Is there a Doctor in the House?

I have to let it out there early on, we are a household of Doctor Who addicts. When I was little there were very few television stations and so it was the norm to sit down as a family to watch a program. Today we live in a multimedia age and it is a rarity to have more than a couple of us watch a show so it is a sheer pleasure to have found something that we not only watch together but also forms the basis of a family hobby.

The first thing that had the Who wand waved over it (or should that read so sonic screwdriver?) was my son’s bedroom door. The poor thing had been ill for some time with Glandular Fever and had spent the best part of a term off school so to cheer him up we transformed his door into the TARDIS. The door was a wooden panelled door so was quite easy to transform with a tin of blue paint, a bit of MDF attached to the top for the roof and lantern and various police box signs printed onto photo paper. Bit bizarre having the Doctor’s ship parked on my landing but worth the look on his face!

Quite hard to photograph as the paint is so shiny! 

We have a couple of ongoing projects at the moment. A while ago I came across a Doctor Who quilt along on a blog called Whims and Fancies. Soma and Caroline from Trillium Design are designing a Doctor Who block every two weeks (you can read about it here Doctor Who QAL). The quilt blocks are put together by paper piecing, something I have never tried, and they did make it clear on the blog that although they were not the hardest of projects to do they were not beginners pieces. Was this going to stop me, I think not! It was my eldest daughter’s birthday coming up and I wanted something special to give her.

I finished the first block whilst watching Andy Murray win Wimbledon so the air was filled with a combination of some rude words of frustration intertwined with whoops of excitement but once I had finished I was quite impressed with myself. For me to like something I have produced is an uncommon occurrence so I am now hooked. 

The background was chosen as it reminded me of the Van Gogh exploding Tardis picture.

I will write about future blocks in a later posting, I have started a few but I am waiting on fabric to really get going.

The last ongoing project we have on the go at the moment is a collaboration between my eldest daughter and myself. We have been really lucky to have snagged tickets for the 50^th anniversary convention where we will be lucky enough to see Matt Smith and a variety of previous Doctors. What is the collective noun for a group of Timelords by the way? A convention of Doctors or maybe a lodge of medics?

Millie decided she wants to dress up as the 10^th Doctor and so has designed the following. 

It is now my job to translate her design in to reality. I've found the perfect fabric and I have drafted the pattern so hopefully it will work out. Evie, my youngest daughter, is now saying she wants a 11th doctor outfit and Meggie wants a Tardis dress! I guess I may be a little busy with the sewing machine between now and November!

How I learnt to Sew

I was always fascinated by my mum's sewing machines and from the earliest age I wanted to use them. My mother owned two machines, the first I was allowed to use as it was an old hand crank Singer and the second I was 'not to touch under any circumstances' as it was an electric machine.

The first time I used the electric ended in disaster but started my love affair with sewing! My mother was frantically trying to get my sister and I ready for nursery whilst getting herself prepared for work and the lure of the machine grew too great for me. I cannot remember now if it was the desire to make something that drew me to it or just a three year old's love of moving parts but I can remember how tantilising the and thought of driving this appliance was. I know I waited until my Mum was totally immersed in preparing breakfast and then I snuck into the room and plugged the machine in. What I didn't expect when I sat down and pressed the foot pedal was the sheer speed of the machine and quite how fast it was compared to the hand crank. I think the penny dropped when my fingers were dragged under the needle and when the needle passed though my nail into my finger. I can't remember screaming but I can recall being worried in part about getting in trouble with my Mother for disobeying the rule but most of all about getting blood on the little dress I was making for my Sindy doll!

So what has this got to do with learning to sew? Simple really, sewing is all about having a passion about something but never, ever sticking your finger under the needle.

Joining the World of Blogs

Quick intro post, I'm Lucy and I'm a busy Mum of four who keeps her sanity by her many hobbies! Sewing, genealogy, cooking, you name it I have tried it. I'm a frustrated writer, full of ideas but sadly a bit lacking on the skills to get the story down and would have won a Turner Prize if it wasn't for my sad lack of drawing skills.

However I do have four very talented and creative children who share some of my hobbies and in many cases far exceed my abilities. I aim to share some of the things that the kids and I produce in this blog and maybe share a few hints and tips that I have picked up over the years.

To start off a gratuitous cake picture to make the blog look pretty - from a few months ago when I went through my cupcake phase, triple salted caramel!