A Productive Week!

 A productive week!! This is the first time I've been able to say that for quite some time.  After adding buttons to my 4 pincushions from last week I turned my attention to zipped bags, and more precisely to the actual zips.  Unwanted, second-hand or recycled zips are more difficult to come by than fabrics so, with limited choice, the idea has to start with the zip, adding matching/complimentary fabrics comes next.

 Bag No 1's starting point was a black zip.  I used this fabric to make myself a little purse a few weeks ago but have remembered in the meantime that it came to me in a lovely parcel of scraps from Ali of Very Berry Handmade after she won a book I gave away.  It's lined in a very small orange polka-dot which you can just see on the tab poking out to the left.

No 2 and 3 as you can see are pencil-case style. I've only made one in this style before, when I hand sewed the lining in, but I've done some research since and have now got the hang of making these all-in-one. Starting points for these: the blue and cream zips.  The blue flower fabric is from a furnishing sample book, the apple fabric is one I bought before I 'saw the light' (it's nice though isn't it - snigger).

No 4 starting point is a jade-y green zip.  The outer fabric is from an unwanted skirt and, as it's not furnishing weight like the rest, I interfaced it first.

The lining and tab are from a cut-up charity shop blouse.  By the way - there's no standard size to any of these bags.  It all depends on length of zip or size of fabric scraps (or both!).

Finally: No 5 is my favourite. A pink zip to start (not usually at the top of my colour choice list), off-cut of furnishing fabric (can't remember where from) and.....

.... a pretty, pink, flowery lining from a scrap bought from eBay.  I have enough of both fabrics left to make another of these, just need to find another matching zip and I can make one for myself!!

All of these bags were made using the same basic method, using hints and tips from various books and tutorials on the web.  I would, however, like to single out 'Annie get your glue gun' for this tutorial where she demonstrates a new-to-me way of attaching the fabrics to the zip that is straightforward, quick and neat.

Just to finish off, here's my porch window view in Autumn.  This plant is starting to obliterate everything - but I don't mind, it's the plant I was photographing for it's vibrant Autumn colour.  The photo doesn't do it justice.

Progress since last time:

Five zipped bags - finished/completed/finalised/done (get the message?)
Knitted lampshade - almost done (whether all will be revealed depends on the final result!)
Baby quilt - started (the answer to any question you may now be thinking is 'no, No, and definitely NO!), it's to sell
Linen/cotton, blue/white cushion - started.

Bye for now
Teresa x

What an Idiot!

Not you, no!! I'm the idiot - I'll tell you why later.

First of all, I had a splendid Bank Holiday weekend and I'd like to share a few of the highlights.  They're nothing too out-of-the-ordinary but I made the most of the time, was far more relaxed than usual and rather than worrying about what I should be doing in the house enjoyed the 'moment'.

I finished putting together this little experimental project while watching Batteries Not Included on TV (love that film - so sweet!).  It could have done with being a bit smaller because, although the felt was quite stiff, it wasn't stiff enough to hold the shape as I wanted. I'm sure I'll find a use for it.  I'll try a smaller one next.

When I craft in front of the TV, I generally have my equipment scattered on the sofa next to me but this project involved a lot more bits and pieces, so I copied Bugs and Fishes and put it all onto a tray and it worked out well - No scissors lost down the side of the cushions or reels of thread rolling away.

On Sunday OH and I went to the local garden centre to pick up some plants to fill our borders.  We also ended up having lunch in their cafe and I bought a new pair of sandals, none of which was planned :-)

From there we went on to a local craft centre where I bought a bag before Christmas.  This time the lady who makes the bags in a studio on site was there and I had a lovely chat with her.  She and I are similar in that we both use recycled materials and our favourite colour is orange.  Where we differ is that she has just given up a part-time job to work 2 days in the craft shop in exchange for free use of the studio.  Waaaaaah.................I am so jealous.  But I was so pleased, I got excited FOR her and congratulated her on taking the plunge.

The weekend also involved some baking, some exercising and meeting with friends listening to a singer performing in the lounge at the local hotel.

Now for the idiotic bit!  Remember last time I said I was waiting for a Walking Foot for my sewing machine so I could quilt my next project properly?  Well, it turns out I had one all the time!  As soon as I opened the package I recognised the box.

