Quilty Heaven

  Well, what an exciting weekend that was, hope everyone had as much fun as I did, all will be revealed....did I get up to mischief.?......Me......as if I would...😉

I always love it when the Quilt & Stitch village comes to Uttoxeter. Getting to spend a fun day with my favourite ladies 

Enjoying a bit of hand-sewn happiness, lovely little tulips,

Seeing some amazing quilted creations

 

 

 

   Waterlily pond by Lorean Ellison

                                               

 

 

Japanese Dolls by Sue Ward

 

Koi by  Keta Jones

Sand in the Wind by Gunsu Gungor

And a bit of embroidery elegance

I wish I had managed to get the names of all these lovely creators but alas in my haste to see everything I simply forgot.

I can say that these wonderful creations were steeped with loving care and hopefully one day I can be on par with them.

What a fabulous day we all had. I'm already looking forward to next years Quilt & |stitch village at Uttoxeter Racecourse.

Hugs & Happy thoughts

Buffy xx

Your head is where the Hapiness is (or coping with Adulting)

I mentioned on wednesday that I was out of sorts and was going to enter 2 competions next year, to prove to myself that I can go out into the big wide world too.

For those of you that don't know me you are probably thinking, aah she's a stay-at-home mum. Well, NO, I've worked most of my adult life and only gave up a few years ago to improve my health and help my eldest daughter with my granddaughter.(Bundle of joy and mischeif, slightly old photo, she's nearly 3 now)

I just find more and more that I'm not me anymore, so this is now my new journey of discovery, and you are welcome to join me.

I have had real troubles with being creative recently and that is definitely NOT normal for me. And that is when I heard the alarm bell ring "NOT normal for me".

Most of us go about our lives with the odd alarm bell going off but we carry on and ignore it, and that is a thing I have done in the past to. When we're younger life is hectic and busy and full of all sorts of things that don't always allow us to stop and take note of ourselves. 

The big question is "Do you hear yourself sometimes?" 

Now I don't mean a comment you have made to someone that maybe you shouldn't, I mean YOU do you hear YOU?

 Because if we listen every now and then, we will hear ourselves say "this isn't normal for you". 

And it's not talking about you doing some extreme activity or streaking through the cricket match with your top off 

(no, sorry to disappoint but I've never done that, I'm affraid an over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder is required at all times 🙈),

 it's talking about all the little things you love but you're not doing. The things that normally bring you joy.

SO.....challenges were needed......hence

Quilt & Stitch Village contest

&

Foundations Revealed competion

 

I entered the Quilt & Stitch village last year ( this post ) but I don't think I put my whole heart into it, but this time it has to be. I would so love to win a ribbon (a third place would be fabulous, I'm not greedy).

The hardest part of any challenge is where to start, for those of you who follow my blog you'll know I  have a little design book where I make scratchy sketches of what I want to make. Show you those next friday.

OUT IN THE BIG WORLD part I - Then comes the "finding fabric" part of it, I was hoping to go to Abakhan in Stoke-on-Trent yesterday with my sister-in-law (she's nutty-as-a-fruitcake and I love her to bits), unfotunately she got all her times muddled and we couldn't go.  

If you've never been to an Abakhan and there is one nearish to you I highly recommend you go. They have bins of off-cuts that you purchase by weight and I can honestly say, I've found some fabulous bargains.

So I trotted along to The Sewing Barn, just off the A52 near Ashborne. It was a lovely little shop

Daughters room is Kiwi Crush and Javan Dawn 3 (blue and green for us lesser mortals). I had a colour swatch with me and the lovely lady helped me find these. 

So I'm going to work on my design sketch of how I hope this will look.

BUT REMEMBER - if you aren't doing the little thing that brings you joy then try getting back into it, the world won't stop because you decided to spend an hour doing something that bring calmness and joy into your day/week.

And if motivation to do that thing is the problem then enter a challenge/contest/competion. Maybe it's just the motivation you need. Plus doing something that scares you is highly liberating and deeply satisfying.

If you like the idea of making this a regular sharing post then leave a comment below. Together we can achieve anything.

Hugs & Happy thoughts

Buffy xx

Stuck

 It has been a few mildly miserable weeks. I haven't been able to get down to my craft workshop thanks to this.....

Yes I managed to fracture my ankle when I fell out my back door..........

So it has been wonderful to finally get down to my crafty place and get making.

