A Knock-On Effect!

 After de-cluttering and sorting out the bookshelves on the landing last week, we were left with some extra space; and, in this house, I find that any extra space is usually filled quite quickly, usually when I'm not looking. The only solution was to fill it myself first, and if it solved another clutter situation at the same time then 'all well and good'.

This was the clutter situation in question; kitchen shelves and tops filled with cookery books. It might seem logical to have them in the kitchen, but there are many more than this on the shelves upstairs, so they may as well all be together, and tidy.

Voila!

It didn't take long to gather them all up and rearrange the shelves. I should do this more often - it feels good!

Talking about books, I think my crafting books probably out number the cookery books (not including my son's cookery books or the pile under the stairs that came from MIL's when she passed away - but let's not think about all those!). Above is the shelf of craft books in my shed.

This shelf is the craft part of the shelves on the landing, and below are a few strays that came from the shed and made their way onto the coffee table in the sitting room.

And let's not forget the magazines.

Although I've made a few projects from these, I don't think I've really made the best of them, or got my money's worth.  I'm going to make it my mission, in 2014, to remedy that. So look out for progress on this, starting in the New Year.

 Now, here's what I have been up to the last couple of weeks. Only one of these  projects was made completely from a pattern and none of them were from my books - for the rest I used my usual method of 'winging it'.

 This bag started out as a simple, hexagon drawstring bag: purchased from a charity shop. Before starting any reconstruction, I removed the lining, and replaced 5 or 6 of the hexagons because the fabrics were a bit 'nasty'. For the revamp I added some bits of chopped up, charity shop corduroy trousers and a new lining, then shaped the bag with pleats at the top and boxed bottom corners.

An unplanned, and useful, side-effect of the construction means that the bag is totally reversible!

 This little bag and purse set is made from a pair of baby's cords. The useful, in-built decoration meant less work for me! The handle is made from half a belt.

Although this crocheted blanket is not from a book or magazine, it is inspired by a scarf in one of the books.

Motivated by the rapidly dropping temperatures, these fingerless mittens knitted up quickly. I haven't tackled knitting in-the-round for a while, but was pleased that this time I was able to work out how to knit them from the right side, rather than inside-out .

That's it for today then. I started off with the intention of making two posts with these photos, but they seem to have merged into one long one!

Bye for now
Teresa x

Chalet Antics and Cheating!

Goodness me, I didn't realise it's been over a month since I last posted.  I intended popping in before we went away but time ran out.  I haven't any holiday snaps, without people in,  that are worth viewing so here are a few from before I went away. First though, a few comments on the holiday:

Clean beds
Good chalet staff (except for psycho host who broke his collarbone snowboarding and had to be replaced, and finally got sacked after getting drunk and going berserk, resulting in door entry code being changed to keep him out)
No hot water for 36 hrs
Good food (mostly - psycho host wasn't a very good baker)
Good skiing (apparently - I don't ski)
Good walking
Nice people sharing chalet (mother and daughter)
Coming back after a walk to find our chalet's French door wide open and no one inside, the day after having the door code changed due to psycho host's snowboard being stolen (or was it?).

Could have been worse - one of us could have come home with a broken leg and we're definitely going to dine out on this for quite a few years.

Now, back to reality, or so it seems.  OH loves apple pie but I don't make it very often because I don't like making pastry.  The only times we've had any recently is when my auntie makes it for us, from the apples we give her from our tree.  Due to a shortage of apples last autumn, apple pie was also in short supply and OH was beginning to suffer withdrawal symptoms.  What could I do but cheat?  Yes, I gave in and bought ready-made pastry.  And do you know what?  It was very good.  Easy to use, not too expensive and very tasty.

There was plenty in two blocks to make the apple pie, a spinach and mushroom quiche and a dozen jam tart cases.  It was pretty foolproof and I can see it making an appearance in my kitchen in the future. But perhaps I shouldn't leave it until the apple pie craving starts to re-surface.

Anyone who wondered about the tumbling block patchwork should be able to see from this photo why it's called that. The overall effect should be like cubes.  I tried to keep the darker fabric of each set of 3 to the right to continue the effect, but managed to sew one set on the wrong way around.

Just before I went away I revamped this bag that I had lying around.  I won it in a giveaway but didn't use it because it was like a back-pack and wasn't really practical.  I took off the straps, added the decorative ruffles and a matching lining, made the bottom corners 'square' then re-added the straps and fastening tab like a tote bag.

Progress since last time:

More tumbling blocks
Revamped bag
Prepared more un-run yarn 
Started crocheting hexagons from un-run jumper yarn (on holiday)

Bye for now
Teresa x

It's Started!

Two very important events have started.  First, very welcome signs of spring are appearing in the garden and countryside;  daffodils are emerging, snowdrops flowering and roses budding.  After a summer of dull, wet, dreary days followed by more of the same (only colder) in autumn and winter, we're more than ready for some decent sunshine - so here's hoping!

The second (and just as important) event that has started (meaning that the first item on DD's wedding list can be ticked off) is that  The Dress Has Been Bought!!  I'm afraid you'll have to wait for at least a year to catch a glimpse of it, but there's a little clue on DD's nail art as to what it's like.

