Little Dreams

Sorry I seem to be so behind in the blogging world these days and I've missed all your blogs so much.  To be honest apart from being very busy, I'm lucky if I get anywhere near my laptop as the kids have discovered a maths game site and of course the Moshi Monster craze has taken over here too.
I would love to promise that I'll be popping over to you all in the next few weeks but I know that I'm going to be so hectic that there is no chance that it will happen!!  Work is finally progressing at quite a fast pace with the new floor down, the electrics sorted and a new ceiling going up at the start of next week.  Then the real fun will start........the decorating!  Oh I so can't wait.  I have all the paint colours picked and wallpapers chosen to spruce up some of the furniture.  And I've got some little things like cushion covers made for the chairs and sofa but no curtains yet.  I'm still unsure about what curtains to make as all the windows are a very strange size so I've decided to wait and see what it the whole studio looks like when it's all decorated.

As you can see, I've been doing a little bit of stitching again.  I decided that I needed a bag to carry around my knitting in.  Like I really don't already have enough of those!!  But this is a very lovely kntting project in gorgeous squishy Debbie Bliss yarn that I am absolutely loving at the moment.  I so needed to take a break from all the crochet for a while because it was causing tremendous pain in my hand and arm.  The weight and size of my Granny stripe blanket not helping matters at all. Anyhow I'm babbling now so back to my bag.

 The second that I saw this thick cotton fabric in newspaper print, I knew just what I wanted it to be.  It was a delight to work with and it's so strong it's just perfect for bag making.  I wanted a real wow contrast for the lining and I had some of this black floral material left over from a skirt that I started (and yet to finish) during the summer.  Maybe it's just my taste but I think that it works well.  When I started I hadn't intended to mix the fabrics for the pockets, it just seemed to develop that way.  When it was all finished, I realised that the bag is just as good turned inside out.  So now I have two looks in just one bag.  Yippee.

This is the reason for all my excitement about my sewing of late.  Meet Cissy, my new sewing machine.  My gorgeous hubby decided that he would buy me an early Christmas present.  As I was in dire need of a sewing machine, it was ordered online and it was delivered just two days later.  I love her enormously.  I have always wanted one of these machines after trying out some others belonging to friends.  They are so user friendly even for a sewing twit like me.

I was like a child opening up the parcel and the first thing that I did when I got her out of the box was to give her a great big hug.   I called her Cissy as this was my Mum's nickname as a child.  It's something that I've always dreamt of owning but because of the cost never thought that I would. My Hubby said to me, "you see it's the little dreams that matter because they can sometimes come true!"

And you know what for once he's right!!  The sewing machine and the progress on my studio be simple little things to other people but all these things matter a whole lot to me.  To see an end in sight with Studio Benny has me bubbling up inside with excitement.  I can just see myself sitting at my workbench with Cissy stitching happily away while the dog sleeps in her bed next to a small fire in the stove and the kids playing with their toys at the other end.

What are you dreaming of right now??
Rosie

AWOL

I went AWOL lately from blogland due to an ickey uckey virus that absolutely knocked the wind out of me. All that I seemed to be able to do was sleep.  I felt like I should have gotten down on all fours, drawn whiskers on my face and pinned a tail to my bum because I was living just like the cats in our house.  On my better days I managed to get a bit of stitching and sewing done.  I was feeling very low through all of this time because it was taking so long to pass but now in a strange kind of way I've realised that it has helped me a great deal.  I've been having a bad pain flare up since May due to my severe insomnia but all the sleep that I've been getting lately has broken that fatigue-pain cycle for me.  Slowly I feel like I'm getting a little more energy every day and my pain levels are beginning to drop at last.  Granted I am now writing this post at 2 am in the morning but I'm just a little giddy over something exciting that's happening tomorrow.  Well it is for me anyway!!

Yippeeee  I just can't wait!!

I've got a few crafty pieces finished in the last while but i never got around to showing them to you, so here goes.

