Away ............................ & Back Again (Catch Up #1)

Greetings lovely friends & readers,

I have been away unexpectedly .... my elderly Mum had another fall (her 2nd in a month) so I dropped everything & drove down to be with her.  I returned home again this week & have decided to try to resurrect my poor neglected blog.

Because I have not posted since before Easter I have decided to write a series of "catch up posts" going back to Easter & moving forward from there - please humor me with this dear friends 😉

Easter was quiet in our house - believe me when I say Quiet is perfectly fine by me!   The Mr is right in the middle of autumn calving so he is gone early for most of the day.  I decided to sew a rabbit for myself that I had earmarked approximately 2 years ago to make - good things take time dear friends 😊

The pattern is called Hareloom Easter Rabbit & is by American Designer Gini Simpson of "Cat and the Fiddle Designs" (can find no link to this sorry)  The pattern is out of an old Homespun Magazine No. 58 (Vol 9.3)

I had a beautiful vintage chenille (candlewick) bedspread that was threadbare in many places  .... I decided to take the plunge & cut into this to make the rabbits skirt.  It was okay because I had Miss Pippi to oversee & talk me through this nerve-wracking process !!

I'm really pleased I used the candlewick as it is so beautiful & up close it looks like tiny hand embroidered rosettes.

The face took quite a bit of work as it's been quite sometime since I've painted a dolls face & the nose & cheeks are stuffed to make it appear 3-dimensional.  I had to take my time & frequently walk away from it for a break. The lace & ribbon rose at the ear are my own embellishment.

I had a 9 cm pair of dolls shoes in my stash which were much smaller than the pattern required so I cut the foot down quite a bit when sewing the legs. The socks were bright white but I tea-dyed them & added the rosettes to the shoe. The egg was just an Easter decor item that I had which fit perfectly stitched to her hand.

I finished her on the Tuesday after Easter & I just LoVe her 💕 & have decided Not to pack her away with my Easter things - she can stay out all year round & I can enjoy her.  I have tried to think of a name for her & for some reason Milly keeps coming to mind. Any suggestions dear readers?

While I was in the rabbit-making-mood I decided to make a customer order.  Joy had asked for a Tilda rabbit & I explained it wouldn't be done before Easter but she was fine with that. Her preference was autumy colours.

She came together quite quickly & the dress is made from Tilda fabric - I added one of my primitive wooden carrots.  

Joy was delighted with her & has now asked me to make a similar one wearing dungarees.

This is a free pattern from * Here * on the Tilda Website (scroll about 3/4's of the way down the page)

Two elderly customers had ordered new wheatbags so I was able to run these up as I found a large bag of wheat in my freezer.  I keep it in here as it stops the weevils getting in to it ... I also toss a handful of lavender in my wheatbags but this is optional.

Also over Easter I began working on a large Soy Candle Order - I have 20 to make & have the vintage glassware ready to go but have been held up waiting for more Soy Wax to arrive.  I was able to make 10 before I ran completely out of wax & then - just today - my wax order has arrived.

I also made The Mr his favourite Weetbix slice & picked several large bowls of cherry tomatoes. I grew these in big black buckets this year & they are still producing great quantities of tomatoes.

The autumnal colours of the hydrangeas are still beautiful even though the garden is fading.  I picked these just prior to heading to Mum's & they are still drying in their vase.

I should mention my Mum is now doing much better & improved immensely during the time I was there.  

I have much more to share with you dear friends so I will be back in a few days with Catch Up #2.

Thank You as always for your welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you All, 💗

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0