Today I say it with flowers...

Welcome to my turn to hop in the "Say it with flowers" blog hop. Thank you so much to Madam Samm for creating the hop and Carol for organising and cheering us all along.

So when I started thinking what I would make for the hop, I thought what I wanted to say with flowers.... and I realised I wanted to say something nice to my mum... so I was going to make something for her... and as a little bit of a joke I decided to make this for my mum...

Yes a little pouch... but not any pouch... a sewing notions organising pouch. You see? My mum is not a very organised lady... oh her purse, and her diary... are always a little mess (she knows and admits it) and since I remember I have given her gifts such as new, bigger purses and diaries, with lots of pockets...but it has never worked...

And, even thought I haven't seen where she keeps her sewing notions (you see she has a new sewing machine) I know all the accessories for her new machine came in a little cardboard box (she showed me, hint hint hint that she wanted me to make her something)... so in an attempt to rescue them into a nicer home... I thought she could put them in here...

Aren't those pockets so good? She has space for bobbins (sorry they went right down in the pocket and you can't see them), little scissors, a slim pocket for the seam ripper and a bigger one for other accessories... even though the picture has my notions in, I sort of threw in the "In Love" pincushion as it was made with fabric from the same line...

And look how nice it looks with the matching needle case. I am not actually giving this one to my mum... although she has another version of it I made... so now she has a complete set of her own.

Well mummy sorry I spoiled your gift, but it is on my bag of things to take to Argentina next time I am over... so you will get it, soon I promise!

Now off you go to visit the rest of the very talented ladies showcasing their flowery creations...

May 27th

Just Let Me Quilt

Sew Many Yarns

Quilt Obsessions

Nati’s Little Things

Stekje

Felt Free Pa Asly

Patchouli Moon Studio

Pig Tales and Quilts

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Kaydie

Linhas, Cores E Arte

Tutinella

Thanks for stopping by today and have a fantastic hopping day!

Tic Tac Tic Tac - A guest post

Today I have asked my lovely friend Maria to be a guest blogger and share the story on her tic tac tic tac cross stitch... Maria does not have a blog but she is a very creative lady that owns a super creative shop, they make the most wonderful pillowcases. You can visit and share some love on her Facebook page or website here.



And now I leave her to tell you all the story...

When my Argentinian, almost English with a Luxembourgers touch friend Nati, asked me to write a bit about my embroidery, I was not quite sure what to say apart from sending her some pictures. Then I remembered that there’s actually a sweet story behind this work. Let’s go back 14 years in time, shall we? 

So here I was in the beginning of my university years. Yeah you know how those are, right? ;) Going out, meeting people, too much alcohol, too little sleep. That was me too for while! But I was not alone; I made great friends along the way, and 3 very good friends. One of them is actually going to get married this summer and the remaining 3 of us are going to be her bride’s maids! But back to the story! So one day, instead of going out to drink, dance and meet boys, we decided to stay home…knitting! The mother of one of the girls used to do a lot of works in crossed buttonhole stitch and we all got curious. So we tried it and we loved it and for a while instead of going out on the town we would stay home chatting all night long and…knitting. That was a bit embarrassing at the time. I confess it still kind of is, so it is something I don’t mention very often at dinner parties! J But for some reason it was addictive. I couldn't stop doing it.. And that’s when I realized Mother’s Day was arriving so I had this idea to do something for my mum.

I don’t really remember how I came up with the clock idea. I actually think I found it on a magazine and just decided to go for that one. But I immediately remember thinking it was funny: so many clocks! Tic tac, tic tac. So I spent a few nights at home in front of the TV doing this. Obviously to a great part of my friends I was just ‘hanging out with some other crowd’ ;)

I don’t recall finding it difficult to make but I used the embroidery hoop to make sure it would be perfect. The most challenging item was actually the golden clock because the thread was a bit thicker than the other ones. It required some time, some patience and attention, but I loved doing it.

I didn't finish it on time to offer it to my mother on Mother’s day, so I showed her what I had already made and told her that once done, that would be her gift. I missed the deadline. And maybe because I didn't give it to her as a proper gift, it kind of stayed forgotten in a threads basket for a few years. I completely forgot about it until very recently, on my birthday, my mum who contrarily didn't forget it, offered me the gift I once offered her but this time in this gorgeous frame so I could hang it in the kitchen of the apartment I share with my boyfriend. I loved it!

It represents karma to me: you give love and receive love, and that’s what I got! I spent a great deal of time doing this to surprise my mum and she managed to surprise me back 14 years after.
So it is up now and I think it brings some colour  some warmness and some romance to our little kitchen. Being not a huge space, some small details like this frame make all that stainless steel not so obvious.

So here you go Nati. I just hope your readers enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed knitting. And you know what? Writing this and remembering those times 14 years ago, is making me feel like dusting off my old needles!

I am sure they all enjoyed the story as much as I did! Thank you Maria for sharing it with us... I wish you were here today, it is the perfect rainy day to spend it inside knitting!

Birds needle book winner announced!

So we got to the end of the birds blog hop, what great projects and fun items we saw this past days! I am always so glad to get to see so many creative blogs in these hops... and next one starting on 27th May (and it is my day as well) is the Flowers blog hop...


But first of all I need to announce the winner of one of my needle books... and Mr Random picked Linda J. who said:

Linda J8 May 2013 16:59

How cute are the bird needle books! Perfect for gift giving and hop giveaways. Thanks for providing the links, Nati. Following on google and in my sage feeds.

I just wanted to clarify that as I had two posts included in the giveaway I decided (as it was the easiest math) to have numbers 1-100 the birds blog hop post (as I had very easy 100 comments at the time of selecting the winner) and then after that 101-177 the Sew Mama Sew giveaway post. By the way I decided this before I draw the number.

Linda, I will be emailing you shortly to get your postal information so the package can be on its way soon!