Quilt while you're ahead

... "hello beautiful thing, maybe you could save my life"...

(from 'girls in their summer clothes' )

today's post:

flowers

painting flowers with the boys

felting

and a spot of shopping: this skirt.

and counting the 'sleeps' till the date above... (13!!)

art quilts and toenails...

No 3 and I took a trip to a local museum to check out an exhibition of the Quilt Art group

As much as I can appreciate the talent/inspiration/craftmanships that goes in art quilts I feel somehow ambivalent about them.  I think quilt by definition should be 'used' and not simply hang on a wall... but that's just me.  And I'm happy to be convinced otherwise... I mean... they're definitively 'art'... and they're definitively 'quilted'... but are they really 'quilts'?

Anyway, we saw some really special and wonderful stuff:

This by Sandra Meech.  Arent' those trees simply amazing?  I think they're printed on but then the quilting somehow makes them 'pop' out to you.

I love 'text' on fabric, this was part of the next panel

This one was the one in the advertising poster (which I tried to get... but they'd ran out... sigh)

And this was my favourite (by Elizabeth Brimelow).  So many things going on

so many layers,

so many shapes

so many stitches

Apologies if the photos are not brilliant... it was really hard trying to take a picture and at the same time keeping an eye on a toddler who wanted to touch everything and kept asking "mummy made this?" "mummy made that" "that's wicked" "that's yucky"

Speaking of certain toddler... last night, under the cover of darkness, when his 'nana' thought him asleep he crept into my bathroom and gave himself a pedicure.

Yes, a pedicure.

And my bathroom carpet looks like the set of the chainsaw massacre.

eight years ago today...

at this hour I was putting on my wedding dress...

We've come a long way, me and you, Mr M, haven't we?

But I've never looked back.

Only forward.

that was the weekend that was

and what a fab weekend that was too!

It started with a train journey on Saturday morning

and it finished with another train journey on Sunday evening

and in between there was a lot of this

and a gorgeous picnic under this tree

(these were divine... from here)

and whole day of learning knitting secrets  here.

The greatest thing was meeting in person other like minded girls:  Ali (again), Christina who doesn't have a blog and of course should..., Tracy, Val and the mastermind of it all Alice.  What a laugh.  Ali and Alice have got a much more detailed account of the event so head over there if you want to know more.

I can't stop smiling.  Do you know that feeling?

(A special thanks goes to Mr M without whom this weekend wouldn't have been possible!)

cookies and flowers

is there anything nicer?

(well, there is... I've got ahead of me a weekend of divine crafting: on Saturday a workshop with Jessie Chorley and on Sunday a workshop at Loop.  And yes, Mr M is looking after the boys... and yes I'm in good company)

But a part from that I love flowers and I love 'cookies'. 

These ones in particular:

Thanks to Nigella's super quick receipe... mmmm nice, especially with a glass of ice cold milk.  Needless to say they didn't last long.

And who says boys and flowers don't mix?  Check this out (thanks to www.kidscraftweekly.com):

Colourfull muffin cases, some long wooden skewers, felt circles, sticky tape, glue, a pot and a couple of potatoes.

Voila'.

a very simple quilt

No 3's new quilt is done

It's very simple

Simply stripes/blocks of fabrics  (3 on the front, plus binding and one for the back)

Simply quilted in straight lines one inch wide

It looks great on his bed ("I'm older now, mummy")

And hanging from the goal net in the garden...

Have a great weekend.

on my window sill you can find

mummy's cookie jar.  my biscuits. 

living lettuce

a card and flower from Mr M

my mini cacti

fossils from our holiday in Dorset and a Chinese money plant

What's on yours?

felted knitting basket

My latest felting adventure

to hold my current knitting project

and other things

WIPs

I've joined Amanda's star quilt-along... c'mon do it too, there's still time!

No 3 moved to a 'big boy's bed' on Sunday... this made rethink his quilt

And what are you working on? Do share!!

Indigo dyeing (and the new kitchen)

Have you ever tried indigo dyeing? You should.

It's magic. 

You take a white piece of fabric, you fold it, stitch it, roll it, knot it.

Then you dip it.

And when you take it out it's dull green and  it smells  horrible BUT right in front of your eyes... it turns this amazing shade of blue... (something to do with the oxygen in the air)

this

turned into this

this

became this

and this

surprised me with this

But my favourite of all is this

which unrolled into this magic piece

Magic or what?

Oh, and the kitchen... drum roll please...

ta dah!!!

So clean and white and calm and new and MINE!!!!