Ten things ...

• I have been drooling over tiny bowls in a heavenly shop. Alas, they didn't come home with me.

• I had the most amazing massage.

• No2 and I went to the zoo. Seven years. To say I was thrilled that Molly the giraffe approached the new bridge feature is an understatement. But, yes, that is a carrot on the right of the picture. Sadly not proffered by me though.

• No2 now wants a lizard. Possibly a bearded one ...

• My auriclas are jostling with my love of tulips as my favourite flower. The tulips need to be careful - I am fickle.

• I have been busy sewing a wonderful custom order for some kitchen accessories. Who knew double oven gloves and simple running stitches could give me (and hopefully my customer) so much pleasure.

• There are parts of my garden that are swathed in blue - some that I have planted intentionally ...

• ... and some that I have not.

• I have been enjoying other people's gardens. It looked very different from my last visit in September.
• My own garden and new allotment are keeping me busy and this gorgeous sunshine is renewing my energy in leaps and bounds. Have a great weekend - you'll find me outside!

A quilt for spring ...

It may have been quiet over here for a while but that's not to say I've been not doing anything. It seems to make perfect sense that while the so-called start of spring was greyer than grey, my sewing room was reflecting the true colours of March and then through into April. I've been working on a custom quilt using a colour palette that was far removed from my usual choices and I've loved every cut, stitch and placement.

I love interpreting what people might like - it takes me right back to my work in The Time Before Children when I was given a design brief and then, more or less, free rein to create.

This quilt has all the colours of spring that I can find by stepping out just a little way from either my front or back door, albeit a little later this year than most.

I love close, straight line quilting almost as much as I love muscari.

I'm hoping this quilt is just right for snuggling under while this wind blows wildly today.

I've added it to my commissions page if you'd like to see it in its entirity.

Obsession ...

You know when you're wasting time browsing on Pinterest, and something catches your eye and you repin it? Then you keep thinking about it and how much you'd like it to be more than just a virtual pin? Well, that happened with this vest.

To tell you the truth, it became a bit of an obsession. There was a teeny, tiny problem though and that was that I had never done Fair Isle knitting before. Then a brainwave struck! I wondered if I could persuade Julie to help me out when she came over for lunch the other day. I might've hogged her attention for a while, I'll admit it *wink wink*

After worrying about tension and not comprehending top and bottom strands, I am now the proud wearer of a garment that I actually knitted myself. I have to confess that I haven't knit anything bigger than a hat or a scarf since I was at college over 27 years ago, and that was a purple mohair number that proved too darn itchy to wear, so I am feeling fairly triumphant about this particular finished item.

All details over on Ravelry.

Now it seems my obsession has moved onto other things and I am truly inspired by Kristina's beautifully neat sock knitting to pick up the dpn's again ...

En masse …

A carpet of mauve crocus at Kew. Delightful.

A blog lady gathering in my kitchen. Inspiring.

A famous line-up of dolls. Exciting.

A stack of pretty fabrics to play with. Satisfying.

All these things add to my Zen.

The Red Nose Day Dolls ...

You may already be aware of the fabulous Red Nose Day Doll project that is the brainchild of Emma Mitchell and Ros Badger. It is a collaborative craft project in which I am thrilled to be part of and all for one of my favourite fundraisers - Comic Relief.


You can read my blog post  about the quilt I made for Mac here.


The dolls are going to auctioned on eBay from 7th March 2013. If you'd like to donate to the project you can here.

You can read all about the Dolls on their very own blog or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

Signs of spring ...

I had a much anticipated walk around Kew Gardens today with the lovely Kristina - I even remembered my 'big' camera! I'd forgotten how much it dislikes the chilly wind that was blowing all the delicate winter flowers around though and so, sadly, many of my {blurry} photos have disappeared into the recycling bin *sigh*.

Wrapped up in untold layers, and with coffee and cake in our tummies, we braved the cold, cold wind and grey skies.

I find it so cheering to see the emergence of the first signs of spring. My own garden is beginning to tease me with its new growth too. My last remaining patch of snowdrops is very thin on the ground as it seems to have established itself bang slap in the middle of a well-used doggy pathway beneath the big conifers.

Winter aconites are one of the first things to meet the challenge of the low temperatures of winter and early spring and I feared I had lost the few I had in my front garden, but today I spotted a solitary yellow bud and so I am hoping that mine are just extending their hibernation and getting up late. At Kew, however, there were lots of cheerful little clumps dotted around.

Swaying bravely in the wind, Kew's hellebores were the main casualty in the photography department today and this lovely lime green one was the best of a {very bad} lot. How I love them - a complete work of botanic art.

A new-to-me plant that is fast becoming a necessity somewhere in my garden, is witch hazel. I've absolutely no idea why they have been off my radar all these years of gardening. I adore the slightly scruffy flowers. This gorgeous yellow one caught my eye immediately so I can imagine what a focal point one will create if I planted one in the border at the back of my garden.

I love all the spring bulbs and cannot wait for my own garden to burst into colour over the coming months. I know for certain it is the anticipation of my tulips, narcissi, anemones and alliums that will get me through February now. There are signs of spring all around.

feather your nest ...

I didn't mean to leave it quite so long to make my little announcement over here on the blog so here goes:

Do you see that little shop widget over there --->
(Perhaps not, I guess, if you're reading on Reader or your mobile device, you'll have to take my word for it!)

Having an Etsy shop is a project I have been thinking about for a very long time; a project that I have been working on for quite a long time; and finally, after all that time, have had the confidence to open up its doors.

After much procrastination I found that, along with some amazingly supportive friends, the Universe sent me a couple of gentle prods to set the ball rolling. I pinned the above picture just recently as I believe this to be very true of me. I cannot help making things and I'm certainly not happy if I am unable to make things.

But who knew that there would quite so many things to think about in opening up an Etsy shop? The actual making of the things I wanted to sell was the easy bit - I've had to think about mail bags and wrapping, postage costs, what I wanted to be a strong point for selling my wares. Many, many details that have kept me awake at night.

Then there was the actual name of the shop itself. 'feather your nest' was always my first choice but after trying to get past the first page of the Etsy template, I realised it wasn't very original. Other names were toyed with but there was always a negative comment when I was trying them out on people to get some feedback that really put me off and so I always found myself back at my first idea. Hence the numbers on the actual web address, which aren't ideal but I can live with it!

The biggest hurdle I had to overcome was one of pricing. It is a minefield and then serendipity handed me the thing I needed to read. Arounna sums it up perfectly in this blog post. I read it, digested it and it was the final thing my confidence needed to hit the 'open shop' button.

It feels good to have a direction to take my creative sewing in and I'm looking forward to becoming part of the Etsy community. I'd love for you to have a wander through and let me know what you think. I'm happy to do custom orders too so if there is something that you like but maybe have your own ideas or colours, then I can make it happen for you!