making decisions

As much as I am loving being even more creatively inspired than usual, I find myself struggling to make the necessary creative decisions of my own.

Exactly which of my fabrics should I put together?

What colours of yarn should I use and in which order?

I have been seeing so many gorgeous combinations on blogs and on pinterest but this inspiration has almost crippled my own imagination through the fear of not getting it quite right.

I only seem to be able to cope with different fabrics of the same or similar colours.

I think this is why my rainbow hexies were so appealing, and why I was pleased with my diamond mini quilt. And when I made my first project from Patchwork Please I followed Ayumi's design and went for a single colour scheme - and it does make me happy, but it's not very brave, is it.

I almost find myself unable to imagine how MY fabrics will go together when they are not the exact same ones that I am seeing being used elsewhere. I know I can't go out and buy an entirely new stash (although it is tempting!!) just to match something I have seen online so I need to find some way of making the best use of what I have. But what if I get it wrong and end up making a mess?

I had to abandon a pair of fairisle wrist warmers for my boss because I kept repeatedly getting the colour choices wrong and having to rip it out endlessly - until I was thoroughly sick of the sight of them when I have previously loved the pattern. In the end I had to compromise and knit her a nice safe pair of Susie's Reading Mitts in one solitary, safe colour.

I find myself craving some simple sock knitting for it's basic decision-free round-and-roundness - when this would have seemed too boring a week ago.

Does anyone else have this problem? Where brilliant inspiration leads to a complete loss of creative confidence? If so, how have you overcome it?

Answers on the back of a postcard please!

Playing

This week has been when I only have to work two days  (every other week I work 3), so I have had lots of fun playing with sewing on my days off.

I can't remember what I achieved on Monday, but yesterday I spent the day making these fabulously quick pouches for the little Lockets using this tutorial. I love the dense quilting on them.  Bizarrely my special walking foot makes straight line quilting bunch up instantly whereas my standard foot lets me quilt beautifully - does anyone else have this problem?

I am giving them to the children tomorrow for Valentine's Day and have filled them with Jelly Babies and chocolate so I know they will be pleased!  I bought Mr Locket a pair of beautiful cards from Celia and I can't decide which one to give him - maybe he will get both :)

I also made this pouch for my mummy so I hope she doesn't read this post before I get it sent to her.

I like the bottom the best - even if it does look strangely misshapen.

Today I wanted to play with half square triangles so I made a batch of 2.5" and laid them out in a couple of different ways.

I decided I liked the diamond best so I pieced this panel

and then quilted the life out of it - and I have to say I absolutely love it.

I love how the colours and fabrics work together and I love the quilting.

I had been going to make it into another pouch but it was such a shame to fold the diamond in half and lose the effect of it so now I have another mini quilt to bind.

Daisy has said she would like a quilt for her birthday in May and I'm thinking this combination of blues and diamonds would be perfect for her - but she is keen to play with other layouts too which will be fun, especially as she isn't normally all that interested in my sewing shenanigans :)

I really don't have time to go to work tomorrow!  I just have too much sewing to play with!

I KNEW housework was bad for you!

The other day Mr Locket bought me this book


but before you all take up arms against him in honour of Women's Rights I must point out that I did persuade him that I really really wanted it and if I am totally honest he does far more housework than me (on top of his very stressful fulltime job)

Our house is such a tip and I really don't do enough to keep it nice so I'm at the stage when any helpful advice would be very gratefully received. I also find it easier to do things if I can "read myself" into the mood - so reading about cleaning would make me want to clean (hopefully!!!)

At the start of the first chapter about decluttering there was this questionnaire thingy
Has she been here????

And what does she mean "three of these boxes"? I ticked them ALL and some of them more than once!!!

I think my house may have given up on screaming and just accepted resounding defeat!

Anyway, always up for a challenge I decided to follow Missus Turner's advice and start with the hall - the smallest mess you'd think - so why did it take me a full hour to clear the clutter and give it a quick clean?

Here's why..................


this is just the childrens' clutter (there was plenty more including a still packed suitcase of the children's clothes from our two nights away in May!)


and these are the shoes that no longer fit or are in pieces but were still in the shoe box - also note the odd ones......... I always knew this family was "hopping mad"!!!!!! (really, really bad pun, I am hanging my head in shame here)

But look how nice looks now

- flowers and herbs from my garden, unpainted patches courtesy of Mr Locket who ran out of paint (only about 8 months ago!)

and the long view

which almost shows you my lovely 1920s bannisters that were covered with panels when we moved in; and leads me to the main feature of my hall.....................

THE QUILT WALL!!!!

so here are some photos of the wall as requested - in fact there are three because it is impossible to photograph all the quilts clearly in one shot - I may have to relocate "the wall" so I can get some better photos

(view as you come in the front door)

(view from the kitchen doorway)

(as I come down the stairs each morning - how lucky am I?)

