Pearl Buttons Pincushion - Le Challenge #21 Tradition

When I saw this month's theme was tradition I immediately thought of my Grandmas. Family traditions are among the first things you learn as a child and it's like learning a family language.

My Nonna taught me to love craft. She was always making something, absolutely always!

My Grandma taught me to collect things. She collected stamps, postcards, buttons... just to name a few of her collections. 

All the pearl buttons sewn on this pin cushion are from my Grandma's and Mum's button collection!

The pattern for the cross stitching on this button pincushion is from Cross Stitcher magazine. If you like cross stitching, this magazine is fantastic. They feature all the latest trends and there are always a lot of great projects.

Linking up with the super fun Le Challenge!

Oops, I was a minute late linking up and missed out! I'm off to visit all the entries...

I will be linking up with 2015 Finish-Along over at Adrianne's On the Windy Side as this is my goal number 2 for Q2.

P.S. Speaking of traditions, I've always admired Pearly Kings and Queens. I also admire whoever had the patience to sew all those pearl buttons on!

Skinny Pincushion - Across the Pond Sew Along

Another fun project this month for the Across the Pond Sew Along: Skinny Pincushions. I hadn't seen one yet until I read about them on Amy's blog Amy Made That! and on Susie's Sunroom. I went for Susie's solution of stuffing the pincushion with cat litter to weigh it down and sharpen my pins, it really works!

I decided to use the button fabric I recently bought. Love at first sight and it's quickly found a special home. To complement the fabric I added three vintage looking buttons which luckily match the colours in the fabric beautifully.

The "tape measure" linen ribbon is by East of India. They make very high quality ribbons and this one has a very pretty packaging. How can you not like the quote it has on the card? Would make a lovely gift for somebody who likes sewing. I bought mine at Temptation Gifts and over the years I have bought quite a few...ehm, ehm.

Linking up at TGIFF this week at Quokkaquilts, 
there's a great month of giveaways lined up!

Zakka Along 2.0 - Week 3: Teabag Pouch

Back again for Week 3 of Ayumi Takahashi's Patchwork, Please! Sew Along. This week two projects but I knew I'd only have time to make one so I decided to try the Teabag Pouch.

At last I found the perfect home for my cross stitch "I Love Tea" button! I made a lot of cross stitch buttons when I was on leave from work looking after Lucy, they were so relaxing to make (I've written about them here). The pattern is from the magazine CrossStitcher I often buy: it's really good and up to date with trends, very modern.

I've just noticed that the ric rac looks like steam coming out of the teacup in this photo! I love tags and I had this really pretty ribbon in my stash so I couldn't resist adding it. What's a cup of tea without a cake or a biscuit anyway?

The fabric is "TEAPOTS" by Robert Kaufman from the "Metro Cafe" collection. I love the colours and they inspired my choice of the solids too. I had to make a mock pocket to be sure I'd cut the teacup fabric the right size and position it correctly on the pocket. I'm glad I did because otherwise I would have wasted a lot of one of my favourite cotton prints trying to work out how to get it right!

Now time for a cup of tea!

Don't miss the Zakka Along 2.0 Flickr group, with new photos added every day, great fun seeing what everybody's doing! I'm linking up to Plum and June's Let's Get Acquainted Link Up at Heart of Charnwood and with the Zakka Along at LRstitched.

CrossStitcher - themakingspot

I haven't shown you this yet, it's CrossStitcher, one of my favourite magazines. This is December 2012 issue (number 260):

and inside they published my buttons in the Reader Gallery! 

(See Buttons galore! for better photos!)

I'm really pleased, it was a very nice surprise and made me feel good! 

Thank you very much.

If you want to see more about Cross Stitcher then visit http://crossstitcher.themakingspot.com. There are lots of free charts for cross stitching and they're always really up to date with trends.

They work with Mollie Makes magazine, which is another beautiful magazine. The graphics/photos are fantastic and the projects really inspiring. Go to http://www.molliemakes.com and have fun!

Buttons galore!

Look at these fun cross stitch buttons or badges I made while feeding Lucy! They are all from Cross Stitcher patterns. When you don't have much time, they're great to make, relaxing and you get a quick result!

Cheers to Daniele Di Ciccio for the beautiful photos! Thank you very much.

Ok, I thought: let me start from the latest and then I'll go backwards, back in time. This blog is my memory. The memory of what I do. This blog is for me (and Ella, but she has a good memory!) to remember what I make.
So lets start with these three buttons with owls that Ella and I made for Rossella (who loves owls) to say thank you for lending me a trolley to take my sewing machine around with me when I was expecting Lucy. Remember: good sewing machines way a ton!