mandy shaw dandelion designs

I am a maker of all things lovely, come and have a look....................

 

Welcome to my world of passionate making, teaching and designing.

My Jubiletics!!!

As if I am not busy enough getting my sewing tea parties ready for the Jubilee I can proudly and perhaps madly announce that I am officially to be part of the Olympics. I am a Games Maker and will be based at The Olympic stadium. I now have my City and Guilds in 'Understanding Stewarding at Spectator events' I have been given my shifts and will be at both the opening and closing ceremonies.  If a hundred people go home saying that I was helpful, pleasant and smilely I will have made my Country proud!!!!!  The uniformis like getting your first brownie one, I have bags, socks, unmbrellas, jacket, shirts,  a hat, and finally beige pants !!!!!!!!!! i have been on a diet , lost 1.5 stone just in case they make me carry a flag and I am on prime time TV across the world in those trousers!!!!!!   I will keep you updated but in the mean time I have been very busy keeping my students occupied....

The Big Red bus , especailly for the boys in your life.....and for the girls we have ................

 the Pearly Queen................... There are gallons more Union Jack quilts out there now, as the pattern is flying out and I have been teaching it in every venue.

THE JUBILEE SEWING TEA PARTIES...........YOUR INVITE.

Join me at two amazing venues for  fabulous sewing, tea and cakes,  surounded by Jubillee themed quilts, bunting ,tea cosies and cushions, You will sew a lovely Crown pin cushion. Children can come accompanied by an adult and can make button jewellery or paper crowns decorated with fabric and ribbons!!  All monies will go our local hospice charities. TEA CAKE AND MAKE £5.00

FEATHERBED BARN Tuesday 5th June 11-3 families welcome to wander around the small holding  and gardens, bring a picnic and a cricket bat, dont forget the quilt.

 MADE IN LEWES wednesday 6th June 10-5  Next to a great Patchwork shop and cafe,lots of sewing events, tea and cake all day long!!!

In case the dreary weather is getting you down why not treat yourself to this...................

 

My husband is a joiner and he has been making these for my students , they are solid beech with chrome fittings, self assembly. They hold up to six quilts and make a great piece of  furniture as they stand  flat against a wall. Check it out on my web  dandelion designs every quilters home should have one.!!! I am being called to attend a car boot, what treats will i find!!!!!

A little Easter hatching.............

We have had an array of garden chickens for some while and our initial stock was slightly depleted when some girlies turned into full blown noisy cockerils, we kept one just because he was sooo hansome.  He has been living happily with Dolly and Dotty, two rather plain Marans..........The girls have never gone broody despite frantic feather flutterings and lots of lurve from the cockeril. My son decided to increase his flock by artifical means.  Once we started to incubate the eggs we then read about the horrors of deformity, death and canabalism. Excactly 21 days later this happened..

We were so excited we could hardly sleep. We set up the baby moniter.................

and then woke to this...........

Only two babies hatched out of seven, but they are so very sweet. They did not however take on the looks of thier dad and resemble , six weeks later a couple of black crows. But we love our Frankie and Benny.!

oops forgot to attach photos!

You should be impressed that i posted my last blog from my i phone!!!!but couldnt add photos of a glorious day sewing, so here they are............

These are bunnie snugglies............

These were the booties , blanket, bunnie snugglie and bibs.  The patchwork shops have such lovely baby fabrics we should all dash and buy some ready for a flurry of spring babies.  Not my own I hope!!!!!!

A Saturday sewing

I just love sharing my makes and the fact that I can make a living as well is an added bonus. Today I was teaching at Made in Lewes teaching a class called Baby Days!!!!!!'
The ladies worked really hard and made these.....
A pair of slippers, a baby blanket, a rabbit fiddly cloth and of course bunting.

Busy start!!!!

 

I thought after the busy antics of last year things would be gentle and kind to me as we entered another season of workshops and making, but oh no!...... this is my main problem..... All I do is kiss and cuddle him, well almost...............he's a huge distraction!!!!!!!!!! but I have managed to get my students all geared up to make Jubilee themed tea cosies, quilts and bunting ready for a couple of Jubilee 'sew in' tea parties I plan to have in East Sussex......here's how they are going....

 Now this leads nicely to where you might acquire the pattern???? Its in my new book Stitch at Home due out, just in time, in March/April, i hope to have copies of it for the Sewing for Pleasure show at the NEC in the spring.

