MyFriendsNephewsQuilt

MyFriendsNephewsQuilt is finished! Here it is, in all its glory:

 It started life as this:

and then, as you know, I changed my mind about the starry one and replaced it with more red. I cut out a pile of 4x4 inch squares and moved them all around until I was happy with the layout. This took AGES, ages and ages because I wanted to get it just right. I asked Husband if he preferred the stripes better next to the planes or the spots. He said 'Hrgfyfy', which I took to mean 'Everything you do is wonderful! You're the light of my life! You're a creative GENIUS!' It is much nicer if I change what husband says as he's saying it. So, if he says 'I've been painting the shed and I think with a bit of careful planning, we could put some guttering around the outside to stop the water leaking in', I hear 'Look! A RAINBOW!' so I just look for a rainbow until he's finished talking. He does the same to me, whenever I say 'Husband! I've decided that the best way to create bias binding is to gently iron the folds in place, and then and only then, go MENTAL with the iron to get the creases sharpy sharpy sharp sharp. Good idea heyhey?!' he hears 'My dear, I was researching interest rates online and I think that we could seriously reduce how much we pay per month on the mortgage. C'mere, I've drawn up a spreadsheet and pie chart to fully illustrate this information'. Marriage is all about communication.

Anyway, after the squares were cut and laid out the way I wanted them, I stitched them in rows:

 and then stitched the rows together:

then I put a floating boarder on:

then the outer boarder. Then I pinned it, which I always think it the dangerous-looking part of quilting. It looks a bit mental:

then quilted it in diagonal lines. THEN put the edging on, then cut away all the loose threads and voila! Done! I really hope the nephew in the name 'myfriendsnephewsquilt' likes it, and WRECKS it. I like the idea that he will eventually show it to his grandchildren and it'll be all wrecked and mank because he loved it so much when he was wee.

*wipes away a tear* So that's myfriendsnephewsquilt, and it is DONE! So Eilidhbelle, I hear you ask, what's next in the pipeline? What creative sparks are tearing through the ol' cranium at the mo? Haha! you'll just have to wait and see! But I will say THIS:  I'm waiting for another package....

I also had my first dressmaking lesson this week, thanks to Len Goodman* and treated myself to a proper pair of fabric scissors. So my very first apron is underway and I'll be blogging about it once it's finished. I really love it, I think it might turn into another addiction. Probably not addicted to enough stuff anyway, in my opinion. Husband just read this over my shoulder and laughed out loud. We've been watching a programme called Britain's Worst Hoarders about people who keep everything, piles and piles and masses of STUFF and just have little tunnels in their house through it all. And Husband and I agreed that I would DEFINITELY be one of them, if given free reign. I keep everything and I love STUFF. We've been drinking a lot of the new Innocent fruit juice recently and the bottles are very cool, and I have to force myself to put them in with the recycling. Because, Husband says, what would you ever do with fifteen empty juice bottles? And I nod miserably and put them in the bin, but really I'm thinking 'But I could build a RAFT! I could tie them together and float somewhere! I could fill them with water and put flowers in them! My home is not complete without minging empty juice bottles filled with gradually decomposing flowers! Wouldn't that be lovely?!'

Sunshine!

Today, Scotland has been lovely! There really is nowhere nicer to be than Scotland in the sunshine. It was so nice that I took my makey materials outside:

And I made a whole heap of stuff! I made a neck cushion, to send away for injured troops:

You can find more information on this here. I also made this flower, all by myself!

All right, FINE, my sister had to give me a step-by-step-by-back-a-step-by-back-again read through on how to do it. My sister is truly a magnificent person, although she's a bit annoying. Here is a list of things she does that are annoying:

- she grows her eyelashes really long. 

- she has lovely long, thick blonde hair and she is a very slim beautiful person, the polar opposite of me (I'm a curly brunette, who could at best be described as dumpy)

- she is good at jewellery making. Her blog can be found here, go and say hello

- she's doing FORENSIC BIOLOGY at uni, and she's very clever.

