Randomness (with a blue-tit family and cactus thrown in for good measure)!

Hello and welcome to a rather random post here at EDiS. . . . . .

EGGGGGGGSSSSSSSS!

Our household has been pretty excitable of late.  Not just because I've been adding to my (already pretty impressive) fabric stash. We've also had a pair of blue tits making a nest during April (well, I say a pair but the female did all the grafting whilst the male chilled on the peanut feeder 'observing') A familiar scenario me thinks! 

It's been a slow process, due to the cold start to the year but last Wednesday, we finally had eggs. 

 By the end of the week there was a pretty impressive 10 shiny teeny eggs in the nest with a rather smug mother nearby (the blue tit that was)!

Mmmmmm - breakfast!

Myself and himself were over the moon. Millie our little moggy is equally hooked! I bought 'himself' the bird-box camera as a gift for Christmas (as he's a nightmare to choose 'normal' gifts for). Then came the dilemma of which bird box to fit it into. Should we go  for the pristine shop-bought affair or for the chunky hand made (by moi!) one?

Well in the end he chose the chunky one . . the best choice I dare say! It was possible to fit a 'false ceiling'-type affair to hide the wires from mischievous prying beaks! Et-Voila!

The camera we have is from Amazon and has so far proven to be excellent. It's teeny tiny in size is colour but also flicks to night-vision automatically when needed. The colour - bit is great (but as it is in a darkened box, not currently utilised). Once the birds have moved out, we may set this up as a security camera on the outside of the house. Not that we need it but it seems a shame not to use it!

Anyhow, back to our feathered neighbours - we've fondly called them Mr Blue Sky and Betty!  I'm busy thinking up 10 names for the offspring . . . . suggestions very welcome :D

The eggs are gradually increasing in size and Mr Blue Sky is now starting to feed Betty on the nest . . . . this is just too cute for words.
Yesterday he flew into the nest whilst Betty was out stretching her wings. He was being really nosey with the eggs and kept looking out the door waiting for her arrival home, tweeting quietly all the while.

I'll be sure to keep you updated when the little ones start hatching. In the meantime I need to stop Millie fro licking the TV!!!

I've also been very busy making this gorgeous little creation . . . .

Talk about a little random - it's my cactus pincushion. Surely every home should have one!!!

I'm making this from the lovely book Stash Happy Patchwork by Cynthia Shaffer. I just need to get myself a small pot so that I can complete the base. 
The flower on the top is a great finishing touch don't you think?
It'll look great once it's full of 'prickly' pins :)

I'm still quilting my Craftsy BOM - only a few more blocks to do and then the binding. I'll share photos of the finished article soon (I hope) as it has been such a long-winded affair. I just can't wait to get it done now so that I can enjoy it's snugness (and let's face it - I think I might need it what with summer not arriving properly as yet!)

I'm off to get on with some much-needed household chores but I'll be back soon with more Blue-tit news and some finished projects. Plus more on the Julie Arkell project I'm about to start with my Year 10's.

Until then, happy sewing x

EDiS - Libster Award Nomination

Great news . . . . . I've been nominated for a Liebster Award by the lovely Natalie over at Sewing Room Secrets.  Thank you for selecting my blog Natalie - it's made my day :)

If you’ve never heard of this award before, it is for fledgling bloggers like myself and is a way for us to get to know others, get more followers and discover other blogs that we may very-well like.

To accept the award there are a few rules to follow:

• Each blogger should answer the questions the tagger has set for you.
• Choose eleven new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award on to and link them in your post.
• Create eleven new questions for the chosen bloggers.
• Comment on their page to tell them about the award.
• Each blogger should post eleven random facts about themselves.
• No Tag Backs!!!

So here we go..... these are the questions Natalie asked me:

1) Sweet or savoury? 

Sweet without question :) I'd choose a Wispa Gold over a Greggs pasty any day!

2) A few really good friends or lots of acquaintances? I find this quite difficult to answer as 'really good friends' have always let me down in the past. I'm quite an independent soul so I like to 'float' between different groups of friends depending on the mood I'm in.... Can I go half way? Family are the most important thing in my life.

3) City or country girl?

I've been fortunate to experience both and am now living a rural life. I think both have + and - elements but I'd have to go for Country. I love having lots of lovely walks on my doorstep where I can stroll amongst the wildlife and relax in peace.
 

Our doorstep!

4) Morning person or night owl?

