… a catch-up!

Mar 8th, 2013 1 Comment
Posted in: Home Life, Made by hand

Well, you know it has a while since you last checked into your blog, when you find 650 comments in the ‘spam’ folder! Wow, thank you, blog builders, for inventing spam filters!

Yes, it has been a while, and here is a little peek of the good things that have been keeping me busy …

… some fabric shopping …

new fabric

… I found this little bundle of prettiness in a local antique centre, although these all seem to be pretty modern and unused to me, they were certainly a bargain!

I have also been busy at the sewing machine, stitching up a little mountain of fabric baskets …

Fabric baskets

… fifteen of which will be winging their way up the M6 to a lovely gallery where they will be part of an exhibition running from March through to June … more about that in the next week or so!

And in stitching up a little mountain of baskets, I found myself with a growing pile of scrappy squares, which were cut from each basket to make the pattern … and not being one to throw fabric away … I found myself stitching the little scrappy squares into strips …

Patchwork strips

… which look a bit like this …

Patchwork strips

… I am so in love with the whole mustard – teal – grey combo at the moment, these just make my heart sing! I’m not sure yet what they will become, but the combinations of vintage and modern, textures and patterns mean they won’t be sitting in the ‘to do’ pile for too long!

Any ideas?

I have also been lucky enough to have the time to enjoy our local annual film festival …

Blackmail by Alfred Hitchcock

… especially exciting for me, was viewing Blackmail, a silent film made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1929, which was screened with a live Piano Accompaniment by Stephen Horne … it was full of all the melodramatic glances, and staged poses, held for the camera which silent films are known for, but to have the pianist sitting just metres away, improvising the musical score as he viewed the film, and even throwing in a bit of flute playing for the mournful bits, was wonderful!

Before I leave you, I just want to share a warm welcome with my newest subscribers, thank you for joining this little corner of cyberland … I do usually blog every week, and am very happy to have you here … my recent absence is a mere hiccup.

 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. And a very Happy Mothers’ Day to all the British Mommas reading.

 

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… this and that

Feb 13th, 2013 4 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand

Lately, I’ve been doing a bit of this …

linen and vintage cotton fabric baskets

… I am loving the linen and vintage cotton together …

… and quite a lot of that …

HST block quilt

… good news is, this quilt is now quilted – at last – and today I am on a mission to bind it!

Just wanted to share ~ because grown ups like to ‘show and tell’ too!

 

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… step by step

Jan 15th, 2013 7 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand

I am making a quilt … step by step …

… remember these?

Nine HST quilt blocks

Well, I have now completed all twelve blocks … one for each month of 2012 … and I am at the stage of stitching them together … which involves spending at least an hour crawling around on the floor …

… placing, tweaking, matching and much hmm-ing and ha-ing … to decide upon the ‘perfect’ arrangement of blocks and borders …

… eventually – I think I got it!

Excuse the wonky photo … I have now sewn the patterened border – or sashing, as I think it is known in quilting circles – onto each of these blocks, and today I will stitch the blocks together to make a quilt top. Hoorah!!

Step by step, and I will make a quilt!

 

In other news ~ I had a lovely message about my blog this morning, which has really brightened my day ~ more about that on Friday!

Hope the sun is shining as brightly for you today as it is here.

 

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… unpicking, restarting … finding a new way!

Oct 1st, 2012 4 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand

This quilt …

patchwork quilt in progress

… is a work in progress. It has been at this stage for about a year now. Folded neatly in the bottom of my sewing box, out of sight, out of mind.

All was going well, until I started the quilting part, the bit which stitches all three layers together … at that stage it all started to go a bit wrong, the fabric was puckering, the quilting stitches were uneven, the gingham backing with all it’s straight lines highlighted every flaw in the not-so-straight lines of my stitching. And so, it was put to one side … and left.

Unpicking seams of quilt

Until last Friday ~ when I started unpicking the bits I wasn’t happy with … it is time to get this one right … mainly because, over the summer I have stitched up two other quilt tops and backs, and have been holding off on quilting them because of the unresolved difficulties in this one!

And as I sat, unpicking the threads, stitch by stitch …

Unpicking seams

… pondering in my head the different ways I could resolve this little challenge … it came to me, that so very often, sewing is the perfect metaphor for life.

 

Wishing you all a productive Monday ~ and a happy week.

 

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… inspiration

Aug 8th, 2012 4 Comments
Posted in: Home Life

I don’t know about you, but I am finding the London Olympics so inspirational. I am feeling in awe of the work, the years of training, the dedication and commitment of the athletes. The wonders of human achievement and the rewards of hard work. but it is not just the winners, the gold medals, but also the stories, the team work and the beauty of human ability which has moved me.

I have also been inspired this week ~ in a very different way ~ by this beautiful magazine …

Love Patchwork magazine

… which I treated myself to. I was drawn to those bright colours, full of joy and happy. And page after page of vibrant cheerfulness …

Love Patchwork magazine article

… I am usually quite conservative in my use of colour ~ choosing tones and coordinates in just one or two shades ~ but these beautiful creations are making me want to mix it up a bit more ~ zing up my zest levels …

Love Patchwork magazine article

… and it is full of new ideas too ~ like this chair cover made from old handkerchiefs and scarves …

Love Patchwork magazine

… and this gorgeous piece of patchwork made from reclaimed teatowels and curtains … loving that vintage feel!!

I am now going to be scouring the local charity shops not just for vintage sheets, but tea-towels, head scarves, handkerchiefs … in fact anything with colour in it!!

So, all in all, the air feels alive with possibility ~ the taste of success is palpable ~ and a drive to keep going, keep going, keep going and try something new, is pushing me on. Do you feel it too?

 

Oh, oh ~ nearly forgot, just a little reminder that lemon loves is now on facebook ~ there’s a linky button top right ~ come over and give my page a ‘like’!

 

 

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… facebook!

Aug 6th, 2012 4 Comments
Posted in: Made by hand, News

Oh yes – I do love facebook – so much so I thought it was time for lemon loves to get in on the action … and so I have created a dedicated lemon loves page which you can find right here! And if there is not already a button to the right of this post ~ it will be there very soon. Please drop in and give me some ‘likes’ … the more the merrier!

I will be using the facebook page to share what is going on with this blog ~ with my little making adventures ~ and with the journey towards setting up an online shop … so much good stuff to be excited about right now!!

In other news ~ I have been up to a little stitchery this weekend ~ do you want a peep …

sewing strips for a quilt top

In the pink quilt top ~ detail

In the pink quilt top ~ detail

In the pink quilt top ~ detail

Yes! A quilt in the making ~ and I’m calling it the ‘In the Pink’ quilt …

“The earliest citations of ‘in the pink’ are from the 16th century and, at that time, the meaning was ‘the very pinnacle of something’, but not necessarily limited to health.” (www.phrases.org.uk).

… because that seems to sum up not only how I am feeling, but the general olympic inspired mood that is all around at the moment! Good huh!

I’m really pleased with how it is going so far ~ the squares are a technique I spotted on a number of quilts on Flickr and worked out how to replicate with my trusty paper and pen. The fabrics are a mix of vintage, reclaimed and new pieces which seem to work together rather well. It just needs a back, some padding – or batting as the experts call it – and a little bit of something gorgeous to edge it with …

… a work in progress, but one I am rather proud of.

Wishing you all a very happy Monday.

 

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