Thursday 28 February 2013

February Scavenger Hunt


I have joined the Scavenger Hunt being run
I love doing these and get the whole family involved
looking for things that fit .
So here is this months pictures.


A KISS.
I saw this in St. Giles Norwich.
You know what they are doing even if you can't see it.




SOMETHING HEART SHAPED. 
Part of the Valentines  card I made for Mr T.

FROZEN.
a beautiful but frosty morning in Norfolk.



BREAKFAST.
Mr T loves his boiled eggs.


A SHADOW
with Tilly

A BUS
at Luton airport 

SHOPPING TROLLY
or lots of trollies.


SOMETHING FOUND NOWHERE ELSE.
Our friend Martin  is a great artist and Batman
here is off to Go-Go Gorillas in Norwich.
He has also done Iron Man and is just starting on 
Bradley Wiggins.

RED
Iconic phone box and post box in Salthouse.


A PARK BENCH
This one has a lovely view over the bird reserve.


14 
From an old cookery book.

GLASS
 My small collection of paperweights.


Gillx

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Patchwork

Well my little one is home, well sort of, she is in hospital at the moment
as she has made a good job of breaking her collar bone and has 
had to have a plate fitted. 
You think it is going to get easier as they get older but NO.
Never mind- I wouldn't change only of them for the world.


So while I have a hour on my own before I have to collect her 
I thought I would bring you up to date on my latest course.

I decided to do a beginners patchwork course at
Sew Creative at Wroxham Barns as I have tried to do 
patchwork at home and have never really been that successful.


This is what we are aiming to complete in the 8 weeks
but unfortunately I am missing todays lesson and will have to catch up.
Anyway it is all hand sewn and obviously we have all chosen our own fabrics.



We started with our to make our own templates
with graph paper and template plastic 
which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be.

The first bloke we completed was the one in the top centre
and look, my corners all meet neatly.


We do as much as we can in the time we have during the lesson
then take it home as homework to complete.
So this is my first completed block. 
I would choose different fabrics next time as these 
don't go as well as I had thought they would 
but that is part of the learning process isn't it.


The second block we moved on to triangles.


 Then to the Ohio Star which I really enjoyed.


We are given a printed sheet for each lesson for reference
but Jane is great and very encouraging.
 I do struggle to remember which is the best way to press
the seams so they lie in different directions.
This is the star all laid out ready to go.


The one I am sewing at the moment is the Drunkards Path
which is slightly more challenging so I 
coloured in the diagram so I could keep track of
which bit goes where and have found it worked very well.




So buoyed by my success when Mum-in- Law asked my to make a lap quilt for
the hospice she had recently been in I immediately said "Yes no problem"

Of course afterwards comes the realisation of what I have agreed to do.
I went straight to Jane and asked her advice and here is what I have done.
I apologise for the quality of the photos.



I bought a charm pack and put the squares into blocks of nine.



Each bloke was then cut in half each way and you end up 
with four smaller blokes from each large bloke.



These are then laid out until you like the design you have
before you sew them together.



I am now putting a border around and putting fleece on the back
to make it cosier.
The whole thing was so quick and easy I am thrilled with it.

I am already thinking about the next one and have signed up for the
follow up course starting in April.
I was warned it can be addictive.

Anyway time to go and pick up Little one.
Speak soon.

Gillxx

Tuesday 19 February 2013

OH What a Beautiful Morning


Crisp, Clear and Bright.

Love it!



Gillx

Saturday 16 February 2013

Classes

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the suggestions of charities for  the wool,
 I will hopefully be collecting it and packing it up with the next couple of weeks. 


This is a bit later than I had hoped but we received a  phone call yesterday
 from my little one in France 
telling us that she was coming home a month early 
as she has broken her collar bone snow boarding.
Thankfully she was fully insured and will be home in a couple of days.
This has caused a mad rush as we have been using her room to store the decorating
stuff while we decorate the hall.  
Photos when we get the carpet down.

Last weekend Eldest daughter was in New York when the storm hit.
They were due to fly home Saturday, so she had an extra day in The Big Apple
---------
to supervise the group of sixth form students she was over there with.


