It cannae just be me who does this....

Surely it cannot?

Today I find myself with my mind birling with ideas.
Creative juices a bubbling and a spiraling.
I have a need to design.

 

So I have all of this out designing a special quilt; my 'Teawagon Quilt' inspired by the lovely Jane of teawagon tales who sells the most lovely vintage fabric (oh and Jane is very cool too, she loves Morrissey, what can I say?).  All of the fabric for this quilt is from her shop so hence the name.  I have been quietly foraging pieces away in my stash for a while now. Once I have enough I'll get going as it will be sewn on my machine and therefore won't take long (I have been sewing the below by hand for months and months so anything by machine seems easy and lightening speed) but...

The ridiculous thing is that I already have three other blankets on the go, two of which are stumbling in the main due to finances. This granny all-square  from The Royal Sisters blog which is shown here as part of the 52mmmc...

  

which, even though I have a hundred plus pile of, I need a lot more wool to complete it and then there's this...

of which the top is pretty much finished but I still need to add some more white hex's to square off.  This involves counting up all the spaces and working out how many half hex's I need too. There's two thousand paper pieced hexagons on this bugger already but  I  need some more calico to make more hex's which means money. Oh and the batting but luckily I have an ancient (well it used to be on my bed when I was wee) candy stripe flannel sheet for the backing.  This 2.3 x 1.1m quilt top has been a real labour of love and I could have carried on and on, I loved it so much!!

I'm thinking of opening a wee Folksy and/or Etsy shop to (hopefully) make a few pennies to help??? Scottie dog/apple brooches anyone??

I have also started a knitted patchwork blanket from my wool stash...

You know, something for the evenings!

It doesn't seem to matter how many WIPs I have on the go (just about to start this too???) I cannot stop the need to be creative about the NEXT project.  I don't always have to start this next project straight away and I like to have a few things on the go; a bit of crochet, a bit of knitting, a bit of sewing, as I like to be able to move around depending on my mood but when a new idea strikes or there are rumblings of an idea taking seed I MUST heed it and sit down, pencil and paper in hand and design.

Hands up who else?

I see you there, get that hand up!

X

Sunday baking.

Yesterday I spent the better part of the day in my apron baking. 
I had a lovely ol' time to myself listening to music (MGMT, Newton Faulkner and REM if you are curious) and making a floury mess.

Scrummy yummy cupcakes, a few topped with lime buttercream and sprinkled with coconut.

And also

Bread to go with dinner.

I love baking bread but my rubbishy wrists hate it, particularly after making pizza dough the night before.  I use Jamie O recipes (after trying many others) but think I will be trying out some Baker Boys ones soon, love them!  Realized I love a man dusted in flour, who knew?

My Biscuits were playing happily, Mr Biscuit was maintaining his friendship with his guitar and I was in my lovely kitchen baking.  Happy day!

X

'What is funny?' It's one of those 'big' questions...no.1.

It is indeed such a subjective question. What is funny?
I am always curious to what makes us laugh.  How some of us find things hilarious whilst another has a bare quiver of a lip.  How it is uncontrollable, not always welcome and usually always funny in itself.  Seeing someone in tears, tummy aching and body rocking is, to me,a beautiful sight!  Love to see actors corpsing!
I am always interested in peoples take on the world around them and how they feel about it, their quirks and eccentricities, their likes, loves and hates.
In particular I love to know what makes people smile and even more so, laugh.
I got to thinking I would share some those things that tickle or have tickled me, either into a smile or requiring a seat to compose myself or in some cases sent out of a room and hope you will leave some of yours in the comment box too.

so...
Here, for your pleasure folks, or not - rich tapestry 'n' that, are some of the things I find/have found funny for as many weeks as I can think of things to share.


"Back in April I was manning the bake stall at my Biscuits' school and they had a few different things on in celebration of their 40th birthday.  One of these things was a balloon artist.  As we were setting up this balloon artist who was dressed as a clown (as they seem to always be) had to go into the next hall so he decided to run.  
Did I mention the maseeeeve clown shoes?

Slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap slap."

It was one of those occasions where I am laughing like a loon and all around are not.  Oh and if he had fallen down.....
Funny?  Not Funny?

X

Twenty Twelve or Two Thousand and Twelve? Don't Panic...

I have to ask which is it?
The man of the flowing locks and much historical wisdom, Neil Oliver, got me thinking when he tweeted the other day we should be saying Twenty Twelve by now.  Since the millenium started I have been saying Two Thousand and... which seems ridiculous when I think I said Nineteen something for the first twenty six years of my life!   I just don't know if I can break the habit now.
Twenty Twelve seems like something someone talking of the Olympics says especially in the spoof telly prog about the organization of it with the lovely Hugh Bonnevile.
It does roll off the tongue though and it cannae be that hard to change my ways if I want, especially about something so really very unimportant.

Don't panic it's only a new year!

But panic I did.

Over this...

 

Have you played it?
Oh my effing G it's scary!  Simply having to say 3-7 things like Star Wars characters or dinosaurs in ten seconds sounds easy right?  I got round the board first because I bloody well did panic, screaming out answers as fast as I could "three sharp things? Needle, scissors, knife" Slam the timer button down and breathe.  No really breathe.  It was so uncomfortably stressful and scary, afterwards the adrenalin was pumping and I felt I could have taken on anything.  Though definitely NOT another game of Don't Panic!!
At least I won, our other new board game is QI and I have no chance and without someone making up the mad scoring system where you can win when you've hardly answered at all, I have definitely nae chance!
Oh well I have come to accept my children are surpassing me in many facets of knowledge (even if I do from time to time give a friendly lecture about needle sizes or the like to show I do indeed know some things!).

Just as well I am not (very) competitive!

X

The answer to the ultimate question (not 42 by the way).

The question I mean is "what to have with a cup of tea when there are no home bakes at hand?"

For me, it has to be...

How about you?

X

Nearly Headless Nick...sorry I mean Nearly Wordless Wednesday!

Some days...

It feels like I live in an apron.

X

The difference a day makes-surrounded by Christmas!

If Monday was a day of avoiding and in the end, completing dreaded domestic chores
- by the way how can people not have to iron?  Tis like some kind of  magic if you don't have to -
then yesterday was a day of comforting sewing and being surrounded by Christmas.
Deliveries making my insides jump and twirl, yuletide potential in button and recipe form.

It was a good day my friends!

Felt candy cane decorations  - tutorial from the amazing Lupin found here.
Christmas 'elf' buttons and ribbons can be found here  and at lovepaperfish.com/
Red Wool Coat pattern or craft kit found here.

 "First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice-skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie-dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."  Buddy.

X

Feck that for a game o' sodgers!

I wish I could...
But I can't.....
I have tried...
I have dithered about decorating windows with fake cobwebs and the like.
I have procrastinated drinking coffee and now I am even writing a post about it, big *sigh*.

I feel like Hamish in this photo...

 because of this...

I am hoping, rather than bemoaning this outrageous mound dear friends, you all agree that this is the size an ironing mountain should get to before being embarked upon.  Please say it is so, I'd hate to look like a failure in the housewifery department!   *takes tongue out of cheek*

Feckity feck feck feckity feck feck!!!

I better get these out then, my ironing companions, the 10th Doctor will ease my pain!

 Sort of.......no he won't, who am I kidding???  Yet more *sighs*!  I am proper huffing now by the way!

X