Time for a Catch Up!

 Time for a catch up, I think! It's been far too long. Grab yourself a coffee and take a seat.

Well, what have you been up to since we last met?

I joined the Twitter ranks recently, but haven't really been able to get my head around it. However, it was advantageous to me in a roundabout way. It's a long story, which resulted in me loading a photo of one of my bags onto Homemaker magazine's Twitter feed. I only did it to practice using Twitter but it wasn't long before an editor got in touch and asked me to submit a 'Star Letter' featuring one of my bags. I was originally offered a whole page feature but either I was too slow to reply or they asked too many in order to get a result, but I made sure my Facebook Thread Shed page was mentioned.

They've since asked me to give a 'reader's tip' for one of their featured project patterns but I haven't seen whether it's been used or not yet.

Probably as a result of the published letter, my Folksy shop started getting more viewings for a while, resulting in me selling the 3 items above in quite a short time.

 I showed the beginnings of this corner-to-corner crochet blanket in my last post. It took 3 goes at the border before I was happy with it. I wanted to use as much of the yarn as I could without running out, so it took a bit of juggling with the colours and numbers of stripes, and some weighing of yarn and guess work! I'm not finished with C2C yet - I've started a project with a motif in a different colour.

While I should really be running up quick projects to add to my stock, I've been drawn to work on slow, thoughtful, hand-sewn items. The little pouch above is the perfect size to hold a couple of lipsticks, and it's all hand sewn apart from the short, boxed corner seams.

This is a more longer term hand-sewing project. It's progressed quite a bit from this, but this shows the detail. I loved doing this, almost-sashiko-like, quilting. This part is the flap for a bag, for which I am trying to follow a pattern in a Japanese book, relying mainly on the diagrams and a few random numbers!!

In other news, my daughter launched a soap-making venture at a lovely open afternoon in her garden a few weeks ago. We had a few stalls there and served refreshments on the lawn. We've now booked a few events to do together later in the year.

Also, a friend and I started a new, monthly, craft group last week in our village hall. There were 5 of us at the first meeting, with another 4 or 5 (who were on hols or busy) promising to come next time.

Right, it was good to catch up. Mustn't leave it so long next time!

Bye for now
Teresa x

2 recent events & an obligatory craft pic!

First Event - A few weeks ago, OH and I went to lunch at the 'big house'. It belongs to The National Trust and is where OH's boss, and owner of the estate, lives. It was a lunch to thank employees, past and present, for their support and help over the years, attended by around 40 colleagues, friends and family.

They rang a gong when lunch was ready, and afterwards someone played a grand piano in the drawing room before we headed outside for a walk in the gardens. This is near the walled kitchen garden where OH is hoping to have his veg plot now that our garden is no more.

My crafty picture is of a patchwork cushion I started making as a raffle prize (but didn't finish in time and gave something else instead).  It is now one of the items for sale in the room above the little flower shop. It's made from a combination of: a monsoon dress and homemade cotton tunic from a charity shop, a blue sheet and a couple of other fabric samples - all left over from a quilt project that is not yet finished.

Second Event. As part of our church's 'Raise the Roof' campaign to raise enough money for a new roof and other bits and pieces, we held a Wedding Dress Exhibition over a weekend in October. As well as the dresses, there was a buttonhole making class and refreshments. It was a great success and raised over £650 towards the fund. The aim was to reach £10,000 in 2014 and, with one event left, we have reached it! We now have to do the same for 2015.

We had dresses from the 1930s right through to this year. This is my dress from the 80s.

This is my daughter's dress from this year. It was a lovely event with lots more people offering their dresses if we do a similar event in the future. You can see more photos of the exhibition here on flickr, along with other old photos of local weddings.

Bye for now
Teresa x

More Makes!

When I started this blog I had hardly any crafting to show. Now, I have little else and it's in danger of getting a little 'samey'. I need to start carrying my camera around again!  However, it does mean that I've been busy making - which is a good thing.

Like the granny cushion from my last post, these 2 drawstring bags are made from donated materials and are destined for the stitching group stall at the school fete.

This one, though, is made from my own recycled materials and has been added to my shop, along with a couple of other items.