Anyway, back to the reason for my title. That hour of frenetic housework was clearly very bad for me as I woke up this morning feeling really yuk - headache, sore throat, earache, achey arms a weird hollowed out feeling inside and a total lack of interest in sewing(!) - all housewifely duties must clearly be suspended forthwith.

So I will leave you today with my first courgettes from the allotment


and if you were impressed with the productivity of my strawberry plants take a look at my friend Alison's
She had already picked 4 punnets worth and these were only the very best and ripest strawberries - her plants were still laden!

I picked about another 3lbs or more but they didn't look anything like these - more jam and scones need making I reckon.

Getting things done

I posted off four mini quilts and two PIFs on Friday so that has made quite a dent in my to-do-list and as three of the minis have safely arrived with their new recipients I can show you them here.

The first was for Kate


- the central stitchery was taken from the gorgeous Tilda book "Sew Pretty Homestyle" (can't wait for the new Christmas one that is out next month hopefully!)

The second was for Anne and was built up round the lovely fabric Lina sent me with her mini quilt

and the third was for my mad friend Trashy


I thought this Bronwyn Hayes design from her "Sunshine in your pocket" book was suitably silly!!!

The fourth quilt was for my official swap-partner, Leanne (yes, I'll admit it, I was very late!!!) But as she is all the way over in Australia I'm not expecting it to arrive just yet! Leanne was also one of my bloggy-versary "you don't have to pay-it-forward" PIF-fers so she will get a double dose of gifts in her parcel!

In other news, I have been trying to catch up a bit at the allotment and have finally managed to get my pumpkins planted and some other general work done - so here is a late June allotment photo for you (really it's here for me so I can chart how it is going over the year!)


And my final crafty bit of news is that I have learnt how to ripple! Lovely Lesley explained it to me and look - I can do it!


I now have a particularly annoying song going through my head to the tune of "I can boogie"

"Yes Sir, I can ripple,
I can ripple all night long,
I can ripple, ripple ripple,
all night looooooooooooong!"

and on that embarrasing note I shall leave you for today!

Busy, busy, busy

So I made my scary lists on Saturday afternoon and instead of making the task seem more manageable it just brought home how much I have to do!!!! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!


This is my "design wall" (tongue very firmly in cheek here!) complete with my very neatly categorised crafting commitments. The baby clothes pinned up are for a "Betty Bunny" that needs to be done by the weekend and in the fireplace you can see some of my very neatly folded and colour coded fabric!!!

My job list includes

• 11 Pay It Forward gifts
• 1 Russian Doll Swap gift for Emma
  
• 1 reversible messenger bag
  
• 1 appliqued patchwork fleece blanket like this
  
• 1 Janet Bolton style picture for my friend's birthday - it was in April!
  
• 2 Dilbert dinosaurs
• 4 Betty Bunnies
• 2 Pocket & Floss Bunnies
• 1 Magoo
• 2 large owls
• 2 small dolls like these
  
• and 14 mini quilts

Yesterday I practically glued myself to my work table and ended up with a very sore back but I managed to get some things done and I now have 2 dolls stitched ready for turning and stuffing, one Pocket and Floss Bunny stitched and turned ready for stuffing, one Betty Bunny stitched, turned, stuffed and ready for sewing together (although if I'm honest I had already done most of the sewing on these - I just hadn't considered how long it takes to turn things through!)

and a finished Magoo called Magnus


only this one is a midi-Magoo, reduced to 75% on my scanner because he needs to be posted to Canada.

To give you an idea of size here he is with his very much bigger sister Maggie

I'm really pleased with how he has turned out - he is such a cheeky monkey! And isn't it funny how much more "boy-like" he looks than Maggie - and I don't think it is just because of the colours.

On the quilt front, I am at the point of binding on Leanne's, Trashy's and Kate's, three-quarters of the way through finishing the top of Rachel's and I've just made the top of Anne's - and I'm really pleased with how it is going so here is a sneak peek for you........

I know it looks very plain but Anne kindly took me up on the offer of a cream and white quilt built around the lovely embroidered fabric that Lina sent me with my mini quilt - it actually looks really effective in a very simple way!!!

Return of the Little Locket and More Minis

So, yes, she came back - and Mr Locket and I were very very pleased to see her!

So were the other little Lockets

(don't worry, I'm not going to go all "perfect family" on you - it wasn't long before they were all arguing!)

and her bedroom looked fantastic by the time I had finished with it - such a shame about the rest of the house though!

Dorothy has the smallest room in the house and it really is tiny but it is my favourite of all our rooms and I keep telling her that I am having it for a sewing room when she goes to University! I mean, who wouldn't love a room that has built in bookshelves like this..............

