happy pumpkin day

happy pumpkin day!

not just mess

just to prove that we didn't just spend half term making a giant enormous huge mess (although that's what it feels like) here are the results of sewing club. the theme was skinny landscapes and each child chose a picture, and then portrayed it in fabric and embroidery. miss K loved it, and this is her poppy picture, she was like a cat with the cream, sitting there with an embroidery hoop, and lots of lovely threads.

e-boy was less contended this time, he wanted to play with the button box and the beads, which was rather frowned upon, and there were no landscapes with jet planes, or x-wings or rebel tie -fighters. but we found some nice sheep, which I had to help with quite a lot - no problem there, I rather like sheep, and then he was happy to sit and draw while big sister finished her masterpiece.


sorry the colours are so awful, the poppies are much more lovely in real life, and I thought the light was quite good when I took the pictures.

little helpers

well I didn't manage to make the birthday present bag - I got as far as making some faux chenille for a panel, but no further. a glass vase with pebbles and hyacinth bulbs in became the emergency back up present..
this weekend seems to have been spent tidying up the aftermath of half term, except the peeps do anything to avoid tidying up "I'm playing with that pile of dust in the middle of the room you just swept up, it has glitter in"
and then there were the other helpers to contend with, I wanted to put something on that shelf!


thanks for the comments on the pay it forward idea, email me your addresses so I can post you your handmade gift, I wonder what it will be?

more reasons

more reasons not to read blogs.

Tracy at cupcakes at home, recommended visiting this blog, written by the husband of a friend.

so I did.

and I cried.

go and visit, read it all from the beginning (it's not very long)

but not if you're not wearing waterproof mascara.

pay it forward

I've decided that reading lots of blogs can be dangerous, I've been seduced into a "Pay it Forward" by pink green because she makes such lovely things.
I only seem to be motivated to make things right now if they are gifts (can't find time to make things for myself), and it will be lovely to make something for my new blog friends. Don't know what yet, watch this space..

So, if you want to join in the fun:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

If you wish to participate please leave me a comment and copy the above paragraph and paste it into your next post.

now I need to go and drink a strong cup of tea to convince myself that this is a good idea, and to try and ward off a cold that has been brewing all week, and I could really do without.

sharks

a trip to see the sharks is usually a birthday treat in December for my two peeps and their uncle; two share a birthday, and one is three days earlier. But it's their cousins birthday tomorrow (cupcake quilt girl) so we went on Tuesday.

MISTAKE!
never go anywhere at half term, it was way too busy,
when the divers were feeding the sharks (by hand!) I had to lift the peeps up so they could see, I just about managed to give Miss K a piggy back, she's much too heavy to go on my shoulders, but not tall enough to see.

these little sharks are in a tank which is glass to the floor, perfect for little ones to see, and has an open top - better for photos, all the ones I took through glass are blurry and have reflections.

tomorrow will bring (hopefully) photos from sewing club, and a present I've started to make for a friends birthday, I hope it will be ready by sunday...

a good day out

the quilters regional day was a great sucess,the young quilters did fabric painting in the morning, and in the afternoon sewed up their fabric into tote bags, and made little log cabin style patchwork cards.

Miss K was in heaven, there were 4 others girls there, all older than her (and 3 of them had won prizes at the Festival of Quilts! ) and she quietly got on with it in her own way, and got to use a sewing machine for the first time which just made her day! They had these great machines that had no foot pedal just an on/off switch, and you could make them go real slow. perfect for children and beginners. and apparently for japanese people that sew whilst sitting on the floor...

We had a talk by Phillippa Naylor who made this beauty, and many others whilst living in Saudi Arabia, and she talked about living there, and learning to quilt. more about her here






and after the talk we did a hand sewn block, and the winner of a raffle got to take them all home, and make them up into a quilt, I was so relieved it wasn't me!