A Few Tiny Finishes!

Hello Everyone,

This week, we have had a very nice man decorating our hall, stairs and landing, so DH and I have been trying to keep out of his way.

Our cats have been a little put out! They just do not like having visitors here! Luckily the weather has been kind to us. It's been sunny and cloudy alternately, and we have been able to sit outside on our veranda, keeping the cats company!

However I did manage to get a little sewing done!

The Splendid Sampler

Yipee, I finished two blocks this week!

Block 27 - The Sewing Machine by Pat Sloan

And here are the views I showed you on my last post of my progress on The Traveller:

And here it is finished! Although I'm afraid I took my photos too late in the day, and the light wasn't good enough so the colours haven't come out very well!

The fabrics used in this block are the same ones you can see in the header.

Block 61 - The Traveller by Pat Sloan

Another Finish!

Last week I joined in with Ida's "Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade" .....  which was loads of fun ......  with many "new to me" blogs to visit. I haven't finished visiting yet as I was also visiting Jo's Big Birthday blog hop.

When I visited Susie's Sunroom (via The Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade), amongst her many tutorials I spotted a free PDF that she had written for a Mini Keeper! I had to make one, but I thought I'd make it a little bit patchwork!

I started by strip piecing the front of my Mini Keeper

I used 3 strips 1 1/2" x 9" and one piece 3 1/2" x 9" for the back. 

Strap 3" x 22".

By the time I finished .... and after some trimming ..... my completed keeper finished at 2 3/4" by 8" .... a little shorter than I expected, but it worked out well for the size of my mini scissors!

I like to use calico to line all my pouches, with a couple of inches of patterned fabric at the top where it will be
visible when the pouches are used.

Susie used Velcro to finish her ties, but as I have a surfeit of "inherited" poppers, and I don't really like  Velcro ..... it gets caught on so many delecate fabrics .... I used these vintage press studs:

I used some of my "tape measure" fabric for the straps.

Have you been stitching this week?

What have you made?





See you later,
Hugs,
Barbara xxx

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts for "Finish it up Friday"

WIPs - Quilted Purse / The Splendid Sampler / My Cocoa Sampler

Hello Dear Reader,

My quilted purse is not going so well! It is all stitched together now, but the zip is just half an inch too long, which has caused a few problems finishing it!

Note to self: Next time attach closing tab to wrong side of zip first, fold with a 1/4 inch hem to front, and machine stitch to finish neatly! Otherwise, zip shortening worked well!

Not quite ready for a final photo! Hopefully it will be finished in a day or so. 

The Splendid Sampler: I am still adding my buttonhole stitching .... a little frogging here as the stitches were bunching on the base ..... but it's nearly finished now!

It's been a while since I mentioned my Cocoa Sampler, you can see updates over at Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics. 

This is where I'm up to at the moment.

Thank you Jo and Noni for your comments about DMC changing the colours of their cotton .... so I know now that I hadn't picked up the wrong colours by mistake!

Luckily I found that I had been using the exact colour I needed on my Tatty Teddy WIP, which is all but finished, so I was able to use the remainder for this project.

• I've stitched quite a lot of the purple heading. It's nice to start seeing a bit more of the final picture.
• The arch needed frogging where I had used the wrong grey ..... it was much too dark! 

I am so glad I wasn't working on some massive heirloom piece using lots of this grey ...... I would never have dreamt that DMC would change the dyes!



Today I am linking to Eshther's WOW WIP.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm off to see what others are creating!

Thank you so much for visiting me,  and thank you also all for the wonderful comments you leave me!



I hope you've all managed to get some stitching time this week!

See you next week.

Barbara xx

WIPs - Quilted Purse / Pastel Dye Sticks and The Splendid Sampler

Hello Dear Friends,

If you have visited me before you will probably realise by now that I love to stitch when I am traveling, and, for me, every train journey is the perfect excuse for stitching!

For my latest train journey I prep'd my fabric, and wadding, backed with muslin and searched out a wavy lined stencil I'd made some years ago. I've recently bought some long pins with beads on their ends and found it was possible, with these long pins, to keep the stencils in place on my fabric while I stitched.

This WIP is a tiny purse, from a tutorial by Svetlana, who said "don't use polyester wadding", but I  love the puffy finish polyester wadding gives!

Back home again, I selected some monochrome heart patterned fabric I'd found when I last visited my local quilt shop, which, of course, I couldn't help but buy for my lining, and then I couldn't resist colouring in the hearts with my Pastel Dye Crayons. (In case anyone is wondering, the selvedge said "Hearty 2 You + Me 15.02 by www.Stof.dk). My scrap was approximately 1/4 yard .... so you may well see this one again! This pretty fabric was in a "Scrap Pack", so, haha, I had to buy the whole pack .... consisting of another 4 different scraps! No I won't show you the rest now ... I'll save that for another day!

