Hearts and buttons

I wish I had more time to blog. I'm finding myself to be quite productive lately, although I do seem to be starting projects rather than getting them finished. I started Kim Hargreaves lovely hat, Moon, over Christmas, and thought I'd easily have it finished by now, as its a quick knit even for me. But before Christmas I'd bought curtain fabric for our dining room to replace the horrible vertical blinds that the previous owners left here, which we've just left up as we've had nothing to replace them with (and I must admit, as much as I dislike vertical blinds, they do actually keep rather a lot of heat in). Anyway, I decided they were more urgent than the hat, so I've been getting them cut down to size and all the hems ironed down, ready for hand stitching, which will take a little while as they are large curtains. I could have knitted later on in the evenings, but we've been totally absorbed in Downton Abbey (we had much hilarity on Christmas day when Marno and I discovered we'd both bought each other both series on DVD!), and as I can't knit lace whilst watching TV, the hat has been put on the backburner. That is rather unfortunate, as it happens, because I left my last hat (at the bottom of the post) at a friends house yesterday, and the weather is pretty atrocious here at the moment. Ok, I do have other hats but that was my go to. I've also realized, going back to that post, that the one photo I took of that hat is pretty dreadful!

Aaaanyway... I made a few things just before Christmas which I'm going to write about today. Way back when I started my blog, my MIL sent me loads of patchwork squares, which she'd cut herself to make a quilt for herself. Unfortunately the quilt didn't work out and she decided to pass on the fabric. I knew she loved these fabrics, so I always had the intention to make her something out of them. Several years later, I finally became inspired to make her a patchwork apron. I'd wanted to make something which would incorporate the yarn her mother had spun which was on the bobbin of my wheel when she gave it to me. There isn't a lot of it, so I'd just wanted to knit a pretty lace border to attach to a larger item, which was when I designed the apron. When I came to knit the yarn however, it knit up very stuffly and was not at all delicate - it actually bent it was so stiff! So I decided to carry on with the apron anyway, and give it to MIL as a Christmas present, and come back to the yarn at a later date.

 The knitted lace was going to run along the join between the patchwork

squares and bottom pink panel.

 

 

I decided to attach the neck strap and waist ties with buttons rather than just sewing them on, to make thimgs more interesting. This one should be rotated 90 degrees to the left but blogger keeps uploading it the wrong way!!!

Modelled by me with the camera on timer.

I'm so happy to say MIL loves her apron, and I'm so pleased. She deserves a special gift. 

Still on the subject of Chrstmas, but of decorations this time, I was at a friend's house a couple of weeks before Christmas and she had up the most gorgeous decorations, mostly purchased from the lovely shop, Nest Vintage Living, in Cardiff. She had some stuffed fabric hearts, amongst other things, which set my mind working on what fabrics I had in my stash with which I could make my own. I had a little raid the same evening, and whipped up these sweet little hearts of my own, which I was very happy with.

You'll see where I put them in my next post, which is going to be a little feature on our "winter living room" which isn't as grand as it sounds, but is so cosy in the cold months.

Well, I wish whoever is reading a happy and blessed new year. 

xxx Sam

Not all my own work

I said I'd write about the lovely handmade gifts we received for Noah in my last post, so here we are. We were given three lovely cardigans, specifically handmade for Noah, and one handmade but purchased, by my sister along with some little booties. The three cardigans are what may be referred to as typical baby knits, but knowing what has gone into them just makes me love them. The stitch patterns are so pretty and I just really appreciate them.

I just love this blue cardigan. It looks so cosy and the stitch pattern is so pretty.

Close up of stitch pattern.

 Yellow cardigan with triangle edging (a similar edging as the mohair lace cardigan)

Close up of edging

White cardigan

We were also given three crochet blankets, two crocheted by one lady, Nancy, a dear friend of Ma's, who also knitted the yellow cardi, and the other by the same friend who knitted the white cardigan, Gill...

  
Nancy's blanket 1

Nancy's blanket 2 - what gorgeous edging!

Gill's blanket.

I have to say I haven't a clue about crochet though people keep telling me how easy it is... hmmm I have yet to be convinced!

And finally, this absolutely stunning quilt, made by Pam, another dear friend of Ma's, and the mum of one of Marno's friends from school.

She started making it when she found out I was pregnant, and its perfect for either a boy or a girl. I think it is so beautiful and it will certainly be adorning Noah's cot when he is older.

Oops, I almost forgot the cardigan my sister gave and the booties.

The kindness and generosity we have received from people has been utterly overwhelming. We have received such a massive amount of gifts (not handmade) and are so grateful to so many people. A baby seems to bring happiness to so many, and they are so ready to show it. Its a real lesson and I hope I don't forget it.

