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Wednesday 31 August 2016

Busy doing not much at all

I wonder if it is the sun that has chased away my enthusiasm for sewing but all I have to say is there has not been much of any going on in this house.  I did manage my Mini Mania Challenge for this month, but even that gave me a few headaches ....... I decided to make a few different size plates and to try something new.  I started with the largest plate and sewed three different fabrics together to make a multi coloured plate, but what I didn't realise until I had sewn them altogether was that if you only use three colours the middle blocks will obviously be all the same...bit of a Derrrrrr! moment, still live and learn as they say...


This one measures about 7" from point to point 
back at the sewing machine to make a smaller one, but only two colours this time

each blade was 3" at this stage
now for the fun bit

Points sewn 
got the yellow and green together nicely, but then tried even smaller and goodness knows what happened to them but they certainly didn't make a plate...

Something definitely wrong here 
bit of jiggery pokery and finally got there

don't look too closely at the quilting...I was tired! 

I am still playing with beaded baubles. 

Love making these 

Just a few more...

and finally this should be all about my scarf/wrap.........I must have spent about 4 days knitting a pattern row, then the next row, only to unknit these as something was wrong.  I finally gave up as I always seem to have the correct number of stitches (261 at this point) and just couldn't get the pattern to work...and life's too short!  I'd like to think the pattern was wrong, but I very much doubt that so as a last resort .....

needles out and unpicking begins 
I have often shown you photos of my Tuesday evening country walks, but the evenings are drawing in now and the sunsets are more difficult to capture, but this is what we do half way around - when the evenings are as warm as they have been in the last couple of weeks...

Not quite Champagne flutes, but these will do nicely  
Enjoy the last of the summer sun.




Monday 15 August 2016

Not much sewing going on, but keeping busy

I really am falling down on my blogging lately, but I think I might have lost my mojo for sewing as well. I might blame it on the stunning summer we have had, but that wouldn't be true as we have had a rubbish summer really.   There have been the odd days of sunshine and I have tried to make the most of those days with some long walks and the occasional bike ride.......no photos sorry?

I did sew last month's challenge but can't say that Seminole quilts are my favorite - still you always  learn a few things along the way, so that's a bit of a consolation.


Learnt a lot along the way


I have also spent time watching the Olympics (which I am really enjoying) and knitting up the yarn I dyed with L   If you remember we only dyed 50 gr. hanks and there's not a lot you can make with just 50 gr, but fingerless mitts work very well.  All the patterns came free from Ravelry....  If you want patterns, Ravelry is a good place to look.


4 skeins ready 


Ready for winding into balls 
and after a few weeks those hanks turned into these 

gifts ready and waiting.


I had a trip back to Lichfeild and Spellbound beads ðŸ˜±ðŸ˜± gilts got me again.  I bought mainly beads this time, and as soon as I got home I started playing.   My sister in law S had bought a pattern for the Emperor bauble a couple of years ago at Alli Palli and neither of us could get our heads around it at the time, so it was pushed to the back of the pile and forgotten until this visit to the shop.  I thought I would try it again as this is one of the patterns in the.book I bought.  Would you believe it, this bauble is no more difficult than any of the others so I have been busy and started whipping up the tassels.   I have to say I am really enjoying beading at the moment, even to the point of buying myself a new box to (hopefully) keep them all together


These are the tassels 
and the tassels turn into this

Emperor Bauble 

and just a few more that I have enjoyed making

Not great photos but gives you an idea