A Trip Around The World

This is where I come every other week to my Patchwork group

with the wonderful Jane as our teacher and problem solver.

It is a collection of old barns which has been turned into

a collection of little shops housing all sorts of craft artisans such

as stained glass and pottery as well as a great patchwork shop

and workshops above. 

This photo was taken in the morning before the public 

where allowed in.

As well as the patchwork there are all sorts of other fabric

related workshops such as dyeing and free machine embroidery.

The class I did this week however was creating a quilt called

" A trip around the world"

I sure all you long time patchworkers are familiar with

this pattern but being fairly new to patchwork it

was new to me and I loved it.

We get a list of requirements before the day and in this case

the cutting instructions so some of the work was done before we

started.

It is made from 10 different fabrics which you cut into strips

stitch together then cut into strips across, it is very easy but you have to 

pay attention to make sure you get them in the right order.

An essential piece of equipment is a seam ripper.

The variety of fabrics and colours we had all chosen

was wonderful to see.  My friend Caroline went with

these wonderful zingy limes and lemons.

Next to her was a collection of marbled effect.

I went with blue and white, it's a colour combination

I have always loved and wanted to try it in a quilt top.

This was the first lady to finish

Closely followed by the marble effect fabrics.

I love this colour combination of turquoise  and white

and here is mine with just one strip left to put in

but I put it in up side down twice so decided I was

too jaded and left it there for the day.

I have finished the top now but need to layer and quilt it

I promise to show it to you when  finish.

Another thing I have had a go at this week is

natural dyes.  I started with onions skins which don't need a mordant 

to fix the colour. I have been reading  blogs about natural dyes

with incredibly talented ladies ( Here and Here) as well

as browsing pinterest to find out how to do it  and 

this was the general consensus of opinion. 

I have collected white onions skins for a while

and put them in a pan with water and boiled them for an hour.

then I drained the skins off making sure to keep the remaining dye fluid.

I'm one of those people who would have strained it over the sink

and then realised I had just thrown away the dye.

I then put some wet white linen, these were pieces of vintage

linen from my stash of damaged and stained tablecloths and napkins.

I left them in the dye for an hour and this was the result.

There are so many things you can use in natural dyeing.

I'm now saving red onions skins to try them.

The other thing I have done is turn this pretty pottery flower,

which was 50p from one of the open studios I went to,

into a pretty summer brooch.

Oh and I've signed up for a couple of swaps as well so a 

very crafty week.

Hope you have all had a good week and

have a great weekend.

 I'll see you all soon.

Gillxx

Swaps and Giveaways

I have taken part in the Swap run by 

Mad about Bags

for Valentines day and for the first time

I decided to say I would post abroad.

So a couple of days ago this parcel covered in stamps

arrived from Lee-ann in South Africa.

Inside I found this lovely heart shaped tin

Full of heart shaped goodies

and a fabulous card.

I love this origami heart garland which now hangs in my workroom.

As for this lolly( which is no longer with us I'm afraid)

to see the name Woolworths on something again

was very nostalgic.

 Thank you Lee-anne.

I ,as usual, forgot to take photos of what I sent her but

I tried to make sure it was all british bits and pieces.

Now it's time for the WINNER of my little giveaway

for Grow your own Blog.

I got my wonderful Husband to draw the name last night

but the photos I took were awfully dark 

so your just going to have to take my word for it I'm afraid.

Anyway the name he picked out is 

SARAH AND DAN

Congratulations and I will get that in the post ASAP.

Hope you all have a great weekend and keep safe in this

horrible weather.

Gillx

Monthly Makes

I ,like alot of Blogland it seems, have had a horrible cold the last week.  Can someone tell me why we always seem to get these things when we have a busy week ahead. Mr T unhelpfully said that if I took myself off to bed for a day  and gave into it rather than carrying on I would get over it quicker.  

Words fail me.

I did manage to do a bit of crochet towards the blanket swap and have sent off my first load of squares but of course forgot to take photos before wrapping them.

My first parcel arrived a couple of days ago, this one from the Snail Garden.

It was a lovely surprise and they are great squares.

I love the butterfly.

I thought is was a good time to show you my monthly makes.

A couple of padded hangers made from old linen and lace which is part 

of the damage items in the stock of Lavender Linen and Lace.

Both have got tiny buttons on the ends to stop the cloths falling off, hopefully.

I needed a new cushion on the bed and was inspired by  the vintage feel of some of the fabric I received as part of one of the Christmas swaps.

And this handsome fella is in Patch by Cath Kidston.

I'm quite pleased with the result.

Lastly, this little guy has been sent of to Battersea dog home 

as part of their campaign to put a herb sachet in every kennel.This one is full of lavender.

I have tried to find the link to this but it seems to have disappeared.

Never mind I have sent it off anyway.

Have already started on next months so watch this space.

See you soon.

Gillxx

Back and Raring to go.

Having got myself back together again and finished all the decorating( with lots of help from my wonderful daughter) in time for Christmas, I was dreading spending Christmas in a half finished kitchen with plaster walls. Mr T runs a mile everytime I produce a paint brush but he did get his drill out for the curtains and shelves so it looked great ready for my open house on Christmas Eve.