After working for so long on the granny stripe blanket, I needed a break to something different.  I wanted a quick project so that I could at last see something done and totally complete.  The blanket at the mo feels like its taking forever to finish.  I found this little beauty of a pattern in Inside Crochet and it just hit the spot.  I just don't know what it is about me and doilies right now but I want to make lots of them and in lovely bright colours too.  Maybe it's because I'm just not quite ready for the winter that's knocking on the door!!

Sorry for the poor photo here but the light was not too good the afternoon that I took this picture....I know, I know that doesn't excuse the creases in my cloth, what can I say only sorry again.  I've been wanting to try making notebook covers for a while now and this was my first attempt.  I must say that I really enjoyed it and I learned a hell of a lot in the process.  I know that I'm certainly going to be making more of them.  Look out in your Christmas stockings everyone!!

I went to a patch work class the other day and one of the first projects was a rag cushion.  I'm so loving how it turned out.  It's a simple but very effective design and such a great starting point for a learner like me.  My biggest fault is that I'm not very good at cutting things precisely the right size and this class is perfect for me to learn this.  I'm really looking forward to the rest of the classes to see what will be coming next!

This little baby I made quite a while ago but forgot to show it to you.  It's one of my favourite things that I've ever made.  I love how it's not in any way perfect, nor did I worry if it wasn't.  I love the mix of colours.

I love that I finally managed to do buttonholes on a sewing machine.  I love the unexpected bright colours of the back.  And I love that it's the first cushion that everyone goes for when they sit on the couch....even the dog!!

So that's all from me now.  I hope to catch up on some blogs in the next few days.

Rosie xx

PS  Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post called Like Minded People.  They were so lovely to read.  Sadly though I had to delete the post due to spam that kept popping up in the comment box.  But thanks again, I so enjoy reading all your lovely thoughts and comments.  They really help me to get to know you better.

Sweet Birdie Cushion

Monday's are my busiest, it being my main cleaning day of the week.  But this morning as I sat among the chaos of toys, dolls and lego with the laundry baskets piled high with clothes waiting to be put away, I just was not ready to face it.  Out of the corner of my eye i spotted some fabric that for days has been willing me to use it.  So deciding that the mess would still be here tomorrow, I decided to have a quiet crafting day to myself.

I bought this lovely birdie material in Ikea a few months ago and i must say that I'm totally in love with it.  I needed it to cover a couple of stools that have seen some better days but I bought more than enough for the intended job.  I'm always in need of new cushion covers with all the pets that are in this house.  So decision made, all housework can wait!!

Mitred corners have daunted me and I've often found that written instructions for them in books can be quite confusing.  But I was determined that I was going to conquer them.  This I did not quite manage to do.  More of a gentle nudge than conquering!  It may be a little on the wonky side and I need to use a point maker on the corners but all the same I'm proud of this first attempt of mine.  And it's robust enough to be able to survive the battering that cushions take in this house.  It will probably be thrown straight on the floor by the kids when they come home so that they can sit on it while playing the xbox.

In other news, my pile of granny squares is rapidly growing.  I've already reached half way -  out of 35 out of  70 finished.  When I say finished, I'm not including weaving in the ends.  With the last blanket I found that the overall finish was better when I weaved the ends after the squares were all crocheted together.  Even though I was dreading the thought of all those ends, it turned out to be quite therapeutic.  I put on my latest audible book on my phone and mindlessly weaved in the ends slowly.  Better get back to more crocheting if I'm to have it ready for the campervan in the summer.

Rosie xx

Hexie Chaos

Well I've been so slack with my blogging lately and I just don't know why.  But I do know that I've been crafting and stash busting like mad.  I'm knitting a fluffy rabbit and a pom-pom scarf and finally took the plunge and started making a dress for Lucy. But more on that another day.

