Wednesday 30 May 2012

WIP Weds: Can you guess what it is?

Here's a sneak peak of a current work in progress. Any guesses?


I have really enjoyed making this. It's been so relaxing. The pattern is great - I'll reveal the pattern seller when I show off the finished object. Hopefully it'll be finished by Friday - I just didn't have one colour that I need so will try and get some in time to finish this.

Also in progress is the hexagon quilt. I have decided to put a few random flowers into it as some of my scraps were big enough to cut 6 hexagons from. Since I now have over 100 hexagons I've started sewing some together.

First two flowers for Hexagon Quilt
I was a bit worried when I started this that I'd be frustrated by how long it takes as I tend to feel like I need to get stuff finished really quickly so I can move onto the next thing but actually I'm finding that I don't feel at all rushed to complete it.

 

Tuesday 29 May 2012

First Pitch Of The Season

Wow, it is so hot at the moment and we decided to make the most of it by a spontaneous night away camping. We didn't want to go far and we took the old (smaller) tent as it was a lot cheaper than taking the new one. In the end we decided to head to Dobrudden Caravan Park. I have to say that the view is lovely, you can see for miles.


As for the campsite, where do I begin? I suppose I should point out this is a WINDY site! We may have looked a bit silly pitching the tent and the warden told us that it was a mild day :-o but it was our first pitch of the season. We were very relieved that we hadn't taken the big tent though. We were right next to the play area, which was fantastic for the kids. It meant we could sit near the tent and be close enough to keep an eye on them. The picture below was taken from just outside our tent.


I did have tent envy though - the bell tent in the picture was lovely. It had bunting (who doesn't love a bit of bunting?) and cushions. Of course I'd need some huge transport if we got a bell tent though...for all the quilts, cushions, bunting, fairy lights,...that's where Alan started giving me the look. The one that says "Over my dead body" ;-)

We went for a walk up the hill next to the campsite and admired the view


Then we mainly relaxed at the campsite. Luckily there were lots of other families there so we didn't have to worry about the kids disturbing anyone at night, though I think they ended up being the first to bed and slept through. That's a bit better than Alan & I did, mainly because we pitched the tent such that we got the full force of the wind (i.e. the kids were more sheltered and wouldn't be scared) then the peacock, ducks, etc noisily started their day about 4am.

Not bad at all considering it was £10. As for the site facilities - well the toilets were clean (you had to get a key for them, which wasn't very clear when we arrived), the showers are unisex (didn't use them cos we were only their one night) and there's no shop on site (though you can buy fresh eggs). They do have a cafe open in the mornings though. we didn't get chance to use it as we'd brought bacon for breakfast.

 

Friday 25 May 2012

FO Friday: Superhero

I wasn't sure I would have a finished object to show you all but then I remembered Erin's class was having a superhero party. Last year when she was in nursery I made her a red hooded cape as part of a Red Riding Hood outfit so we found that and I said I'd make a top to go with it.  I found her white leggings and her PE shorts to wear over the top. As the PE shorts were very dark navy I decided the logo for the top really needed to be black (no plain navy fabric) and red. I had a dig through my scraps box.

To make the logo I found a circular object about the size I wanted - I tried a bowl first but it was a little big and I ended up using a cd. I drew round it on double sided bondaweb. I then drew round it again so I could plan a lightening bolt going through it. Predictable? Yes, but I started making it after 8pm last night and only had until 9pm.

So here it is, all laid out ready for her:

Erin's Superhero Costume
No action pics yet, but hopefully I'll be able to add one later!

And since I didn't get chance to do a WIP pic on Wednesday, here's the other news...

I've finally got more than 100 hexagons so I've started sewing them together now too:

Hexagons ready for sewing
First flower!
Originally I wasn't planning on doing flowers but then I saw someone's scrappy hexagon quilt (apologies I don't remember where I saw it) with some flowers in and thought it looked lovely so there will be random flowers in mine.

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Working Through The UFO's

I know it's a problem most crafters have; starting too many projects and ending up with a big pile of unfinished objects. Most of mine had ended up stuck behind piles of junk in the conservatory that were put there while we did the flooring in the living room. On Sunday night I felt the need to have a bit of a sort out and I started with the conservatory. After deciding what was junk and what needed to be put away, there was enough space cleared to start working through my craft stuff. I now have all my scraps sorted into two tubs (one for small bits and one for larger pieces). I also tidied my cupboard so all my precuts are organised. I sorted through the bags of projects and managed to empty a couple of bags that were mostly fabric.

The next stage of my plan is to start plodding through the other bags of unfinished stuff. Yesterday I blocked the Harmony Shawl and the Tea Time doily, so that's two finished objects already!


Also yesterday I finished this jar cozy, which is available to buy on Buy British Month on CNA:

There's also some silks available (other sizes coming soon!):


And I have a few yarn bargains listed on there too, so head over and check them out.

Of course I haven't managed to get much else done with the lovely sunshine today. We've been having some bubble fun:


Then lunch included dinosaur sandwiches:


Wednesday 16 May 2012

WIP: Tea Time

After blogging during Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, I decided it was definitely time to have a go at crochet with some thread. I happen to have a 1.5mm steel hook and I ordered 4 colours of Clea 125.

I settled on making Tea Time, a doily by Denise Owens. It's pretty quick to make and the pattern is quite easy too. I have done the first two colours so just one more round to do.

I quite enjoyed the white centre. It was quick to work up and looks very pretty:

Tea Time - white centre
The red section was much slower. I have to admit I was glad to get to the end of it!

Tea Time - white and red sections
There's just a final white round to put on and then it'll be finished. Hopefully I'll be showing this off on Friday!

 

Monday 14 May 2012

8 Down, 16 To Go

Blocks that is!

I managed to get another 7 granny square blocks finished at sewing class tonight. That brings the total to 8. It's basically one full set. There's another 2 sets to do, so I'll end up with 24 blocks. Having laid the 8 out on the floors I'm definitely going to add some sashing.

First 8 Granny Square Blocks

Sunday 13 May 2012

Today's Crafting - Granny Square Quilt

 Back in the middle of April I started making this Granny Square quilt. I got most of the centre bits cut and sewn and then I had to wait for my Kona Cotton to arrive. That meant the quilt top ended up on the pile of stuff to start up again at some undetermined point in the future. Well it seems that I reached that point this evening. Actually I found that I had enough time to cut the strips of Kona cotton, with the plan to take it all to sewing class tomorrow night but I got it cut quicker than I expected and couldn't help but start a bit of sewing.

I took one full set of strips and sewed the Kona cotton to those. I'll do the other sets after finishing the blocks from this set so as to not get in a muddle. Then I started cutting strips for my first block, partly because Alan wanted to see how it all joined up.

Here it is before trimming:

Granny Square patch before trimming
...and here it is after:

Granny Square first block
It's not as wonky as it looks in the picture (two of the corners lift up slightlymaking it look badly cut)

 

Weekend Away

Over the bank holiday weekend we went visiting family. While we were there we went to The Look Out and the kids had a great time. Luckily the weather stayed pretty much dry all the time we were there and it wasn't particularly muddy either, which was good because Alan forgot to pack my trainers so I did the walk in (small) heels (I don't think I got too many odd looks!). There's a huge children's play area, with a castle for older children but plenty for younger ones too.



It's set in a forest and we went for a walk. Both kids did really well, even Orla with her little legs walked almost all the way (she had a little rest by riding on her daddy's shoulders for a little bit)





The tree stumps were a big hit with both kids.


It was very similar to the time we spent at Sherwood Forest on our camping holiday last year, except that this time it didn't pour down!



 

Thursday 10 May 2012

Little Update (and a little discount offer!)

Just in case you were wondering where I've been and why I haven't been posting much!

Basically, I have had a very busy month with the two courses I'm doing at the moment. There's so much material to read for one of the courses and it's hard work fitting it in around looking after the kids. Then with assignments to do, a visit to the in-laws and toothache, it's just been too difficult to keep up with the other stuff.


Anyway, I submitted my last assignment for one of the courses at 5.45am (YAWN!) so there's just revision for that one now. There's still masses of reading for the other course so you might find my posting somewhat sporadic over the next few weeks and not many finished objects to show off (study is definitely taking up a lot of my crafting time!)

See that big thick book? Book 4 is even bigger :-/
Anyway, I have a discount code running over in Buy British Month on the Cloth Nappy Addicts forum, why not check it out along with all the other wonderful work at home mum goodies on offer!