2025 February

 Oooops: this only just snuck in as a February post: in a few days it will be April!

The completed quilt for St Peter's hospital has been installed with the current museum exhibition

The lovely Stephanie led a class on teddy bears at the museum: this chap is about 4" tall when standing

I did Gingers for World Chips day

And some ready for Mothering Sunday

I did an astronomer for a Facebook post about several planets lining up

and I made half a dozen cheeky monkeys for a friend who is a stress councillor and works with children

But the best thing of all this month hasn't been started yet.

I have a lovely friend, Sharon, who makes the most amazing quilts, very different to my style.

A few months ago she sent our crafty group a message that she was going to start this applique quilt

https://www.sewhot.co.uk/product/mandalightful-quilt-pattern-only/

I love, love, LOVE it but there was no way I was going to cut out all those pieces - only a lunatic would do that

She turned up on my door with the instructions; the template enlarged to actual size; and Every ... Single ... Piece ... backed with bondaweb and laser cut, and bagged

I hope you understand that I was SPEECHLESS!  I have booked the village hall on Friday so Lisa and I can start playing using large tables

Love you Sharon!

2025 January

Happy New Year from my corner of Blogworld

My January furtle is looking a bit sad - despite January feeling like it lasted over 3 months there wasn't much creativity going on

I did manage a few Gingers for Big School Bird Watch,

International Book Reading week

and RNLI SOS day

And a few for a friend who is an organiser for Gerard's Cross Summer School

The St Peter's Hospital "untold stories" patchwork which last looked like this

Now looks like this

And is in situ at the museum (without Brian 😂)

Brian is being used again this month . . . this time to show the size of the New Hive quilt under construction

And this is Myrtle the Turtle: she's a sample for the March class at Chertsey Museum.  She has a toweling  belly and lives on the kitchen floor to mop up spills! 

Well, in the words of Porky Pig (Looney Tunes) "That's all Folks"

2023 March

I think back on the bloggers I used to follow, and many have stopped blogging: I guess some have gone to Instagram, or Tiktok or whatever else is 'hip' these days but I am in my comfort zone here and find this is a great place to be able to find photos of things I have made if I want to show someone an example of a technique or something I have made.

So here is March's roundup even if it's just for me and maybe a few lovely followers!

Chertsey Museum class made Japanese Rice bags, but I forgot to take photos until nearly everyone had left, so we just have one pic for evidence!

I got a thank you card from a little munchkin who received this quilt

And I am making for for this little munchkin who arrived a month early so I wasn't ready! (yes that's my daughter cuddling her, but not it's not her baby :-(

But this *is* part of her crochet: she is making two, one of for this baby and one is for another one due in April

I managed to get the Chertsey Meads wall hanging commission finished, and it is now up in the Museum (although this pic is from our Centre Parcs villa where I finally finished it!)

My lovely S-i-L got me some Tula Pink Parisville fabric: I stroked and loved it for a while then went shopping for some suitable solids . . . watch this space: I have a cunning EPP plan that should showcase the fabrics, fingers crossed

I have been commissioned by the Mayor of Runnymede to make a banner that she can gift to the towns Runnymede is twinned with around the world - this is the first draft and I have been given the approval to make a final version

I was gifted a whole load of kite fabric and didn't really have a plan for it so took it to Crafty Church: we cut loads of red, orange and yellow into triangles and have been making bunting with it

These are Twist and Go pots that I have created for Chertsey Museum for April's lesson - they are big enough to hold a project and thread and twist down to about 1.5" high

Then we went to Texas to see dad and Eileen.  While we were there we went to Eileen's great grandson's 4th Birthday party: he's into bugs!  I couldn't find anything suitable in WalMart but picked up a plain t-shirt and fabric pens. and was able to gift him this buggy t-shirt

Luckily it was a success!

2023 February

 It's been a funny old month - we were finally able to hold M-i-L's funeral, and I've been on and off sick with a 'lurgy', and HRT has finally kicked in: the main side effect is that while I'm no longer overheating my toes feel like blocks of ice!

Any way, I have some photos (as always!)

The Chertsey Museum group had a choice this month - pretty much the same pattern can be used for a small jewellary pouch or a sewing kit /pin cushion

I started a crochet shawl, the colour change is very subtle, but it's starting to show!

I was commissioned bu Chertsey Museum to help with a Go Wild project: depicting the flaura and fauna reored on a site called Chertsey Mead.  I roped in my friend Hayley and she helped design the (originally) 2 part wall hanging

which then became this

I guess I have a moth problem although I have cedar wood coathangers, and have never seen moths in the house, anyway, an evening's darning fixed two jumpers.  Not quite invisable, but at least they won't get any worse!

I have a few pairs of thick knitted socks that I use as slippers, but they wear out.  I have a few pairs that have been darned several times but one pair had been better looked after ... until ...

I thought I'd try something different this time, and got some felted soles and stitched them on: so far so good, and they are even warmer than they used to be!

Hayley and I then went to Chertsey to teach some family learning sessions.  We did explain about suggested sizes, and how while we weren't looking for perfection we were hoping for reasonable colour represention.  Some people really got it, and we had some great creations

A few failed to quite grasp the concept

Anyway, we had so many attend that we have ceated a third wall hanging too.  Now all these flura and fauna are all being sewn on

 

The shawl has finished

and here is being compared to Yve's far more technical crochet shawl.  I made the mistake of upping the order as the wool was on special offer - my shawl took 1 ball - does anyone want another 3???