Monday’s Meander Round the Garden…and Up the Lane!

Posted on October 15, 2018 by craftycreeky

I took our dogs for a walk down the back lane on Saturday and the colours were so lovely I went back with the camera. It looked even better when the sun tried to shine but of course it gave up by the time I had my camera. I love walking through woods at this time of year with the deep earthy scent and the rustle of the leaves.DSC_0613

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One of my favourite views along the lane, looking over the farmers gate towards the Chevin.DSC_0608

Even the brambles were doing their best to add to the autumn colour.DSC_0620

It did make me appreciate the colour in our garden a bit more when I returned, the hostas and the iris next to the pond didn’t look quite so sad when I appreciated the colours. At WI two days earlier we had a flower demonstration and she used crocosmia stems with their seed heads in an arrangement..and I was just about to chop mine down for the compost heap!DSC_0622

The cotinus coggyrhia is looking beautiful at the moment, almost crimson in places.DSC_0627

The evergreens are beginning to take their place in the garden again as well as perennials such as brunnera Jack Frost which has lovely variegated leaves. It does die down eventually but not for a while yet.DSC_0609

There’s still a few roses doing their best in inclement weather at the moment, this one is Lady Emma Hamilton, it looked beautiful with the early morning raindrops, the foliage is a lovely bronze colour too which looks wonderful with the orange-pink flower .DSC_0611

There’s still a couple of perenials in flower, these rudbekias give a splash of colour in the Amber & Amethyst garden.DSC_0614

The view over the garden from upstairs still looks pretty full and interesting. I’ve spent several hours over the last few days starting to tidy up, digging up lots of weed roots, moving things around. I can’t say I’m getting there, but I’m definitely making progress!DSC_0617

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Decisions!

Posted on October 14, 2018 by craftycreeky

I’ve just finished piecing my hummingbird quilt, I’m really pleased with it, it’s worked out just as I hoped.

Last time I showed you it I was trying to arrange the background and you know how I struggle with random…DSC_0607 (2)

After various suggestions I shuffled things round…and round and round! Invariably sorting out one problem caused other issues! I started stitching the blocks together and blocks got swopped again as I couldn’t always remember where I got them from!

The quilt went together a lot easier than I thought it might as I managed to divide it into eight rectangular sections, a strip top and bottom and six sections in the middle.

My usual way is that once it’s stitched, it stays stitched, it takes a lot for me to unpick, however I did unpick a few of the little blocks that just didn’t work as well and just as I was about to stitch one of the last seams I noticed this…DSC_0634

It just had to be changed! My original plan was to unpick the block, turn it round a quarter turn so it wouldn’t make a stripe and re-stitch the three sides. However whilst I was unpicking I had an idea, I unpicked the block on the right side and continued up the next one to the top. Having detached part of the strip, I could turn the whole section round, problem solved!DSC_0636 (2)

Having stitched the main quilt I feel it needs a border (it could also do with being a fraction bigger) so this is my next dilemma, what colour! I’ve only scraps left so I’m going to have to order regardless of colour. So  here’s the options I’ve thought of…

Wide cream.DSC_0641

Narrow green followed by wide creamDSC_0643

Narrow green with muted wider one (I told you I only have scraps left!DSC_0640

Or maybe just a 3″ border of green!DSC_0604 (2)

Any suggestions gratefully received!

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Photo Challenge

Posted on October 12, 2018 by craftycreeky

This weeks photo challenge is a tricky one for me, the theme set by Postcard from Gibraltar is nocturnal. Now I am definitely not a nocturnal person, I struggle to stay up to midnight on New Years Eve, never mind any other night! On a dark evening I’d much rather be tucked up in my sewing room than going out. As a result I have very few nocturnal photos, so I’m bending or stretching it a bit!

I’ve tried to avoid Christmassy things in October but needs must! This is my advent ring from last year, each Sunday in Advent we light another candle, the red one in the middle is the usual  daily Advent Candle. I love seeing the ring all lit up on the dark December nights, it’s heralds the start of Christmas for me.

This was an embroidery I did last year for the travelling sketchbooks. The theme was Astronomy so I did a night sky scene.

Isn’t this iris beautiful, it’s almost black, I’m sure it’s name was something like Midnight (I warned you the links were tenuous!)

Please ignore the headress, I was on my way to a 1920’s evening! It’s my cape you’re meant to be looking at. I love this cape, I made it about 30 years ago in Midnight Blue velvet, bought straight from the factory near us. It’s commonly known as my Scottish Widows cape is it is like one in their advert! The advantage of a cape is that if you make one age 24 when you’re size 8, it still fits you 30 year later when you are several sizes larger!

Please follow the link over to Postcard from Gibraltar, I’m sure everyone else will have photos nearer to the theme 🙂

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The Hummingbirds are taking flight!

Posted on October 11, 2018 by craftycreeky

My humming bird quilt is starting to take shape, I’m quite excited about it! My new design wall has been wonderful, definitely a good buy!

This quilt is for my niece, it’s going to go in her guest room which is newly decorated with very pretty humming bird wallpaper, so I decided to make a humming bird quilt. I’m sort of making it up as I go along so the design wall has been pretty vital! I bought four different paper pieced patterns of hummingbirds from Craftsy and I’ve made seven birds in total of varying size and complexity. The idea is to have them set on a ‘low volume’ background, so I bought lots of batiks in muted shades at the Festival of Quilts.

Luckily all the hummingbirds were of a size that is divisible by three, 12″, 6″ etc, so I made lots of blocks using 3″ as a basic size. I made lots of half square triangles to make pinwheels, I found out by accident that if you sew one pair the wrong way round it makes a nice diamond block! I cut 6″ squares and some plain 3″ squares. All I had to do was arrange them!

To start with I arranged the birds in a circle shape and then tried to place the blocks round them, filling in the gaps and working outwards. It looked OKish, but somehow it looked a bit messy and just didn’t gel. I moved things round, swopped blocks, it just wasn’t quite right.DSC_0603 (2)

After pondering on it as I tried to get to sleep I decided I needed a different approach…

Having taken a photo as back up of my memory, I took down all the birds and the blocks, sorted them into shapes and colours and then started to work along row by row, placing the blocks in 12″ groups. I aimed that each 12″ square would have a plain 6″ block, a pinwheel, a diamond and a set of four squares. There’s also five big 12″ stars scattered around the quilt. I varied the position of the blocks but it just gave a flow to the quilt, the hint of a pattern gave it the continuity I needed.DSC_0604

Once I had a few rows arranged I started to position the birds back on the quilt again. I used the same positioning as before, just removed the backgound blocks and slotted in the birds. I had to do a bit of swopping around and filling in to around the birds but it worked pretty well.DSC_0605 (2)

I just need to cut a few more 3″ squares then I can arrange the last few rows at the bottom of the quilt before I start stitching all the blocks together.

I haven’t quite worked out the order of stitching the blocks together yet as most are stitched in twos, some are already stitched in fours and of course the bird blocks are varying sizes. Most areas work out pretty well into bigger blocks, it’s just round the humming birds it is going to need a bit of forward planning.DSC_0607 (2)

I feel I’m finally getting somewhere with this quilt, it still needs some tweaking, especially in the top right corner but it’s going in the right direction! Hopefully I’ll get it pieced over the weekend, then it just needs sandwiching and quilting.

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Monday’s Meander Round the Garden

Posted on October 8, 2018 by craftycreeky

The garden is looking very autumnal now, the nights are drawing in and the tidying up in the garden continues. There’s still colour and interest though…

These nerines came from my mum’s neighbour, we gave her a pile of garden pots and stuff when we were clearing out mum’s house, she offered these nerines as a thank you. I’ve always wanted nerines but never quite got round to planting them so I was very pleased to be given a clump. They look so delicate but they must be pretty tough as they seem to survive wind, rain and early morning frosts!DSC_0611

This little penstemon is next to the conservatory, I think it’s called appleblossom. It’s very pretty and it’s been quietly flowering for months, never quite making the star of the show, just getting on with being a good supporting cast!DSC_0613

I planted this erysimum in the spring, it was hidden for most of the summer by it’s overgrown neighbours, now I’ve tidied things up a bit and moved the bullies to another bed it seems to be flourishing, flowering away. It’s very pretty.DSC_0607

The clematis over the arch by the patio is still managing to give a reasonable show, this one is called Romantica. I prune it hard in February or March and it rewards me with weeks of flowers.DSC_0620

My spirea is definitely the star of the raised bed at the moment, it’s beautiful shades of autumn colour almost glow with a bit of sunshine on them. I think this one is Spirea Goldflame, I’m tempted to get another one for my autumn border in the old chicken run.

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The autumn border is showing promise, I only planted it in the spring, the acer and the eunonymous alata are looking good and the photinia at the back is just tinged with red at the moment. As you can see I’ve a fair bit of weeding to do up here, the mint that used to be kept at bay by the chickens is now going a bit rampant!DSC_0618

This border by the big fence needs a good session of tidying up, the perenials have pretty much gone over, the cotinus still looks good with it’s wine coloured leaves but I think in the spring it’s going to need a hard prune as it’s getting a bit big.

