Tree Fall

As I was heading out the door yesterday in my new skirt, I mentioned to Jim that if we had time I'd like to pop in to a few shops to try and find a new scarf. I tend to stick to a plain black pashmina type of scarf most days, but it's just so boring and I've been wanting to get something a little more interesting - especially as most of my winter clothes are grey or black and as I get older I realise more and more that a little colour really does make all the difference ( I sound like a middle aged woman.. oh wait...). That said, we didn't get to any shops yesterday and so I didn't get to look for anything new.

But then late last night I was catching up with a little bit of blog reading and read this post, which left me nodding in absolute agreement and thinking about the amount of times that it just hasn't occurred to me to Make. It. Myself.

A little bit later I was reading about Blair's new scarf and how she Made. It. Herself......

and.... EUREKA!

I can be just a little slow off the mark sometimes, although in all fairness, it was midnight by this point and I was a little tired. Moments later however, I pulled out some gorgeous linen that I've been saving, cut two long strips, about 13" wide, stitched them together, right sides facing, left the selvedge edges raw and hey presto, a new scarf.

Who'd have thought that all this sewing would come in handy one day!

(Wearing it at 1am. A little tired.)

I find that I wear skirts and dresses in the winter months a lot more than the summer months, because I'm big on tights and not so much on bare legs (eeek). This is my new wool skirt teamed with my favourite teal tights - if you're in the UK and looking for coloured tights that are thick enough for winter (well autumn anyway) but not woolly, then try Gap, I'm loving the colours and the fact that they're not too sheer.

We all managed to venture out briefly today, just so that Bella could get her face painted at Borders (she stunned everyone to begin with by asking for her face to be painted like a pig!!) and have a hot chocolate. We had planned to stay out for lunch but it became evident pretty quickly that no one had the energy or patience to really commit to it, so we cut it short and came back home instead for a day of tv watching, reading and sewing.

These Tupperware cups sit on the sideboard in our front room. I didn't think there would ever be a day when I would display old Tupperware as ornaments, but there you go, we love them and they look great. They have also been the inspiration for my 'mixed' colourway - 'mixed' as in non gender specific - as in quilts, bunnys and playmats etc for boys or girls.

This is a single size quilt that will soon be available in a few different shops. This photo was taken whilst it was still hanging on my felt design wall, before it was stitched together.

This size of quilt is slightly problamatic when working in such a small studio, so much so that I haven't been able to lie it or even hang it flat yet. And I've yet to find a space in the house that's big enough to allow me to baste it! Although once the kitchen's finished (hahahahahahaha!) they'll be enough space in there . In the mean time I'm going to have to move sofa's around in the front room in order to make enough space. Darn those girls for stealing my large studio right from under me!

Life around here has been running true to form lately, with yet more hospital stays and more illnesses. This time though , and just to really keep us on our toes, the hospital stay was with Lily rather than Bella. After waking up with a sore throat and cough last weekend, it became apparent pretty quickly that she was really not ok and after listening to her breathing over the phone the doctor called an ambulance! Bella was very jealous - for all her hospital stays, she's never been rushed in in an ambulance (just a car driven by speeding  mummy!).
She's doing much better now, but is still not herself (it's viral croup) and had to miss her first two days at nursery, which is a shame, but can't be helped. I really am hoping that she'll feel well enough to go on Monday though.

I designed and made this quilt almost a year ago but up until a couple of days ago hadn't actually seen it in all that time.  Which has meant that unlike most of my work I am able to view this almost impartially rather than only being able to see all the faults because it was made by me - I know you know what I'm talking about.

That's not to say I can't still see the faults, because I can. The machine freehand quilting is more than a little iffy in places (it was my first real attempt) and it was before I discovered the true, true joy of continuous binding, but apart from that it's ok. Not great, but ok.

I have to say that I had forgotten until I saw it again, just how much I love quilts with predominantly white backgrounds and must make another one. I've also been surprised to find that I prefer the back to the front (the pic above is of the quilt back).

It's obviously a very simple design (intended for beginners in the magazine that it was published in), but I like the fact that it's so quick and easy to put together and since you can make it from a charm pack of fabrics and a few fat quarters, it's nice and cheap too. I'm going to be posting the pattern for it in the next few weeks, just in case any beginner quilters want to give it a go.