- she's an exceptionally patient person. As proved by this conversation we had recently:

Me: Teach me how to make that flower.

Her: OK. *hands me wool and a hook*. Right, first you make a slip loop...

Me: WHAT'S A SLIP LOOP?!

Her: I'll show you. *she shows me*

Me: I CAN'T DO IT! I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO DO IT! I'M RUBBISH AT EVERYTHING!!!!

Her: No! You can do it! Come on!!

Me: *suddenly motivated because she's so good at motivating folk* Ok-doke, maybe I CAN do it!

Her: Right. Right, you're doing really well . It's just...you're not really making a loop....but it still looks nice, what you're doing!

Me: *throwing the whole lot across the room* This is RUBBISH! I HATE THIS!

Her: No, it's fine, I'll start it for you...

Me: I DON'T EVEN WANT TO LEARN IT ANYMORE! DON'T SPEAK TO ME!

(I should point out that she recently turned twenty, and I'm six and a half years older than her but I'll leave the maths to you. In my defense, I'm only thirteen in my head.)

Anyway, after a lot of gentle guidance (her) and stomping about (me), I finally learned! Or rather, she finally taught me! She's wonderful, even if she does smell.

Right, parcels! Oh, so many lovely parcels! First, fabric for myfriendsnephewsquilt, which I love very much. It's a combination of cloud9 and Michael Miller, which is the best combination in the world if you ask me:

although after a lot of deliberation, I decided not to use the starry one. Instead I ordered more red and I am happy with the way it's all coming together. I got a very, very exciting other package too:

tied up with string and everything! And inside it was:

Her Maj!! Well, a jelly mold of her head, for the Jubilee. Isn't it WONDERFUL? Husband was so thrilled* by this, he had to lie down for several minutes** before coming downstairs to shake my hand*** and thank me profusely**** for introducing such a magnificent item into our house******

* frightened
** run upstairs to check the joint account, to see how much I'd paid
*** yell 'you paid TEN SCOTTISH YEN FOR THIS?!'
**** shake his head in disbelief
***** 'bringing even more junk in here' sez he, which I found a tad unkind. Luckily, I was too busy pretending to be Betty the Second to pay attention to him properly.

And that's this week! Whatever will arrive in the post next week...?

The one in which I hate the post office.

Over the last few days I have been waiting on some very exciting packages to be delivered. One, ordered on Monday, arrived at work on Thursday. One, ordered on Tuesday, was delivered on Friday. One, ordered on Tuesday, came this morning. Two, ordered on Tuesday, have not arrived. One, also ordered on Tuesday, was not delivered by our postman this morning, because 'it is too big to fit through the letter box.'

Now.

I have a few issues with this. The package is relatively large because it contains enough fabric and wadding to make my friendsnephewsquilt. But it is only fabric and wadding, which, as I'm sure you're aware, is bendy and not heavy. Part of me finds it really hard to believe that the postman carried it ALL THE WAY to Bumbaleerie Mansions, tried to no avail to squeeze it through the letter box, and then valiantly carried it ALL THE WAY BACK to 'My Local Sorting Office'. Also, Husband and I were in the crib when the post came - would the Brave Knight Sir Postman not have just left it in the garden for us? Ah-ha, I thought to myself, he hasn't even bothered lifting it! So, I phoned MLSO and here's how I got on:

MLSO: Hello, ________ Post Office
Me: Hello, could you tell me if there's a package waiting for me?
MLSO: *suddenly inexplicably angry* NAME?!!.
Me: Em... Baroness Pilkington-Smythe the first
MLSO: WHEN was it DROPPED OFF?!!?
Me: Probably this morning, I got a red slip through the...
MLSO: Well, if it was THIS MORNING that you got THE SLIP then it WON'T BE HERE YET, WILL IT?
Me: I dunno, I thought I would check. I'll phone before you close to check again. Thanks for your....
MLSO: *sound of the dial tone as they have already hung up*

Me, to Husband: The post office have STOLEN from me! I am the victim of a CRIME! Phone someone!
Husband: I'll collect it on Monday.
Me: That's NOT THE POINT! They are the ROYAL MAIL! Do you think the QUEEN KNOWS ABOUT THIS?!
Husband: Em, well, she knows about the post office probably.....
Me: Someone should TELL HER! I bet SHE wouldn't stand for this!
Husband: Well, they close at 12.30 so phone again at 12 and maybe it'll've been dropped off.

