ATC swap- it's that time again!

I've signed up to take part in another ATC swap organised by Ali from veryberryhandmade 

I love being involved in these swaps and have received two gorgeous ATCs in the past that I treasure. The theme this time is My Favourite.... Where to begin?!

I start my thought process with my trusty mind map..

I need to do this for two reasons - to rein in my over active imagination (I could spend hours thinking about this and this narrows down my thought process) and because writing things down helps me to rationalise. Animals is an obvious choice for me but as you can maybe see, the list for animals would go on for ever and I'd never make my mind up!

So - first thoughts - stage 2 - some (ahem) rather basic sketches..

I don't know if you can recognise where one of my sketches might be?

Having done this - I'm swinging in another direction that wasn't even on my mind map - get it together Sherry!

I need to think colours too. Some swappers have very particular colour preferences - some don't :)

Last time I incorporated a little bit of crochet too - anything goes! Oh - did I mention that this mini art work can only measure a maximum of 6.4cm x 8.9cm? That's quite teeny tiny :)

Patchwork memories

I love patchwork, quilting, English paper piecing - whatever which way - I'm in. A full size quilt is on my list of 'to dos' this year. I have spent an age drooling over fabrics and jelly rolls but haven't had the time courage to dive in yet.

One of my earliest sewing memories is tacking fabric onto squares and hexagons for paper piecing. I loved it. I can't remember what I may have made if anything - but just sitting and hand sewing was a delight.

I decided to use the remnants of some of my recent blouse makes to sew a patchwork cushion cover. Step into the limelight polka dots, forties floral, paisley and the remains of one of my favourite blouses bought by me aged eighteen from Peter Robinson at Oxford Circus - it was a heady moment!

A happy Saturday afternoon was spent planning, cutting out, sewing and matching seams...

 ..until finally - ta dah - one cushion cover.

I love it. It brings a big smile to my face, and it's super squidgy.

An embroidery post

Recently, I've found myself absolutely loving hand embroidery. Gone are the days when any type of hand sewing seemed a little laborious. Whether it's sewing a button, turning a cuff or a little bit of darning (sparks from the BBQ onto a new white shirt issue!), I relish the quiet time spent sewing. 

Embroidery takes patience and that wasn't something I had in abundance when I was younger. I clearly remember making myself a pair of pedal pushers one Saturday and being so anxious to wear them out the same evening that a safety pin held them up. Nowadays, I have so much more patience - I have a blouse upstairs recently completed, that is sitting waiting for the 'right' buttons to complete it. My eighteen year old self would be open mouthed in disbelief!

So, this is a little of the embroidery I have been doing recently - for needle cases and glasses case that I'll be selling soon...

....obviously with some Liberty print :)

yes - that's a little bit more Liberty print peeking through !

Hope you're having a lovely day :)

So Glastonbury happened

Time flies. One minute we were preparing for our visit to Glastonbury and then in the blink of an eye - it's over.

We had wonderful time together as a family and although we didn't really scratch the surface of the festival - it's so huge, we saw the acts we wanted to see and sampled the fab atmosphere. Highlights for me were Lionel Richie (the biggest party I've ever been to), Pharrell, Gregory Porter and The Who. We listened to Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra on Thursday evening and they were amazing. That's one of the great things about Glastonbury - you see the big acts that you have been anticipating for weeks, but then happen across a band that you've never heard of who turn out be awesome.

Around 150,00 people all living together for a few days in the Somerset countryside - that's a bigger population than Reading or Oxford - all co-existing on a 900 acre site. The general feeling of goodwill and friendliness is everywhere. If someone bumps into you, there is an apology. In the queues, there is never any pushing. Children enjoy the spectacle and it is a place to unwind and feel free. It's a little bit of a bubble and you are distanced from the everyday. 

The Guardian had a tent there and we picked up a paper Saturday morning to browse through while waiting for acts. It was a sunny morning and we were laid on a blanket awaiting our music fix when I pulled out the paper to see the shocking front page showing the terrorist attack in Tunisia. There we were surrounded by what felt like humanity at its best, reading just how low mankind could sink. 

Glastonbury rocks and long live the free spirit that lives there.