Making Changes.....

2016 so far has been a year of epic changes.... moving house and town, changing schools -twice and changing job!

As with any changes all of this has taken a toll on our family. We love where we now live in Stroud. It has taken 5 months but we finally feel at home. It is a great town with lovely walks into town and all sorts of lovely shops.

The rest of life is settling down, but we have had to make some changes. The boys have stopped Saturday morning activities for a little while - family time has been needed to help us all settle in.

And I have made the decision in the last 2 weeks that my creativity has taken a nose dive in the last 18 months through work pressures, teaching commitments and life! Like so many of you I can't function without being creative. It is part of my soul and without working on something creative my brain starts to suffer...... I suffer!

So..... I have decided to stop teaching. I love teaching and passing on my skills and creating fabric addicts! But I NEED to work on my own creations. I want to finish my City and Guilds, I want to create new items and I want finish my stack of half finished quilts.... I want to do something for me!

It has been a hard decision and I am heart broken to leave my students, but having made a commitment to look after myself more I feel better already.

Just some of the things I have been doing since my decision to slow down: crochet (3 blankets on the go at once), bread making and finishing the quilt top for my Tulip Medallion quilt.

Sometimes hard decisions lead to a happier life.... a hopefully a more creative life!

See you soon,

Finding my home....

This last week has seen our house hit by a tummy buy. It started 2 weeks ago with my eldest son and then hit new highs on Saturday when my youngest son spent the day confined to the sofa with a bowl!

Unluckily it came my way...

It has in fact been a little bit of blessing.

I had spent January feeling incredibly restless.... Not really able to concentrate and get on.... Just drifting from one thing to another and feeling quite annoyed with life!

Kind of wallowing in my own self pity I guess...

But over the last 5 days of being pretty much confined to the house I have found my centre again, despite spending 24 hours not getting out of bed!

Sounds slightly strange right? Let me explain.

I am a creative, I NEED to sew, I NEED to do something visual (slightly strange for a person who has a degree in Astrophysics!) and I had stopped doing that. I spent last term teaching literally everywhere, everyday..... Running from one class to another in a crazy person sort of way!

Giving other people the skills to be creative.

I LOVE giving people those skills, I love watching them bloom - one of my students, who had never been near a sewing machine 18 months ago, is now making a selling her own items! It is great to see people become more confident in groups and within themselves.

But I forgot an important lesson... For ME to be complete I NEED to create!

I forgot to nourish my own creative soul, I forgot how it feels to spend hours creating something from scratch and feel the glow that you get!

Yes, I did work on my City and Guilds, but that is a plunge into the unknown every time I work on the required pieces. That work pushes me beyond my comfort zone, which is great, but also raises my heart beat in anxiety...

Patchwork: cutting and sewing, is where my journey began nearly 20 years ago. It is my creative home, full of warmth and lovely thoughts. That is the place I have rediscovered this week.

It is the centre of my well being....

The next time I feel that this single life with 3 kids and all the other baggage that knocks at my door is too much, you will find me with my sewing machine making patchwork.... I will be regaining my sense of balance so I can face the world without a heavy heart...

FQR - all about me!

In less than 3 weeks I will be packing up my sewing machine, supplies and overnight bag to head off to Fat Quarterly Retreat in London!

I am beyond excited about my weekend away!

To get to spend a whole weekend with fellow fabric addicts and quilters is a dream come true!

On the Fat Quarterly blog they suggested we write a bit about ourselves..

Well this is me:

My gorgeous eldest son took this yesterday - I am very camera shy, but he was was good with his grandads camera I let him take a photo!

So three things about me:

• I am a sewing teacher, teaching adults basic sewing skills as well as patchwork classes in Arts centres around Gloucestershire. It is a job I love.

• I am also a Scout leader. The weekend before the retreat I am on camp with 300 Scouts aged 5 3/4 to 70! It has made me giggle going to Baden Powell House for the Retreat!

• Lastly by no means least, I have 3 monsters aged 5, 7 and 11 who keep me on my toes! They are my world.... although I am often told to not kiss them in public and to walk 5 paces behind!

That is me... well part of me!

Can't wait to meet everyone on our wonderful Retreat!

Sewing with kids!

This weekend has been so lovely - a great class, sunshine and time with my gorgeous midi and mini!

On Saturday night after teaching midi helped me to unpack the car and, despite being totally exhausted, we set to work sewing together.

I have date nights with my boys at least once a fortnight, which means time alone with mummy doing whatever they would like to do. Maxi is a film buff so we choose a movie and watch it after the younger 2 have gone to bed. Sometimes it is a movie alone with mummy for midi and mini, but this weekend midi chose an evening sewing with mummy.

I will admit that I was totally exhausted after teaching all day and the last thing I wanted to do was sew again, but I had made a commitment to him and after a mug of coffee and some tea we headed out to the studio.

He sat leafing through loads of books for ideas whilst I unloaded the car... there were a few No's from me as to what we could make - just too tired!

In the end we settled on a pillow for the very precious bunny rabbit that has been companion for 5 years!

With my help we appliqued on Bunny's name and quilted the letters in place (mummy did this bit). Then he set to work pinning the pieces together and sewing:

Midi is 7 and loves using the sewing machine. He works slowly and patiently, asking questions and not getting flustered. The Janome CXL301 has a speed control on it, which is perfect for children. We set up for slow and he can work independently. His seams are pretty good!

As you can see he did a really good job and is really proud of his achievements!

Now bunny has his very own cushion!

Today is bank holiday in the UK and in Tetbury it is the world famous Woolsack races - people running up an incredibly steep hill with a huge sack on their back!  Maxi is taking part with his school so we are going to be cheering from the sidelines this afternoon, but this morning mini and midi have booked another sewing session with mummy... wonder what we will make today?

Linking up with Let's Get Acquainted over at Bitter Sweet Designs.

Having fun!

Tomorrow I am running a day workshop for families.

It is for mums and daughters. An Easter sewing day together!

I have 5 families coming, including a group of granny, mum and daughter who is 7. So the bug question is:

How do you organise a day that will capture the imagination and interest of 3 generations of one wonderful family?

To me it kinda goes back to pushing people gently outside their comfort zone, whilst making them laugh!

When you make people smile and laugh you can help them overcome their anxieties and they can create something they never thought was possible. this is why my classes always start with a few words to make people smile, relax and mostly laugh at my inability to stop stroking fabric!

Works everytime. I can then guide them through ideas that might have seemed way too crazy 10 minutes ago.

So tomorrow, the idea is to explore fabric, have a go at patchwork and appliqué and have fun!

We are going to use Bondaweb, scraps and a blank canvas of Klona Cotton to create panels that can be turned into cushion covers, wall hangings or any other item you can think of.

And yes the 7 yo will be machine quilting, as I have found children embrace the chance to play with a sewing machine when they are given a chance. And they create amazing things!

It's all about having fun and creating, without getting hung up on the piece ring perfect - how you get there is just as important as the destination.....

A failing...

I am not a domestic goddess.....

I kinda feel the need to point it out after walking through my front door and realising the tidying/washing/ironing fairy hasn't been!

This is the pile of washing up:

I won't show the rest of the kitchen....

It's not that I don't tidy up, I just don't do it every minute of the day.

As you may know I have 3 boys. They are 10, 6 and 4. They are my world and my life revolves around them. I am their rock, their anchor in a world where the oldest has a different dad from the other 2 and none of their dads live with us.. (mega complicated!)

I work freelance as a sewing teacher and make a patchwork quilts for friends. In my spare time I am a Scout leader - if I wasn't the group would fold.

For me my time with my boys is precious. We have fun, we go on adventures and we empty huge boxes of Lego out on the floor for days on end... but my housekeeping skills aren't great!

Everyone is healthy, fed and happy. They are never without and they have a wealth of fun memories...

We do tackle the house every so often - mostly when we have visitors to be fair!

So is my messy house a sign I have failed as a parent?

Or is it just simply a sign we are too busy learning, growing and being together?