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,

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.