As the Coronation approaches it is a time to reflect and look back in history and a thousand years and more of monarchy. Whatever you might think of the institution and it’s place in the modern world, it will no doubt be a historic day that I am glad to be able to witness. My pincushion is a very grand addition to my sewing room, but tremendous fun and perhaps one day it will be part of the legacy of all my sewing endeavours.
Read MoreMaking a book quilt has got to be one of my absolute favourite things to do…being as I love books and I love making quilts…and the idea of combining patchwork and embroidery with literary gems that are close to my heart makes this project such a fun project to work on. It’s going to be not just a quilt, but an embroidered wall hanging laden with literary references.
Read MoreI thought this weekend I would pop up a little book review for a lovely new book that has just been published by Debra Scala Giokas about First Ladies and their connections in the crafting world.
Read MoreEver since I saw the latest film adaptation of Gatsby, I knew it would be on my list of Literary Threads and here it is. I know I have been dragging my heels over here with this, but finally it is finished and you know what….. I am thrilled with it. It’s a dramatic statement for sure, but what else would you expect with F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby and indeed all his works provide a great backdrop for an embroidery pattern that encapsulates ‘The Jazz Age’. In fact it was Fitzgerald who coined that phrase and set it in gold as a tribute to an era that was just loaded with glamour and glitz.
Read MoreSomething a little different as we head towards the festive season and Christmas shopping quandaries. I love to read and during this extraordinary year I have read more than usual. In doing so I have discovered how much I love to curl up with a good book, a quilt and a scented candle and just let the pages absorb all the anxiety of the times and replace it with glorious fiction, biography and tales of other times and other lives.
Read MoreIt’s VE day today - 75 years since the end of the War and in our everyday lives, especially in the midst of a pandemic, perhaps it is a moment to reflect on what happened all those years ago and I thought I would take a moment to send a few thoughts out to cyberspace about one of those all but forgotten people who did something rather brave during WW2 and who seemed to fall into my meandering bookish sphere almost by accident a few weeks ago - Lee Miller. But first, a question. Do you have heroines? I certainly do….
Read MoreHi there, I do hope you are doing ok in these difficult days. For creative spirits it is not as bad as for a lot of people and I wanted to thank everyone who has ordered patterns and kits recently and I hope maybe out there are a few new converts to the lovely world of sewing. I’ve been a bit slow with my new pattern because there has been so much going on, but finally the next in my series of Literary Threads is ready to share. I may have mentioned in an earlier post, how enamoured I was with the new movie version of ‘Little Women’, so it was almost a given that I would chose it for the next bookish pattern.
Read MoreOne of the projects I am working on this year is a series of embroidery patterns based on famous books or authors. I am a bit of a nut for books and just love curling up with a good read and a quilt. I always loved to read as a child and a lot of my favourite books go way way back. I first read Jane Austen in my early teens and have always loved the dramatisations and films that have regularly graced the screen. Such is our thirst for her stories and insights that the latest adaptation of ‘Sandition’ was in fact an unfinished novel. The fact that Ms. Austen has finally made her way on the £10 note is testament alone to her standing in the world of literature and an acknowledgement of her well deserved place in our national conscience. Why is it that her writings still have such popular appeal today?
Read MoreWhat can I say…. the typewriter ‘thing’ is always a ‘thing’ at Ruby’s place. How can a modern laptop compare with a wonderfully engineered piece of equipment like a typewriter?
Read MoreThis ‘book nerd quilt’ is such a great pattern to let your own individual style shine - travel around the world, bury yourself in the classics, whip up the romance or make a book cover that might inspire you to write a book of your own someday.
Read MoreHello there and Happy New Year to you all. I do find this time of year quite hard, taking down the decorations and feeling a bit flat after Christmas, so the best thing to do is hole up in the sewing room and create something….the result is a new mini quilt pattern to start off my new project ‘Literary Threads’.
Read MoreA while ago (actually 4 years to be precise) I made a ‘Weekender’ Bag from Amy Butler’s pattern. It was not an easy make, especially for someone like me who had never used piping before and is not all that comfortable with zips. It actually turned out remarkably well and I have used it plenty. It is not brilliant though and I have often thought about making another one …. with hindsight. Recently I saw on Instagram, a beautiful version made by ‘a.crafty.fox’ and was suddenly inspired to try again - helped by the fact that I am just finishing up my second ‘Shoreham’ quilt, I had a million scraps left over and figured the two were a match made in heaven….or is it hell.
So here we go again - a text print weekender bag…..take 2.
Read MoreMaking Embroidery Modern