It came with the machine when I bought it, but I didn't know then what it was for and assumed it was for some fancy procedure that I would never need.  I'd then put it back in the pocket and didn't think to look at it again. I contacted the shop and luckily they agreed to refund my money if I sent it back - otherwise I was considering ebay which would have been a bit risky.  No excuses now, not to get on with the quilting!!

Bye for now

Teresa x

P.S.  I've sent off the first brooch to Helena, but I'm afraid I haven't been able to contact Sharon who won the other brooch.  If you read this, Sharon, please email me with your address (or if you leave it in a comment I won't publish it). I'll draw it again if I don't hear in a week or so.

Blue and Bargains!

My Tag Square Bee blue and white block for March is done and sent off.  As I said to Ali of Very Berry Handmade, when I commented on her lastest post, blue is not a colour I have much affinity with in general.  But one of my favourite flowers is/are forget-me-nots and I'd love to make a whole quilt using blue and white.  There's something about the combination that is so fresh and clean looking.  My block for April is to be 'rainbow' coloured so I'll be able to get rid off  use up some of the brighter scraps I have in my supply.

Following the lead of my DD, and since he's almost finished his college course, my DS has decided to start his own business: Gardening! We bought him a strimmer and hedge-cutter to start him off, then he got himself a second-hand mower.  He already has a chainsaw because he needed one for his course.  To solve the problem of transporting the equipment to his jobs, DS got a tow-hitch put on his car and we got him a second-hand, almost new trailer from Ebay.  After putting up 1 poster in the village Post Office and taking a few flyers around our locality, he's already completed 2 jobs that will be regulars and has another 4 in his diary. By the way - he's still working a day a week for another contract landscaper and doing part-time chefing at the local hotel.  One thing he's not afraid of is hard work!!

 DS's first job with the trailer was for me.  I found an Ikea cupboard in an antique/junk shop that is perfect for storing my supplies in my shed, so he was able to collect it for me.

 See!! It's a perfect fit and it doesn't stick out into the room more than 13" so doesn't overwhelm it. It has shelves the whole height, a couple of which you can just see, which is ideal for stacking fabrics etc.  Hopefully, I will get in there over the Easter holidays and sort it out.

My paper-cuts made it into the shed too and Pam P was correct in her comment when she suggested Rip Van Winkle for the green one.  I emailed the seller to satisfy my curiousity!

I came across this piece of farmyard fabric in a charity shop on the same trip into town as when I got the cupboard.  It's quite a large piece and cost only £1. 

Whoever owned it had cut out a few of the animals around the edge and then got rid of it.  DS, his girlfriend and I worked out which animals had been used by looking at the pattern repeat. A set of 3 little pigs and a couple of chickens we think!  I can't think off-hand what I would use it for but couldn't leave it there! 

On another crafty note, I gave a few woollen jumpers a hot wash to felt them over the weekend.  Most of them worked out fine but 2 of the jumpers shrunk to about a quarter of the original size and are as stiff as boards.  I don't know what to do with these either!!

Bye for now

Teresa x

Doing my Bit for the P.O.!

Due to the fact that I was camera-less last week, I should have twice as much to show today. Wrong!!  The photos of the zipped bag I made for DS's girlfriend were lost somewhere during the changeover, but you'll just have to believe me when I say it was very pretty!

I've been on a sending/receiving spree and made good use of the postal service this week!

This is the lovely Tuscan themed block I received from Jo of Bear Paw for The Tag Square Bee for February.  I've been very punctual about getting my blocks sent out so far but this month I am delayed due to a serious shortage (complete lack) of black fabric. 

 I've been better organised for the Scrap Swap organised by Ali of Very Berry Handmade which had to be sent by 28th Feb.  This is the little parcel of goodies that is winging it's way to Jenny of Gingerbread House, if it's not arrived already!

 It's not diffucult to find recycled/rescued fabric to add to my stash but old reels of thread are another matter.  I've, very rarely, picked up the odd reel in charity shops but Ali (see above) came up trumps with her recommendation for the site Rag Rescue, which is where I got these beauties!  I was a bit worried that, if they were very old, they would be weak and unusable but they seem to be fine and they're exactly the sort of colours I use quite often.

 Brightly coloured buttons are also not easy to come by so I supplemented my collection with a couple of 'lots' from ebay. (Wonder how that rogue purple got into the yellows?)

