Winners week

You know I joined Geta's Linky party and wrote a post on some of the items I had made with her tuts and patterns, well, Geta very kindly offered an inducement of a few prizes and I was one of the lucky ones that managed to win 5 ... YES 5 of her patterns!  It was quite difficult to choose, but in the end I decided to have 

1. Boxes of Love

2. Pockets with Love 

3. Retro Fun bag

4. Loving Hugs quilt pattern

5. Jolly Holiday quilt pattern.

Didn't I do well? and as many of you know I can't have a new project and not get down to making it, so the first item from my new patten 'library'.  Tah Dah!

Fabrics chosen, and one with pellon, cut, and   ready to sew

Great gift for family and friends.

I teach/show some ladies how to crochet and sometimes they come up with things they would like to make but have no idea of how to go about it...hopefully this is where I come in.  One lady wants to make a cover for a milk jug or sugar bowl..... you know those pretty little doilies with beads.  Well I have been playing and decided that even my new beginners could have a go at this if they felt so inclined.

Think this might just work

 If you want to crochet the beads in, you have to add them to your crochet cotton before you even begin, and they can get in the way a bit.

Cotton beaded ready to go

That's about all I've made this week and I am not sure I will be making much next week as my sister is visiting, but would you like to see a couple of flowers that, to my mind, are looking beautiful.

Double Petunia.  

These hanging baskets are overflowing..

How stunning is this?

The Lillies seemed to take a while to burst forth, but well worth the wait.

All the flowers needed was a bit of sun, and they have certainly had that over the past few weeks and everything is looking wonderful. 

So I guess I am a winner all round, lots of new patterns for me to work on, and lots of wonderful flowers to look at.

See you next time x.

 

Mixed bag

I have been playing with lots of different things this week.  Do you remember the yarn I bought in Yorkshire? I decided I wanted to make some square blocks (have to say doing long rows of the same stitch is a bit boring in my world!), so after searching Pinterest I came across a couple that I like.

I made 12, and have a few scraps left,

I also bought some more cotton but brighter colours this time and have started on these....

got a few more of these to make

I think I might just make all sorts of different blocks and eventually see how I can put them all together in a scrappy rug of some sorts.....we will just wait and see what happens.

At my local  sewing group we are getting ready for our bi-annual quilt exhibition and one of the things we do to make a bit of money for local charities is have a cushion raffle.  I do feel like the 'cushion queen' as I have made so many just recently, so 'thinking hat' on, and this is what I came up with as  my contribution.

Even uses some yo yo's

 While I was at group, someone had some old 'Miniature Quilt' magazines which were freely available for us to take and use.  There was a miniature quilt in one of the books that I thought would be challenging, so set to work to on the pattern...... but even I feel this is just toooooo much of a challenge for me.

Just look how small it is....may pass this one by!.

But I am going to make a Cathedral Windows quilt/cushion with a friend.  I have decided to play a bit with this and have a couple of shapes and size windows.  I spent hours ironing these little squares and am so glad that that boring bit is over. 

This I hope will give me a rectangular window

My neat pile of ironing

My last bit of 'show and tell' are these glasses cases. I have new glasses, so therefore had to have some new cases.  My daughter perfected the pattern and sells them through her business Blossom Creations but think she would be pleased with my attempts.

So smart!

Enjoy the coming week and happy sewing.

Linky Party time

Geta is having a linky party so that we others in the world can show off some of the things we have made using her patterns books etc.  I thought I would add add my attempts of recreating her stunning patterns. so here goes.

I first read her tutorial on using EQ6 and gained a little knowledge of how to print off patterns to use as a base for free motion quilting, and made myself a block that I use to show off some of my photos.

So this was my first attempt at a quilting  pattern

I then bought Geta's  'Flower ball Hexie' pattern. I reduced the pattern by 50% and it was a project for me to take on holiday ..... all of those tiny pieces.

this now hangs in my sewing room

I then bought Geta's book and added some cushions to my newly decorated room.  New technique for me, so another first!

and this was my next challenge..

Touch of Aqua.

So that is my little 'show and tell' in this Linky Party.  I am the owner of two more of Geta's patterns so watch this space.

Wow! Wow! Wow! and Ow! Ow! Ow!

Yes, we have had another beautiful sunny weekend, well the rest of the week was n’t bad either.  Now sunshine brings out all that washing that needs to be hung out in the fresh air, so Saturday was not a day to be missed for getting washing washed and dried.  I rushed downstairs with a pile in my hands (no shoes.....too hot) and crashed into the sofa.. Der! ( and a few other words!!!!!)  The sofa has been in the same spot since we move in near 10 years ago (think I should know where it is by now.... and its not really that small) and why Oh why was I running, the washing machine was n’t going anywhere......, my poor little toe got separated from the other 4 ...not hanging off, but oh so sore.  Had to even sit down before I passed out the pain was so great.....I think it may be broken, but not much point in sitting at the hospital to be told they can’t do anything about it, so I just sat and crochet most of the day with cool compress on hand.....suppose that was n’t too bad.

Poorly sorely toe (well foot actually)

Yep! day two and the bruise is coming out

What did I make while sitting on my backside....... yes, this little cutie.  

This this might be for some little girls baby.

The pattern came from here but I had trouble with the arms and I did alter the ears, so my bunny has ears but no the arms (she’s armless enough). 

And before I forget I did finish my baby shoes with buttons, and think they look too sweet....... just need some tiny feet to put in them now.

