BAD, BAD, BAD!!!

Oh I am so bad!! This is the year of finishing up projects, but I have started TWO new ones this month!! I am still sewing Shh - you know what, but I got a book out of the library on unusual crochet blocks, and then read Attic 24's article on making crochet banners, and I just had to have a go!! 

I adapted both patterns (in other words I made up my own!!)

I have been wanting to make a banner to show my support for Scottish Independence...

... and I had seen a lot of yarn bombing, which looked great fun!! 

I thought I would yarn bomb the fence on the field next to our house...

...but I would have to put some weight at the bottom of the pennants, as we get so much wind, ...

 ... so I sewed on some beads in the appropriate colour...

... and I made a banner in the middle ...

... and a flower to represent the Flower of Scotland (the song!) ... 

... sewed them together... 

 ... in the colours representing the Scottish flag...

... YES!! 

I couldn't quite get a picture of it altogether ... 

... 

... (excuse the feet and jeans!) ...

My husband said it was too nice to go on the fence, where it would get extremely dirty, so .... 

... I hung it in our conservatory.! 

It is quite small, ... 

... but next year there will be a larger one!!!

YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! 

Till next time.

tich

I Spy What and Bloglovin'

What do I spy?

I spy beautiful materials.

I spy beautiful materials with wonderful patterns on them. 

But does anybody recognise them? 

 I spy beautiful materials with wonderful patterns on them, which were sent to me by equally wonderful ladies from all over the world. These materials were sent to me when my sister died. The colours excited me, the patterns made me smile and the love and concern from ladies I hardly knew uplifted my heart and consoled me in my sadness. 

I decided that these materials would be kept for a special project. I did not know what, back then, but I knew I would need them for a SPECIAL project in the future. That project has arrived!! I am having so much fun, and despite my jaw still being a bit off, I have started sewing a little , and I am smiling at the wacky patterns and the gorgeous colours. What am I making? WAIT AND SEE!!!!

I am LOVIN' BLOGLOVIN'. I read on some of the blogs I follow, that a lot of people do not like it, as they cannot leave comments on the blogs or follow live links. I had the same problem when I started, and was getting really frustrated. I couldn't believe that the software developers would develop an app with such a fundamental fault. I started playing about and found that the developers were not as daft as I thought. It was me that was daft!! To leave a comment on a blog that you are reading on Bloglovin', click the cross on the right hand side of the Bloglovin's taskbar at top of the page. This takes you immediately to the blog itself, and you can comment and link no bother! I have kept up with all the blogs I read, and I don't get overwhelmed with posts I have missed. I LOVE BLOGLOVIN'.

Till next time.

tich

Disaster!!

As a few of you will know I have been having problems with my jaw and face for the last six weeks and have been sitting around not doing much.... but I did manage to read the above books (I am now just going on to read book six in the series) I do not like sitting doing nothing, so I decided to dig out a UFO. I knew it would have to be a very small project, as I could not concentrate for long. 

I don't think I could have found a smaller project!

This project was in a poly bag in the corner of my UFO drawer and had been there for AT LEAST seven years!!

I do not know where I saw the original design, but I do know the blocks were HUGE, at least 10 inches in height.

I like my blocks to be small....

... the smaller the better, so I redrew the block to 2.5 inches and the depth of the tulip head is 1 inch.

I must have been mad!! Look at the size of those corner triangles!! They are only 1/4inch long! And I must have been having a really bad cutting-out day, as all my seam allowances are dreadful!!

I only had three tulips to sew to finish, and all the material and templates were there, so I got going. I wanted the quilt to look like a garden, so once I had the tulips sewn togethar, I sashed them to make it look like paths between the flowers, and then sewed on green borders.

I then drew out the quilting design on a piece of paper. I wanted it to look like a snail was wandering round the garden - you can see him in the picture - sorry Blogger will not let me turn it the proper way. I was concentrating (or trying to) so hard to get the stitches even that I forgot to include the poor wee thing!

You can see a close up of the design above.

I don't usually use blue wash-out pens or purple fade-away pens for marking quilts, but this time I was going for the easy option. I used the blue wash-out pen, because I knew I would be washing the quilt immediately after I finished it. 

I washed it carefully and then soaked up the excess water from the quilt in a towel.

I decided to pin and block the small quilt just to see if it improved the look of the quilt, so I left it on the floor of the conservatory, where it gets nice and warm, when the sun is shining. When it was dry, I took out the pins and had a good look at it!

Disaster!!!!!!

EEEK!!

The red material leeched into the surrounding material!! I ALWAYS wash my material, when I bring them home, so I do not understand how this happened! the above photograph doesn't look too bad, but that is after I did this -

I put some stain removal on it and it did make a difference. I washed it again and reblocked and redried it, and this is the result -

I am a bit sad it is not perfect (and neither is my quilting), but it is one UFO off the list.
Till next time.
tich

Bloglovin

I said in my last post that I had not been well for a while. Things are improving slowly, but I still can't chew. I keep on fantasising about a crispy roll and butter, or even a piece of bread, butter and marmalade. Who said I had sophisticated tastes?

Not much has been done on the creative side also. I get tired really easily, but I did start a bead pattern that I designed and also dug out a mini quilt, which has been a UFO for years. Pictures, perhaps, next time. 

I managed to get really behind in my blog reading. I had been using Google Reader, but went back to using the old-fashioned way of clicking on the blog and getting stuck in. On one of the blogs, the lady was bemoaning the fact that Google Reader was going, but gave a link to a new one - Bloglovin. It is so easy to use, and you can transfer your Google Reader blogs as easy as pie. If you want to  a look, go to this link -

 Bloglovin

I have had great fun catching up on all my bloggie friends. Hopefully I won't get behind again.

Till next time.

tich

Tulips

My bloggie friend, Lynn, had pictures of a bunch of red tulips on her blog and I was envious. When I saw these pink beauties, I just had to have them. I love tulips! They are so smooth and perfect, when they are new, and when they get older, their colour changes and they get wild and wacky. Hope this happens to me as I get older!! Who said it is already happening to my hair?!!? 

I have not been well for nearly three weeks and the tulips really cheered me up. I had a really restricted diet and was not even allowed a glass of wine on my birthday two weeks ago, but the tulips kept me smiling! They lasted ages, but started eventually to fade in colour. They did go a wee bit wacky, but perhaps they felt as subdued as I did. The photograph below was taken looking down on the flowers. The colours, which do not show, were glorious.

My husband, who has been an absolute angel these past three weeks has promised he will take me out for a slap up meal when I am back to eating normally. Yum!

Till next time

tich

This is FASCINATING!!

I didn't realise I could speak so many languages!
Till next time.
tich

Progress!!

A little bit of progress. This little quilt has been sulking in a corner, as I have been trying to make up my mind what kind of wadding to use, when I go to quilt it. It is a bit crushed and forlorn looking. Hopefully it will look a bit better soon!
Till next time.
tich