Housekeeping

Well, as you can see, I've been having a bit of a change around and a tidy up. I had fun looking through all the different templates, and settled on a library. I love books. I love to read, although these days I use a kindle, there are some things a kindle just can't do for me.

Craft books and recipe books especially still need to be of the paper variety.

I have quite a few of those kind of books!

So the library it is.

Then I had a think about my sweet wee sewing machine. And decided that rather than uploading it every time I make a post, I would just tuck it into that widget up there on the left. 

I'll run with things like this for a while and see how I go.

So, onto the crafty stuff.

As I said last time, I have two crochet projects on the go. Both fairly small by my standards! LOL

You've seen this pink one before, not too long ago. To be honest, it didn't change much since then. I've added 2.5 rounds of border and still didn't decide how to finish it. So it languishes in the basket in favour of other things.

And among those other things is this wee treasure. During the big changing rooms sort out I came across a bag of wool /acrylic mix yarn that came with me from GB. Not a huge amount, just enough for a wee baby size blanket, I might even get two of them out of what is here, if I make them just big enough for tucking over a car seat or a buggy.

In a change from my usual grannys I've opted for rows of double (UK) crochet.

It's making quite a dense fabric. Hopefully it will be cosy.

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 I've also found quite a bit of time to work on the froggies.

They are all wound around the roller frame at the moment and you can't really see what I'm up to.

 So here is a peep at page one of the chart instead.

I'm over half way done with this page.

I was huffing and sighing last weekend as my magnetic strips and rulers all seemed to have lost their grip! They have been giving up for a while and I was making do, but this time, Tony was listening to my frustrations and asked what was wrong. Once I had explained (and he had examined things for him self, to ensure I wasn't being a girl and trying to stick them on the wrong way up!!)  He got busy searching and found me a whole new magnetic board set. My old one was 10 x 8 inches and I had to fold pages around it and get pretty creative trying to keep them tidy. This new one Tony found was delivered on Friday. Oh my goodness, it is nearly fat quarter size! Well, maybe not, but at 12 x 18 it is huge in comparison to the it's predecessor. I love it. Thank you Tony. xx

Staying with cross stitch.

Years ago, long before I began this blog I cross stitched a set of six Santa ornaments.

I made the mistake of stitching them too close together on the aida which caused me some issues when it came time to finishing them, between that and my amateur efforts I was never happy with them.

A couple of years ago I decided to pull them apart and see if I could improve on my earlier efforts. I found some weird and wonderful shapes. They got moved around from here to there while I researched what to do and how, and eventually they went onto the too hard basket and got put away.

I came across them in the big reshuffle and decided to have another go. More than one of them had pieces of white fabric zig zagged on in an effort to make a little more room to work.

 No standard template was going to work, so some tailoring took place and eventually each Santa had his very own pair of card mounts and a new piece of backing fabric.

 A few scraps of quilt batting, some more tweaking and snipping

 Clipping and lacing

 And eventually each Santa has a bespoke new finish.

They are still a long way from perfect, but I have to say, they do look better than they did before.

 

I'm going to add a gathered ribbon edge to them and a hanger each. 

Then I think I'll call them done. 

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On a final and very important note, did you notice that my reading list has made it's way over to the left hand side of my blog? Did you also notice an interloper? Some cuckoo in this nest of stitchy squishy, soft sewn crafty things?

My dear husband has decided to start his own blog!

I shown pictures of him before, working on his scale models or more recently his home brew!

I keep telling him he should be out there finding and commenting on other blokey blogs in order to gather a few followers and make a few friends. In the meanwhile, perhaps you'd like to take a peep, or invite your male other to look over your shoulder? 

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I'm not sure what I will find time for this week as we have two staff members off work and a third expecting another grand baby and hoping to get a few days off too! Things could get busier!! 

We'll see. 

Look what we found when we went searching for the original singer gif!

Nasty Weather!

Means staying at home and keeping warm.

So that is just what I have been doing.

I made three rows of itty bitty flying geese out of pieces I've had cut for over a week.

Each goose is 1.5 x 2.5 inches! 

I worked out that I had sewn 108 x 45 degree seams and made 144 bitty geese and only had to revisit 3 of the bias seams. Getting them all in a row though!!

