Embracing the year so far

We are nearing the end of February, the evenings are getting lighter and blossom is appearing on the trees. The year is already passing by at speed and spring appears to be on its way. After weeks of rain and storms things seem to be calming with more frequent sunny and dry days brightening the week.

The past two months I've been using the time for reflection and for planning the year ahead. The month has been busy and I've tried hard to embrace the year and everything that has arisen so far.

I've been...

Travelling...

At the end of January Mr C and I took a refreshing holiday away to the Yorkshire Dales, our first holiday away since May last year. We certainly needed it and forgot how good it was to escape for a week away. We had a lovely trip and stayed in a converted barn with our close friends. We enjoyed days out stomping in the countryside, seeing waterfalls, caves, amazing landscapes and pretty towns. Afternoons of drinking tea, eating cake, reading books and snuggling next to the log burner became a regular routine.

Clearing...

We've had some work done in our little flat turning the place into a building site and a dusty mess. Luckily most of the work was completed while we were away on holiday but we had a few days of cleaning our home top to bottom to get everything back together. Despite the building work being really disruptive I found huge positives in amongst the mess. It was the perfect time to do a huge spring clean, time to assess what we own, a chance to get rid of the old and give to charity, a time to make space and plan changes to our home.

Taking time to assess what we own and cleaning our home top to bottom was so therapeutic. We cleaned our windows, tidied through cupboards and storage boxes and reviewed our book collection, making our home feel fresh again with space to move. The space we created will not immediately be filled with new things, we want some space to breathe and a space to slowly add to as we find new pieces we love.

With our house tidying and planning came a refresh and a brand new and improved space for me to sew and make. I'll tell you more over the next week but I'm delighted to have a really special place in our home to dedicate to my passions and have space to create. Having the space has enabled me to get stuck in with some making and planning projects for the year.

Making...

I've been picking up work in progress projects and sewing together rows of patchwork for my new cushion cover...

and cutting out triangles and piecing them together for the back of the cushion...

and then packing up! My sewing machine decided that it needed a service so while I'm waiting for my sewing machine to be fixed I've been busy making more crochet granny squares for my blanket.

Seeing...

I've been busy catching up with special friends over brunches, visits, tea and cake, and long distance Facetime catch ups. Some of these catch ups haven't happened for years, others months and some weeks. However long our time apart our friendship bonds are still strong and taking time to catch up made me so very grateful for the friends in my life and the brightness, warmth and closeness they bring.

Receiving...

Its been a month of receiving lovely pieces of post and parcels. A few weeks ago I received a long awaited crochet book as a late Christmas gift, and last week I treated myself to a few new patchwork books. The books are already inspiring me for my next quilt and crochet projects.

I've mentioned before about how much I love receiving post. This month I've been so lucky to receive two beautifully hand written thank you cards bringing with them warm words and kindness, receiving them made my day!

Embracing...

My word Embrace has been at the forefront of many things over the past two months. It's surprising how many things can happen in the space of two months that I've looked to my word for direction and guidance for. I've embraced unexpected changes and embraced challenges that have arisen so far. I'm embracing the moments and embracing reflection by keeping up to date with my Project Life album and my diaries. I'm embracing the now, embracing the space and embracing positivity. I'm loving this project and I'm feeling more connection to my word too.

I hope you have had a good month...it's time to wave goodbye to the wet and stormy months, and look forward to welcoming in the clear skies and calmer weather ahead.

2012 :: A year in review

Last January I wrote a post, New Year, New Projects, about the things that I hoped to achieve during the year. I started my blog in November 2011 with this post about my desire to start a new chapter in my life and get creative. I wrote about my crafty beginnings which sparked a list of things I wanted to learn over the coming year. I'm super proud to show you a summary of what I've managed to achieve this year.

I had a busy year of making...I learnt to knit a chunky scarf when I started my blog... 

I attempted to start crochet...I didn't have time to continue with it, but maybe this year!

