My two cross-stitch stitch-a-longs are progressing nicely. I finished the next section of the Zen one just in time before the next instructions for the Zoe box come out today…
It’s getting to the exciting bit now with the Zoe box as shortly we will get the first half of the construction instructions! We have now completed all the pieces. It’s going to be gorgeous!
This time we stitched what I think will be the inside base of the box, as least I hope that’s how it will work out as I’ve done some extra stitching on what I think will be the very bottom! The inner base has four leaves and some buds in the different seasonal colours. It’s interesting to see how Faby develops the design as these four leaves form the basis of the inner lid, the inner bottom and an extra little square which I’m not sure what it’s going to make. The four leaves are on their own, with buds and with sequins too.
I wanted to add my initials and the date somewhere so I decided to stitch them on the base using one of the variegated threads. I used the back-stitching of part of the leaf border to frame it. It’s not perfect as somehow I’m one square out on one side, but no one will notice – and it’s on the bottom anyway (I hope!!)
The two little squares could be a scissor fob, or a mini biscornu tassel…all will be revealed soon!
The Zen sampler is moving on square by square, this is the 10th square out of 16. I think the last line is going to say ‘Be humble’. It looks like the bottom is going to be a mirror image of the top, which means I’ll have to order some more brown thread!
Hopefully I’ll be doing a happy dance with my Zoe box by Christmas 🙂
These three weeks between SAL posts do seem to come around quickly! I seem to have managed a reasonable amount of stitching on my Finery of Nature cross-stitch. It’s a Dimensions kit I picked up on my Embroiderers Guild sales table, it was meant to have a black background, which did look stunning, but my eyes really don’t like stitching on black, so I changed it to a soft green and I love it. I think a lot more of the background is seen without the black aida.
I’m now working on the third quarter, these are the first two..
Anyway, three weeks ago I was here…
…I had just started the background around the hummingbird.
I’ve still all the back-stitching to do on the hummingbird but I’ve stitched getting on for half of the flowers…
Of course I’ve still the border to do, never my favourite bit, but this one does seem to move along reasonably quickly. Once I start the flowers on the right side properly (as opposed to just using up thread like I’ve done so far) then I’ll stitch the border as I go a long as I don’t like being left with a long stretch of border.
Hopefully next time you see this I’ll be well in to the border!
This stitch-a-long is organised by Avis, we all share our projects every three weeks, it’s a great motivator! If you would like to join our merry band then please send a message to Avis. Please follow the links to see lots more hand-stitching.
I’ve another half dozen books to share with you which I’ve read over the last few weeks;
I wandered from walking books to bird books this time…
Waiting for the Albino Dunnock by Rosamond Richardson; this is a lovely book, beautifully written. Rosamond was going through a difficult time when she almost accidently fell into bird watching, she found the silence and stillness, together with the pleasure and fascination of watching the birds really helped her though this time. ‘This glorious pilgrimage into the soaring world of birds opens our eyes afresh to the beauty which surrounds us’
On the Marsh by Simon Barnes; by chance I was reading this at the same time as the one above, they are both set in the same area of England, Norfolk. Another great read…Simon bought an area of Marsh behind his house to protect it. The book follows the first year as they start to manage it and discover the wildlife it supports. Simon’s son has Down’s Syndrome and it becomes a place of calm and adventure for him too. It’s a lovely portrayal of their relationship, I loved the way he writes, as if he’s sitting talking to you, with funny asides and stories intermingled with lovely descriptions. His wife came out with a lovely line…’Ooh look, someones opened a tin of bluetits’
Mrs Moreau’s Warbler by Stephen Moss; This book is all about how birds got their names, it sounds a bit dry but actually it was fascinating, if you’re interested in how language develops and how the ages of words can be determined, you’ll like this book! I learnt lots of things like a sniper is so-called because a snipe is very difficult to shoot! Why do we say cow, pig and deer, but beef, pork and venison, not cow-meat, that goes back to 1066 after which french was the language of the ruling classes, so words to do with the cooking of meat were from the french, whereas the animals were still the domain of the labourers, who still all spoke English!
