Enjoying the weather

A few pictures of our weekend, enjoying the weather, preparing for the next chapter of the year and our new family livestock.

I picked more blackberries.

 My dad bought some Hebridean sheep for the farm to graze the grass.

Little M is trying to pet them but they were more interested in the lush grass.

Bloke installed the old log burner in the new cabin.

Little M thought she had found the best marshmallow stick ever until she realised one was getting burnt while the other two remained raw!

It got too hot for the girls so I helped out with the toasting while laughing because I couldn't get up off the floor without the treat starting to slide off the stick!!

Big Sis made little bowls and models from clay exposed on the lower fields.

On Sunday we made our usual weekend National trust visit, this time a mile walk away at Benthall Hall

Savoring the dappled sunshine.

Happy Days! Have a great week one and all. Jo xxx

Sewing Wreath

I have had this project on my mind for a while now, a collection of objects have been accumulating in a little fabric bin especially for this purpose. Vintage sewing finds, empty cotton reels, a tape measure and a polystyrene ring waiting for decoration.

I didn't have enough wooden reels of my grandmothers to complete the ring so I covered the plastic ones to blend in. I am saving the wooden ones a little while longer until I have collected some more.

A crafty friend bought me some self adhesive fabric squares last Christmas and these immediately sprang to mind. I covered the plastic reels then stared at them for a while because they were so pretty for something that would have otherwise gone in the bin.

To cover the ring I considered crochet but as my shoulder is still not A1 I went for a rag tie technique to stay with the sewing theme. Then I just got pinning and decorating. 

Ta dah! Sewing wreath for the door of the room I sew in on the top floor. 

I am so lucky to have space to leave all my tack out permanently. The girls call the cupboard I blagged from my neighbour when she was having a new kitchen 'The shop.' For example, "Mum, can we have some buttons from the shop?" It makes me smile because it is mostly full of thrifted, gifted or second hand craft materials. It does help me keep stash under control though, if it doesn't fit in the cupboard then I can't have it or I simply have to consider that I don't actually  need it.

Happy Crafting. Jo xxxx

All done #13 flowery cord

I had a smidgeon of flowery cord left over and my 'all done' posts, 13 now, celebrate the final using up of left overs. It was gifted to me from my friend who does house clearances, she comes up with some real corkers sometimes and this was one of them. The last small piece had been kicking round a while and I always have a flurry of sewing with cord at this time of year, it seems the perfect fabric to be working with right now.

I made a little denim style skirt without the metal trimmings but with the addition of two buttons to adjust as she grows. The pattern is from my trusty Ottobre Autumn 2105 edition. She really loved it when she saw it on the end of her bed in the morning and wore it straight away. That is a good sign for Little M.

We went to Hanbury Hall national trust and she asked me to wear mine too. I was a little dubious but joined in the fun.

She kept whispering to me, "nobody has noticed we are wearing the same skirts have they?!" They probably have I explained but were admiring from afar without actually mentioning it to us...

Annyyway, she has worn it lots and really likes it. I am striking while the iron is hot so to speak with a few more sews for her while she is keen. She is seven in October but we have only just let go of many aged 3-4 clothes in her drawers, she is a hoarder this one and hates to get rid of her belongings. Little M is small too which means she loathes baggy waists and aged 3-4 is eventually getting too small now.

All done flowery cord, we will wear them with pride but possibly not always at the same time!

On Saturday we entered lots of exhibits in our local craft and horticultural show. Big Sis wanted to enter a victoria sandwich cake but there was not a childrens class so she went up against the adults. It is a very prestigious class and there were eight cakes  however she came second! It was anonymous judging so they did not know who entered, she was thrilled. Bloke entered a 'cake with a vegetable ingredient' This is the remnants of his chocolate and potato cake which came first. He has won this class three times - what a keeper.

Big Sis also won a trophy for the best exhibit across all childrens classes with a cross stitch she had been working on since Easter which can now join the hoop gallery at the cabin.

Not to be left out Little M won 'a garden on a plate' which she enjoyed making with precision.

Me, I entered some knitting and crochet items which won prizes too but you see enough of my stuff here, I am sharing my families happiness today. 

Thanks for spending some time here. Jo xxx

Hooray! Amelia Rainbow Quilt

Hooray! I have finished the rainbow quilt for my friends daughter Amelia. 

I made the border from an old duvet cover which I had been hacking at for making toiles of garments. I finally added a navy binding to frame it up.

I tried machine quilting it but I am never pleased with the results so I resorted to hand quilting with crochet thread size 20 which I enjoyed and am glad I did. Hand quilting always manages to take up some of the slack and imperfections in the quilt backing whereas machine stitching just seams to highlight them and make more puckers and unsightly folds. I think I could have got it smoother but I had two small 'helpers' which made it quite difficult. Also we were on the kitchen floor which was only just big enough for the quilt while we had our bums up to the cooker! I did the last one in a village hall at craft club which was a lot better.

 My machine does not have a big aperture so I always end up brutally shoving it through the hole which leads to a complete mess. I would much rather get a few episodes of QI under my belt and settle down to some hand sewing! The same sentiments are echoed here by Cozy things with her beautiful quilt this week.

So do you think I have used up all of my scraps? Of course not, I will soon be plotting another one for more family friends who are coming of age over the next few years.

Stats:

160 5" left over squares                   0.00

20 5" Charm squares                        5.60

Extra wide bias binding                    7.00

Backing - recycled bed sheet               0.00

Border - recycled duvet cover              0.00

Queen Green wadding  (Half a pack)        12.00

Crochet thread - From stash                0.00

TOTAL                                     24.00

Just because I can, I am boasting my quilt bounty to date. Our Half square triangle double quilt, Imogen, you-are-a-star quilt and the Amelia Rainbow quilt.

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xx

THE stair basket

Making is slow going at the moment, I have a bad shoulder so I can only do about four rows of knitting or crochet before my arm aches so I am amusing you with other delights.

I often do a fun post on the contents of our stairs basket, a humorous look at our family detritus. Living in a three story house requires a great deal of re homing of objects and the basket serves as a holding bay for things that don't quite warrant a full trip up both sets of stairs.

As the children have gone back to school today now seems a perfect time to get some exercise and put some things away.

Bangles, flower corsages, sunglasses, pens, bits of childrens sewing, nail varnish, bug catcher, door stop, hole punch, hair clips, a water pistol, ball, holiday tickets to scrapbook, Meg's watch before it had a new strap, one walkie talkie, paintbrush, bath sharks, hair donut and all the little bits in between.

I bet you have a drawer, bowl or place full of your families bits and pieces. Maybe today is the day to give it a sort out.

Jo xxx

Red #ginghamalong

Hoorah! another red school cardigan under my belt. I like to make the girls at least one each every year. I have posted about them before here. It has taken a while because I have had to do it in small stages with a niggly knitting shoulder.

My girls never lose their school cardigans because they don't look like anyone else's, other children don't pick them up by mistake and I always add one of my labels for good measure.

This one is from Sirdar Seaside Babes. I made it with one ball of 400g WI Aran soft and smooth acrylic which was £10 but I have have some left over. I thought it was DK so it has knit up really nicely on 4mm needles. This is new yarn for me which was a delight to knit with so I am hoping it stands up to weekly washing. Hopefully no more shrinking like the beautiful sublime one I did! 

It is not the turn of Little M to have a new cardigan so I used some red gingham left from a school skirt I made for Big Sis last year to make a batch of scrunchies and a more comfortable watch strap for her with elastic. I love this tutorial which I have used many times. I am also joining in with Karen at 'did you make that' in the #ginghamalong

I have been making lots of things for other people of late so I think it is time to cast on my new GREEN jumper next.

Jo xxxx

It's been fun

We are nearing the end of our six week summer holidays but I know in the UK it varies. I also love that some blogs I follow are looking forward to their warm spells and I like following what is happening seasonally around the world. Our last little holiday projects have been foodie ones. Chopping, slicing, jamming, preserving, wine making, crumbling and freezing our allotment gluts.

One day I asked the girls if they knew what tie dye was. I had just made beetroot chutney and had the boiling water left from the initial boil of beets... There was a blank response so we set about having a go.

The summer holidays have been good this year: making, chatting, seeing friends and dear family, a bit of bickering (we are human!) baking and seeing the girls play together. We have been on a hot holiday to Portugal, visited the safari park, been on a River Severn boat trip, slept over at the cabin, loved the Steam Rally and called in at our favourite national trust places. I tell you what, it's been fun!

Jo x