New Machine

I have spoken before about my new machine, here, the Bernina 630E. I try to do something on Loopy Locket every day, but I must be honest and say that the most I have sewn on her has been to do with teddy bear bags. They are almost finished now, and all that has to be done, is to collect the last of the bags from Lena and get them parcelled up. I can then clean up my studio and call it my own. I made an embroidered bag (and the bag) for my friend's birthday, but I am still a bit anxious about the embroidery unit. (I went to put a link for the bag and realise I have not posted about it - duh!!) I thought I would try out a bit of lace. I know this is really elementary stuff for people who use embroidery machines, but I was so excited, that I had produced this butterfly. I used two layers of wash-away stabiliser, and it worked like a dream. Big pats for Loopy Locket, and big grins for me!

What an amazing man!!

Sewing Machines!

I love old sewing machines. My grandmother lived with us many years ago, and she had an old treadle Singer in our hall. At an early age, she had me 'sewing' sheets of paper, with no thread in the needle. I then progressed to thread and material, dolls' clothes and then a simple skirt. By the time I was a teenager, I was making my own, very simple clothes. The feed dogs on the machine were not very good, so I used to help the material through. It took me years to stop doing this on other machines.

When we got married, my husband bought me my first electric sewing machine, a Singer straight stitch. I gave this to my grandson when we moved up here, as it had been retired years ago. I have had various electric machines since then, but I still loved the old clunkers. I started collecting them and had various treadles, hand cranks and toy machines. But then we moved from a rambling house in the country, to a smaller house in town, to save me driving sixty miles a day to work. I culled the machines, but kept my favourites, including a chain stitch machine.

When we moved up here I culled again, but now I have started adding, or should I say the islanders are adding to my collection. I was given an old Singer, which sews horizontally, instead of vertically and a couple of weeks ago I saw the machine above at a jumble sale. It was filthy, unloved, but still being used. It was calling to me, so I took it home. I spent two hours cleaning it, and it still needs more done to it, but it is lovely. It has a bullet bobbin and a hand crank. I have dated it, and it is one hundred and two years old and made in the Singer Kilbowie factory in Clydebank, Scotland. As the trader said, 'If the electricity goes out, you will still be able to sew.' Sounds good to me!

tich

Retirement

I thought retirement (or early retirement) was supposed to be a leisurely affair - perhaps having a long lie, considering what I am going to do with the day over another cup of tea, reading a book whenever I want! Life has been MANIC here of late, and I am beginning to wilt at the edges.

It started with our fireplace This is what it looked like peviously, when we had just laid the laminate floor -

I hated it! It was cracked, chipped and I never could get the hearth to look clean. We eventully decided that it really was awful, so now my fire looks like this - It was taken out a couple of weeks ago, all the furniture, pictures etc. are spread round the rest of the house. I can't find anything! We bought a multi-fuel stove about a month ago, so it is waiting to be fitted, once all the cement has dried. On top of that, my husband went away for two days, during the worst weather we have had for ages. It was really difficult to feed the ducks and hens in torrential rain during a gale. We have had two AGMs on the one day,for associations of which we are members, and a 'do' for the doctor who is leaving the island. All in all a stressful and/or busy time. Never mind! We got more hens and ducks yesterday and also some turkeys, I am going swimming tonight and I am going to sit down later and 'chill out' with a glass of wine. Sorry for the moan. Tomorrow will be better.

Women's' Institute

The Women's Institute is an organisation throughout Britain, which meets monthly. Usually there is a talk or demonstration and then tea and sandwiches/cakes. There are two competitions a month, either baking or making something, and at the end of the evening the these are judged by the speaker.

This month we had to make something from recycled material and paint a stone. I made the jester bag from my mother-in-laws velvet curtains and an old nylon shirt of mine. The draw-string ribbon was from an old Christmas wreath. The beads and the bells were from there too. On the stone from our bay, I painted the view from my kitchen window, but I exaggerated the hills, as there is only one hill in Sanday. I got a first for my bag and a second for the stone.

The weather is changing now, with some good days, but cooler nights. I have lots of pictures of the girls out playing, during the summer, so I will be looking back, during the winter, thinking of warmer days.

Swallows

We have had a pair of swallows nesting in our field shelter for the ponies all summer. This picture shows the offspring waiting for Mum or Dad to come back to feed them. They were not at all shy. Aren't they cute?

Animal Quilts

I am still trying to catch up on myself after the summer, but I want to keep up with my blog. I made these earlier in the year for my granddaughters. I thought I would try to make the quilts a wee bit educational, so I tried to think of using materials, which would incorporate some kind of learning. Both quilts use preprinted squares of animals, with one having the names of the animals printed underneath. As well as using them for comfort and warmth, I thought the quilts quilts could be used in the following ways -

• to learn colours
• to learn the names of different animals
• to learn how to spell animals' names
• counting up the different groups of animals
• addition and subtraction of the different groups.

