by Helen on January 17, 2013
I remember dark winter mornings when Rosie was at school and I was working full time. Townie Husband would leave the house first, clattering down the steps, briefcase in hand, while I was busy packing sandwiches, locating homework and trying to apply mascara all at the same time! Now times have changed and, while I still wake early from habit, during the winter I have the luxury of remaining in bed a little while longer while it’s still dark outside, and often do a little stitching whilst listening to the early morning radio. (This doesn’t happen in the summer as Ben is always keen and eager to start his day with an early morning walk).
I’ve been working on a new hand embroidery project for this month’s magazine and, as it involves stitching fur, I’ve had my camera to hand so I can take photographs of the stitching to show the different steps involved. In a silly mood this morning, I snapped the view from my pillow …
.. my countryside quilt is partly covered by granny’s eiderdown – it’s been very chilly here for the past few nights. There’s my sewing tin, the one that used to belong to my mother’s mother, and my stitching – featuring some lines from Rose Fylman’s lovely poem “I think mice are nice!” And here’s a close-up of the first completed mouse ….
I found a panel of vintage eiderdown fabric on eBay and am stitching onto that – much more interesting than plain white or cream for this design I think, as I have chosen a very limited colour palette for the actual embroidery. Following advice from one of Helen Stevens’ books, I have added a thin line of back stitch in dark brown along the bottom of his tail which really does give it a nice 3D effect. I need to add some shading below his body I think, but plan to do this at the end so I can work out how to place the lines taking the other mice into account.
Finally – I just have to share this photo with you … it’s Daisy making her first expedition into our garden. She looks so serious and determined, and is also growing very fast, having increased her bodyweight by a third from 12 to 18 lbs in just one week!! But then she is eating as much as Ben …..
by Helen on January 6, 2013
Don’t worry – I promise this is not going to turn into a blog about dogs – well, no more than before, anyway! But so many people have asked to see a little more of Daisy that I thought I’d post just a few more pictures. I did want to show you my quilt as you go project – I met my self-imposed deadline, and the quilt was on my bed in time for Christmas, but will save that for another time.
Yesterday I took Daisy for her first trip to the beach. I had to carry the solid little dumpling as she hasn’t had her final innoculations yet, so mustn’t come into contact with other dogs.
And here we are! Sorry I look so serious, but it’s hard trying to control a wriggling puppy, keep an eye on an over-excited big brother and hold my phone in the right place all at the same time. So I simply forgot to smile. But I think the cuteness of Daisy more than compensates!
She was fascinated by her big brother’s antics – and in turn he jumped and twirled, splashed and ran – a proper show-off!
And then he demonstrated his amazing strength and daring by bringing us a selection of the largest stones from the bed of the stream!
On returning home satisfied that life with Daisy would still include all his favourite things, Ben began to make friends …..
But, oh dear, being a Big Brother is just sooooo tiring!
But fun too Ben … and I’ve been so busy playing with Daisy that I’m getting all behind on other stuff – such as closing my Christmas shop. So I thought before I remove it tomorrow, I’d have a 24 hour flash sale on the whole of Bustle & Sew! Just enter the code FLASH at checkout to receive an amazing 40% off everything in my store (except magazine subscriptions).
Yes, that’s 40% discount on everything for the next 24 hours only when you enter the code “FLASH” at checkout!!
by Helen on January 4, 2013
Yesterday I brought home the newest member of our little family. Yes, Daisy has arrived and Ben now has his new baby sister. I regret to say however, that at the moment he thinks she is very boring. This is because she is too small for a good game of tug-of-war and has no idea how to play chase. I think all this will change very soon though – even though at present she is much less than a 10th of his size, she shows no fear of him whatsoever. Happy days to come Ben!
by Helen on December 28, 2012
I can hardly believe that Christmas Day is behind us now! So much anticipation, preparation and general excitement and then – the day was gone in a flash! Townie Husband ate lots of roast potatoes (too many to count!), I am ashamed to report that I was rather greedy with Rosie’s home-baked mince pies, whilst Rosie and Ben were observed snuggled down in a corner together scoffing chocolate Santas (Ben’s were doggie-chocs of course). There was laughter and fun, a little (but not very serious) bickering, and a good time was generally agreed to have been had by all.
During the holiday period between Christmas and New Year I have always loved to sit down with a sewing project – this year I’m hoping to make some progress on my rather neglected snowflake door curtain – but that’s not anywhere near ready to show yet. So I thought this might be a good moment to share instead my Patchwork Pup tutorial, created from a selection of vintage and new Liberty fabric from their new Liberty Lifestyle Collection.
Liberty fabrics are so quintessentially English – and their new craft range works really well with their vintage designs too as the more vibrantly coloured craft fabrics beautifully complement the more muted tones of their vintage patterns.
The pup’s body is created from a cheat’s version of pieced hexagons – all machined onto a firm cotton base creating a nice strong fabric for your softie. My finished puppy measured about 10″ long, but the pattern can easily be re-sized if you wish. If you’d like the free tutorial then please just just CLICK HERE to download the pdf file.
