Don't faint - I quilted!

Twice! I mean, they're only baby quilts but still. Quilts!

This one was for my Mum's friend's new granddaughter. I had a huge clear out of my scraps and have gave them all away but kept enough to make this. 

Here's my before pic of my scraps. The little boxes have charm size and smaller,  the bigger ones are partial fat quarters.

I gave the smaller ones away, sold the larger pieces and now they all live in that beige basket. In fact, this is my entire stash!

It meant I could get rid of two bookcases (one of them huge!) and make enough room for a gallery wall! I've collected these pictures for years,  It's so nice to see them hung.

Anyhoo, quilts. I had the border and binding fabrics and found this cracking Japanese print in a sale section online.

It's not my usual style but was really happy with it and got a lovely thank you note from the new wee family.

This one is much more my style! A charm pack and some solid white and we were off! I even did some hand quilting.

It was for my cousin's daughter's baby (yes, my younger cousin is now a Granny!!) And I'm not entirely sure 17 year old mum was that bothered for it. But my Aunt (baby's Great Gran!) loved it! *g*

And during the clean up I found a load of teeny tiny Polaroid blocks from Dolores. I was in a mission to use stuff up so they became a giant floor cushion cover!

It's perfect in my wee quiet corner - do you like my crochet throw? My Mummy gave me it for Christmas - she made it!!

And I do believe that's me about up to date with makes! I have one new outfit (jeans, tee shirt, hoodie) but that was finished just last week. I've been busy while I've been away!

Fade to Grey

By March things were settling down a bit. The initial grieving over losing my grandmothers was easing and we were ready to get back to the to-do list. Top of it? Chookie's bedroom. It was 3 and a half years since its last lick of paint which isn't a long, long time but enough when it's a kid's room! There's big age difference between just-turned-twelve and almost-fifteen and the blue was just too young. She wanted black - I said no. We settled on "Chantilly" a pretty grey by B&Q Colours. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking - the blue shots are the before.

A new bed with underneath storage - good old Ikea! The day bed was knackered and becoming impractical. 

The desk was her Christmas from my in-laws. It lifts up like a draughtsmans table and has been invaluable!

The big empty wall. It makes the room feel huge but I reckon will get filled up soon enough! The huge bookcases went to Spouse's work for storage so weren't wasted!

I did relax the no-black for curtains and accessories. *grins* 

I love her geeky gallery! Music, Dr Who, Harry Potter and Sherlock to name but a few!

There's a couple of framed LP's hanging above her bed now and we have an idea for a skinny shelf for her Funko Pop Vinyl collection but rooms are ever evolving, aren't they? She's really happy with it and there's been a lot of teenage girls invited in to hang out so a success all round!

Christmas 2016

Ha! Back again so soon? I am determined to get the last six (seven?) months documented. My bullet journal has a whole page of makes and events to record so there may be some weirdly mixed up posts to come. This might be one of them!

So, Christmas. We had a quiet one this year with my folks round for turkey dinner - it was rather lovely.

We also had a newly decorated living room - it's what I am referring to as a "steampunk gentleman's study" style. Think grey and leather and metal bits with tweed. *grins* I love it. And that's not a fireplace - it's the telly playing a Netflix fire video!

This is Jones' favourite spot - he thinks it's a perfectly sized cat daybed! It's actually finest Harris Tweed and opens - my knitting gear lives in it.

Anyhoo - Christmas. Chook was her usual irrepressible self. 

Me: Put your shoulders back. 

Her: Like this?

Me: Nooooo..

Her: Like THIS?
Me: !!!

Her: *fit of giggles*

Do you like her bowtie? I made it - bowties are cool. *grins* #DrWho

Oh, the Christmas Eve bauble box? Had a little goth deer from Bettis Stitches. It is perfect and she was really tickled with her. This is the "she's so cute!" face. Her main present from us this year was a midi keyboard. It's like an electric piano that you plug into a computer (my folks bought her a laptop!) so you can compose and record and stuff.

And I sewed a bit! Helen and I had an unofficial Christmas cushion-along on Instagram and I ran with it. Three of these were for gifts but one was for little old me.

As was this big one. My embroidery was mucho improved by the time I'd finished them!

So. I think that's about it - a whirlwind runaround!

Wee makes

More little makes from me today. You know when your list (mental or otherwise) becomes clogged up with lots of wee things that won't take long but that just add to the length of the to-dos? That's where I've been at. So.

I made a drawstring sock knitting pouch from zombie hunter fabric from Dolores about a year ago and a recent(ish) parcel from her had the Valentine's Day version. Well I need another wee bag for my knitting. I like the pattern here at In Color Order. Sorted! As ever, thank you for my stash, Dee!

My mum asked for a bracelet for a birthday gift for a friend. I'm pretty sure most of these beads came from Archie - they were perfect, thanks buddy!

And I put the bottom on my kitchen curtain yesterday.  It was a boring, thankless task but it looks so much better now the curtain touches the floor again! And I do rather like the contrast piece. 

