Friday Night Sew In

I've just noticed that August's FNSI is taking place today!  I'm not 100% sure what I'll be working on but I'm looking forward to it as I haven't participated in one since February!

If you want to join in there's still time to sign up (just!).  Pop over to Crafty Vegas Mom's blog to join in the fun.

What with the FNSI and the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham I'm going to have a very quilty  weekend.

New shoes!

This past week I seem to have turned into a shoeaholic! And before anyone asks I also have the matching pair for each shoe.

First-ish attempt at crochet

Truthfully this is actually my third attempt at crocheting this shells and chain scarf (pattern found via Ravelry).  Nothing was technically wrong with the first two attempts - the first was two wide for the amount of yarn I had and the second was unravelled when I found this random, sparkly, fluffy yarn (Rozetti Nida Simli from Aberkhan Fabrics).  I think I now have the right kind and ideal quantity (500g - hopefully more than one scarf's worth) of yarn to finish this crochet.  And then I may even attempt some fingerless mittens I've seen using the same shell motif.

 I hoping to have done quite a bit more of this scarf by 25 Aug as the lady who taught my to crochet is teaching at my LQS that day and I'd love to show her my efforts.

Rediscovering my sewing mojo...

Actually I think the title of this post should refer to my crafting mojo as I have appeared to have ground to a halt with all my crafty projects over the last couple of months.

However I am pleased to say that the apparent estrangement between my sewing machine and I has ended with the creation of another kindle cover.

I really should make a note of how I make these and the correct measurements as I seem to have to figure it all out from scratch each time! Fabric was specially chosen with the kindle owner in mind as he has a lovely collie dog.

A Week in Normandy

As part of my Open University course I had to do a summer school in Caen, Normandy - one whole week of having to speak French all the time! Some of the classes weren't that great but I had a fun time.

The teeny tiny room I got to stay in (I think the students exist in these for a whole year. No clue how, no wardrobe!)

Some Caen architecture

A Caen street

Bayeux Cathedral (unfortunately I couldn't photo graph the tapestry but you'll have to take my word it is amazing)

Bath Quilters

I actually made it to my first Bath Quilters talk tonight (had a bit of a nightmare when I tried to go to this month's sewing group, realised I was a week early, decided to go and have a look at a flat my friend recommended and then got very lost after driving down the world's twistiest downhill road and took well over an hour to do what, had I found the correct route, should be twenty minute journey).


It was definitely worth going tonight, the talk was quite unpromisingly entitled "Management Quilts" but it was fantastic.  The speaker was Ann Rippin who is an academic from the University of Bristol specialising in Management and Economics.  Her quilts were all inspired by companies she had researched and had a phenomenal amount of work and many, many hours of thought in them.  I didn't take any photos but if you want to visit her blog it's www.annjrippin.wordpress.com. 

A Cultural Weekend

My friend and I headed up to Sheffield (Yorkshire) last weekend, the original plan was to catch up and go to watch a gig but we also managed to sample a wide range of cultural activities on offer in the area.  


Our first afternoon was spent in the large shopping mall that is Meadowhall, two enjoyable meals were eaten (for anyone that is interested the Handmade Burger Company do a surprisingly good range of vegetarian burgers and their sides are massive), plenty of shopping bags were carried around and on the whole we shopped till we dropped.


Saturday started off more refined with a quick visit to Bakewell for some original Bakewell puddings from Bloomers and a bottle of the Sheffield delicacy - Henderson's Relish.  And these were nothing like your icing with a cherry on top cherry bakewells, but were still absolutely delicious. (Unfortunately at this point in the day I was yet to break out my camera).


And then we drove on to Chatsworth House which was simply stunning even on an overcast day.  

The amazing library

A squirting willow (the original was from the 1600s)

I really want to visit this house again with my fancy camera.

And then in the evening we headed off to the highlight of the evening the Blink 182 concert with support from the All American Rejects.

 (Sorry photos from a mobile at full zoom)

A slightly less hectic day on Monday, a lazy morning followed by a slow drive home via an exhibition of ice age artefacts from Cresswell Crags

Definitely a lot packed into one weekend and my excuse for not having done any crafting this weekend!

I've created a monster!

I have finally finished the Batik Wave quilt top and I think it's beautiful.  I think I've also decided how to quilt it, just need to figure out how to mark quilting lines on a black quilt - blue washable marker is not going to cut it here.  Now follows the mammoth task of basting this quilt.


And to give you an idea how large a task that is...

...the bed modelling the quilt is 4 ft wide, the quilt drops to the floor on both sides; if my memory is right this quilt is 96 inches square! I have a tendency to make oversize quilts but I think this may be too much even for me.

Crafty Gadget

I'd like to take my yarn projects away with me but inevitably when they get chucked in a bag they get tangled up with everything else and knitting on the go from a small plastic bag isn't that great so I decided to get a bag that would be fine for a single ball of yarn and dpns or a circular needle or, after my recent class, a crochet hook.  I've decided a climbers chalk bag may be the bag that would be up to the task.

You can just see the crochet hook peeping out the top.

After chucking it in my big bag to keep me occupied in the evenings during a few days away with work I did spot a slight problem - needles and hooks can slip out of the top opening so I must be a little careful about keeping the bag upright.  Other than that my plan has seemed to work well, the yarn comes out of the bag fine when the bag is open and stays protected when it's closed.  All I need now is some sort of clip and then I can craft as I go!

My sister's finish

The cross stitch celebrating the Millennium, which my sister took over from from me is now totally finished bar a good press and a frame.  I think it looks great - all I need now is a wall to put it on!

This may take some time...

Its a little difficult to see thanks to my sister's ability to match the sewing threads perfectly to the fabric, but I have started the hand quilting on the rainbow quilt.  Not doing anything fancy just a single line of stitching in each round following the chalk lines, I don't want to detract from the hexagons themselves.  As this is meat to be a curling up on the sofa quilt (even though it is huge) I'm going against the "rules" of quilting and not including any batting just the quilt top and a thinnish fleece blanket banking.  Hopefully it'll work okay else I could be undoing a lot of stitching!

Totally Hooked

I've been waiting with anticipation for today's course at Nimble Thimble and my patience was paid off royally.  I am now pleased to say that I can crochet...well at least I now know the basics.

I haven't concentrated so intently for so many hours in ages.

I even managed to make this camera shy flower (it looks better in real life).

Prep Work

Spent a good few hours this weekend getting the rainbow hexy quilt ready for hand quilting and as I used a low surface to spread the layers out on my back knows all about it!  At the moment I can't decide whether I dislike preparing a quilt for quilting or pressing seams more.  But at least it's done and the mammoth job of hand quilting can begin.