Sickly sweet nostalgic quilt

This is the quilt I've been working on to finish for the exhibition in a couple of weeks time. I have so named it because although I love the combination of fabrics it is rather sweet looking, and nostalgic because my mum gave me all the patterned fabrics I have used in it.



For the binding I made strips out of the remaining fabrics. I was originally going to turn the back over to the front but that would have been so dull compared to how it's actually turned out I'm glad I didn't.



I love these two photos below. They remind me of linen stacked in a cupboard. I love the look of neatly folded linens and fabrics, even folded towels. It is essential the edge showing is the soft folded edge however, as if end edges show it spoils the overall effect I think.



I'm looking forward to seeing this hanging from the ceiling at the exhibition. I'm going to produce some information about the quilt to hang on the wall and maybe some cards for people to take away. I'm really excited at the thought of people looking at my work again after so long.

Slow progress and inspiration from others

I'm currently at an annoying stage where I want to get on with knitting the cardigan, which I have now cast on and knitted a few rows of...


It looks rather like a sunflower in that photo.


And this is the photo of it in Knitting magazine. I really like the dress the model is wearing as well! Talking of dresses, I've just been looking at this stunning dress on Kate Davies' blog and it has really inspired me for a new dressmaking project - well after I've finished my current sewing project. A patchwork I've been working on for some time. You may recall it was one of the first things I blogged about here. Well, the poor thing has been left for so long as I seem to gravitate towards knitting above all the creative things I'm involved with, but, thanks to some very kind people, I no longer have to give up my patchwork class and there is an exhibition of the years' work in a few weeks. I've decided to concentrate on getting it finished in time for that. I haven't had work in an exhibition since my degree show so I'm really looking forward to the opportunity.

I still haven't removed my spindle and roving from the box in which I put them the other week. I think they'll be in there for a little while now as I need to time concentrate... oh, how strange, its just come into my head that I had a dream last night about trying to spin! Its so peculiar when that happens. Have a pleasant day x

Pretty dress coming up...

I spent a lot of last weekend slaving away over this dress, with some help from Ma.


I finished it yesterday but am hopefully going to take some photos of me wearing it on Saturday in the park, as the fabric I've used is really pretty and spring like. Its a Laura Ashley fabric. This was supposed to be an "easy" pattern, but I've only ever made one other thing which is this top I made a few months ago. My parents in law came over for the day and Ma gave me a lesson in using dress patterns.



Needless to say, I'd forgotten a fair amount of it by the time I came to make the dress this weekend!
Unfortunately I didn't get the quilt finished for Romania on Wednesday. I've never done machine quilting and it takes a little getting used to. I was also rushing it and ending up with not at all straight quilting lines. Here it is before I started quilting. I know I said I wasn't going to show unfinished projects but I've been going on about this so here it is.


Not very exciting but I'm sure a little child would love the arctic animals print.
I'm now debating whether to begin the Robin hat or wait for this to arrive so I can begin my Mohair Lace Cardigan. I wanted it to go with the dress and the green of the Kidsilk Haze goes perfectly. Also the fabric used in the original pattern only comes in cream, bright pink and black. The KSH ws a slightly more pricey choice but I'm hoping will look beautiful.
Ahh ok, off to do some revision for my IT course now.
Have a lovely day x Sam

Some Little Guys

Its funny, since we've been interested in birds, we've taken to referring to them as "guys". I think its because when you start to look at them in more detail you realise they all have such personalities. My favourite personalities at the moment are Robins and Long Tailed Tits, which are just too sweet and are little balls of fluff. Anyway, here are my finished Blue Tit and Robin.



They probably don't look that different to the progress shots I've already posted about. This has led me to the (probable) decision that I'm no longer going to post photos of unfinished paintings, and has also reminded me that here is another thing that used to bug me about painting. I would put loads of detail in a certain part, usually the face, but other aspects I would give far less attention to. I am happy with these considering I haven't painted in four and a half years, but I think this needs work. I also remembered I used to really enjoy working in charcoal and pastels, so I think its another trip to the storage container to retrieve some more old art materials...

I've put these on a shelf on a bookcase for now, and couldn't resist taking a photo as there were a few interesting objects on display.

As well as the paintings, there's the first "object" I knitted, a lavender filled heart with a pearlescent button and bobbles around it, a pair of tickets to go and see Lemar, which should be quite random as my husband bought them kind of on a whim. We have liked his singles but those are all we know so we can sing along to four songs at least! And there's the tree spirit from this most excellent film. But ignore the English as all anime has to be watched in Japanese (in my opinion). Its just so much better and more believable. We are anime lovers here, but kind of go in stages of watching it, and I wrote my dissertation on manga and anime, long ago that seems now. Talking of education, it occurred to me that I feel a bit like I'm at school at the moment. I'm taking A Level Art, Textiles and IT, spending all my free periods in the art department and making my friends faint with shock if I actually go into the library. Just like school! I didn't do A Level Textiles or IT but I'm doing lots of sewing at the moment and I am actually doing an IT course, which I guess is what I would use the library for. So as you can see, I'm not giving enough time to it. Its all online though so I am going to do some revision today...

