Next week it's my mum's 70th birthday and I wanted to make something really very special and personal for her. So, with great assistance from my sister Becky, who emailed me some photos that were lurking in my mum's house I set to work. (Thanks Becky - some of those piccies were HILARIOUS!!). Anyway, this photo was taken YEARS ago - that's me sitting in the middle, holding my baby sister Becky, with my sister Rachel and my sister Lisa holding her Teddy. My own two daughters often complain when they see piccies of themselves as little girls in matching outfits, well here is where I got the idea for doing that to them - my mum often dressed my sisters in matching outfits as they are very close in age, just like my own two daughters are. Sorry girls!..... .....ohhhhh no I can't show you what I've made yet - I don't want to spoil the surprise!! Here is just a little glimpse of what I was doing with fabrics and threads and vintage lace and buttons and such-like. The big reveal will happen on my mum's actual birthday, July 3rd.
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Nine years ago today, my dad Brian passed away after a very short illness. I miss him all the time, and often think of things I'd like to tell him (well actually I do still tell him) about all the things that Mr F and my girls have done, things that would have made him proud, and sometimes just things that would've made him laugh. As a nurse, I've spent many long hours with dying patients, and I never realised what an honour it can be to spend those last few hours with someone until I did that for my own dad - I felt both very proud and very privileged to have been able to nurse him at the end. Unfortunately it was a bloody horrid couple of days when my dad passed away, because Mr F's dad passed away the day before. I know - bloody awful.com. Oh dear, this all sounds very bleak, and I don't want it to sound like that all - yes of course I miss him - the whole family misses him - but he's always in our thoughts, and we often laugh about things he would say to us, and we quote what we call "Brian-isms" - you know, the funny things that he would do and say to us - so we remember him with laughter, not with sadness. Anyhooos, when I was nursing my dad, I'd read him the daily newspaper and given him a shave, and my sisters and my mum and me played lots of his old records for him, and a couple of his favourites were Louis Armstrong and Jim Reeves. I can't bring myself to play Jim on my blog, but here is Louis at his best - listen and enjoy. Yes it's really that time of year again - it's my wedding aniversary! I really can't believe those years have gone by so quickly. getting married, raising a family, moving house, changing careers - we've packed an awful lot into that time..... .....24 years ago was a bright, sunny gorgeous day - AND it was Easter Saturday too - and now my neice, who was one of my bridesmaids is getting married herself this year, and one of my other bridesmaids who was just a little girl at the time, got married last September. How time flies!!..... We've been out for a lovely meal at the Wilford Bridge pub, at Melton - Beth is still in Reading and Alice didn't want to come along, so it was just me and Mr F. I had a delicious fish pie and a large glass of Pinot Grigio - and as you can see we had lots of cards, and Mr F bought me some beautiful flowers. I wasn't able to blog about Mothering Sunday on the day itself, because we had no internet access (some stupid people thought it would be a clever idea to cut out half a mile of phone cable in my village, so we had no landline or internet access for several days). Anyway, my two girls really spoiled me..... .....my eldest daughter Beth was home for the weekend and she decided that she was going to cook a roast dinner!! I must say she did an EXCELLANT job, and peeled all the veggies herself and made Yorkshire puddings and breadsauce (with no sign of Aunt Bessie!) and although she's vegetarian, she cooked a roast chicken for us, and did a veggie roast for herself - it was all absolutely delicious and I was so very proud of her..... .....and Alice baked me a special Mother's Day cake which she decorated with icing and sprinkles and was very tasty, and she bought me some flowers too, AND she baked lemon muffins for our tea..... .....as well as cooking lunch, Beth bought me some Lush goodies too, which smell divine! So I really was a very lucky yummy mummy!
My lovely neice Michelle is home with her parents for a few days - and I've been busy sewing her a little something for her birthday. I used an assortment of cream fabrics for the bag and the lining, and marked a grid for the quilting with a Hera marker (these are by Clover - they're great as they mark an indentation on the fabric that you sew over - no nasty pencil or chalk lines that won't rub off!!)..... .....it is really easy to follow the lines, and I always use a walking foot for quilting - it stops the fabric bunching up underneath. I've used a Mettler quilting thread, shade 04, and used a slightly longer stitch than I would use for normal sewing..... .....you may remember I made a cute makeup bag for my sister-in-law for Christmas, and appliqued a picture of her daughter, Michelle, and granddaughter Erin, onto the front of the bag. This time I rather craftily used a picture of Michelle's partner, Simon, with Erin. Again, I used the miracle sheets of fabric that you can print pictures onto..... .....I decorated the front of the bag with some vintage lace..... .....this was based on an AnnAKa pattern. I even used one of my printed labels as a tab. I'm so pleased with how this has turned out..... ......and here's the birthday girl, along with her daughter Erin. We had a lovely family get-together this afternoon, Happy Birthday Michelle! My eldest daughter has left home today, and is moving in with her boyfriend for a few months. I am so proud of the confident young woman she has become - and I am so proud to be her mum. She has sorted herself out with a job, and I know her boyfriend will look after her, but it was so hard this evening waving her off at the station. She was so excited to be off, full of hopes and dreams, and I know that part of being a good parent is giving your children the wings to fly, but it hurt so much watching her take another step into her future. I'm going to miss her so much, and can't wait for her to come back home in the summer before she then heads off to university! A few days ago I shared a sneak peek of a secret gift I had been making - and here is the full reveal. I made this makeup bag as a Christmas present for my sister-in-law, and used a photograph of her daughter and grand-daughter to decorate it with, using the miracle fabric sheets that I'd bought from Chilford quilt show back in November. I was so pleased with how this turned out - what do you think?? One of my sisters, Lisa, is also a quilter and crafter and this morning I took myself off to Norwich to deliver her birthday present. She took me to a delightfull place for a cuppa - Biddy's Tea Room. I don't know how I was able to resist the yummy-looking cakes that were on display.... .....it was so quaint inside and was absolutely filled to the brim with all sorts of old-fashioned things, it was just like being in my granny's lounge - there was even a treadle sewing machine table that had been turned into a table for two. I definately know where I'll be going for afternoon tea the next time I go to Norwich.... .....I just had time to do a little bit of shopping before I came home, and quickly took a picture of this handsome piper who was outside Marks and Spencers. Wonder what he's wearing under his kilt!! On Saturday Mr F and myself went on our annual trip to Sandown races with a group of friends. We always have a good day there, and it was especially good this year as both Mr F and myself actually had 2 winners!! Hmmm - don't know what I'll spend my winnings on - maybe it will go towards a new Horn cabinet hehe! .....this was me earlier in the summer at Ladies' Day at Newmarket. I don't always wear a posh hat to the races, only on special occassions!! The Foremans have had a lovely afternoon with my sister-in-law, as I finally met my great-niece Erin today - here she is with her mum, her grandmother and her great-grandmother. She really is the cutest little thing - and guess what - I get to see her again tomorrow :) |
About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! Archives
July 2023
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