I took the plunge and decided to start knitting a cable cushion cover

During a patchwork and quilting taster session I got hooked on patchwork and buying fabrics...

I said goodbye to my Mum's sewing machine and invested in my own new sewing machine...

I made a quilted patchwork sewing machine cover

Made my first patchwork quilt and wrote instructions of how to make the quilt...

I made a cushion for a good friend

 Designed and made my own Christmas Patchwork Stocking and made two just in time for Christmas!

I got back into paper crafting and made some cards...

I started gardening and planted some plants and flowers and watched the garden bloom

 With the awful weather during the summer we still had a little crop of fruit and veg to eat!

I was given my dream window boxes and added some summer and winter flowers to them...

I made a few things for our home...I created my own labels for our spice rack

...learnt how to make sloe gin

and did a bit of upcycling, making coasters from wall tiles 

I spent a little bit of time in the kitchen cooking and baking...

Well, what a year. I'm so very proud of what I've managed to achieve. There haven't been many years where I feel that I've developed so much, I've learnt so many practical things and achieved so much! 

Thank you so much for following my journey so far, I really appreciate all your comments and visits you make to my blog. I hope that you will join me during 2013 to see what I get up to, I've got some great things planned and I'd love to share these with you.

Making a cushion

Making your own cushion is such a great way to practice a number of sewing techniques and add something unique to your home. A few months ago a good friend of mine moved into a beautiful furnished flat, decorated in a stylish black and white theme. The flat being furnished meant that my friend didn't have a lot of opportunity to add a bit of her style to the flat. Gradually an orange footstool, an orange rug and an orange throw were added to make the flat feel more like home, adding a touch of her style to the front room.

I wanted to help and decided to make a cushion that she could add to her front room. I haven’t made a cushion since I was at school so it was the perfect time to try again. As the cushion was going to be a surprise birthday gift I took a risk and decided to select the fabrics myself! I already had a colour theme, orange, so now I had to find a mix of fabrics that my friend would like. I searched on and off for a few months during the summer to find fabrics that would work together. I had a few pieces in my fabric stash and bought some new fabrics especially for the cushion, these included Summersville – Brush Strokes – Orange, Summersville – Scandi Floral – Orange, Simpatico – Straws Peachy and Nancy Murty S Dots Tangerine. I finally had the fabrics selected and so I made a start so that I could make the cushion in time for her visit to my flat.

After washing and pressing the fabric I decided to cut the fabric into strips. 

I spent time deciding the design of the cushion, I knew I wanted strips of fabric but I wasn't too sure how many I should cut and the arrangement of the design. I cut 9 strips of fabric, each measuring 2.5 inches wide by 18 inches long. I spent time arranging the strips then sewed the strips together using a quarter inch seam.

I wanted to create a cushion with a slightly different look on the other side of the cushion so that it could be used either way. I decided to select three of my favourite fabrics from the different options I had, and cut each strip 6.5 inches wide by 18 inches long. I sewed the three strips together with a quarter inch seam.

I pressed the fabric pieces, flattening the seams...I then set about adding a zip (40cm long)...

...and then making my own piping for the cushion.

Adding the zip and the piping to the fabric was hard and took some time to finish, I had to unpick the stitching a few times to get the look I wanted with the piping.

I made my own cushion pad using some plain cotton fabric and toy stuffing I already had in my stash.

As you can see the final cushion turned out really well (see photo at the top of the post and below). The second side of the cushion with three of my favourite fabrics looked good and meant that the cushion could be displayed either way.

I can't decide which side is my favourite. What do you think?

I’m so pleased that I made the cushion for my friend, seeing her face when she opened it and knowing that she liked it made me feel that the month or so of planning and finding the right fabric was worth it. The project taught me how to add piping to the cushion as well as a zip.

Having made this cushion it has spurred me on to make my own piped cushions for our flat. I've selected the fabric, I just need to sit down and make them.