The Green Green Grass Of Home

The old home town looks the same as I step down from the train and there to meet me is... 

...my friends, my Mum, and all my kids

lyrics by Curly Putman (apart from the last bit which is all mine!)

Occasionally I ask my readers to indulge me while I share a post that's less about my craft and more about my family; this is one of those posts.  I know some of you love to see what my kids are up to these days and something of where I'm from, so for you here are four photo collages summing up my April 2016 trip home to England.  On the other hand, if that isn't your sort of thing please click and close me down, I won't be offended, and next time you visit everything will be back to normal - Chris :D

Exploring London - Shaukat, Cloth House & John Lewis

So you're in London and wanting to fabric shop - there are three other stores I love to visit when I'm home that you may want to take a look at.

Exploring London - Liberty 2016

I can't visit London without nipping into Liberty but last time I shared pics with you from inside the store was back in 2012.

Exploring London - The Village Haberdashery

I have spent the last 10 days in England, visiting friends old and new and I even squeezed in time for a bit of sewing.  An internet friend of several years, Trudi Wood, was teaching free motion quilting at The Village Haberdashery in West Hampstead, London so I met up with her and sat in on her class.

Liberty Lawn & Essex Linen FPP Feather

I love foundation paper piecing, but experience has taught me that not all foundation paper piecing patterns are equal, I'm very happy to shout from the rooftops, however, about all FPP patterns created by Juliet @The Tartankiwi.  

Juliet is an absolute Queen of FPP, her patterns are well thought out so there's the minimum number of pieces necessary for the sewist to piece the design as simply and easily as possible.  She is rigorous in her pattern testing too, testing and developing patterns thoroughly herself then she has several reliable testers trial the patterns and feedback before releasing them to the general public.

When Juliet sent me an image of her latest FPP Feather Border pattern I jumped at the chance to test it and here it is.

I've used Liberty Lawns for the feather and Robert Kaufman Yarn-Dyed Black Essex Linen for the background.  My favourite London shop for Liberty Lawns is Shaukat, they've more Liberty fabric than the Liberty store itself alongside other lawns and specialist fabrics - I've written a couple of posts about the fabric I've bought there here and here.  If you haven't been to the Liberty store then, of course, that should be top of your 'must do' list for any London trip - more pretty pics of the store here.

A couple of the lawns were left over from this reversible apron I made for my Mum a few years ago, you can read more about it here and though my Mum's looking very good for her years it's not actually her but my youngest, Flicky, modelling the apron ;D

Getting sidetracked now, all this talk of home and Liberty - let's have another look at that FPP Feather.

The FPP pattern includes two sizes of feather - 12" x 3" and 24" x 6" - I've made a 24" x 6" feather.  Juliet made the feather so she could border a block with four feathers, I've got other ideas, though.  Initially, I thought I'd extend the block to make a rectangular cushion but now I'm thinking a wall hanging so I'm going to sit on it for a while and see what ideas brew, you know the way they do.

You can see more tested versions of the FPP Feather Border here on Juliet's The Tartankiwi blog and her pattern's available now via her Etsy store and also her Payhip store.  

Disclaimer: I do not receive payment from Juliet @TheTartankiwi for testing her patterns, nor do I receive a commission on any patterns sold via her Etsy store or any other sales method.  This post is purely informational and of no direct benefit, monetary or otherwise, to me.

Please note the pattern does not include Juliet's Kea Alpine Parrot pattern as pictured but this FPP pattern is available separately.

Here's a look back at the patterns I've previously tested for Juliet.

Click any of the images below to go through to my post about testing that particular pattern:

  
 

Clicking on an image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)

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This post contains a Craftsy affiliate banner for which I am paid commission on click-through purchases. Otherwise, no payment or commission is received for click-throughs to shared links; the post is for informational purposes only and all opinions are my own.

Copyright: 

Uncredited reproduction of all content, text and images on this site is prohibited. All content, text and images must be credited to Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD and include a link back to this site.

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The Thrill Of Coming Home

"The thrill of coming home has never changed."

Guy Pearce

For just over two weeks I've been in England and it has been wonderful to wake to this view from my hotel room window every morning.

As I pack to fly back to the States this evening, here's a handful of pics.

English Paper Piecing on the plane.

Knitting on the plane.

My hotel room view by night.

Two fat quarter bundles from John Lewis.

 Four lots of three metre lengths of Liberty fabric from Shaukat on Old Brompton Road (the best place to buy Liberty!).

Some more small pieces of Liberty from Shaukat.

Oh and I squeezed in a visit to this wonderful city too - doesn't everyone love Paris?

 

 

 

   

Guests, Like Fish, Begin To Smell After Three Days ...

... but fortunately on this occasion, Benjamin Franklin was proved wrong.  My son, Joe, has just visited us from London with his girlfriend, Katie; they stayed 11 days without even an odorous whiff and we were sorry to see them go.

During their stay they celebrated their first anniversary so, as they both love cooking, I made them each a reversible apron to say 'congrats'.

 Up first is Katie modelling her apron.  Her chosen fabrics are Lotta Jansdotter glimma 'Marby'; Amy Butler Alchemy 'Queen Ann's Butterflies'; and Dear Stella 'Confetti Dot - Peony'.

 fussy cut front pocket

 pocket detail

 

Next, we're loving Joe's apron with a couple of fabulous 'tongue in cheek' fabrics: "ready for action" Alexander Henry; 'Keep it Sassy! Olive Sandwiches for Moda; and 'Labrinyth - Charcoal', Ikebana by Dear Stella.

 Fireman Sam close up detail ;)

 back fastened tie detail

 front fastened tie detail

 "You had me at Merlot!"

and then I made a third apron ably modelled here by Flicky.  This is also to be a gift and my chosen fabrics are "paseo de los muertos", De Leon Design Group for Alexander Henry and Belle Epoch by Kaffe Fassett.  Unfortunately, I don't know what the lilac straps are as I made them from a fat quarter that didn't have the printed selvedge edge.

 Flamenco dancing skeletons!

This whole 'photo shoot' was thrown together in less than five minutes as Katie had to get off to see a Broadway Musical Theatre Casting Agent - I don't think I've ever snapped so many photos so fast.  I did get the three of them to pose together though before we finished.

You may remember My Mini Adventure cushion and also my Roses For A Drama Queen quilt - well the cushion was a gift for Joe and the quilt was my welcome gift to Katie as, though we do chat on Skype, Facebook and Twitter, this was the first time we've actually met each other!

The pressies were a huge hit and we all had the best time together

and check out us girls jumping on Brooklyn Bridge!

It was all over way too soon, can't wait for them to come back and visit again - please don't leave it too long Joe and Katie, you really didn't start to smell ;D

You might be interested in seeing some other aprons I've made too, just click on an image below to read more about each one :)




Disclaimer: 
This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.