There’s Always the Hills by Cameron McNeish; I always find it interesting how some people’s lives came about, Cameron grew up in Glasgow, but most of his working life was set arund the hills of Scotland, initially as a hostel warden, but eventually as editor of outdoor magasines and presenter of TV programmes about the great outdoors. It’s another book which is probably a lot more enjoyable if you know Scotland and it’s hills and have a vague chance of knowing how to pronounce the names and where they are. All the same, I enjoyed it.
Becoming by Michelle Obama; …and now for something completely different! My daughter bought this but passed it on when she got a bit bored – I think she was wanting juicy bits from the White House period! Now I want to say from the start, I don’t understand the US political system (I don’t understand ours at the moment either!!) but as an observer from afar, I always had a lot of respect for the Obamas, they were always very dignified, held their family together in what must be difficult circumstances. I enjoyed this book, it gave me a little insight into American life and politics, I think I respect her even more having read her book.
Earth to Earth by Stefan Buczacki; I was a bit disappointed with this book. It’s about the natural history of churchyards, it sounds a bit of a dry topic but actually a lot of churchyards here in the UK are becoming like mini nature reserves. Stefan is a well respected horticulturist, but somehow this was too superficial. I thought there would be examples of this churchyard and that, but it was more that there’s rabbits and voles and sometimes badgers…
I’m getting quite a bookshelf full of this years books, I need to decide which to keep and which to pass onto a charity shop…and I think I need to start using the library!
About this time last year someone posted a tiny little cross-stitch mouse they had made. It was gorgeous, I ordered the pattern immediately but I didn’t manage to get it until about February. A couple of weeks ago I managed to start it.
It’s a pattern by Just Nan, it comes with beads and embellishments, it’s only small so it didn’t take long to stitch…
You can make out on the photo above two ears, a pink nose, two eyes and a Christmas tree. There’s also two snowballs and a couple of swirly sweets, together with a border of flowers. Ideally it would have been better stitched on a more gingerbread coloured linen, but this was in my stash.
Making it up was a bit fiddly, but otherwise fairly easy, you just stitched up the sides to make a cone and gathered the bottom edge, covering the hole with a metal button. This does a neat job of covering the bottom, but it also gives a level base for mousey to sit on.
A few weeks ago a work colleague gave me some horse hair to make Luna Lapin whiskers. It also makes perfect mouse whiskers!
As you can see from the photos, he is seriously small and seriously cute! I love him! He can hang by his curly tail from my Christmas tree.
I’ve had a few people recently ask how I keep all my craftwork projects organised so I thought I’d do a little post on my system, though system is probably too strong a word – it makes me sound organised!! I wouldn’t even go as far as saying they’re tips, it’s just how I try and keep afloat in my craft room and beyond…
I tend to keep things where they will be sewn, this does mean I have a very tolerant OH who doesn’t mind too much when my craftroom encroaches on the whole house, though he does mutter if he finds pins on the lounge carpet!! Having craft stuff where I’ll sew it means it’s much more likely to be sewn, if I’ve got 10 minutes to spare I don’t want to spend 5 minutes going upstairs to find everything.
Cross-stitch smalls are kept in my handbag, a couple of years ago I made myself a sewing wallet with slots for threads, ribbons for scissors, needle safe and a pocket for linen. I love it! Always having it in my bag means if I’m in a cafe, in the dentists waiting room, stuck on a train, at the hairdressers, anywhere really, I can get it out and do a little stitching.
Bigger cross-stitch projects are usually kept by my armchair downstairs. Each project has a plastic ziplock bag with all the threads in it. The downside of this is that if I have multiple projects and I’m sorting out threads for something else, I might think I haven’t got a certain DMC thread and buy more, hence I have 2 or 3 of some colours!
