At Home

Now I feel like the festivities can commence. I've shopped in one day and nearly done it all. About the only bonus I can see for having a small family. Advent calendars are up, we've seen the lights switched on, entered nearly every tombola stall in the church bazaar and at the school christmas fair on Saturday (which is now officially one of the first of the last events we will be doing at primary school - until we're grandparent's that it).  I now just want to curl up with a bottle of Avdocaat and a box of Quality Street and that'll be me happy as a christmas fairy.

I found this book on the bric-a-brac stall in the church, Mr Bun has announced it a new favourite. 

Out shopping I added a few new decorations to the pile. Lost one toadstool before the photo and then found it again afterwards. I thought it strange as I always buy in three's. I do need to find the Bun's a decoration each as I get them a new one each year to add to the tree.

My plans for homemade presents aren't going as well this year. I'm completely out of ideas for the minute for the Bun's (and even if I was full of ideas I wouldn't say as they'd read it here first). I am ploughing on full steam ahead with the quilt for my mum though.

On Saturday I finally sandwiched the layers together, pinned them here and there and have started the whole zig zag of stitches up and down.

At first I thought just the one row of stitching straight across would be best, then when I saw the photos of it I changed my mind straight away.

This morning I've sat down to run my needle the other way to see if it looks better and to be honest it does. It has a puffier softer feel now, I'll show you once all is done. I had to hide it up last night as my mum stayed over after taking Miss Rosey christmas shopping. Little Bun's shopping trip next weekend and Miss Rosey at a friends so a bit of his and her time (which very rarely happens).

I'm really enjoying working on this quilt for a few reasons. Today probably as I'm freezing even with the woodburner lit so it's keeping me a bit toastier. No heating looks like being a problem for quite a while longer as we need a new Rayburn as ours is an old defunct one that no one can mend anymore. 

The other reason for loving working with this quilt is that some of my favourite fabrics are worked in here. They're a mix of 1930's and 1950's cottons from France and the UK, alongside some spots and reproductions. Each has a different weave and texture. My favourite to handle are the 30's cottons which are cotton wool soft and let the needle slide through. I think I'll take this to work for some lunch stitching too (only get a half hour break so never much time to do anything at all really).

Alongside quilting and adding more squares to the Bubblegum blanket I gave in and started a new knitting project. It should end up being a short sleeved jumper for Little Bun if all goes well. I've already cocked up the more twisty cable rows, but I think only the knitters with eagle eyes will see what I've done wrong there. All the same it looks fine and is using up some more of my stash that was bought to become something else.

Right better stop and go and do all the deathly dull and things I've been avoiding jobs now.

Like Mother Like Daughter

All this wintry days darkness isn't good for happy blog posts. Coming home when all is black and the lights are twinkling away doesn't make for my kind of photos.

Good light today and a whole day of this and that stretching ahead of me meant I could take some pictures and pop into blogworld again.

The weekend was a whirlygig of all sorts of stuff. A christmas bazaar at our village church, swimming, massive clearing and chucking out and cosying up for a spot of hooking and stitching with the Bun's.

I made up some bunting in christmassy colours to add to the other general hangy things we have hereabouts. This morning was the official choosing a spot and hanging it up day.

The gingham ribbon came about for two reasons. First I couldn't be bothered to hook a cream chain and second I thought the contrast would make rather a nice change. Do you know, I'm really rather pleased I was feeling lazy and impatient for results as I love how it's turned out.

Little Bun had a good long stare at it tonight and said she'd definately like another go at learning how to crochet. Being a left-hander she's found it pretty hard up to now. Her top present on her christmas list is a pink sewing machine. Might have that girl converted to my ways. Miss Rosey loves to make too, but is honing her art skills and becoming fabulous at drawing like her dad. I'll have to share some of their pictures with you one day soon.

On Friday I bought a CK making book for the Bun's to help them with their stitching skills. I'd left this book on the shelf before when Miss Rosey found it as I thought "hey I can do that so who needs a darned book".  

After nothing much happening from me in designing and then cutting out felt shapes for them I reckoned buying the book with all the felt and makings along with the patterns, instructions and pretty pictures would make it all a hell of a lot easier for them and my patience. I'm good at being patient teaching strangers, not so good with my own so we need all the support we can get.

