First Bloom

After loosing my two pear trees to the builders last year I was keen to replace them with another fruit tree once we replanted the garden. As we only have a small patch we went for an apple on dwarfing root stock so it wouldn't overwhelm the garden like the pears did. I was delighted to see the first blossom arrive on the tree a few weeks ago. I'm hoping for a decent crop of apples come the autumn - there was only one on the tree last year but it was a very tasty one!

Rather them than me

Rather them than me
Originally uploaded by Cloth cat

The Royal Windsor Wheel has returned to Alexander Park earlier this year. Normally it doesn't appear until the school summer holidays, but this year it was up in time for Easter. Whilst walking through the park into town I caught sight of a couple of the engineers doing safety checks on the spokes - not a job I would fancy, but good to know it's being done. If you're planning a trip to Windsor any time I can reccomend the wheel as a great way to get a good view of the surrounding area.

Pram Quilt

Pram Quilt
Originally uploaded by Cloth cat

Making some progress on the quilt now. Have used a 'cheat' technique for the heart appliques which involves sewing two hearts right sides together then putting a slit in the backing one to turn it inside out, rather than having to carefully tuck the fabric under as you sew. The technique is described in the book 'Sew Pretty Homestyle' by Tonne Finnanger. Also in the book is the template for the rose embroidery. The book has some lovely ideas in it. Not sure how many of the actual projects I would ever do, but a lot of them have good ideas or templates such as the rose one which you can incorporate into your own work.

Pram Quilt

I don't know what the difference is between girls and boys, but for some reason I've been a lot more inclined to make things for my new baby girl than I am for my son - a chance to use all the pretty fabrics out there I guess and also I'm a lot more into sewing now than I was three years ago when my son was born.

Having seen the most gorgeous quilted foot muff in Mamma's & Pappas on a shopping trip about a month ago I decided that I'd have a go at making a pram quilt in a similar style. This is my first ever quilt, so it's probably a good idea to be starting small. So far I've managed to mess up slightly on the cutting out, but I'm just telling myself that it adds to the 'homespun' feel (ahem). Besides I didn't fancy wasting all that fabric. Here's the progress so far (note slightly wonky cutting out at the top end - oops):



I suspect I will end up making two of these - this first one will be a practise run and will be handy as a spare when the other one is in the wash. The two patterned fabrics are Cath Kidston from John Lewis and the plain fabrics are from a new find (well new to me) Lady Sew and Sew in Marlow - what with that and the Pin Cushion new Dedworth shop just opened round the corner from me I am now well sorted for local sewing suppliers!

Little Stitches

I bought the Amy Butlet book "Little Stitches for Little People" back in the autumn with the intention of working my way through several of the projects before the arrival of my baby in February, but somehow work and home life consipired against me and by the end of the year I had still not started a single one. After christmas once I'd finished work I had a bit more time on my hands before the baby arrived so I decided to tackle the 'jumper dress' projects from the book. I had in my stash a lovely lilac and pink Liberty fabric that I'd bought from the Happy Crafters destash shop and found a nice lilac chambray in John Lewis to go with it. I managed to make one or two mistakes along the way (due to my usual problem of not reading the pattern carefully enough), but generally given that it was first every clothing project, I was really happy with the way it turned out.

Big cook, little cook

Found a lovely mini rolling pin and wooden spoon in Kitchen Capers the other week that I just had to buy for my son. We have been spending a lot of time cooking together recently (was a great way to keep him occupied without me having to move around a lot whilst heavily pregnant) and he really loves it. Having bought the utensils I decided to make him a pinny to go with as his other one is permanently splattered with paint so not really suitable for cooking with. Found a cheap remnant of fabric at John Lewis to form the base of the pinny then made the pocket from a piece of Japanese fabric that I've had for ages, but haven't been able to work out what to do with. I'm quite pleased with the result. Unfortunately (as you can see from the picture) the little man wasn't too keen on modelling the finished article for me, but he was happy to wear it while we made orange and chocolate chip biscuits.

New Arrival(s)

I'm pleased to annouce the arrival at last of my new little bundle. Like her brother she was 6 days late in the end (boy do you feel about to burst by that point), but unlike him she had a very quick and relatively painless delivery (well ok not really that painless, but it went on for a lot less time so it was much more bearable). The first couple of nights were a bit of a nightmare as she decided she wanted to stay up and feed all night then sleep all day, but she's managing to sleep for 3-4 hr stretches through the night now which is a bit more bearable. Luckily she seems a very contented baby for the most part - doesn't cry much, but instead mews a bit like a cat! Major hurdle now is trying to balance all the time I need to spend with her feeding etc with trying not to leave out my very boisterous 34 month old son and keep him entertained and happy - talk about exhausting! I've been lucky to have my parents down this last week, so he's been showered with their attention, but now they've gone back home it'll be a different story.

On a slightly different tack, there has also been another new arrival in the area recently. When I went to the post office round the corner a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised (and delighted) to see that the betting shop opposite had now become a haberdashery/knitting shop. Previously I have had to hike all the way into Reading to get a decent selection of yarn, but now I have somewhere 5 mins round the corner from my house - talk about dangerous, especially with all the lovely baby patterns they have there!