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I need to try and keep up with the three sessions a week in the garden over the autumn and winter as I’ve just volunteered to have an open garden and craft show next year for the Soldiers Charity as my OH has just signed up to do a charity walk for them!

 

 

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Down the Rabbit Hole HQAL

Posted on October 7, 2018 by craftycreeky

It’s three weeks since I last showed you my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt. That weekend I had nothing new to show you having not managed to do a single stitch! So, three weeks ago (and six weeks ago) this is where I was…Hand Quilting Down the Rabbit Hole

Three weeks later I’m doing a mini happy dance, a skip hop and a jump, having managed to finish quilting the pompom flower border. I’ve still to take out the basting threads, but the quilting is done!

I’m still not sure about this border, from a quilting point of view, I think I might have overdone it, however it’s staying for the time being.DSC_0602

I’m tempted once I’ve done a few more borders and having worked out the best way to quilt this design, to review this border. I’m thinking at the moment of maybe undoing the extra circles, just leaving the ones immediately round the circles, maybe with a few extra straight lines radiating out from the centre like stems in the background.

In the meantime I need to do a nice simple quilting design for the narrow border, just stitching in the ditch. Following this I think I’ll just quilt round each house of the Lapin Lane border.DSC_0600 (2)

I’m hoping that I’ll get the feel of how to quilt each area sooner rather than later, at the moment I feel I’m just paddling about in the dark, which is probably why this border has taken so long, I’m procrastinating!! Any suggestions on simple ways to quilt it gratefully received 🙂

One exciting bit of news, Sarah Fielke, the design of this quilt, lives in Australia. However in November she is coming over to the UK to do a couple of workshops and talks in just two locations in UK and two in the Netherlands…and one of them is in Slaithwaite (pronounced Slawit in a good strong Yorkshire accent!) which is not far from me at all! I missed the tickets to her workshop (gutted!) but I did manage to get tickets to her evening talk. I’m so excited, I’m planning to take my quilt along and hopefully get her to sign a piece of fabric which I can then embroider over and stitch to the back of the quilt.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

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On the Design Wall

Posted on October 6, 2018 by craftycreeky

Have you ever bought something and then wondered why on earth you waited so long to buy it?

I started making my niece a quilt a couple of weeks ago, however the design is in my head, not out of a book or from a pattern, I haven’t even sketched it out. I decided almost straight away that I really was going to need a design wall for this. I’ve been wanting one for ages, when I first moved into my new sewing room about two years ago I left one big wall free with the idea that it could become a design wall. I checked out a few bloggers who made their own free-standing ones, or roman blind types.

I decided to order a Fons & Porter design wall, these are about £28, they have a flannel front and a plasticized grid behind. It has eyelets along the top so I just hammered a few picture hooks up and it was ready for action…

I just love it! I can spend hours moving blocks around, I can go back the next day and they are still there for me to fiddle with! I can stand back and check it out from a distance….why did I wait so long!!!

Having made six of the seven paper-pieced hummingbirds for the quilt I finally got round to taking the paper off the back of them. I wasn’t looking forward to it as at least one of them has over a hundred little pieces! After all my prevaricating it didn’t actually take that long to get all six done, though I have to admit my sewing room looks like a snow storm, and they’re creeping onto the landing as I haven’t got round to sweeping them up!DSC_0594

I wanted a ‘low volume’ background of varying patterns for the quilt so I cut out a handful of 6’5″ squares and then lots of half square triangles which I have then arranged into flying geese, pinwheels, diamonds and sawtooth lines, at the moment they are just stitched in twos whilst I decide on a final layout. I need to stitch quite a few more to complete the quilt. I’m stitching the half square triangles using the method that starts with two large (9″) squares, stitch a double row across the diagonals before cutting the diagonal and straight lines to give eight half square triangles, it’s a quick and easy way of making them.DSC_0597

I’ve arranged the hummingbirds in a circle and now I’m placing the background blocks, playing with the colours and shapes. The centre is still just plonked, I need to make some half square triangles from the very low volume fabrics for this area I think.