The girls love them.

Teddies, Teddies and more Teddies

We are still working away on the teddies. There are over 200 now and still stragglers coming in. The last picture shows LA in the middle with Mary (74) and Susan (100) on the right, with a few of the teddies they knitted. Mary knitted nearly sixty and Susan completed sixty-five. Susan has lived all her life on the island, and she is proudly showing the card she received from the Queen, on her hundredth birthday. Mary has also lived all her life here and used to work for Sanday Knitters, a business exporting hand-knits all over the world. (Blogger has published the pictures in the wrong order, hence the funny order of talking about the pictures!)

The middle picture shows a pile of teddies, waiting to get packed, and the first picture is of LA and I wondering if we will ever get finished. We are now making the draw-string bags for the teddies, and have only fifty or so to do, before sending them off to the Mercy Ships. The islanders have been really great, knitting all the teddies and supplying wool. I have made a huge dent in my material stash, making the bags, and we were supplied with the stuffing. Unfortunately it has flattened somewhat, so I have had to go back and re-stuff some of the teddies. Never mind! The end is in sight!!

I'm Back!!

Grovel, grovel!! Sorry I have been away for so long, but we went on holiday to Penicuik and Leeds and back to Penicuik, and then we had our granddaughters for nearly seven weeks. We had such fun! The weeks just flew by, and not much housework was done, but we certainly covered a lot of ground!

The pictures above were in an older shopping centre in the middle of Leeds. The ceilings were absolutely amazing. (Sorry about placement. I don't seem to get the hang of this.) Leeds was very hot and uncomfortable, but we had a great time seeing my son's new house, being with the grandsons again and eating wonderful food our daughter-in-law made.

As you know I was not happy with my Bernina 440. When I went to see my daughter on the way down to Leeds, I popped into the dealer. I had already been talking to him on the phone, and he tempted me with a new Bernina 630 with the embroidery unit thrown in for free. It was such a good deal! I would like to introduce you to not Lucy Locket, but Loopy Locket - no - not because I am loopy (my hearing is really good!), but because my new little beauty loops and locks to her heart's content. She is lovely, we understand each other and she sews like a dream.

Eye Candy

Just some eye candy to keep you going, till we get back. Wish I knew how to upload pictures, so that they stayed in a straight line!

tich

Clutch Bag

I got a fleece from a friend. It was a bit rough, so I decided to felt it. I made the felt into a clutch bag and felted a 'C' on it, for one of my friend's girls. I lined it and then added some beads and sequins. It is still rough, but it was just an experiment. This post is post dated, as we are still away.

tich

Docken Leaves

I got a new camera for my Christmas. We bought it quite a bit after Christmas, so I am still getting used to it. I like taking pictures of plant life, close up. These are what we call docken leaves. As they get older they turn red. They are inspiring.

This post has been post dated, as we are away to see our family.

tich

David

This is King David from the Old Testament, and I see it every time I sit down in the lounge. I hasten to add I did not embroider it. I did a City and Guilds in Embroidery parts I and II a few years ago, and one of the ladies a year ahead of me embroidered this. I kept on looking at its progress every week. It was spectacular! I can't remember the name of the lady who embroidered it (perhaps Pat?) but she was so talented. I fell in love with it, and said if she got fed up with it, no matter when, I wanted it. As soon as the finals were over she sold it - to my husband! He bought it for me! I still love it! I have had it nearly thirty years, and I still adore it. Every day, David's expression changes. Sometimes he is sad, reflecting on his past life, other days he is smiling. He gets a new poppy every year, after the 11th November, Remembrance Day.

Hope you enjoy the picture.

tich

Froghopper

I'm really proud of this photograph. We went on a guided walk last week, and the Ranger showed us a plant with froth (cuckoo spit) on it. Inside the froth is a tiny nymph. This is what the nymph looks like on the Ranger's thumb.

Just had to show off!

tich

Sheep Shearing

I was invited this afternoon to come and see my friend shearing sheep, belonging to one of the spinners on the island. I had a great time. The sheep were gathered into two pens, one inside the barn and one outside.

Ian literally zipped through the fleeces. He made it look so easy. The younger sheep struggled a little, because they did not know what to expect, but the older sheep, who had had their fleeces taken off previously, just lay back and let it happen. It did not hurt the sheep, and they seemed relieved that the heavy fleeces were off, and that they were now able to dance about in the sunshine. The fleeces were beautiful, and some of them were extremely large. The resulting wool, spun from from these sheep, will be of extremely high quality. A very interesting afternoon. Thanks Ian!

tich

Polytunnel

   
               

I have been really busy planting, so I have not managed to do any sewing recently. We are really late this year getting the plants in the ground, but we have only managed to get the cover on the polytunnel two weeks ago, because of the weather. This is what the polytunnel looked like last year. It is a BIG polytunnel - 72ft x 18ft. We got loads of stuff out of it last year. In October, we went off the island down to see my daughter. Whilst we were away there were 75 miles an hour gales, and they totally destroyed the cover, along with lots of other things on the island. This year, we had to wait until the weather settled, before putting on a new cover. Never mind! Think of those luscious tomatoes!

tich

Eye Candy

Just some eye candy to keep you going, while we were away. Wish i knew how to upload pictures, so that they stayed on a straight line.

tich

Little Bags

I remembered that years ago I made a number of small lined bags with a flap. The lining was put in as one piece, with no topstitching on the edges. I could not remember how to do it. It is really easy to put in a lining on a bag without a flap, but I was having difficulty working out how to sew in the flap, without top-stitching the top edge. Anyway I got it. Notice the buttons are not sewn in place yet. There is a buttonhole under the the grey button. There is something about completing a project that I have problems with. Now all I have to work out is how to put a lining in, using the same method, on a bag with gussets!

tich

Jelly Rolls

I know it sounds absolutely pathetic. I have been making patchwork on and off for nearly thirty five years now, and up to two days ago, I had never actually seen a Moda jelly roll in real life. I had drooled over them on the Internet, and finally I decided I was going to get one. There were some really nice ones here, and I was fortunate enough to get one on sale, and, of course, I had to get something to go with it! The service was fantastic, and the postage was really reasonable, so I would definitely recommend a visit. Now the only question is - what am i going to make with them?

tich

Fibre Tree

I recently came across the International Fiber Collaborative website. I had already seen pictures of a garage(gas station), which had been covered in 3 foot fibre panels, but when I came across this I was amazed! The website shows how the tree was constructed, and then fibre-related leaves from all over the world were attached.

There are ten pages showing photos of all the different leaves. 

It is truly out of (and part of) this world. Really interesting!

tich

Sewing at Last!

I love surfing the web, looking for ideas for things I can try, as I like learning. I have a lot of favourite blogs, which I visit every day. I was really tickled with the above picture and tutorial at http://rachel-griffith.blogspot.com/ Rachel has some really nice ideas, and she very kindly allowed me to show you the picture above, from her tutorial, here   

 I have already cut out squares of paper in varying sizes, to use up some of my strings, but the ones I am working on are 1.5 inches. I am using up a bunch of scraps I won in a giveaway a while ago from Artgirl (see http://www.colorfulartgirl.blogspot.com/ The scraps are wonderful! Beautiful colours, and I am having fun!! The second and third pictures show some of the blocks I have got done. Only the black cotton is consistantly the same size, the rest are random cut.

Thanks Rachel and Leah for the inspiration!

tich

The Bay

I realise there have not been many 'crafty' items of late, but I am still learning how to use my machine. I thought, therefor, I would give you a little eye-candy - not of the craft type, but of nature at its best. This is the bay in front of my home. It fills and empties twice a day, and each day is different. Often I just sit in the conservatory and gaze at it, or if I am feeling energetic, I walk across it, when it is empty.

Please enjoy the pictures below!

tich

Rhubarb!!

I have been very busy the last few days. No sewing, but I was offered some rhubarb, and of course I jumped at the chance. Coarse rhubarb can be chopped up and put in the freezer. If the rhubarb is left in for a while, it breaks down, so that lots of juice comes out, when it is defrosted. This makes great rhubarb wine. Finer rhubarb makes tarts or great jam. My husband is not a great lover of rhubarb and ginger jam, so I make rhubarb and orange jam. Recipe is below. 

The weather here is glorious. Beautiful blue skies, occasional white clouds and lots of warm, sunny hours. Long may it continue.

Enjoy the recipe!

tich

Rhubarb and Orange Jam

4lb rhubarb

3 sweet oranges

5lb sugar

1 pint water

1 lemon

Cut rhubarb into small pieces. Add grated rind and juice of oranges/lemon with sugar and water. Bring to boil until jellied.

Penny Rug Completed.

At last! I have finished my penny rug. As discussed before, I bought this kit from a newsgroup, which sells unwanted sewing items. It was supposed to be hand  sewn with cotton perle, but I decided to use my Bernina 440QE. I had never used the buttonhole stitch before on a sewing machine. My machine behaved well until I went to sew the outside edges of the small pennies. It was not too happy, but I managed. Not perfect, but I got there. For anybody who is interested, I used the following info to sew the rug. (remember I always take a note of this info, in case I want to go back and do something similar). The needle was, in most cases, moved to the extreme right.

St No. Tension St Length St Width Foot No. Extra

Inner Pennies

161 4 3.10 4.00 20 Mirror Image

Outer Pennies (2 together)

161 4 3.00 3.8 20 Mirror Image

Appliques

161 4 3.10 2.9 20 Mirror Image

Border for large Circle

161 4 3.00 3.8 20 Mirror Image