Forgotten, then rediscovered.

About six years ago, I came across a lovely, soft corduroy material that was exactly what I wanted at the time for a baby blanket.

I bought enough for two, making a blanket for my friend, Mar, who was expecting her first child, and then beginning work on my own.  Graeme and I had begun trying for kids at that point, and I had no reason to think that I wouldn’t soon be in the family way.  I spent hours on this blanket, and I think it is some of the finest quilting I have ever done.

The years went by and no pregnancy ensued.  The blanket was packed away and mostly slipped from memory (mostly on purpose).  But, today, I came across it, again.  And, today, I was justified in pulling it out, shaking it off, and taking pleasure in it for the first time in years.

 

More fabric fun

Fawn Defies Mother and Eats Red Mushrooms. “And then, like, there were hundreds of me and hundreds of those little, tiny, red mushrooms and everything was blue.”

 

Sewing Rule #1

Don’t eat chocolate while sewing.

Really.  Don’t.

 

Welcome to my (current) addiction.

Ladies and gentleman…

Family and friends…

Welcome to my current addiction.

Welcome to my Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cryscrys

 

Nameless, but not homeless.

Please say hello to the latest addition to our house.

Isn’t she lovely?  This is the bear made from the antique quilt.  The one I couldn’t have cut up.  Ever.  However, I’m so very glad that Mrs Mutterer could.

Fluffy, however, isn’t too sure he agrees.

Um. Can we have a talk?

Would you like to see more of Mrs Mutterer‘s Bears?

(And who wouldn’t?)

(Except for my husband and other people who’d rather look at things with engines or electronicy bits rather than cute and cuddly.)

(Yes, electronicy is a real word. )

(Not really, but I say Shakespeare isn’t the only one allowed to make up new words.)

More lovely, beautifully stitched bears can be found at Bubs Bears, here.

 

The Winners!

If you remember, Mrs Mutterer from Mutterings from the Moor held a craft raffle to raise money for Cancer Research UK.  There were some really great crafts donated (and I don’t think Mrs Mutter would mind me borrowing one of her collage pictures to showcase some of them).  The results of the raffle were posted at the end of May and £318 was raised, so a big THANKS! to everyone who donated, and a congratulations to Jenny who won a hot water bottle and a cover made by moi.

 

Latest project

A colleague saw my book covers, liked them, then, when she saw this wonderful Robert Kaufman material (which I showed off to all the ladies when it arrived at work, coz hubby pretends to be interested in the completely awesome material I’ve been buying but really isn’t), she asked if I could make a clothespeg holder (a.k.a., clothespin holder) for her friend.  I said, “umm…maybe?  I don’t know.”  And then I sat on it for a fortnight, mulling it over in my head.  And then, many hours and several days later…

Sewn by hand, again, since I still haven’t pulled my machine out of the storage container whence lies 90% of our household goods.   At the time I was making it, I couldn’t see myself making another one, but I must say I’m completely chuffed with the end result, so who knows?  There are still a few niggly bits I need to work out should I make another one, like the reinforcement around the edges of the hole…That could definitely have been done better.   Of course, like the HWB cover, I won’t know for sure what else needs changed until I use it myself.  (Click on the pictures for a more defined photo.)

 

HWBC Mark II

Remember the How happy am I post where I showcased this lovely material?

Here’s a preview of some of the finished book and hwb covers (click on pictures for better definition):

I’m happier with these than the earlier versions.  It’s the stitching around the edges; it makes them looked finished and — well — more professional, I guess.   I’ve also added plastic snaps to the HWB covers, because I found that just tucking the flap in doesn’t work; it comes untucked about half-way through the night and then you’re cozying up to warm rubber–which some people are okay with, but it isn’t up my alley, doesn’t tickle my fancy.  Umm…isn’t my thing.

“Wait.  More professional, Crystal?  That’s a funny way of putting it.  Why would you choose that word in particular?”

My answer? Not telling.  Not yet.  Once again…watch this space.

 

Dig Deep for Cancer Research

Abby from Mutterings from the Moor and Bubs Bears fame has a Bloggers’ Fundraising Raffle up and running. She and her blogging friends want to raise money for Cancer Research UK and, to give you an incentive to help them reach their target, they are going to enter anyone who donates into a raffle for some beautiful items that they have made. One of the prizes is this cute teddy bear, other photos of prizes will be added to the fundraising page once the prizes have been made!!

http://www.justgiving.com/Abby-and-friends

Just click on the picture to be taken to the fundraising page.

[Note: donations can be made from outside the UK as long as you have a credit card. The donations will be in £ Sterling and your credit card company may charge extra fees for international transactions.]

* * * * *

Now she needs help from all you lovely people out there! Please,

• if you have a blog, please write a post about this and add a link to her Just Giving page where people can donate and enter the raffle. Ask them to please read the blurb carefully as there are a couple of important points there regarding Gift Aid etc. According to the rules, as this is a raffle, it is NOT seen as a freewill donation so Gift Aid CANNOT be claimed. So please make this clear otherwise donations may be returned and the charity will lose out;
• if you blog about it, ask others to blog about it too. Feel free to use any photo or text from this post if you want.
• make a small donation. Even if it’s only £1, it all goes to a fantastic cause;
• if you are a maker, crafter, photographer…consider donating a prize towards the raffle. It doesn’t have to be huge, just something you have made. If you can offer something, please email Abby at abby@bubsbears.com;
• tell all your friends on Facebook, Twitter or any other site you belong to about her raffle.

 

How happy am I?

These lovely swatches of material arrived in the post and I can’t wait to start working on them! What will I be doing with them?  Just wait and see.