I’m pretty pleased with how the quilt looks at the moment, I think it’s going to work!!DSC_0595

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Eighteen for 18

Posted on October 6, 2018 by craftycreeky

I think I’m doing reasonably well with my challenges, three quarters of the year now gone (where has this year gone???) and  I’ve completed six challenges with a few more almost there…and a couple just aren’t going to happen!  Here is my report on my achievements with my challenges so far for 2018;

  • 1 Etsy store opened; I’ve had a few more thoughts, I’m thinking at the moment of getting a few things on Etsy, in time for the Christmas rush, I can then see how things go and if it looks promising I can invest a little in a website.
  • 2 Tutorials; Still nothing written but I have got two ideas!
  • 3 Sessions a week in the garden; I’ve been pretty good with this one this year, I’ve been weeding, tidying up and moving plants around. I’ve some roses coming in November so I’ve prepared the areas for them. The old chicken run has turned into a resting bed for plants that needed moving but I haven’t quite got their area ready yet!DSC_0523
  • 4 Quilts;My total remains at three but I’ve made good progress on my nieces quilt in the last couple of weeks, I want to get it finished before I start my next BOM and the packet for that arrived yesterday!Hummingbird Quilt
  • 5 Craftsy Classes; I’m still at 1.5 classes, as I’ve not managed to watch any this month, hopefully now the evenings are dark I’ll be more inclined to sit and watch them.
  • 6 New Patterns; I’ve not stitched any new ones in September so it remains at five.
  • 7 Kits stitched; I’ve not stitched any more this month so I’m just staying right on target wit seven stitched over the year.
  • 8 Pages in my Stitch Sampler book ; I stitched a front and a back pages whilst I was on holiday, so that’s all the pages complete. I’ve stitched them all together, I just need to create a cover and finish it as a textile book! So my tally is now ten pages, exceeding my target!DSC_0538
  • 9 Pounds Lost!!! Oh dear, our scales have broken 🙂
  • 10 Mini Embroideries; I stitched another two mini embroideries for a group project with my Embroiderers Guild, a Pudsey Bear and a poppy for Remembrance. This means I’ve now reached my target of ten over the year! 

     

     

  • 11 Letters to friends; I’ve been much better this month, I found a pile of A5 size cards with my mum’s pencil drawings on – she was a very good botanical artist. The cards are a nice size to write a reasonable length of letter on, so I’ve managed three this month bringing my total up to five.
  • 12 Boxes or Drawers sorted in sewing room; My sewing room looks like a bomb site at the moment…so my tally is still eleven!
  • 13 New Recipes;I tried a new recipe for lemon and elderflower cake with a swiss meringue frosting for my in laws Diamond Wedding cake so my tally is now 8.DSC_0160
  • 14 Less Lengths in my stash!It was Sew Up North last weekend,  a sewers get-together in Leeds, I went determined that I would be good, I even took several lengths to go on the swop table.there was about 120 of us (I think) we met in the John Lewis cafe which is conveniently nextdoor to the fabric department. We spent over an hour chatting away about sewing stuff, feeling the fabric in each others clothes, I did feel sorry for anyone who went up there for a quiet cup of coffee before the usual rush! Anyway, once the socialising was over we all went fabric shopping round Leeds. Now clearly I know all the shops in the centre, but someone mentioned a new shop in Armley which is only about 10 minute drive out, so four of us got in a taxi to visit Fabrics For All. They have some beautiful fabric, I only treated myself to one length, a beautiful length of wool cashmere, it looks a bit like linen but it feels gorgeous. The selvedge is so pretty I want to include that as well! I thought I was pretty good really as this aim of 14 lengths less in my stash just isn’t going to happen!DSC_0596
  • 15 Posts a month; I’ve just done a quick tally and I counted 22 posts!! Not bad considering I was actually away for a week!
  • 16 cross-stitch smalls; I finished August and I’m well on the way with September, but neither are actually made up into a pillow yet, so I’m not counting them. Even so my tally remains at 16, target achieved!
  • 17 items of clothing made. I’m still at eight, so a bit of catching up to do here. I need some new winter clothes too so I must get some made. 

  • 18 Walks; My big walk was in September, my friend and I walked St Cuthberts Way which is about 62 miles from Melrose to Lindisfarne, over a week. It was a wonderful walk, a challenge at times, it took me a week to recover! I’ll try and write a post over the next couple of days to tell you all about it. So my total is now seventeen walks so far. Almost there!
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With a quarter of the year still to go I’m pretty happy with my progress, hopefully this month I’ll have a few more ticked off.