There are 12 really sweet felt christmas decorations in the book and as it's designed for kids they were happy to just have me on hand to help as and when. It was lovely actually and was probably the most relaxing making session we've had.  Or maybe it the large snowball my Mr put in front of me while we munched on dolly mixtures and sang to our first outing of 70's christmas party songs.

Little Bun is busy working on a Robin, while Miss Rosey is beavering away on a snowman. I'm sure Little Bun will show and tell on her blog very soon. She wanted to have a go at all this stuff a while back as she's always enjoyed writing stories and making comics. I think she's visited a few of you to say hello and she's been thrilled to have a few visits back (her mummy is pleased for her too).

Final shot just to prove the claim I made to clearing up this weekend. This was part of the dumping ground we have in the back hall. Three hours spent here making it all luvverly again and even christmassed up in early anticipation.

Stuff for All

Before I get going I must point out how rude was I. You sent some wonderful well wishes to my sicky icky family and I forgot to say thankyou very much indeed. So thankyou and somehow in the meantime I avoided it, which was absolutely wonderful.

After a poorly weekend, it was great to all be fighting fit and ready to go out an about. We headed to our nearby town with plans for treasure hunting. On the way the heavens chucked it down. A big decision was made to put off shop wandering for a while and go and chomp on pizza instead. The Bun's went from quietly hungry in the back of the car to loud and happy.

Once tums were full we had a dash around the church yard and scrunched in the wet leaves before heading off to Vintage Mischief. Now I've not been there for a while so it was lovely to see it all changed around with fabulous classic shop fittings and more rooms opened up for different things. We found a few more annuals, the Bun's pestered for a typewriter and Mr pestered for Banana Lady. The typewriter I loved was all turquoise, cream and red, but needed mending still. Impatience won the day even though ours still needs a ribbon and the sticky keys a bit of loving.

Heading over the road I found my friend Emmie tucked cosily in the corner at another sale.  I kept looking and looking at the imp on the swing and just knew I wouldn't be happy if I left it behind. It's one of those things that I'm not sure about, but also love for it's oddness. My Mr, who has a wide ranging taste just like mine, mainly of the not very useful, but fun to have variety, just stared at it and found it hard to think of anything to say. We usually like the same stuff. I wasn't too sure about Banana Lady and he really didn't like the fat thing the imp was stuck on (his words).

Alongside these finds I found another wee doll to keep Daisy company. She's been named Maisy by Little Bun and tucked up in bed with Elsie the Pug.

Earlier in the week another package of wallpaper arrived. I might have just enough now to have a fiddle faddle with paper and glue.

I'm still not decided whether to paper the back shelves of my glass and china cabinet,

or to cheer up the blue shelves. I think they'll win as I really don't like them all that much. I've been meaning to paint them for a good while now and still need to decide on the colour. Overall a change is definately needed with them.

Which brings me back to the whole subject of procrastination. This weekend I just went with it and had fun with my lot instead of worrying about what I had and hadn't done.

Best Laid Plans

In my head are lots of lists of things I want to do. I write the lists down on bits of paper too as I forget stuff very easily. I plan in my head how I'll get some of the things I want to do done when I'm off work. And then piff paff poof a spanner gets thrown into the works and I'm just needed to be a mum, nothing more.

Now don't get me wrong, I adore being a mum, but I just want a bit of time that's mine. Time when I can get stuff done is one. Time to make plans in my head is another. My Mr and I are great planners, always have been. If we don't have something new being created we get itchy feet. It doesn't matter if all the things we plan don't happen, but we thrive on life not always being the same, having something different to work towards and look forward to. 

The flip side of this is once we've achieved something we tend to want to move on and start something else. This morning my head was buzzing with frustration at not achieving even a smidgen of the things I want and so I had a chat with my very sound advisor. He gave it to me straight once I'd told him what I was thinking and explained my quandry. I now feel I have some idea of how I'm going forward with juggling work, Bobo Bun, workshops, family life, general life stuff and constant DIY on the house (which is a major one on the list).

Number one was to actually finish things, which includes not starting new things before I've finished what I was doing first. We agreed flitting is part of a creative mind, but I need to get mine a bit more focused.

Getting the house straight will make me a bit saner. That means finishing the rooms I've started decorating and then actually make the trimmings and bits I want for it. That done my head will be clear to actually focus on making to sell again and running workshops once more. Not sure how much of a reality all of this is really, but it sounds good in principle doesn't it.