At 12.05:

MLSO: Thank you for phoning _________ Robber Mail Post Office. Our opening hours are, Monday: 3.01 - 3.06, Tuesday : Closed,  Wednesday: 4.18.00-4.18.31, Thursday -
Me: They've gone home EARLY! My package is sitting abandoned and they won't give it to me! They have left it alone! I need it! They've stolen it!
Husband: *has given up trying to rationalise with me and is outside painting the shed*
Me: ...and they PROBABLY take the stamps home too, and they PROBABLY are having a good laugh at the people they have ROBBED, AND they'll have a lovely weekend doing things THEY like and I've got to WORK with NO SEWING to do! One day I will OWN My Local Sorting Office and THEN THEY'LL BE SORRY! They'll be SORRY when I'm in charge of the Post Office and I CLOSE IT DOWN!

I am still furious. I hate the post office.

What I talk about when I talk about making

Granny Matchy (not her real name) has her quilt! And what a dodgy quilt it was too. But I think she was pleased, even though it was so OBVIOUSLY handmade, as opposed to charmingly so. She wasn't so pleased when I gave her the invoice for the five (FIVE) needles that HER quilt had wasted, but that's another story (and also, not a true one.)

And THEN, my friend gave birth to the most beautiful baby in the entire universe so I made her a quilt too. Here is a rubbish picture of it:

  

It's such a rubbish picture of the quilt I was actually most proud of. It's Cloud9 and Rachel Riley fabrics, bits of it, and I really, really liked it. I wanted to keep it but husband put his foot down with a firm hand and I gave it over. And I was glad I did because I think my friend liked it.  Or else, it's doing a good job of lining her bin so win/win! AND another friend asked me to make one for her nephew so I got all the fabric ordered and now I'm in the horrors waiting for it to get here in case it is minging and un-matching and too baby-ish. It's no fun, this quilting lark.

AND THEN, I went charity shopping, after being spurred on by Loo at Jumbles and Pompoms, and got a fantastic-shmantastic pile of junk. First, an Accessorize clutch for £2.50:

Unt a pile of fabric-y type things:

Oh, nice! And I can't remember where I saw it, but I saw a picture recently of a patchwork blanket but the patches were all knitted. And I thought to myself:

Me: Eilidhbelle?
Other Me: Yes? What is it? I'm busy.
Me: Oh sorry. Sorry to interrupt. I was just thinking, that'd be a good use for the wool-pile.
Other Me: What wool pile?
Me: THIS one:

Other Me: I can put my hand on my heart and SWEAR I've never seen this wool-pile before.
Me: Husband can't hear us.
Other Me: Oh, yes. Of course. Good idea, Me! What a good team we are.

That isn't even all of the wool-pile, sadly. Here's some more:

And that's not all but I couldn't get a good picture of the rest of it. But you know how sometimes you have a fierce need to buy ALL THE THINGS related to your new hobby? And then you get them but you don't want to use them because then you wouldn't have them any more? And then you get a new hobby? And then you have to have a special sewing room to house all your crap? And then your husband makes you tidy it up, even though you hate tidy things? It's RUDE is what it is.

Right now I am waiting for four wonderful parcels to come in the post. I will be blogging about them when they arrive, but I'm not telling what they are so that when I write about them, you'll be like: That is quite literally the best thing(s) I have even seen in my LIFE! If I had ordered that(those) I would never let it(them) out of my sight! I wish with my whole soul I had that(those) item(s). Tell me, where does one purchase that(those) purchase(s)? And I'll be all: Here's where to get it(some). And you'll be like: You spent (insert insane number of Scottish bucks here) on THAT(those)?!?! Are you MENTAL?!