On Wednesday morning last week I had a phone call from the shop
I am going to for my beginners Patchwork class.
I had, apparently, booked a days workshop in free machine embroidery
and I was late. 
 I am putting it down to my age but I really do not remember booking this.
Still as it was all paid for I grabbed my machine with a few bits and bobs
  and I dashed along.
 Within 20 minutes I
was sitting at my work table for the day.

The lady taking the course was extremely knowledgable but
was very particular.  I had the wrong needles( embroidery not universal)
  bobbins( Singer not Janome-apparently) and
put the wrong colour threads together, 

other than that I thought I did alright.

The bobbins were a nightmare as I had visions of having to 
buy all new ones and throw out  all the ones I had at home
but it turned out
that the only ones which were the wrong sort
were the  ones I took that day.

Sods Law.




We started just doodling with the machine,
before adding a second colour through the same needle.
I liked the effect this gave.



Then we moved onto doing monograms with.a zig zag.
This has to be the only time I have really put my foot to the floor with my machine
but it works well.  This is my attempt.



This was our teacher Ruths. 
Without even really thinking about it. 



We did several different things during the day
including cut work and dissolvable fabric which isn't shown.


 Ruth also showed us how to sew beads on with the machine
and the looped work by messing about with the tension.
This is Ruth's work done on my machine but I just couldn't 
get the hang of this so consequently didn't like it.



 I love doing these workshops and am always inspired to go
home and play around.

I am half way through my Patchwork for beginners
so I'll show you my progress in a couple of days.

Have a good weekend.

Gillxx

Saturday 9 February 2013

Do You Know a Worthy Charity?

Before I start can I say a huge Thank You for the comments I had received
for my last 2 posts, they were very much appreciated and really help me
get back on my feet again.



Now I need your help.
Those of you who have followed me for a little while will know that my Mother-in-Law
has been passing on all her crafting supplies to me-
well the reason she has been doing this is that she is very poorly
and wants to get her things sorted so it isn't left for us to do.
She has always been a prolific knitter and 
her cupboards are full of unused balls of wool.
There is a mixture of odd left over balls but also dozens of balls bought for projects 
that were either never started, not finished or just because she liked the wool.
It ranges from Mohair to 100% cotton.

The problem I have is that 

I DON'T KNIT.

So Mum and I wondered if any of you know a charity that would make use of all this wool.
I am prepared to parcel it up and send it off to them as long as we know it is going to a good home.

 I know we could give it to a charity shop but we feel that on the whole they don't appreciate
bundles of wool and it is usually found pushed under a shelf in the corner which annoys MiL.

So if you know of somewhere or maybe could ask your followers and then send me 
a message it would help greatly and put her mind at rest.

Look forward to hearing from you.
Gillxx




Saturday 2 February 2013

The New Year Starts Here

Yes my 2013 starts here.

My leg is mending, having torn my calf muscle on the 
first day of my skiing holiday on New Years Eve.

My cold and cough, which I came down with as soon as I got back,
has more or less gone having hung around for ages. 
 I have fought back from my black cloud
which had descended because I thought I had spoilt every ones holiday, 
as well as my own,

and I have got a bit of enthusiasm for life back which
of course means I can rejoin the world of Blogging.

I have done a bit of stitching while I've been
stuck in doors so here's a couple of the bits
I have made.







I have made myself a new pincushion and pouch for my Patchwork class
(more on that next time).
I love this fabric and spent a happy couple of hours in front of the telly
embroidering over some of the pattern which of course doesn't show
in the photo.  Just a new needle case to finish now.




I had a bit of fun making myself the Princess and the pea from
an old Mollie Makes although the mouth looks a bit crooked.
I have no idea what to do
with her but I did enjoy making her.

I have been reading some blogs as well and couldn't resist the owl
which I found here on Bunny Mummy.
It now hangs from the side of my work basket.



I am making loads of little cotton flowers at the moment
for a W.I. craft group project.
This is a post for the future as at the moment
it is a bit of a secret because the end result is for a competition
and we don't want the opposition to know
what we are doing now do we.

I love making them as they are so quick and
I have been experimenting with a couple of my own designs.
Most of those get ripped out again though and I the ones that work
I forget to write down how I did it and struggle to do the same thing twice.
NOTE TO SELF.
Keep a note book beside you!



Off now to make some more while watching the rugby
this afternoon.
Great to be back and I'll see you all again soon.

Gillx