I realise I'll always have quite a few projects waiting in the wings to be finished, but I do need to get a bit stricter with myself about how many there are. 

So with some of that sorted I've pushed on this week grabbing time as and when with adding the extra rows to the Happydays Flag Quilt. Quilt top all done as you can see. Not perfect, but done all the same. Ready for a sandwich and then jolly stitches to hold it all together.

In the inbetween I have got another quilt on the go I have to admit. This was started before all my good intentions got under way and it is meant to be a christmas gift for my mum. I say meant to be as I am falling in love with it as it goes along. This will be hard to part with I know.

With Christmas getting nearer I'll make this quilt the top of my list and then I can focus on making the Bun's gifts. I also have a plan to fill up my etsy shelves with a few more Mistletoe Kisses brooches as they've been really popular over the last few years since I designed them. 

Then I'm going to think long and hard about what I want to do next. I've not organised any Pick 'n' Mix Makers Markets since my dad died so I might take that in a new direction in the new year. I definately want to get back to running workshops again. I've been asked to hold crochet classes and also to explain how to actually use a sewing machine to make stuff. 

All in all I need the balance of Bobo Bun as a creative business alongside my teaching. I started it when Little Bun was two to keep a sense of who I was when I was drowning in nappies and whatnot. Now I need it as life just doesn't seem the same without it.

Red Cross on the Door

I've been re-training as a rubbish nurse these past few days. I'm good at the practicals of clearing up sick, shoving buckets under chins and keeping sick ones cosy, not so good at wanting to hang around being all caring for hours on end.

On Friday while Little Bun was ill and I was getting worried about her, I busied myself clearing shelves and re-arranging stuff.

I found an ideal spot to hang the very elderly lanterns I got from my mate Emmie. Just need to change some of the things on the shelf as I want to look at different stuff for a bit.

By Saturday Little Bun was well enough to go to Miss Rosey's school Christmas market. A couple of hours after getting home Mr raced upstairs with his faithful Alfie Blue by his side. He was next with the gastro bug. 

My  mum and I took the girls and their friends to Little Bun's pantomime with no proud daddy to see unfortunately. I'm not keen on am-dram having sat through a truly awful one years ago. When it got to the break we grabbed the Bun's who were wee at the time and ran, vowing no more am-dram. This one was really funny, made more so by the naughtiness of the cast who ad-libbed and made the front rows life hell. Our girl looked beautiful in her three dances and gave it her all. How I adore her.

In the wee hours of this morning Miss Rosey started the yucky bug herself. Will I get it too or do I go scott free having worked so hard emptying buckets and caring for my lot? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Now for a much needed change of direction. My head hasn't really been focusing on christmas all that much, but it seems to have found me all the same. On the way back from a trip out with the students last week, they popped into KFC so I popped into a small fleamarket. I swooped in, grabbed these beauties and was out before they'd taken one bite of the stinky food.

I've also been a shopping with Maartje this past week. Goodies have included paper as I've a mind to cover the back shelves of a couple of things. I'm bored with how they look at the moment so I'm hoping to find some time for a fiddle faddle with glue and paper.

Maartje very kindly popped in a few extra sheets for me which I love. These really capture the colours I think of when I think of her style.

After having looked at the deers she's made from a vintage piece of fabric for a while now I gave in and got one of my own. Once I got worried that they might all sell before I had one, I knew I needed it.  Not want, but need. Two very different things when you're justifying your shopping.

These are the wallpapers that I ordered from her and I've also grabbed some from Ada which should arrive this week.

Last treat was a bracelet as I've broken all of mine. Once my mum saw it she had a peek at Silly Old Suitcase etsy store and then ordered a couple too. One for her and one for a friend. Maartje has 20% off in her store at the moment so an even better time to pop over and see what tempts you.

Hello to new followers too good to see you. Here's to a good rest of the weekend, hopefully with no sickness from me.

Little Bun daytrips to the 40's

On Wednesday evening my C21st girlie toasted marshmallows by the fire full of excitement about her trip back to the 40's the next day.

Bright and early the next morning her transformation to an evacuee from Bethnal Green was complete.

