Growing.

Resurrection! Of course, I would come back to blogging when everyone else has migrated to the sunny shores of Instagram. I'm there too, I'm sure you could make a lucky and accurate guess to my username over yonder...

What a difference a couple -- few -- many (!) years make. In some ways, little has changed but everything around those little things has changed a lot. This blogpost was actually saved as a draft, reflecting on then recent realisations, stuff I had started doing (and continued! How proud past me would be!) and then I pretty much forgot about this blog and why I even started it and so on...

"Last year was a very up and down one for me, luckily more up than down. It's very funny to me that I'm much more at ease with myself now - I couldn't imagine doing anything that I do now without thinking (barely wearing makeup, wearing my handmade dresses, saying no to things I would have felt obligated to do in the past...) a few years ago. Maybe age does bring wisdom after all!"

That's me all the way back in 2020. Before the plague times (that was a rough..well, it's still kinda rough out there tbh). I've started working a little part time job since then and moved to a new area and well...

"It's been a very relaxed start to the year so far, me and M. went away to Conwy for a week this month. More a holiday for our dogs really as there was plenty of walks on the beaches and fields. Very good for us humans too though! We visited the Water Gardens one day (it's free and I highly recommend you visit!) where we saw a capybara, sadly his mate had very recently passed away so he seemed quite depressed, I hope they find him a new friend soon." 

 

Yes. That's a huge change. No more M in my life. The dogs remain with me, plenty of walks in fields and cuddles. After many years together, M decided he loved someone else. Someone else I suspect he had always carried a torch for. Oh gosh, it really fucking hurt. Then I got angry and determined. I got a different job (playing with ribbons! Oh, I loved it so!) and started planning for a very different future. Me and the dogs. No man, no master. 

And then something stupidly contrived and saccharine and horribly rom-com...I met someone. He reached out from a very unexpected place and it just gently happened without me really realising it. Maybe I had been carrying a torch for this one the whole time, holding it up and never seeing the face I was meant to be looking upon every morning until I met him. Or maybe I went with my gut, fuck it, life is too short to do the whole to hell with men thing and deny yourself a bit of happiness.

And I am very happy now.

Accurate Cutting Is Not My Jam.

I signed up for a quilt block swap on swapbot, I don't tend to follow patterns but there's a first time for everything, right? I followed this tutorial for 16 patch blocks and made two for my partner. 

Not the most aesthetically pleasing pictures, sorry! I used some fabrics I've been hoarding for a while and after I made a couple of practice blocks, they came together very quickly...frustratingly, I made one following the instructions exactly but it came out about an inch under. Argh! I enjoyed doing something different though but I think I might stick to my scrappy improv blocks in the future...

These are my two practice blocks. The blue/white one is my favourite but turned out way too small and I didn't have enough fabric for another go, boo. It's probably going to be turned into a cushion at some point. 

Swapbot May 2016.

I left swapbot around three years ago for a few reasons, it's not a perfect site (in fact, one of my first return swaps has seen me having to send to a confirmed scammer/multi-profiler because even though it was reported, the scammer was just partially suspended) but it's full of really wonderful, creative people and it's a real boost to be surrounded and interacting with like-minded people.

The only real unpleasantness so far (apart from that scammer...) is how expensive postage has gotten! I posted a tea swap yesterday and three of the envies went to Germany...£2.45 each! I posted two out of EU packages and they were £3.15 each. Ouch! I'll have to be very selective with my swaps in the future...

But of course it's all worth it when...

Something exciting arrives! I signed up for a chocolate swap (£4.75 to post to the USA, eep!) and this was from my partner...

Caramel chocolate! Dark/milk chocolate! I love the packaging design too. My partner was very generous and included some notepaper and this adorable postcard which she used to write a quick note to me. What I really loved about this package is that I loved all these things but I probably wouldn't have chosen them myself, if that makes sense? That's the reason I returned to swap bot. 

I've sent off quite a few swaps now but those have mostly been small bought items, I did send off this yesterday though:

It's for the Unusual Holidays June TM patch swap! It's to celebrate International Sushi Day (June 18th) and I based it on the local sushi place (Yo Sushi!). Oishii is a variation on saying 'delicious!' in Japanese. I didn't notice the dragon fabric was upside down until I nearly finished...but I think it gives a slightly sinister Pee Wee playhouse vibe to this sushi bar. Upside down dragons, sushi with eyes and the fact all the sushi is the most expensive plate...truly a bizarre place. I hope my partner likes it!

Every Last Scrap.

I made a fabric yarn ball. All the long skinny fabric bits just knotted together. Once I have enough, I'll knit a mat. I really want to try the t-shirt yarn making method now. 

Just before my machine finally gave up (rest in peace, tiny machine!) I started this patch. I was going to add some beads saying 'believe' but I think it feels complete this way. 

Seeing as I'm starting to grow a nice collection of patches, I thought I should start on a bag framework. This is one of the side panels. I used cotton batting because I want each side to be the same size and this is the easiest way. I want to keep them somewhat simple because all the fun stuff will be on either front side. The bottom panel will be demin, just for toughness. 

On Monday, I realised we had some yogurt and eggs that were close to going off so I made this recipe substituting Greek yogurt for banana and custard flavoured yogurt and adding chocolate chips. I definitely try hard not to waste food (and to be fair, everyone in this house loves food so there's no excuse!) so it makes me very happy when I can save produce and make something delicious.

On the subject of my machine...I've had it for over five years and it was very much a beginners machine and probably never meant for so much use but it has always tried to do as I ask. It would have cost almost half what its original price to fix and I've wanted to take a step up the machine ladder for a while so I bought a replacement.

 I do feel like it's the sewing machine equivalent of that Simpsons episode where Bart orders a schmancy catalog dog leaving Santa's Little Helper in the cold but...that's not even that great an episode so I think I can live with it. :3 

Teesha Moore Patches #2.

I've kinda been on a patch making spree so far this week, trying out different ways to assembling them and different ways of designing them. I CANNOT STOP. 

I don't really have much to say about this one...it's a patch? I might go back and add more embellishment. It's not quite popping for me yet.

The picture is a bit shiny but that's a Shonen Knife pick that I bought when I saw them in Manchester. It's been sitting in my oddments box for years but now I'll be able to use it in a way that I can enjoy a lot more. 

I traced the embroidery after I stuffed the pillow. Not the best way but definitely a more Teesha way.

This one I really love. It came out exactly how I wanted it.

This was made from part of an old pyjama top, hellyeah for recycling! I did want to embroider a mouth but the fur pile is way too dense. I'm not sure if this is entirely finished...if there are sew on pet noses with whiskers then I'm getting one to finish him off. 

And finally, the googly eyed ghosts! I freaking love googly eyes and they work so well here. The rest is just basic embroidery and a little black butterfly sequin. 

I also made a patch for a tag game on Swapbot but forgot to take a picture. Oops. I saved the templates I used so I might make some 'sister' patches for the one I sent away. I was reluctant to part with the patch but the fact it's going to America (like Father Ted! Haha.) to be enjoyed by someone else is really awesome. Also, I'm pretty sure if I keep up this pace I'll be buried under patches within a month...

Teesha Moore Patches #1.

Hello!

I've wanted to make some Teesha Moore patches for a while and this weekend, I did. I was impatient to get started so I only watched halfway through the tutorial so if I've missed something major...oh, well, I think mine turned out okay.

This is what I ended up with following (well, sort of) the TM tutorial:

I like it, though I was unsure until I attached the butterfly sequins. I wonder if I slightly overfilled my pillows (another personal flaw, generous to a fault. :3) because without embellishments all over, it just looked weirdly lumpy in parts. I also found it difficult to embroider as smoothly as I'd like. I do like that it isn't perfect and that I'm okay with that...but I dunno. 

Then I tried making a patch a neater way:

I can't remember how I came into possession of a cent piece but I did so I thought I'd use it here. I bought some clear plastic table top protector and used a vinyl/leather needle. Then applied the beads, then the embroidery. This was all just on the fabric and a layer of quilt batting. When I was done (and I was sorely tempted to add sequins...) I stitched a 1/4 inch line around it to secure the backing, then folded over and embroidered it. 

I like this style for for the ease of embellishment but I miss the puffiness of the first one. Argh! I feel like freaking Goldielocks here. I've signed up for a TM patch swap on swapbot and I think I'll use this method mainly because I want to do a fair bit of embellishment and end up with a 'neater' product to present. Even though the whole point of TM is to be perfectly imperfect, I'm not perfectly imperfect enough yet...

Maybe soon though.