I was out on Friday and my friend E showed me some really nice fabric (guess she bought it at our local quilt shop) and mentioned that she was going to make some peg bags.   I have a favourite pattern for peg bags, and use my one all the time, so offered to draw it up for E to use, but while I was thinking about it I decided to make myself a new one, after all my one is getting a bit frayed around the pockets after many years of wear.  

This will match my kitchen curtains 

While sitting in the garden sipping Pimms and nursing my toe, look who came to visit....... 

Jeremy Fisher no less

Sweet Peas are now going mad, so each day I have fresh bunch picked for the house and the scent around the house is wonderful.

Weekend away and the sun shone on us.

We had a long weekend away in the Yorkshire Dales.  My daughter, son-in-law and family live in this beautiful part of the country so we visit as often as we can.  This time we decided to have a stop on our journey up to them, and Wetherby was our choice lunch time stop.  Wetherby is a pretty Market Town just off the M1 motorway (so if you are travelling further north, this is a convenient break in your journey as opposed to the usual service areas).  Thursday is market day, so we had a bit of a wander (and button shopping) before we found a nice little restaurant for our lunch.  Lunch was really yummy and most things were made/baked on the property, so fresh bagels filled with delicious goodies soon disappeared and as the cakes looked so good we decided to treat ourselves (well, we were on holiday---- sort of!).  My cake was Orange, Almond and Lavender, Wow! was that delicious? so I am now trying to find that recipe.

On Friday, my daughter (S) decided we should find the village of Clapham where there was a shop selling yarn. The village is picturesque with a Beck running through the centre. The Beck starts life high on the slopes of Ingleborough where it plunges into subterranean depths.  Ingleborough caves are a well know tourist spot.  The yarn shop becksideyarns sells mainly specialist yarns, but they had a sale basket so I ended up with a few little bits.

the balls are 100% cotton, and the hank is made from sugar cane, and my buttons from the Market.

On our way back from Clapham, we stopped off in Skipton where Attic 24  and her friend Tracy from patchwork chickens have set up a studio.  My friend V who lives in South Africa follows Attic 24, so I had to take a picture of Lucy's area just to make her jealous (big grin on my face). 

Lucy's area of the studio

 Lucy wasn't in the studio, but Tracy was happy to stop and chat to us, tell us all about their new venture and - what a lovely lady!.  Tracy does some felting, so on my next trip north I might just be in touch as I would like to add that to my 'to do' list.  Unfortunately I didn't get photos of Tracy's work, but its lovely and if you hit the link to Attic 24 and scroll down you will get a bit of a glimpse.

Saturday was such a nice day we decided to spend the time resting in the garden, plus my son - in -law (P) had broken his toe on Thursday so long walks were not what he needed.  I took this photo from our attic bedroom (well its my granddaughters bedroom when we are not there).

What a beautiful view to have from most windows in the house.

Sunday morning and the sun still shining so we decided to go to Bernsall for breakfast.  S was going to run there (3miles) and as poor P's toe was not feeling so good we caught a lift there with him but had a lovely walk back.

Had to cross the stepping stones....the bridge was too easy.  

The rest of Sunday was spent in the garden happily hooking away.  

I will make a few more with the little that's left on the balls, then decide what to do with them.

 Now, I have eaten sugar cane, drank the syrup squeezed from cane, but have never crocheted with it!.  

Not complete with buttons, but think they will look cute.

On our way home we stopped off at Bolsover Castle, near Chesterfield.  What an interesting place.   We had the audio tape so it explained the history of the house and its 'main owner' William Cavendish. The keep is in good condition, and the riding house has been restored, but the Terrace Range is in ruins, but with the audio it explained everything about it and how it would have been in days gone by.   I am always amazed that one person can have so much money to renovate and entertain to such lavish extremes.   The views from the castle will take your breath away.

This is the keep which is in very good condition

What a great (long) weekend.

Yo Yo's, Pom Pom's what next?

What does a girl do when she doesn't know what to sew??  She plays on ebay.  My friend had been making pom poms when I visited her, so I thought I would look on ebay to see how expensive they were.  I  soon found there was one up for bids, so had to have a go didn't I, put in my bid and  thought I only had 6 hours to go before I would know the outcome.....should learn to read the small print ...the 6 hours turned out to be 6 days so what could I do in the mean time.  Go have another look to see if there was anything else that was desperately needed.  I didn't have to look for long because I really wanted a smaller one and  after a bit of searching I found the tiny one and bought that outright.  Monday morning my tiny maker arrived, but I had to wait until Friday before I realised that I had won the auction and the small maker arrived. Yeah!   In each pack you have two pom pom makers, so by Saturday morning I had a little gathering.

You wouldn't get them this small using cardboard rings.

So, what do I do with them now?  Put them in a jar of course.

I show some ladies how to crochet, so this means I have to do my homework to make sure I can encourage and get them making some different things.  I have played around with a flower pattern that I think could be used, and, I have also found a use for one of my mini pom poms :)

Perhaps it could be attached to a bag, or even made into a brooch

Today I met up with my Monday sewing group, and guess what!  My friend L. turned up with two more pom pom makers.Yippee!

The smaller pink one needs some attention, but this is my little group

So, now I have to think of how to use these cute little pom poms.

I think I have said before (many times) that our summer is rubbish, so I have decided to pick some of the flowers growing in the garden so I can see the beauty of them indoors.

Beautiful or what.

This pale pink peony is my absolute favourite.