Sewing and Running

After publishing this post at the beginning of the year, it was interesting to discover that there are so many of you who sew and run. This post is a bit of an update on both. Sewing has been pretty much a constant in my life since I first learnt as an adult eight years ago (I was also taught at school, but never encouraged). The timing was perfect as it gave me the focus I needed to stop me dwelling too much on having a disabled child. Sewing is what has kept me sane and happy ever since. 

That all went out of the window a couple of months ago unfortunately, when the challenges at home just became overwhelming. I tried to take my mind off things by sewing but I couldn't concentrate. The more mistakes I made, the more stressed I felt, it was dreadful. When I did eventually have something finished to blog about, I had no energy to write about it and certainly couldn't bring myself to plaster a smile on my face and photograph it. So I made the decision to take a short break from sewing and blogging.

In the meantime I went running. Three times a week without fail I was out there, pounding the pavements and parks of Ealing, sometimes on my own, sometimes with my lovely running group. Being outdoors and doing physical exercise really helped - exercise endorphins do work wonders. I know lots of people run with headphones, but I never have, it was just me and my whirring thoughts. I found the repetition of running quite meditative - a bit like the sound of a sewing machine - I'm sure there's a parallel there somewhere! After each run I felt so much better, my head was clearer and things were more in perspective. 

My second pair of trainers, still box fresh!

Within a few weeks I was sewing and blogging again, perhaps not quite as prolific as before, but definitely back on the horse. Still sewing. And still running. Running will never replace sewing in my life, but it can certainly complement it, and I like how the two can now go hand in hand. And the good news is that all that practice improved my running - I'm now able to run 10K!!! I still find this amazing, considering I couldn't run 10 metres six months ago. My next challenge will be on 17th June - I'll be running my first 10K race to support Charlie's special needs school. It's a wonderful school and they've been so supportive to us, I'd love to raise some money to help Charlie and the other amazing children who attend. If you're feeling generous and have a pound or two to spare, you can donate here. Any sponsorship will be very gratefully received.

With some members of my fab running group 

I have to admit, I'm nervous about this race, which is daft as I know I can run the distance. The thing is, I haven't taken part in any organised sporting event since leaving school, which was over 30 years ago... so let's just say I'm a bit out of practice! My darling sister-in-law recently ran her first 10K race in Australia and said whenever she felt like giving up, she thought of Charlie and carried on. I'm going to use the same tactics. Wish me luck! x

Quilt plans

Despite having made three quilts (here, here and here), I still haven't exactly been bitten by the quilting bug. All three quilts were gifts for family members, so maybe it's because I'm always one step removed from the finished product? I'm not sure. Whatever the reasons, I've decided to give quilt making another go, but this time, the quilt will be for ME!  Call me an old lady, but I like nothing better than to be wrapped in a blanket whilst watching TV or reading on the sofa. The blanket I currently use is a ratty old fleece specimen, so a replacement in the form of a quilt is long overdue. It can serve double duty by brightening up the end of my bed during the day too. 

Colour-wise, I've been inspired by this beautiful baby quilt by Crafty Blossom. 

A Quilt for Harry by Crafty Blossom

Mustard and grey are two colours that crop up quite a lot in my bedroom furnishings. They feature in this print by Eloise Renouf...

...and in the fabric that covers this chair

My bedroom walls are painted cream and green/blue so I'll be picking out both of these colours too. The fabrics I've chosen are all from M is for Make, with the exception of the Hemingway grid print (RHS in the second picture) which is left over from my 1950's shoulder tie dress. 

As I'm a beginner, my previous quilts have all used the simplest of designs. So this time round, instead of using all squares, I'm going to be using…. rectangles and squares, talk about edgy! For the design, I'll be using the Strawberry Fields Bricks Pattern by Amy Smart for Moda, which seems relatively idiot proof. And because I can't bear the thought of cutting up countless plain, cream squares for the lighter accents, I'll use these pre-cut squares. It may not be strictly ballroom, but do I care? Nope. 

I'm making slow progress so far. I've almost cut out all of the rectangles and I'm hoping I'll soon be able to play with the patchwork pieces on the floor to make a pattern, which is probably my favourite bit! If I get my finger out, I may get this finished by Christmas, as long as there aren't too many party dresses clamouring for my attention in the meantime. The fact that I've outlined my plans on the blog will certainly give me a bit of a kick up the arse anyway.  Anybody else have any mad quilt plans? x

A new coat - but not for me!

I don't need a new coat at the moment, but somebody in this household certainly does…. 

Poor old Raggy was looking more than a little bedraggled a couple of weeks ago. Holes had started to appear and sadly for him, parts of his face were rapidly disintegrating. It was time for yet another new coat.

I gave him half a new face by stretching some plain cotton around the affected area. Then I chain stitched a new terrifying Joker-style smile. Look away if you're easily scared.

This didn't take me long at all and neither did the making of the actual flannel coat, it was sewing the bloody head to the coat that took FOREVER! 

It's not my finest work: his new head is on back to front (the other side of those twiddly bits should be on display from the front) and still looks a bit off centre and cock-eyed to me. It doesn't matter though, Charlie thought his new coat (including nightmare-inducing face) was fab.