This is another item for the stitching group. This time it's for one of the group members who commissioned me to make it for her. She's been looking for a silver/grey bag for ages and asked me to make her one after seeing a similar one I made. This one has a zip fastening and a removable flower brooch.

The local Mother's Union is also having a craft stall at the school fete and one of their members asked me to make a few small things that she would buy from me to add to their stall.

I'm having stalls of my own at a couple of up-coming events in the next few months too so I need to get crafting for myself now. I will, however, try to add more variety to my posts.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Bad News and Good News!

Bad News:  My auntie (who's house is attached to ours) was burgled last week, while we were sitting next door. It was late afternoon and she was out for less than an hour! Not much was taken but the house was a mess.

Good News: I joined a newly-formed stitching group just before Christmas, and we made it into the local paper this week as a result of our collaboration with the Church to help raise funds towards their 'Raise the Roof' Campaign. I'm sitting down, far left.

Good News: It's not much longer now until J's wedding. It seemed such a long time in the future when we started making arrangements. It's been amazing how much work J has put into the organisation, and I have helped where I can......

..... but as J and A are the experts on the venue it's mostly fallen on them.  I don't know if any of my previous mentions gave away the wedding location but the close-up of the invitation should make it clearer. J made the invitations herself, completely from scratch (I know because I asked if she bought the base card - It was that good!).

Bad News: The back boiler 'went' on our wood burner recently and we had to get a new one.
Good News: It could have 'gone' while we were away on holiday the week before and ruined the carpet and floor as well, but we were at home and able to catch the water as it emptied out (Bad News: It was 7.15 am!)

Bye for now
Teresa x

Raising the Roof!

I think the main answer to the question I asked in a previous post, regarding selling face-to-face, at a craft fair (or anywhere for that matter) is to 'put yourself in the customer's shoes'. I read it somewhere recently and thought, 'That's it!'. Obvious, really.

But, despite not understanding this before my last stall, I still had a successful morning, making a good profit, even after deducting the stall fee.

 

This is the side chapel at our church (where we held the Coffee Morning/Craft Fayre) after 2 friends and I had heaved around dozens of heavy chairs and assembled about 10 tables, the previous evening.  This whole area used to be full of immovable pews until a few years ago when they were replaced with comfortable chairs. All sorts of functions now take place in this area: from meetings to Ladies Group to choir practice (and craft fayres).

My stall

This event was the first in what will, hopefully, be a series of fundraising functions, organised by a small, recently formed group.  The money they raise will supplement the grants that are being applied for, by another part of the group, to raise money for vital work to the church building - mainly, the replacement of the roof!

If anyone would like to make a small donation, any amount would be very gratefully received, and can be made at the Church website.

In other news:

After nearly 6 months, I will be working my last day at the hair salon tomorrow. Working somewhere is very different from being a customer, and, although the other staff and the customers are mostly lovely, I've decided it's not for me. I'm going to continue having my hair done there, though, and may even be needed to help out now and again.

I have nothing else in the pipeline at the moment, but there is a very busy time coming up, so I'll just see what happens.

Bye for now
Teresa x

The Real Test - or was it!?

Here is my second foray into the world of craft fairs.  This time a much bigger event.  I thought it would be more of a true test of my crafts, but fewer potential customers than expected meant low sales in general (in my case, none at all, unless you count the £2 purse bought by my mum, out of pity!) Mum also bought another purse from me at home the day before  to donate to a raffle.  So, taking all this into account and the table fee, I made a grand total of minus £4.50!!!  There were lots of raffle prizes at the fair so, having bought a ticket, I hoped to take one home as a sort of consolation prize.  But it was not to be.  I did take home a prize but it was not mine.  You might have guessed - it was won by my mum!

On the bright side, I had lots of nice comments about my items and I wasn't the only one not selling.

Having no Christmas themed items on my stall, I took the opportunity, when making a tree decoration for my quilting group next week, to remedy this.  I made this little quilted stocking then, while on a roll, went on to make a few more for the stall.  All I have to do now is find another craft fair and book myself a table.

My latest creative urge came in the form of a paper project.  More on that next time. 

