Peacock Parade

This is the name of the fabric collection these fabrics are from.

I got mine from the lovely Doughty's. And this is what I have been doing with them.

I have always loved english paper pieced patchwork but this is the first time I have tried making my own pattern and only the second time I've combined different shaped pieces. I blogged about my inspiration when I came back from France and this is the project I mentioned it having inspired.

It's all coming together very quickly although I should put it aside to fill out some job applications. There seem to be jobs out there that I could do...but they all look a tad dull. There's definitely one possible though. Onward...

Baby Making

I've been combining making things I've always wanted to have a go at with making things for my sister for when the baby arrives. This is the latest.

I overdid the interfacing but apart from that it is SOOOOO fricking cutely perfect. I want to rock it in my arms like a baby. Ahem. I followed this tutorial exactly apart from adding covers to the ends of the zips, which I learnt from the zipped pouches blogged about here.

It gives a very nice extra detail. I have 4 more cut out and am just waiting for some extra zips to arrive. The future ones will be a little bit bigger and have a hand strap.

This marks a momentous change in my life - I have started a new Pinterest board. I know - this is serious. The "Bags and Pouches" board is now in place. If you are not using Pinterest you have my sympathy. I am a total addict.

A Busy Two Weeks

It started with SkipNorth two Thursdays ago, moved on to a delightful trip to France a week ago Friday and ended today with my return from a wedding at Blenheim Palace.

I have no photos - sorry - but take it from me it was beautiful. Set in the Orangery, which was *very* nicely heated, the bride looked beautiful and the groom, not known for his happy demeanor, was all smiles and exuded immense pride and satisfaction with his lot. I couldn't be happier for Mr Mead. He was Pooch's flatmate when we met, put me up in his spare room when we had our difficulties, had my sister live with him when she first moved to London and has generally always been a good man. But he'd never been lucky in love and yet there he was yesterday - positively glowing. Simply because of that it would have been an amazing occasion and that's without the finery of the location and food.

So deep breath, where do I stand craftwise? First admission - I have no FOs, only WIPs to show. First is my Tucked Cardigan from the last Interweave Knits.

I am using some of the Marble I bought at SkipNorth which I bought for the purpose. I really like the mismatch of the two fronts, shown here. You can see the tucks on the outer sides which are knitted in. I also have the back and one sleeve all knitted up to the armpit. I can see why you couldn't knit the whole thing in the round (because of the tucks) but Byrne Does Not Seam unnecessarily. I'll be joining all the individual pieces into the round and knitting the raglans in one piece.

Secondly, my miniature quilt progresses as well. I shared the design here and have been beavering away since.

Each of those hexies is about 1/2" across. I've made about 3/4 of them so will start assembling it soon. Then we'll see what we've got.

Lastly, during moments when I haven't felt like doing anything else I've been converting my proceeds from the last round of the Scrap Vomit Swap into 2.5" hexies.

I have a bag in the back of my mind but no definite plans. If you wish to join the Scrap Vomit Appreciation Society the Group is here on Flickr.

All of those are ongoing but I also have a few others projects in hand - one of which is goddamn hair elastics. Those of you with long hair will recognise this problem:

This is a classic problem - the elastic inside the brown woven outside bit has come away from the metal bit that joins the two ends and the hair tie is gradually getting bigger and losing its elasticity. Once this starts to happen I have to throw away the little buggers and I generally chuck 1-2 a week. A week! Even the expensive ones don't last. There must be alternatives. I am off to discover them. My final resort will be to shave my head again. Again? Yep...

Blowfish Byrne, circa 2003.

Books For Free

I am destashing my books. They are all free - you just pay postage via paypal. I've put the weight and UK postage next to each one. I'll post internationally if you would like me to. This PDF from Royal Mail tells you how much it will be to your country.

Campion Bundle 1 - 750g, £2.20. Campion is a detective unlike others who describes himself as a "universal uncle". More info on wikipedia.

Campion Bundle 2 - 850g, £3.50

Campion Bundle 3 - 800g, £3.50

Campion Bundle 4 - 950g, £3.50

Campion Bundle 5 - 850g, £3.50


Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics - gone!

Men - 750g, £2.20. Classic reads for women plus a body language manual by an FBI profiler.

Alain De Botton Bundle 1 (top 3 books) - 950g, £3.50.
Alain De Botton Bundle 2 (bottom 2 books) - gone!.
The modern philosopher. I adore his writing which is very easy to digest while also being thought provoking.


Calm Cats - gone!

Gervase Fen - 950g, £3.50. Another unusual detective - an english professor who is always interfering while driving dangerously and generally being bizarre. Classic mysteries. More info on wikipedia.


All books are in a reasonable condition except the very old ones where the state of the spine indicates the fragility of the book. All you need to do is paypal me the postage for the bundle you want, using the paypal address littlelixieathot maildotcom, with a note to say which bundle it is for. I'll update this post to say which have gone and if you do happen to send me money for one that has been taken I'll refund it straight away so you won't lose anything. I'm also happy to combine postage and if it over about 1kg I can send by 'standard parcel' post which is about £5.30.

