Thrifty fabric finds & a quilt tadaah..

Hiya lovely bloggers :o)

Hope this post finds you all fine n dandy this Wednesday evening!

Oooo, I'm getting good at this posting lark aren't I? lol.

But I do have to admit that I wanted to write this post Monday. Alas time gets away from me too quickly these days.

Thankyou all kindly for your comments on my last post -the first in my little series of 'spotlights'. I always think it's nice to find out about lovely blogs and people you may not have heard of. I shall be spotlighting another victim  another blogger this weekend. It may even be you :D

I had a little thrifty shopping to do the other day, and I was so pleased to find some large pieces of lawn cotton fabric, and a most beautiful feathered organza that I absolutely adore!  :: 

This is all of them together::

A lovely Aisan style lawn -2metres (£1.95)::

Another 2 metres Aisan style lawn -£1.95::

Five metres of dress fabric I think it's a viscose blend (£1.95)

A most gorgeous coloured, 3 metres of dress fabric that I'm going to make at least one skirt with! (£2.25)

And this most gorgeous feathered organza!! The colours of the feathers are so beautiful -especially with that aqua colour! -3metres £1.50!

So as you can tell, I had a bit of a spending spree!

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Here's some pictures of another quilt that I keep forgetting to show you.

I didn't make it to any pattern -which shows! lol-

I quilted in the ditch in the end. That's after free-machine quilting it all first, then not liking what I had done, so I unpicked the WHOLE quilt and started again.

This is the back.

I did actually make this for someone, but I was so un-happy with it, that I didn't give it to them!

Sometimes I do think I'm just a tad of a miserable old bag, 'cos when I look at this quilt now, I like it, and think they would have too!!

I think I was just being picky after being so disappointed at my first go a free-hand machine quilting.

I used my walking foot to stitch 'in the ditch', and it worked a treat.

(I ought to say that my friend didn't go without a gift, I gave her something else!)

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A fun patchwork pillow that I made my son :D

Yes, he is much too old for monster and Mr Men fabrics, but it made me grin, so he got it :D

Well, that's me for today.  I suppose that's it on our sunshine for a while now too :o(   Can you believe it's the summer solstice tomorrow!  Lordy, halfway through the year already!

You have a great week my dears, and take care. xx

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This photo is for all of you lovely bloggy friends.  xx

This photo is for Jo and Jennie, who I know are both having a very hard time at the moment :o(

You take care my dearies, and keep your chin up! xx

This message is for 'Trills'!

Dear Trills, thankyou so much for always leaving such beautiful comments on my blog posts. Unfortunately blogger won't let me respond to any of your comments for some reason, so I have no way of contacting you :o(

But i just want you to know that I so appreciate your lovely words (as I do everyones), and they help to make my day.

I'm looking forward to when you get brave enough to blog yourself my dear :o)

Take care down there, and have a lovely week. xxx



Happy Leap Day :o)

Yes, Happy Leap Day bloggers :o)

How are you this fine and dandy Leap Day morning?

Any proposals planned out there?  Ooooo, I do like a bit of a romantic tale don't you? So if you have one, do leave a comment and share with us!

Well my new boiler has just arrived! YAY! The men are supposed to be here at noonish to start fitting it!  And guess what else?  My washing machine started leaking last night! LOL  I have to laugh, or i'll start crying! :)

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Some of our pretty flowers are starting to come out now. I was a tad worried about what all the spring flowers would do to be honest, especially after the early arrival of some in December...

But it seems that they are recovering well, if somewhat slowly :o)

I know what I was going to ask you...  Can anyone let me know what would be a really basic site for editing my photos on?  I mean as basic as you can get girls :o)

I feel that obviously my photos were benefit hugely from some editing for my etsy stores, but can't quite work out how to do it..doh.. So any advice, hints and tips on which site would help me best would be greatly appreciated :o)

*****

Well, I've finished both my practice quilts now..

I was a bit naughty with this one!  I'd ordered some special cotton batting to go in the the quilt sandwich, but I was in such a hurry to make it that I went to my local bedding store and bought some plain white towelling, (You know the thin cheapy stuff? ) and used that in the middle.

I mean it would have been ok perhaps on a lap quilt, as it's so soft and drapey, but not on a little wall quilt!

