Blog Archives

Jasper and his Jolly Jaunts

28/9/2011

I bumped into a friend, Anna, at work the other day and she mentioned that she hadn't seen much of Jasper on my blog recently - so Anna, this is especially for you. As you can see, that hairy hound is getting up to all sorts of mischief.....

.....and his favourite trick in the morning is to eat the fish food - after he's already had HIS breakfast - and yes, he can get right into that pond - those poor fish are getting really fed-up with him.....

.....and his second favourite game? Running around the garden with Mr F's flower pots. He is 5 months old now, and really growing fast. He has boundless energy and keeps us all very busy! The other day he was chasing around the garden with a frog in his mouth! Mr F pulled it out, and it leapt away, across the lawn, croaking merrily!
Hope these pictures will keep you entertained Anna :)

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Look what I bought from Halfpenny Home.....

26/9/2011

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Last weekend I went over to see the fabulous Nic and the even more fabulous Halfpenny Home. I posted piccies of the shop, and of our lunch, but I didn't post piccies of the fabulous goodies I bought. This vintage lingerie lace is winging it's way across the North Sea as a belated birthday present.....

.....this lovely fabric will be perfect as a tablerunner. It is really meant to be used in tailoring but I thought it would look good teamed with some of my favourite batiks. The beautiful vintage lace and pom-pom trimming was bought on an earlier visit with my friend Fran. Whenever I'm there I feel like a child in a sweetie shop, as there are so many lovely things to spend my pennies on.

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Tilda's Studio

25/9/2011

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When I went to the Festival of Quilts at Birmingham I very nearly bought the new Tilda book, to add to my growing collection (I have got ALL of her books, including some that are in Norwegian!) but I didn't buy it and have regretted it ever since.....

.....so look what I bought this week as a little treat for myself - yes, it's the latest Tilda book, Tilda's Studio.....

.....now please excuse me while I settle down with a nice cup of Twinings echinacea and strawberry infusion and while away an hour or two with this lovely book :)

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Happy Birthday Tilly

24/9/2011

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One of my colleagues has an adorable little girl, Tilly, and a few weeks ago (before the renovations deprived me of using my sewing machine) asked me if I could make some bunting for Tilly's birthday party, that could then be used to decorate her bedroom. Tilly's mummy had already bought these beautiful fabrics from Emma's Fabric Studio.....

.....and they were just a dream to sew with - infact they were almost too nice to cut up. Well, don't tell anyone, but I'd never actually made bunting before!!! Anyway, I'm so pleased with how this has turned out - it looks so pretty. And I used my new "pinking" rotary cutter to neaten the raw edges. The bunting was used at her birthday party, and is now going to be used to decorate her bedroom....

.....hmmm - 5inch squares - now I know you're thinking you don't need 5inch squares to make bunting - but this fabric was just so pretty, and I had an idea for the leftovers - a quick trip to my local quilt shop and I found this pink spot that looked so yummy. Sorry, can't tell you what I'm making just yet, as haven't quite finished it, and I don't want to spoil the surprise for Tilly and her mummy :)

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Yay!! Boudoir is revealed.....

24/9/2011

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Hooray!! The new bedroom is FINALLY finished - it has taken weeks to get it just looking just right - and has involved an awful lot of hard work from Mr F and his very talented cousin and me - actually, all I had to do was come up with the ideas and go shopping (which was terribly exhausting).
Oh, and I did have to make copious amounts of tea and coffee and bacon rolls to sustain the workers :) .....

.....Mr F and his cousin have been incredibly busy over the past month, painting and wallpapering and putting new cupboards together.....

.....while I was very busy buying new furniture and linen and the carpet and the table lamp.....

.....and my favourite purchase was finally put into place this morning - this beautiful white and crystal chandalier - it really does catch the light and looks very sparkly.....

.....and now all I've got left to do is to make a new quilt with these fabrics that I bought from the NEC at Birmingham, in keeping with the white and cream colour scheme of the room. I haven't sewn anything for such a long time I was getting withdrawal symptoms! Thank goodness normal service has been resumed!

