Five on Friday - Late!

I am rather late to the party with Five on Friday or should that be Five on Sunday? It has been an odd week when my 'get up and go' seems to have 'got up and gone' leaving me tired and trying to catch up all the time. April has gone by so quickly, it is difficult to comprehend that May is upon us. So a little last minute I am joining with Tricky and Carly at Fastblog for the Friday round up.

Earlier this week I suddenly realised the workshop I was attending at the end of the month was actually this Saturday. Mild panic as I was not even sure where the venue was and if I had all the requirements necessary. Fortunately the tutor Nicola Jarvis brought packs for all the students and all we needed was an embroidery hoop, a sharp pair of scissors and lunch. Easily do-able so panic over and after pouring over Google maps I worked out my route to the Community Centre where the workshop was held. I do not have a Sat-Nav but I'm seriously thinking about getting one. The workshop was great, creating one of Nicola's Bijou Bird designs in hand stitch. It is such a luxury to sit and sew for a day and not think about all the domestic tasks that would be trying to take priority at home. You can see more of Nicola's beautiful work here. 

Here is a peek at my progress so far. There is still a lot to do but I am looking forward to finishing it and I shall write a separate post about the day later.

There has been some other stitching this week too as I have been creating some new Project books for a my Etsy shop and prizes for other projects. More about those later.

My poor sewing machine is looking rather dusty in this close up. I do clean it before every sewing session, honest, but working with a felt base does throw a lot of fibres up.

The rainbow blanket I shared last week is continuing to grow slowly although is in competition with a new CAL that I could not resist. It is the Hotel of Bees CAL organised by Sandra at Cherryheart and Sam at BetsyMakes. The pattern is by Christina Hadderingh at a Spoonful of Yarn. It is a lovely pattern that is very addictive, although requires some concentration. There has been some ripping back when I have been too busy looking a the TV instead of my crochet.

I am on the third and final section and will reveal all when it is complete.

The garden is looking lush despite having very little rain for many weeks now. I cannot remember such a dry April in a long time. It has been cold too this week and not conducive to pottering in the garden.

The blossom has been beautiful and the miniature apple tree is still wreathed in pretty flowers despite the cold and a few frosty nights. 

Well, reading through I seem to have promised three future posts so had better get myself organised, projects completed and writing done. Perhaps having a target will help me focus.

I hope you have all had a good week and are enjoying the long weekend if you live here in the UK.

Catching Up

It had been my intention to catch up with blogging and recent projects before Five on Friday came round again but here we are and Friday is upon us. Slowly, slowly I am becoming more familiar with the new laptop but much slower than I would wish. However, here a few projects I have been getting on with recently - happy distractions from technology.

1. Happy Scrappy Patches

Back in March I shared the Spring patch here using a Jessie Chorley screen printed patch. It was so enjoyable doing some simple stitch that I decide to create patches for the rest of the seasons in a similar style. Eventually they will be made into a wall hanging.

2.  New Pattern

Baby Kimono Jacket

This little baby kimono jacket was made from a Joji Locatelli pattern on Ravelry and was completed just in time for the arrival of the latest member of the family. My niece and her husband had a beautiful baby boy at the end of March. They are all well and very happy.

3. Old Pattern

Cardigan and Hat

This is an old family favourite pattern and has been made dozens of times over the years. My mother knitted it for me *!#*# years ago and every family member since. I changed the lacy panel to a cable pattern as I thought it was more suited to a boy. The hat is a very basic one given to me by a friend and again knitted numerous times. 

4. Sock Knitting

There is generally always a pair of socks on the go as they are so useful to take to appointments to while away the time if there are delays. This is a child's pair using up the leftovers from my last pair of long socks. Progress is slow but that is okay as it is useful to have something to pick up and go. 

5. Rainbow Blanket

The Rainbow blanket is growing, although again progress is quite slow. It is lovely and relaxing to do a few rows in the evening when I am tired and not in a mind for stitching or anything else that taxes the brain. The coloured stripes are completely random with no master plan, just bits and pieces of Stylecraft Special DK left over from other projects. There will be a lot of ends to stitch in and I keep thinking it would be sensible to do a few as I go along but it hasn't happened yet! 