Easy...... I'm truly awful in the morning (especially before I have a coffee!) When I was younger, my mum was always REALLY chatty in the morning so I used to hide away in my room until I was fully awake! ;p

5) What is the most unusual thing you have ever eaten?

I'm a fussy eater and really don't like the idea of eating something that had a pulse at some stage!  I once ate squid totally by accident whilst on holiday in Magaluf with with sister when I was 18! I thought that they were really weird onion rings. She let me eat a few before she told me what they were! Needless to say I was not too impressed and ate chips for the rest of the holiday! (at least I think that they were chips!)

 6) What is your earliest memory?

I had a BRILLIANT childhood and remember pretty much everything . . . . .  My long-term memory is freakishly good!  My first ever memory is lying in my cot looking up at 2 faces and having the colour yellow around me. 

Baby me!

7) What is your favourite smell?

Tricky really as LOVE Vanilla, Creosote and petrol!!!!!!! To conform with normality I guess that I'd have to say Vanilla! ;p

8) What 3 words would you choose to describe yourself?

I'd have to say loyal, industrious and creative

9) What qualities do you most treasure in a friend?

As I mentioned before, I've had a rough-deal with this in the past but I'd have to say the qualities I most cherish are Trustworthiness (I takes a lot for me to trust anyone), great sense of humour and someone who is chilled-out. (I can't bear friends who become too intense/in-my-face! . . . . I do go AWOL for weeks on-end but this is not because I don't care . . . . .  I like my own space and company). My closest friends I have known since I was 15 and they sometimes don't see or hear from me for months!

10) How did you choose a name for your blog?

At the time I was starting to blog, the tune 'Everyday I'm Shufflin' by LMFAO was HUGE - me and the kids at school were always singing it which made us all laugh (some of them were pretty good at the dance too!) I especially recall one of our pupils dancing into registration with the schools' suggestion box on their head doing their best robot-shuffle impression. Very amusing . . Still makes me chuckle thinking about it.

I was really getting into my sewing and was attending a dress-making evening course at the local college. I was sat at my sewing machine one day when the song came on the radio. I began singing 'Everyday I'm Stitchin' and my blog name was created.


11) Is there such a thing as ‘enough’ fabric?
Hell no! I'm a fabric addict :)

Guilty as charged!

The GORGEOUS blogs that I have chosen to nominate for the Liebster Award, after much searching are as follows:

Wonderfully Made
Forty Percent Fringe - Sixty Percent Face 
Miss Ginger Makes 
The Tiptoe Fairy
Male Pattern Boldness 
Sew Dixie Lou 
The Drawing Board 
Jellybean's Odds & Ends 
Maya Made 
Me and Ma

 Ric-Rac

I just love these blogs so you must check them out  to see what the fuss is all about.

Here are the questions which I pose to each of my chosen bloggers:

1. If you could only be creative in only one medium, what would it be?
2. What are your first creative memories/projects?
3. Chocolate or crisps?
4. What has been your biggest creative disaster?
5. What has been your biggest creative success?
6. What is your favourite song?
7. Where do you mostly find your inspiration?
8. What was the name of your first pet?
9. Shoes or Bags?
10. Who would you choose to be stranded on an island with?
11. What is your favourite ever possession (no living beings' allowed!)

And finally, here are the required 11 random facts about me:

Cor!

• I can touch my nose with my tongue
• I LOVE animals (especially Cats and Emperor Penguins!)
• I've snorkeled with sharks
• I originally trained as a Goldsmith/Jeweller/Silversmith
• My dream car is a Nissan GTR
• I'm partially sighted (MS) but that doesn't stop me :)
• I love being by water
• My favourite place in Europe is Switzerland
• I have a crush on Professor Brian Cox!
• I'm a nerd and I'm proud!
• I love dancing (and in my head I'm just ace at it!!!!!) ;p

I look forward to reading all the responses from my chosen bloggers and will be back soon with updates on my recent sewing adventures

Until then, have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend.

Gem
x

Chair make-over: From grotty to Shabby chic!

Remember the chair I bought a few blogs back for £10 during my antique shopping spree? ..... Well, I've been busy giving it a new lease of life and I'm really pleased with the outcome.
This is my 1st ever attempt at anything like this and I'd love to hear what you think...

The Chair (Original)

So this is how it looked when I picked it up a few months back. I loved this chair as soon as I laid eyes on it as it's a fairly small size and I just knew that it'd be perfect for a corner in the guest bedroom.It was a lovely sturdy chair too so I knew it'd make a great project....
 