These are not ducks and some of them were trying to migrate, I'm sure of it.

One in particular, no matter where I put it, always seemed to manage to get crooked.

Never mind, they are done now.

Next time I go play in my room I'll be cutting pinwheels , or making hearts, or maybe something else entirely.

LOL

For those who follow my cross stitch...

 The froggies are progressing.

The tree branch has grown, there is another leaf, the vine is longer and I have a frogs backside!

It's still looking more like a series of blobs at the moment I know, maybe next time it will look better.

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I have two crochet projects on the go!

One is almost done and another is just beginning.

I'll show those another time.

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The nasty weather is over for now, but more is forecast for later this week.

I see another weekend of sewing.

Bliss.

Quick post

 It's a grey overcast day here in Timaru, with quite a bit of fog about at the moment. So a good time to get in a quick post, while I wait for that to lift.

First of all, I have found a way to get my wee singer gif back onto my posts. Originally Tony had hosted it at his photobucket account and a code was added to my blog which automatically popped it onto the bottom of each and every post. (However, like many folks, he is refusing to pay the annual fee they have decided to ask for. There were only a few images on the account plus my gif, so not worth all that money.) He had hoped to find a way of doing that from another image hosting site, but was unable to make it work. The work around is for me to upload it each time, in the same way we upload our photos. So older posts will sadly continue to have that photobucket message on them. :-(

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And, because you can't write a blog post without an image....

A frogs foot!! LOL

The froggies are progressing nicely and the first one has a whole foot!

I have to say, there are a lot of colour changes which I find frustrating, but hopefully I'll get a break from that soon once I get onto the body of the first frog.

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It's a day off work today, so after the domestics are completed and I have done my chores in town, it will be play day. I keep telling myself that I should go and make a few blocks for my bitty rows quilt, but I keep hearing the froggies calling to me. LOL

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Look, she is back.

Can you help?

Edited to say

YAY!!

I found out how to fix it. 

I really could use some help here. We recently shut down our photobucket account and as you can see, that is where my cute wee sewing machine was hosted. Now try as he might poor Tony can't get it to work again from another hosting site. He has gone through all the help files and even posted a question on the help forum in an effort to sort it out. So far, no joy. We both think the issue may be something to do with google+ having taken over blogger. I did upgrade for a while, but didn't like it so reverted back to the old blogger. Have any of you had similar issues? Does anybody have any bright ideas that may help?

I want my lovely wee sewing machine back.

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Speaking of sewing machines, my new friend has been busy and has helped me to create another two rows for my bitty quilt top. I also have another five rows cut and ready to sew.

Tony and I were both off work last week and spent a good deal of time at home crafting. As well as cutting I powered on with my secret cross stitch project. It's now all done and yesterday I was able to make a start on a new project. There isn't much to see yet,.....

 It's a designer threads kit which I purchased while we were in Auckland earlier this year.

I have stuff to do this morning, but later today I'll be either sewing or stitching, I didn't decide yet.

Then back to work tomorrow.

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Did this work?

See no sewing machine spelling out my name.......:-(

Loulee. xx

Remember this one?

Moonbeam.

She was stitched back in 2013 when I tucked her into my portfolio, where her slumbers began.

She travelled across the world in a container, still slumbering. Last year I pulled her out of the portfolio along with several other completed cross stitch pieces.

They all got hung in the cupboard in my sewing room, waiting for that 'one day' when they would be framed and put on display.

Well a while ago I got to thinking and yesterday I wound into action and took my self to the shop for black fabric and grey quilt batting.

Now she is slumbering on my bedroom wall.

I still have several of my WIP pictures 

Here is a slightly closer look as she just came off the roller frame I worked on.

It should be clicky for a better look.

I wonder how many other cross stitch pieces could be finished in a similar way?

There are only about a dozen of them in the cupboard. LOL

But first, I'll make some quilt blocks.

Changing Rooms

There were big changes made yesterday.

