Ooops Laptop Kerplunk!

Oh dear, it seems there is a jinx on electrical equipment in the Strawberry Patch camp of late.

Now my laptop is in need of intensive care, it wont even boot up! I am hopeful of finding some very nice cheap computer man to give it the tlc it needs soon.

In the meantime I hope you are all having fun sending and receiving swap packages, sewing and enjoying the coming of spring!

I'm off to catch up on nearly a weeks worth of blogger reading (I have stolen my mums laptop for the day!) I'm sorry If I cant comment for the next week or so while I am out of commission, I'll be back soon!

I've bloody done it!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yes!

Bee Virgin No More!

I forgot to mention back in January that when I was looking for a bee to join Cindy very sweetly pointed me in the direction of Sunni's blog and the Stash Bee.

Up I signed and the first month, January, had Sunni as queen, not daunting or anything!

She was asking for tree blocks and this is what I came up with

I fme a verse from the poem 'Tree of Life' by Mia Ocean as the tree trunk and made my first ever hexi's for the canopy. 

I also made my first ever siggy block (I even had to google it!)

So all in all it was a lot of firsts in one go! I was really nervous sending it off to Sunni, but she put all my fears to rest by sending me a lovely postcard thanking me for the tree! My daughter thought it was very cool to get a postcard from Washington USA!

Today I worked on this months block, the pineapple, for the February Queen Samantha. I must admit to putting it off as I was thinking the block was out of my skill range. But I got there eventually!

I was surprised how little black I had in my stash but I found enough, I kept thinking 'do the funky chicken' whilst I was stitching it up!

I also found a cute bee stamp to put on my siggy block, I think I will have to use it every month.

If you are looking for a bee yourself there are spaces left in Hive #3 of the Stash Bee which starts up in March, go here to sign up! 

In other news, last week the very last pack of charms arrived for Round 1 of the Rainbow Charm Swap. So I spent a good few hours at the big table sorting all the piles of charms.

Ouch, did my back hurt after all that sorting! But it was worth it because the very same I day I had all the UK packets back in the post and the international ones the day after. So here it is, my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow:

I'm off to work on my mouthy stitches pouch, the deadline is looming and I don't do 'close to the wire'!

Happy Valentines to Me...and you!

So I have been busy locked away with my sewing machine, getting some head-way on the swap items and QAL's as I really felt I was falling behind whilst she was being repaired.

FTLOS Wonky Star Wall Organiser and Mini Fabric Tray

It is a great feeling to get a task completed but this wasn't satisfying enough for me! I was working in (hopefully) my partners style and I had the itch to make something for myself. So last night whilst the girls were enjoying some late night half-term playtime I grabbed an hour on the machine and made myself this

I must admit the desgin isn't mine, I saw an applique picture like this on the Saints and Pinners Facebook page just before Christmas and fell in love, it is based on Aneela Hoeys design. Unfortunately I cannot trace Jo Underwood who stitched the picture to give her credit. I hope neither she or Aneela mind but I just had to have this in my life! It is now sitting on my mantle making me happy and cheerful on Valentines day.

I also had time to run up a little owl decoration for my little girl who thinks that everyone should receive gifts and cards on Valentines day. When we went to bed last night my husband and I found our pillows stuffed with homemade cards from her, cutest!

Happy Valentines everyone!

Sample Sale!

I am still raising funds for my FQ retreat ticket, would you like to help?

I have finished my swap item for FTLOS, I am just waiting on my partner to tell me if she'd like a button closure on her pocket and I am ready to wrap and wait for the mailing date!

This time round I made a sample piece for the swap as I wanted to get everything just right, turns out I didn't really need to as the Sample came out perfect! It is not my style and I know I wont use it, I made it purely for the swap. So I am offering it up for sale at a very measly cost in order to try and boost my pot of ticket pennies further.

It is a wall organiser approximately 24" x 14" with metal eyelets for hanging. It is bound and each of the two pockets is quilted and lined. The bottom has been left free to use as a mood board/notice board. If you wished I could add another pocket for you. The top pocket has a hand quilted wonky star and a gusset on both sides with a button/elastic closure. The second pocket has 2 wonky stars and is randomly machine quilted and is flat and split into two sections.