I finally got the red thread, from my auntie, that I needed to finish this cushion and, would you believe it, the reel was so big it wouldn't fit on my little domestic machine!  So, instead of satin-stitching the little linen hearts on, I blanket-stitched by hand.  Here it is reclining on a kitchen chair................

.............and here posing on a comfy chair.

Here's the obligatory close-up - pores and all!!

Next week I will have swapped my car (and some money!) for a newer one.  OH tells me I need a car that is more economical on longer journeys so it'll have a slightly bigger engine.  Don't ask me anything about cars because they don't interest me one bit.  So long as they get me from A to B I'm satisifed, although I did want a green one (it's blue!!).  I'll show you next time.

Bye for now

Teresa x

Third Last Weekend Before Christmas!

Just in case anyone is on tenterhooks to find out, you can breathe again now because I can announce that I had exactly a QUARTER of a snow day last week!!!! Sorry for shouting but a QUARTER!!! What am I supposed to do with that?  Do you know what I did? I CLEANED!! Sorry, I'll calm down now.

This is the scene as I drove to work one day last week.  Here we have freezing fog on the two lane road. The car said the temperature was -13!!!!!

 Things were a bit brighter as I neared the office on the single track road.

I'm not really angry - I had a lovely weekend starting with a quiz at the local pub on Friday evening (which my team won)! 

I finished my Christmas bell pull (above) to take to my quilting group where we also enjoyed a Hope Lunch (everyone takes a plate of food and we hope there'll be enough).  I didn't take any quilting to do, but concentrated on some cross-stitch for a Christmas present I'm hoping to finish by next weekend when I will see the recipient. Pics will have to wait until after Christmas so she doesn't see.

 On Sunday I dragged accompanied my OH to a local craft centre that has recently re-opened after a few years being closed.  Most of the crafts they sell here are made in Wales.  In a workshop at the back of the centre I found a room with lovely bags hung all around the walls, and shelves at the end piled with gorgeous fabrics (not new but recycled and reclaimed!). It was almost exactly as I envisaged my own fantasy workspace and I was so envious of the mysterious Cayt whose workshop it was.  I couldn't resist buying one of her lovely bags (the flower is a detachable brooch!).  OH and I stayed for coffee and cake and had a lovely chat with the owners who suggested I go back when Cayt is there and chat to her about her work.  I fully intend to take up the offer! I also want to look in the vintage clothes room that was closed on Sunday in order to tidy it up after they held a Craft Fair the day before.

To finish off, here's a pic of the (mostly) vintage Laura Ashley fabric I won on ebay recently.  There are 3 lots from the same seller here and with combined postage it came to less than £11.  The pieces are all different sizes but some are quite big.  The only one I am disappointed with is the lightest fabric 5 from the left.  I haven't looked closely yet but it seems to have a few marks on it and is not a very inspiring design to boot. ("to boot"??? - where did that come from?  I never say that!  I just had to look it up so if you're interested have a look)

Bye for now
Teresa x

I Blame the Recipe!!

You may remember a few months ago I showed this photo of my Yorkshire Puddings.  Oh, I was so proud of them.  They were the best I'd managed to produce for quite some time. Despite the lure of Aunt Bessie's, I had refused to admit defeat and kept trying, occasionally tweeking the method and blaming the oven but, for some reason, never questioning the recipe, which was actually a pancake batter recipe but said it could be used for Yorkshire Pudding and Toad in the Hole too (Incidentally, I had successfully made TitH with this recipe!)

 

 Last Sunday I was in a hurry to get dinner and my DS happened to be around as he wasn't busy cooking Sunday Dinner for other people at the local hotel as usual.  He made the mistake of asking me how long dinner would be so I pounced on the opportunity and said it would be quicker if he made the Yorkshires!  These requests don't always work so I was surprised when he leapt into action.  No recipe, no instructions, nothing - he just kept adding a bit of this and a bit of that until it 'looked' right!  Just look at the result!!!! Perfect, light, HUGE, tasty Yorkshires.  Forget Aunt Bessie, these were much better, next time I use DS's recipe!!

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You Shall Go To The Ball!!

