Look Ma, actual crafts content!

It's been a while... again. The bean had his third set of vaccinations and the poor little mite had a rough few days because of them, so that meant no computer-playing time for me, and before that we were in the Midlands for a few days because I finally graduated! Yes, I'm officially at the end of my studies now, and can now enter the frightening world of the job-less. Obviously I am hoping that this is not a permanent state of existence so I am keeping my eyes open for job opportunities, but for now I am trying to enjoy my time at home with the little bean.

One nice thing recently has been going fr walks at lunchtime on those days when D is working from home. We wolf down some food, stick the bean in his carrier, and use the rest of the lunch hour to explore the footpaths around the village. It's really helped me to get to know this part of the world better, and when initially it looked pretty drab, I am slowly coming to appreciate the big open skies you get up here.


And there is always a little surprise, a small discovery - this time it was a horse in a hidden little paddock in the middle of the village.


Crafting has been very slow going. Somehow, knitting and sewing is really not the same when you try to balance a baby on your lap at the same time. Though maybe with a bit of practice...

One thing I finally managed to finish, though, is my first quilt. I used all sorts of off-cuts, mainly very old pieces of fabric that were still from my mother and that I remember from various sorts of projects - kitchen curtains, table cloths, some trousers she made, etc., and I added a few of my own that I had acquired over the years or that were left over from other projects. The result is... eclectic:


It's far from perfect - the quilting is completely wonky and the spacing is uneven, and so is the seam, and sometimes the backing is a little bunched up, where I hadn't pinned the layers together properly - but I really don't care. It's rustic-looking and I think it should be fairly hard-wearing. I used denim fabric as a backing, because it seemed to work best in terms of the colours, but also because I am planning on using this quite a bit in the summer, when the bean can practice his crawling in the garden. For now it works well on the sofa and to cuddle up in on those cold winter evenings.