Posted in Crafts, Eighteen for 18, embroidery, Garden, Quilting, Serendipity, Textile Books, Walking | Tagged | 10 Comments

Friday Photo Challenge

Posted on October 5, 2018 by craftycreeky

Today’s’ theme for the Friday Photo Challenge organised by Postcard from Gibraltar should be fairly easy for me as it’s purple, my favourite colour! I have purple in the garden, in our home and in my wardrobe…so a bit of a warning, I have LOTS of purple photos!!

I have lots of purple flowers in the garden, many in my Amber and Amethyst garden.

This is  my current Travelling Sketchbook for the Embroiderers Guild, the cover embroidery is one I stitched at the Knitting and Stitching show a couple of years ago on the Rowandean stand. The wool embroidery was from a mini workshop held at my Embroiderers Guild.

My pride and joy!! This is my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt wilst it was being pieced, I’m now hand quilting it. The quilt is in a lovely palette of soft purples and greens.

Heln wanted a colourful elephant quilt last year, so there were a lot of purples, pinks and blues. The elephants did look cute!

My Flower Lattice (my other pride and joy!!)  also include some purple stitching, the diamond with hydrangeas and wisteria was one of my favourites.

This chair is where I sit to hand quilt my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt. I went to an upholstery class about fifteen years ago and this was the last item I tackled. It was an old chair left in the house when we bought it, very shabby but very comfortable. I stripped it down to the frame, padded it with horsehair and recovered it in a gorgeous plum fabric. I still love it.DSC_0006

Catbells…I do seem to squeeze Catbells into an awful lot of these photo challenges! These were the embroideries I stitched for the Sisterhood of the Travelling Sketchbook which travelled the world for it’s entries.

I seem to have made a few purple quilts too! These are ones I gave as presents, though I’m collecting them back at the moment as I’ve a talk to do at my Embroiderers Guild in November about my quilts, it was quite scary to count up just how many I’ve made over the years!!

The Apothecary Cat Quilt
My Secret Garden

A few from my wardrobe in various shades of purple.

My sewing room, I have to admit it hasn’t looked this tidy since, in fact my daughter just looked over my shoulder and laughed, she said ‘ Is that what it looks like when it’s tidy!!’

So there’s my 50 shades of purple! Do follow the link to Postcard from Gibraltar to see lots more purple.

 

Posted in Dressmaking, embroidery, Garden, Photo Challenge, Quilting, Serendipity | Tagged , | 9 Comments

October Photo Challenge

Posted on October 2, 2018 by craftycreeky

On the first Tuesday of the month Wild Daffodil holds a linky party with her photo challenge. The theme for this month is Tree, I should be able to find a few images for this one as I love trees! It always amazes me when you think of the history an old tree has witnessed.

My first photo is of a miniature cherry tree I have in a pot in the garden, it always looks so delicate when it’s in flower, dainty little blooms! At the moment it’s leaves are just starting to turn to their autumn colours.

I love the sight of bluebell woods, they have an almost ethereal feel to them. It was only when I walked the Dales Way at Bluebell time that I realised just how strong the scent is.

This is a little embroidery I did years ago of a bluebell wood, and I mean years ago – probably about 25 years!! It was a Rowandean kit, it’s nice to see they are still producing beautiful kits, I bought one at the Festival of Quilts!

I avoided the Christmas Tree photos, but I couldn’t resist this cake I made a couple of years ago. I have a book of Christmas cakes and every year my children chose which cake we would have, some were more successful than others and like this one have been repeated a few times. The trees are made with icing runouts, the fiddly bit is getting the central tree to stand up and stay together!

This is a bit of detail from my Anderson Farm quilt, the whole quilt is pictured further down but I rather liked the blossom on this one.

Bolton Abbey is a beautiful place to visit, lots of walks through the woods and along the riverbank. This photo was taken a couple of years ago just as the leaves were turning.

I love looking at trees, their shape, their texture, movement…so an arboretum is my idea of heaven! Thorp Perrow is a lovely arboretum near Bedale in the Yorkshire Dales. Whatever the time of year there is always something beautiful to see.

My Anderson Farm quilt had several trees on it, I think there are seven in total, including the big oak at the top.

Anderson’s Farm

This photo is detail from a little cross-stitch I did a couple of years back, I think it was called the Old School House.

Another embroidery, this was for a Travelling Sketchbook on trees, as I was stitching it in May I chose to do a branch of cherry blossom.

Finally an orange tree from my Flower Lattice, the oranges were made by wrapping silk ribbon around beads.

Please follow the link at the top of the post to see all the trees everyone else has shared.

 

 

Posted in Photo Challenge, Serendipity | Tagged , | 2 Comments