Dorothy is an incredible reader and has probably read more of the classic childrens' literature - Little Women, Heidi, Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, What Katy Did Next etc by the age of 10 than I have ever read - and the modern literature she reads is really impressive too. I just love lying on her bed looking up at her books and reading all the titles.

In mini-quilt swap news I can now show you the 9 of mine that have safely arrived at their new homes

Top Row: Annie, Lesley, Michaela
2nd Row: Katy, Lina, Est
3rd Row: Lissa, Jodie, Val

I now have 4 more in progress including this one for Kate

and this one for Trashy


which only leaves another 10 to start from scratch!

I spent a while this afternoon writing scarily complicated tables of all the things I need to make - commisions, mini-quilts, PIF gifts, presents and my Russian Doll Swap - I am now feeling rather panicked! I'm not quite sure how I am going to get it all done! And then there's the chaos and mess masquerading as our house and our jungle-like front and back gardens - not to mention the allotment - and at some point I really need to get a job - anyone got any good ideas?????

Lovely Linaloo, lovely Lesley and Lucky Locket

As you have all been saying I am a very lucky Locket!

On Saturday, just as Fred was opening his presents, the Postie appeared with a parcel for ME from Lesley full of the most fantastic goodies!

She sent me a share of some gorgeous fabric that she had recently bought


and when I saw the bird one I was sooooooooooooooooo excited because I have been coveting this in various Etsy shops for ages - and amazingly (considering I speak to the poor girl so often) Lesley didn't even know I wanted it! I have plans to make it into a new messenger style bag with denim and pockets and things so I can use it and see it every day.

and then there were these gorgeous buttons


so pretty!

and then - if you can find it amongst my seriously mahoosive bunch of keys - there was this lovely key ring (which matches the pretty purse Lesley sent me a while ago that I use to carry my sewing around)


and finally, possibly even more excitingly, look at all these keyring blanks ready for me to customise to my heart's content!

Lesley also included a card thanking me for arranging the mini-quilt swap and for being her "very lovely and very silly friend" - thank you so much Lesley - the feeling is entirely reciprocated!

On Monday another exciting parcel arrived, this time all the way from Linaloo in Canada.

When I first mentioned doing a mini-quilt swap Lina said she would probably not be able to play but would be interested in doing a mini-mini-quilt swap directly with me. So in effect Lina is probably responsible for the whole extended Lucy Locket mini-Mini Quilt Swap - thanks Lina, it was a fantastic idea!!!

So I was obviously very excited to see what she had made - and it is gorgeous!

I just love those birds and the tree and the circles and how the birds ARE circles (with a little bit added) - it's just so deceptively simple and so very clever. And the colours are so happy and spring like - it's perfect!

Lina also included this wonderful embroidered fabric and a really pretty bookmark.


I immediately started planning a mini quilt in my mind using one of the embroidered flowers in the middle and then building it up log-cabin style with different cream and white fabrics with pearl buttons and cream embroidery etc - so if any of my swapees fancy a quilt like that then just let me know!!!

Thank you so much for my wonderful parcel Lina, and once again, thank you for sparking the initial idea of my mini-Mini-Quilt swap!

On Sunday I was idly wandering around Lesley's etsy shop and I wondered why on earth no one had bought her beautiful pink and grey felt purse. Then I looked at it more closely and saw the gorgeous lining fabric and was even more confused.

Finally it dawned on me - the reason no one had bought it yet was because they were kindly leaving it in the shop for ME to buy - obvious when you think about it!!!!

So I did.

(image borrowed from Lesley because my photo was rubbish!)

But, instead of fitting neatly through my letter box, the parcel from Lesley was sent back to the depot.

Why was that? It was only a little purse - my letter box isn't that small.

So I duly trotted off to the sorting office yesterday once I had regained the car from Mr Locket (fancy needing it for work!)

And look what was (very unsuccesfully) hiding behind the purse in my parcel


all of these gorgeous balls of crochet yarn! Lesley knows that even though I am only a newbie-crochet-er, I have discovered that I only really like crocheting toys in smooth or mercerised yarn rather than fluffy wool.

I think it is a control-freak thing - I like the knotty shapes that crochet makes (and no, that doesn't mean I've done it all wrong!) and mercerised cottons and smooth yarns show that off whereas soft and potentially fluff-able wool ends up getting, well, fluffy so you can't see the "pattern".

Anyway, I digress. Lesley found the yarn at a very good bargain price and knew how much I would like it so snapped it up! What a fabulous friend she is!

And finally, because I do listen to you all, I will leave you with some photos of the Should-Be-Famous-Lucy-Locket-Quilt-Wall


the only problem is that the display is getting so big it's really hard to photograph as it is in the hall and I can't get far enough away to fit all the quilts in - so I will leave you with a few photos and will go and have a re-think about where I am going to display these wonderful creations!


I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Lucy x