Jelly Rolls!

So here it is, begun! The pattern I am doing is called something like post rail fence and you start by sewing the strips into sets of 5 with a lighter one in the middle. Then you have to iron them....I thought I might be able to miss this bit out, but you really can't!

Here are some of my sets of strips...

...and these are the ones waiting to be stitched together. It took me the whole day and evening to get this done and then cut the strips into squares. Didn't take a pic of the squares as it was too late when I finished.

Watch this space to see how it grows. Slowly, I expect as I am back at work now. Six weeks til more hoiday!

Mini Quilt Month 2.

Ever since I discoverd these mini quilts of the month over at Purlbee , I have been waiting desperately for the second pattern. And then it came up, this time focussing on circles and applique. I had to rummage through Gilly's stash as my previous block was mainly plains and this called for pattens but using mine and a few of hers I managed it! What a very different technique; adding interfacing to the back and then hand stitching them all on. I think they will look better once I have backed and quilted them to give them a bit more life. Still they have whet my appetite to do more patchwork. I have a Jelly Roll burning a hole in it's bag as I type....

Extreme Knitting....

Here's some of the gang! Several of us managed to go to the "Make It" show in Farnborough. (from l-r,half of me, Helly, Sharon and Gilly) In Brighton I had seen these HUGE wooden knitting needles and pondered about buying some. Gilly did get some and having seen what she could do with them and her stash of wool I decided I HAD to have some too! Karen was really helpful and put up with all our dithering! Her website is just in the process of being set up but still pop and have a look.

I couldn't wait to get going so as soon as I got home I went up in the loft to get out all the wool I have stashed there. I could have sworn it was all orange but I found I had a nice selection of colours.... Just a couple of hours later I had a funky new cushion cover! I used 8 strands at a time, 2 red, 1 each of brown and cream, 3 different oranges and a bumpy wool that was orange, plum and greeny colours.It was so easy to do and very satisfying as I was using up all my odds and ends and feels so snuggly! I am now in the process of knitting a snuggly blanket........

Finally I did it.....

I come from a family of very clever creative peeps! My Grandad was a tailor, both my Nanas were fab knitters, Mum embroiders and quilts and my Auntie Sue knits and crochets but despite dabbling in the whole range of crafts, I just cannot crochet. I have asked my Auntie Sue to teach me, I tried to learn from the internet and a book but I just can't do it!!! For som odd reason it makes me very angry that I can't master this craft that everyone says is sooooo easy! I was moaning about this at Gillys last weekend and it became rather a joke as Helly (who thinks she is the worlds slowest knitter because she is left-handed) CAN crochet! So I asked her to teach me! When I got home I tried my own Granny square.....looks a bit ropey and much more practice needed but I think that finally I GET IT! Thank you Helly!!!!

After that waffle here is Week 8 of the Art Journal. This week was Books....Use a page for the BG; list your fave 5 and include a quote. OMG...this was sooooo hard as I LOVE books. I think that my bestest is Lady Chatterley's Lover..the quote I chose is just as the affair starts; when Mellors asks her to join him in the wooden hut that becomes their meeting place. Why do I love this book? Well it isn't just the way Lawrence writes about their affair, nor is the fact that the TV adaptation had Sean Bean (who I REALLY have a crush on!!) as Mellors, it is because I love the way he describes the woodland; the smell of the damp earth and the flowers and I love the way Connie is so hedonistic and selfish in an age when that just was not acceptable. Let's face it too; who of us would not want to be ravaged in a simple country cottage by a manly, earthy Gamekeeper.......

Art Journal Week 7

This one I was DESPERATE to do! Challenge this week was "What is your favourite colour, why, use as BG and doodle a border." Well no thought on this...it had to be purple! It hasn't always been purple, about a year ago it was cerise pink and before that it was orange. So maybe my tastes change over time? I went to see Burn and Linda at Burn's cabin on Monday so basically I just grabbed anything purple she had! Distress ink background, lilac and clear embossing (which is why there is no writing on the left!), melted chiffon ribbon, gems, stickles etc etc! Then when I got home I doodled in felt pens and added my journalling. Why purple? No idea! Maybe you can tell me....

