Cactus Bag - Finished! and a couple of "Squirrels"

Hello my friends,

First of all, thank you all for your kind comments wishing me well with my back troubles ....... all much appreciated, and just to let you know I'm a lot better at the moment and I am now able to catch up on lost sleep.

I haven't wanted to look at a computer screen because my eyes have been so tired and as soon as I do look they want to close, and I'm asleep again! 

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We had a little sunshine the other day, so I popped into the garden with my newly finished cactus bag (from my last post), and had my own little photo shoot session .....

If any photos look a little blurred
 just click on the photo to see them a little clearer.

Just right for carrying my crochet projects!

Have I mentioned? I've been crocheting this year, and I've actually finished a couple of things!!! A teeny Back Pack (pink and green), a Scottie Dog and, not quite finished, a camper van. It's been fun, and I seem to have acquired bought quite a few balls of cotton, so there are likely to be a few more crocheted projects in future.

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I was meaning to carry on with my cross stitch Cocoa Sampler, but one thing leads to another, and I found myself chasing a metaphorical squirrel! Which fits in nicely with Sandra's meme: DrEAMi "Drop Everything And Make it" Pop over to Sandra's blog HERE to see what I'm talking about. There's lots of lovely patchwork to see. The meme is held at the end of each month. 

 I am saying this is a "possible" Squirrel because it such a small one! Which is why I'm a little embarrassed  to add it to the party, but I'm just saying this has been my squirrel this month! Tee hee!

(Sorry Astrid, if you are looking in, I will have some cross stitching here soon!)

Soooo ..... to get back to the story, I have this new bed ..... with a remote control which will assist me to sit up or lay down in bed ....

after a few days of using the bed I realised my fingers were hurting. At first I didn't realise why. Then it suddenly came to me that the plastic cased remote control was so slippery that I was gripping it  tightly most of the night. I was worried I might drop the controls and not be able to raise or lower the bed should I need to.

Soooo, I decided the remote needed a cosy 

to stop it slipping from my hand .....

therefore the "squirrel" making commenced!

I had a bag of scraps my sister gave me and my idea was to use pieces from those scraps, which worked quite well and I only needed to add a small piece of plain pink to them. It's lined with some of that non slip plastic to stop the controls slipping out ..... but, with hindsight, I don't think that was really necessary! I stitched down either side by hand ..... tricky stitching through the non slip plastic, but do-able. The handle was Osnaburg again, my favourite fabric.

The patchwork went together very quickly. I started at lunch time and I wanted to have it done ready to use that night. I did finish it the same day ...... but don't ask what time it was ...... well into the wee small hours (which wasn't really a good idea in the circumstances).

The patchwork pieces were stitched onto cotton wadding,

ends folded in, and hand stitched together along the edges

As you can see I added a handle, but really it's in the wrong place ..... so, when I've finished the next squirrel I'll be taking the handle off and moving it to to the bottom RH side (of the pink pieces) which should be much more convenient!

Anyhow, the cover does the job and the controls haven't slipped off the bed once! Yay!!

So I'm sleeping much better now!

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 I'm already working on my next project. A little cushion cover (and I do mean little, it's approximately 9.5" x 8.25") which I just had to make after seeing the cushion Patty made over on her blog: Elm Street Quilts (HERE)

My colours are a little pale, but they match the remote cover, as it will be a cushion for the bed.

I think my draft pattern (on the right of the photo) actually looks better than the finished cushion, but maybe the quilting will pull it together better. 

See you soon. Happy Stitching!!!

Hugs,

Barbara xxx