I will be taking pre orders on the website soon with a limited, but free iron on transfer of the front cover with each book ordered!

  The samples for the book have just arrived back and i am so delighted with them, all 22 projects have a house theme: beach huts, dog beds, whose house is it? quilt, needlecase cottage, cushions, just lots of nice things... have a quick nose....... 

 I tested these projects on my ladies last year and all turned out well.

I now teach in a new venue called Made in Lewes run by the same people as The patchwork dog and basket its in an old needle making factory.  This week we had fun making these toothbrush rugs......

This is a crochet rug and the next a toothbrush rug, i just love the balls of fabric that you have to wind to make them............

I am off this morning to teach the Wednesday Girls The English Quilt, its based on the collection at the Victoria and Albert museum, Lets go and see if they have done there homework!!!! 

They are all coming down.................

This has got to be the worst bit, the decs are coming down , a lot faster than when they went up!  I spend weeks arranging and pinning and annoying everyone with my twinklies and garlands and christmas clutter, now all can sit on the seetee without arranging 100s of xmassy cushions and quilts and finally no more crawling under the christmas tree to turn off the lights ending up with prickles in my back. The big bonus is that now is the time i find unopened pressies , chocolates left on tree and in the bottom of stockings and a few hidden cobwebs. Heres some of my christmas least I
 forget!  Snowman Bertie............
One of many nativities, i should make this into a pattern but you would groan at its complexity!......................................

My lovely collection of glass baubles and decanter stoppers.  The cardboard santa is vintage  and really old.  My husband gave himto me one christmas.

These christmas trees out of old books and magazines were quite addictive, did you get hooked?

Advents and Stocking.......i do declare i have more of these  than i do family.... I know i am sad.

Do not sit on me!!!!!!!

Well Christmas will be soon packed away and i start planning my spring celebrations  Happy New Year to all, love Mandy

look what i found in my stocking!!!....................

.................A new grandchild, our first!. Meet Bertie. Is he not just scrummy!!!   Hope you all have had a good Christmas and look forward to a Happy New Year. I have spent mine surrounded by my lovely family and friends lots of eating and plenty of walks.  Now the fingers are itching and its time to sew.  I have posted my workshop for the term on the website and i now have to get stitching those samples. Sewing , hand or machine is the most relaxing thing i do, I never tire of it.  My house looks like a hand sewn santas grotto and i am shocked at how much christmas stuff i have made , there are some ladies out there who have made the same as me, i wonder if their husband are groaning like mine!  Ill go and take some photos to show.......... you..............

Cowslip workshop Cornwall

I have been fortunate to spend a week teaching at Cowslip workshops Cornwall, even though I was meant to be teaching it felt like a holiday.  I was treated like a queen by Jo Colwell and the delights of her workshop, cafe, shop and home are difficult to describe. Do not pass this by.  She is featured on Kirsties

 programme next wednesday. These are some of the ladies I worked very hard all weekend, they had little sleep and sore fingers..........

We made Christmas in abundance

Have i been busy!

Where would I start to share my experiences in creating over the past few months, its been so mad I am not sure you would believe me!  As the evenings draw in let me remind you of summer and my adventures at Glastonbury festival at Camp Bunting. 

My family and I, thats Abbie, Harrie, Harvey and my husband Phil, Jess was surfing in South America, have a stand in the Green fields teaching festival goers how to make bunting for tents from recycled fabric and on hand cranked machines.

These machines were amazing.  You can pick them up for twenty pounds and they are just great for kids to use.
 We had the time of our lives, the weather was great and we had queues from 10.00 in the morning until we zipped up at five. We met some wonderful people and both boys and girls had those machines humming all day.  There was even a party of revellers on a pre wedding trip and they came on mass to make bunting for the big day!

We had rotas so we did get to see some great bands, but my lasting memory of glastos diverse music was a late night romp with a Bollywood dance band and Pimms on a open topped double decker bus. 

I will be back with the bunting but Glastonbury is not on next year instead i will be performing at the Olympics hopefully at the opening ceremony!!!!! more news later. 

Book Review: Stitch with Love by Mandy Shaw

via www.welovefrenchknots.com

I found this lovely review of my book from the States. I also adore French knots!