Willowberry Designs ~ Alpaca Softies

Wicker White and Apron Strings

I spent the weekend sanding, sealing and painting everything in sight... the kitchen stools, folding screen, hat stand... even my little display cupboard (it was there begging to play too)  Haven't finished the treadle... but it's looking pretty deadly already

and now I rest...

Yesterday was unseasonally HOT in our neck of the woods.  We normally have mild'ish summers and winters - bit spoiled here on the hill - however yesterday the thermometer reached the high thirties (celcius).  No breeze, just still and hot.  Weird, a storm is probably brewing.  Today is shaping up to be anothery so it's all upstairs play in the air con for the day

And time to share this

Unfussy and made in just a few hours

All you need is a bit of faded red ticking, some faded red plain for the band and ties, a small round doiley (about 15cm across) with your favourite 'foodie' word stitched in place

a  couple of wooden beads and thread to match your fabrics

I cut my apron panel approx 80cm x 60cm with the stripes running down.  Fold and press 1cm along the two sides and lower edge, fold and press 1cm again and topstitch to finish.  This hides the raw edges.  The band and ties are made from the plain faded red, two strips joined, sewn to the top edge of the apron then folded and topstitched.  I also added a line of topstitching through the centre.  My band is 2.5cm finished, you choose your own finished size :)

Make a bow from the ticking stripe and sew it to the centre front.  Thread two wooden beads onto each end of the ties and tie a knot to keep them from falling off

Make a pocket from the round doiley ~ I cut the top piece off then sewed it back on with the right side against the wrong side of the lower section.  This allowed me to fold it back to the front and topstitch along the top edge (that way the original embroidered design shows correctly)

I also folded the sides a little to give it shape

My 'j'adore cuisine' doiley has a finely scalloped border so I followed the lines when sewing it to my apron.  Takes a little longer but the finish is worth it :)

and there you go... a new apron with a hint of french country

 

This yummy apron was part of the bundle of goodies that Debbie won in the flood appeal auction back in January.  I just know she'll love using it in her new home...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next time... hexies... patiently waiting for the hexies to appear...

Till then this might keep us all going

yumminess

seeya

Cheryl xx

come on in...

... it's a bit drafty and we haven't quite finished decorating yet, still a few girly touches to be added...

the new quilting studio (well, the bare floor anyway...)

close your eyes and share my vision...

Maybe we'll be moving in sometime mid Winter... won't that be fun... cold blustery westerly winds

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, the chicken madras (of previous post) was de'lish... of course :)  Funny little man is the best maker of naan bread I eva did see... another reason to keep hangin' round with him

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since we last chatted I've finished a few more things

'Borderline' ~ from my rural jardin stash.  I love this quilt, so simply pieced and not a scrap of fabric wasted... I love the bigger pieces of each print to showcase the divine designs, I love the colours and prints, I love the special little surprise off centre near the top - one panel featuring a simple coloured and stitched vine

and I really love the quilting pattern... just an edge to edge whirling feather that gives it life

where there's a quilt, there's a ratcat - he dragged himself out of his oh so small basket to participate in the photo shoot

Last time I bragged about my love for 'vintage hearts' and this is why... with just a hint of colour shading and some delicate single thread stitching, it's a little bit on the yum side

Add a handful of teeny little glass seed beads, a gathering of itsy bitsy rosebuds and some gentle hand quilting and we have a parfait of hearty love

It takes centre stage in a de'lish bed pillow :)

************

Mushy roses... I've quilted this sweet little baby girl cot quilt, but I don't have the 'right' fabric for the binding.  Hmmmm, looks like a trip to my local is on the cards

Guess where we disappeared to last week?

Oh My, yes indeedy... Michael Buble in the flesh...!  What a crooner... such a fun, fab concert and the funny little man even got up (reluctantly) out of his seat for a touch of aisle jiving :)  My new fave song?  'Hollywood'... played on the radio to within an inch of it's life... but I love it... it might just take over from 'Mercy' by Duffy as the one Monty and I dance to while we quilt.  Shaz has met Monty... if there was a contest to see who could talk the most and longest, I think Monty would win... by a smidgeon, with Shaz a veeeery close second :)

It was Shaz's birthday on Tuesday and I forgot... what a hideously unfriendly thing to do... so if you have a minute, please leave Shaz a happy birthday message here... it will help to redeem me

No more news... well, probably lots more stuff to tell but no more time or space.  Lots going on with the new house and my Mum and lots of quilting to do so I'm not here as often as I'd like... 

Have a fab weekend, do something fun.  I have another date... this time it involves sandpaper, sealer, French Vanilla paint and an old treadle sewing machine.  Just you wait, I'm gonna love this when it's finished :)

seeya

Cheryl x

Just quickly...

this won't take long... I have a date with chicken madras curry, a couple of naans and a funny little man :)

Deb likes her quilt

full of freehand feathery goodness...

maybe I'm in love with feathers or something...

check it out ~ one of Mary's quilts for her Mum (she's going to be 100 years young this year!  amazing)... covered in chooks... it needed feathers

and it's back side... just look at 'em all

anyways... today was fun, got lots done, ate rubbish, had a hair cut (thanks Deb) and I'm now working on a newbie quilt.  I've hacked into my stash of 'Eva', it was never going to be safe

Next time I see you I'll have a 'Vintage Hearts' cushion to show.  I {heart} it...

Have you grabbed this design sheet yet?  It's on the previous post

tomorrow we go to the kitchen place, the carpet place, the tile place, the concrete place, the shed place and so on... I think I might add another one to the list... the fabric place

wonder if he'll notice if I squeeze it in between 'the lighting place' and 'the paint place'

...probably...

seeya

Cheryl xx

Pretty flowers

I was playing with some flower shapes and cosmo threads the other day ...

Can't have idle stitching fingers...

I LOVE cosmo stranded cotton, so soft and silky.  The white was an old one I had, not cosmo or DMC and, in comparison, it was like stitching with rope!

If you haven't tried Cosmo stranded cottons yet, have a go... I'm sure you'll love them.  I buy mine from Sarah or Marion

Les Fleurs

If you'd like to play with your own Les Fleurs, I've made the design sheet available as a free download in pdf format ~ no fancy instructions, just the design and an idea of thread colours

Download Les Fleurs

Not sure what I'll do with this one just yet... maybe in a limewashed frame to add a fresh dash of colour in a sunny room ~ or the centre of a sweet little decorator cushion.  Ideas??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and just so you know... Ratty has found a new basket... once again, he fits perfectly...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Been quilting... a totally yummy quilt for Deb.  When Deb has the quilt ~ I'll see her tomorrow ~ I can then show a photo, would be a bit unfair to spill the beans before she sees the finished quilt... but here's a snip, just before the quilting needle and I started our feathery dance

More of this one later...

in the meantime, take a trip to Green Fairy Quilts blog and check out this amazing quilt... DELICIOUS!!  When I grow up I want to quilt like that...

seeya

Cheryl xx