Progress since last time:

More brooches.
Nests of map boxes.
Christmas Tree Stockings.

Bye for now
Teresa x

A Small Learning Curve!

Well, my first foray into the world of craft fairs is over.  I enjoyed the day spent talking all things crafty and business with my fellow stall-holders.  We had a steady trickle of visitors in the morning but it was very quiet after lunch.  Although the day was bright and sunny, temperatures had dropped dramatically and the wind was very cold so there weren't many passers-by to draw in.

When I made my first sale, I wanted to jump up and down with glee but, being with experienced crafters, I kept my cool and tried to act like I was used to it  :-)

 This is my stall, which I was quite happy with, but I learned a few lessons from the others.  First, I need at least 3 times more stock. Second, I need to get platforms and/or hanging equipment to display my goods to better effect. Thirdly, I need to get some printed information such as business cards.  If you think I have enough stock take a look below!!

 This is Elsie Rag Bag's stall and what a stall should look like.  She's only been doing craft fairs for a year but has had a soft furnishing business for much longer. And, as she said to me, she only has to top up between fairs, but I still need to build my core stock.

This is Holly Pop Cakes' tempting stall with her halloween themed cakes.  Holly's business is different from us in that it's more about taking orders and promotion than selling on the day. 

Also at the fair was my friend Bev, signing and selling copies of her book.  She's been doing really well and sold a few copies here as well as at her local book launch event last Wednesday (where I got my signed copy).  You might remember me blogging about how I did the first proof-read of it for her.  I'm also going to a business workshop soon that she's hosting, to get help with that side of selling my crafts.

When I was a girl I remember being enchanted by a story in a book where a girl set up a toy hospital where she fixed broken dolls, teddies and the like.  I can almost see the illustrations now; simple black outlines of the girl in a room with little beds where toys lay with bandages on an arm or a patch on an eye.  I wanted to be that girl.  I was reminded of this when DS's girlfriend brought me her favourite childhood soft toy that her father had found in his attic.  It was a bit worse for wear with it's head almost hanging off.  She asked me to fix it for her, and here it is, post-surgery.  As good as new! It's funny how things work out!

Progress since last time:

Finished another cushion for the craft fair at the last minute (the blue and white one above)
Sold 5 items at the fair
Started knitting another scarf because 2 people at the fair wanted the same one.
Pink cot-sized quilt started but didn't get finished in time.
Knitted lamp-shade - on  hold until other items done.

Bye for now
Teresa x

The Trial is Over!

Two local ladies held a handmade crafters fair in the local scout hall recently.  When the notice came through the door to publicise it I was pleased that crafters from my village were getting together to organise something like this.  At the same time, I was a bit envious not to be part of it.

I went along on the day to support them and bought a couple of bits.  The Christmas themed chocs above are from Holly Pop Cakes who, as the name suggests, specialises in Pop Cakes but also makes characterful dolls under the name Lula Dolls.

These lovely earrings are from Elsie Rag Bag who mainly concentrates on making household furnishings and accessories with jewellery as a side-line.

I had a nice chat with the ladies and tentatively asked if they would mind me having a stall if they held another event. They agreed straightaway and told me their next event would be towards the end of October.  I didn't expect it to be so soon and began to panic a little that I wouldn't be able to get enough items together.  I'll see how I get on but at least the opportunity is there, if I get my act together.

At home I gathered together all that I've made so far and made a note of other things I could make, if I have time.  To start with, I made a few small, quick items (the pin cushions above).  They still need to have centre buttons added before they're finished.  I hope to get a few zipped pouches made next if I can find enough suitable zips in my stash.

My music theatre group's run of Trial by Jury is now over with our fourth and last performance being last night.  All the audiences seemed to enjoy it as much as we enjoyed performing it.  It was challenging putting it on in my church because the 'stage' area so was small and we were a bit crowded together.  Son K took a few photos for me but as I was near the back, I don't feature in them much.  However, one group member's husband recorded the final performance (I haven't got around to watching the recording of Me and My Girl that we put on in April yet - I always seem to have something better to do for some reason!!). In the photo above you can just see the top of my head over the shoulder of the barrister with a book under his arm. :-)

Progress since last time:

Pin cushions above - now finished with buttons added.
Trying my hand at a knitted lampshade after my auntie gave me a few frames. 
Have picked out fabrics and zips for pouches.