Joining with Tricky and Carly at FASTblog for Five on Friday.

Click on the link to find out what others have been doing.

Five on Friday - A Pair of Pears

Joining with Amy at Love Made my Home for Five on Friday

This week a number of projects have started to to come together and one or two have actually been completed. The napkins I have shared before are now finished and ready to be used. As a Five on Friday topic they will have to be fudged as there are only four of them, but an extra photo makes five!

As mentioned previously I made place mats from left over fabric sometime last year. I toyed with the idea of making napkins to match and found some simple plain cotton napkins in the Christmas section of a store last October. They sat in a drawer along with several other WIP's until January this year. I wanted to keep them simple as they will be used daily, so decided to use a pear motif to reflect the fabric pattern on the place mats. To make them a little more interesting I changed the design slightly and used different embroidery stitches for each napkin. The leaves and stork stayed the same and were done in back stitch.

1. Chain stitch outlines and seed stitch decoration.

2. Stem stitch outlines with detached chain stitch 'pips'

3. Coral stitch outlines with french knot decoration

4. Twisted chain stitch with split stitch and detached chain core

5. Four pairs of pears

 

Knitting and crochet have been my main activities this winter so it has been a pleasant change to do some embroidery. As the days get longer and lighter the plan is to do more embroidery if I get myself organised and a few more WIP's finished.

Five on Friday - WIP's and a Ta Dah moment

How did it get to be Friday again so quickly????

But it is lovely to be joining with Amy at Love Made My Home for the Five on Friday roundup.

There seem to be rather a large number of bags around my house that have WIP's in them and I am trying to reduce that number before starting, or dare I say, purchasing more yarn/fabric/pretty embellishments for new projects. There are lots of ideas buzzing around in my head - that's the problem/temptation with Instagram and Pintrest, with all the lovely, creative projects going on in the crafty community. Well so far, so good, the only purchases I have made recently have been sewing thread in colours I had run out of and they were half price so that doesn't count does it?

1. Pear Napkins

I made some table mats last year using left over fabric from another project and the plan had been to embroider a set of napkins to match. The napkins were purchased, threads sorted and that's as far as I got. Earlier this week I met with stitching friends from the Embroiderers' Guild and decided it was time to finally get started.

It is ages since I have done any hand sewing as knitting and crochet have been my preferred crafts during the winter evenings. I had forgotten how much I enjoy hand stitching and the rhythm of the needle is very soothing.

2. Preparation for JETS

Not so soothing is preparing materials for the JETS (Junior stitch group)! The volunteer helpers met last Saturday and we have planned the monthly activities up to the Summer holiday. As mentioned in a previous post the group now has a sewing machine so often two activities are going on, a hand stitched project and a machine stitched one. In February we will be making embroidered heart brooches and a soft toy puppy. As the purpose of the puppy project is to learn to machine stitch round shapes it was decided the pieces should be cut out for the students. I prefer them to cut their own patterns out but this can be tricky for the younger members of the group. A set of puppies are all cut and ready in a range of coloured fabrics so the bonus is not having to transport a whole box of fabric to the session. It limits decision time on what fabric to choose too!

3. Baby Blanket

Work has begun on the crib/car seat blanket for my niece's baby, due soon. Ooh, it is getting exciting now. The yarn is a mix of cotton and merino and is soooo soft and lovely to work with.

So far there are four heart squares and three and a bit cross treble squares. I was originally planning to make the blanket 3 x 4 squares in these two patterns with a deep border on it. I am now leaning towards 4 x 5 squares in five different patterns - four squares in each pattern. I have enough yarn to do the larger size but will probably have to get more yarn to complete a border. 

Who knows? I'll let you know the final decision later.

4. Long Socks

These socks were started at Christmas but had not been out of their bag since New Year.

I was delighted to discover the heel had been turned on the first one when I pulled it out of the bag to photograph this morning! A good incentive to knit to the toe and finish it. Another good incentive was finding all my hand knitted socks in the wash this morning so I had to put on a shop bought pair.

5. Ta Dah Moment!

Completed shawl

The Close to You shawl that was taken on holiday and very little done is finished - hurrah!

