Rosy Lady

Dahlia Pincushion

This was such a fun little project that I'm tempted to make another one in different colour.  I only did a little bit every day but, I think you could easily make one in a morning.

The pattern is from Sandy Henderson's book, Sewing Bits and Pieces.  I love this book , it is full of small and bigger sewing projects, a lot of it is also to spruce up something like a table cloth, an old T-shirt or cardigan, but there are also bigger projects like a quilt or a skirt.  

At first I was a bit concerned that my pincushion looked a bit Christmassy with the red and green colours and the dahlia looked more like a poinsettia but, with the button covered in some fun Kaffe Fassett fabric, I think it is has come out well.

I am so keen to start baby sewing but, as we don't know if it is a boy or girl yet, I have to remind myself to wait.  I will have my first scan on Thursday, 5th August, then I should be 12 weeks.  I have to say that so far, I have not found this first trimester too easy.  They never tell you about the difficult bits except for a bit of morning sickness.  Pregnancy is definitely not for sissies.  I have had two early scans so far and baby seemed fine with a strong heart beat on each occasion. I have been signed off work for a bit to rest and I am definitely doing that.  Hubby has been very supportive and caring and it has been so nice to stay in for a whole weekend rather than to rush off somewhere.  

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, I hope you're all well.  

xx

My next project

I am meant to be resting for a while so, I thought some small sewing projects might help to keep me sane.  I'm just getting ready to cut into this fabric for my next project which I hope to share soon:

 

Hope you have a good weekend whatever you plan to do.

xx

African quilt

I've been meaning to blog about this quilt that I bought when I was in South Africa in December last year at a local farmer's market.  

I was instantly drawn to the lovely red African patterned fabric and the squares that were embroidered (and signed) by different ladies.

The quilt was made at the Tsitsikamma Eersterivier Embroidery Project in the Cape Province of South Africa.  The aim of this project is to improve the standard of living and the upliftment of the local community.  The project provides opportunities for people to use their skills and better their lives.

Tsitsikamma means abundance of water.  The aim of this project is to let the local population (mainly farm workers, part time domestic workers and many unemployed people) experience some of this abundance in their personal and family lives.

I love the childlike simplicity of these embroidered images.

      

I've been wanting to make a quilt myself and I will probably start with something small, but for now, I need to collect more fabric to give it a nice mixed pattern feel.

xx

My Custom Kicks

I bought these Converse trainers/sneakers/tekkies about two years ago with the intention to paint on them but, never got round to them and eventually forgot about it.  That was until I got the book Small Stash Sewing by Melissa Averinos from the yummygoods blog.  In the book, Melissa showed a pattern to make shoelaces from fabric and I just had to give it a go.  I wrote a bit more about Melissa and her book here when I recently met her in London.

I did not plan the painting as I just wanted to paint freely and see what happens.  I am pretty happy with the result even if it is a very colourful and hippie-like.  If you know me by now, in my world, colour is good.

Once I've finished the hand painting on the one shoe, I had to replicate it on the other.  Once the shoes were done, I made the shoelaces according to Melissa's instructions which were very clear and it turned out to be a quick and easily little project.

 

xx  

 

London Love

We went to London on Saturday.  Hubby started a six week course and I went to see some of shops that I've been wanting to visit for ages.  

I went to Liberty of London first and was not disappointed.  I walked into the scarf section on the ground floor and it was like an explosion of colour and interesting print and pattern.

I would've loved to buy a Liberty scarf but, prices seemed to start at £150 each.

       There were four floors of goodness to explore, here are some of the other bits that stood out to me:

 

Next up was Anthropologie.

     

Some of the shop displays also caught my eye:

     

The above photo is not very clear but, the shop window was filled with vintage singer sewing machines.  A subtle hint to the handmade movement?  I remember sewing on one of these in primary school.  The school had several of these and only one 'modern' Bernina where we had to take it in turns.  I remember staying behind after school in the art and sewing class, making my own clothes with the help of an amazing art teacher.  She was such an inspiration to me.  On Saturday, me and my mum would go fabric shopping, carrying bags and bags of fabric back in the house like two naughty children.  We would sew away every spare minute and usually on a Saturday, the sewing machines interfered with the TV reception when my Dad wanted to watch rugby.  We would have to wait for TV adverts to quickly sew a piece and then wait for the next advert break.  Beautiful memories that I treasure.