Me: "Do you like Raggy's new face Charlie?"

Charlie: "YEEEEEESSSSSSSS" Accompanied by massive grin.

That's all I needed to hear!   x

My one and only handmade Christmas present

I'm cutting it a bit fine admittedly, but I've finally finished my one and only handmade Christmas present. It's a quilt for my younger son Charlie, who's shockingly difficult to buy for. I was beginning to think he'd have nothing but a pile of DVDs to open on Christmas day (which I'm sure he wouldn't complain about!) when I noticed how much he liked snuggling under his brother Louis' quilt. Eureka - I'd make him a quilt of his own! When I made Louis' quilt almost a year ago, he was very involved in choosing fabrics and had a clear idea about how he wanted the quilt to look. In stark contrast, Charlie really didn't give a monkeys, he just wanted something to crawl under. I did manage to get out of him that he wanted it to be blue…with giraffes on it….OK.

The giraffe fabric was in fact the only fabric for the quilt top I ended up buying, I managed to eek the rest of it out of stash fabric which was supremely satisfying. The two solid blues were from my craft fair fabrics stash, the blue polka dot fabric was left over from my Jubilee Dress and the red and white striped fabric was kindly gifted to me by Amy after she won my Banksia top in a giveaway. I like the fact that the giraffe fabric has a pop of yellow on it to give the quilt a bit contrast colour.

This quilt is the same size as Louis' quilt (approx 40" by 60") so quite small, but still large enough to curl up on the sofa underneath. I used a navy cotton sheet as backing and bound it with this lovely striped bias binding from Frumble Fabrics. It didn't actually take that long to make as I knew what I was doing this time (sort of). I used all the same layouts and tutorials as I did last time, except for the actual quilting. I quilted just to the side of the seams rather than diagonally across and this saved a lot of time ruling lines etc.

Making this quilt has made me realise that I'll never be a passionate quilter. I'm just not meticulous enough or patient enough to concentrate on complicated designs and patterns. But I can turn my hand to simple quilting and pull off a reasonable quilt when required, which I'm happy about. I think Charlie will like it anyway, which is the main thing.

Talking of Charlie, I also managed to fashion a new flannel coat for Raggy, which is becoming something of an annual tradition. Last year's effort was beginning to look pretty grim and I was forever stitching up his rips.

Raggy's coat: before….

….and after!

I used exactly the same strategy as last year and Charlie accepted the new coat without a qualm. He's come on so much recently and has passed a couple of developmental milestones that are actually life changing for our family. In short, he's a rock star and we're so, so lucky to have him as our son. Happy Christmas darling Charlie, I hope you enjoy your quilt!

Charlie the rock star

A new coat for Raggy

WARNING: This post contains photos of rancid rags that some readers may find upsetting…

As you may, or may not know, my younger son - Charlie - is autistic. Bringing up a disabled child is challenging at the best of times, but especially when your child is upset and can't communicate to you what's wrong. Thanks to his amazing school, this has been getting easier and easier for Charlie as he gets older and acquires more language. But sometimes he just wants comfort and reassurance, and that's where Raggy comes in. Raggy is his comforter that he's had since he was born. My older son had one exactly the same and Charlie's Raggy was the 'spare' that his brother rejected. Raggy is like a wonder drug - he sleeps well at night with him beside him (a massive bonus for any parent, whether your child is autistic or not) and he just seems to calm him down and keep him happy, which for me, is the number one priority.

However, eight years of non-stop stroking against the face have taken their toll and Raggy has been in need of some serious repair work.

A few weeks ago, his face actually fell off (!) so he now sports a piece of cotton wrapped round his face with eyes drawn on. A bit like the disguise poor old John Merrick had to put on whenever he went out in public.  As you can imagine, washes are few and far between, so it got to the point where Raggy was actually becoming a health hazard. Measures had to be taken.

When he's fallen apart before, I've always sewn a flannel (face cloth) over the existing square, but these were gradually disintegrating. I need to actually remove the head and fit Raggy out with a complete new coat. I bought some lovely soft cotton flannel from the Goldhawk Road and used the edges of a face cloth to make the all important twiddly bits on the corners. I then temporarily wrapped the whole thing in the old rags, hoping that some of the old aroma would be picked up. Charlie is very sensitive to smell so this was an important point. We'd prepared Charlie by telling him Raggy was getting a new coat that day so we just had to keep our fingers crossed as to his reaction.

Behold! Raggy's new coat

He came home from school, went straight to the stairs where Raggy 'sleeps' during the day, picked him up and sniffed him suspiciously. Whilst Jon and I were oohing and ahhing about how fabulous and smart the new coat was, Charlie took himself off to a corner of the room. A few minutes later we observed him laying Raggy out carefully and whispering to him, "Hello Raggy, hello Raggy." He'd accepted him, THANK GOD! I didn't get any photos that day as Jon and I were too busy cracking open the champagne and giving each other high fives. But here he is today, with the King looking down on him from above.  Sometimes, I'm really grateful I can sew! x