in my bag of 'things' to find something. The choice was hampered by a) capability, and b) mmmm what do I fancy doing?

I found a piece I had started months ago. My grandmother had given me a load of old linens, and I liked a plain white traycloth. It was made up from linen squares all crocheted together. I took it all apart and took the crochet out, and added my own squares too. Basically I wanted to try a bit of handsewn patchwork since a neighbouring lady had shown me how to do it. The linen squares were fine as they were as they had the edges all sewn, but my coloured squares needed paper templates, pinning and tacking etc. The multicoloured floral is from a shirt (Boden I think)which I thrifted nearly 2 years ago, and even put on this blog. The red squares came from ebay almost as long ago.

  The whole thing was a bit daunting as I discovered that the linen squares were not all the same size, whilst my squares were, so I had to just compensate with my linen squares, and turn them around each time to find what fitted best. I enjoyed doing the tiny stitches, it was so therapeutic.

You can see what look like pinholes on the white squares. This is where the crochet type joining was done.

I now have my 'piece' finished and have to iron it and decide what to do with it. My first thought is to back it with something old and give it to one of my girls as a doll blanket (how Caroline Zoobish of me!). Or it could be made into a cushion cover. Please tell me if you have any suggestions.

Next I have a tea-cosy urge. I found a great Boden shirt in a charity shop here the other day (somebody in Omagh is throwing out their Boden shirts and I am liking it a lot). It's hanging drying here; still thinking it's a shirt. Little does it know I can see it lining a fab tea cosy.

I have also been trying to felt a few woolly jumpers to make a patchwork blanket.

Or something.

It's very busy here. We now have windows and insulation in our house. Ceilings are going up and rooms are being plastered. We are choosing doors, tiles, paint colours and bathrooms. I am hoping I can source material for curtains at a good price. I will be able to reuse a good bit but I want a bit of new stuff too. Does anyone know where is good for a bit of floral fabric? Obviously I know Cath Kidston, Laura Ashley, but if I could get some more recommendations. I am hoping to get some from Vanessa Arbuthnott. There's a nice red and white fabric I love.

We really needed (read...we didn't need this at all) one of our dogs to have pups, but she has. Six cute sheepdog puppies. So that's 11 dogs now! All sheep dogs, my husband has an addiction. We are 3 miles from the farm at the moment so it's not ideal.We had one at our house overnight as it was a bit poorly. He rallied for one day but alas this morning he had gone to the big sheepdog trial in the sky. I took these pictures the other night when we were nursing him.

Hence we had a 'natural selection' talk with the 3 distraught kids this evening.

And a visit to the farm to see the remaining five puppies. It is sad, but part of the farming life.

How are your weeks going? Any crafting going on? I think people don't blog about their crafts as much at this time of year as they are working on secret Christmas presents. I'd love to know what people are working on.

I said to my husband.
Oh I feel like my head is going to explode. I really wasn't a good mother this evening. I was at the end of my tether with them.

He hands me a beer. Oh darling come-on. Your head is not going to explode.
I'm serious folks, he was serious.

There will be no speech marks on the following extract from our morning get-readiness.
Okay Philip, you have 10 minutes, will you make your bed?
But I don't know how.
Okay, so you need to practice. Off you go.
2 mins later. I can't do it.
Younger sister pipes up. I'll do it.
Okay Emily, will you HELP your OLDER brother make the bed.
5 minutes later there is a beautifully made bed which Emily did on her own. Philip you should have helped. Emily you get a sweet after school for being so good at that. Philip, when you learn you will get one too.
But, I just can't do it.
Why, sure Emily is younger and she is able to do it.
But...but....she can do it because she's a girl.
Stunned silence
He's 6.
I didn't teach him this.
aaaaaaaaaggghhhhh!

An update.

At the beginning of this year my best friend went to Australia. I blogged about it then, when we knew she was going. You were all so kind, since many of you had shared experiences, and were perhaps blogging as part of that very reason. So many of you are far from where your friends and family live. I thought I'd do an update on how I have found it.

Well it has been crap! Really crap! I can't say I am depressed, as I know I'm not; but it has been like a grief. Not a real grief as we talk and email, but a real grief in that I have lost a lifestyle and nearness that I had with her. I lost the outlet for my gardening/craft conversations, and I lost that feeling of how much she enjoyed being there. She really enjoyed me (weirdly).

Generally she came to my house on a Saturday, not every Saturday, but when it suited us both. She would struggle in with her two boys and her M&S 'bag-for-life' bags, full of interesting things for lunch and a treat for the kids. The kids would head off to play and we drifted between the kitchen and the table at our big window. The cafetiere got a bit of hot action and it was coffee and green tea (usually alternating) with some ginger or flakemeal biscuits. I would have a pile of magazines/books from the library/ Amazon to look at, and we would peruse pages of crafts and vintage stuff for quite a while. A lot of the times I had made chicken and veg soup, so we would get that organised and my husband would come in for lunch. A bit of banter would start, and they would spend lunch-time catching up. Invariably there were rolls with ham, and hummus, rocket and olives.

ometimes

Sometimes we did craft in the afternoon, sometimes we just sat and chatted about clothes/ what we would buy for Christmas/ what would we plant next. A lot of plans. Just a very normal friendship.

Saturdays have been the hardest. I have never really enjoyed Saturdays at our farm. My husband always works and I felt trapped (with the children), even though I was free to do whatever I wanted (with the children, and they were all quite young then). Saturdays were often quite boring days where I would try to do a bit of housework, do some messages, and I ended up feeling they were sort of non-days. But if my friend was coming, or if I was going to see her, there was a warmth about Saturday. I knew I would be talking about crafts and veg growing, etc.

So Saturdays returned to what I had before, except there was an even bigger gap. My other friends generally do family stuff on Saturdays, so it doesn't feel right to get involved with that. When I think about those first few months, it was all a bit bleak. Thursday night craft nights were great in some ways but she wasn't there either. And there is that feeling too that I shouldn't be feeling this way. Nobody was dying, I was still in touch with her; and that niggling feeling that I might just be being a bit pathetic about the whole thing.

Even worse was knowing what she was going through, coping with the move and having no time to catch up with friends in Australia, or to make new ones. Even if I got an email a week it felt sporadic, as I was desperate for news. And we were both so sad. It was much worse for her though. Leaving her whole life behind.

I do have some really good friends, and it took a while to realise that I could get a fix of bits and pieces from various friends. Craft and black humour from my lovely neighbour friend, general warmth and laughter from another local friend, shopping-talk and quirkiness from my Canadian friend....and so on. Meeting some of my childhood friends too over the past year has reminded me of that lovely feeling of history. I have enjoyed that.

However, I still find myself driving to work a bit tearful as I have seen a car similar to my friends, I still check my inbox every day. I desperately miss her saying 'well hello there'.

I love Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

But I hate Saturdays.

Except last Saturday, when we went to Glenveagh Castle in Donegal on our 12 year wedding anniversary. That is where the outdoor photos are from. Aren't they just fabulous?

I have to credit my hubby for being so understanding this past year. There were lots of very long hugs and wet shoulders! Excuse the red eyes in the photo above, I just couldn't be bothered to edit it when I discovered it needed it. Not from crying though, so at least there's that!

So I am appreciative of what I have got, and more importantly, of what I have had, as those memories are so precious now.

 

If you want to feature your house in a magazine.......

..there are some important aspects to consider. Not that I am going to, you understand. I don't fit the criteria I'm sure. But I read a hell of a lot of these magazines and there seems to be a certain formula.(Certain exceptions such as The Vintage Magpie do apply).

First of all you need to say lots of happy things like...'We're so happy here', 'Finally we have our dream home' or 'I can't imagine living anywhere else'. Disregard the fact that this house is going up for sale very soon and the mileage from the magazine will add on a bit of worth. They never say, 'This ruddy house was so stressful we're getting divorced'.

It's important to find things. For example it's imperative to uncover victorian fireplaces behind walls, intricate spindles that were boxed in on the staircase, and there is usually an amazing original tiled floor under the carpet (which incidentally you must rip up). The quote will go something like this; 'when we ripped up the carpets we discovered a beautiful parquet floor which we lovingly restored'.

You should accept as normal; bowlfuls of lemons, limes, aubergines or oranges with their leaves still attached (since they were obviously picked that morning from your orange tree in your garden). A cafetiere is imperative and bonus points for croissants and Bonne Maman confiture! You are obviously mid meal and it's never a Domino's pizza.

Oh and you should be in your bare feet standing in your kitchen nursing your cup of coffee, or sitting in your living room reading a magazine (instead of scurrying round like a madwoman trying to hide your basket of dirty laundry.

Your TV should... well you don't have one; as all sofas face each other. We all know that nobody watches TV now, we sit opposite each other and talk.

If your children aren't cute you need to borrow someone elses. They also have no shoes, and are usually wearing something floral, unless you are a boy, in which case you will be wearing long shorts and a rather funky T-shirt. To the childrens' distress all their plastic toys will be hidden in the attic and the only things displayed will be their Elmer suitcase, a wooden dog on a stick, and a Tin Tin poster.

Beds should have at least forty-seven cushions on them, and a strategically folded throw along the bottom. There is never a toilet roll left on the bed head. That would reflect reality, and therefore be silly.

Now why do I keep buying the damn magazines?

 

 

Thrifting magic

I had a great time over the summer visiting my local charity shops. I was on the look out for some old woollen blankets but no such luck. I did find some other great stuff though.

This  'book' was on the bottom shelf, and when I lifted it I discovered it was a book of wrapping paper. But not ordinary wrapping paper; completely bonkers floral wrapping paper. I just love it. There are only a few dodgy designs and only two sheets had been taken out.

I also loved this simple flower bowl. At first I thought I would use it for a bedside watch and rings 'depositer'. But I think it looks better just empty. I think it was £1.

I haven't watched this yet but I think this is going to be quite inspirational when I get back to my own house, and start thinking about sorting out the garden. Geoff Hamilton was such a lovely man and I love his ethos of doing things for 2p!

The two pudding bowls were 39p each. I don't seem to tire of these size of bowls (or of jugs but that's a different matter entirely).

I did also get two pictures, but I'll show you those another day.

This weekend I am going with two friends on a thrifting day. I can't wait as I know it is going to be one of those days where we cackle a lot. No other word could describe it better. There will be a lot of giddiness, a long lunch, and lots of rummaging too!

I hope you have all had lovely weekends, I'm going to catch up with a few of you now.

From this....

to this!

Adding on a proper 2nd storey makes a hell of a difference!

And for the first time ever, we can see from upstairs in our house. We did have an upstairs before, but it was a converted low ceilinged space.

And do you see the middle window upstairs. That is my craft room. I. Cannot. Wait.

We have moved to our temporary house, whilst we get our renovations done, and I have to say, it has been easier than I thought. I do like having less belongings (we have a 40foot container holding the rest of our stuff). My eldest has been quick to point out that we have 5 less rooms now in this house. Yet we are swinging along nicely. However I do notice that if I don't keep on top of the tidying things look bad really quickly. So, I'm running a tighter ship here. Granted it involves a bit of shouting.

I am loving the new house renovations. We go to visit fairly regularly and it is all coming on well. The look is that of a traditional Irish farmhouse. Our builder is still saying we'll be in for Christmas, but I'm not so sure! I don't want a stressful Christmas so if it isn't finished well beforehand I'm staying put.

We had a 5th birthday party at the end of August. Instead of a cake, (and also instead of party bags come to think of it) each child decorated a bun, chose a candle they liked (I had all these semi-burned candles from previous years), and we built a sortof pyramid cake. my guess is that Nigella would have been very proud. The gaudy mess of it just looked fab!

The other thing that has happened is that the said 5 year old then started school, so now all three are dropped off in the morning. I didn't shed a tear strangely, we were both ready for it. I think it would have been worse if I was at home all the time.

Finally, I am on a health kick and it is going brilliantly. I am going to weightwatchers, and it feels right. I got to my goal weight with them a few years ago, and it all slipped back on again. I have tried other things but weightwatchers is the only thing that has really worked for me, I just have to crack the maintenance bit. There's something about a new term that just makes me get organized and motivated. I know I'm not the only one there. It's good to be back.