Gone Sailing

In celebration of the imminent arrival of our new nephew I have been working on my first quilt. It was inspired by one I saw on the Land of Nod website. I had a great time practicing loads of different techniques – blanket stitch, chain stitch, back stitch, satin stitch seagulls and I got to crack out Little Brother to do some zigzagging. On top of that I was really able to go to town amongst my stash, finding all the most suitable bits of fabric to build up the picture. Conveniently, there are some good bright colours here which fit with April’s Stashbusting Sewalong Vibrant Colour Challenge.
Just in case that all sounded too positive, let me assure you that while creating the picture went swimmingly, the actually quilting part was decidedly more challenging, and as for binding the edges…

Let’s just say it took some time and I have no skin left on my fingertips. (I know, I know, thimbles.) I also finished it at 1:30 the night before it was needed, away from home and completely forgot to take a tag to sew into it, so I had to improvise the next morning…
However, despite all it’s flaws and character (or talking points) I am really happy with it.

The new small one has now arrived, and we are visiting, so the quilt has been handed over and I never have to do that again.

Unless I want to of course.

Better Late Than Never…

 …In oh, so many ways.

Firstly this is the belated completion of my March stash busting sew-along item which should have been completed by the end of March (although in my defence it was a “change of season” challenge, and the seasons haven’t changed yet).

Nearly finished and all spread out on the ground so I could straighten the bottom.

Secondly I bought this fabric at the Knitting and Stitching Exhibition last October with the direct intention of making a skirt, and aside from crazy Christmas sewing the rest of the time has been largely spent mentally preparing for this project. I think too much. Thirdly and most especially I have now been sewing for 2 years and this is the first garment I have made for me (and frankly the only other clothing I have made has been simple gathered skirts for toddlers).  Now though I have not only scaled up a pattern but put darts into it (on account of cutting it with slightly too much room for comfort). Big learning curve.

The finished article, plus a little photo bomber.

In addition I feel like I suddenly understand the real buzz of sewing my own clothes, and a renewed sense of confidence in how to dress given that since I finished working in an office seven years ago and had children I pretty much stopped wearing anything but jeans and t-shirts. Partly due to extra wobbly bits, and partly through practicality as it is easier to crawl around on the floor to play and clean up in trousers; but my youngest is nearly three so that requirement is on the wane. Here’s to the next garment…

Down for maintenance

The last few weeks have been less inspirational sewing and more maintenance sewing. By which I mean I have now patched almost every pair of trousers in my house.
I have of course had a couple of other projects on the go, but one is for my new nephew who isn’t here yet, and interestingly neither is his present!

I have also seen some progress on one of my stashbusting projects, but more on that in a couple of days’ time.

It has also been the Easter holidays so I have had all three children home. All. The. Time. Plus we have had visitors, so my creativity has been in the cooking and cleaning departments. And also in the co-ordinating of Robert and myself to actually hanging some pictures and mirrors that have been decorating the floor rather than the walls for slightly too long.

On a footnote, I would also like to say thank you to Sally of sallysewssometing.blogspot.co.uk for awarding me the One Lovely Blog Award and the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Expect a post shortly where I follow through and pass this accolade on to other lovely and inspiring bloggers.