2021 Week 21

 I've seen pics of two gorgeous munchkins on their I-spy quilts this week - my favourite pics!  Thanks to the grandmas for sending them to me!

I started a mini EPP round the world rainbow  patchwork, inspired by Plum who has enough minis that she has created a gallery!!!  Do go an have a look: https://plumquilts.blogspot.com/2021/05/mini-gallery-opening-or-how-to-spend.html

I stitched a bridge and groom pair of Gingers for a couple getting married at church

And I went to help empty a lady's craft room - oh my gosh soooooo many planned projects - this is just (some of) the wool - she also stitched, did paper crafts, bead crafts, wire crafts and so many others - this has made me think about how much stuff I have and who will empty it out when I go (Plum and Jackie the girls say they are calling you and walking away LOL)

And this is some of the embroidery kits, other kits, sizzix dies, painting stuff and rubber stamps she had.  There are some needle punch tools priced 2 and 6!!!!! 

She had two or three identical (unopened) packs of some of the wire craft gadgets and tools

As a break from the sorting I did some sewing - I wanted a small handbag just to carry my phone so I made this

It was only when I went to use it that I realised the zip was inside out so it will be re-designed!

I've now had my second jab and the sun has been shining and is predicted to carry on for a few days yet  - got to count the positives!

2021 Week 20

 Not much happening in the sewing room in the last few weeks:  having got through the Parish Council trial that is the Internal Audit (carried out by an external auditor - go figure) I am no preparing for the External Audit which is a whole load more red tape.  I think I may be close to being abou to get the Councilors to sign it off so I'm having a quick break!

I have been hand sewing in front of the TV in the evenings: I really need to consider the lighting levels when I take photos, but a rainbow flimsy is starting to take shape

And this box of gorgeousness is waiting to be added

Lisa has completed her 100 crochet blocks for a blanket.  She has been (quite logically) keeping them in piles based on the outer border but now she's finished we needed to number them all - an i-pad and two mobile phones with the descriptions of each square and it's number, a chart naming all the different (not very different in many cases) colours, loads of easy clips and scraps of paper and we finally got them all identified!

Niki wants it a bit bigger (to cover feet and shoulders) - we had a go at arranging the blocks into an 8x12 arrangement but got hopelessly confused so she's going to stick with this suggested plan (see below) but she's adding a border of grey to each block, then will add grey top and bottom plus some piano key type borders.  I think it will be gorgeous!!!!! 

2021 Week 18

 Some random crafting over the last three weeks:

I've worked on my painting by numbers Christmas present - I cant wait to be on a beach again!

I created this for Star Wars Day (although to be fair I'm not sure she used a lightsaber!)

I actually visited a shop last week - such a strange experience, I'd forgotton what it was like to shop by touching things rather than looking at screen images!

I fell in love with this selection at Hobbycraft

and I bypassed the usual "I shall stroke this while I decide what to do with it" stage and went straight to adding from stash . . . 

 cutting and tacking . . .

 and starting to sew!

The greeny turquoise (teal?) didn't make the cut.  I found enough is stash for the first green round and while I was looking I found a pack of Hobby craft grey which I rtaher liked with the turquoise, so I've cut them and started another flimsey!!!

I have also finished the crochet blanket: apart from a few joins where I'd balled the wool too short I didn't want to sew in any ends so I not only left them but added to them so every colour chnage has rustic (as in no particular length) tassles which I rather like.

What to crochet next???

A few Saturdays ago I had a whole day to myself - I was tidying up when I found a donated duvet cover that made it's way up here as I thought it would make a nice tunic.  I dug out the pattern that I have used many times and made this

 

Looking for the pattern I came across another version that had been cut but then abandoned so I finished that one too - good job they are quick to make!

I finished the Oliver safari bunting and his grandma has posted it off to Canada

2021 Week 15

 A quick project - inspired by the lovely Plum I decided to make a tray liner!  the red and white match my favourite mug (thank you Jackie) and the biscuit tin!