First make..............

A little summer dress for my granddaughter. 

I found the gorgous daisy print light-weight denim when I was at the Quilt & Stitch village (literally a few days before I fell) and I knew it would be prfect for her.

The bodice I created from a dungaree pattern I had (with a few minor adjustments). I fudged a little pocket design and added bright snaps (that just happened to be the same colour as the yellow fabric).

Of course she couldn't have a sun-dress without a hat sooo.......

I really need to iron out that crease.........

I picked up a few other fabrics whilst I was at the Quilt&Stitch village so depending on how this fits her, I will probably have more cute frocks to share shortly.

Off to put my foot up for a bit.

Hugs & Happy Thoughts

Buffy xx

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Quilting Crazy

 As I mentioned in my last post I took the plunge and entered my very first quilt into the Quilt & Stitch village competion.

My friends and I have been going for a few years now but none of us even dreamt of having a go.

But, I decided to make a pact with my friend Dawn, if she made a quilt I would to. 

I honestly thought neither of us would actually go ahead and enter, so when Dawn told me she was entering the traditional quilt catergory (with a Dresden quilt) I nearly fell off my chair.

I'm not the sort to back out of a challege, so it was head down and sketchpad out. Then I remembered I had never made a quilt before and went in search of a few "How to quilt" videos on youtube.

After a lot of swearing, crying, screaming and a few disasters, I fianlly had my quilt completed.

And here it is

 I called it "Dreaming of Japan", I went for the contemporary catergory

we went to Japan a few years ago and we really wanted to go back, but alas the borders got closed, like most places. 

So we are still dreaming.

(this photo was a little blurry so took another when I got it back home)

As I said earlier my friend Dawn also entered, she made a traditional catergory quilt, she called it "Dresden Sunburst"

I really think she did an amazing job. It's so jolly but also has a calmness to it. Anyway I think it's great and she is very proud.

Here are a few more quilt from the show that I really liked (unfortunately I forgot to make a note of all the names) :

 

 

Double Fibonacci by Eleanor Marsden

(I wish I could have taken this home, it satisfied the math/science part of my brain as well as the crafting side)


 

This quilt was called "Farewell Montreal" and was a group quilt put together by  Linda Forey. Each Maple leaf square was created by a different member of the group and given to her when she moved to Britain. (group quilt catergory)

But it is this quilt however that took my breath away

It is made up of tiny squares (about 0.5in) for the main picture, then Sashiko either side. I have searched the shows programme to try and work out the name of this peice and it's creators name but alas I am at an impass.

Just to give a closer look at the fine work that went into this.

 

This quilt was one from the themed catergory "Bring Literature to Life"

Lord of the flies by Marion Ridsdill

I especially like the little touch of dding a pair of damaged glasses to it.

 

 

This quilt was quite fascinating as it was very dimensional

(again I forgot the names)

 

 

 

 

Dawn and I were really proud of ourselves for taking the plunge and entering the competion, we may not have won rosettes but there is always next time 😉

Back soon with more sharing

Hugs & Happy thoughts

Buffy xx

From My Design Table - DnD Dice bag

For my youngest daughters birthday I decided to make her a new Dice Bag.....yes a dice bag!

She's into DnD and has a few different dice sets. But let me share the story of how the bag came to be.

 It starts with an idea - you have no idea if you can pull it off or how to start or if it will work, BUT you carry on and have a go and that's what really counts, having a go. First comes a tatty looking sketch of what you want to make.

This is how everything I have ever shared with you always starts, and yes sometimes even I can't make sense of my scratty little sketches 😂

My pattern making is quite hit or miss, and a project can change several times as it goes.

I also don't own all the fancy dressmaking tools some people may have, so normal household object get drafted in as sewing tools - in this case it a an old record we inherited that was badly scratched and unplayable (yes, we still own a record-player). 

So we have an inner/outer main base plus the bottom support. Maths time, divide 360 by 7?!? no by 8 to give pocket positions. I hope I'm not underestimating how many sets of dice she has.....especially as there are two sets sitting here on my desk (they were on her wish-list from an Etsy company called Luffleberry) 

Pockets - I originally considered just flat ones but as I looked at the dice sets I realised depth was a must. The angles meant figuring out a shape that would hold the sets comfortably (easily get the dice in and out when required). BUT, I want each pocket to have embroidery on it, so I had to trace the pattern that I came up with onto the fabric so I could position it in my embroidery hoop.