Bye for now
Teresa x

The Best-Laid Plans............!!

 

 You know how it is with blogging; if normal routine is disrupted, the first thing to suffer is the blog.  And normal routine has certainly been disrupted here lately.  But before all that:

We went to the local annual raft race a couple of weeks ago.  This is OH and friends' Olympic Games themed raft with the 'torch' on the front.  DD and I went to a wedding fayre after they'd set off and hoped to be back to see them finish but, the river was higher than usual after the recent heavy rain and they finished in almost half  their previous time, so we missed it.

 The following weekend was the last of the local agricultural shows.  Our way around the show was blocked for a few minutes to let the winning animals into the ring for their parade.  It was a lovely day where once again we bumped into many friends, spoiled only slightly by a strange sore area below my right knee.

A rose in the garden during one of the many sunny spells we've had since September started (typical!)

 My leg soreness turned out to be a bacterial infection which (according to the out-of-hours emergency GP) needed antibiotics, but the pharmacist gave me half the correct dose tablets and I was taking them for nearly 2 days before I saw my own GP.

(An old metal sign and glass bottles OH found in an old building on the estate where he works  - I've suggested the sign would look good on the side of my shed)

 To cut a long story short, I am now on 2 different lots of antibiotics and having my leg dressed every day.  I was off sick for the whole of my last week at work leading up to my redundancy and missed a last night out with the 'girls' at work!  It was strange not being able to say goodbye to everyone properly but there are a few I will stay in touch with and a couple I will meet occasionally. I also missed choir practice and a music group rehearsal.

 While I was supposed to be resting with my leg up it was difficult to resist the urge to sew when sitting feet from it, which was irritating because I felt fine in myself. Unable to do much, I managed about half an hour a day and eventually got my Bee quilt blocks sashed.  I want to make it bigger than this so will need to think about what to do with it next.

In case you're worried about me being so near to my sewing machine for days on end without being able to do much - fear not - because it gave me the opportunity to get on with hand-sewing the hexagons that, luckily, I prepared recently.

So, what happens now?  I'm a 'lady of leisure' until I decide what to do next.  My leg is healing, so I should be back to normal soon.  This means there SHOULD be more stitching to show around here soon.

Oh...... and I'm looking forward to watching The Pillars of the Earth re-run on TV starting in about 20 minutes.  This time (Leslie) I won't miss the last episode!!!!

Bye for now
Teresa x

I've Been Featured! and A Party Update (or Disney & Roses)

 A couple of weeks ago I was surprised to be contacted by Susan from Crafty Corners blog asking if she could feature my blog in her weekly round-up post.  I was flattered to be asked and, after browsing the site to see what it was all about, jumped at the chance.  If you'd like to see the post, follow the link above; take the chance to have a browse around while you're there too. I particularly like the DIY Toothbrush Bracelet in the Jewelry section. I submitted a short piece and a photo and in no time was emailed by Susan to say the post was up. 

All the arrangements for the party went well (almost) and the evening was a great success. The gorgeous cake came from My Beautiful Cake and was picked up by J the previous day.  Inside is a delicious two-layer zingy lemon sponge!!!

Here's the banner in situ with the cake, post box and a photo of the happy couple in the Rose Garden at Disney World, where they got engaged.

The balloons, which continued the Rose theme, were due to be picked up by J and fiance on their way to decorate the marquee.  Only trouble was, because of a removal lorry parked in their street, they had to park on the grass verge to load up the disco equipment (lent by fiance's dad) and managed to get stuck fast in the mud when they tried to set off.  So, DS was despatched to collect the balloons and OH to tow them out of the mud.  Being transported in a gardener's van and getting rained on in the process meant the balloons arrived wet with grass cuttings stuck to them, but that was soon sorted and all was ready.

Fiance's mum made a picture for J & A.  I laughed when I saw this photo because it looks like they are standing behind the picture with their faces looking through holes.

It was a shame that no-one noticed J and A had timed the music perfectly to play Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast just as the buffet was served (so I pointed it out to a few people).