With the beautiful fabric that I bought from Ada over at Vintage Sheet Addict, I finally decided to begin the hexagon cushion cover that I've been dreaming/talking about for ages.  Now I've never done paper piece work before and I was so very nervous starting.  My hands were shaking as I began to cut into the beautiful material.  I cut about 40 hexies in total, about 5 in each colour.  I was going to do a hexie flower pattern but Lucy begged me to sew it in a "mish mash pattern".

I must say that as I sat down to start sewing the hexies together, I was in heaven!  It was so long since I did some hand sewing and I had forgotten how much I really loved it.  It is so relaxing sitting there with just a small needle and some thread, making the tiniest of stitches I possibly could.

But as more hexies were joined on to the cushion cover, I realised that it did not look right at all.  The pieces are not sitting flat and the pattern (or non-pattern) is just not working.  I am so disappointed and feel like pulling my, already scarce, hair out over it.  Can I even take a stitch ripper to it without even destroying the material??  I've watched You Tube tutorials and read lots about paper piecing and they always make it look so easy.  I just don't know what I'm doing wrong here.  Any hints??

Anyway, onto the Special Baby Unit knitting that I mentioned last time.  I found a great page that has all the patterns needed.  Knitting Pattern Central has some fantastic patterns for free and I'm going to be testing lots out.  I hope that if anybody has a bit of spare time and a little spare wool in their stash, that maybe you might help me with this.  It does not matter if it's a cardi, a hat or even just a tiny pair of mittens,I would be ever so grateful, as I'm sure the Unit and babies would be too.

That's the end of my babble for tonight.  I'm hoping to pick up on my posting again soon.  I aim to hit the 100 post mark before my blogs 1st birthday in May.

Rosie xx

Swapped

First of all, I would like to thank everybody for their kind and caring comments about my sons illness.  They were truly welcome and helped to cheer me up no end to know that I have good bloggy friends out there.  Patrick is doing so much better now and even though he is still getting some headaches, he has been able to return to school and even played a GAA match for the school team on Sunday!  He scored a goal and he was smiling from ear to ear for a whole day after.

Just as I needed something to cheer me up after the stressful previous week the postman arrived with a neat little package from my Bobo Bun Swap partner, Ethel from Eco Ethel.

It contained four lovely pressies, all wrapped up in music sheets.  i loved the wrapping so much that I tried my best not to tear when opening them.  For colour there was a lovely "cake" badge, that is now sitting happily on my rucksack.
Vintage was a beautiful pink table mat with applique flowers.
For handmade Ethel sent me a sweet little button necklace, purple in colour.  And handy enough I had just bought a new jumper and I was looking for a necklace to go with it.  This one just suits the bill.
And finally my favourite, for handmade there were two Dandy comic buntings.  I just loved comics as a child and if I'm honest I still do.  So this was a perfect swap idea.
Thanks Ethel.  Your pressies cheered me up no end and it arrived just at the perfect time for me.

This is what I sent to Ethel:

For colour I made an apple and pear pinny.

For handmade I knitted a chunky handbag.  Perfect for carrying knitting WIPs.

Vintage was a small little coin purse.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the childhood pressie.  I thought that a wooden cup and ball toy would keep Ethel entertained.

For a first swap, I must say that I enjoyed it most thoroughly.  I will definitely do it again.

Do you enjoy swaps?  Did you get anything nice?

Rosie xx

Big Project On The Cards

I have two secret loves.  The first one is that I love making curtains. I have made all of my own curtains for my house.  Shop bought curtains are so expensive and are not very well made.  I love the whole process of searching for and choosing the right material and suitable lining.
My mother is redecorating her sitting room and knowing my love of sewing and making curtains, asked me to help her out.  And this is going to be one very big project.  Literally.  The windows in the room are massive so just one curtain is 4.2 metres wide!!!!  That's 8.4 metres of material on just one window.  And there are two windows with the same measurement.  So for the next month I will be swimming in giant swathes of material.
My Mum also asked me to make new curtains for her kitchen and cushions for both rooms also.  I am really looking forward to starting work on this.  It will give me something to sink my teeth into and focus on.  And if i'm honest, I do like a bit of pressure too.  I can't leave my Mum with no curtains, now can I?