And in the meantime, my youngest child seems to have claimed it for her own. Like she needs more quilts....

I started working on my vintage collection a few months back. I've been collecting the fabrics for a long time, but it wasn't until recently that they started to really catch my eye and that I started thinking about how to use them.

Like everyone,  I go through phases and am drawn to specific prints or colourways almost to the exclusion of all others, before a new print or colour catches my eye and that creeps in and suddenly becomes the only fabric I really want to work with.

With this collection though it's been a little different, because although all of a sudden I found myself drawn to the more muted colours of the vintage fabrics, it hasn't signaled a complete shift in my tastes. But has actually meant that I've been able to design two seperate collections at the same time - my TreeFall Vintage range which sits alongside my TreeFall Fresh range, (using my normal fresh, bright prints and colourways).

I've found it quite exciting exploring the differences in the collections and have enjoyed the switch in my perceptions depending on which fabrics I am working with. It's also been really interesting to see just how much the fabrics influence the designs.

I really like the combination of the vintage prints and the fact that they create a subtle, almost hidden image on most of the cushions in a way that would not happen if I used the modern prints that I love so much.

Thanks so much for your well wishes - unfotunately Jim and Bella were mean enough to share their vomity goodness and I started my day today with my head in the toilet. Nice! Feeling a little better already though, so back to normal tomorrow.

I had totally different plans for tonight. They included finishing a wholesale order. Watching some tv. Putting together the fabrics for a couple of new quilts. Writing a blog post about my new vintage cushions - pictures included. And reading half a page of my book before falling asleep.
My plans were not expected to include Bella vomiting over almost her entire bedroom or Jim taking to our bed as soon as he walked in from work in an attempt to stop himself from also vomiting everywhere.
Plans schplans.

That's my new mug. It's yellow.

From this.....

To this....

Most definitely a work in progress!

We have a new coffee table (or 'tea' table as Bella calls it), that has pride of place in our living room. I bought it a few weeks ago even though strictly speaking we don't actually have room for a coffee table. But I have become sick of balancing my laptop on my lap (ironic huh?) and coffee cup on the arm of the sofa and found myself longing for a simple yet gorgeous table. And so here it is.

There's a lot of changes going on in this house at the moment. As well as Bella starting school (she's loving it), Jim has got a new job that means that he's going to go from not seeing the girls at all in the week, to seeing them every day, Lily's going to be starting two days a week at nursery in 3 weeks and I have a number or extremely exciting things happening career wise. We're also having a new kitchen fitted and some building work done.
All of these things mean new routines and lots of adjustments, but also lots more opportunities!

I've been chipping away at the nightmare that is our bedroom for quite a while now. It's right at the top of the house and has become the dumping ground/catch all for all the too small baby clothes, displaced furniture, over flowing books, spare bedding and baby paraphenalia, which is starting to drive me crazy.
A month or two ago we bought a cheap but nice plain white bed from Ikea and I wallpapered the main wall in the room with this very retro yellow rose print.
After a long search for bedside tables that we could afford (as well as like) I decided to paint some Ikea stools white and wallpaper the top and step with my favourite Orla Kiely wallpaper  ( I only have one roll of the paper, so I use it sparingly around the house).
I'm also making a new whole cloth quilt ('making' actually means that the whole piece of fabric that I'm using for the quilt top has been lying across the foot of the bed for a month - you know, just to see how it looks!) and painting the remainder of the walls white as well as hanging new lights.
I'm also hoping that we can have a velux window fitted soon because it's a really dark room in the eves of the house, but that takes real money and is going to have to be saved up for.
But like I said, I'm only chipping away at the mess, in the odd spare minute that I can find, so it's a loooong process. One day I think it might look nice though!

First

How did that happen? How did Bella suddenly get old enough to become a school child?
It was her first day today and I'm proud to say that she was extremely excited and that I was extremely brave! There were only minimal tears. And I was good enough to wait until I was back in the car before I shed them!
She was actually supposed to start last week, but the day before her first day, she was admitted in to hospital because of her asthma, so she missed the first few days. But she's back to full strength now and enjoyed everything about today. Especially the fact that I picked her up with the bikes in the car and we then went cycling and had a picnic dinner in the park with Lily to round off the day.
I'm not sure that I'm ready to be a mum at the school gates, but she's certainly ready to start her school life.
But seriously...how the...???