Lining cut ready for boxing the corners.

Another of my WIPs is the Splendid Sampler block .... "Sewing Machine" by Pat Sloan. 

I know I'm rather late mentioning it (oops, sorry Lara), but I was very lucky to win a signed copy of Lara Buccella's book - "Crafted Appliqué .... New Possibilities" by commenting on her blog hop .....

 and here is the first block I've made using her appliqué method... Sewing in progress.

Is it just me, or do you  find it hard to take pictures of small blocks too?

And what Summer post would be complete without at least a couple of  photos from the garden!

These lovlies must be at least 8' high

Our neighbours have been admiring our Hollyhocks and asking for seeds

And today I am linking to Esther's WOW WIP blog party. Do pop over and see what wonderful creations others are stitching!

As always, thank you for visiting me.

I hope you find time for stitching this week!

Have a great week!

Barbara xx

Finishes and WIPs

Hello Dear Reader,

I hope you've had a great week! I have! I finished three little projects from some of my fabric mountain! That's got to be good, hasn't it? Then I found some inspiration from Amanda Jean's one-a-day pin-cushion challenge - here, and despite not needing one, I think I'm going to be making a skinny, long, pin-cushion like Amanda Jean's No 156!

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I made a peg-bag to replace my tatty old one, using Benta's pattern, which you will find here, using Benta's measurements, although she didn't stipulate how much of a scoop to make on the front sections, so I made mine approximately one inch deep, which has luckily turned out just right! I wasn't sure exactly where to place the straps ... so I placed them adjacent to the seams.

When the strap is around the neck the sides hang inwards, making a good sized opening for a hand to pick up pegs.

The bag hangs very nicely round one's neck, and gapes open sufficiently to remove the pegs easily ..... and I've already used it in the rain, pulling the washing off the line fast! It does the job, just right.

Thanks for the tutorial, Benta!

*****

Earlier this year I had made one of our neighbour's a Tissue Cover, and recently she asked if I would make one for her DIL. Once I started I couldn't stop, so I made one for her DIL, and one for one of my friends.

DIL's 

Friend's

I couldn't remember how I'd made the previous Tissue Cover, but good old Pinterest came to the rescue! I used the tutorial by WhimWham. and added a little handle, to make it easier to find and grab, in my bag.

And just so I don't forget again, the measurements were: 

Strap : 1" x 10", 

Outer  : 6" x 7",

Inner : 6" x 8"

Next time I will place one centre edge over the other for a tighter opening, but otherwise I was very happy with the finish. 

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The Splendid Sampler ..... another finish!

2 WIPS:

Firstly, I have another Splendid Sampler sampler block in progress. I thought it would be quick, but not so ... I cannot decide what fabrics to use!

And, secondly, in a few quiet minutes, with a new magnifying glass, I've added some stitches to my Cocoa Sampler.

I've been meaning to join in with Kaye and her friends at Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics, maybe I will  get the chance this week now my needle has had some practice once more!

Thank you for visiting. I do hope you found something to interest you, and if you leave a comment or become a friend of my blog, I will be able to visit you too!

I love discovering new friends to visit, it's one of the main reasons for blogging, right? Isn't it?

Hugs,

Barbara xx

Linking to: Esther Aliu's WIPW
and           Amanda Jean's - Finish it up Friday

A Catchup!

Hello friends, old and new!

So pleased you could drop by.

Thank you again, all those who commented on my previous "post" - I'm pretty sure I've replied to everyone, but please forgive me if I haven't, I do aim to visit you all regularly.

I can't believe where the time has gone since my last post! I've been wanting to say hello and share some photos for a while now, so I hope Amy won't mind me joining in a little late with my Five (on Saturday)

1. WIP - Cocoa Sampler:

Previously

And now:

Now!

I have almost finished stitching the mug and milk bottle, but am leaving the white stitches until last to stop them getting grubby. 

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2. The Splendid Sampler blocks

I've been stitching some slow embroidery on "Measure Twice, Cut once..." by Jane Davidson:

Stitching slowly, so far....

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3. Quilt Now - Free Gift

And, this isn't an advert, but I felt I had to say, I don't normally buy magazines, but the other day I bought a copy of Quilt Now!

I'm always tempted by the offer of a free gift - and this had a 2.5 x 5 inch quilter's ruler, how could I resist it! After all, it can replace the 2.5 square inch measure I seem to have misplaced!!!!!

