A Cold Week So Far

Hello Lovely Friends how are you all doing.  Do step in out of the cold and have a warm drink, maybe some lovely cake?  It is so good to see you all again and I don't know about you but the weeks seems to running away with us, I cannot believe that we are nearly in February.  I for one will be glad to see the end of January, always my worst month but nearly through it now thank goodness.

 

I am nearing my 100 post and wanted to give you all notice that I will be holding a secret giveaway in a little time - I am not going to tell you what it is as it will be a surprise for everyone and hopefully for the winners will be pleased with what they receive.  As always I am giving prizes to two winners so keep tuned lovely Readers and you may be lucky.

 

I am so pleased to say that I finished my hot water bottle cover and am delighted with it.  I just need to sew the ends now and put the buttons on the bottom.  This is the first pattern for crochet that I have ever followed and I am delighted that it worked out so well.  I used some of my stash up and am thinking about doing some for next Christmas, is it too soon to start?  A lot of the ladies in my sewing class are already buying up the Christmas fabrics and making Christmas stockings ready for next year, I am not sure that I am that organised and would probably lose them somewhere in the house or forget about them all!  Hope you like the cover, I do.

 

 

Do you believe in fate?  I wonder why sometimes things happen to us or we meet a particular person or find something.  I thought I was very lucky in the vintage fair at the weekend and am still drooling over the vintage Liberty pack which I found.  I have been thinking about this a lot and wondering why did I stop at that stall and why did I ask about the parcel - it is all mysterious.  I was very busy at work yesterday and don't usually stop for lunch but will go and bring a coffee back to my room instead.  However, yesterday I was so cold all day and couldn't get warm and for some reason decided to go for a short stroll into town just to see if I could get warm.  I wasn't going for anything in particular, in fact, I nearly turned back but I didn't.  I walked past a charity shop and as I did the lady was putting something in the window which caught my eye, so I popped in.

 

 

A lovely sewing box which had only five minutes before been handed in for selling.  I know that I shouldn't buy anymore boxes but this one was calling me lovely Readers.  Look at the inside of it, it is hardly used at all.

 

It had lots of things inside it and had obviously been well looked after by a sewer.  The shop lady said that someone's daughter had bought it in as her Mum has passed away and none of the family were interested in keeping it.  I thought it was wonderful.

 

 

There was some binding inside and a little box with buttons in, plus loads of sewing needles and thread.

 

There were three sewing cases, one was plastic, you can see the photograph on the front of it.  Another was a very old leather type one with a little motto on the front.

 

 

As you can see some of the needles are extremely old and they have obviously been well used.

 

 

This is the top tray which lifts out - gorgeous and what a bargain.   I am so happy to have found it and if I hadn't gone for the walk then I may have missed it.  I like to believe that it was meant for me in some way, do you feel the same about things you find or am I just being silly.......

 

 

 

Yesterday I had a lovely surprise from a dear friend of mine - Cally who is one of the kindest people I know.  She is a very talented lady and I am trying to persuade her to restart her blog as I know that she would have a big following.  Why do we all love surprises, especially through the post - I think it is our inner child who is always around inside us.  I know mine is - do you all get the same thrill when something unexpected arrives?  So what was in my lovely surprise parcel.  Well, firstly two gorgeous tea towels, yes Folks she knows me very well.  These two are so lovely I don't think I can bear to cut them up.  What do you think?

 

 

Then the most beautiful pair of bedsocks knitted by Cally's talented Mum - thank you Cally's Mum!  They are my favourite colours - red of course and white and they fit perfectly.  I took this photograph before I started to wear them last night and they were so warm and toasty.  Perfect!

 

Even more delights to come..........I walk to work and back every day trying to make sure that I get at least 15000 steps per day - I don't always achieve this but on my worst days I reach my 10,000 steps so warm socks and good shoes are the order of the day.  Just look at these below - they are just the most comfortable pair of socks - I wore them today and they are just so soft and toasty (this seems to be my favourite word at the moment!).  Thank you for these Cally they are lovely.

 

 

And just look at these lovely Friends, everything made by Cally - the card is just stunning and my favourite colour brooch which I am wearing today.  What a glorious parcel of goodies.  It has been a struggle this month but having people like Cally and all of you lovely Friends out there has seen me through so a huge thank you to you all and please Cally restart your blog soon, we all need to read it.

 

 

What am I working on now?  Well my two little female Peeps are completely in love with the new Disney film called Frozen which is about two sisters (apparently, I have not seen it yet, have you?).  Anyway I managed to get hold of some the Frozen fabric and have teamed it with some of the blue satin type fabric I used on the placemats.  These are still in progress Folks, nearly finished the second one!  I thought the blue satin blended well with some of the colours on the Frozen material.

 

 

I am going to make two cushions, one each for them with their photographs on.  If you remember I had sent off two to be printed on to fabric and they have just arrived.  I cannot show you the photographs but I have included just a glimpse of them - MollyFelicityDesigns has made a tremendous job of them Folks and I am over the moon with them.  As you can just see below, she has put their names on the photographs.

 

 

These are sewn straight onto the fabric but Rachel from my sewing class is going to help me with these as I don't want to make a mess of them.  I am using my faithful Lillyblossom pattern again as it is an easy one for me to follow and I get good results from using it.  I am hoping to branch out a bit this year and make a different style of cushion.............

 

 

I must say that Sarah from MollyFelicity is so helpful so do pop over and see what she has to offer.  I have my eye on some map fabric as I noticed in John Lewis that this appears to be a new trend. 

 

 

 

 

 

Well lovely Folks that is it for now.  I do hope you are all keeping fit and well.  I hope you will come back again soon, please leave a comment if you have time as I do love to hear from you all.  Sending you lots of love and don't forget the Secret Giveaway coming very soon.  Big hugs to Everyone wherever you are in the world.  Dorothy:-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxx