Yay! for my girl

Seriously, please cheer 'hooray' for my girl. She has spent two years making this embroidery hoop which she received as a Christmas present. Isn't it amazing?

She really wanted to learn all of the new stitches: french knots, lazy daisy stitch, chain stitch, star stitch, stem stitch and those little buttonhole stitches in the bottom left hand corner. The only part I did was most of the stem stitch swirls to get her motivated to decorate them. She is 12 and I am so proud of her endeavour. The kit is from a French company called Un chat dans l'aiguille. It was given to her by my late dad and his wife, Chantal, who is french. The designs on the website are divine - just look even if you don't want one! 

Megan had one too so it is time to teach another girl all of the stitches all over again! I can't think of a better thing to do in lock down can you?

Love Jo xxx

Really Cross Stitch

A little stitching was in order. My shoulder was a bit sore from knitting so it needed a rest. My bestie bought me this book for Christmas:cross stitch with feminist slogans. I chose this one...

For me, it reflects my tenacity to learn something new. I have persevered with sock knitting for the last two years and now I can make patterned socks and really enjoy the process. I have a persistent character - I am a capricorn. This little slogan is on my sock knitting bag ready to pick up and knit wherever I go. I find it a really motivating phrase.

The threads are from Helen Phillips which I thankfully won in a giveaway. They matched well with the colour palette of the design. Maybe the slogan represents entering giveaways too!!

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xx

Denim Jacket Stitching

You may recall I said I do not do a lot of stitching but when I do, I fall in love with it and with this project I fell in love, bought new tea towels and moved in with the guy.

This is my daughter in case you think I have lost a terrific amount of weight! She is over the moon with her jacket upcycle I did a few weeks back. 

I used the rest of the magic sheet from DMC to mark out the dream catcher design which I can not claim as my own. It is from Craftsy here. I got stitching and couldn't stop. It was finished in three days.

I did a loft rummage last month to swap the girls clothes over. The older sisters clothes were passed down to the younger sibling and in a bag I found lots of clothes aged 9-10 years which I had forgotten about. They were from my friend with three older girls. They were perfect for Big Sis (good job I found them in time)and in it was this virtually new denim jacket from Zara Kids.

I did use a few more stitch techniques than in the original design. I used some gold threads to make chains to hang the feathers from and I remembered how to do french knots. You've gotta LOVE it.

She wore it to a birthday party. Nine girls all going out for Pizza. Oooh, she is getting a big girl.

My own sixteen year old denim jacket beckons... now where are those threads.

Jo xxx

A Little Stitching

I don't do a great deal of stitching but I always fall back in love with it when I do. This little project bag was a perfect way to fall in love all over again. 

The threads and drawstring bag are from DMC given to me at the CHSI show back in February. The colours play out as you sew. The design is drawn onto a sticky fabric called Magic Sheet which is temporary by washing it off at the end. Draw your design, sew, wash and hey presto! your very own piece of stitching design. 

My design was simple, nothing too intricate that would make me stuff it back under the sofa. I have a short attention span.

I peeled the back off, stuck it to the bag and got stitching.

The self colouring yarn was the inspiration for the self striping sock design. It is naive but I like it.

It washes off and then I gave it a final press.

Ready to fill with a sock knitting project.

You can see Julia's here. She made one too. Thanks for dropping by. Jo xx

Thanks for sharing your childhood toy stories and memories. I enjoyed reading them and showing my big girl how pleased you were with her sewing machine handiwork. :)

Patchwork and Cabin

Could you collect 16 different scraps from your stash right now? I was amazed that I could. It was to make this little free gift wonder from Lina Patchwork. It is a 16 petal Chrysanthemum paper piece kit.

She sent it as a little thank you after I ordered my custom cut diamond papers for my eight pointed star quilt. 

The flower is just 7" and was a joy to make in the evenings when my crochet arm could do no more. The little kit would make a great mini thank you gift for someone, made up or as the papers for a crafter.

I have hung it up at the cabin with the little collection of hoops I seem to have collected. Each piece of fabric giving me a different little memory - school skirts, Laura Ashley, pyjamas, my mans shirt, Amy Butler, Boden dress off cut, or the kindness of a blog friend, all worthy of happy memories.

We took loads more stuff back to the cabin this weekend but we are still not quite finished. We worked hard painting and putting the hooks and shelves back up. Luckily I had put pork in the oven before we went. Six hours later, after a lot of hard work, dinner was ready when we all returned home.

Had a busy weekend? Thanks for stopping by. Jo x

Ps. Can you see it Christina? Little pink flowers...

Stitching

I don't do much cross stitch anymore. I used to when I was younger, worked as a full time teacher and time to craft was short. Now I prefer to make things which my family need because I have less cash and more time (sort of!) After the DMC workshop I attended at CHSI Show earlier this year, I got to have a go with these new variegated threads.



