CHARM ABOUT YOU

Despite my best attempts at cajoling the children to help me finish the project for them they just were not interested! So I finished it last night and they've spent the morning admiring and playing with it.

This isn't a full tutorial but I give an idea of my process and how it was constructed.

Here is our list of house rules before and we have had various homemade sticker charts but they never last long and the children lose interest:


Although I love the sentiment, this just was not that pleasing to look at! And since I now know how to sew, it only made sense to make something prettier:


It is a reward chart and rule reminder in one. I decided just to call it 'Good' - after all that's what I'd like my kids to be!


It was made of really simple elements and the stitching took the most time. I did some embroidery on a long length of plain fabric, to which I added a pocket, a felt panel with their names on and our list of house rules (with the new addition of 'always try your best', thanks to school!). The rules were printed from the computer onto some fabric especially designed for printers - this was a first for me and really fun to do.

For the backing I used the lightweight numbers and letters fabric and you can see where I've hand quilted the panels:




The really fun bit for me is, as the kids get fed up looking at the same pictures, I can easily stitch up some different ones. Win - win!



You could incorporate whatever you wanted into a chart like this for kids, maybe using the embroidered badges as reminders of chores or routines in the household. I would love to see if anyone makes one and please let me know if you do!

This is another check off my finish-a-long list with Quilter in the Gap.

We might have very well behaved children this weekend, what with the novelty of the chart and the joy of Advent calenders.

I'm also planning on going to the Portable North Pole again this year so I can make a couple of free videos for them both from Santa. If you have young children you really have to take a look at this, it's just brilliant! Oh and don't be afraid to say they've been naughty, Santa is very kind and tells them there's still time to behave. It is really well made and so nice that it is free (obviously you can buy them or buy other merchandise but you don't have to!). Off to decide whether mine have been good or bad!

Linking up:

... for several reasons really:

Being the size of a house and with only about 6 weeks until Baby Charm (named by Heather!) shows up; I can't walk very far anymore, or carry things, or do anything useful. I learnt this after a quick trip to the shops the other day to get some fruit etc. and nearly collapsing by the time I got home. It is so frustrating!!!
- Oh and please don't give me any lectures - I already had a big one from my husband and MIL - I promise I will give up attempting anything or doing anything physical and I will have to be accepting of all the help I can (even if it means I have to ask him to bring some milk home everyday!!). I sit down to move the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer so I am already learning new ways :)

My little girl turned 3 this weekend so I feel like I officially no longer have any toddlers, just proper children. That might sound strange but 2 is still so little and 3 somehow seems so different, she'll be going to nursery school next September.  I am imagining the baby arriving is going to age me further!
I know all mother's say it but my gosh they grow so very fast.



I have my son off school today because he's poorly - coughing all night :(
We will see how long my patience lasts, although I have high hopes of getting them to work on the kid's project that I've been ignoring - it would be great to finish it together...

I did these embroideries a while ago  - they are from the book 'Sublime Stitching'

I also have a box of Fruit Loops sitting in the cupboard and since no one actually seems to like eating them as cereal I am thinking of making this recipe this afternoon. I was tempted by the yummy looking 'treats' you can make but I have no marshmallows. I will let you know how they work out!


Linking up:

I have managed a bit of a catch up on the How Far Will You Go? QAL blocks.



I really am learning a lot doing this QAL and the blocks are so fun thanks to the great tutorials by Jess and Jess. They've actually posted all the tutorials now and I'm playing catch up as there is another couple of weeks before they focus on putting the blocks together. I'd really recommend checking it out!



Linking up:

   

I'm still fairly new to paper piecing and there were some frustrating moments where I made mistakes but for the most part I am really happy with how it turned out and it was so fun working out what fabrics to use.




I also love the crazy green and orange zip combination. Makes me smile.


Be sure to go and visit my fellow happy little pouch hop blogger Courtney at Mon Petit Lyons today, who has a great tutorial for making a zip pouch with a handle! Don't forget to add your pouch makes (made during the Hop) to the Flickr group for a chance to win prizes from these great sponsors:

I am so happy to be able to show you my finished Retro Flowers Quilt. It has been a long and sometimes arduous journey, which started in April, full of good times and bad. The making of this quilt would not have been possible without the kindness of my wonderful bloggy pals, Deborah, Kaelin, Susan and Jamie Lee who gave me the beautiful Denyse Schimdt fabric that I used for the petals. Thank you so much! I now have a quilt that will live in our house, made with fabrics I adore that will forever remind me how generous and giving people can be. Also thanks to Megan and Bianca for hosting the Retro Flowers QAL, although I took a lot longer to finish it was the kick I needed to get started!


This quilt was made using the fantastic pattern by Christina - The Sometimes Crafter, which you can get here.

I bought the templates from Tabslot and very glad I did. I didn't use the curve master foot though, I used my regular 1/4" foot and NO PINS, for sewing curves without pins I definitely recommend this youtube tutorial, it makes it so much easier.

I had some help deciding on the layout, in fact my daughter had the final say!


The background fabric is Essex Linen in Steel, the binding is Prism Break by Hoffman and the backing is a vintage sheet that belonged to my beloved Great Auntie - so it really is retro flowers.


I quilted it using straight lines at random intervals and got a bit quilty happy - honestly it got to the point where I thought I'd try and use up all the lovely King Tut variegated thread (962) but that baby just kept going and the quilt was getting way too crinkly to add more lines so I stopped. It does have an amazing texture and is so snuggly. Check these out:

For the record my husband's head is not a macbook

The little girl happily chilling - the quilt fits the back of my sofa perfectly, I couldn't have planned that.

This is an unexpected check off my Finish-A-Long list and I'll be so happy to link this up with Quilter In The Gap at the end of this quarter.

And just to give you an idea of how VERY grey it is here in Manchester:

Make sure you stop back on Tuesday because it's my turn for the Happy Little Pouch Hop!
Linking up:

this week at Sewing by Moonlight