We bought the dress when two of her 'bridesmaids' came to stay with DD for the weekend for her birthday, and I took them all, plus DS's girlfriend, for a trying-on session.  We had a lovely afternoon and it was a fun way of getting to know her friends.

I managed to finish the place mats for her birthday in time to take too, including a little addition on one corner to cover a mistake that I didn't see until too late!

Progress since last time:

Place mats finished
Zipped purse for DS's girlfriend's birthday
A couple of hours on the x-stitch lighthouse
Few more tumbling blocks put together
Tag Square Bee quilt pinned together ready for quilting

Bye for now
Teresa x

Snow Joke!

I thought I'd better get on with posting my snow photos before it's all melted (not that it will melt in the photos, but you know what I mean).  I know there are a couple of readers who rarely see snow and like to see the pics. It's stayed around for longer than usual due to the cold, but temperatures are forecast to rise soon so I don't think it'll last too much longer.

This is our road the morning after the first major snowfall.

I ventured to the village on foot to pick up a couple of groceries.  The main roads were slightly clearer than ours so deliveries had got through and the local shop's shelves were not empty like in some areas.

The castle was looking a little different, and children, happy that their schools were closed, were sledging on the hill (just out of sight).

We had 4-6 inches that first day and a couple more a few days later. We've heard a lot about the problems and issues caused by the snow (including some sad ones) but there have been some positives too;  Although many parents couldn't get to work and children to school they were able to spend some quality time together with nothing else on the agenda; People came out to help neighbours they may not have spoken to much and the sight of the snow seemed to give people a boost so that they passed the time of day with a smile when they would have normally mumbled a brief greeting (if that).  It also meant much less travel and, therefore, a huge drop in emissions and pollution.

On the crafty side, I've finished piecing the 4 table-mats.  The supplies for quilting and binding arrived yesterday so I can finish them soon.

In the meantime, I was inspired by this quilt in December's Country Living to start a new project.  I'm using the fabrics my auntie gave me and am making the blocks quite large so it's not too daunting a task.  I decided it would be quicker to hand-sew the seams back-to-back rather than paper-piece like the hexagons; and I thought the corners would come together better than if I tried to machine stitch. So, time will tell.......!

Progress since last time:

4 table-mats pieced
Tumbling blocks patchwork started 
Purple scarf nearly finished

Bye for now
Teresa x

A Crazy Mix!

Oh dear, I'm not finding time to blog as often as I'd like.  Being at home most of the day there always seems to be something else to get done first, and blogging comes bottom of the list.  Still, never mind, I'm here now so I'll get on and tell you what I've been up to.

I mentioned last time that my crafting over Christmas consisted of fiddling and experimenting - which means mostly handwork since the machine was put away for the holiday.

 I bought this yarn, made from the bark of banana trees, a while ago just to see what it was like.  I couldn't decide what to do with it so just got out some needles and knitted it up into a square to see what it looked like.  It was quite difficult to work with because it was so tightly twisted (I presume to keep it together) that it kept curling around itself, and the thickness varied so much in places that it was difficult to keep any kind of tension.  I couldn't think of anything to make with it in a square, so I undid it and......

...after seeing an idea (somewhere, I can't remember - I really should make a note) found a loose, open stitch pattern to knit it into a sort of cowl/scarf.  This I am really pleased with and have worn it quite a lot already.  I'm now considering getting some of this in different colours to make some more.

I know that many of you patchworkers will, like me, have piles of scraps left over from projects, that you can't throw away.  The problem is, what to do with them.  While I was doing some sewing before Christmas I got some scraps out and just sewed them together randomly with very little thought of colour or design or what I was going to do with them. (Do you see a theme emerging here?) Looking at them the other day I remembered that DD said she liked the crazy patchwork place mats that they used when visiting her fiance's parents.  As her birthday is coming up soon..................do you see where this is going?

With the poor light we've been having around here lately I was trying all sorts to get a decent photo.  I liked the stained-glass window effect of this one.

Another thing I had a brief (shambolic) go at was free-motion machine quilting.  I've been too afraid to try before in case it was completely beyond me but decided to plunge in and go for it (a bit like the tap dancing last night!).  Not a complete disaster by any means, but I didn't have too high expectations anyway. I am glad  I didn't use a contrasting thread though because that would have been a little too revealing.

Finally, was the return of cross-stitching.  I forget between x-stitch projects how time-consuming it is and plunge straight back into another project thinking it will go swimmingly. Sorting these threads into the separate colours took ages, before I could even start.  And without colour names or symbols on the chart I'm floundering a bit. Some of the colours are very similar and there is only the coloured chart to go by.  I tried getting some clues from the picture of the finished item on  the packaging, but it's different from the chart in places, so I can't rely on that too much.  Lastly, is the issue of how many strands of thread to use.  I took my cue from the packaging, where there are pictures of threads which seem to be of 3 strands each. But now that I'm partly done, I think maybe I should be using 2 strands.  Lets just hope I don't run out, although I've found in the past that generous amounts are usually supplied.

What's that?  You want to know more about the tap dancing?  Well, for our next show, we've been asked to  give it a try.  "Anything Goes" is well known for it's tap-dancing, so we've got to try and include at least a little.  We've got a teacher and about 16 of us had our first lesson last night.  How did it go?  Well, let's just say, we've got plenty of time so we can only hope we get the hang of it soon!!

Bye for now
Teresa x