After the buffet A thanked everyone for coming and made a toast to the happy couple, then (as a complete surprise) J presented me with some flowers (roses of course) and OH with chocolates as a thank you for putting on the party. 

Now all that's left to do is organise the wedding... Gulp!  Did I mention before, J wants to get married at Disney World?!!! (Not for a little while though).

Progress since last time:

All sashing and corner pieces cut for QAYG quilt.
Lots of TV time hand-sewing hexagons.

Bye for now
Teresa x

Congratulations!

 The banner was finished with almost a week to spare!  Perhaps I'm not so bad with deadlines after all, or maybe it didn't take as long as I expected.  Whatever the reason - here it is, and it's a bit larger than I expected!

 At least there's no fear of it not being legible from the far side of a dimly lit marquee. 

 Although it might be a little more difficult to read close to.

That's it now.  Nothing else can be done until the day.  I'm looking forward to it in a tentative kind of way.  It's lovely to have the families getting together for the first time (and it helps that the odd few have met already) but families often have issues, the undercurrent of which can threaten to rear it's head at such occasions.  It's a good thing our gang of friends is coming!  There are occsionally 'issues' amongst them too but somehow these are more easily brushed away and overcome than with family. Now, what's that well-known saying...........?

This gorgeous brooch arrived in the post the other day from Pat's Paraphernalia on Etsy.  I was browsing her shop for buttons after clicking across from a link (I wish I could remember who's blog it was from - was it YOU?) and thought of a friend who loves sunflowers as soon as I saw this. Consequently I snapped it up for a Chr...........s present! (I'm determined not to mention that word yet).  It was difficult not to buy any number of items from Pat's because she has such great things.  And look at the pretty pansy key-ring she included in the package!

As for progress - well (see banner above) I've been hexagoning like crazy but will get going on QAYG on the weekend.

Oh, and one more thing.  It's quite possible I will be made redundant in 3 weeks!  It's not unexpected and I'm looking forward to it!!

Bye for now

Teresa x

Preparations!

I haven't any finished items to show but there's been plenty of preparation going on. While waiting for the interfacing to be delivered for the Engagement Party Banner, I got on with a few other WIPs.   

  I dug out myTag Square Bee Quilt blocks and laid them out to decide how to go about putting them together.  I've said before that I wish I'd been more specific than asking for Autumn colours but I don't think I'd have received very different blocks if I'd asked for an orange/brown/green combination either. A couple of the blocks were a little on the small side (were supposed to be 12.5").

 It would have been fiddly to increase the smaller blocks so I trimmed them all down to 12".  Next job will be to cut all the sashing pieces and start putting it together.  It'll be the first time I've tackled a 'proper', traditionally sashed quilt and, from what I understand, I have to cut the pieces to the correct size and make the blocks fit the sashing otherwise it won't be 'square'.  But this has been put aside now the interfacing has arrived for the banner, which needs to be finished by the 25th.

I also managed to get a pile of hexagons ready to add to the long-term project hexie quilt while waiting. 

Banner preparations have begun.  Thirty 6" letters printed and cut out.  The banner fabric has been hemmed and the letters have been traced onto the interfacing.  Luckily I remembered after only the first letter that I should be tracing them upsidedown, so they will be correct on the finished banner.  Now, all that's left to do is iron the letters onto the fabric, cut them out and iron onto the banner.  I say 'all' but I think it's going to be quite time-consuming arranging the letters to get them lined up. 

Talking of preparations, rehearsals are continuing with my musical theatre group for Trial by Jury.  We've got 3 more songs to learn for the first-half prequel, written by one of our members (the prequel not the songs!).  The songs, chosen from other Glbert & Sullivan works to fit the story, are VERY high-pitched but I'm beginning to get the hang of them.  We'll be taking the show to 4 local villages/towns in October to promote our group and raise money for the main show next April.

The date of the local, annual raft race is fast approaching and OH met up with the OHs of the rest of our friends to sort out what they're doing.  I believe they're still calling themselves The Raglan Wrinklies but are going to have an Olympic Games themed raft.   

Bye for now
Teresa x