So useful when piecing
 squares, it's much quicker to use to check
seam measurements!

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4. Izzy's walk in the woods.

A couple of weeks ago, on a bright, but chilly day, DH and I took a walk to the bluebell woods, accompanied by Izzy, for a photo shoot!

The bag Izzy is dangling from was one of the first things I ever quilted (and appliquéd too!) from a pattern in a book by Chuck Nohara.

A few bluebells!

5.Tulips

And whilst we are looking at Izzy, on my rucksack, I would like to mention Chris, of  UK City Crafter, who linked to a tutorial for making Tulips a few weeks ago. Seeing how Chris made her own Tulips, of course, I couldn't resist having a go myself, and here are mine on my bag alongside Izzy! 

This was a nice little handmade project which whiled away some time on a few train journeys. I also made a tiny tulip for Izzy (from Chris's blog) too, but she really needs a bag to carry the tulip!

By the way, Chris took part in a Stitch Craft Create blog hop this week, making and creating with Tilda Candy Bloom fabric, she made a very pretty quilt with the samples she received from Stitch Craft Create.

Thanks to Chris I visited the blog hop and was very lucky to win some 10" square samples of Tilda Candy Bloom fabric, and found a few more interesting blogs to visit.

I was intending to use my prize to make some mini bunting for our street party, and found a great tutorial on mini bunting over at Josie's blog, Sew for Soul - but now I can't decide whether to make the bunting or a quilt like Chris's ..... I guess the quilt would be more useful, maybe......

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But back to our walk, and there were quite a few gates en route ...... I think they are quite picturesque. I've seen blogs where people link up their pictures of gates, and if I remembered which blog maybe I could have linked there too!

We also passed our local pond, and it was great to see the pond must be healthy as there were quite a few tadpoles and small fish. I couldn't get any pictures of the fish as they were really quite small - about an inch long, and bright orange .... perhaps they were cast off goldfish!

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I am off to visit at Amy's next, hope to see you there too!

I trust you are all keeping well!  Have a great weekend!

I will be back soon with a little quilted project.

Barbara xx

Five on Friday

Hello!

I am linking to Amy of Love Made My Home and her Five on Friday. I haven't joined in lately as we've been rather busy here with decorating and a sickly cat.

Edited Version!!!!!!

Oops, you might have noticed something funny here! I accidentally pressed the publish button a short while ago, instead of save!  But here goes, this should be the correct version now!

1. Spring is here!
2. Bluebells in the ancient woodland
3. Jelly ears
4. Present received
5. Happy Happy! (The Splendid Sampler)

1. Spring is here!

We have lots of frogspawn in the pond this year, more than we have ever had before! I do hope a few of he little chaps survive because next doors very naughty cat is really making it his life's work to annihilate all our poor little frogs.

2. Bluebells in the ancient woodland

The bluebells in our front garden are already flowering, but then they are growing in a sunny position, with the added bonus of the afternoon sunshine being reflected back onto them from the whiteness of the wall. 

So, having mentioned the bluebells that we had seen growing on the nearby Common the other week, we thought it would be a good idea to go up there again and see how they were progressing.

As it happens only a few are in flower yet as it is cool and shady here amongst these tall, old trees.

Previously I mentioned that shrubs and non native trees that have somehow self seeded were being cleared by the Commons' Rangers' and volunteers, and this time we noticed that further clearances had taken place, making it much more light and airy with dappled sunshine.

Old and decaying native trees, such as the one seen here,
 are being left to support the wildlife. 

We spotted this but are unsure whether it is evidence
of beetles or woodpeckers 

3. Jelly ears

Would you believe it! If you saw my post about our walk a few months ago when we went searching for fungi - I laughed when I walked round our garden the other day and found these Jelly Ears growing on the stumps of an old budlia tree!

4. Present received!

I feel really guilty that I haven't been able to blog about these lovely presents I received from the very generous Kim  of Wisdom with Needle and Thread.  She recently celebrated her blog anniversary with a month of giveaways.

I was lucky enough to win these lovely kits from week 5:

I was really surprised and excited as this wrist cuff was an extra surprise

It is Kim's 60th birthday in July and she is having another amazing celebration! She is making and giving 60 RAK's (Ramdom Acts of Kindness) to 60 of her blogging friends. You can read about it here.

5. Happy Happy (Splendid Sampler)

I have fallen behind with my blocks, but I can now report that I have finished said block!  The flowers and vase are attached by buttonhole stitch, and the stems are in backstitch.

I hope to be back again soon with a "finish"

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Barbara xx