~Giveaway Winner~

Here is the winner of my vintage knitting book giveaway...



...Congratulations to Grace at The Old Police House blog.
I have emailed you via your blog, and await your reply so I can post it out to you!
Thankyou for your lovely comments x

~Finished Play Quilt~

I thought I would share a few photos of my finished quilt with you.  I have made a few quilts before, mostly thrown together and not very planned.  I actually thought about this one! It's designed to be a play quilt, that can be thrown on the floor anywhere and will withstand regular machine washing.  It's also the right size to be a cot quilt or would be a lovely cover for little-people naps on the sofa.  It is for my brother's new baby due in July.  I did my research on the t'interweb regarding measurements and methods.  The finished quilt measures 31 inches (79cm) by 35 inches (89cm).

I wanted the fabrics to be suitable for boys or girls, and I like a random selection of fabrics. All the fabric was prewashed to minimise shrinkage and colour-run (I usually miss that stage out due to impatience!)  The back is a scarlet polycotton...

...which was cut 4cm bigger all round than the quilt front, enabling the excess to be pressed and folding over to form the binding.  I machine-sewed the binding and it's ok, quite neat and the mitred
corners are mitred-ish...

I had all the materials, apart from the backing polycotton, the light wadding and the red and blue retro floral fabric which repeats regularly (see left top and right bottom below).  This was from Sunday Nest haberdashery upstairs at Me and Mrs Fisher in York. Some of the fabrics are repurposed (the star fabric was once Laura's pyjamas)  vintage (below left)  and other scraps of fabric were given to me.

I found lots of useful advice here:   http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/p/tutorials.html

Hope you like it!

~Vintage Knitting Book Giveaway & Birthday Time~

This weekend has seen me turn 44, which is a bit of a shock, but a nicer more symmetrical number than 43...

Laura bought me these lovely flowers.
Remember the Beginner's Crochet on 1st Feb at Me and Mrs Fisher in York? The lovely Hannah and Liz mentioned me and my blog on their Facebook page here.  So, I did also attend the Improver's Crochet the following week and I did manage to understand and complete the different projects, but I was very slow!  My colleague from work came along too (she was accomplished and speedy), and she made me this for my birthday.  Clever lady.  Just the shade of blue I like...

I am giving away this lovely booklet of vintage inspired knitting projects, by the talented Sarah Hatton.

http://www.knitrowan.com/designs-and-patterns/books/sarah-hatton-knits-vintage-inspired-projects

 There are some lovely garments and photographs...I like the brooch on the belt of the dress below...

If you would like to win this lovely pattern book, just leave me a comment and I will randomly draw a winner at 6pm Monday 24th February. Good luck x

~I ♥ Standard Lamps~

There's sometimes a nice fuzzy frugal feeling of satisfaction when you've found (via car boot sale, charity shop, auction, hand-me-down)  an old object because you like it, then spot a similar item in a magazine for loads of pennies.  Maybe a bit of that feeling comes from my sad inner craving for validation (see, I knew it was nice/valuable/fashionable!) but it does please me, however that my vintage or retro finds are 'on trend'. I spotted this beauty in Woman & Home February issue p159...


Orla Kiely Lamp £400
Image from Unique and Unity
http://www.uniqueandunity.co.uk/lighting/OKFLTSACPCR.html

.





..And it reminded me of my version - an original mid-century lamp a friend gave me when clearing his parents house.  It's teak and brass.  It needed rewiring and a new baton holder (parts approx. £3) and a new shade (£9.60 Dunelm)

A lovely standard lamp with a bit of history.  (However, if anyone would like to buy me the Orla Kiely version, of course I would accept!)



~Crochet-fear resolved~

I've written about my 'crochet-fear' before and I am happy to announce that thanks to a Beginner's Crochet Course at Me and Mrs Fisher in York yesterday, I have finally got there and am well on my way to being crochet-fond!

Me and Mrs Fisher, Lord Mayor's Walk, York.

The course was run by the endlessly patient Trish, and was hosted in the upstairs craft room next to the Sunday Nest haberdashery.  After a lovely hot chocolate downstairs we went upstairs for the 10.30am start. The course was 3 hours (which went so quickly) and cost £25 with the end result of producing a granny square.

The craft room. Image from Me and Mrs Fisher

 There was plenty of individual attention as the group size was nice and small, which was brilliant for me as I couldn't get my head around even how to hold the yarn.  Trish brought inspirational books and completed projects along for us to look at.  Laura went along with me as she fancied learning so she can crochet on the bus and train.  This is my granny square from the actual day...

Not very neat, but I do like the coincidental choice of colours - I had another attempt last night and made these...

Laura is so speedy now, much better than me and her work's much neater too.  This is a cushion front that she started last night...

I've been looking at how to join the squares on YouTube and I've signed up for next Saturday's improvers course.