The other two pockets were still being embroidered at this point. 

A little press with the iron before top-stitching and attached to the base

To finish the inner base I created a base circle from the outer fabric to add a little contrast. I then quilted the outer fabric.

As I was sew I kept looking over at the inner section, it occurred to me that it looked a bit like a lily-pad, so there was only one thing for it.

It needed a little frog, it was probably also in my mind because my daughter keeps putting the most adorable YouTube clip up on the telly- it's called "Coqui song" (if you get the chance click the link  and go take a peek, it's so cute)

So it was then just sewing the inner and outer together, and adding the drawstring.

Of course I couldn't resist adding a little embroidered bee to the outside.

Well, that's it for the moment. I have to go make the hubby's birthday present now. But I'll be back soon with more sharing and some news on new Scan'n'Cut videos I've been planning to make.

Hugs & Happy Thoughts

Buffy xx

(Wild_Nanna)  😉

Goodbye 2020 (Part 2)

 July - 

  Started the month with homemade Panko pork steaks, I was delighted with how well these turned out.

Then came a lovely zoom crafting session with my friend Tracey and some of the other ladies from our old crafting group.

Homemade Carrot soup with homemade herb bread plait, very tasty.

Closely followed by some cute crochet food

But I think one of my favourite activities had to be the Jennie Rayment online class. I love her style of dimensional sewing, texture through folding. 

It makes a great placemat, I only wish I had more of these fabrics so I could have made a set.

Ah well, I'll start the fabric search.

August - 

August means tutorial time, one of my truly enjoyable activities. Fab'n'Funky challenges take a summer break, so I write a tutorial so our lovely followers have an activity, and I always try to make it family friendly (it is the school holidays after all).

A little bit of dinner experiment, a sort of Japanese style stuff cabbage leaf parcel.

Turned out very nice. One day I'll remember to type up the recipe, especially as I took step by step photo's.

And of course more crochet, to be more precise, more food crochet.

September - 

Christmas cards, buttons and a colouring tutorial (slight mistake but not major), what an interesting month.

Oh and a new cushion for Mawgan's return to Uni. The chairs in the rooms are a little bit uncomfortable, but she decided against taking her gaming chair.

I had to use my embroidery machine on it, I just couldn't resist.

October - 

It finally arrived

I know it doesn't look like much at the moment but my Crafting paradise will be perfect soon. (Hopefully)

Lots of card-making of course

Best part though was preparing for the 500th post at Fab'n'Funky challenges, I had the crazy idea of doing a blog hop for it. I couldn't believe the amount of organising one of those takes, I think everyone was happy with how it went.

Before the month ended we managed to get the She Shed up

November - 

So as I've already mentioned, I entered the Miku costume I made for Mawgan into the 2020 Dressmaker of the Year Competition, in the cosplay section naturally AND it got shortlisted. I've never been so proud!!! Now for the nerve wracking wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What an interesting month this turned out to be. 

A cute little card, of course

Our eldest daughter's maternity leave ended and she returned to work. So every Monday & Friday our gorgeous granddaughter spends the day with us. It is fabulous fun. She & I sing along with Mr. Tumble,  have a wee boogie to music, build blocks as high as possible or any number of messy activities. When it isn't raining we go for a walk to see what wildlife is around.

The She Shed is coming along at a bit of a slow pace but it's getting there.

I gave the internal walls a white wash so it would be bright. Having the front facing south will really help with good lighting and hopefully warmth.

December - 

So after a few days of awful weather I got the outer painting done.

And all the Ikea shelving built. I even got some books moved in. Just needs hooking up to the house and a desktop made.

This lovely cheeky monkey knows how to enjoy her lunch

I'll be damned if I'm not going to let her get grubby.

I'm looking forward to the day she has her own little wellies so we can go jumping in muddy puddles and get filthy.

None of this sterilising crap for my granddaughter 😂

Our youngest daughter came home for Christmas and we started her latest cosplay project

No she's not an elf, this is a game character called May Day from a game called No Straight Roads. This particular costume is from the Christmas DLC. She was a little upset that we no longer had the electric guitar to complete the look.

So that is my review for 2020, pretty much a good year, with only a few not so happy moments.

I hope you had as much joy and fun as we managed.

Love, Hugs & Happy Thoughts 

Buffy xx