A Sewing Day

Wintery Wednesday Greetings dear friends & readers

This time exactly a week ago - for the first time since I closed my Craft Cottage - I had a sewing day!
How wonderful it was!!

To me ... a sewing day is when you find yourself in the sewing room really early in the day 
 You choose to do nothing else in the house except the dishes (sometimes) ... you don't have to be anywhere  
or do anything for anyone else!
All you have to do is create ..........  & feed yourself!!
These days for me are few & far between!

My dear friend Leeanne had given me a small pile of linen items last year to use in my sewing as they were superfluous to her requirements.
Amongst the items was this long wrap around bistro apron ...  made of raw linen with these words embroidered 
on the pocket -

Claire Wilson's Country Kitchen
for all culinary purposes
Original Forest County Pottery
Est 1873

For reasons I have no idea of  .... I decided it had a certain french flair to it.
So I decided to sew it up into a large square cushion with a buttoned back

I had some large wooden french style buttons that were perfect for the back closure

Well the Eiffel Tower is quite definately French !!

I stuffed it with an oversized inner & then - because of the french feel - I tucked a bunch of my dried lavender 
into the pocket

Simple & unfussy but effective

I was late picking my lavender this year .... late February in fact.
I plonked it on my outside basin & then never quite got back to it ... when the wetter weather came along it got moved up to my deck table.
Early last week winds blew it every which where, so I gathered it up, sat by the fire & rubbed the stalks into a brown paper bag while Sid slept.

From the remnants of the apron I decided to make some lavendar hearts .... I machine embroidered the words "Joy", "Peace" & " I 💗 Home" onto pieces of the raw linen before sewing up my lavender filled hearts.

I managed to get 12 hearts from the leftover scraps - I attached a vintage button & some linen thread to hang them.

I am having a stall at my local Christmas Craft Fair this November - as I do most years - so these items will be good stock for my stall.

After lunch I sat by the fire & finished off these felt sewing machines - this is a pattern by Betz White .... the same one we made last week at our craft group get-together

I already had 3 completed but was able to finish off another 5 .... again these will be for my November stall.

Earlier in the week I managed to finish off a birthday gift for a special friend & send it on its merry way to the far North.

Two more covered coat hangers & a soy candle made in a vintage enamel basin that was tucked away in the back of my sewing cupboard

The Black Rose is a new fragrance & smelt rather beautiful!

This coathanger below was made from a vintage pillowslip - I used the embroidered edge to cover the coathanger as it was so pretty, then added some gathered lace & trim

I made up a small square lavender bag & tied this to the top using the leftover pillowcase fabric .... just a little embellishment  💝

Well dear friends, winter is really making its presence felt here in my little corner of the world

Everyday I am thankful for the fire & how it warms the house.

I hope you find some time in your week to do the things that bring you pleasure.

Thanks so much for stopping by today .... keep warm or cool where ever you are

With much love & friendship,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Chasing My Tail !!!

Monday Greetings dear friends & readers,

A bright shiny new week & a shiny new month!

It has very much felt like I have been "chasing my tail" for most of last month & this one too!

Blog posts have been few & far between & time slips by in the blink of an eye!

I decided to just do a photo upload & try to pop a few words in here & there

With my dear friend Leeanne coming for the long weekend, it was the perfect chance to try out a new recipe

Scroggin Slice turned out to be divine!
*Here is the link to the recipe I used*

Photographing really dark today for some reason

Last year Leeanne very kindly gifted me a length of pretty pale blue fabric with pink roses on ... it reminded me of Cath Kidston fabric.
I had a blind made up for my sewing room & then decided to make a simple runner for the chest of drawers in there.
I wanted to practise some of the quilting skills I had learn't in this post
I also wanted to add a simple lace peeper to the edges while binding it, & having Leeanne here was the perfect opportunity to get some assistance with this

I am so thrilled with my runner & although I still have a very long way to go with my quilting, I was really happy 
with the end result.

On the morning of Leeanne's arrival, Pippi & Blackie rather kindly bought a mouse into the house & released it!!
After spending over an hour trying to catch it, I gave up & set some traps.

I was relieved to catch it the 2nd night but still cross with Madam Pippi .... she reminds me of a small naughty child .... when you see them sleeping you can (almost) forgive them anything!

When my friend Sally purchased the two slipper chairs in this post she also acquired a large squab covered 
in the same fabric.
I made up two rectangular cushions for each of our chairs using the Sanderson fabric.  

While delivering Sally her cushion I admired these two vintage needlepoint pictures leaning against 
the wall in her hallway.
Sally VERY kindly gifted the two pictures to me!!
I am still undecided about where to hang them but am having alot of fun deciding!!

Over the weekend I stood in my kitchen & made another batch of soy candles in vintage containers ... these ones are Lime, Basil & Mandarin ... they smelt beautiful!

I also baked more slices as it was my turn to host the craft ladies here today

I made another batch of Scroggin Slice as well as a Citrus Slice as our citrus trees are laden with fruit at the moment.

There were only 5 of us today so we made simple felt sewing machine decorations .... a pattern by betz white

We all drooled over Maureen's felt needlecase - a Holly Hobbie design she had embroidered & made herself.

To give the ladies "a challenge" for next month I had been collecting tins in various shapes & sizes 

They were all to take one (or more) & do something creative with it before next months meeting.
I look forward to sharing the results with you dear readers.

Well its rainy & icy cold here today, so these two have already retired for the night!
Have a wonderful week dear friends, where ever in the world you may be.
Thanks so much for stopping by today,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0