Finishing Off (JETS in June)

Our JETS meeting last Saturday turned out to be more of a finishing off day rather than a mini cottages day. There were just over half our usual number, both in students and volunteers, because so much is going on at this time of year. School Fairs, Swimming Galas, holidays and many more activities make it a very busy time of year. However, we had a very relaxed, happy session with lots of chat and laughter. 

More Cottage Needlecases were completed.

Carefully stitching the inside to the outer cover

L. almost finished

H. was very pleased to finish her cottage

L. had missed a session so did very well to finish her cottage 

I. created a mini cottage to attach to her scissors so she will not loose them. She remembered how to do Lazy Daisy stitch to create her flowers so it will match her Needlecase.

H. decided to get on with a kit of a doll she had been given as a gift. She has really got the hang of blanket stitch. Look at those lovely neat stitches.

C. was busy with her entry for the Regional Day Junior competition. She was concentrating so much I was unable to take a proper photograph of it!

As an extra activity there were materials to make woven butterflies. Lots were made but they flew off before I managed to take pictures of them all!

A. presented me with this one at the end of the session.

It was really kind of her and I think I shall make it into a brooch.

There will be one more meeting in July before the summer break. I am sure everyone will be ready for a rest before thinking of new ideas for September.

Five on Friday - In Miniature

Friday has come round quickly this week and it is time to join Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday.
It has been all about small things this week. Lucy at Attic 24 started it with her lovely Mouse Wreath last week, which I completely fell in love with. Despite all the WIP that are currently in a large pile on the end of the sofa (also down the back of the sofa, but we won't mention those) I had to try out the dear little mouse pattern from Lucy Ravenscar.

1. Mini Mice

I did not have any fawn wool to hand so used a spare ball of grey instead.

I am pleased with the result but slightly troubled by the fact they look a little like rats. Having had a problem with rats over the winter (long story) I am still a bit nervous about them. These Mini Mice really would be better in fawn and so I may need to take a trip to the yarn shop soon.

2. Teeny Tiny Flowers

Once the mice were completed it was time to make a few flowers - just to see how they worked, naturally. The tiny pink and the daisy flowers are from Lucy's patterns here. The blue meconopsis came from Lesley Stanfield's book 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet. I used a treble cluster instead of a double treble cluster to keep the tiny theme.

3. Little Leaves

Flowers need leaves of course. These too are a combination of Lucy and Lesley's patterns. The fern leaf, although fiddly to start with is really effective so there will probably have to be a few more of those. It is looking as though a mouse wreath of my own may be developing...... Now do I complete that first or go back to the pile of WIP's?!

4. Small Butterflies

These small butterflies are the last part of an embroidered piece for the Embroiderers Guild Regional Day competition in July. The theme for the competition is "From the Heart" and my design is based on heart shapes.  It is not in my nature to be competitive and do not usually enter competitions but last year our Branch hosted the Regional Day. All our members were encouraged to take part in the competition and to my amazement my entry won first prize. Therefore, it seemed bad manners not to enter this year's competition. I shall share the completed piece of embroidery at a later date. Each butterfly has been created in felt and fabric applique finished with hand embroidery. The body and antenna is wire wrapped in embroidery thread. I was really pleased to find some heart sequins and pearl heart embellishments in my stash to decorate them.

5. Cute Cottage 

It is JETS (Junior Embroiderers and Textile Students) tomorrow and the students decided they wanted to make a Miniature Cottage scissor keep to go with their Cottage Needlecases. Here is the prototype which has turned out to be quite cute. I think I may make a few more for the Summer Fete and attach a key ring to the ribbon loop 'chimney'. It will be interesting to see how the students adapt the design with their own creativity. 

I shall report back next week. 

Five on Friday - Bits and Pieces

Here we are again with Five on Friday joining with Amy at Love Made My Home. It has been an odd Bits and Pieces kind of week. Continuing with some projects, starting a few new ones and trying to finish off others.

1. Cards

It was my brother's birthday last week and I was surprised to find the card box was rather low. I generally make cards for friends and family and try to keep a selection in a pretty storage box. It was only when I opened the lid that I remembered I had intended making new ones but had never got round to it. One of those jobs that goes on the list then somehow drops off the bottom! As the weather has been disappointing (cold and wet) it seemed a good time to remedy the situation.

If I could not play in the garden then the next best thing was to create flower cards with pink and purple blooms in applique.

2. Pots

 It has been half term holiday here this week and unfortunately we have been under a thick veil of cloud and had several rainy days. Such a shame for those on holiday as the sun will probably come out when the children are back in school next week. However, after seeing the storms and flooding in some parts of Europe, a little cloud and rain is nothing to complain about. The early part of the week was dry enough to work in the garden and I finally got the pots finished.

The young plants are starting to fill out and hopefully with a little warmth and sunshine they will develop well. I have not had to buy any geraniums this year as I took a lot of cuttings and managed to over-winter last year's plants in the conservatory. I have no idea what colour the cuttings are as my labeling went wrong, so it will be a complete surprise when they do flower. There could be pots of clashing colours, but no matter as they will make me smile whatever happens. I think I like the process of growing things more than the end result, although that's pretty satisfying too.  

The osteospernum and petunias are making a brave attempt to flower despite the rain.

Many of my pots and all the wall baskets (5 at the back of the house and 3 at the front) are cheap and cheerful affairs that are used year after year. The green wall baskets at the back are definitely past their best with lots of scrapes and scratches but I'm hoping the plants will grow abundantly and hid the containers.

3. Treasures

 These vintage linen treasures were found in a small bric-a-brac shop last week for a few pounds.