Step 1

Removing the ric-rac style trim

Just as soon as we had a few sunny days, I got the chair outside and removed the padded seat. It looked (and smelled) pretty old!  First to go was the trim which came off easy with a tug. Next to go was the green chenille fabric (Yum!). Underneath was the wadding material (which was pretty manky). This looked like natural fibre, wool maybe?

The final 2 layers I decided to keep - these gave the foundation for the new seat pad and seemed both clean and sturdy ... A rattan woven base, topped with some hessian (nailed in).

There were so many small nails holding the seating pad together that I had to do this in two parts.... blisters ahoy!

Here you can see the layers of the original seat.

Lots of nails needed to be pulled out!

Just as soon as the fabric and wadding had been removed I got to giving the chair a light sanding. I used an electric 'mouse' sander for most of it and a small piece of loose sandpaper for the small areas. In all, this only took about 10 minutes.
I then gave it a really good wipe down with some sugar soap.

Part sanded

Step 2
Next came a thin layer of plain white emulsion. Luckily I chose a sunny day so this dried pretty fast....

Step 3 ... and then the heavens' opened!!!

I then painted a thin layer of NEXT emulsion in 'First Bud'..... a pastel green colour and again, left to dry:

Step 3
To give a really neat finish I finished off the painting with a final layer of white emulsion and when this final coat had dried, I carefully sanded the chair to uncover some of the green layer and some of the original wood....

 

Step 4
Next, the chair needed 'shabby-ing' so I sanded it in the areas where the chair would typically get knocked and rested upon.....

Step 5
After a gentle dust down with a brush ,I added two thin coats of furniture varnish (allowing to dry thoroughly between coats)

Step 6 - The Seat Pad
Remember the old grubby green seat pad.... well this is what I replaced it with: 

 

A crazy patchwork design with a white ric-rac trim.  

To attach the pad fabric, after much searching, I chose to use some gorgeous domed upholstery tacks which I sourced via ebay. These were simply hammered in....

Jelly - enjoying his throne!!!

So ta... daaaaaaa. So proud of myself as this is not bad and it looks so lovely in the room. I think I may have found another creative hobby :D
 

Easter Break Sewing fun............

I've been enjoying the Easter break so far and still have a while to go as return to school on Wednesday, 17th April. I've been getting on with lots of lovely tasks (as well as some not-so-great ones such as cleaning the oven!) and this is all in addition to being out-of-action with flu most of last week.
The last few days I've been quilting my first ever patchwork quilt which I put together whilst following the Craftsy Block of The Month lessons throughout last year (which is completely free and well worth checking out here). It's actually much less intimidating than I originally thought and it's really taking shape.

Planning the final layout of my blocks

Sewing the sashing on between blocks

Sewing each row together and adding borders

Cutting the wadding & backing fabric to size

Pinning the layers together

I really did learn so much whilst following the course and have used the techniques many times since in other projects.

At the moment I'm quilting the blocks at a rate of a couple a day. These take time as I want to get them as accurate as possible. It's also a bit of a fight with my machine (standard size) to quilt a large double-sized spread such as this, as I soon figured out! It's a fun challenge but is actually pretty physical!

Squeezing through my machine whilst quilting

I'll keep posting updates of my patchwork quilt as I see it as a long-term project.

I've also been busy catching up on all my favourite crafty blogs and once again, I've been flicking through my vast sewing & crafty magazine stash to get myself inspired.......

I've previously blogged about how much I LOVE Mollie Makes magazine.... as you can tell from my stash (sadly still missing issue 3) and whilst at the Sewing for Pleasure show recently at the NEC, I discovered another gorgeous magazine which is similar in format but covers a larger array of creative avenues.

It's called Crafty Magazine (and I've since also seen it for sale in Tescos!) and it's well worth a look if you love your crafty reads as much as I do.

I've already had a go at making one of the gorgeous bugs and found the instructions really clear. Patterns were also included ....

Pretty Moth project

I really loved the artist interviews and the item on Graffiti but the illustrations of the staff and the contributors are a little creepy! The free Calico fabric was a bonus but not worth buying for that alone.

My chair refurbishment project is coming along nicely so I'll post about that in my next rambling as it'll take some time to get all my lovely photos together and a step-by-step shabby chic tutorial.

In the meantime, I'll be watching the Great British Sewing Bee  (hmmm the jury is still out on this series) and be busy quilting and baking no doubt.

Until next time,

Happy crafting