21/52

Hello there?

How has your week been? Mine has been supersonically busy. Work work work, very little time to play, knit and crochet. In fact I haven't crocheted for quite some time now.I have itchy fingers and need to get hooking again soon.

Here are some sweet snippets from my 21st week....

An new pair of daisy earings for those hippy care free Spring day clothes which I  bought in Brighton last Saturday. 

Our little trip to Brighton last weekend and visiting some of the artists open houses.

My blossom picking during my cycle ride this week

Oh my goodness, our new kitchen is now fitted and functional, I was over the moon seeing the tiles and orange splash back being fitted, I have waited a verrrrry long time for this indeed.

So, the down pouring rain the whole of yesterday wasn't very pleasant, but it gave me an opportunity to pop my birthday wellies on after work and walk to the library in the rain. I was also excited to see my first rosebud on my rose bush I planted in an old watering can a couple of years go.

A heart shaped leaf caught my eye too

Lastly, when I was in the library yesterday I spotted the Hasting College adult part time course booklets for 2013/14 and have found a couple I might pursue in the Autumn depending on how many pennies I have.One is a 4 week course on Dyeing and Printing Fabric (I have desperately wanted to do this for what feels like a lifetime) or a 10 week Pattern cutting and dress making course. I think my mind is almost made up on the first one but I still want to have a think about it.

I must apologise for not visiting a lot of your blogs lately, I hope to catch up this long weekend, thanks always for visiting and your conversation. Welcome to new followers too x

See you soon

xox

Penny

Me and my girl

On Saturday, Alice and I decided to spontaneously go to Brighton for the day. It was a mixed kind of weather day, but that didn't put a damper on our spirits and enthusiasm for pootling down the bohemian north lanes and along the seaside as well as enjoying some of the free city entertainment going on on the streets and corners during the Brighton Festival.

There was a lovely weekly flea market just down from the station where we had a wander and a little purchase or two of some old french buttons.

There was a lovely man selling different cuts of fabric and I spotted this lovely floral piece on the floor in amongst other scrap bits. He said he had got it from an old lady who used to do patchwork and he thought it was a Liberty 1970's print. It almost looks like a Liberty fabric, that's what attracted me to it in the first place, I'm not sure though? I asked "How much are you wanting for this half meter?" and he said I could just have it as it was so old and scrappy! Wow, thanks lovely Mister with the fabric store :o) 

We visited some of the artists open houses which I have always loved ever since I lived in Brighton from 1996-2002. There is such diversity of artists from print makers to painters to ceramicists to crafty quilt makers and knitting/crochet.

We had good fun and felt inspired by all the variety of art work we saw. Such a wealth of talent right on our door step.

A little exhibition of Vintage sheet quilts was a nice surprise in this little shop I have never noticed before.

We went to one of my favourite tea shops for some afternoon refreshment and cake :0) The Mock Turtle where traditional tea cups, teapots and cakes are served.

Followed by a little shopping and chilling out on the beach, chit chatting away and just spending some quality mummy daughter time together.

Alice found some sweet things to spend her pennies on and as the shops were closing we made a quick decision to have a yummy bite to eat at one of our favourite places...

 All in all it was a wonderful, spontaneous day spent with my best girl.

Have a marvelous week everyone and as always thank you for visiting and taking time to comment, always appreciated x

xox

Penny

20/52

Happy weekend everyone. This week has flown for me and here I find myself hoping that I've captured a photo or two (or three!)as my simple, happy moments. So, here goes...

Oh the joy of washi tape! I saw this idea somewhere on the net and thought.... I think I'll copy that for my small collection of dpn's. It works a treat and you never have to search down the back of the couch for that missing one again!

I don't like waste and love it when I get to what the manufacturers make you think is the end of a tube of body cream and then after snipping the tube half way down you realise you have a shed load that can be used despite it not being willing to be squeezed out. Pop the top half back on and your cream doesn't dry out in the in-between times. I'm sure your clever girls do this anyway :o)

Janie dug some violets out of her garden for me after I admired them last week. So sweet and delicate, lets hope I can keep them alive!

I knitted and nattered at our new local group on Thursday evening which was lovely and relaxing with other yarny lovers. I'm attempting to knit a Debbie Bliss summer cardigan with her eco-cotton which is dreamy and soft and quick to knit with. I forgot that I had bought this yarn about 2 years ago and happily found it in my pine chest in the loft a couple of weeks ago.

I've really enjoyed stitching words and other bits this week. The words have come out a wee bit wonky but who cares, all adding character and handmade-ness to it. I'll show you soon.

I was over the moon when I walked into work on Wednesday to find that my lovely friend Helen had picked some Lily of the Valley from her garden for me. She knows that they are my absolute favourite flowers. Their scent, oh my goodness I cannot tell you how intoxicating it is, I happily spent my working day with my nose in these gorgeous little lilies. 

Last, but not least my new pair of clogs arrived from Lotta this week. Quite plain and simple for work, but I like to spruce them up with a colourful stocking or two.I have some red strappy sandal clogs I bought last Summer which I adore and hope to continue to add to my collection because I have always been a clog girly and why not reignite my love for them in my forties?