If you are interested in giving this little sample a new home where it will be loved and used (and helping me along to the retreat in the process) then simply comment/email me at emilylevey @ yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk. I would like you to offer me what you think it should cost/what you would like to pay but as a guide I am looking for offers in the region of £10 (not including postage but that should only be around £2) Should I get more than one offer I will select the highest bidder - so therefore it will work like an auction - should I get no offers I will quickly stash it away at the back of the sewing cabinet and we will forget all about this blog post!

If anyone is interested I am also selling off some cute little scrabble canvas's at £5 each

Shes back hurrah, lets celebrate fugly style!

I have been reunited with my lovely Miss Pfaff, about time too! I think my darling husband may miss out on Tuesday as I shut myself away with her on Valentines (and every other day this week) to catch up on all my to-do sewing. The time we spent apart made me realise how lucky I am, how much I take for granted and how  much I think about it, yes I am still talking about my machine and sewing, not my husband!

I seriously have so much to do, I didn't realise how much sewing I do in a fortnight, but it has been backing up. With Mouthy Stitches and the For The Love of Solids swap partly started, 2 QAL's and a Strawberry Patch order waiting I am going off radar for a few days but wanted to sweeten you all with some lovely fugly fabric.


I'm calling it the fairly late and fugly ugly fabric swapaway! I am linking up to Lucys Fugly Fabric Party and I have a seriously ugly bundle for you

The large piece is a half yard, and rather psychedelic! It is Nuance by Paula Nadelstern Design. The others are various sizes, originally fq's that have been cut into. The are FREE to anyone who can send me something with text on, It could be interesting selvedges, text print fabric or ribbon, I really don't mind! Any size will do as long as its about 5" square minimum. I will pay shipping within the UK. If you are overseas and desperate for my fuglies we can work something out i'm sure.

So now I am going to sit back and wait for the requests to roll in, not! Hahahhaha! Enjoy whats left of the weekend, i;m off to put on some Barry White and mood lighting and spend some quality time with my sewing machine husband.

Life without the Pfaff monster

So, I still have no sewing machine. I am going crazy waiting for it to come back, I think my poor husband is going around the bend!

I have so much time on my hands without the machine I have taken to giving the house a makeover! Selling old furniture I've grown tired off in the hope I will have enough pennies to buy some new. I have been painting, sanding and distressing the furniture I do like that needed a makeover. 

I have found a way to satisfy my sewing craving in some small part though. I pulled out my copy of Cath Kidston's 'Patch' and set about making the cover kit, a dresden plate cushion.

Some more practice at Paper piecing, this is a new learning curve for me, I do like it but I must admit I find the clean angles of a hexie much easier than the curves on these blades.

I also took the opportunity to practice some hand quilting as I couldn't machine quilt it.

It fits really nicely on my 'thinking' chair, although at this rate I will have to do my thinking on the floor if I put anymore cushions on it! My only criticism with the kit is that the fabrics were overly starched or chemically treated and very stiff, making it very difficult when stitching the curves around the papers. The white cotton provided for the pillow case was also too small to cut the pieces they advise in the pattern! I think I will be emailing the publisher to point this out, I was able to adjust my sizing and seam allowances and get away with it but a new sewer may not find it so easy if they have an undersized piece too.

I also had some delightful post from the lovely Fiona, she saw my blog post asking for tips on text fabric lines and sweetly sent me these two as a thank you for running the Rainbow Charm Swap. I have already cut a few hexies out of them and diligently put the few pounds she saved me into the Fat Quarterly Retreat jar - it is growing!

Finally, tomorrow is my wonderful husbands 46th birthday and our 9th wedding anniversary. We agreed no presents in advance to save money this year but I couldn't help but make him a little something to unwrap. I hope he likes it. Folkestone is the first place we lived together as a couple and it holds very fond 'courting' memories for us. I used an old map and scrap of vintage lace and my trusty letter stamps and Versaink.

I'm off to hunt out some Fugly fabric to pop on my blog for you fugly lovers out there and I'll be linking up to Lucys Fugly Fabric Party! I know I wont be looking long, there is plenty of fugly lurking in my stash!