And husband helped me make a thread storage shelf for the embroidery threads - the 1000m spools fit nicely into a plastic draw in the Ikea Trofast units that make up most of the sewing room

But the 5000m spools are too big to really fit on the spikes, and generally don't behave

Ikea made shelves as an alternative to the drawers and I had a few that were not in use.  With the help of a length of broom handle and various bit of equipment in his shed we bodged this shelf

And it works perfectly !!

The lengthened denim dress has been finished and worn and photographed!

I met with a friend in the garden - I had finally finished the felt OLIVER for her grandson, and the felt animals needs to be positioned so I could hand stitch them on.  It was lovely to catch up and nice to have some hand sewing to do

Lisa sent Jackie and I this pic of her blocked crochet - don't they look fab!!!!  I think my blanket will be much harder to do!

With no crochet of my own to do, I thought I'd have a go at fingerless gloves!  Problem number 1 is that I can't cast on - my crochet is too tight!  So I used a huge hook and created three chains and forced the hook back into them to cast on three stitches . . . then turned the whole lot through 90 degrees and started adding rows of trebles, three at a time, until I had a band that was long enough.  

I then turned it through 90 degrees again and started adding to the side (2,1,1,2,1,1,2,1,1 to make it the right circumference and made it up to ten rows, I then missed 2 stitches and zigzagged back and forth for 7 rows then started with complete rows again.  there was a lot of frogging to make them the right size (left needed to be much tighter than right as I am, ahem, digitally challenged) but they will keep me warm next winter!

In other news, I finally finished this for a customer, just need to add a name

And there is a Ginger ready for St George's day next week

Apart from that the sewing room is an absolute tip, I've eaten too much, and I'm fed up with looking at this computer screen so I'm going to go and sit in the sunshine for a bit!  Hope everything is Ok in your corner of the world

2021 Week 14

 Hello lovely people in blog land, how is your corner of the world?  Mine is doing OK!

Our savings are invested in premium bonds and husband loves to check each month to see what we've won - just look what we won on 1st April.  Convinced?  Sadly it was an April Fool's joke!

I made some Easter Gingers for my sitting room window, and dropped some more Easter Egg versions to my little Ginger Fan club members

Along with lovely Thank You cards and messages I got 2 photos  of Ginger Collections!  Don't they look great!

Our village We're all in this together" group celebrated it's first birthday, so needed a ginger

And oldest daughter celebrated her (ahem) 30th birthday - she got a crochet blocking square, crochet hooks and a storage case for her hooks

Youngest daughter was given some second hand netball bibs (could mum please fix the elastic straps!) so i also made her a bag to keep them in - I love the name of the team!!!

If you want a good book I thoroughly recommend this one.  The first 90% was great but I was getting anxious as to how she could possibly wrap it up before the end then Oh My Gosh!  I cant tell you in case you read it, but if you do please let me know, I'd love to be able to talk to someone about it!!!!

And "someone" sent me a card, a little pouch and some chocolate for Easter - thank you Jackie!  I cant begin to tell you how much better my life is for having you in it (and what utter cr@p it is that we cant meet up!)

I spent a morning with young D who has been learning machine embroidery for her skill section of the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme (Rest In Peace, sir, I hope you knew what an amazing legacy this scheme would be)

She designed this bunny

and we tried to stitch it out but my old portable machine clearly needs a service, 

so I stitched it out at home for her

I have a collection of much loved Chambery summer shirts - some are nearly worn out, and others have shrunk in the wardrobe (!)  One was neither - it's problem was that it was too short.  So I took a deep breath and cut up all the shrunk ones, and the bits of the others that had some life left, and lengthened the short one

There are raw seams top and bottom, but I'm rather chuffed with the method I used to join the strips as there are no vertical raw seams

There was some darker Chambery left when I'd finished and I had some yardage that was slightly too dark for the shirt too (left over from this previous adaptation:)

 

And there was a denim pinafore that I loved but was too short to wear with leggings and too long to wear with jeans - so flushed with success I'm lengthening the pinafore too!

And finally a finish (that's gone back on the to-do list!)

The binding fabric arrived, and the quilt was bound . . .

And then I realised one of the spirals was missing on the left hand side!  Luckily it's still do-able even after the binding has been added - phew!