I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and that 2017 will be a great year for you all. 

Just before Christmas I went down to stay with my Mum for a few days. Mainly to decorate the tree but we also found time for some festive sewing and made some Christmassy cushion covers for her new sofa using a Moda Basic Grey layer cake she had in her fabric stash. My Mum really has a great fabric stash, it's like being in a quilting shop!

On her mantelpiece she had these two great decorations this year. That crowd of crabs in Santa hats make me smile each time I see them! 

- L xx

Granny square quilt

I am feeling a bit under the weather today, I think I might have caught the cold bug that has been going around at work. Looking on the bright side it's a good excuse for staying in and sewing!
I have been wanting to start a granny square quilt for a while after seeing so many on Pinterest. I figured it wouldn't tax my poorly brain so much as some of my other projects might. It is turning into quite a relaxing project and I'm having fun with the colour combinations

- L xx

Cute craft room storage

I love pottering round second hand shops looking for interesting storage items for my craft room.

The blue shelf that now holds my buttons was from a little shop in Congleton. It was a bit more than I'd usually pay but it had already been painted a lovely shade of blue so I couldn't resist. It's a perfect size for the Ikea spice jars and small jam jars that hold all of my buttons and bits

The little chest of drawers came from Lady Heyes and was an awful varnished yellow pine. I reprinted it in pink emulsion (gotta love DIY store sample pots) and then a coat of matt varnish. The insides of the drawers were a bit grubby looking so I have lined them with some pretty papers. They are now a perfect spot for my washi tapes and other bits and bobs.

I've also been rearranging the drawers underneath (Ikea Alex) to make better use of the space. When I get chance to take some photos I'll post about my recycled drawer organisers.

- L xx

Wrapped and ready

My first handmade christmas gift of 2013 is wrapped up and ready to go! I figure if I wrap them as I complete them I will be able to put them away and not worry about them getting dusty or grubby. I'll just ignore the fact that there are still birthdays in the next couple of months that I don't have gifts for and pretend I am organised for once!



Trying my hand at machine appliqué today. Another gift, this time a cot size quilt. Loving the happy cat with his trumpet. If this quilt was bigger I think I'd struggle to give it away, I'm planning to back it in pink minky which I can't stop stroking, it's so soft.
Think I might do a bit of Halloweeney decorating later. Might be back with some pics...

- L xx

A whole year!

I can't believe it has been almost a whole year since my last post. Things have been pottering along here as usual. Crafty and bakey and gardeningey as always, I just don't seem to have gotten around to blogging about any of it.

Anyway pretty much following on from my last post I am in the middle of my pre-Christmas crafting frenzy once again. Handmade gifts, decorations, cards... whenever I am off work I am covered in threads or glitter or paint!

I thought I'd share the first completed gift I can tick off my to do list. It's a lap quilt for a friend of mine who shares my love of being cosy under a quilt watching dvds. Sorry about the poor photos, they're suffering from a lack of natural light like me!


I really love the scribble backing fabric. I couldn't work out what fabric I could use to pull all the bright colours together until I spotted this one.


- L xx

Pre Christmas Crafty Panic

It is that time of year again. The point at the start of November where I begin to feel overwhelmed by the number of crafty things I want to get done in time for Christmas. In addition to the present buying and general holiday planning I have a huge to do list of crafty projects.
There's the sad, lonely projects that weren't finished in time for last Christmas (or for the one before that!). Then there are the ideas I have had during the past year of things I'd like to do (chains of pink white and teal paper honeycomb balls anyone?).
Finally as the blogosphere gets festive there are all the pretty things other people have created that I just can't resist. Where oh where do I start?

- L xx

Olympic tickets

Just been to collect our football tickets for Saturday's mens q-final. I've never got around to seeing a match at Old Trafford and I've never been to the Olympics, so i am excited to have the chance to experience two firsts in one day. Sad to see the Manchester weather back to its usual damp self though!

- L xx