2021 Week 43

I had an Ikea blanket that I turned into a sort of shawl ( bolded in half to make shoulders and cut up the front so I could throw one front panel over my shoulder).  It was a place that I could sew on the badges I make for each trip I go away with girlfriends.  Well, I used it in Swanage and it didn't work.  The throw-over-the-shoulder but kept falling down so the shawl wasn't held in place.

I have attached a load of buttons so the front looks buttoned (it's stitched closed) 

And now it works much better (even though my phone camera is rubbish!)

I have designed and stitched this year's badge - Swanage is on the Jurassic Coast hence the ammonite, and the seagull is for the one that tried to nick our fish and chips on the harbour wall!!!

I finished my shwe shwe bag

And went on a painting class with the very talented Plum !  Very out of our comfort zone but a lovely evening!

I made a few Halloween Gingers

And made a second rope bowl from off cuts from a bridesmaid dress!  Both brides (and their mums) usually come here on Christmas Eve for waffles before the Christingle service.  No Christingle service this year but hopefully they will still come for waffles and can have their gifts - and if I get organised they will be filled with resin mementoes of their wedding flowers

Last year I started the Ginger journey by making a bin man and then a few NHS staff and a Tescos delivery Ginger and a postie Ginger . . .  they expanded to about 50.  These were auctioned off and the the neighbouring parish council asked for a full set - they have now been mounted and are on the wall in the new community building!

My lovely boss-come-friend, Dalwyn's passing left a big hole in many people's lives, including that of his partner's niece.  I was asked if I could turn his Christmas jumper into a big cushion for her . . . I hope she likes it!

2021 Week 26

Sorry - photo overload . . . you have been warned!

I know this is mostly a crafty blog - but I did make this gorgeous girl!!!!

#2 daughter is still best friends with three girls she met at school (aged just 5) and two of then are getting married this year . . . and having the other 3 as their bridesmaids.  The first wedding was last Saturday.  

This little minx is the next bride to be in a few weeks time

The bridesmaids and their partners (just the groom missing!)

We found the groom

Niki wanted a photo with "Mumma and Papa P" - the brides' parents.  

He started his speech by thanking the bridesmaids and how they'd been in and out of his house so often throughout their childhood he thought of them as extra daughters - that set them all off sobbing . . . luckily I had made plenty of tissue cases so they could dry their eyes!  (Talk to Me ginger is nothing to do with the wedding, he just wanted to be in the photo!)

I made tissue cases with white embroidery for bride and groom (or may have forgotten the change the thread but keep that under your hat!) which went down well too . . . as did the ginger bride and groom!

I was given one of the table displays and am currently drying all the flowers - I'm experimenting with resin but they need to be dry first - 

I've also got some flowers being pressed, and one bud (hopefully) drying in salt

There was a bit of dress lining and a fair bit of dress fabric left after the (very traumatic) taking up of the dress so I made a rope bowl, maybe to put the resin results in.

2021 Week 8

Ooops, that was  a bit of a gap between posts!

Not much crafting seems to have been done though

I was given this lovely clay Ginger

 

And these vanilla scented Ginger melts for my wax burner (Thank you Niki - a bit of a theme going on here!)

The lovely Carolyn at church started off a crochet blanket for me (no, I can't cast on - doh!)  It twisted a bit to start with but it's getting better

I put on my big girl pants and started adding some extra types of stitches (I don't know anything fancy: just UK double and trebles)

And apparently added some extra stitches at one end and lost them at the other end - I'm trying to sort them out as to where they should be, and hopefully this bit will be ok after blocking 

To reassure myself with something I *can* do, I made another sari rope basket for my balls of wool

I made a bunch of log cabin blocks, but I've put them away for now - the contrast (between the brights and the grey/white) is disappointing

I was asked if I could do a couple of trampolining Gingers but I couldn't quite envisage them

Lora grabbed her felt tip pens and drew these for me

So I made these

2021 Week 5

Well that was a week and a half!

This single Ginger was designed to promote A children's mental health campaign in the two villages.

 

The design was approved . . .

The felt was delivered . . .

And I was in a different sort of lockdown for about 9 days

I treated myself with being allowed to do something different every 50 Gingers

This was the half way point (I didn't photograph the full number: as soon as the last one was finished I delivered them!)

Some of my 'rewards' were also Gingers LOL!  These two netball players

These prizes in a village Valentine's competition

And these to represent this month's challenge: 

We had a live cook along session where we made chocolate chip cookies

Yum!!!

And future bake offs cover pancakes,

cakes,

and around the world dishes, so this one has Norwegian waffles (served with whipped cream and jam made from lingonberries)

Another "between the Gingers" project was to use this up: It's a twist of sari scraps: mostly between 2 and 3 foot long.  I bought this at the last quilt show I went to (shows how long ago LOL) and I finally untwisted it to see what I'd bought.  I think there was a plan to make pompoms, then a thought about a crochet basket.  It turned out they weren't separate strips, but rather were joined end to end to make one long strip.

So I sat opposite Lizzie (tending to her needs every 4 or 5 minutes), wrapping sari strips around rope and zigzagging the whole lot together . . . and I love the result far more than pompoms or a small crochet basket!  I now have an ideal basket for my crochet when I get it back (I did try to cast on but I'm useless at it, so one of the church  ladies is doing it for me!!!)