If people are interested in these I've got lots of other books to come. I haven't stopped reading - I'm just becoming a bit of a kindle convert plus this leaves me more room for craft supplies!

Home from France Part 2

I said in my first post that the house was beautiful but it's the finishing details on top of the general decoration that make it a home. For instance, I was particularly taken with the terracotta tiles by one of the stoves.

My personal partiality for hexagons is well known (think Nancy Drew Quilt, Crocheted Cat Blanket and Hand Sewn Cushion {below} among other items)...

...but thinking of them inevitably leaves me thinking about english paper piecing and a visit to nearby Longres and these windows in particular got me thinking of a new project which would be an additional detail to an already delightful home.

A little fiddling in PowerPoint has given me a pattern and the paper pieces were cut out this afternoon while Doughty's got the all important fabric in the post to me. Expect progress soon on that and two other patchwork projects. 

Being away from London gave me a chance to think about how things are with me generally. Walks through this kind of scenery with forgotten train tracks leading who knows where would incline anyone to think about directions and destinations.

My Director has been unwell recently as the result of stress and it reminds me of my own breakdown which I suspect was pretty much 10 years ago exactly. Life seems to have been pretty active since then with boyfriends and a husband coming and going and then, in the case of the husband, coming back again. Things on that front are pretty good but there is still one thing missing from my life.

I've known many friends crave little people in their lives but it's always been the little people covered in fur with a tendency to meow which have been my focus. Sadly, one joining me still seems as far off as the idea of owning my own home which is not helped by being in London. Could it be that I'm finally ready to leave the capital? Wandering down tracks like this have left me with such thoughts.

Which just goes to show how dangerous it is to go on holiday. Especially not one filled up with gruelling sight seeing and endless 'experiences'. Not that I didn't have those too. For instance, tinned sprouts? Who saw that coming?

And who but a true tourist takes a photo in the supermarket?

With travel and including audiobooks I have an enormous nine books to review so that will be coming soon, along with an update on my miniature quilt and latest knitting.

Home from France

I am back after 5 blissful nights in Colmier Le Bas, about an hour's drive from Dijon. I was at my cousin's house, staying with her and her husband and their two cats, Sam and Maisie. This is the house from the back when I was on a meandering and aimless walk around the vicinity.

They are pretty isolated but the town is 15 mins drive or so and they have lots of friends in the area. There are no cars passing though and at night it is pitch black. Idyllic. I got a lot of knitting and patchwork done when I wasn't being distracted by these two...

Sam, the boy, was a slightly buffer version of Maisie and had lost most of his tail when a kitten. He was rather timid so I only got occasional strokes from him. Maisie however was not backward in coming forward.

That is her on my bed, as she was every evening and for which I was very grateful. She mixed affection with extreme playfulness and I spent a lot of time flinging toy mice and pieces of wool around for her to chase.

The house is like a feature from Country Living magazine - absolutely beautiful and modern despite being traditional and also extremely comfortable. I slept sooooo well and also ate the most amazing meals - my cousin is an amazing cook! Now why couldn't that run in my bit of the family? We spent some time discussing it though and how it relates to other crafts and I can understand where I am going wrong. For instance, as a new knitter you don't start a pattern and then immediately start free-styling. Or if you do you are highly likely to end with a mess. Baby steps is what is needed with the cooking. Although I feel I may be jumping into her cheese and ham pie and apple crumble with calvados fairly soon. Seriously divine.

I have lots more photos to share but will save those for another post so I can go and jump into a nice hot bath. I leave you with a group shot.

From left to right, yours truly, mumsy and cousin. It was Mum's birthday yesterday and Deb outdid herself with the meal so by this point we were all feeling rather lazy and sitting in front of a wood burning stove listening to vintage recordings on vinyl. It was - and I believe I may have already mentioned it but it's worth repeating - idyllic!

Terribly Remiss

After the excitement of SkipNorth last weekend I've been 100% working or sleeping since I got back and head off to France and an internet free existence for a week at some ungodly hour tomorrow morning. A few SkipNorth photos though...

Not a sofa, but possibly the largest yorkshire pudding ever seen by a southener. The Bronte Hotel in Haworth leaves no customer hungry.

One of the amazing sheds at Wingham. Every year I have to convince myself I don't want to start spinning. Or weaving. Nope.

The Steam Train pulling in, about to disgorge 27 over-excited knitters onto the platform.

Illusion knitting on display during our pop-up yarn fair.

I will be back to blog again in a week. In the meantime - have fun!

Nancy Drew - We Have a Winner

Using random.org I picked a winner from the comments on my Nancy Drew post. Congratulations to Stephanie who said

"I love the hexagons. My favorite is the disappearing 4 patch, I am planning one now.

And I love the little purse!"