That's me for this week, happy days to you all 

xox

Penny

Oh simple thing

The simple, beautiful doily of the crocheted kind hunted out in charity shops, junk yard sales and car boot sales over the years. How I do love thee. This week will be one of stitches and patterned doilies to delight the likes of simple old me. I can't wait to get home to my stitches.

How about you sweet people? Anything simple filling your days this week?

Have a good one  

xox

 

19/52

My goodness have we just lived through the 19th week of 2013? Where does all that time go? I've had a bit of an up and down week and have had some sweet moments which I'll share. I hope you have had a good one? The mixed weather has been funny with me thinking should I or should I not pull out my Winter coat for protection against those chilly winds! I have however, really enjoyed being able to hang our washing up on the the line.

First up are these two newish books from our fabulous library just a 5 min walk away from our home. They have just redecorated and modernised the upstairs where they keep all the knitting,crochet, stitching and crafty books. I loved finding these two beautiful books to peruse over for 3 weeks without having to buy them. I am sure I will get some inspiration to make a little something from these beauties. 

I am a library lover and could quite happily be locked away in there as long as you provide me with food and water :o)

A rather modern look for an old seaside town, I love the purple walls and industrial lights with the ancient ceilings.

Meet Poppy, our new baby dwarf cross lion head bunny. She has been adopted from a good friend's daughter whose landlord said she could not keep her in her University digs. She is too precious and really funny with all her antics. We took her to the vets this week for a free health check during rabbit awareness week which just happened to be the week we adopted her. She is the softest little thing and we love her so, especially her little cotton tail!

Well, that's about it for this week, I am also currently attempting to knit myself a cotton cardigan for the Summer time so I'm sure you'll see more of that sometime soon. Have a happy carefree weekend everyone xox See you soon

I like to ride my bicycle

Firstly, thank you for all your lovely comments about my Spring patchwork duvet cover for Alice,she really loves it and I'll post a picture at the end of this post of it finished and on her bed for you to see it completed and in it's rightful place.

I just wanted to talk a little about my joy of cycling so far this Spring. With the longer lighter evenings I've been able to get out and about for an hour or so on my bicycle. I love the freedom of this along the south coast and being able to listen to the birds singing in the trees and cycling along countryside lanes to see all the farmyard animals and country smells! This is such a therapeutic thing for me at the end of a long day of work and just being able to switch off, reflect and relax.

I tend to cycle at a pace for my health BUT I also 'ride' my bicycle too. In my head the difference is cycling gets my heart rate up and I perspire, riding is just like strolling instead of jogging, where I stop and start and give in to some flower picking. Last year I wrote about my idea on the Politics of Flower Picking and I still continue to stick to my "rules" regarding this if you like. This week I have come home with the above two posies with some of the flowers from my own pot plants.

I have even started to enjoy pressing and drying out some little flowers for my book of lists. I used to love pressing flowers, forgetting about them when I was a kid and then re-finding them and making little pictures with them.

Little posies for around the house are so necessary, I cannot imagine life without my old bottles filled with blossoms to make our hearts sing.

So, spill the beans do you pick flowers for free? Do you ride or cycle on your bicycle? Do tell :o)

Oh and I almost forgot, here is Alice's duvet cover on her bed after sewing on the back and washing it.

This peachy orange floral sheet fabric was used from a vintage duvet I found for £1.50 in a local charity shop. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out and really enjoyed using up lots of bits and bobs from our fabric stash.

Cheerio for now

xox

Penny

Spring patchwork

I don't know about you, but I love the sound of pinking scissors crunching through fabric. There is something very satisfying hearing that sound. I especially love my pinking scissors this May bank holiday weekend as my overlocker seems to have stopped working! I was so upset by this and have to take it into a sewing doctor to see what the diagnosis is. I have become spoilt having an overlocker and miss it now it's gone on the blink. Anyway, no worries when I have ziggity zaggety lines to help stop the fraying.

And so, the Spring patchwork duvet cover began yesterday morning.

Andy and Alice went to Brighton and Hove Albion football (they have season tickets) yesterday whilst I stayed at home in my Pj's for most of the day listening to the radio and cutting and sewing away like a very busy bee. 

Making a fabric patchwork is almost like decorating a room, all the preparation work of cutting, measuring planning takes the time and then comes the best bit the "decorating" or in this case sewing it all together. Oh and having fabric to inspire you what to munch on during the process is an added bonus :o)

It's a mixture of vintage sheets, some old fabric that I've had for years, a few embroidered tablecloths, pillow cases, some of Alice's fat quarter collection fabric and charity shop clothes.

Slowly, but surely it started to come together. I loved seeing the patterns of all the different fabrics blending in and sometimes clashing (!) with each other. I don't like anything that matches, it makes me feel uncomfortable. As long as the clashes are still easy on the eye and not too busy to look at I'm happy.

So here it is as best as I could photograph it on the washing line. It's 200cm by 200cm, so rather large to capture.

Alice is rather pleased with it especially when I got her to build up her confidence with sewing some of the squares together and choosing the fabrics she likes to be added to the patchwork.

All I need to do now is sew the back on, I have an old vintage sheet double duvet I plan to cut and sew to complete this duvet cover. I've thoroughly enjoyed sewing again and love that this has been a thrifty project using up bits and bobs from my fabric stash. Thanks as always for visiting and your comments, really love the conversation.

See you all soon

xox 

Penny