mr. monkeysuit

wedding dress quilt

My most recently completed commission.

During a craft fair I met a woman who wanted to have her wedding dress made into a quilt. And she wasn't taking no for an answer. I explained to her the fabric would be difficult to work with, that once I cut into the dress I wouldn't be able to reverse it and that she wouldn't be able to machine wash the quilt. I gave her all kinds of reasons not to do it but she was absolutely certain she wanted it done.

In the end I'm glad she convinced me to do it because it really does look lovely.

And she's right she'll never wear the wedding dress again and now she'll have a quilt that she can use.

I used silk taffeta for the center of the squares (I found it my stash....that thing is a gold mine!) and I used Liberty fabrics for the border and the binding. I had lots of help from my Mum with this quilt, it was a real team effort. It's been so nice having her stay and boy oh boy have we busted through some quilts!
I should have some more to show soon..but you know me soon could be a long, long time.

kitchen makeover

With the arrival of a new season comes the inevitable moving around of furniture and this year getting rid of some! The kids' kitchen found its way back into the living room and on doing so looked a little tired.

A patchwork quilted tie-on tablecloth and matching chair cushions seemed to do the trick.

It was hard cutting into the elephant fabric because I love it so much but I have a new policy in the sewing room and anything is fair game now. I've decided I am not a fabric collector and the real worth of it lies in what I make with it.

I love the tie-on aspect of this tablecloth and am thinking of making one for our real kitchen table in the hope that it will prevent the all to commonplace spillages when the kids get down from the table dragging half the tablecloth with them. Tell me it's not just my kids that do this!

We have the standard Ikea kids table and chairs, if you have the same table and want the measurements I used let me know in the comments.

Over at Block Party you'll see my latest contributions for the May wonky log cabin quilt.

Happy Friday to you all. Hope your weekend is filled with sunshine.

scratched sunglasses...a thing of the past

Ladies, if you're like me and prefer a big ol' pair of sunglasses, you'll have been in the same predicament ...a drawer full of scratched up sunglasses.
Regular sunglasses cases are too small so I always end up throwing my glasses into my handbag, along with my keys, pens, juice bottles, wallet, usually a few rocks from my kids and any other amount of crapola.
No more my friends.

A simple lined drawstring bag with a toggle (love that word), toggle (ok just once more), toggle.

Why have I not done this before? So simple and practical.

Of course if I went for something like this pair I'd never need a cute drawstring bag.
I notice nobody's bid on them yet.

How strange.

Little red riding hood

Sorry for the absence. You'll love the reason. My typepad account needed to be renewed. Only my purse is on the first floor and my computer is on the third. Could not remember to bring up my purse...

...for over two weeks.

Sheesh.

I did, however,manage to find this stellar wool coat at Amvets with matching hat. She loves it as much as me and was very disheartened to learn she could not wear it to bed.

 

(such a cheeky monkey)

I just hope it still fits in the fall because at long, long...long last, it is too warm to wear it.

It's good to have the summer back and it's good to be back here. 

mother's day love

From Floyd to me on Mother's Day. Hope it was just as sweet for all of you.

Cissie's favorite new top

Handmade, but not by me. Sweet Donna agreed to do a swap with me for some fabric.(You can see what I sent here.)

I (and Cissie) am so in love with this shirt-smock. I love the peter pan collar, the chioce of fabric, how beautifully it has been made, the perfect little hand stitches of orange around the hem and cuffs and Cissie in it. And Cissie loves, well...

...she loves the pocket. Perfect for all her little treasures.
Yesterday I found in it:

a rock
a piece of bread from playgroup
some sand
a tulip petal
a magnet
two raisins

Donna has the most beautiful shop on Etsy called If Wishes Were Horses filled with handmade goodness. I love everything she makes and this is the next on my list for Cissie's wardrobe.

Thank you Donna for agreeing to swap something so beautiful, it makes me smile every time I see it.

what happened there then

That week just flew but here are the results for the last three winners :

Dawn will be trying this out on her little girl,

Esther's making a dress to go with these,

And Sarah won these

Winners - don't forget to email me your address.

Thanks for playing along. I'll be back next week with something crafty.

another winner, but another day for a giveaway

Julie is the latest winner of these cuties...

 

... but don't be shy come on and try again.

a winner + another giveaway

Elizabeth is yesterday's winner of this headband.
But who knows what today will bring.
Game on again...comments on this post will be drawn at random and the winner announced tomorrow.
If you're new to this, check out my last post for more details and if you entered yesterday you're still welcome to join in for each new day.

we have lift off

Oh yes. I am very excited by the events of the weekend.

She finally has hair long enough for ponytails. And even better she likes wearing them. Ahhh.

To celebrate I'll be having a hair accessory give-away every day this week. All you have to do is take a look my shop and let me know which one is your favorite in the comments. If you want to enter every day you can, just remember to leave a comment in each new post.

I'm also having a big sale in the shop this week. Buy any two items and get a third for free!

Please spread the word! If you put a link to my shop on your blog and let me know about it you'll get an extra three entries for the day of your choice.