Day 5 Swale Way

Posted on June 9, 2025 by craftycreeky

We’ve had an easier day today, thanks to the extra 4 miles we walked yesterday, we walked 7 miles from Bolton on Swale to the town of Richmond. My friend and I usually find shorter walks take almost as long as longer walks as we dawdle more, stopping to identify wild flowers or working out the architecture of a building. As I’m still keen on the merlin bird app we also stopped to identify birdsong, today we heard a yellowhammer and s goldcrest among others.

The countryside has changed with today’s walk, it’s more what I think of as the Dales, we’ve had no road walking either which is a blessing.

We’ve walked through some lovely woods with little streams and wooden footbridge.

The walk approached Richmond from the falls, we sat and had a drink and a snack by the falls, we’ve had a fair bit of rain over the last couple of weeks so there was plenty of water coming down. The river here rises very quickly and potentially dangerously to the extent that there are flag poles next to the river and if there’s a red flag up you need to leave the river area immediately. I can imagine there being a big storm further up the dale sending a surge downstream which people wouldn’t anticipate if the weather seemed fine.

Tomorrow we’re walking about 12 miles to the village of Reeth, we’ve studied the guide book and the maps and it sounds like a good walk.

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Day 4 of Swale way

Posted on June 8, 2025 by craftycreeky

We’ve had a good start today, we were planning to walk 9 miles from the village of Maunby to Great Langton, but we felt ok after that so we walked an extra 4 miles to Brompton on Swale. It means we have less to walk tomorrow and also makes more sense with the taxi to the hotel.

Today’s walking was mainly along field edges, having had problems over the last couple of walks with crops of wheat hiding the path, this path wins the prize for the best field path…

We are now relaxing in our hotel room just about to have a G&T!

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Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

Posted on June 8, 2025 by craftycreeky

I felt I’ve been plodding along with this quilt over the last three weeks, I can’t quite do one square on an evening, however when I photographed it yesterday I’ve made a lot more progress than I thought. I tend to spend the early evening in my sewing room then at 9pm I usually go and be sociable in the lounge, and that is where I am quilting this quilt.

Three weeks ago I had just started the 39th block out of 49…

I’ve finished a few blocks round the edges which I find more fiddly as they don’t sit well in a hoop. When I opened the quilt out for a photo I was surprised to see I only have six blocks left to do, so the end is nigh!!

I’m pleased with how the whole circle theme has worked out with the border and the outer circles being regular, then a variety of circles in the middle depending on the block.

I don’t think I’ll have my happy dance shoes on next time, but it shouldn’t be long now!

Hand Quilt-a-long

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.

Please visit the rest of our group and see what they are up to:

 Kathy, Deb, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, Connie and Laura

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The Swale Way; Days 2 and 3

Posted on June 7, 2025 by craftycreeky

Tomorrow we start the final bit of our Swaledale walk, about 50 miles over five days. We did two 10 mile sections as day walks, here’s a few photos…

Day 2 was Brafferton to Thirsk. There was a fair bit of road walking which we’re never very keen on. My friend described this bit as a bit industrial, which I think is a bit harsh, but it’s more what I call farm land as opposed to countryside. We won’t get to the really picturesque part of Swaledale until we reach Richmond.

The Swale Way isn’t one of the popular long distance walks, so it’s occasionally sign posted with the little yellow arrows, otherwise its map reading, which we enjoy the challenge of. It also means some of the paths are a little overgrown, this was along the edge of a field of oil seed rape, it was chest high…

For this part of the walk there isn’t much riverside walking, it depends where the public footpaths go, but we did see some lovely old bridges. This one is an old packhorse bridge on the outskirts of Thirsk, built in 1672 with a grant of £20, a huge amount of money in those days. Packhorse bridges were designed to be just wide enough for a laden horse to cross, about 5′ wide, but also it has low sides to allow clearance for the horse’s panniers.

The walk that day ended in Thirsk which is a lovely old market town, bustling with visitors as it was May bank holiday.

Last weekend we walked from Thirsk to Mawnby, we were hoping to walk further but the clouds looked very ominous (thunder had been forecast) and diversions due to collapsed bridges, cropped fields and the occasional misunderstanding of the instructions had already made an 8 mile walk into a 10 mile walk.

We walked through some lovely woodland, a few bluebells were still in flower to give a little scent…

The walk took us through Thornton Stud, formerly a horse racing stud, now it seems to have been converted to houses. It still has what were obviously some very grand gates, now sadly looking a little dilapidated.

Tomorrow we start the rest of the walk, 50 miles in 5 days to the source of the Swale. I’ll try and post a couple of photos each day. If anyone is one Strava, you can see my progress on there, I think I’m just under my name (Margaret Creek)

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A Pair of Cushions

Posted on June 5, 2025 by craftycreeky

I entered two cushions in Otley show, they didn’t win anything as the judge was wanting piping apparently, but I’m pleased with them,

First one to be made was using a panel from a kit by Raggedy Ruff Designs, I made it a while ago…

..back in 2021!