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Dead Simple Quilt-A-Long Update

11/9/2011

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Do you remember I wrote about this QAL? Well I ummmed and ahhhhed over the fabrics and colours and have been searching the internet for solids (not fabrics I normally work with, so very out of my comfort zone - I really love the variation in colour with batiks, so it was hard trying to go for a solid colour).....then WOW look what I found this morning - perfect! My friend Nic recommended Purl Soho for my search for solids and they have come up trumps - now I can make a start on my quilt :)

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A Fab Shop, A Fab Friend and a REALLY Fab Lunch

10/9/2011

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Well today Mr F was very busy with new bedroom cupboards and man-stuff, so I planned a little jaunt over to Needham Market to my favourite shop, Halfpenny Home. I always get a little bit excited when I go over there and I'm like a child in a sweet shop when I look at all the wonderful goodies there are on display.....

.....and today I wasn't disappointed, especially when Harriet was there too - "Hi Harriet" - anyway, I can't show you a piccie of what I bought as some of it is being posted off for a belated birthday present (I hadn't forgotten you Eva ), so you'll have to make do with a piccie of Nic and Harriet and this GORGEOUS wool. Oh and Nic had baked the most scrummy Rhubarb and Raspberry tart which I had a little of - sorry no piccies of that....

.....after we'd chatted and shopped and had a cup of tea and chatted a bit more and oohed and ahhhed over the wool, we headed off to our favourite place for lunch, Alder Farm Barn Cafe.....

.....on the specials board today was Garlic and Ginger Tiger Prawns with Butterd Linguine and Homemade Olive Bread.....

.....as you can see from my empty plate, this was horrid and I didn't enjoy it at all ;).....

....and after a little rest while we chatted over a couple of pots of tea, and browsed through the latest Mollie Makes magazine, we had pudding - Nic went for the Ginger and Orange Cheesecake, while I plumped for dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Terrine with Raspberry Coulis and Cream - it was soooo delicious!! I had a great time today with Nic - now I wonder what will be on the menu the next time we meet?

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Celebrating Birthdays

4/9/2011

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We've still been busy at Foreman Towers decorating our bedroom, so I haven't had the time or the space to sew, but we have been very busy celebrating birthdays!
Firstly it was Mr F's birthday on Thursday.....

.....and we went out for a lovely meal at a local pub, The Coach and Horses at Melton. I had some delicious smoked salmon, trout and mackerel (Mr F had fish and chips cooked in Adnams beer batter which he said was very nice).....

.....and I topped it off with a yummy dark chocolate tart with coconut ice-cream. Well, a girl can always squeeze in a pudding.....

.....then on Friday it was Alice's turn to celebrate. I couldn't believe it was her 18th birthday. I really don't know where those years have gone - this is a picture of her when she was 3 years old, and as you can see from her birthday cake she was just mad about Winnie the Pooh.....

.....well she didn't have a Winnie the Pooh cake this year - just a triple layer chocolate creation of scrumptiousness ;)

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A Dead Simple Quilt-A-Long

3/9/2011

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Over on this blog, Daisy made it, Jules has written all about a Quilt-a-Long that she's joined - and I've decided to join in too!! Hop on over to Lily's Quilts to get all the information you need to join in too. The reason I've joined this QAL? Well it's because it's Dead Simple! It'll be starting some time in September and the idea is to make a simple quilt and just focus on the colours rather than the piecing. I've picked this colour palette from Design Seeds - what do you think of my choice?

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Jasper and his Jolly Jaunts

Look what I bought from Halfpenny Home.....

Tilda's Studio

Happy Birthday Tilly

Yay!! Boudoir is revealed.....

Dead Simple Quilt-A-Long Update

A Fab Shop, A Fab Friend and a REALLY Fab Lunch

Celebrating Birthdays

A Dead Simple Quilt-A-Long

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