 

I enjoyed all the design inspiration but, the ABSOLUTE highlight of my day in London was that I got to meet the lovely Melissa Averinos from the yummygoods blog.  I got excited when I heard she was coming to London and sent her an email to enquire if she was going to do any book signings for her new book.  Melissa did not have any planned but, offered to meet me anyway!  I was beyond excited and quickly ordered her book so that I could also have it signed.

Melissa was so sweet.  We chatted about London, her super cute book Small Stash Sewing and fabric design.  I have followed Melissa's blog for at least 3 years.  She is such an open, honest person that I felt like I was meeting a friend although, I was a stranger to her, she didn't make me feel that way.  I felt so inspired (and a little star struck) after meeting her :)

I can highly recommend Melissa's book.  The projects are so creative and there is something for every taste.  I am keen to make the shoelaces next as I've been wanting to customize my Converse trainers.  There are great projects for the home, gift ideas and sewing projects for children, for example a cape for a budding little superhero.

I was so glad that I took a small gift for Melissa because totally unexpected, she gave me some of her fabric (Sugar Snap), post cards and a sweet unicorn notebook.

    

This was definitely my kind of day :)

xx

Shopping in San Francisco

We had plenty of time to peruse the shops in San Francisco.  I loved catching the cable car to go to Union Square and all the shops.

 

We had some lunch at the Cheesecake factory at the top of Macy's and on a different occasion, we also shared one of their cheesecakes which was amazing.  I have never seen so many varieties of cheesecake before.

My favourite shop however, was Britex, a three or four story fabric store!  Hubby took some photos and I was so distracted, I did not even notice. 

 
 

However, my favourite find was in a thrift store near Ghiradelli's.  Two vintage pieces by textile designer Vera Neumann.

And, my favourite:  

Well, that's it (in a nutshell).  Thank you so much for giving me the space to share our dream holiday with you and for sharing in our happiness.

We both feel so optimistic about the future, which is something that we have not been able to feel in such a long time and we therefore can't take it for granted.  We felt as though this vacation symbolized a new beginning for us, we have put all the cancer worries behind us and we are so grateful for each and every day.

xx  

Amish quilts and flowers at the de Young museum

I convinced Hubby to go to the de Young museum with me where they had an exhibition of Amish quilts.  I was ecstatic to find that they also had a flower show on the day that we went :)

 

You were greeted with this arrangement in the entrance:

Taking a closer look, I loved it:

Ribbons in various shades of pinks and purple  with orchids attached to some of the ends.  Looking up, it was wonderful to see the light streaming through.

A few of the other bouquets to see: 

 

It was wonderful to see the Amish Quilts but unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos.

      

You can get a great view of the city from the top floor of the museum.

   

We had a brief moment in the Botanical Gardens.

 

We did not have enough time to explore all the gardens in the Golden Gate Park, I would've loved to walk around the Japanese tea gardens but, we only had time for a quick peek through the gates.

Afterwards we walked for what felt like miles through the city until we found a bus that took us half way back to our hotel.  Funny how things always look like walking distance on a map :)  Oh well, I did enjoy the opportunity to see more of the city on foot and to enjoy the architecture. 

xx

  

Hawaiian quilts

I thought it was time to break up the holiday posts a bit by sharing some examples of Hawaiian quilts with you.  These were seen at the Polynesian Culture Centre on Oahu.  I apologize for the yellow colour of the photos, they were not taken in the best light conditions.

 

Aren't they beautiful?  

xx    

Handmade with love - a trip down memory lane

I grew up in a family with very talented people where handmade items were treasured and admired. My Nan used to make me smocked dresses with fine embroidered flowers and roses.  I loved wearing these dresses, they were great for twirling and I loved admiring the embroidery work up close.  When I recently visited my parents in South Africa, I asked my mum to get some of these dresses out for me.

This turquoise dress with the red roses was my favourite:

My favourite flower, roses..

Then there was this one:

And this one:

When my Nan was too old to sew, embroider, knit or crochet, she one day handed me a paper bag full of all her embroidery patterns.  That was so special to me and I continue to keep them safe, maybe one day I'll think of the perfect project to use them.

xx      

Found: one head

Sorry about my absence.

Kinda felt like I needed to find my head or gather my thoughts again.  I have done a lot of re-evaluating, goal-setting, decision-making and focussing.  I am a very philosophical person and sometimes need to do that, I hate the idea of just floating along because that feels like life is passing me by. 

I have designed some sewing projects that I am very excited to share with you so, watch this space.  I have also finished proof-reading Hubby's first novel.  It is so good and I am so proud of him, I hope he can get it published!

Anyway, nice to be back.  How have you been?

xx