2020 Wk 7 - in Ireland with Dennis (and Jackie!)

Storm Dennis has hit Ireland and means it’s too blustery and too wet to venture outside - so sewing and crochet has mostly featured this the weekend!

So what have we made?

I was given a load of shirt fabric and brought over what seemed like far too much: we cut it into 4.5” x 8.5” bricks and stared sewing - each fabric is different so no auditioning.   It’s made about 1/4 of a king sized quilt so far, it’s lucky there is plenty more samples left at home so we can do some more next time we meet up

We made some cork baskets (some hand sewing needed)

We made a Pepper Pig quilt for little miss L - to be delivered tomorrow

We learnt that two FQ packs from Aldi cut into 8.5” squares just needs two extra blocks to made a flimsy that fits an Ikea fleece with *just* enough left over to make 2” binding and hardly any waste!

I’ve learnt a new crochet stitch and am making this blanket (waiting impatiently for the first colour change!)

Jackie’s Tunisian crochet

And my travel project has been more chambray hexies!

2019 Wk 38 Sicily and Inspiration

I've just come back from a few days away in Sicily: some random street art like these "windows" and "doors" in a side street

and lots of fun, chat, food and just a few drinks with these lovely ladies.

Such random stuff

 but some of it I fancy trying

 This cork pencil wrap was lovely and simple - and was selling for 148 Euro!!!!

I really like this simple clay design

And thought this was a great toy teaching so many things - matching, balancing, counting, colour recognition . . .

Mount Etna was having a little puff, but otherwise the skies were blue

As was our little apartment

I've been thinking about ideas for next year's Chertsey Museum classes: Separated (not EPP) hexies

Using crochet with fabric

I thought these might make good mega Dorset buttons

 And can I do anything fabric related with these?  I have 13 and a tea light just fits inside!

2019 Wk 32 - fun and finishes

I've been working on a random selection of stuff this week, as well as teaching 5 children's classes (separate blog post coming up)

Mt temperature embroidery is now over 2 metres long, and has already outgrown its wooden bobbin so I'm going to have to rethink its "home"!

I can only show it in a loose coil, so here are 5 lengths

and here are the alternate lengths

For quite a while now I've only been using the "hot" colours - lovely!!!!

I have finished the binding on this brick wall I-spy quilt,

And on this Mickey Mouse one.  names can be added as appropriate

Thanks to Sharon who gifted me some rainbow cork I made a cork travel bag - room for change in the front pocket, passport, glasses and phone in the main pocket, and boarding pass in the real vinyl pocket, plus a front zipped pocket under the flap, and a rear zipped.  I didn't line it, and I constructed it wrong sides together - just zigzagging over the sides and the edge of the flap with a rainbow variegated thread,  I'm in love!

We made a crazy patch at the last Richmond and Kew Quilters meeting, with the idea we would decorate it at September's meeting.  I'm going to be away for Septembers, and Avril was away for the last weeting so I handed my block over to her.  In fact she might have to miss September's meeting too so she's already started decorating her / my / our  patch: looking good Avril!

And Lizzy has been helping me make some coffee wraps: We've been having fun ready for the Church summer fair next Saturday

2019 Wk 26 - a bit of a bodge

For our sixth (!!) wedding anniversary (in 1994!!!!) husband bought me an iron candle stick.  The arms spiral from an iron plate and it held 6 cobalt blue pots which held tealights.  I love it!  It lives in the garden

Over the years three of the blue pots have broken and some years ago Jackie and I found some glass yoghurt pots that were a good size.  We forced ourselves to eat the yogurt (!) and I glued rope around the tops to stop them falling through.  Not as pretty, but did the job

Over the last few years the rope has started falling off, so I needed a plan C

I found a pack of solar garden lights in Aldi (funnily enough the same place the yogurt pots came from)!

I pulled off the stakes and slid the lamp part into the iron ring at the top of each arm

and I have a working garden light!!!  I am delighted!!

I have done a bit of sewing too - I appliqued the final scraps of rainbow onto some spare denim, and I gathered up all the rainbow cork scraps and after a bit of playing managed to fit them into a jigsaw puzzle that gave me almost a rectangle almost the same size as the denim.  Not sure where this is going but I hope to have some inspiration soon

I've also been embroidering for the local Scout packs, and for a museum exhibition about pleats and drapes

I have plans that may see more crafting in the future - wish me luck!

2019 Wk 25 - Rainbow weekend

Jackie has been here and we've had (of course) a fabulous weekend but unfortunately it's come to and end and she's on her way home :-(. 

We both have a crazy number of reminders of the weekend - and more than a few are rainbow themed!!

We made rainbow necklaces and embroidered a tshirt for Gay Pride month

 We made these fab rainbow bucket bags, based very loosely on this Pin

The designer machine quilted them more or less in the ditch - we went for in your face Kantha type quilting and for this lovely textured look

By making the bucket bags slightly smaller than the instructions said we managed to have some rainbow leftover so we make these Pythagoras zippy pouches with the remainder rainbow and some beautiful cork fabric with rainbow splashes

We used some other cork too - this lush claret red cork - to make another zippy

Oh, and then went on to make these framed retreat pouches (that were much easier than I last remember them being)

and finally some of these from this gorgeous fabric from South Africa from Sharon, lined with some spraytime

 Love you Jackie - come back soon!!!!