So in went the names, perfect size this pot, I think I shall make this my giveaway pot.
Sunday 31 January 2010
Winner is..........Italian Giveaway.
Friday 29 January 2010
ATWQB - Birdie Block
Using pattern paper I created the bird shape and cut it out of fabric. I then attached it to the block using bond-a-web. I changed the machine setting to satin stitch and appliqued it to the block. Some wing and tail feathers finished it all off and a bluey craft button for his eye.
All in all I think it turned out quite well and I am really pleased with it. Sent it off to Maria today.
Relieved that it is Friday today. My eyes ache so much that the old specs are not even helping to keep things in focus!
Ballet tomorrow morning and then maybe a trip to Eden etc.
Have a great weekend.
xx
Thursday 28 January 2010
Cath Kidston delight.
I do not have any step by step pictures. It went together easily. The fabric was a bit thick really for the handle construction suggested to I made it in a different way with the same outcome. The worst part was the button holes as, again, the fabric is so thick, but got there in the end. You could easily leave the button holes out, stitch the handle directly to the bag and perhaps sew the buttons on for decoration. Next came the loop for the button fastening. Now, I have made more of these than I have had hot dinners and the instructions in the book where simple to follow but not with fabric this THICK!! Fold in half so the raw edges meet in the centre, then fold in half again and stitch along to secure. None of this making a tube and turning it through nonsense. The label that came with it stitched on nice and easily. It did not come with lining fabric, only the outer floral material, so I lined it with crisp white cotton. Simply made a copy of the pattern from the book and stitched the base slightly higher than the outer bag. This stops the contents from making the bag sag in the middle. The lining is actually supporting the contents and gives the bag (all bags) a better shape.
I liked the length of the strap at full stretch, but found the second hole position was neither here nor there. If it can be used as a hand bag then the strap needs a better way of being shortened so that it is actually a hand bag option and not that you have a bag strap that is simply too small for you!
The overall size of the bag is usable for the summer, so as not to carry around too much 'stuff' but did look a bit bigger on the book cover, but that is photography for you. The pattern is simple enough to enlarge if needed. Overall I enjoyed making the bag and I would certainly have a go at making more in different types of fabrics. A good starter bag.
What do you think? Anyone else had a go at this bag, what did you think to it?
Over the weekend I shall be giving a kitchen up date and we are very pleased with it all and hubby has surpassed himself with the final outcome. A little kitchen warming may be in the near future as so many people have been asking about it.
Remember the giveaway deadline - midnight 30th January
Take carexx
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Spring Swap...
Monday 25 January 2010
Italian holiday Giveaway - 400+Posts too.
A close up of the cotton tea towel which has various landmarks if Florence on it.
This sponge cake is lovely an ideal for one whilst having a lovely cup of tea.
I found this lovely candle in a cute little shop down a side street. It had soaps, cream etc and everything smelt lovely. Almost too nice to burn.Now, a giveaway is not a true giveaway (just my feeling about it) without a bit of fabric. I walked miles and miles to find a fabric shop but with no luck. I even looked in the Italian yellow pages and translated some words but still no. Although not all shops advertise in the yellow pages, but I was there a week without any luck. So, to make up for this I am also including two fat quarters of Cath Kidston fabric instead.
So there you have it..........I will post anywhere, I need you to comment on this post only, if you link it to a post about this on your blog let me know and I will put you name in the pot twice. I shall ask Sophie to pull out the name on Sunday so that I can post on Monday 1st February. Therefore the DEADLINE for comments is midnight on Saturday the 30th January 2010.
Could not be easier.
Good luck everyone.
xx
Saturday 23 January 2010
Knitting Club- Finshed Work
A pig finger puppet to go with the elephant that was made a few weeks prior.
Thursday 21 January 2010
OPAM 2010- January- Knitted Squared Blanket.
Gradually I built up quite a few squares then there was a problem with the publishers and the magazines stopped for about 8 months. So I moved onto other things.
It did start up again but due to an increased workload with the day job at the same time, all I succeeded in doing was building up a wool mountain in my living room. I tried to keep up with the various different stitches but after a while I got fed-up. So I repeated a few of the squares and mixed and matched some others.
Then at Christmas I decided to work out exactly how many squares I needed just to even it up and I took what I needed to Italy with me. I knitted them in the evening, which was really nice after walking round Florence all day. Came back in January and stitched them all together. I then needed to think about the edge.
I decided that crocheting the edging might be the answer and I could use up some more of the still quite big pile of wool. I decided against the picot stitch that I used on a scarf so I think I came up with a form of the ladder stitch. Might need to check that with a book in my sewing/office. Anyway it seemed to work, looks even and I am happy with it.
Then then noticed that some of the squares were a little bare so I decided to make some very basic crochet flowers to add at random to the blanket. I may add to these over the coming weeks if I want something easy to do in front of the television.
So after many months is learning, knitting, waiting, frustration and completion it is DONE!
What do you think? This is the biggest knitted item I have ever made and it is the longest running project that I had on the go.
This is my January submission for the OPAM 2010 Challenge.
Take care all
xx
Tuesday 19 January 2010
Cupcake Fun.........
