Another beautiful magazine

This morning I thought I would share with you another beautiful 'must have' magazine that I bought while I was in town shopping the other day.

It is the latest issue of 'Your Handmade Home' which is published by Immediate Media Co and it has some fabulous projects inside.... I love those little egg cosies on the front cover and the cupcake fabric pots and the hearts and just everything....!!

Luckily, it is another lovely sunny day here today so, I should have a moment or two in the garden later to sip a cup of coffee and enjoy looking through it!!

Enjoy your day whatever it brings!! x

Side-tracked again!

I know I said that I would be working on block two of my version of 'Mrs Beasley's sampler quilt' (designed by Leanne Beasley) this weekend but, I am afraid that I got side-tracked again.

I just couldn't resist the temptation to start another little embroidered block for framing.  The photographs of these two little patterns by Mountain Patchwork in the latest edition of Simply Vintage magazine were just too appealing!!

I sorted out some more scraps from my box of Tilda fabrics and cut out the strips for the Log Cabin block.

The strips and squares of fabric are really quite small, so I had to pay a lot of attention to get the seam allowances correct when I was sewing them together. 

I just took it slowly and carefully and I was happy with how it all came together.

The block is now all pieced together and I have transferred across the embroidery details. 

I followed the pattern as shown in the magazine except, I added one extra border to make the block to be framed slightly larger. It will also give me a little more fabric to hoop when I work on the embroidery.

I just have to complete the stitching.  It shouldn't take too long, so I should be able to show you the finished project later in the week.  Until then, I hope you have time to enjoy some stitching too!!

Gradually adding a few stitches....

After being side-tracked a couple of times by other projects such as, miniature crochet and pretty embroidered blocks, I have returned to stitching block two of the 'Mrs Beasley's Sampler Quilt' designed by Leanne Beasley and being published over four issues of her Vignette magazine.

I am getting nearer to finishing it and hopefully this weekend will manage to put the last touches to it.

I don't think that some of the letters being stitched in a different colour of thread is too noticeable. Looking forward now to the next issue of Vignette and the next block!

Thank you very much for visiting me and have a wonderful weekend!!!

A new stitching project....

Hello! This morning I am excited to share with you my latest stitchery project!! After having a good read of the new magazine, Simply Vintage, which I mentioned last time, I was inspired by one of the articles to get started on a new project! Actually, I was inspired by most of the articles but, this particular article I decided to do something about!!  The projects featured in the article were designed by Mountain Patchwork and, are two charming mini quilted and then framed patchwork blocks.  As I had also seen a Mountain Patchwork mini quilt when I was visiting a friend in the USA a few years ago and loved it then too, I couldn't resist having a look at the Mountain Patchwork website and found some more equally irresistible patterns there. 

Well, I immediately delved into my favourite Tilda fabric scraps and started to cut out some pieces.  I decided not to use the exact pattern from the magazine but to use a more simple nine-patch block as, I am not always very good at sewing small pieces together accurately.

I added a little appliqued heart to the centre, improvised the embroidery and, using the  nine-patch block set on point, which appears in another beautiful  Mountain Patchwork pattern called 'Garden Gate' and, which is available on the Mountain Patchwork website, made a mini quilt which is now almost ready to be framed. 

The simpler nine-patch block allowed me to use slightly larger pieces of fabric for this first project but, now that I have given it a try, I am going to make some more mini quilts using the patterns in the magazine too.

The look of the quilt is quite different from the Mountain Patchwork style because of the different fabrics I have used but I am really pleased with how it is looking.

I still have a few more stitches to finish off and then I will find a frame for it. Incidentally, Mountain Patchwork carry the perfect style of frame to use with this type of project in their online shop, so I will probably be ordering one (or three) from there!

Still no time for stitching.....

There has still been no time here for working on any stitching projects.  I have had some contractors in the house doing repairs and taking measurements which has disrupted things.  It is good to have the conservatory roof repaired though as it means that it shouldn't leak any more!!!

They also brought some new motors for the ceiling blinds in the room I use for my sewing which means that I shouldn't be so hot in there on sunny days, which is also a good thing!

Luckily, whilst I haven't been able to sew I have had plenty of reading material.  I had those lovely magazines that I shared with you in my last post and then this morning this beautiful magazine came through the letterbox.

I love 'Simply Vintage' magazine and when I saw that this next issue was out I just couldn't resist ordering it!!  Thank you Patchwork Chicks for getting it to me so quickly!!

I can already see from the projects on the cover that I am going to find something I want to make inside!!

New magazines....

Hello! I don't have any sewing or crochet projects to show you today as I haven't had much time for sewing or crochet this weekend! It was a busy but fun weekend as we travelled to see my Mum and Dad and joined other family members to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday.  It was lovely to see everyone, especially those that we only see now and again.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves which was really nice.

Mollie Makes Issue 41

As I have been busy, I haven't had the chance to show you these two lovely magazines which I bought recently. Actually, I haven't had time to read them yet either!!  Maybe this week...?  As I have had them sitting here a little while, I have to tell you they may not be the latest editions but, I can tell you they do have lots of fun creative projects in them!

Prima Makes Issue 3

It is a lovely sunny day here today and I hope you are enjoying some sunshine wherever you are too!!

More miniature crochet...

Following on from my last post, it was of course impossible to stop at just the miniature crocheted turtles.  I also found a You Tube video tutorial at Happy Berry Crochet for a very tiny little mouse.

Here is one I have since made and, I think you will agree with me that he is rather cute (even if I do say so myself!)  But, I couldn't stop at just one....

I also thought I would give a miniature owl a try.

For the owl I used the same crochet pattern which I have used before which, I found on the Hopscotch Lane blog but, I scaled it down a little in size.  

So the last few evenings I have had fun making all these cute little critters and the crochet family has grown!

Crochet is a good thing to be doing right now as, all of my (grown) children are at home from university and the house is full so, it is not as easy to slide off to my sewing room as it is when I am here alone.  Sitting and chatting with them whilst crocheting miniature creatures is a nice way to spend some time!!  

Thank you for visiting me and I wish you a happy weekend!

What did I do with my new yarn?

Would you like to know what I did with the new yarn I mentioned in my last post? Well, I was browsing through pinterest recently and I found some really cute pins showing projects made in miniature or micro crochet and I just knew I had to make some!!  I did some research on the subject and learned that it was better to gradually reduce the size of the items that I was going to crochet as it is quite a leap to go from an ordinary size hook to a teeny tiny one.... especially if you need reading glasses for everything!!!

I did some more research and I found a lovely website called Happy Berry Crochet where there are all sorts of lovely crochet patterns and tips and, the most fantastic tutorial videos on you tube showing how to make some VERY cute little projects.

I just had to give them a try and this weekend I got started!  Here are the cuties I have made so far but, I have a feeling I will be making many more!!!

On the left of this photo is the hook (4.00 mm) that I crocheted my little owls with, the middle hook (2.50 mm) is the one I have used for the little green and purple turtles and on the right is the teeny, tiny hook (0.75 mm) that I am hoping to use for a future micro crochet project!! 

I used a hook size in between (3.50 mm) for the little blue turtle (who is a little bit bigger) as, I was using yarn I already had and, it was too thick for the 2.50 mm hook.  Aren't they a cute little family?!!

Two steps forward, one step back...

This week I have had a little time to add a few more stitches to block two of my 'Mrs Beasley's Sampler Quilt' project.  Mrs Beasley's Sampler Quilt is a pretty four-block quilt designed by Leanne Beasley and, is being published in Vignette magazine over four issues.  I am keen to get the stitching on this block finished now as I have a feeling that Vignette Issue 12 which, will have the instructions for the next block, is going to be out soon and on its way here!!

I have managed to stitch the little bunch of berries and I started work on the letters of the alphabet only to realise that I am not going to have enough of the thread that I am using. Unfortunately, as this is just some thread that I happened to have in my thread box and, it was wound onto a plastic bobbin for storage, I'm not sure of the number or even which make of thread it is.

I popped to a local shop which stocks DMC threads and found something as close as possible to the colour I have been using.

It is not an exact match although in some lights it looks closer than at other times.  I am hoping that it will be close enough.  Fingers crossed or I will be unpicking the letters I have done so far!!

While I was at the thread shop, I did find some crochet yarn which I have an idea for but, that is for another day.....

My Christmas in July!

Of recent years I have found that the time has really started to fly past so, I have decided to try and be a bit more organised this year and start stitching early for Christmas!!  As I need a new project to get started on now that I have finished my cushion, I thought I would have my own version of the Southern Hemisphere's 'Christmas in July'.

It helps that I have just received this cute little book that I ordered.  It is written by Gail Pan and called 'Simply Christmas 2014'.

Gail wrote a lovely book like this last year called 'Simply Christmas 2013' but, although I have a copy of that too, I left it too late and didn't get round to making anything from it!!  This year is going to be different!!  I think I will probably try and make something from both books to make up for not making anything last year!