Scrapbooking

Yup I am blogging twice in one day! I am sure you are getting used to my spasmodic entries! And it's half term soon so you might get more....although I am off to Edinburgh then....another story! Anyway in my child free day I decided to scrapbook some more. I would have finished another LO but I am waiting for Jess to bring me home a coffee cup from Costa...she has only worked THREE times without remembering! I digress....the first LO is unusually a single one, for my title page for 2010.

And then Jasper and Eliza on their WWII day at school. I deliberately gave Jasper a "short back and sides" hairstyle and made Eliza look really young with her plaits! Bless 'em...can you imagine them being evacuated?
Not quite sure what's going on with my scrapbooking....getting rather geometric these days! My goodness me, before I know it I will be like my friend Helly, She does white, plain and NO pattern for her scrapbooking! SOOOO not me, just TOO tasteful!

Journal Week 6

I needed to mull this one over a bit and then I had no time so hence the lateness of this one! The Prompt was "Friends, who, where, a story about them, include some stencilling". I am not really in touch with any friends from school and as I have moved through life I have collected lots of circles of friends that are un-connected to each other. This is where my idea for this page came from. I stencilled the background circles through some card that I punched and finally managed to print the names of my different groups of friends into spirals.
This was quite a thought provoking task for me. I am a very poor friend I have decided, maybe that is why I am not in touch with any friends from way back. I do have lots of friends, but they are all very separate and represent my compartmentalised life I guess! I make friends easily but I expect them to be as loyal and honest as I am and very often I have been hurt when they aren't. It was interesting to see that all my friends are female; I never really got on with girls when I was younger, preferring the straight-forwardness of the boys!
Well enough of my psychobabble....I just like the pretty colours too!

Some Scrapbooking.

Yes it's been a while but I am now beginning to scrap my photos from 2010. So This LO is from January and guess what? We had snow! We all went to build a snowman that we named Derek!

This LO is also January last year. Jasper wanted to have a go at tying flies and my friend e-mailed me these pics of him doing just that with her Dad.

He wouldn't let me have a real fly so I just found this feather and wrapped the end with wire and thread. Well it looks a bit like his!

Something new!

Last week I went to see my friend Gilly for our monthly scrapbook session. One of the girls brought a friend with her who showed us all this amazing website, purlbee(on my sidebar). So now I am hooked and keep popping over for a browse. They have tons of free patterns and I have already spent many an hour there!
The latest post was about making mini quilts as a full size one can be rather daunting. I have never done a quilt properly; my denim ones were just cobbled together, making it up as I went along, with advice from quilting friends, (some of which I took but most I ignored, being me!)

This was too good an opportunity to miss and as they are doing one a month I decided to make them and then stitch them together to make a full size one! This pattern was called "Courthouse Steps". I started like this...

...and after 4 hours got to this point. It was meant to be peacock colours but Jess got the best colours she could find and actually I think they look ok. I will add to them on other mini quilt pieces so hopefully by the end it will all "go" together and look a bit more "peacocky".

I rather like the skinny piece; wasn't sure about including it but am glad I did now. I just need a couple more strips and this section will be done. It is about 18" square and I think I will stitch all the mini quilts together before I add the wadding and quilting. Well that's assuming I don't lose interest before then!
So for once in my life I have followed instructions on how to do something crafty and done it properly! Who needs classes?

Randomness!

Over atUKStampers Effie has been hosting a "Random Swap".In this one we sent off 5 random things to the person below us on a list and therefore received 5 from somebody above us. This is what I got.... The paper is really funny, with french writing on, underneath which is a pronounciation and then a third line which is the translation! So I got the paper, fabric, ribbon, lace and a button.

This is what I did...cut the fabric into tattered flowers and inked the edges of some. I then made the lace into a couple of centres and stitched them together. Stitched the ribbon into a rosette and added the button as a centre then attached the whole lot to a tag that I had covered with the fabby french paper that I had inked over randomly. Great fun this one and stretched my creative muscle!