Does anyone remember when the marble game mancala was huge? I remember my little sister teaching me how to play about 10 years ago.  It is a genius of a game and I'm sure it has numerous variations. 

Little E and I play it a lot.  The box it came in was getting a little battered.  When Nin sent me a lovely bundle of floral fabrics, I knew just what it was going to be.  A little sewing and some time later, we now have a double sided bag for the board, which also fits the little marble bag inside.  Brilliance! We are new ready to play on the go as well.

I thought I knew my mother's sewing stash inside and out.  It turns out I was wrong.  When mum saw the winter coat that I made earlier this season, she mentioned something about pink tweed.  My mother doesn't wear pink tweed, never has, probably never will.  On the other hand, Great Aunt Evelyn would have worn pink tweed.  She would have worn it with a flourish.

Mum passed me a scant metre of the pink tweed she has secreted away from my Great Aunt's collection of fabrics.  After some redrafting, a ruched collar and a very Jackie O 3/4 sleeve, this jacket was ready to go.

Some might call the shorter sleeves thrifty.  Perhaps a cuff would have helped to make this look a little more deliberate.  As the blossoms are on the trees at the moment, I'm calling it inter-seasonal.

Miss H picked the purplish buttons out of my button tin. The lining is a pink and purple watercolour print satin from the same Great Aunt.  While you can't see it in these photos, given that I have 5 metres of it, I'm sure it will make another appearance at some point.  I love that this coat is made entirely from carefully saved items that have been waiting patiently to find their use.

My sewing space has been taunting me. There are so many projects lined up across the couch that I’ve forgotten when I was last able to sit on it. I have even indulged in offsite storage. My Mother’s spare room is overflowing with boxes of fabric I have run out of room for. Recently, she has threatened to spring clean. It was when she mentioned making a pyre that I knew it was time act.

Sometimes I have no idea where to start. My inner geek is wondering if I should be making a spreadsheet of costs incurred, cost to complete and time to complete before checking the important criteria - desire to complete. There are the children’s skivvies cut and ready to sew for winter wardrobes, the reclaimed tapestries waiting to be loved again and numerous unfinished projects. Then there are bounteous piles of fabric pulled from my collection simply because I have an idea. My inner geek wants to get them sorted, my bossier hoarder is resisting for fear that this means I have to give up on something.

In the mean time I am casting around for projects that I have started and already have all the materials needed to finish. This sampler cushion meets that bill.


The sampler pattern is from Jenny Hart’s Embroidered Effects. It was started earlier this year. The log cabin blocks are part of a wonder bundle from Joanna and I received the embroidered buttons are from Lorna in our swap earlier this year. Everything else I just had on hand – a cushion inner with a dated cover, half a metre of cotton duck (thrifted) to stabilise the pieces and a meagre fat quarter of blue hazelnut fabric.


It turns out my Mother was talking about making a pile rather than a pyre. My mental image of forlorn projects throwing themselves on a burning heap has been dashed. While the urgency is gone, I still need to get some things sorted. The spreadsheet is starting to sound almost reasonable*.


If you listening carefully you can hear my dearest chuckling in the background and mumbling something along the lines of "You SO would do a spreadsheet"

That little dress a few weeks ago started something. After finishing it I felt entirely justified in returning to the store and buying a quilt’s worth. There were none of the pinks from the range so I have improvised here a bit. You can find even more stash adoration over at 1/4 inch

The fabric is now cut into strips as I put together a scrappy hedgerow quilt using these instructions and the remnants from the dress. I already have something planned for the remnants of the quilt too.