I really enjoyed making this and love the colour blend of the hand dyed wool from Abstract Cat Yarn on Folksy. The pattern by Justyna Lorkowska is simple and straight forward but really effective.

The picot edge complements the pattern beautifully.

Blocking was completed on Tuesday and I have been wearing it ever since. There is something very satisfying about wearing something you have made - especially if you are happy with it. (A few disaster have been recycle or found themselves in the bin!)

Well, now I have shared my WIP's I am going to have to get on with them so there can be a few more Ta Dah moments. There is a deadline attached to the blanket so that will take precedence but the socks may have to take a back seat - it will depend on how chilly my feet are........

Five on Friday - Plans and Preparations

It is Friday again so time for Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made my Home. I have a lot of different projects on the go at the moment, some are plans for the future and others have a deadline and need to be completed. It would be more sensible to complete the deadline projects before thinking about new projects but temptation beckons.

The deadline projects are for a craft and tea event for our local hospice.

Earlier this year a good friend was cared for in Willen Hospice in the final few weeks of her life. D was a very talented lady and together with other friends we used to meet every month for a morning of craft, stitch and cake. We had lots of fun experimenting with new techniques and learning new skills, taking it in turn to host the group. It was D who encouraged me to think about selling some of the items I created and we did several craft fairs together. We called ourselves "In Stitches" not just because most of our items were stitched but mainly because we were generally "in stitches" laughing.

Examples of D's beautiful work.

Our craft group miss D terribly and we had talked about using our craft skills to raise money for Willen Hospice in her memory. It is something we know she would have done herself. D's daughter found a number of D's creations whilst sorting out her craft shed and so a plan was hatched.  Willen Hospice hold regular fund raising events throughout the year in order to support all it's amazing work. They need to raise around £3.6 million every year from the local community. It is Tea Party week during the first week of October so we are holding a Time for Tea Crafty Event. 

1. Lino cut panels

The craft group met last Friday and we went through a box of D's crafty odds and ends. In it we found a bag of her lino cut panels which we are going to use to print some cards.
A project for next week.

2. Brooches

There were  two brooches in a design D regularly made, one complete, the other half made. I stitched the unfinished brooch together yesterday. It felt a little odd working on something she had started, but strangely comforting at the same time.

3. Hair Clips

Also in the box was a pack of colourful hair clips which we divided between us.

A member of our group has made pretty felt flowers to attach to her clips. I am  crocheting flowers to decorate mine.

4. More Shirley's

The first flock of Shirley's were sold in aid of MacMillan Nurses and can be found here. They proved to be popular with several further requests from friends and family so a second flock are in development. 

They are having fun in the garden here and competing as to who has the best hat.
(Pattern from Lucy at Attic 24)

All these projects need to be finished before I can start this one:

5. Napkins

I made some new place mats earlier in the year from fabric left over from another project. They have not been used yet although I am not sure why as they are not being saved for "best" as my Grandma used to say. While out shopping for bedlinen earlier in the week I found this pack of 4 cotton napkins for £4, which seemed to be a bargain. They are completely plain so perfect for embellishment. I am planning to embroider a simple pear motif  onto them to match the place mats.

But not just yet. There are other more pressing projects to be completed first!

JETS - September 2016

JETS (Junior Embroiderers' & Textile Students) group met for the first session of the new school term on Saturday. We had had a break over the summer except for being involved in the local children's activities week at our local centre, Medbourne Pavilion. It always surprises me how much the children grow over summer holiday. In just over six weeks they all seem to have gained several inches in height. It must be all that sun, fresh air and freedom to run  around.

All the children were quite tired after their first week back at school but enthusiastic to start stitching again. We were making name badges to help us (mainly the adult volunteers!) to remember their names. There was a choice of hedgehog, rabbit and flower, which increased in challenge with the flower needing the most cutting and embroidery.  

Shapes were cut out and names stitched on.

A backing was cut and stitched in place.

Careful over stitching around the edge.

Hedgehogs need stitched spines.

Lily has only been stitching for a short time and learned to do French Knots.

Charlotte decided to decorate her flower with tiny sequins.

The final task was to stitch a safety pin on the back 

Here are the completed badges.

Everyone managed to complete their badge in the two hour session. 

A great start to our new stitching term.

Please remember to bring your badges in October girls!