I have emailed you for your address and a purse kit will be on its way to you this week. I'll be doing a post shortly about all the amazing suggestions I got - thanks to all of you for making them!

Nancy Drew! And a Giveaway!

Finally I get to reveal my quilt. I am quite shockingly proud of this. Expect a mother-load of photos. But first - welcome to day 5 of the Nancy Drew is a Clue bloghop! Please be sure to visit the others taking part today, listed at the end of this post, and thanks to Carol for cheerleading us all!

So.....here it is!

Admittedly a slightly odd size - dictated by the layer cake I bought plus a couple of half yards of one of the book spine prints and the red faces one. I've only got scraps of the cake left and about half a fat quarter of the other two.

The backing is some delicious grey polka dot flannel which, with an old blanket sandwiched in between, makes the most huggable quilt you can imagine.

This is absolutely perfect for snuggling on the sofa with my knitting handy and an old mystery on the tv.

This is the first time I have properly quilted a quilt. I've tried it before but always a bit haphazardly and without great results. This time I think I've got it sorted.

I used a stencil (blogged about here) and used my beloved water soluble marker to get the lines drawn on. After that it was easy to use some nice shiny blue rayon as the top thread and just a plain white cotton as the bottom. I adore the effect. Then I used a charcoal bias binding to link the black on the front with the paler grey on the back.

Seriously - I couldn't be any happier with this quilt!

Nancy Drew was my gateway to what is now a serious mystery habit. As soon as I saw this bloghop announced I stalked the Sew We Quilt site until sign-ups opened. Sew much fun! Here are my fellow day fivers:

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

Kris Loves Fabric

The Slow Quilter

Accio Fabric!

Sew Many Yarns

Betty at That Other Blog

Marcy M. at That Other Blog

Pigtales and Quilts

And finally...the giveaway! This is open to everyone regardless of location. All you need to do is leave me a comment telling me your favourite quilt pattern. I am on the look out for a pattern for my next quilt so would love some inspiration! You can link to a picture or just describe it in a few words. I'll be using fabrics all with a sewing theme in case that influences you. And what do you win...? Remember the U'R Priceless bloghop a few months ago? That was my first time with a sew-in frame as I much prefer the ones you glue. Which is what you'll be making if you win!

Up for grabs is one of my Fabric Purse Frame Kits which will shortly be joining the Stitchmarker Kits in my etsy shop. It includes everything you need (including a tutorial booklet) apart from thread and either a needle or your sewing machine.  Giveaway closes on Sunday night at midnight UK time.

Now go and visit everyone else in the bloghop - hoorah for Nancy Drew!

Gurgle Gurgle

The title of today's post is partly a homage to Dad's Army (a favourite of one of my Dads and a phrase he frequently shouts at random) and partly a homage to my stomach which is making a noise like the percussion section in one of those orchestras who make their own instruments from plumbing equipment.

This weekend has been a frenzy of activity. The Nancy Drew Quilt is finished!!!!! So fricking exciting. So where are the pictures? Nope - not until Tuesday which is my day on the blog hop. I absolutely adore it. Can't wait to show it off. Apart from that I have a friend who will be popping one out in two weeks time and I have been pondering what to give as a baby welcoming gift. I have a little onesie and hat but wanted to make something too. So...

It is a lined pouch with a zip using this tutorial. It is rather nice because the ends of the zip are covered so it looks neater. I used the flannel from my Nancy Drew quilt and brightened it up with some ribbon scraps.

I am told these kinds of things are always useful either for toys or medicines or dummies or something else. Not knowing the gender I go with the colours the Mum likes. I plan to make a bigger oilskin box version for my sis although I've got 8 weeks grace before needing that one.

And in between all this sewing there has been masses of knitting. It's just that 60 rows in with 600+ stitches per row looks much that same as 10 rows in with about 200.

I am looking forward to blocking the bugger and seeing it in all its glory.

Long Weekend

Yikes - I meant to put this live at the weekend but clearly forgot. So here it is, 3 days late!

I've ticked a fair few things off my "to do" list this weekend.

1. Stencil quilt design onto quilt.

- Done and quilting 3/4 done. They grey cotton flannel is really lovely. 

2. Tutorial for frame purse kits written.

- All done except a bit of formatting. Pictures all taken and two examples made. Although I did manage to put the tag in upside down on this one. Dur. It's sashiko on this side and leather on the other - rather lovely. 

3. Review collection of sewing fabrics for next quilt.

- Here they all are. I've actually managed to keep them all reasonably similar colour-wise.

4. Choose colours for the Pop Spots Shawl on Ravelry.

- Fail, but then you can't win them all. I'm just not sure whether to go for two greys (I have madelainetosh sock in two lovely ones) or a red and white one. I've also only just realised that if you go for the small size you can get the spots and edging out of one skein, so I could just go for it with the grey. Mmmm...decisions...

I also did some more of my clock face. 

I really am rather liking this, and it's fun to do.