This is the sort of cross stitch I can enjoy. No colour changing  just making a pattern and enjoying the process of calmly hand sewing. The threads are truly beautiful.

This little number is to hang in the new cabin when it is finished as a celebration of our hard work and determination to put one up all over again. My brilliant bloke, his dad and his brother are there right now with hammers and nails working their socks off (none of my dodgy socks I might add!)

Jo xxxx

Ps. The colour I used is coloris if you wanted to know what it was called.

Live Simply

Time for a change I think with something easier on the eye.

'Live simply' is often a quote or phrase I see on my favourite blogs, I think this is one of the things that draws me to them. (sweeping statement alert) I think people who make things truly believe that they are using their time in a way that means they are living their life simply.

When I saw this stitching kit on the Minerva website I knew I wanted one for our hideaway cabin. When we are there it feels like the essence of living simply. Also, I knew you guys would love it too. So this is my Minerva make for January.

There were brilliant instructions and all the thread was already sorted onto a card. I used chain stitch, daisy stitch, french knots, stem stitch and back stitch all shown in picture tutorials in the instructions.

A most enjoyable winter project.

Thanks Minerva. Live Simply. Jo xxx

Just in time for Advent

This months Minerva kit is a door wreath made from seasonal fabric. I hang my door wreath on Advent, the first of December but Christmas stays very much under wraps until the last week before Christmas day in our house.

The kit includes four seasonal fat quarters and a polystyrene ring. It looks a bit pink here but it is truly red, gold and green.

The Yo yo's or Suffolk puffs are easy to make and quite addictive.

  

The ring was covered in yarn wound round and round. I overlapped the yarn on the inner ring a little to allow for a full spread on the outside edge. I could have crocheted it but I have done this before and then covered all of my lovely crochet stripes with the decorations so I didn't think it was worth it.

  

The top has a bow made from two rectangles of fabric joined with a tied ribbon but you can go as wild or traditional as you like. Mine is quite traditional as it is going to hang on our front door which is set on a three storey house with sash windows. The buttons are added with a glue gun to cover the centre of the circles.

I like it, it has a sort of traditional longevity about it. 

Thanks for the materials Minerva. Jo xxx

A picture says a thousand words

A picture tells a thousand words...

St John's church where my great-grandad, grandad, dad and I were christened along with other family milestones of death, birth and marriage.  The Caradoc and Lawley hills of South Shropshire, watching sunsets, foxgloves and primroses, sheep and wildlife, hazel trees, a campfire for marshmallows and of course our cabin built in 2014.

But I think it says even more that I took the time to make the memory in naive stitches and I am really rather proud of that. I took inspiration on this crafty journey from Gillian's holiday image at Tales from a Happy House blog where I love to go every Friday for happy vibes.

This weekend we went to the cabin, lit the logburner, shared the evening with friends, ate hot potatoes and chilli, then we watched the children enjoy sparklers.

I'm feeling rather whimsical..... Jo xxxx

Once, twice, three times...

I tell a story. It is true. Cross my heart. I told it at the dinner table to a pile of strangers and it was mentioned on a blog. Then I told it at a knitting group I attend and then I saw it on a blog again. Then I thought, why is that story not on my blog for my loyal followers to enjoy?

When I was young I did cross stitch. It is boring to me now but it was how I started out in craft like many of us. I did rather large projects but they were impressive on completion.

I decided to make an Autumn cushion, beautiful it was; with a mushroom in the centre and various autumn motifs of acorns, oak leaves, blackberries and bracken in concentric borders around the edge of the main fungi picture.

I put the cloth on a frame, and started at the top. I worked tirelessly on it building up the borders. One day it was exactly half complete, I twisted the wing nuts on the frame and wound up the cloth to complete the other half....dun, dun, dah.... There was not enough fabric to complete the project!

I cried, I looked at it a lot over the next few weeks trying to work out how I could solve the problem, I couldn't, I would have to live with it, shove it under the sofa or put it in a cupboard and hope that a miracle would happen.

It ate at me so much that I wanted to get rid of it and move on to something else but I could not bear to throw such workmanship in the bin so I had an idea...

I dug a hole in the garden and I buried it! It seemed the only decent way to say goodbye to it gracefully. I was aged 23. I was living with my first boyfriend. I was working out what to do in different real life emotional situations but do you know what? I would do the same today, some things just don't work out and it is sometimes best to have a little wallow and move on.

Which is all a great metaphor because back then, that boyfriend later chucked me out and I got together with my charming Bloke. We had two beautiful girls and I learnt to crochet them pretty baby cardigans. Moving on is good. I really felt that this weekend as we crocheted, played in the field and ate lunch at the cabin. Life felt Good.

Thanks to Louise at There She Sews and Karen at Did you make that? for reminding me that I told this crazy story out loud to real people and they laughed their heads off at me!

Did you laugh or cry?!

 Love Jo xxxxx