What Delilah Did

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Hello all!

How have you been?

Things haven't gone quite as swimmingly with the move as I hoped... There have been a few nasty surprises (we've inherited a flooded out garage and a pest infestation, a kitchen which collapsed on me when I tried to open a cupboard, and a leaky mess of a bathroom) which mean we're still not actually living at the new house yet and are instead spread across our relatives' houses like a ramshackle troupe of gypsies. I then managed to injure my big toe (while walking in a straight line - embarrassing), subsequently enjoying a prolonged visit to A&E and a period of not being able to drive, and then I got a mild case of the flu! Best fortnight ever? Maybe not.

Anyway, I am doing my level best to catch up with emails and keep things running as smoothly as possible, but I still can't get to a lot of my supplies to make up anything new and I have limited email access so things will remain on a bit of a go-slow for a while yet I'm afraid.

Hopefully Stitch the Halls is providing plenty of inspiration to keep you all busy in my absence!

If you haven't got the book yet, or know someone who might like one as a present, Mr X Stitch is giving away copies of Stitch the Halls and Storyland Cross Stitch on his blog this week - hop over before 9th November to win!

Delilah x

Simple Pleasures

The shadows on my wall.

Blue and white stripes; natural cotton; burnished brown leather.

A peaceful place to sit.

A clean and tidy house.

  

Flowers from friends.

Working from home can be a little overwhelming sometimes; I am trying to focus on the small things before the big things sweep me away.

Delilah x

My New/Old Toy

In a corner of every house we have lived in since I was old enough to walk there has been a little wooden table with elaborate iron legs and an interesting looking carved hood. It has been a resting place for piles of junk, a spot for one of my naughty sisters to scratch her name with a pair of scissors (though she did this everywhere - including the woodchip wallpaper in the stairwell of our childhood home), and most lately the perfect location for another of my naughty sisters to hide a bag of her dirty washing for an entire year. And yet since it has been in my mother's possession, not once has it been used for its proper purpose. So I decided to clear a space in my miniscule flat and comandeer it:

Behold! My beautiful new acquisition - a Singer 201K treadle sewing machine. Yes it may be very old and quite rusty...and I had to spend an entire day cleaning and oiling it just to get it to move...and it still doesn't technically work yet...but despite all of this I heart it a lot.

I do have a sewing machine already - a beige and brown plastic 1970s jobbie that my mum gave me when she upgraded a number of years ago - but it is so ugly that I have to keep it in the garage since I have no cupboard space left inside, and it is such a palava to get it out whenever I want to use it that more often than not I just leave it where it is and stitch things (rather wonkily) by hand out of pure laziness and fear of its speed. Despite the fact that both my mother and grandmother are excellent seamstresses, I am not particularly gifted when it comes to using a sewing machine, so I thought that if I had a simple, slow, sturdy vintage affair I would have less opportunity to go wrong. Plus it looks so lovely that I can keep it out all the time meaning it will always be ready to use, therefore encouraging me to make more things. Once I get it working again of course.

At the moment it seems to do everything but pick up the bobbin thread, so you are left with what looks like a line of topstitch, until you pick it up and find it is not actually attached to anything...any advice on what might be causing this would be much appreciated! I think a trip to the Singer doctor in town may be on the cards.

Delilah x

Two More (Non) Sleeps!

It is so close I can hardly bear it...only two more full days of work before my day-job becomes a half-a-day-job so that I can concentrate on my stitching - I am so excited I think I might explode before February arrives!

Aside from lots more textile-related things, I fully intend to use the newfound hours for a few little luxuries which have been absent for the last year or two such as sleep, swimming, biking, walking, baking and catching up on my reading - as you can see from the picture above the pile of books on my bedside table is reaching mountainous proportions and actually contains two Alice Hoffman books meaning she is literally writing them faster than I can read them, which is frankly rather ridiculous. And that is not to mention the pile of unread magazines just waiting to be cracked open on the other side of the bed.

Just two more days... Must hold it together...

Happy (excited) Sunday!

Delilah x

Danielle & Ben

   

My dear friend Danielle got married a few weeks ago in France and I spent the preceding month feverishly stitching up these two hoops as a gift. I always forget just how long they take to make and must admit I ended up cutting it rather fine!

I finished just in time to take a few quick pictures in the dwindling light though so that I could show you. For the short time they were on my wall it was almost like having my friends here with me, which is a treat since they now live in France and I get to see them far less often than I would like.

Danielle sent me this picture today of the cameos in their happy new home, pinned to her beautiful old map (which incidentally I really want for my own house!). I am really pleased with how they turned out - it is always a worry when you make a gift for somebody that they will open it and think "what on earth is that monstrosity?!", but I thought it was a gift that I would like to receive myself and they went down very well. If I ever get married can somebody please make some for me?

Bon soir,

Delilah x

The Littlest Farmyard

Whilst I was in London I made a flying visit to my second favourite shop, Anthropologie, and was treated to the most excellent magnets I have ever, ever seen:

 

Between these and my stag, heart and bow magnets I now have officially the coolest fridge in all the land. I am so deeply in love with them! The rabbit, the pig and the cow are my favourites.

And just in case you need convincing of their awesomeness any more, the packaging is like a farmyard version of Operation! What's not to like?!

Delilah x

Photos: Anthropologie

Odds and Ends

A few things I have been meaning to share with you for a while...

 
1. My Very First Victoria Sponge

I have never had much luck with large cakes as I am not generally very precise in my baking methods and I have found that the larger the cake, the less room for interpretation there is. But as lovely as cupcakes and muffins are, sometimes only a big cake will do. So I put my trust in Mary and as usual she did not fail - it came out perfectly. I just cannot seem to leave it at that though...I have started imagining all sorts of scrumptious new versions of sandwich cakes now that I have successfully mastered the most basic one. I can only hope that my experiments will be more of an ode to Nigella than to Dibley's Mrs Cropley...watch this space.

 

 

2. The Amazing Giantess: Maggie

Very well, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but will you look at the size of her! Maggie is growing at a rate of knots and I can hardly keep up. Though I suppose that means all my hard work is 
paying off considering how tiny she was when I brought her home. She is becoming very lithe and elegant just like her namesake, and her eyes are now brown like mine. Don't be fooled by her appearance though...she still has enough mischief in her to spread between a dozen kittens and she is determined to make the most of it!

 

 

3. A Little Something New

In the small moments I have managed to steal between life and Maggie (the two apparently being mutually exclusive), I have been working on something new: above is a sneak peak. In the words of Rolf Harris...can you tell what it is yet?

Delilah x

Home

 

The reason for my recent absence: one final big push to finish the rennovation of my small, sweet home. Take a look around...

 

 

 

The hooks and the beautiful frame bag were both birthday presents (it was my birthday the week before last and I am happy to report that I was thoroughly spoiled).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
After 18 months of seemingly endless sanding and painting and refits and general nightmarish hard work it finally looks like somewhere I can call home. Sigh.  

Of course it is not exactly finished - I have purposefully left it rather bare so that it can grow with me as I find things to add here and there, but the bones are complete and I cannot possibly describe just how happy that makes me. Now that it is done I literally don't want to go out, it is so lovely just to be here and enjoy it.

It also means that now I can get back to spending my time on my beloved embroidery, hurrah!

Welcome back.

Delilah x

 

Ta-Da!

 

 

 

 

My bedroom wall. Finished. Finally.

Delilah x