My usual cross-stitch time is before and after tea, probably somewhere between 5pm and 7pm with tea in the middle. I’ll often cross-stitch whilst I’m cooking – if I put the potatoes on for 10 minutes, I’ll sit and cross-stitch for 10 minutes – it does mean I have to set the bleeper as otherwise tea gets a bit singed!! When I sit down for a mid morning coffee, I’ll often pick up my cross-stitch, 20 minutes here and there add up.
My main cross-stitch at the moment is the Finery of Nature, so that is permanently downstairs. The two SAL’s take it in turns to come down, I usually concentrate on the Zoe SAL first as the pattern is released on a Monday, the Zen SAL doesn’t come out til the Friday. You can see the bags of threads on the windowsill
My big Down the Rabbit Hole quilt lives in a heap on my armchair on the landing, I’ve set up a little corner here with a light, a temporary table with threads and scissors on and my lap hoop. It’s quite cosy when I get down to it…
…I did say it was in a heap!
My sewing room is organised in theory – everything has a home, it just doesn’t always get there! I have all my drawers and boxes labelled so in theory I can find things! I bought a load of the pretty sets of boxes over the years from TK Max, they’re not all the same but they all have peacocks on, so I have a theme running through them! Any big or longterm project has a box of it’s own, so at the moment my Coming Home quilt has a box with all my fabrics in, when I was making the Splendid Sampler quilt, it had it’s own box. I also have a box with finished pieces and parts in, so quilt blocks can go in there, embroideries, anything that just needs keeping safe whilst I finish other sections.
The photo is of my Coming Home quilt box, I’m not sure how it is still so full when I’ve almost finished the quilt!!
I find the block book I made at the start of the coming home quilt useful, Sarah Fielke recommended it for keeping blocks safe in. Now that the quilt is too big to go in the book I’m using it for other projects too, such as my Harold the Hare embroidery and the Bethelehem embroidery, it keeps them nice and flat and their ziplock bags of threads are in my workbox.
Dressmaking projects usually get made in a few days, so they don’t need a box usually, however if they have lots of pieces, like shirt dresses or tailored jackets, I’ll put everything in a box as invariably otherwise I spend half my time looking for them.
I’m not that organised in having planners, I’m always very impressed when fabric shopping with someone and they have all their patterns on their phone so they know how much fabric to buy, I just guesstimate. Every so often I’ll make a little list of things on the go and projects with a deadline, that usually helps me to prioritise things. For example, at the moment I have three presents I want to make, not big ones,but they need starting, my son wants some curtains making too, so the Coming Home quilt has taken a bit of a back seat. I don’t beat myself up if I get a bit behind on stitch-a-long, though the three weekly blog SAL’s are a huge incentive!
Every so often I do try and reduce the number of projects I have on the go, get a few finishes under my belt, but invariably I get tempted by something else and off I go again. I always have a mixture of things which take months or years and ones which are easily ticked off a list after an afternoon. My stock answer when someone asks how I manage to do so much, is I don’t watch TV, the only time I do is to do ironing (I hate ironing!!) I also didn’t inherit the housework gene, so I do what I need to do and no more! I also only work 2 days a week – I joke that it keeps me in fabric!
Just to give you an idea, this is my list at the moment…
Coming Home quilt – a fair bit of applique to do and then final border
Down the Rabbit Hole quilt – I’m getting there!
Care Leavers quilt – top done, waiting to be quilted.
Finery of Nature – long term
Zoe SAL – should be done by Christmas
Enlightenment Zen SAL – 3 months to go
Cross-stitch small
Bethlehem embroidery from workshop to finish
Harold the Hare embroidery to finish
Stitchbook project – another months box waiting to be made
Scrub hats – I’ve about 6 orders!
Curtains, two sets for son
3 simple bags for presents.
Bee cushion commission to start
Looking down the list, I’ll hopefully have eight finished by Christmas, so watch this space!
I was pretty busy last week in the sewing room, I managed to make two coats, both simple patterns so fairly quick to do.