I've been crafting for a long time without really realising I was hooked and keep being reminded of things I've made over the years.  This is one that popped up recently.  DD has been sorting out a few bits and pieces for me to put on ebay for her and this little Barbie-sized ball-gown was one of the items.  I think she's been reluctant to let it go because 1. I made it and 2. It's so beautiful, but she hasn't had a Barbie for such a long time it seems pointless to keep it any longer.  I remember making the dress but not all the tiny buds and leaves around the bottom!!  It must be at 15-20 years old and is still in perfect condition!  I know what DD's done though - she's put the responsibility of letting it go to me and now I'm the one who's reluctant.  But go it must!!

Bye for now
Teresa x

A Cushion and a Clarinet

I've finished a project tra la la....la la....la!! I'm so happy now that the felted pieces are off the table and have been turned into this cushion. I think I was procrastinating a bit before because I wasn't sure it would be successful, but I'm very pleased with how it's turned out. I can't imagine how I'm going to feel when I've finished a whole quilt!! I stitched all the pieces butted up together with a wide, close zig-zag onto a piece of backing fabric for stability.

It's edged and backed with a flowery curtain-weight fabric I bought from a charity shop a while ago.

I find envelope backs are the easiest to make (and to take off for washing) so long as the overlap is big enough not to gape open.

I was browsing ebay a couple of weeks ago to see what vintage bits and pieces were around and put a bid in for this little pile of goodies. The whole lot, including postage, came to just over £10. There are over 20 zips, good long lengths of braid, lovely big buttons for bag fastenings and the seller added a cute piece of fabric as a extra bonus. I like to have lots of stash available to browse through when the creative urge takes over.

I also had another (accidental) win around the same time!! How, you may ask, do you win something on ebay accidentally? Well.............you know how sometimes you have a dream that maybe one day you could learn to play a musical instrument or something similar? No!!! It can't be just me!! Anyway, after chatting to a friend who plays the saxaphone, I had a browse at the clarinets available. There were new ones and used ones and vintage ones and they were mostly selling for around £60 unless very special. I saw one that was not used, but ex-shop display, on offer starting at £40 (with an option to 'buy now' for £150). I put a bid on for the £40 thinking someone is bound to out-bid me (apparently it's worth £250 new). But no-one did!!! So here it is!!!

In all its glory!!!

I've bought a beginners book to learn how to play and have so far managed to put it together in the correct order. There's no reed with it so I can't attempt to play it yet. If I can't get a note out of it or don't get on with it, the friend who plays sax has already expressed an interest in buying it from me.

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I know!! I know!! I don't have the time to start something new but if I don't try it now, I don't think I ever will (and it was just....sort of.....meant to be!!). I'll let you know how I get on (one way or the other) :-)

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Bye for now

Teresa x

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P.S. The Shed Warming Party was postponed due to bad weather. The holiday-viewing gathering went ahead though on Sunday evening and 15 of us had loads of fun re-living 2 holidays with a break for some delicious food put on by our friend.
Bye for now
Teresa x

Another Weekend is Over...........

.............but I was quite lucky to have most of Sunday afternoon/evening to make some progress with a few stitchy things. Before I get to that though I must thank all you lovely ladies who left comments on my last post and especially for the suggestions for the offending ingredient in my salad. It looks to me that the most likely culprit was horseradish which I have never tried before (and never want to again!!)
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Now onto stitchy progress: This is the layout I'm trying for my second version of the interfacing method block. I find I can see the design clearer in a photograph so this is quite useful. About half of the fabrics here are reclaimed/thrifted and the rest are new from my stash.

I finished the cushion that I gave a preview of a couple of posts ago. It's made entirely with thirfted/left over curtain or furnishing fabrics and the backing is an envelope style made from the blue fabric. Once again I forgot to photograph the back but, honestly, you're not missing anything!

As you can see from this next pic, I made it for the seat in my porch. I intend to make 3 more in different designs to cover it and make the porch look a little more welcoming. Other things on my mental list to do in the porch are to get some kind of container (pot or basket) to put umbrellas in by the door and make a wall hanging to brighten it up. I'm still undecided about whether to put up curtains or blinds but I suppose we've got used to it without now and it would only be for decorative purposes because I can't see us going in there to draw them every morning/evening!

I resisted the urge again to buy ready-made shop cake for convenience this week and didn't want to spend too much time baking so whipped up this chocolate sponge to cook while the dinner was on. Finishing off was made extra quick because I thawed some leftover buttercream I had frozen before Christmas. I intend to make more use of my freezer in this way - especially where vegetable are concerned. I don't know why I never thought before to cook onions while the oven is on and then freeze or keep in the fridge. It saves time, fuel and wasting food, so I am going to try and use the same mindset when considering all my cooking. The suggestion came from a post on My Zero Waste by the way.

