Cherished memories

I spent yesterday morning cleaning the bathroom wall tiles.  I'd noticed that if the light caught one or two of them in a certain way, I could see marks on them.  Yesterday I finally got round to actually doing something about it.  The tiles that are affected by the shower will need a bit more attention, as our hard water has left limescale deposits which didn't some off first time around, so I'll give those another go tomorrow.

In the afternoon, I busied myself with a little sewing project I'd been putting together.  When my children were younger, and it was just the 3 of us and thriftiness was a necessary way of life, we made some Christmas quilted placemats together.  They were simple, fun and practical, and are used every year to brighten up our festive table.  The mats also bring back very happy memories of my children when they were small, of the 3 of us creating together, using scraps from my fabric stash.  The stitching is a bit wonky but that is part of the charm and the pleasure that I feel when I set the table with them.  

I had misplaced a couple of the smaller mats this past Christmas, but then found them a few days ago while clearing out a drawer.  I decided that it made sense to have all these special mats in one place, so I came up with a little fabric 'envelope' to keep them in.  I used bits from my stash (that is a recurring theme this year!), including a piece of poly-cotton I bought some time ago, which turned out to be much more poly than cotton, consequently not so good for quilting.  However, it did the job well enough for the little bag.  I lined it with some old work shirts I'd taken to pieces when we left work in 2011, and used some buttons off those work shirts to hold the ties in place.  I felt quite pleased with the result, and good that I had managed to recycle sewing bits into the bargain.  OH's comment was that it 'looked a bit fancy', but that's OK; those placemats and the associated cherished memories deserve to have something fancy to be kept in.

Whilst I was sewing away, OH was working on a little craft project of his own.  He's re-discovering his pleasure of woodcraft, and is creating a beautiful box - photos to follow.  

My daughter is coming to stay for a few days, so I have had to dismantle my sewing area in the spare bedroom so she has somewhere to sleep :).  But I have made sure I have a few small portable projects to work on.  I am happy she is visiting with us - I don't see her too often so the times she is here are special for me.  I have also remembered that it is 'computer-free Sunday' tomorrow (how quickly has that week gone?) and have successfully posted today in good time - no connection issues like last week.  

I am very aware this little blog is a bit boring visually, and I would like to learn to personalise it to make it a bit more interesting.  I have tried some of the on-line tutorials but ended up with a huge photo of a loaf of bread in the header, so I must be doing something wrong.  I may have to resort to buying a book to help me.  I shall have to do a bit of research so I spend my money wisely.