The top one is a small table cloth and I initially picked it up thinking I would use the crocheted lace edging to decorate a future project. On closer inspection it has been beautifully handmade, with drawn thread-work and hand stitched mitered edges. I do not think I could bring myself to cut it up so it will be kept for summer days in the garden. Perfect for afternoon tea with pretty china. (Probably more likely to be a mug of tea with an oddly shaped fairy cake, but I can dream!)

 The second piece is also exquisitely hand made with drawn thread-work and satin stitch embroidery.

This is just a small piece about 20 cms square and was perhaps part of a dressing table set. I plan to make this into a small cushion.

I love the little shamrock detail and wonder if there was an Irish connection. Old pieces of embroidery and fabric, like old buildings come with their own stories and history. That is probably what fascinates me. What life did they lead and what stories could they tell?

4. CAL progress

The Dance in the Sea CAL I am doing at the moment is growing steadily. I had got behind for a few weeks but managed to catch up last week. That may slip again though because I have not started this week's pattern yet. There are now six sets of four squares.

None of the squares have been blocked yet and I must get started on that task as it will be frustrating at the end. I have learned so much already with new stitches and techniques. My favourite square at the moment is the waves - top left.

It is already possible to see how the colours are going to work together and are real reminder of all the different moods of the sea.

5. Reflection

It has been an odd week, with a general feeling of being unsettled and not very much happening. So it has been good to reflect on what has been achieved and what progress is being made. When I went out in the garden this morning I discovered the two clematis I shared last week are now fully out and showing off.

. It may have been a grey old week but if it had been hot and sunny the flowers would have gone over by now and their petals dropped. 

Perhaps there is something to be said for slow and steady 

- it makes the moment last longer.

(But could we make that the good moments please, not the bad ones!)

Five on Friday - The Garden

A lot of time has been spent in the garden this week so I thought it would be appropriate to make it my Five on Friday. What does the garden mean to me? It is hard to define but I know I would struggle to live without a garden, so it is pretty important. 

The beginning of the week was bright and sunny and many flowers opened in the sunshine.

On Wednesday it was much cloudier and cold and it was almost as if the flowers decided they were not coming out to play.

The Sweet Sultan only partially opened

and the hardy osteospernum remained tightly closed.

There is something very inspiring about buds ready to burst into flower. 

Promise of delights to come.

These two clematis are just ready to unfurl their petals and reveal their beauty

So my Five this Friday are the feelings and emotions evoked by my garden. 

One

 Peace and Tranquility - a place to escape to from day to day frustrations to restore the soul.

Two

Safety - as I have become less mobile the garden has become a safe place to be outside. Also plants just are, there do not judge what you can and cannot do.

Three

Pleasure - an enjoyable space to spend time with friends and family.

Four

Hope - the cycle of life, renewal and rebirth in the Spring

Five

Happiness - a bit like number 3, but that moment of seeing something new like a flower you don't remember planting or a bird enjoying the birdbath that brings a smile to your face.

I have been watching the TV coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower show this week and the artist Grayson Perry was a guest one evening. He described the garden as 

"a meditation on mortality",

 which sums it up perfectly for me. 

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

Cottage Needlecase (JETS April and May)

Over the last two JETS (Junior Embroiderers' and Textile Students) sessions in April and May we have been making a Cottage Needlecase. Normally I create a project that can be achieved in the two hours we meet each month. The students had asked if we could make a Needlecase and I'm afraid I got rather carried away. Determined not to recreate the binka and blanket Needlecase of my school days, I wanted something that would appeal to the 12 year olds as well as the 5 year olds. Not that there is anything wrong with binka needlecases. There are a lot of treasured pieces of binka out there with first attempts at stitch.

There was a lovely pattern in the book Stitch at Home by Mandy Shaw, which looked suitable for adaption. Our Needlecase would be made from felt as we do not have a sewing machine. (Although I am working on that one!) Problem was there was no way we would achieve all the work in one session. We needed to make a decorative outside, useful inside and join the two pieces together. I worried that the children would loose interest with a month gap between sessions.
The wonderful JETS volunteers were right behind me and thought we should give it a go.
So that is exactly what we did.

Stitching the windows and door in over stitch or running stitch.

Adding decoration and embellishments.
Although it did not look much like a cottage at this stage!

All comes clear when the cottage is folded, particularly with pretty flowers by the front door.

The first stage was completed and the students were ready to go onto the next phase.
Creating the inside pockets with needle and pin keeps.

Some students chose over stitch again, while others preferred running stitch.
Try to keep those stitches small and neat!

Attaching the roof was a little tricky so it did not cover the windows and door.

Don't forget the press stud to fasten the needlecase with.

Finally, carefully stitch the two parts together. 

This cottage roof has been beautifully edged with blanket stitch.

This cottage belongs to our most experienced stitcher. 

There are candles in the front windows and the silhouette of a family in the rear window. 

Also lovely chain stitch and french knot climbing rose and daisy decorations.

The first two completed cottages. 

I. created stain glass windows at the front and stitched ivy over the rear window.

While L. who is our youngest stitcher, created daisies and climbing plants in pots.

They both went home happy with their Cottage needlecases.

The remaining cottages will be completed next month and all my concern about a long running project was unfounded. All the students are enthusiastic and looking forward to finishing off in June. When given the choice for the next project, either a woven butterfly or mini cottage scissor keep they all wanted to make a mini cottage. 

We will have to rename the group - Cottages 'r' us! 

 I am so proud of them all, their creativity, determination and enthusiasm for learning.
They are a really inspiring group of children.

(Not forgetting the wonderful volunteer helpers too!)