A Sunday stroll, or a magical adventure...

It starts as a simple family stroll along a country lane...

Around the corner...

Entranced with the beautiful view of the Downs, the magic begins...

Walking down a hill, thick hedges on either side, we start chattering away with the birds, even though they stay well camouflaged amongst the branches.

Greetings, little ponies, wearing your thick winter coats! They nod politely then go back to their nibbling...

We take the adventure off road, along a narrow dirt path. Mud! Puddles! The joyous stuff of childhood!

How we stomp and squish and splash and giggle...

Good afternoon, ladies. Little Flower speaks fluent Sheep, distinguishing the emotional meaning between “baaaaa” and “maa”.

And now into the woods...

Do we take the high road? Heavens no, we waltz straight into the river, wading and make-believing, picnicking on the other side, spying Peter Rabbit himself hopping up the hill.

A magic log, certainly the staging area for fairy celebrations. Bunny pauses here for a long while, asking for a bit of time to notice her surroundings. Quiet time communing with nature.

A mushrooms staircase for the fairies.

“Mrs Tittlemouse! Are you home?” calls Little Flower, certain that this is her front porch:

Likewise, Mrs Tiggywinkle’s home is discovered sitting above the stream, convenient for her laundry business. “Mrs Tiggywinkle! Mummy, can you see her front door, under the root up there?”

Then we venture into territory so magical that I cannot capture it on camera (or perhaps I just tuck it away so we can all play more!).

Time to head home. Good day to you, gentlemen.

I hope many of you were able to get out and enjoy the weekend, whether it was a short walk or a magical adventure!

Chrissie x

A broader view of stitching

Happy Sunday and a very warm welcome to my newest followers! I am so glad to be blogging again after the holiday break, and each and every comment has made me smile. Thank you!

One of my goals for 2014 is to do more sewing. I am a beginner, but I need to devote a lot more time to my machine if I want to improve (plus I have *so many* projects I want to try!).

To that end, I’m going to broaden my Stitching Sundays focus to include machine sewing as well as my beloved embroidery. All of it involves a needle and thread, so it’s fair game.

Lady Elna

A project I started ages ago, then stowed away at the bottom of a fabric pile, was a sewing machine cover. What better way to get more into the art of sewing than to create a lovely cover for Lady Elna?

Machine sewing and hand embroidery – a perfect combination. I found this wonderful pattern here, and I had a layer cake of Aneela Hoey’s Sew Stitchy fabric that I bought to entice me to sew (I have purchased *a lot* of fabric with the intention to lure me to the machine...). The two just seemed destined to be together!

I cut and ordered sixty small squares, then sewed them together to form a panel (I'm trying to be forgiving with the uneven squares, I'm still learning). The linen and patchwork panels use a “quilt as you go” technique, ironed to fusible interfacing and sewn together (ha ha! Get me, “talkin’ the talk” like a proper seamstress! I hope you’re enjoying this, Grandma!). Next will be some more embellishment, some fusible fleece, lining fabric, piping...a lot of sewing experience to be gained from one project!

Now an update on my Green Eggs & Ham embroidery, part of the &Stitches Finish-Along:

I’m making progress on the letters this week, ignoring the dodgy “H” and concentrating on the “Green”.

Featuring my handy-dandy needle magnet

It is slow going, as I fill each letter with long-and-short stitch embroidery, but it is extremely calming and enjoyable. I’ll probably bounce down to the ham next, I’m itchin’ to get some green floss in there now...

I’d love to see what you’re up to with needle and thread, link up embroidery or sewing projects below!

Chrissie x

Bloomin' CAL: Hey baby!

A new year, a new baby blanket to give to a friend!

I blocked the blanket last night, and I’m glad I did – the mum, whose daughter is in Little Flower’s pre-school class, is having the baby today! The little girl’s grandma brought her to pre-school today, which made all of us parents smile and introduce ourselves and start guessing gender, size and names...

Blocking the little blanket

This will be her third child, and she has lots of friends and family in the area. I know she probably has oodles of baby blankets and paraphernalia, so I decided to create a *useful* item. This is a small blanket, intended for car seats and prams, a lap blanket for a buggy – any place you don’t want to have to fold and tuck a big blanket. Then, when baby is older, it will be a manageable size for a snuggly blankie.

I love the crochet stitch; being January, I wanted a compact fabric, warmer than more traditional lacy baby blankets. This is Sirdar Snuggly yarn, so soft to touch but very easy to care for.

To add a wee bit of colour, I worked pale green into the border (I had a bit left over from this baby blanket I made last summer). After edging with one round of dc in white, I added a round of dc (US: sc) in green.

I wanted an actual stripe of green, not a row of little stitches, so I went round the back loops only of the green, with a htr (US: hdc) in white.

A pretty edge is a must for a baby blanket, but big ruffles wouldn't suit this small piece. So I went for a little picot-type border with dc, ch1, dc in every other stitch. Easy peasy!

Now that this blanket is finished, it’s time to face the music with the hexies I have neglected for so long...

Poor little dears, look at them. All rumpled, yarn ends dangling, a little gang of crochet urchins. Time to clean up these sweet blooms and get back on track with this project!

I have a very long list of crochet WIPs that I must tend to, but I don’t want to keep these hexies in the back of the cupboard any longer. So I will do what women do best: multitask. A few hexie flowers, a few rows on that purple scarf. A few hexie flowers, the wolf that has been waiting so long to join Little Red Riding Hood. A few hexie flowers, the crochet doily lace that I bought fine thread for in November. I could go on, and on, and on. Life is one big WIP!

What are you hooking this week? As usual, link up below!

Happy crafting!

Chrissie x