..................................................................................................................................................

The other thing that I absolutely adore, is collecting tins.  Sweet tins, biscuit tins, sewing tins.....my house if full of them.  Unfortunately I haven't as of yet found any vintage tins.  They're not that easy to find here in Ireland.
But I was routing yesterday in my attic and I found this little beauty.  It is a Churchill Jelly Bean tin that I bought a few years ago for my daughter.

Each detail is raised off the tin and each side shows a different scene.

This is definitely a keeper and will be in our family a long time.  It is just soo cute.  Or am I being a bit daft over a sweet tin??

What do you like to collect?
Rosie

Rethinking My Resolutions

I've often intended to show you this little beauty.  Well it is a beauty to me anyway!  This is one of the first purses that I made on my sewing machine and I'm so very proud of it.  It goes everywhere with me as it contains my emergency stock of medicine.  I thought that if I have to carry something ugly like my drugs than I should put into something pretty.
When I first saw this fabric in a shop in Galway, I burst out laughing much to the bewilderment of the shop owner and the embarrassment of my friend.  I laughed because my Dad once had a tie with the exact same pattern on it, except that it was made out of silk and was shiny!  It was out of his 1970's collection and was really, really wide.  Think 'Streets of San Francisco', psychedelic style!

A Very Thoughtful Gift

I received this cute little 'Happy Bag' from a friend as a Christmas present.  When I first opened the package I was baffled that somebody would give me a bag with string, a marble and a rubber band in it.  But when I read the label, I realised how sweet it really was.  This is what the label read;
An Eraser so you can make mistakes disappear.
Five Cent piece so that you are never broke again.
A Marble in case someone says you've lost yours.
A Rubber Band to stretch yourself to the limits.
A piece of String to tie when things begin to fall apart.
A Candle to shed some light on the situation.
A Heart to remind you that someone loves you.
A little Angel to guide and protect you.

How sweet is that!  I think that I'll keep this little pouch in the pocket of my handbag so that I can read it and cheer myself up when I'm feeling down.

So now that I'm back to my crafting again and now I'm back to knitting, crocheting and sewing like somebody obsessed.  I finally finished two of my Christmas gifts for my friends.  I will show you one now as I still have to post the other.  I just hope that they will like them!

This is one of my little crochet hook pouches that I made for the crochet expert in our knitting group.  I picked really girlie colours because she is so feminine and I thought that she would like them best.  One thing that I really must learn properly though is how to corners in bias binding.  I always end up sewing them by hand but I'm never happy with the end result. I know its only something small but if I hope eventually to open a shop on Etsy, they will need to be perfect.

Could anybody recommend a good tutorial site that I could look up?

Did you get a thoughtful gift over the Christmas season?

Chat you soon,

Rosie

So Much To Do......