D'you like my little bee? :o)

Now, I didn't realise I hadn't actually taken a photo of the whole finished quilt, so here is the last photo I've got with one of the hanging loops half sewn! 

And it isn't all wonky like that in real life...that's the way it was sitting when I took the picture...:o)

(See? The drapey-ness of the towelling! :o)

And here's a practice at one of those 'shaggy edge' homespun quilts..I only did the eight little blocks..

This is it before it goes in the washing machine..

And this is it after! -See? All shaggified :o)   (I'm having to be very careful how I describe this as i can't think of the real words, and all *kinds* of shaggy words keep popping in my lil' ole' head, so I hope I haven't offended anyone!)

It was really easy to do bloggers, and if you google it, there's lots of inspiration and tutorials out there :o)

I feel that I got a good lot of shaggy style in there even though I didn't use true homespun cottons, I used vintage sheet fabric on the back..

Oh, but make sure when you pop it in the wash to get the 'homspun shaggy style' you put it in a pillow case first to catch all the threads that come off the fabric. I even basted the top of my pillow case so none came out, and it works a treat :o)

(Good job I did actually, or I'd be blaming myself on the leaking washing machine! LOL)

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Well, that's about it for me today.

I've got the boiler being fixed this afternoon and tomorrow. Then on Saturday I'm off for a day out girls!!  Yes, me! A full blown day out with lunch, and mooching around charity shops!

A lovely lady whom I know is emigrating to Canada in May (She is so brave!) and I really wanted to spend a day with her before she got really busy with all the stuff that goes with emigrating.

So for weeks we've had Saturday planned.

We're going into Salisbury, we're going to have lunch (OOoo, this sounds posh to me! ;o) and then we're going to have a nice leisurely walk around the shops, then go for coffee later.

I am terribly over-excited about it now its near. And I really feel I need a special day like this after my last few weeks I can tell you.

But i'm so pleased we're going. I can't tell you the last time I went out for a day like this!

Well, I remember last year when I went to the Vintage at the Village Hall fair, and before that I went and had a coffee with another dear bloggy friend. So It's nearly a year then! (Whewie, doesn't time fly?)

But it's all planned, and even if my eldest daughter is having poorly, I'm to go my hubby says!  He is quite capable! :o) ( AND I've saved some spending money ;o)

So, wishing you all a fabulous leap day, and rest of our leap year, and I hope you all have happy weekends too :o)

Take care now 

Love Donna xxx

EDITED TO ADD!  ::

Sorry lovely bloggy people!  Its RAGGY quilts! Nothing to do with shaggy at all! :D

Thanks jennie :o)



How we got on....

Evening lovely bloggy people :o)

Hope this post finds you all fine and dandy?

This is just a post to let you all know how we got on yesterday in London.

I've got some lovely thrifty treasures to show you all as well, but I keep forgetting to post them, so I'll show you them later in the week.

Have all yours got half term this week?

Mine have. Isn't it early this year? Who ever heard of half-term during Valentines Day?  I mean how were the children supposed to get their secret cards to each other?  AAaaaaww, a few disppointed children this year I bet...Bless 'em.

Anyway, as usual I digress...

Right. Kings College, London.

After all the tests that my eldest had last October, they still can't pinpoint where her seizures are coming from.  So they want to send her to Belguim.  There she will have something called a spect scan.

This is where someone sits by her all the time, and the second she starts fitting they inject her with a dye.

They then whizz her to the MRI scanner and scan her brain. In theory the dye should show up brighter in the part of her brain where the seizure comes from....

Then we will go back to Kings college, and they'll look at the results from Belguim and if they think they can see where the seizure is coming from they will commence brain surgery....

But we can't go to Belguim until at least late May as they have to get permission from our local NHS Trust, then once that is given, they have to get permission from another area of the Government to take her there......

But the ball is rolling.... So we will wait and see.

That's keeping a very long story short!

Thankyou all for your support and kind words about my daughter. They do mean a lot to me you know!

*****~~~*****

After we had our hospital appointment yesterday, we decide to go and look at a few of the touristy landmarks..

I used to love Kings Road in my younger days.  All the indie shops and cool, trendy people...

Alas, I found it lacking in all these now....much more in favour of mass production I fear.....

I found one shop I liked though ...Good ole' Cath'..

And my youngest daughter legged it down the raod when she spied Accessorize...