I’ve been trying to use up fabric from my stash which is particularly bulky – makes more room in my cupboard! One such length is probably around 25 years old! Anyone remember Weatherall reversible coats? They were around in the 1990’s. Well at the time on Otley market there was a stall manned by an elderly Jewish gentleman who sold lengths of beautiful fabric, mainly woolens, probably designer offcuts from the mills around here. One day he had Weatherall coating, of course I had to buy some! This fabric is actually two lengths of wool somehow attached to each other – you can separate them at the edges if you wish, it does make it very thick.
I tried making a coat from it several years ago, it’s not easy finding a suitable pattern and this was a simple raglan sleeved coat, unfortunately it looked huge on me, even quite a few years later when I’m a stone heavier it was still huge – I never actually finished it. There was about 1.5 metres left plus the unfinished coat.
Last week I decided to have another go. I found another pattern which was described as a reversible 2 hour coat – it’s only reversible in so much as you make two coats and stitch them together, but it did mean it was a simple pattern. From the 1.5m length I managed to get the front and the back, I thought I’d have plenty in the coat to get two sleeves from. Wrong!! The raglan cut meant everything was not quite big enough. In the end I placed it so the side seam of the coat was in the middle of the sleeve.
I decided to flat fell all the seams and use my blanket stitch on the sewing machine. It’s not worked out as evenly as I would have liked, mainly I think due to the thickness, especially over seams. Just to give you an idea of the thickness, two layers of the fabric together are about 7mm thick before stitching, double that for a seam and you’re asking a lot of a sewing machine. I used my overlocker to finish the edges.
Anyway, coat is made, it’s not my best make, but it will keep me warm for dog walks etc. Once I decide which way I like it best I could do with some pockets on the front. It still looks pretty big but I think half the problem is the thickness of the fabric, it doesn’t drape. However it’s made and out of my stash!
For my next coat I used the Coatigan pattern, I think it’s the third or fourth time I’ve used this pattern. It’s quick to make and comfortable to wear, as sort of throw it on, every day, sort of coat.
I used a gorgeous grey loose weave wool from my stash, it feels lovely and soft. For the lining I used a silver grey taffeta with silver embroidery on it, I’ve no idea what I bought it for but it made a lovely coat lining.
The coatigan instructions aren’t brilliant – there’s no pictures and the terminology they use is obviously a translation as it’s not what we’re used to – for example we don’t close seams, we stitch them. There is apparently video links on their website on how to make the coat but I managed without checking it out. The front of the jacket is split at the pocket level, so I could have the bottom half going in the other direction.
The one instruction I did change was the way they attach the lining, they stitch it all round and then turn it through a gap in a sleeve lining, I just couldn’t understand it (maybe I ought to watch the video!!) so I hand-stitched the lower edges instead.
I’ve worn my new coat a couple of times, it’s one of those nice snuggly coats, I’m pleased with how it’s turned out. It’ll be my every day coat for winter, for going to work, shopping and the like.
And in case you’re wondering, the front edges are even – I blame the photographer 🙂
At the beginning of October I did a count up of both craft projects on the go (WIP’s – work in progress!) and also things with an October deadline, it was a bit of a shock, even for me! I had fifteen different craft projects on my list!!! Even for me that felt a little overwhelming – I made a concerted effort to have a few finishes and reduce my WIP list!
So I had quite a productive October…
1 Scrap Quilt; still not started…
2 Tutorials; …nor this, though I have got some photos organised now.
3 Sessions a week in the garden; I’ve managed a fair bit of tidying up but the weather has been pretty bad – I’m a fair-weather gardener!
4 workshops; I went to a workshop at Courtyard Planters in Otley on how to make a low maintenance garden and I also went to another stained glass workshop and made my tree scene, so that makes my tally 5, challenge complete!
5 presents; I made George the rabbit for my great-nephew, together with a complete set of clothes, so I’ve now made four presents and I have got plans for three more presents in time for Christmas, so I should get this one.
6 Quilts; I finished another quilt for Care-Leavers, I’ve another top finished but waiting to be quilted, I think that one may have to wait until next year. So far this year I’ve made seven quilts!
7 New Patterns; I made a smock from the Merchant and Mills pattern this month, so that makes 6 altogether – I might just manage this one!
8 Kits; I completed the first Stitchbook Collective kit, so that makes 4.
9 Mini Embroideries; I’ve been quite busy with hand-embroidery this month, I stitched the two pages for the Stitchbook Collective and I also stitched my entry for the Anne Bronte P200 exhibition, so that’s 8 altogether this year, definitely achievable!
10 things; this stays at 9 for now, but I’ll crack this one in November.
11 Cross-stitch Smalls; I made another two this month, one for October and a pretty autumn one by Faby Reilly. I think this puts my tally at 13.
12 pages in my book; I still haven’t started this one which is going to be made of my mum’s handiwork. I’ve a weeks holiday in December, so I haven’t given up on this one yet.
13 Clothes made; I made a cream cardigan and a smock last month, so my total is now 10 – maybe I’ll actually manage this one this year!
14 Drawers organised; I’ve not done any more sorting this month, so it stays at 11.
15 minutes tidy-up each day ; mmm, I really must try a bit harder on this one!
16 Books read; I’ve a few more to share with you soon, so this challenge has been way-exceeded!
17 blogs a month; I managed a comfortable 20 last month.
18 Walks; Last month my walking buddy and ! finially finished the Cleveland Way with the last few miles from Scarborough to Filey, this pushed out tally to 21 walks over the year.
19 Splendid Sampler Blocks; I smashed this one last month when I cracked on and finished the quilt.
So, pretty good progress I think…and in case you’re wondering, I now have nine projects on the go, much more manageable!
Last week I finally got round to making myself a new handbag – it was well overdue as the one I made a couple of years ago was looking decidedly worn and sad.
I decided to use the same pattern – the Miranda Day Bag by Lazy Girl Designs, it’s just the right size for me and having made it at least three times, I know what I’m doing! I used some gorgeous Donegal Tweed left over from a skirt I made last year, for the base I used black denim again as it makes a hard-wearing, smart base. I made a couple of design changes having seen where my last one wore out first.
The pattern uses the lining to make a false binding along the top edge of the bag, as it’s lined with quilt weight cotton it’s not very hard-wearing. I decided to add a strip of denim to the top of the lining which would act as the false binding. I also used denim to line the flap as again that was an area which wore quickly around the magnetic fastener.
There’s always a surprising number of pieces to cut out when making a bag, outer fabrics, lining, pockets, flaps, interfacing, wadding…I used some fabrics I bought for my Coming Home quilt to line it – the colours matched perfectly and I have plenty left. I decided to use the blue tree fabric for the pockets as I do like a light coloured interior in a handbag – I’m less likely to lose stuff! I put pockets on both sides and also a zip pocket to put my bus-pass in! The handles are leather which I bought in a closing down sale, my only other addition was a key fob – I used a length of ribbon which says ‘I can resist everything except temptation!’ and used the clip from my last bag.
The initial stages of putting it together went pretty easily, I hand-stitched the handles on with top-stitching thread, it was a bit fiddly but the holes were already there, I just had to find them with the needle! I soon had my two halves ready to stitch together. That’s where the fun started..
It was a good idea putting the denim strip along the top, it does look great, but it was hard work for my sewing machine!! With multiple layers of denim, tweed, interfacing, batting and lining it was a big ask – I did get the safety message flashing up a couple of times – ‘Stopped for Safety Reasons’!! The side seams didn’t get fully top-stitched but I don’t think it’s noticeable. The other area I had difficulty was stitching the flap on, this is the last bit to stitch, it was just too thick at first, I couldn’t even get it under the foot! I decided to trim the denim back so it wasn’t folded on it’s self and that seemed to do the trick.
My new handbag went into immediate use, I’m really pleased with it, hopefully this will stay smart for a bit longer than the last one.
Last weekend I was making up a photo album of our long distance walk and I realised I didn’t get round to sharing the final day with you, so here it is!
We started the Cleveland Way in June with a nine day walking holiday, we started at Helmsley and walked over 80 miles over the moors to Saltburn – by-the-sea and down the coast to Whitby. Two day trips at the end of the summer allowed us to walk from Whitby to Scarborough, all that was left was the final stretch from Scarborough to Filey.
We were delayed by weather, holidays and work but we finally managed to get a day when the weather forcast looked reasonable and we were both free…
Scarborough has a very long sea front – about 3 miles from the start of North Bay to the end of South Bay, luckily my guide book suggested getting the bus along the front as three miles on tarmac is a slog! The photo below just shows South Bay.
The sky looked very dramatic and moody in Scarborough, but actually the weather held off all day.
The walk was mainly along the cliff edge, there had been a lot of rain in the preceding few days which made the path very slippy – we had a few hairy moments!
Just to prove the sun did come out! This was our morning coffee spot – we always have a flask of coffee for our walks.
It wasn’t all cliff top walking, there was a pleasant stretch through some woods – though there were lots of steps too, this has definitely been a memorable characteristic of the Cleveland Way, lots and lots of steps – my knees will never be the same!
It’s always nice when you can look back and see how far you’ve walked, Scarborough is the town you can see in the distance, but over the summer we had walked as far as the eye can see and much further.
It’s nice looking forward too, but it’s a bit disconcerting when you’re not sure which headland is the end!
The end was finally in sight. This is Filey Brigg, you can just see a stone triangle which marked the end of the walk.
According to my walking buddoes fitbit we walked an awful lot further than 109 miles, with detours to places like Rievaux Abbey and the White Horse of Kilburn, together with extras to get to our hotels, we walked the best part of 130 miles!!!
This lovely carved seat marks the end, it’s carved with the names of places along the way and matches one at the start in Helmsley. We had a celebratory cup of coffee and sticky bun here!
I didn’t have the energy for a happy dance, but we had done it, walked the Cleveland Way. It was one of the harder ones we’ve done, mainly because there’s lots of steps and much of the footpaths were hard underfoot, but we did it!
I make a photobook every year of our walks – it’s great to look back on, if you would like to see more photos of our walk then follow the link to my photobook.
This was our seventh long distance walk, we do one each year, next year we’re walking Lady Anne Way, 100 miles from Skipton to Penrith.
I’m just about keeping up with my two cross-stitch stitch-a-longs, they’re both secret ones and they both release another part of the pattern every two weeks, luckily not on the same day!
The Zoe SAL is by Faby Reilly, I’m really enjoying this one and this is the penultimate cross-stitch section – after the last one we have two more sets of instructions to make up a gorgeous box with a side for each season…
Last time I showed you the top of the lid…
This time we were stitching the inside of the lid on the right hand side…
…isn’t it pretty!
I’ve already started stitching the last section, I’m not quite sure what this will be, it’s two smaller squares, it could be a scissor fob, or it could be a mini biscornu, maybe to decorate the lid. Whatever it is, it’s going to be gorgeous! I’ve a little back-stitch to do and some silver stitching over the cross-stitch border and then these two are finished. Then I just have the inside of the base of the box to stitch and it’s ready to put together. It should be finished for Christmas, which isn’t too long away!
My other SAL is called Entitlement by Tempting Tangles. It has a Zen saying in the middle which we’re half way through stitching. Last time I showed you I had just reached the half way point with 8 sections to go…
We’ve now started on the bottom left hand side again. I like the colours in this one, especially the border which uses a beautiful variegated thread.
I have to say I will be somewhat disappointed if the lower half of the pattern turns out to be pretty much a reverse of the top half. Unfortunately that is how it is looking at the moment, I may be pleasantly surprised when the rest of the pattern is gradually released.
thecraftycreek 