bee handmade

surprise

Holy moly, it looks like she's been doing some crafting!

A while ago we bought some Ercol chairs on ebay and then had them recovered. I used some of the leftover fabric to make a new cushion cover for the sofa. I'm really pleased with the result as it makes more sense of the chair fabric in terms of the room as a whole. Using silk for the piping was a bad choice as it kept slipping on the machine but I got there in the end. I love these fabrics, particularly the graphic floral by Clarke & Clarke. I need to think of more uses for it. I'd like to eventually have both Erocl chairs in the same room but that will have to wait for a bigger house (bring on that lottery win).

This episode of sewing was achieved because of the invaluable help of my mum with Lena. The baby finds the sewing machine very amusing but I don't think she would have the patience to be entertained for the whole odyssey! I'm continually amazed by how much crafting some parents seem to manage to fit into their busy lives.

Apologies for the very poor light on the chair pic.

sewing stash

While in Norfolk we purchased a new cabinet. It's now housing my sewing stash more discreetly in our bedroom.

It's not as tidy as I'd like as I had to fit the sorting around looking after the baby and cooking dinner but, embarassingly, I gained an inordinate amount of pleasure from filling it with those piles of fabric. It's a bit of a tight squeeze so no more purchasing for me until I've used up some of my stash. And thanks to my Auntie Sylvia for some new donations. You may be able to spot them in there.

 

labels

Lena loves the labels on toys and studiously practices her dexterity by playing with them. With this in mind I decided to make her a taggy blanket. It's small and portable so should be a handy item to carry around in my ever expanding baby bag.

I used a small square of wool felt and a piece of Liberty tana lawn then hit my stash of ribbons and cut some coordinating pieces. This was all quickly stiched together, along with a sandwiched piece of batting.

I then did a tiny bit of free motion quilting to anchor the two pieces of fabric together.

She seems intrigued already.

Hmm I should have ironed it before taking some pictures!

catch up

The sun is here! May had a lovely time in the garden the other day. As you can see I'm still playing with my Hipstamatic app.

 

We celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's two years already. Crazy. We had a lovely dinner at The French House in Soho, selected because we met there for a drink on our first date. We are about to tuck into steak with bernaise sauce. I really need to get our wedding pictures organised. I still haven't had prints made of any of them. Very slack.

 

I made a cake for a friend's birthday. I deliberated about what flavour to do and settled on a rosewater and pistachio recipe I cut out of a magazine a while ago. Unfortunately I forgot to make a note of where I got it from but I think it may be a Nigel Slater recipe. It was lovely and moist and not too sweet. Looked pretty too.

And finally a picture of some fabric for my next quilting project. I need to collect a few more but I'm pleased with the start. My plan is to do a more traditional square patch quilt on one side and then a free form abstract design on the reverse. I particularly like the second one down on the right. It's from the V&A shop. They don't have a huge selection but I really liked this design and the quality of the cotton is lovely. The others were all ordered from Cotton Patch or ebay.

an NYC taster

I really loved New York. It was fun, friendly, interesting and so much less hassly than London. We had a fabulous time and some really scrumptious food. I swear that I literally expanded my waistline on a day by day basis. We went to a great diner called the Lexington Candy Shop and had delicious french toast while soaking up its 1940s interior.

I really want to eat this RIGHT NOW.

Another gem was Cafe Habana. Unfortunately I was way too busy stuffing my face with their grilled corn to take any pictures but here it is in all its glory on their blog.

The Staten Island ferry journey was full of atmosphere as the New York Yankies had just won the world series.

The view.

Visiting Purl Soho felt like some kind of pilgrimage to a crafting mecca.  It was twinkly, inviting and packed full of gorgeous things.

Last picture for now is Central Park.

I didn't take many pictures with my digital camera so am really looking forward to getting my lomo films developed. Watch this space.

I'm in a crochet hexagon vortex at the moment, hence the lack of crafting news. The blanket will be finished soon. Repeat to self, the blanket will be finished soon.

the big apple: part one

Soooo exciting. I'm in New York City!! I can hardly believe it. I've never been to America before and we are spending a week visiting friends.

My other half got us into the spirit of things by making this New York cheesecake. Apologies for the poor photograph but it was so dark in our kitchen when we were about to tuck into the meringue topped wonder. I was so impressed - how clever was he? This is a man who has never baked before.

I've delivered these to two little ladies.

 

And will be trying with all my might to channel some of this.

 

and this.

 

Wish me luck, I'm now off to have breakfast in a diner. Bring on the pancakes ...

breath of fresh air

It was lovely and sunny this weekend so we went for a walk. After many years I STILL can't get used to how flat it is down south!

Sunny Cambridgeshire.

The top of an old nuclear bunker. The ladder inside was still intact. We obviously didn't venture inside though (far too creepy and probably not allowed).

I also did some crafting. I have an old jumper which I like the shape of but it's hot and not made of natural fibres so positively crackles with static and drives me bonkers.  I bought some eco bamboo jersey from Wazoodle and reinterpreted the design.

It was a pretty steep learning curve as I have never made an item of clothing (not counting doll's clothes when I was a child and crocheted hats and scarves) and have never sewn jersey before. I don't own a serger so after various disastrous experiments with zig zag stitches I called it quits and just used a straight stitch on a rolled hem. I then pleated some narrow ribbon and attached it with straight stitch to embellish the neckline. It's wearable but I think I can improve it so might have another go.

plodding along

Handmade was the order of the day for mother's day cards. I was playing around with some scraps of lace and linen (very thrifty) and made two different designs. I wanted to keep them simple and light.

A chicken.

Some trees. The trunks are made of rick rack which I cut in half.

The pile of crochet hexagons is also growing gradually. Bee likes lying on them.

However I'm being distracted by re watching 'Wives and Daughters'. Love it.

I've also been naughty and purchased MORE craft books. This and this. I'm looking for inspiration for a full sized quilt for the bedrooom and would also like to make the kimono dress in the Heather Ross book. I've never made any clothes before (not counting those made for dolls when I was younger!) so am looking forward to experimenting.

Jakob's baby quilt

A friend of mine had a baby just before Christmas and I decided to create a patchwork quilt for him. Possibly a tall order as I'd never made one before! I don't think people actually use baby quilts and blankets in cots now but he can hopefully use it as a play mat or something.

I knew he was going to be a boy but didn't want to go down the 'blue is for boys' route so opted for a fresh, spring-like colour palette of green, yellow and white. I didn't want it to be too cutesy as new mums seem to be inundated with a range of colours, patterns and styling they wouldn't ordinarily choose.

I assembled the squares to construct the front.

Then came the task of free motion quilting.  I really need to learn how to not inadvertently hold my breath while I'm sewing!  The results are by no means perfect. Some curves err a bit too much toward jagged rather than sweeping but it's getting easier.

The binding was machine sewn then hand finished. It feels like quite a soothing way to complete the project after the more frenetic quilting process.

I finished off by adding a couple of handmade labels incorporating a little bee handmade motif, the baby's initials and some washing instructions.

Ta da - the finished baby quilt.

Front view.

 

Back view.

 

Folded quilt.

I really like how tactile it seems once it's washed. I deliberately didn't prewash the fabrics as the soft, aged effect produced by the fabric puckering really adds to the whole look and feel of the quilt.

Now for a full size version for my own bed.  I have to admit that I was slightly reluctant to post this one off. I hope that Jakob enjoys it.

breath of fresh air

I had the day off work on Friday and P and me went on a little jaunt in the car.  We made for the Norfolk coast and ended up in Cley next the Sea. It was a beautiful day, sunny and breezy. We parked the car and walked through the village, past this

Windmills are so pretty and atmospheric (almost as good as lighthouses) and redolent of another time. You can stay in Clay Windmill and it's only about a 10 minute walk across the reed marshes to the beach. It blew the cobwebs away after a week in the office and the beach was peaceful and quiet.

Now, onto things of a more crafty nature. I've been purchasing some new bits and pieces of fabric from Cotton Patch and Ebay. I have a project in mind that I can't say too much about as it's a surprise for someone but I don't think there is any harm in showing you these.

 

If they don't make me get my machine out I don't know what will!