I've been struggling in my room for a while, it was over crowded with the quilting frame dominating the space. This week Mr H and I are both off work and both intent on doing our own thing, together at home. Well, he caught me moving into the kitchen with my cutting mat, iron and bucket of scrap fabrics.I explained my problem, it's something we have discussed often and he always suggests that I move my sewing room into the sun room, and I explain that that wouldn't work for me. There is no storage, it just isn't the right room for a sewing room. Well yesterday he got his tape measure out and started measuring this and that, then came up with,why don't we move the frame?

It fits.

Just.

It's a bit of a squish getting through the door, but it is accessible from both sides, with plenty of room 

to move around on either side.

And I'll have wonderful views of the garden.

Of course there is no room to sit in there any more, but I was the only one who did anyway.

So, that has really opened up my wee room again.

In the my efforts to declutter and open things up I took the majority of the teddies and toys down off the shelves and up went one or two decorative items.

There is room for an ironing board again! So my stitchy step count will fall somewhat as I no longer run out to the bedroom or the hall to press seams!

All of the manoverings created a spare arm chair, so it was tucked into the window, what a lovely place to sit and read, I won't miss the sun room in the afternoons and of course there is a comfy seat if he wishes to visit with me, or any visitor. Belle spent some time on it yesterday.

A secondhand desk was acquired last night and up went Naomi Janome.

It's a much better option than my old white table as it has a greater surface area and is also lower than the table.

It took nearly all day to get things sorted as they are now, so himself was unable to 'get another brew down'! I think that is what he had intended to do, before I took over the kitchen as a cutting station. LOL So today he is busy, getting down with his second brew. A stout this time he tells me.

The first one was a bitter. Yep, I can attest to that!

So while he putters about, taking up the whole kitchen, I'll be in my newly arranged room playing with my new sewing machine,

Making some more itty bitty stars, for my itty bitty quilt top.

Then maybe I'll get on a put together the itty bitty boats I cut yesterday, before the big change was suggested and happened.

There is a nasty storm heading our way, right up off the southern ice, it's bringing snow with it and some nasty winter weather. A good week to be able to stay at home warm and cosy and spend time with my dear, as we craft the week away.

My secret cross stitch is growing and I'm over the half way mark. I'm really pleased with it.

As I'm sure you all understand, I have the next three or four cross stitch projects all kitted and ready to go! But there is another gift to stitch first. I should be able to share that one with you though. And of course, now that my room is feeling more comfortable, I should be spending more time in there too.

Meet my new friend

You may remember, we were off to get my early birthday present last weekend.

And here she is. I already have a Jenny Janome, so I think this one will be Naomi Janome.

I haven't had a chance to use her properly yet. Perhaps if I had had the foresight to have some pieces ready cut to make up some quilt blocks? It is simply too dark in my room in the evenings to cut accurately. Tony has promised that he will get some better lighting sorted out soon.  Meanwhile, I have been able to play about with some of the fancy stitches.

I could have so much fun with these.

The top three stitches in the greeny colour are all the same design, just widened or lengthened. 

I'm going to have lots of fun.

Hopefully once the domestics are done today I can get some cutting done while we have sunshine and good light in my room. Then I'll have some real sewing to do once it gets darker.

Meanwhile I've been stitching away at the secret stuff and also having a go at my crochet here and there. This wee pink blanket has grown very slowly.

I stopped last night at this point intending to bury thread ends and perhaps start on a border. It still looks just the same this morning. LOL

Here is a closer look at the pretty variegated pink yarn.

As previously mentioned, Mr H has a new craft interest.  No his bottled home brewed beer did not explode all over my lounge. Phew! It sat in the lounge for almost three weeks, before going into the fridge. He arranged a bit of a soiree on the weekend and had a grand opening.

I think it went down well. There were quite a few empty bottles.

Finally a mid winter sunrise!

I had to start work later than usual on Friday and was actually at home and able to see the sun come up. What a beautiful sight. The sky was on fire.

None of the photos I took really do it justice, but this one is pretty close.

I've had quite a few extra shifts at work lately, which leaves less time for the fun stuff. I'm looking forward to next week. Tony and I both have a week off work and by sheer lucky fluke, so does Debbie and her hubby! There will be crafty time, but there will also be a day out, maybe two.

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Right, time to be domestic, then I'm off to cut, cut, cut and sew.