If I'm honest I don't really know what I'm at these days.  Christmas is coming and there is a lot of crafting to be done.  I'm full of ideas for presents and decorations for the house and I still haven't got my mincemeat made for my mince pies.  My problem is that I just don't know where to start!  And another of my big problems is that I've got a habit of starting a tonne of projects all at the same time and never seem to get anything finished.  I get too bored doing one project at a time and it's only been a few times that I've managed it.  And there are so many beautiful patterns out there to inspire me and tempt me to cast on a fresh set of stitches.
I do love that great feeling of achievement I get when I see a project finished.  It's something that I don't get from anything else.  I like to sit down to a nice meal that I've cooked or a scrumptious cake but I never feel like jumping around and shouting out the window, "look what I've made".  I can clean the house and do all my chores until the house gleams but I don't ever want to walk proudly into my knitting group wearing a nice Mr. Muscle shiny bathtub now do I?
Tomorrow I'm going to be brave and sit down with my dear little notepad and make my Christmas list (not for Santa...that one will come later on St. Nicholas' Day.  Hopefully he'll listen this year.)
The most important jobs first.  Sewing during the day because I can knit at night and when the kids are doing their homework.  I'm heading to Germany at the end of this month with my mother to visit the big bro.  We are going for a week so that is going to take more time off me.  And then when we get back, advent will have started.  And advent is such a big thing here in this house for us.  The stairs have to be decorated and small sweet bags hung out for Santa's elves to fill for the kids if they have been good that day.
Ahhhh I think I'm going to go mad.  But if I'm really honest with myself, I'm looking forward to Chrimbo this year for the first time in a long long time.  I'm more relaxed in myself.  More secure and I've finally accepted my condition.  As somebody once told me "it is possible to find happiness in acceptance".

Another promise I'm making to myself is that I want to take care of my blog properly and update it more often.  Every time I sit down on the sofa and take my laptop out, my dog Molly, jumps up beside me and lies right across the keyboard, nudging me and giving me those endearing eyes that say "please tickle my belly".  And if that wasn't bad enough, one of my cats, Nina, has a habit of sitting on the back of the couch behind me rubbing my head with her paw!
I often sign on to blogger land intending to write a post but I get so distracted by everybody elses beautiful pages that I spend all my time reading them and before I know it, it's already bed time.
So I'm hoping that with all the crafting I'll be doing over the next two months, I'll definitely be posting more news.  And hopefully there'll be some fab pictures from Munich and Salzburg.

Thanks for listening to my mindless rambling,
Rosie xx

PS  Can anybody out there help me please?  Whenever I have found new blogs that I would like to follow, I would click on the Google Follow This Blog button and that blog would automatically pop up on my reading list.  But the last few times that I did that, I had to copy and paste the address into my reading list.  Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong here?

Can I have a bun please?

Now that the kids are back at school I'm able to spend more of my time on crafting.  And as I spend a very pleasant morning sewing I realised that there is one thing in all of my crafty possessions that I use the most.  A little felt bun that my sister-in-law gave me two Christmases ago as a present.  I use it as a pin cushion and it is permanently beside my sewing machine.  Quite often  I can be heard asking one of my kids "pass me my bun please".

This got me thinking about other crafty things that I have that mean a lot to me.  At the moment I don't have my own craft room so these are dotted around the house and the first that I laid my eyes on is my Dad's old cigar box with a weavers knotter, vintage buttons and zips inside.  He was a weaver by profession but of all the tools and sample button cards that he had this is all that is left.

My button jar which is loved by my kids and whose contents are often spread all over the kitchen table.  And in this picture is a drawing that my daughter did when she was five of herself, my mother and me.  So cute!!

My mothers old sewing box.  A little worse for wear now being about forty years old.  I have memories of sitting on this as a little girl beside the fire while my mother brushed my hair.  I may be a bit battered but I love it.

The needle pot that stands on a shelf in my kitchen is one that I bought in a little pottery shop in Easkey on one of our first ever visits to the village.

And last but not least, my tablets.  Knitted by my friend to cheer me up when i was sick and going through a hard time changing all my medications.  Always hanging from my bookshelf, it cheers me up whenever I see it.

Little Birdie Hook Pouch

It has been driving me mad lately that every time that I need a crochet hook, I'm never able to find the one that I want.  I've had to pull apart bags, boxes and drawers.  So this week I finally decided to do something about it.  I went through my fabric stash and picked out some of the pieces that looked nice and summery (to cheer me up in this awful weather).



How to make:
Firstly you need to decide the length of the pouch that you need.  I have quite a lot of hooks and because some of them are large wooden ones, I found that the best spacing was 4cm for each hook pocket.  I have 11 pockets and so my pouch is 44cm long.
Next cut out the outer fabric and the lining. They should be 30x44cm in size
The pocket material is 15x44cm in size.

