Woops! There goes my purse.

No I haven't been mugged, but there is definitely no cash in my purse. An adventure to Malvern Quilt Show is to blame (my goodness over the years this blog could get repetitious).
End on this bundle doesn't really look that good but it's a beauty. Kim Porter's Washed and Worn fabrics were all the more popular this year so I felt I needed to grab something quick before it all went.

See? The colours are pale golds and vintagey creams. Some are cuddly flannelette. Hmmmm it will make a nice sofa backer for the living room and I'm sure will be very popular with the cat.

This gorgeous set of linens and reds with lots of little buttons and ric-rac was from Mandy Shaw. It's a kit for a Christmas stocking which was featured on Kirsty Allsop's "Home Made" series last year.

...but then, just as I was leaving, the creative side of me tapped my shoulder and said "eherm ... you seem to have missed Oliver Twist's stall" and then these wonderful wool felts leapt into my hand and my purse slid open and all the remaining money fell into their till. I think it was partly the lovely colours, a lot to do with the warm snuggly feel, but mostly because they smelled so nice. Honestly a blind person would have chosen them.

Creating With Kids

Looking for things to do at home when the weather is wet and woolly is never a problem for me on my own. I don't know the meaning of boredom. It's not quite the same for the children though. When they are here I sometimes find myself getting unnecessarily uptight about not doing anything creative myself. Yesterday afternoon I decided I ought to do more of combining the two so I got my nine year old boy sketching with a little set of twelve Rowney oil pastels that he hadn't opened since he had them last Christmas.

We lit this arrangement of apples and pears talked about the light source and shadows and both had a crack at a drawing. His is great for a first go I think, and mine shows the need to practise a lot more...it could be a good New Year's resolution.

This little brooch (right) was duly finished for my daughter (age 6) who sees it as a badge of honour to wear to our sewing club in which there are two members - she and I.

Later, after they were in bed I searched in my Christmas Cupboard of Loveliness for tuck! Hoorah - this beautifully packaged box of Turkish delight encased in icing sugar with mixed nuts embedded in the goo. Yum yum roll on Christmas!

Recycling, Musing and Possibly Pigging Out.

The embellisher has made such a big difference to the making of Christmas cards this year. It's been great fun!

I want it to be Christmas all year really so that I can keep making them. Must start thinking Easter Eggs soon I suppose!

Am cogitating. Our Quilter's Guild is having a show in March and the theme is "recycling". Can I justify buying a big tin of Quality Streets so that I can recycle the wrappers into a work of art? Hmmmm. I'll need to ruminate on that one.

Young Quilter

My seven year old daughter has made a quilt for Teddy. It's very US of A! She picked the fabric and pieced the little quilt in the Summer holidays and we have just made it up. How lovely, her knees don't creek when she gets off the floor from pinning it! Lucky young thing!

Teddy has had a lovely afternoon in the laundry basket basking in his snuggly bed.

He and the rest of the family are being subjected to non-stop Christmas CDs so he'll be taking a Paracetamol shortly.

Meanwhile I have got the last of the Christmas gifts bought whilst older son was at The Games Workshop playing his beloved (and totally unintelligable to women) Warhammer. Christmas can now roll on, but I might just see if I can curl up in the laundry basket too for a bit first.

These are our local Christmas lights. The whole area looks very pretty at this time of year.