The panel is big enough without adding extra borders, so all I had to do was back it.

I kept it simple with a co-ordinating pink, green and purple batik for the back with a button closure. I find this the easiest way of making a cushion, even if it doesn’t win any prizes.

The second cushion you can see there uses an embroidery I made a few years ago (2021) when an on-line stitch club had free introductory taster sessions. I found this in the fabric folder I use for quilt blocks sometimes. It includes lines from one of my favourite poems, Leisure, by William Davies. As a piece of textile art I still really like this, I might yet dismantle it as a cushion and have it framed.

To make a cushion it needed enlarging. I found some strips of batik from the same layer cakes as I used for Catbells and the trees, together with some of the batik I used for Derwentwater….that’s why I have a scrap box!!

I didn’t have enough batik to make the backing, so I used two shades of the bumbleberry fabric which I think tends to go reasonably well with batiks.

I’m pleased with my cushions, I think the hare one will go in our bedroom when we finally get the house sorted out!

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Butterfly Alphabet SAL

Posted on June 2, 2025 by craftycreeky

Apologies for the late post and for it’s brevity! I was stripping wallpaper yesterday, planning to write my post afterwards. Unfortunately I somehow managed to break our Internet server so we have no internet until a new one arrives tomorrow…oops 🙃 I’m writing this on my phone so it’s going to be short and to the point!!

Three weeks ago I had just finished the letter G…

I’ve made pretty good progress as I’m now stitching K, I’ve just got a little more satin stitching to do.

I’d like to say my satin stitch is improving but I’m not convinced it is!

Im away for a few days next week so I’m taking this with me to stitch in the evenings.

I’m afraid I don’t know how to add all the links to the other SAL members on my phone, I’ll add them as soon as we get internet back again.

Posted in embroidery, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Birds and Blooms Book

Posted on May 30, 2025 by craftycreeky

As I mentioned in my last post, my Birds and Blooms book won 3rd prize at Otley Show, last time I wrote about it was at the end of April, I had just begun constructing it…

All the pages are backed with iron-on buckram, this is double sided which makes it slightly tricky to use but it does mean once the pages are slip-stitched together and I iron them, they stick together and make a nice crisp page.

I added another page at the last minute as I found a cross-stitch which I’d done when I was in my teens, it was a wren bell pull to go with the bluetit chick bell pull, I’d been looking for it since I started this book, finally saw it in plain view…hanging behind my quilting rulers on my sewing room peg board! Anyway, I trimmed it down and added a side border. I used a pretty floral quilting cotton for the facing page.

Another cross-stitch I don’t think I’ve shared yet is a song thrush, this is another kit by Fido Stitch Studio on Ebay. These kits take me about a week if I concentrate so I think I did three new ones for this book. We get song thrushes very occasionally in the back garden but there are lots singing their heaerts out on the back lane. I’ve recently discovered the Merlin app, it identifies bird song, so I can walk up the back lane and it tells me which birds are singing. I can now recognise several birds by their song and I never knew there were so many chiff-chaffs along the lane!!

I stitched a contents page for the front page and then started on the cover. I initially tried to use a lovely Laura Ashley curtain fabric which has lots of birds sitting on a long branch – I’ve used a part of it for the facing page of the kingfisher. I just couldn’t get it neat enough, I think it was just a kittle too heavy. I decided instead to use a glorious quilting cotton covered in colourful flowers in a watercolour style. I love it, in fact if ever I see it again I’ll buy enough for a dress, it’s gorgeous! I stitched a title and initially I tried to pin and then machine stitch it on but it looked a right dogs dinner as it obviously moved a little. I carefully unpicked it and restitched it, I used the machine again but this time I drew a line with a Frixion pen to follow. It looks much better.

I stitched my initials and the date for the back page. I used a Lynette Anderson print which I picked up in a sale at a recent quilt show. I used the selvege in the design as I liked the words. I had a spare title stitched so I added it to the inside front cover.

I added a button and ribbon closure and a bookmark which has a little bird charm on the end. I’m well chuffed with it, especially as it has reused so many cross-stitch pieces.

I’ve made a video of my book and uploaded it to Youtube, here’s the link;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTK6MPE9CmE

Posted in cross-stitch, embroidery, Serendipity, Textile Books | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Otley Show

Posted on May 29, 2025 by craftycreeky

It was 214th Otley Show earlier in the month, Otley show is the oldest one day agricultural show in the country, it’s stuck to it’s rural roots with sheep, cows, shire horses etc and of course there’s the handicraft and produce tent where there’s baking, flower arrangements, crafts, art, children’s competitions. The weather does have a reputation of raining on Otley show day, in fact I was convinced the long dry spring we’ve had would break on show day!! Luckily the dry, warm weather stayed with us for a little longer.