I don't think it's going to last long!

One more little thing - I've recently been using butter instead of margerine, because I think it's more natural and creates less plastic waste, and was fed up of using an unattractive plastic tub for it so I bought this butter dish from ebay (that reminds me - I must leave some feedback). It looks so much better on the table or when left out to soften.

Got to run now. Just noticed the time (any glaring typos, I'll correct tomorrow).

Bye for now

Teresa x

Tea Strainers and Neat Corners.

I saw loose tea being served for the first time in a long while last year when a friend and I met up for afternoon tea at hotel in a nearby town. We were seated at a little table in the dining room at about 4pm on a Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a 3-tier tray piled with many kinds of dainty sandwiches and cakes. If I remember correctly, there were almost 10 different cakes and as we both like our food and couldn't decide which ones to NOT have, we even cut a few in half so we could have a little taste of each one!!
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Anyway, I degress, my point being that you don't see loose tea around much these days. This lovely tea set that I had for Christmas included 4 little tins of tea which on closer inpection contained celophane bags of loose tea. As it's been a little while since we owned a tea strainer I haven't been able to use the tea.............until now! I had a browse on ebay the last week and saved a few tea strainers to 'watch'. The ones I liked the look of most were designed with two little handles to sit on the rim of the cup but my cup is huge so they weren't suitable. I ended up winning this one, which encloses the tea in the spoon part and says 'Southsea' on the handle, for 99p plus postage. I was disapointed in the dirty condition when it arrived but a soak in an aluminium foil 'bowl' with hot water and soda crystals fizzed off most of the dirt and it came up nice and shiny.

The squares I had cut out ready for my quilting day on Saturday have now become the block below.

Not a very interesting design I admit but the method of construction was a revelation to many of the ladies present. Although I've seen the method described I hadn't tried it until now. Do you see how neat the whole thing is and how well the corners meet.............well that is nothing really to do with my skill and everything to do with the method used. I think this post by the lovely Posie gets Cozy is where I saw it first. I'm sure there were more comprehensive instructions somewhere but quite frankly I was lucky to remember seeing it there. I'm not sure how this will affect trying to hand quilt but I'll give it a go.

And here's a picture of the back if you need any more clues as to how it's done.

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Bye for now

Teresa x

A New Business, A Giveaway and An Update

As it's the first of a new month and my DD's birthday, it seems a good time to mention the new business she started this year. DD loves working with animals and has worked in a variety of postions for other people but it was always her dream to work for herself so when she was made redundant last year she took the plunge and started researching. I'm very proud of all the hard work she's put in so far and her efforts are now being rewarded as she's beginning to get customers calling. I've done all I can to help and advise and many other relatives and friends are spreading the word for her. She's got a van and all the equipment she needs and has even set herself up a website. I doubt very much if there's anyone visiting this blog from her area (Pontypool/Cwmbran - Wales) but just in case why not click here and take a look.

The lovely Lis over at Online Quilting is hosting a giveaway to celebrate her 100th post, which I know from experience is quite an acheivement, so pop on over and enter if you fancy winning some lovely quilty things from New Zealand.

Well, my DD is following her dream but it looks like it may be a little while before I can slow down and begin living the way I want to. I've just negotiated a new contract at work for 2010 so I need to update my profile to reflect that (it says my contract was supposed to finish Oct 2009). It may also mean travelling a further 20 minutes from home each day in a few months time.

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It's time for an update on my simple living efforts so here's just a quick summary for December/January:

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Spending on groceries seems to have reached a plateau and I don't think it will reduce any futher until I can find time to plan my menus. Overall spending for December was not very different from other months despite the inevitable Christmas expenses and January was very low (about half of normal) which I'm very pleased about.

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A lot of home cooking/baking and sewing was done during December (mostly for presents) and the usual cakes and bread were made during January.

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Passive/low cost earnings was £30.31 for the two months but I'm sorry to say that none of the books I listed on Green Metropolis has been sold. I'm hoping to put some items on ebay soon so that will hopefully increase this fund.

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Oh, and in case you're interested - the first photo is a little something I'm working on and the other one is one of the blocks for my quilt-as-you-go quilt that I finished yesterday.

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Bye for now

Teresa x