It's also a finish on my finish-along list! (proposal is here) That's my third finish - it feels so good to get stuff moving!

Journal Your Christmas day 21 - reality checking

So with 4 sleeps to go I'm having a quick squizz round the house to see if we're getting it together in time. And I think we're pretty good (Spouse's socks notwithstanding)

The Big Christmas Clean happened yesterday and my wine glasses are sparkly clean on their shelf. Months go between uses for them and they're right above the cooker so they get greasy.  Not today! In fact,  Spouse bleached the whole kitchen yesterday so it is squeaky clean.

And in the wee room here is what is left of the presents - 15 of them have already been gifted. Chook's are still to be wrapped but I think we're well on track! 

I must find a decent noise reduction filter for my phone - these dark days are terrible for photos! I could import them to my tower and PSE but it would be so much easier (and quicker!) to be able to do it in situ. Any suggestions? 

Life in Chateau DLM

Yep, another of those posts with bits that don't fit in anywhere else! Chook started back school last week. Groans from her, cheers from me - I do like to get back into routine! And, yes, those are Adidas Gazelles for school shoes. *disapproving pout* The uniform guidlines state any shoes as long as they are black so they are perfectly within the rules. But I'm a bit Presbyterian when it comes to school so they do rub me up the wrong way some. But you choose your battles, eh? 

Sewing wise I am going to make my winter coat!! There's a few of us having an informal coat-along on Instagram and I totally fell in love with this pattern. The fabric is from My Fabrics and the grey is a beautiful soft but low loft wool/linen/alpaca blend. I'm excited to get started but suspect a muslin will be a good idea.

I bought my pattern with a #TVHhaul voucher I won from The Village Haberdashery and it also stretched to these skeins of beautiful Manos del Uruguay yarn. A scarfy-shawl to match my new coat? Yuuup.

Bringing me nicely to my current shawl. It's getting there! This is halfway through chart C - only D to go and I'm casting off! Although when I say only, I currently have 275 stitches on a row and it's only going to get bigger. I'm finally enjoying it, though, and my knitting has improved massively. 

I changed my bedding again. I do like blue sheets, heh heh.

And today? Well I got a call at work from Chook's school - she had puked in a corridor and could someone collect her. Wee scone! That's no bad, though, into our 9th year at school and that's the first time she's been unwell there. And only the second time I've been phoned - the first time was to get badly skinned knees dressed by the nurse when she was 8. And I'm still slightly addicted to this guy's music. I'm just fascinated by the whole live looping process.

Little changes

Isn't it funny how wee changes can totally alter the look of a room? I've been playing about with our bed linen the last few weeks and it's amazing how different the room feels with just the sheets a new colour.

This is our original choice when we first painted the walls grey and got our white furniture.  Grey and - unsurprisingly - white. With a wee bit of citron yellow courtesy of my long stowed, never used Earl Bob quilt. I liked it but always found it a bit......cold. I'm not a huge fan of black and white interior decor and this was a bit close to that.

 When I finished my Natural Blues quilt I switched out the grey duvet for white. This is much more me!! A wee bit stark, maybe, but I like it.

And then came the blue birds. My Tiffany's Strings quilt got an airing and I love the vintagey feel it gives the white furniture.

Then on Friday (following a cat vomit incident - niiiice) I threwn caution and my cool colour tastes to the wind and went with red!!

Ha! Even the Vinnie the Cat quilt found a home (finally!) and you know what? I think this might be my favourite combo so far! The cushions were stuffed in my linen cupboard waiting for a use and even Jones and Temple approve. They've stopped running to the door to greet me when I come home, preferring to lounge at the foot of the bed and await their belly rubs. So well received all round!

Gotta love soft furnishings and textile fun, eh?

see my pretty bed

A new bed quilt means new bedding, amiright? I have a habit of having big patchwork quilts folded in half across the bottom of my bed - they are rarely all the way up the bed and so you see the duvet underneath. It's just how I style them. With this in mind I made my Natural Blues quilt only 60 inches high (tall? deep?) so it just covers the foot of the bed. I bought a pretty new white duvet set and in lieu of matching pillow cases I went for cushion covers from fat quarters that were bought for, but ultimately rejected from, the quilt proper.

They are pretty, no? I love that bottom vintage print.

These bolster shapes work so nicely on a bed. I bought them years ago to match my original purple duvet (2008!) and keep making different covers for them.

Here's the new pillowcases - I hadn't realised when I bought them that they had grey piping! Perfect.

Winston Teddy and a nice shot of the seersucker duvet. You don't see the sleep creases! It's also piped in grey.

This quilt was deliberately imagined with lots of creams to warm the blues up a bit. I've always been aware that my window treatments are black and white and it's not a colour scheme that sits very easily with me. So I was trying to keep to not-crazy-wild with colour, since I am a subtle colour fan usually, but warm enough to not be stark.

Yes. That will do nicely, I think.

I finished a skirt yesterday!! So next time a fashion show will ensue. A fashion show with one outfit, likes. But fashion nonetheless...