I entered ten classes altogether, which might seem a little excessive but I was going for the cup!! The cup is awarded to the person who gains the most points in the handicrafts, so it’s worth entering several classes as you never know the quirks of the judge!! Anyway if you enter six classes you get a free entry to the show! I entered two items in each of the following classes; cross-stitch, needlework, hanging Christmas decoration, toy for young child and cushion. I haven’t managed to show you everything I made yet, I’ll try and catch up over the next couple of weeks.

It was worth it, despite only winning a 1st, a 2nd and two 3rds, I won the cup!

In the needlework class I entered my bee book, which won 1st and also my sea scape which did get a highly commended.

In the cross-stitch class my bird book came third, beaten to my surprise by the vintage sewing machine wall-hanging I made for my sewing room, that came 2nd.

The other 3rd prize was for a Christmas decoration, I entered one I made from a Faby Reilly pattern…

Daisy the sheep didn’t win anything, but she’s now looking pretty sitting next to Luna in my sewing room. We had the usual chunterings about what won and what didn’t win, that’s half the fun of entering 🙂 I can’t complain though seen as I won the cup!

Posted in cross-stitch, embroidery, Yorkshire | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Tuesday’s Totter Round the Garden

Posted on May 20, 2025 by craftycreeky

Part of my plan to make our garden lower maintenance is to plant more flowering shrubs, they take up a decent amount of room, often flower for a few weeks and still look reasonable for the rest of the year. So far I’ve planted a new buddleia, a hebe, a very pretty rhododendron as well as replanting quite a few which were moved for the redevelopment of the top garden.

Some of the established shrubs are putting on a good show at the moment, this pink one in the deep border is a deutzia I think, it’s been covered in flowers for a couple of weeks now. Once it’s finished flowering I really need to prune it, tidy it up a bit. You can just see the creamy white flowers of a philadelphus behind it, that one will smell gorgeous.

The smattering of alliums are looking good at the moment, I did have to dig a lot up as they were just getting to be invasive. In the photo above there’s also a pale pink aquilegia and a blue perennial cornflower.

Just above the patio on the raised bed is a large choisya, it’s covered in flowers but unfortunately doesn’t smell so nice, it’s reminiscent of cat pee!!

In the front garden is a beautiful rose, every year it’s smothered in blossom at this time of year, it’s scent is gorgeous. I’m pretty sure this is a Scottish rose, or  Rosa spinosissima, it is pretty prickly so it’s well named! I’m going to have to trim it a little after flowering as it’s quite a sqeeze to pass it on the path…and there’s a tall sucker that needs to come out.

I’ve room for a few more flowering shrubs so I’ll keep my eye open for them when we go to the RHS show in July.

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Guess How Much I Love You

Posted on May 19, 2025 by craftycreeky

One of my favourite books from when my kids were little is Guess How Much I love You, I just love the last line of ‘I love you all the way to the moon and back’ so when I found out I would have another grandson, I knew which range of fabrics I would be using, especially as I’d recently seen a baby quilt panel with scenes from the book.

Baby Frankie arrived during the Spring Solstice (my son seems to go for solstice babies as Hugo was born during the summer solstice!) I already had the quilt half made, I just wanted to add his name and quilt it.

I had the usual frustrations with the panel which just included the six pictures, separated by a ‘sashing’. Of course the sashing strip at the side of the panel wasn’t wide enough to match the rest so I ended up buying more fabric, cutting up the panel and stitching sashing strips all round. I then add the side borders.

I measured the side border and worked out the size of letters I needed to spell his name, Frankie. I then drew out the letters on graph paper, traced it to bondaweb, remembering just in time that some of the letters would need reversing before cutting out the individual letters.

Once I was happy with the placement I could iron it all in place. I used the blanket stitch option on my sewing machine, it double stitches it all so it does make a nice neat edge.

I decided to try a different wadding to my usual Hobbs and bought Matildas Own which is an Australian brand. It feels a little thinner but it has made a lovely soft, cuddly quilt. I pieced the back with left over fabric and once it was sandwiched I quilted it with a simple meandering stitch. I still don’t get a perfect meander but I am getting better.

Once quilted I used a narrow stripe in white and taupe for the binding. I think I first used a striped binding on Hugo’s baby quilt and I do like the effect. I machine stitched it down using the quilting in the ditch foot which I’ve only just discovered in my sewing box!

As usual I hand stitched the name of the quilt using the shapes of the quilting as a guide. I called the quilt ‘Sew Much Love’

Posted in Books, embroidery, grandchildren, Quilting, Sewing for Grandchildren | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments