The Sewing Dilettante

I think I mentioned some special deliveries that were coming my way over the summer? Mom, Dad, and Bro came over for a fabulous visit in July, bringing along with them quite a lot of scrummy fabric for me, amongst other goodies. There was so much fabric, in fact, that Dad - the fabric mule - returned home with a nearly empty suitcase! My fabric haul included two gorgeous jelly rolls... ... a great fat quarter bundle... ... and three of these cool kits, each of which includes pattern and fabric for four 15 in blocks. All of the fabrics seem to go really well together, and the fat quarter bundle seems made for blending, so I've got the materials here for a few really lovely quilts! I'm not quite sure where I'll start, but I'm enjoying just admiring these fabrics and dreaming about all the possibilities. Thanks, Mom and Dad! A couple of other great fabric acquisitions recently: this gorgeous mini jelly roll.  It's 'Little Red Ridi...

At the risk of confirming a cliche about American tastes, I admit that I LOVE peanut butter. I eat it almost every day and think just about anything can be improved with a dollop of it - toast, baked goods, smoothies, fruit slices. Ants on a log anybody? Or how about a fluffernutter sandwich ? Nom, nom, nom! Not sharing my fondness for peanut butter, hubby naturally thinks my obsession with the stuff a bit odd. He certainly wouldn't be too impressed by the suggestion of PB&Js for lunch. He did manage, however, to choke down one or two of these cupcakes the other day.  Chocolate sponge with peanut butter frosting and peanut butter chips! I followed  this recipe from Bakerella , though I simplified things a bit. They were only gorgeous!  In hindsight, I wished I'd made a little bit of chocolate frosting to swirl in with the peanut butter frosting, as in Bakerella's original recipe. It would've cut through the intense peanut butter-iness of the frosti...

So, I've kind of lost the blogging bug recently, mostly, I think, because I've been enjoying spending loads of time with hubby and Baby G after 9 months of a crazy distance living/working situation. It's set to start up again in September, so we've really been maximising family time together this summer. As Granny Murray might say, there was swimming, exploring, building, visiting, colouring, reading, travelling, cycling, eating, laughing, jumping, running, 'washing up and wiping down'. The halcyon days of summer, indeed! (We've watched a bit of CBeebies, too, in case you couldn't tell!)  Somehow, along the way, I've managed to fit in a bit of sewing, too. Hoorah! I started this little scrappy log cabin quilt in the spring for friends who welcomed their first baby to the world last weekend. (I always knew I wouldn't have it done in time!) I've been having such fun with this one, especially as it's given me the opportunity to dig throu...

Last Wednesday was the last sewing night for the summer, so I worked at a furious rate to get as much done as I possibly could. Having spent the last couple of Wednesday nights sorting, ironing, and cutting my scraps, I finally put a few log cabin blocks together. These are intended for a fun, little, gender-neutral baby quilt. The centre blocks are 2.5 inches square, and the strips are 2 inches wide. I'm loosely following this tutorial , and, as you can see, am pretty much randomly choosing strips in the hope that it'll all come together in the end! The one organisational concession I made with these three blocks was to ensure that each strip matched the next in at least one colour. So, in the block above, the first strip (on top of the centre square) brings out the red flowers in the centre square; the next strip picks up on that same bright red, but adds in a couple of different shades of green; the following strip is mainly lime green with thin red stripes; and t...

I've been a major lurker for the past couple of months, marveling at all of your fabulous makes but not commenting because it doesn't seem possible on my iPad any more. I can't figure out exactly what's wrong, but I'm wondering if switching to a different blog reader (currently using Bloglovin') will do the trick? Any suggestions? Anyway, I actually have a finish to show you today! And yes, it's literally taken me since my last post at the end of February until now to accomplish this. More tortoise than hare over here, but I'm ok with that! My embroidery sampler!! Now a fabulously bright wall hanging to hang above my sewing machine (rather than over it for the purposes of this photo!). Despite my initial hesitation over the French knots and bullion roses, I managed to conquer both, more or less, and am looking forward to practicing them again in the near future. I'm also intrigued by the colonial knot Susan recently mentioned... must try s...

February has been a bit grim around here, hence the longer than usual radio silence in these parts. I've had very little time for crafty pursuits, but I have managed to work steadily away on my first embroidery sampler, using that gorgeous thread I bought ever so many months ago. I found this little sampler on Pinterest (through Sarah , I think), and have been really enjoying learning each of the different stitches, though I haven't yet had the confidence to attack the French knots or bullion roses. (Those are the blank spots below!) I've been using Aimee Ray's  Doodle Stitching (another recommendation from Sarah, the embroidery queen!) to guide me through each of the stitches, and the instructions have been unfailingly simple and accessible. I can't seem to wrap my head around those for the pesky French knots, though, more from my own lack of imagination than anything else, I think, and there's nothing on bullion roses, so I think a trawl on Youtube m...

I've spent the last couple of weekends scouring the local charity shops in search of more vintage sheets for round 2 of the UK and Ireland Vintage Sheet Fat Quarter Swap, and I'm delighted with my finds! Every shop I've popped into has yielded at least a pillow case or two, so I've got quite a selection for my stash and a few for the swap as well. ;) I've decided to send in fifteen fat quarters, which means that I'll get a different set of fifteen back, at which point I think I'll have enough to embark on a large scale patchwork project like Judith's great charm squares quilt . Yay! The night-time photo doesn't do justice to these sheets, especially that pink 70s retro floral number in the top row, but I think these will find good homes with other vintage-sheet lovers. Speaking of photos - does anyone have tips on taking photos for blogs? My photos always seem a bit dark, wonky, and out of focus! Part of that, I know, is because I usually take...

Here's that promised roundup of highlights from Christmas (which now seems about a millenia ago!) Clockwise from left:  1. A special tied birthday quilt made for baby G by my patchwork pal, Mrs. L . Amazing, right? It's completely hand sewn except for the binding and features the cutest little fussy cut sock monkey fabric. The picture doesn't do justice to it all, because the weather here seems to have just one setting at the moment: grey, overcast, and wet. Trust me, though, it's a gorgeous, cuddly quilt with lots of visual and tactile interest for a 1-year old!  2. Two 'scrumptious' Moda charm packs I picked up on my travels in NH for next to nothing (or so it seemed when compared to the prices I pay here in Ireland and Northern Ireland). At least one of these is destined for a baby quilt for friends who have just announced they're expecting their first. Fun! 3. Baby G's first birthday cake! I made red velvet , and, inspired by Pin...

I've been MIA for the last little while as we enjoyed Christmas and the New Year in the States. It was a great trip and that little bit more exciting than usual because it was a year of firsts for my baby girl - her first Christmas, her first birthday, and her first snow fall! We had so much fun opening gifts, playing in the snow, and stuffing ourselves silly with birthday cake and holiday foods (though not, sadly, that Christmas pudding I made a while back, but that's a story for another day!)   We've been back to reality since early Monday morning and are all  suffering from some pretty severe and prolonged jet lag. Factor in some truly atrocious weather and the usual January blues, and it's proving pretty difficult to settle back into the normal workaday routine. One bright spot? Getting to send off  this  first birthday gift...  I waited as long as I could to take these photos, hoping the rain and clouds would lift for a while, but they never reall...