Using a tight zigzag stitch, make the pockets by sewing the pocket fabric to the lining at 4cm intervals.  Do not sew this with the outer material pinned on because you do not want the stitching to show at the front of the pouch.
Handstitch a trim along the top of the pockets, ensuring that you don't accidentally close them up.

Cut out some applique shape that you like the most.  For me it's birdies.  Love em! And with a piece of bondaweb iron it onto the outer piece of material.  For decoration I finished this with a blanket stitch around its edge.
Using bias binding sew the front and the lining pieces together.
Put your hooks into the pouch and roll it up.  Mark where the side meets the back and sew on a snap button for closure.
Fold down the top of the pouch until it meets the top of the pockets and iron well.  This will keep your precious hooks safe from falling out.

CraftyRie

I've just discovered this and I think that it is great idea a directory for all the mad crafters out there.    I've just spent hours looking through the different blogs.  Inspiring to say the least.  Pop over.  Believe me when I say that it's well worth it.  http://craftyrie.blogspot.com/
http://www.craftyrie.com/2011/10/universal-craft-blog-directory.html

Phone pocket

I decided the other day that I just needed to have a pouch for my phone to save it from being scratched at the bottom of my overfilled handbag. I search through my fabric stash and decided on a heavy big gingham. And just as I was about to begin I spotted out of the corner of my eye some ribbon pieces that were looking for a home. I spent a lovely quiet afternoon stitching all the trim on by hand and then zipped up the lining and outer pieces together on the machine. I'm really happy with the result. Not bad work for a rainy afternoon.

Little Gypsy Skirt

Before heading off last week I made a little skirt for Lucy.  She was sitting looking through my fabric pile and decided that she loved this material and wanted a skirt made from it.  She also picked out the yellow bee material for the pockets because she said that the bees would love to be on a field of flowers and so that's where they should be.

I didn't have a pattern, so I just made it up as I went along.  It's simple but I'm happy with it and I think that it worked out alright.  And the main thing is that Lucy totally loves it and has worn it nearly every day since it was finished.

My next big project is a skirt for myself with some beautiful Amy Butler fabric.  I'll let you know how I get on.

Plus I'm also working on some new recipes and will soon have them ready too.  If my energy lasts that is!

Baby Mobile

Last week a good friend of mine had a little baby boy.  Ahhhh I hear you say.
And so I set about trying to decide what on earth I could give her as a present considering that she is a master crafter herself and has been knitting cardis and blankets for months and also my kids wanted to help me make something.  So I decided that a baby mobile would be a nice idea.
(Apologies in advance for the pictures but the finished mobile was so long that the only place I could hang it to photograph it was in the kitchen).

Firstly I got a bag handle and covered it on ribbon and hid the seam with a green spotted bow.
Then the kids picked out buttons and helped me to sew them on little felt flowers and stars.  Great practice for them.

We cut out shapes in fabric that the kids thought they would like on a mobile for their room. A moon, , butterfly, fish and two different hearts.  We sat on a rainy afternoon and quite happily stitched to our hearts content.  They may not have been pure perfection but there was a lot of effort put into it.
I then laid out the pieces in rows as they would appear on the mobile and with a darning needle and a long piece of embroidery floss, I began to sew them together starting with the fabric shapes and knotting the thread under each new felt shape added.

I had some thick felt rope hanging around for ages and I knew that I would eventually find a use for it and this was just ideal.
I cut up five pieces, one for the loop and four to tie to the hoop of the mobile.
I must admit I got my hubbie to do one of his fancy fisherman knots to tie it all together and then I secured it by stitching on this fabric and felt butterfly.
I hung the embroidery floss and shapes to the hoop by stitching the end of the floss to where the felt rope is attached to the hoop, securing it very tightly.

 Oh geees, I hope that this has not been too confusing!