Not that we haven't got one in our nearest town or anything ....lol

I loved this old silver double decker...those were the days when you could run and jump on...and off again if you were really naughty! ;o)

'Scuse the bad pictures some of them were taken as we were driving along.

OOoo, you should have seen the Fortnum and Mason store.... The colours on it's frontage were divine, and I loved the musical notes going all the way up the front of the store..

I thought these houses looked pretty with all their pastel fronts...

And this building was called Duke of Yorks Headquarters...

Not sure if it actually is, but it looked impressive anyway, so you got to see it! LOL

And Buckingham Palace.  I always want to paint a huge union jack on Buckingham Palace when I see it!! I'm sure it would make it look more Regal and impressive with red, white and blue blazoned all over the front in a huge flag...Don't you think?  ;o)

And this building I haven't got a clue what its called, but it's at the back of St James Park! I love its roof towers!

And look at these two little chaps doing their jobs...  I did feel for them, they both looked so young...

Harrods is the humungous building on the left...

And this was the .....something Mandarin Hotel, which looked most impressive with the door guys hanging out the front :o)

And I couldn't finish without showing you the first patch of crocus that we found in Battersea Park yesterday....

This picture is for you if you've got to reading this far... :o)

Take care all, and have a great weekend now.

Hopefully I'll get my thrify post up sometime soon, then I even have some makes to show you :o)

Just one day at a time...

Love Donna xx



Strange goings on :o)

Good Morning dear bloggy people :o)

I hope this post finds you all fine n dandy this Sunday morning :o)

Autumns here at last!   I love the crisp, cool, frosty mornings, but again this weekend is an extemely strange, warm morning for late October.

Just take a look at the contents of these photos for October in East Dorset..

Ok, ok, only joking!  ;o)

The above photo is from last year, but i just thought I'd remind you all of the gorgeous snow we had last December before we go on...;o)

Now, the one below is real! Taken this week in my garden..

It's my native hazel bush that I've grown from a nut..

See it's dying leaves..just a few left..?

Well, look closer, and you'll also see on the bush at the same time

some new buds, and catkins!  -Along with the dying leaves!

What's going on? These catkins aren't supposed to appear before next spring. Does this mean we will have no buds next spring?  As the frost will soon kill them off.. :o(

And also in my garden last week..

Look, my forsythia with it's autumnal leaves, and it's January flowers!!

Forsythia flowers normally appear in January *before* the leaves come on the branches, but as my leaves are curently dying, so my flowers are appearing!

I also have strawberries coming out now..

These type of strawberries are usually out in July/August.

But my dahlias are just pretties..

and they can come out until November apparently if the frosts aren't too bad :o)

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Remember my half finished hand warmers from my last post? Well, I finished them,

and have crocheted 3 more pairs since then, but unfortunately I haven't photographed them.

I've been busy making more bits for my Etsy shop too.

*Pin wheel brooches*

*Christmas cake picks*  I've made all sorts of these..snowflakes, butterflies etc..

*Pentagon christmas crochet bunting*

And *zip brooches and hair grips*

Although I have to say I've been somewhat of a 'slacker'  (as Jennie would say;o))

in the listing of products in my shop.

I mean I *still* haven't listed the makes I made during the summer holidays!

And in a couple of weeks my eldest daughter is going for a short stay in Kings College hospital London, so I'm not sure whether to list now, or now wait until we come out!

Honestly, sometimes I do make life hard for myself :o)

I also haven't forgotten my recipe from my last post for the quiche/tart.

I've taken some lovely photos for it, and I shall get the recipe up on a 'stand alone' page as soon as I have time.

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This weekend has been all about tidying. As I'm staying at the hospital with my daughter I need to get everything ship shape at home so that hubby and the other two children don't have to do much whilst I'm gone.

And I have some custom bunting to make for a 40th birthday too, which needs to be done before I go.  But I'll tell you more about that in a few weeks.

Well, anyway, that's it for me today.

I have loads to write about, as I haven't had the heart to blog these past couple of weeks ..I don't know why. I mean I've been about, just didn't feel much like posting. And I think sometimes when blogger is going wrong and you can't comment and stuff, it all gets a bit frustrating!  Maybe I just give up too easily lol.     Do you ever get like that?

Well, have a lovely Sunday everyone. And if your children are off school this week for half term like mine are, have a gorgeous autumny time won't you?

Take care all of you,

Love Donna xx