Her gas mask box and handwritten name label were all waiting for her at school before they boarded the bus to the train station. Little Bun was thrilled that she was picked to live with her friend Gabs because they looked a strong pair. The man who picked them was the singer of a 40's group we love listening to. Little Bun told him how she liked his singing which I think swung the deal.

She had a fabulous day and said she would have loved to stay there. As daft as her parents about the past too then.

Overnight it all went horribly wrong for our lovely girl. From midnight on she was constantly being violently sick. By midday today she brought up green bile which worried me a hell of a lot. We're having tests to see why she has so many stomach pains and a swollen tummy at the moment anyway so I went into appearing calm, but inside panicking mode. I managed to get a Dr to see her later on who gave her the all clear, reassured me that gastro-enteritis is doing the rounds so nothing sinister to worry about apparently. Now it looks as if she won't be able to dance in her show tommorow night. Fingers crossed really tightly for a full recovery by tommorow night as we're all feeling so disappointed for her.

Patiently Chopping

I'm so glad you liked what I've done with Little Bun's evacuee dress. Last stitches went in tonight ready for the dressing up fun tommorow morning. l'll take plenty of photos so you can see how she looks.

That's one more thing ticked of the list in my head of things to make and do. Now before I tackle the christmas makes I need to add a few bits to my etsy store, sort out stock for christmas markets and actually finish the triangle quilt I started an age ago.

Every now and then I've been chopping up extra squares to make the quilt bigger. Then the squares had to be chopped into triangles, matched up one with floral with one spot and sewn up. One extra pile of squares made, still no larger quilt as yet.

I'm looking forward to handquilting this one and actually seeing what it'll look like finished, but the chopping and stitching bit bored me to be honest.

Before any handstitching gets under way I've still to make up another four columns and lengthen the ones I've already made. That's fun though working out where every one should go.

Now back to those christmas makes I mentioned before. I pretty much know what I want to make for everyone, but I'm always up for new suggestions.

They're some great present ideas in Mollie Makes Christmas. After Penelope gave me a glowing review of it I decided I needed it too. I popped a copy into my virtual shopping basket alongside Granny Chic and then got all excited waiting for my new books. I'm really glad I did as the pictures and print are a delight alongside some great ideas for christmas makes.

Aswell as paper crafts and knitting things my blogging mate Jane is in there with some of her great how to's. A truly lovely book, full to the brim with great ideas. Just need the time to crack on and I'll be away in my crafty heaven.

Crowning Glory

Back into the same old routines today. Rush from a warm comfy bed and then into the car at 7.30 to to do two separate school runs. All three were envious I had Monday off, but they weren't envious about my trip to the dentist. Chewing gum last week one of my teeth fell to bits (which was a bit worrying at the time). I need a crown apparently, never had one of those so that'll be a first won't it.

After all the drilling, poking and prodding I finally got home to start the lovely part of the day and get on with Little Bun's dress. Her class are visiting the North Norfolk Railway this week for an evacuee day and she needs to dress the part. We have a thrifted elderly cardigan, gingham ribbons, grey socks, a white blouse and very nearly one warm soft cord dress.

I used the same pattern that I made Miss Rosey a dress from in the summer for this dress. I just needed to size it down as I went along to fit a smaller girly. I loved fiddling about to make just the right label. A small bit of Liberty cotton, green lace and a vintage French monogram label and I was done.

I bound the armholes in some vintage green binding I found in my trims tin. I'm thrilled with the contrast and how it softens the darkness of the black cord.

I still need to add a zip and hem the bottom, but that'll have to wait until Wednesday night (cutting it fine as always). All the same I know the dress actually fits Little Bun which is an absolute plus. I love making clothes, but I find it slightly stressful alongside the pleasure I get from it. As I go along I keep wondering if it will actually fit or if I'm going to cock it up. Many things have been thrown into the disaster pile. This dress shouldn't be one of them as I made it to suit the period, but in a fashionable enough shape so Little Bun will actually wear it .

Popping the cardigan over the top I was so pleased with the overall look, The colours work really well together.

I spent the rest of the day catching up with the Bubblegum Blanket. I decided to stitch a few squares together so I'd have an idea of how big it would be.

Choosing different colour combinations and seeing how they work together is the best bit for me. After having an idea in my head for a while, it's great when it starts to become a real thing.

Two rows nearly done, only another 12 to go and we'll have something much needed to snuggle under. I'm determined to keep going with this one until the end.