I have decided that I may make a couple of quilts and see if I can sell them in my online shop through Creative Stores. So here is a peek at my latest tumbler quilt its made using the brown and teal fabrics  I made my recent fence rail quilt out of. I am in the process of quilting it so I will post a photo when its finished. I also have some really cute Bella Nickle fabric cut out for the next one so watch this space. Now finished.

This clock was bought for us many many years ago and I love it beccause it chimes every 15 minutes but when we moved into this house which is new and modern with all white walls and paintwork we also went for Oak doors and furniture and my husband said the clock didn’t look right in the house and wanted to give it away. I said no I will do something with it, its been hung in the hallway now for some time so I decided this weekend I would paint it. I bought some Annie Sloan chalk paint and wax which I have not used before I bought two tester sized pots one in Duckegg Blue and one in Pure White and light wax. So last night I decided to take the clock to pieces and paint it in duck egg blue. I didn’t do any preparation apart from wiping the outside of the clock with a damp cloth. I applied 2 thin coats neat to the clock but I found the chalk paint to be quit thick so after asking for advice on the net I thinned out the paint for my last coat with water and it went on a dream. I left it to dry in between coats and then later on last night I applied the wax with a cloth and left it. This morning I have buffed it and put it back together, I also came across this little heart while I was out shopping yesterday and it is a similar colour to the paint so I have put a small hook in the bottom of the clock to hang it from. The inside looks dark in the photo but it has been painted. I think it has turned out great. Before After

Well this afternoon I decided I would give my machine a bit of an MOT. I cannot remember when I last did this but it wasn’t a very long time ago. I had the radio on and set too it. Don’t be afraid to take your machine apart its simple, they soon get furred up with bits of thread and lint. My machine came with a small cleaning brush and a screwdriver but I need to use a penny to unscrew the plate that sits over the feed dogs. Just take the parts off in order usually a silver plate the sits over the feed dogs, then possibly a plastic cover and then theres a shuttle I think its called that your bobbin sits in. Once these are all off you can start to de fluff your machine you will be surprised what comes out. Clean everything out, wipe over the outside of the machine with a damp cloth or baby wipe which is what I used, replace the needle if its not been changed for a long time then re assemble in reverse order This is what came out of mine! Once your machine is all back together just do some sewing on a scrap of fabric to make sure everything is ok, thats all there is to it

The one on the left is made from my Clarke & Clarke fabric and the one on the right is a Cath Kidstonsample I had, both lined with felt and fasten with velcro

I cannot go any further with the tumbler I posted yesterday as I need fabric for the borders and I am snowed in. So I decided to use some other pre cut fabric I have which are 5×5 squares and some plain white which I have cut to 5×5 and I have followed a quarter square triangle tutorial from the Missouri Star quilt company, this is very easy and they all virtually line line. Here are the ones Ive made so far and the video is below.

Well today I have had my first go at free standing lace (FSL) as its also know. I bought this design off the internet as it looked a simple design. I used three layers of water soluble embroidery stabiliser and it was fine.  I may not have needed three layers but as it was my first attempt I wanted to make sure it was stable. Anyway I had this ‘H’ Pennant which was my test project before stitching out the Fine Cake Company bunting last week so I decided to use my FSL with it and make a little pennant.

Well my husband has been building a raised bed in the last few weeks on and off dodging the weather and this week he started to backfill it so that we could put some top soil on it and we could start to add summer bedding. The other day when he was adding more backfill he asked if we had been digging in it and both my daughter and I said no why would we do that he said a hole had appeared and he then wondered if something may be living it in or digging for some reason, we both thought he was mad. So yesterday he put more top soil in and last night I went out and started to rake it and get rid of any stones and twigs, so I know when I had finished it was flat. This morning I checked it and it was fine. So today I have been sat out on my balcony and out of the corner of my eye I catch sight of a wild rabbit in my garden below nothing unusual there we are surrounded by fields and hills anyway he sat a while then went back into the bushes. He came out a few minutes later and started across the garden again this time looking up the side towards the front and off he disappeared, that was about 90 minutes ago. I decided I would bing all the summer bedding out and put it in place ready for planting so I placed some of it out and went into my office to do some work. Guess what appeared and started digging in the same place as where the hole was the other day? The first photo shows the raised bed from my office window, the second two show a rabbit if you look carefully just behind the daisy like flowers. Sorry about the wheelie bin if I had know was was going to appear I wouldn’t have left it there. I am going to have to leave him his whole and just plant around it I think.

I made this the other night but not had time to post it. It’s fully lined with calico and has a little snap fastener.

Ok so I run a sewing group, we have only been going a few weeks and this was the little project I showed last night.

Ok I have not crafted for ages using my Pazzles I am still waiting for Pazzles to produce software that I can use with my Apple iMac. but I have the software installed on a windows laptop so Ive had a bit of a play today. The bird and swirl are a file I created some time ago I have used the bird on a quilt I made last year, so I made him bigger. I applied heat n bond ultra to my fabric and then cut out the design with my Pazzles I used the stiffened fabric setting in the control panel but I upped my pressure. All I had to do them was peel off the backing from the heat n bond and iron it onto the oven cloth. I used a blanket stitch setting on my sewing machine for decoration. They look different colours but the first one was taken when the sun was shining, the second one is the true colour.

Here is the tutorial for the storage bin. Click Here for Storage Bin tutorial.

Well we bought the CK fabric yesterday and its lovely, the next time you see it, it should be made into 2 roman blinds.