We had a lovely family Christmas and I'm ready to start the New Year determined to have a more positive attitude to life but also to learn to say "no' sometimes so I don't put myself under too much stress. I can't cope with that anymore.

So as a good start to my new year I have signed up for the monthly makes again with Annie the felt fairy.

I did this last year but sometimes forgot to take photos of what I made before it went on to pastures new. I have signed up to be the administrator for the month of May ( my birthday month) which should be different.
I love looking at the photos on Flickr to see what other people where getting up to.

 I have also signed up for The Craft Box with LaaLaa,

This sounds like great fun, we start off with a box of craft bits from LaaLaa and it gets sent around to the people who have signed up. As it goes around we take out what we like but must put the same amount of items back in before sending it on. 

Then theres the Photo Scavenger hunt with 

Postcards from the P.P.

This again is something I did last year and I loved it. It became a real family game trying to find photos of the 12 items on that month list.

Did I say something about not taking on too much.

Can I just finish by saying a sincere Thank You to everyone for the Christmas cards and kind thoughts I received on the lead up to Christmas, it helped me fight the anxiety and panic that had come over me and me made realise that I should continue Blogging as it is such a great community spirit with so many kind and thoughtful people out there. 

Speak soon and have a great weekend.

Gillxx

Swaps and Monthly Makes

I received my first Christmas swap this week. It was the Christmas decoration Swap organised by the wonderful LaaLaa and my parcel came from Cupcakejojo and Wow what a parcel.

So many parcels all beautifully wrapped.

I love this idea.

I ended up with a hamper full of gifts seen here--minus a bar of chocolate 

well I needed nourishment have way through.

One of her lovely corsages has found a home on my best coat and looks great.

This star is going to look fab in my kitchen at Christmas, just the look I want.

I can't send my parcel at the moment as Jo is moving, so I just want to say Thank you so much for everything it is fantastic and good luck with the move.

I have done a lot of crafting in the last few days but as most of them are for swaps  I can't show you.

What I can show you are a couple of stockings I have made ready to be filled as Christmas presents.

They were both made using bits from linens that were either too badly marked or damaged to sell.

I'm really pleased with the results and have put them onto Flickr as my Monthly makes.

I hope the friends who get them for Christmas think the same.

Hope you all had a great weekend and will speak again soon.

Makes and swap goodies

Before I start I just want to get one thing off my chest. BLOODY BLOGGER.  

I'm sure I don't need to explain.

Anyway I received my swap goodies from Shirl at The White House

for the Autumn swap.

I love these felted acorns with real tops, so clever, and the pumpkin mould is great fun.

 And a collection of buttons and Owls in fantastic Autumn colours.

Thank you Shirl

This is what I sent her.

I had an urge to return to needle felting and used it mixed with some wet felted leaves.

I was pleased with the result and hope she liked it.

So what else have I been up to 

Well I'm doing an online workshop with Madness and Mess called the "road to my house.

This is my first attempt at a machine embroidered house which will be on my road.

Good job it's not real it would be condemned. 

Then my little one chose some fabric for a zipped pouch for her gadget charges on her travels.

Then finally, Last week I went to the fantastic 15th century   Dragon Hall in Norwich 

for a workshop with the very talented Teena Vallerine.

We started with a huge pile of fabric scraps and a background fabric.

Were shown some fabulous samplers to give some an idea of what different stitches looked like

 and how to do them.

Before being let loose with scissors, bondaweb, an iron and our imagination.

Then you embroider as and where you like.

Needs a different frame but you get the idea.

It's great fun.

My house is going to be in chaos for a while now as I'm having a kitchen fitted this week.

Makeover photos next weekend hopefully.

Don't forget my Giveaway, you have until the 15th to enter.

Have a great day.

Gillxx

Midsummer

We should know it's Midsummer as it's pouring with rain here and has been all night not to mention all week,well on and off but as yet nobody has mentioned lifting the drought restrictions. Not that it matters to me, the last thing I need to do is water the garden and the water butts are full and then some.

So as I'm talking about my garden, here is my favourite lily and my plant of the week.

 The colour is so rich I just wish I had more of them. I always keep my lilies in pots as they tend to get eaten in the beds but with the pots I keep them at the back of the summer house until they are growing well when out them come to brighten the patio before going back to their hid hole for the winter.  It works really well.

I received my Midsummer Swap yesterday from Sue over at@home and was excited enough with the tape on the parcel. I must get me some of that it's so pretty.

Lots of very pretty little parcels, love the colour of the wrapping.

This was the first thing I opened and was over the moon (sorry for the pun).

I put them on straight away and even Mr T said "they look really nice" Compliment indeed.

Theres a mobile phone charm, earrings and a bracelet and I think Sue has made the beads herself. I know how clever she is with glass as I have a lovely glass ladybird of hers.

But of course they weren't the only thing I got, Look

Stars and moon bunting and a brooch and buttons which are gorgeous. The scrummy chocolates helped me get through the stress of watching Andy Murray last night. There goes the diet again.

I can't believe how generous she has been so a huge 

Thank you Sue.

Have a great weekend folks and see you soon.

Gillx