Now, there was loads of icing left and not wanting to waste it I looked round for another way of using it. When we came back from Italy I brought some sealed large sponge buns so we poured on the remainders of the icing. We had some decorations left over from Sophie's birthday and she had fun making an extra large version.
Guess what Sophie has for pudding that night?
Take care all
xx
Monday 18 January 2010
Kitchen Re-vamp 2
I amongst all of the excitement I did manage to do my 20 mins of crafting on Sunday with these....I have decided to call it a day with my Knitted blanket! Long time regular readers will be familiar with my tales of woe over this blanket. I have knitted the last square as frankly I have had enough of it. With the left over wool I am decorating some of the squares with crochet flowers. Simple versions.
They have got looped petals and my next 20 mins today was to make three more. So I have about 10 so far. I am having to stay at work until 9pm tomorrow so I am not sure if I shall get my 20 mins in or not. So after moving a few photos around files for work tomorrow I may just have another 20 mins and sew a few of these onto the blanket.
P.S Hubby is taking a break from the kitchen tonight!
Take care
xx
Sunday 17 January 2010
Perfect Sunday Viewing........
I shall be carrying out my 20 minutes crafting. How about signing up for this challenge? Click on the link in the margin.
Saturday 16 January 2010
Kitchen Re-vamp 1
Beginning of September 2009
This is the other side. Behind me is the dining table.
Next to the window is the patio doors.
We are not quite half-way through here and the best bit was a little after this picture when we chipped off the tiles. Very therapeutic and a great stress reliever!
There were some gaps in the tiling on the floor under the cupboards so we added some to level it out. Everyday stuff like washing had to still be done and you can see the little white oven that we ended up using for nearly 4 months.
This is the other side and I can really only describe this as like camping! You can see my bread making on the seating bit. Now I had bread making in the living room, upstairs in our bedroom, basically anywhere where there was a socket and no dust being created. We were like this until the beginning of November. We planned our IKEA kitchen on their website but one weekend that we were going to go the weather was really bad and then my In-laws were away because we did not want to have to take Sophie all the way to Bristol kitchen hunting. Eventually a suitable weekend came along and we went up after work on a Friday. nipped into IKEA and grabbed some catalogues then went back in on the Saturday and sorted it out in one go.
It was delivered at the beginning of December and we had a couple of weeks to try and put as much of it in as possible before Christmas. The delivery was on time,they took everything off the lorry carefully and were very friendly. Then the job of fitting everything. My Hubby had great fun as everything fitted together so well. We really would recommend IKEA and even though it is a 2hour drive there and back for us it was definitely worth it.
Not too many boxes considering. You can see my weekly shop ended up in plastic boxes, could not find a thing most of the time.
The very first thing to be installed is this lovely oven. When we visited my sister-in-law she had just got one similar to this and by the end of the week we were smitten. After doing some number crunching and agreeing it was an investment, we took the plunge.
Drilling the hole through the wall to the outside for the extractor hood was so bad it could have shaken your fillings out of your teeth. A veeerrryyy long afternoon that one but Hubby fitted it all by himself and I do not think we annoyed the neighbours too much, well we tried not to. You can see the cupboards starting to be fitted and we had to shuffle things around the kitchen and in and out of the living room constantly. The poor old cat never knew where his bowls were going to be from one meal to the next!
We have actually moved on a bit from this picture until last night when we had to take up 1/4 of the flooring and one cupboard where the washing machine was. See previous post. I shall be back with an update and more pictures. Hubby has just been up stairs to say it all seems to be going back together ok so far, so please everyone fingers crossed!!!!
Take care
xx
Friday 15 January 2010
Kitchen Blues...
Thursday 14 January 2010
Stocking thoughts....
It has several shapes, sizes and decoration ideas. It is one pattern that is bound to be brought out year after year.
I visited my partners blog a few times to have a good look round and then hunted through my stash for suitable fabric.
I settled for some lovely Cath Kidson fabric that I had bought last summer in Brighton when visiting my sister-in-law. I lined the stocking with crisp white cotton.
On the fabric I then high-lighted areas with sparkly iridescent sequins. I decided against adding anything else as I did not want to ruin the fact that Cath Kidston fabric was the main feature.
In contrast I then used some cotton gingham as this type of fabric features quite a bit in my partners own work and blog. This was made double thickness so that the raw edges were hidden. Along the top edge I then stitched some flat craft buttons in a dark pinky colour and some pink binding to finish the edge off nicely. I was a little worried that it did not look Christmas enough so I added a hanging loop with some mew green cross grain ribbon with dark green Christmas trees on it. In the parcel I also included a card, some fabric and couple of other little items.
I am going to feature the other entrants once I have tracked down all of the pictures because not all have been sent to me or blogged about so it is taking longer than I thought.
I shall be running another Christmas swap this year with another theme and this time I shall post it a bit earlier. I have the theme already and even an example item made up. The next one will have a basic pattern and simple instructions available if required via email, and should be suitable for a wide range of crafts so I hope to attract a wider range of participants.
My giveaway pictures did not turn out very well, taking pictures in the evening is not helpful, especially when one of the items is white! So I shall have another go at the weekend. It has been very hectic this week at work, trying to catch up with missed lessons due to last weeks snow. Back to normal this week and it has flown by.
Take care and back tomorrow.
Keep warm.
xx