10 things that I love right now… (inspired by Soulemama’s recent posting). I just set Andrew a challenge to do the same on his blog - he managed to complete his in 30 minutes (and it’s so well written), why did mine take days?

1. Music - I have music in my life again! Being without a stereo for the last couple of years has meant that I’ve not listened to much adult music - there’s only so many times you can have ‘The grand old duke of York’ and ‘Five currant buns’ going round in your head. I’ve been listening to lots of Beth Orton, Finnish band Husky Rescue, Elbow, Bats for Lashes and the sublime Goldfrapp.

2. This Guterman overlock thread gives a lovely fine stitch with a semi-translucent colour that seems to blend with the fabric.

3. This beautiful old quilt found at my local antique store, soon to be a quilt for my daughter’s first bed.

4. Juno and Perfume. We try and watch at least one rental film per week on DVD - there’s been a few disappointing ones recently (I am Legend and For Your consideration) but these two films are very engaging.

5. This pile of newly purchased fabrics from this online shop. The prints are from Amy Butler, Erin McMorris, Joel Dewberry and Moda (American Jane).

6. This photo of my fiance and daughter taken before a visit to the theatre - this day out was a real treat for us. There’s something special about the father and daughter relationship which I think is captured here.

7. All these new craft and sewing books - yes I love to treat myself to books! The Creative Family and Lotta prints are my current favourites. I also bought Craft Inc. which is good too, but forgot to include it in the photo.

8. Our newly decorated lounge - cream carpets and vanilla walls have been replaced with stripped floorboards stained in Danish Oil, woodwork in Regency White and the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball Light blue. This photo was taken while the work was being done, I will post the finished picture in a future post - I still have some pictures to go on the wall.

9. This new Seiko smart label printer that makes life a lot easier when mailing out orders. It’s simple to use and produces good quality labels.

10. World Sweet World crafting magazine from New Zealand - I originally saw this on Melissa’s blog and decided to order a copy. I’m loving the style and format of this magazine - it makes me want to move to New Zealand!

As its been a few weeks since my last posting I thought a catch up post would be the easiest way to get back into the swing of things again.

There are a handful of recreational parks that I visit regularly with Tilly, this park in particular she calls ‘the falling on my nose park’ - (she incurred a particularly bad fall once here and the name has stuck since!). Another example of the way her mind works is that our spare bedroom is named the ’smelly paint room’, renamed after it was decorated - toddlers are so funny in the way they perceive the world. Tilly believes at this point in time that London consists of just one house called London…we might have to take her one day to show her just how big it really is!

Full of life, exuberance, energy and sheer determination to do ‘everything’ herself it’s certainly a challenge and a joy to share my days with this little one.

Andrew is a keen gardener and has done the majority of planting in our garden this year - after his recent trip away for a few days with work I treated him to this handmade hazel pea climber and book by Monty and Sarah Don which he avidly read - an inspiring read about courage and determination in the face of adversity.

These lovely flowers came up in the garden a couple of weeks ago and a couple of photos from a recent walk through a local village.

I’ve not posted for a while as orders for my laptop sleeves have quadrupled in the last couple of weeks (which I’m quite excited about) so more of my evenings have been spent cutting out and sewing. Luckily, I have an extra morning of childcare starting next week so it should take the pressure off a bit.

In the meantime I wanted to share a few photos of a recent visit to ‘One of England’s oldest and most romantic houses’, well that’s what it said on the guidebook! To celebrate our recent sixth anniversary Andrew and I packed a picnic and set off to visit Haddon Hall in Bakewell, Derbyshire. Haddon Hall is a fortified medieval manor house dating from the 12th Century and has been beautifully restored and well worth a visit. I forgot to charge my camera battery so only got a couple of photo’s - most of the following photos are taken from the guidebook.

This attractive leaf fresco on the Chapel wall was commissioned in the early 15th century would have been brightly coloured originally, although the detail is hard to see. According to the guide it was plastered over and whitewashed during the Reformation until it was restored in the early 20th century. The work of it’s conservation and restoration is ongoing. The Gardens are stunning too with descending terraces, colourful herbaceous borders, over forty varieties of fragrant delphiniums and an abundance of clematis and climbing roses, a fine example of an English Renaissance garden.

Since Andrew’s marriage proposal last year we’ve been trying to find a suitable venue for our civil wedding but we haven’t found the right place yet so we decided to postpone the wedding for another year - this would be my ideal venue but it’s not something they offer so the search continues….

Having not really made any soft toys before I thought I’d start with something simple - this doll from Cloth Kits who are based in England. It was a fun and easy project to make taking about two hours. Tilly gave her a big hug when she first saw Kiki (now renamed Sophie) and then promptly put her in the ’sick bed’ to receive medicene and have her temperature taken. I just need to make some clothing for her next, probably a sweet kimono or something similar.

Update: It’s taken me a few days to notice that I’ve sewn her arms on back to front, will she notice?… ahem…

I was also very tempted by their women’s clothing kits especially this skirt designed by the very talented Rob Ryan.

There’s been a flurry of activity in the garden while the weather has been so warm - new raised beds and a greenhouse built. The raspberry canes are in (rather belatedly), peas, beans, tomatoes, beetroots and potatoes. The garden is transforming daily before our eyes and we’re managing to spend a good few hours a day outdoors, let’s hope the warm weather and clear skies continues. We have a family of about nine frogs in our small pond and beautiful blossom on our apple trees, Spring is wonderful!

Last year was a different story… we had a dreadful summer weather wise, the highest rainfall in the UK since records began - sadly many people were flooded out of their homes in our town - it rained almost daily for 8-10 weeks (no joke) with frequent flash floods, so it feels asthough we’ve gone through two winters with little respite, hence I’m making the most of the good weather while it lasts.

I really enjoyed this little project I completed for a friend’s new baby - it made a refreshing change to make something other than laptop sleeves! I used the tutorial for the baby blanket from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. The blanket is a soft flannel fabric trimmed with Lecien’s Alphabet soup print. It was my first attempt at double-fold binding, it took a few evenings to hand sew but the blanket is quite large. The cushion was made to compliment the blanket with a fun elephant print, navy blue cord and alphabet print.

Before making the cushion gift I did this trial version for my little one to ensure I was happy with the proportions of each fabric section. I’ve had the vintage storybook fabric for a while and paired it with a light blue needlecord and vintage trim.