...before I go to my friends house to quilt my... err... quilt! This is the actual one for Romania, although I've spoken to my friend John who's going and the children are ages five to 15. I've made this one a little bigger than Sue's (whose house I'm going to later). Its seven by 11 6" squares with a 2" border. I'm not going to show you til its finished but here's one of the fabrics I've used.
Somewhat more child friendly wouldn't you agree? In case you're interested, here's the link to the guys website and what they're doing on their trip.

I hope you have a most wonderful day x

A quick 10 minutes

...to tell you about what I finished on Friday. This knitting needle roll which I started about, hmm I can't actually remember now I come to think of it, but a couple of months ago anyway. I started it before I got a sewing machine so it's all hand sewn, except sewing the three layers together round the edge which I did at my class.




The hand sewing of the blocks wasn't actually that slow, the thing that took ages was the sewing of all the compartments for the needles to be held in , which you can get an idea of below. I also procrastinated because it was rather tedious.


All in all though, I'm very pleased with and and have designed another one which will be all machine made which I am hoping to make to sell on Etsy or Folksy. The thing I'm really interested in, as I think I've said somewhere before, is using really modern fabrics with traditional techniques. Ok so this fabric isn't particularly modern, but it is all done by hand. I think the ones I hope to produce will be in much more modern fabrics but I don't think I'll be able to use traditional quilt blocks due to the necessity of sewing it all on machine. A little too complicated to explain all the logistics so you'll have to take my word for it :)

Here's something else I did on Friday. I wanted to write this post on Friday evening but I haven't had time til now, early Monday afternoon! Its been another busy weekend! Anyway, this was meant to be my replacement baby quilt as I decided to keep the other one, which incidentally I'm hoping to machine quilt on Wednesday at a friend's house as I don't yet have a walking foot. But the fabrics are anything but babyish, so it looks like an "adult content" quilt in a baby size.


My husband said it could be a sleeping bag for his foot, and then proceeded to model it for me, as a blanket thats too small for an adult but pretty random for a baby!


I'm now having a third attempt with more child friendly fabric!

We had a busy Saturday helping some friends who are going to Nigeria on mission work prepare some things for Sunday school lessons they will be doing there. It was really lovely to be able to help in a small way. It mostly involved colouring in, cutting out and stapling things together. In the late afternoon we went to Kenfig Nature Reserve which was absolutely stunning. Loads of dunes and marshy areas, late afternoon sun plus several very grey clouds and some spitting rain. We didn't see many birds around apart from a female Bullfinch from a distance, but there were lots of dive bombing Meadow Pipets and some beautiful Stonechats, neither of which we've seen before. We also had the excitement of seeing two Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other around the tops of the trees yesterday in Roath Park Woodland. Here's a photo stolen from my husband.


Well thanks for your patience if you've got ot the end of this mammoth post. I hope I've made someone smile. Love Sam x

Patchwork and Current Projects

I started going to a patchwork and quilting class back in October which is when I left my job. I've really taken to it and I'm particularly interested in using traditional techniques with modern fabrics to create a juxtaposition, though I think that's something I'll come to as I've only really done three patchwork projects so far, only one of which is finished!
The first project was these cushion covers which I made to go on our new brown sofa. The room is painted a lush yellow with brown alcoves, kind of Africany feeling, with lots of wood as my husband built a mezzanine, so I used Autumny colours, most uncharacteristically of me as my favourite colours are blues and turquoises. But I was so pleased with how they turned out for my first ever attempt.


Then I made this...

..which is actually still in progress but I have plans to develop it so keeping quiet about it for now.

This is a patchwork project I started for a craft group a few of us have set up. All the fabrics are from my mum's old stash from the boxes and patchworks she's made so it's a bit sentimental. That is unfortunate since the idea was for it to be sent somewhere, like an orphanage a couple of our friends are going to in April, but I may have to make another one as I feel a little tied to this... oh dear


And current knitting is just this pair of socks for my MIL. She liked the first pair i knitted so much that she bought me yarn to make her some. They're just a simple top down pattern and I'm not sure about the pattern the yarn's making; its a lot less creamy than I expected, so hopefully she'll like them.


I guess I've posted rather a lot on my first Blog-day. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while and all these things have been accumulating. Theres still a bit more but I'll leave that for another time. Now its time for lunch and then some work this afternoon.

Bye x