And I'll be all: Helz yez, I did!

My Gran's Quilt

Right, my Gran's birthday was in March, and I kindly made her a quilt. No, I STARTED making her a quilt. Then everything went wrong. That's not an exaggeration - everything in the WHOLE WORLD went wrong with it. I am still not finished it, althout I think I'm over the worst of it now. It has so far cost me money for fabric, money for extra fabric, five - that's right, FUNF - needles, I had to hand stitch it bits of it, I had to stitch the wadding together, it is rumpled and dodgy. BUT! It is nearly finished:

And she's worth it. I hope she still feels friendly towards me after a two-month wait for her birthday preseent.

It has been aaaages.

Hello! It's been ages! But I've been busy. I've been to New York! Epic, but not for this blog. I've made pizza!

I've made some weird things for inside flowers!

I've made a quilt for my gran!

Actually, that's a lie. I tried to make it in a hurry, totally messed it up then had to order more fabric to fix it, which I have not done yet. Also, I ran out of thread. But! Never mind, because I also painted a table!

And that table is in.....wait for it.....my new sewing room! Which is nearly, nearly finished, I'll put a picture up when it is FINISHED, instead of finished. Or Finnish, or Flemish, or whatevs. I also saw a nice pig!

I also have nice slippers!

It has also been sunny in Scotland!

So, all in all, very much of the old excitement and good times.

A day of doing

Today has been a really lovely day in the Bumbaleerie crib. I've done lots of good things today. First the boring ones:
1. Brushed, hoovered and washed the kitchen floor
2. Washed the back step
3. Washed a lot of clothes
4. Hung up a lot of clothes (I don't iron. I actually can't do it. When I have to iron fabric for quilting I could weep)
5. Made dinner (chilli), and shared a beer with Mr. Bumbaleerie. Here's a picture of after-dinner:

Yum yum. Now some less boring things:

1. I have almost finished secret quilt. The stitching is well dodgy but I'm a firm believer that home-made things should look a bit dodgy, otherwise you may as well buy them. I sent a picture of the dodgy quilting to my sister and she says just to leave it. And she'd know, she's a scientist and likes everything PERFECT. So her word is good enough for me.
2. I organised my fabric pile, which had been sitting on the table pictured above for the thick-end of a fortnight. I wish that was an exaggeration, but it's not.

3. I finished a tea cosy, which was supposed to be going on ebay, but I don't think it's up to scratch. It needs to be bigger, maybe.

4. I drank a bottle of diet coke. Now! I know that doesn't sound like much but I've been trying to collect the empties to make something.

Any ideas? I'm thinking I might just fill them with water and a bit of food colouring, then put flowers in them. If I ever get round to doing that, I'll post a picture.

And now! I have to start the weekly fight with my eyebrows, to train them into something half-decent for work tomorrow. I might paint my nails too...oct. I can't be bothered. You have to sit for ages and AGES and when you normally spend your evenings divving about with wool as I do, it's a challenge to sit for AGES without doing anything.

Happy Sunday all, and I hope your Monday isn't too grim.

In the beginning...

So here's what I did.

I went on a quilting course. And I loved it, it was awesome. Here's my first ever quilt:

That's a rubbish picture. It's very difficult to take a picture of a quilt because they always look better when someone is underneath them, enjoying them, rather than flat and smooth and boring. Anyway, here's another one:

I don't really like it though. I don't think the colours work well and they're not in the best order...anyway, after I made that one I ordered this fabric:

and I made this:

and I liked it so much that I kept it, even though it was supposed to be a present for someone. And then I was comissioned to make this:

but I forgot to take a picture of the finished quilt. It had a red border, and the back was navy blue with white stars, a bit polka-dotish. I would've kept this one too, if I'd been able. 

And today I finished the top of a secret one:

....but don't tell anyone.