I heart Hearts

Do you suffer from ideas overload too? I have so many ideas of projects I want to make that sometimes I just don’t know where to start and end up doing nothing!

This predicament has definitely got worse since I started browsing Pinterest more

Yesterday I started a project which is inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, here’s what I’ve done so far…

They have a thin layer of wadding inside them to make them a bit squishy.

The fabric is some left over from my Rabbit quilt (see here).

This is what I shall be working on today if I get a chance

 

The tomatoes I planted back in  April have put on a magnificent growth spurt. I usually grow them in growbags but for the past couple of years have had very poor results, so my Dad suggested using pots instead. I must say that the results this year are FAR better, the plants are bushy and healthy. I think I shall be ditching growbags and growing in pots from now on .

They have lots of flowers so hopefully we’ll be enjoying lots of tomatoes later in the summer Can anyone share their favourite ‘tomato’ recipes please, I have a feeling I’m going to need them!

Until next time,

Chris x

Happy Father’s Day

To all the Dads out there (and especially mine ) wishing you a Happy Father’s Day

Until next time,

Chris x

A Little Bit of This and That

That ‘all sewn out’ feeling is starting to disappear

I delivered the stoles (see my last post) to my friend and I think it’s fair to say that she was very pleased with them. This same friend has just moved house so my hubby and I visited her family today and took another little hand crafted something to welcome them into their new home.

I  made this a little while ago and had it stashed away ready for when the move happened.

The embroidery design is a freebie by Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly and can be found here. I love the designs Bronwyn creates – such a talented lady.

 

Now, what do you do when your student son comes home from university with his favourite jacket looking like this?

I suppose I did what most Mums would do and I took him shopping for a new one but we searched high and low for a suitable summer weight jacket and struggled to find any. Why oh why do shops not stock summer jackets in summer? It is a mystery!

So I decided to do a bit of frugal stitching. I checked the sleeve length and cut off the jacket’s cuffs, then I carefully turned the raw edges in

 

and stitched them together…

and now we have a jacket which will last another season

In the meantime I must keep a look out for when shops  sell summer jackets! – any ideas?

Until next time,

Chris x

The Silk Project Revealed

After spending the majority of last week being a very busy bee working away at my so called ‘silk project’ I can now reveal what all the fuss was about!

One of my friends is being ordained at the end of June and had asked me to make her two silk stoles (those scarf things vicars wear!)

Now you’d think they would be straight forward to make and, indeed, once you know the mysteries of stole making they are – but I didn’t know those mysteries and no one else I knew seemed to know them either!

Anyway, through lots of research, trial and error and perseverance I have finally finished. What do you think?

Purple Stole

- this one is a plain silk stole with a cross motif sewn onto it. The cross is my own design which I drew up after chatting to my friend about what she wanted.

The rough hessian represents the humble life of Jesus on Earth, the red – his blood shed for us on the cross and there are threads of gold running through the hessian which hint at the sovereignty of Christ.

The red stole is the machine embroidered design I was agonising over, and after all the practice I did it went together really well (I love it when that happens )

The background lines are made up of five different colours from fuschia pink at the bottom to vivid yellow at the top

I machine embroidered leaves and dandelion clocks over the background – very scary as I knew I’d have to start all over again if I made a mess of it!

This one is worn at Pentecost and represents the wind which announced God’s Holy Spirit arriving on Earth.

I couldn’t resist putting a sweet little label in them

Now after all that effort and stress I have to admit to feeling a bit ‘all sewn out’ so I shall focus on my garden for a while until that ‘sewing feeling’ comes back, I don’t suppose it’ll take long

Until next time,

Chris x

ATC Finale

Do you remember the ATC swap I have been busy sewing for? I posted about it here and here.

Well I posted my little card off on Monday and today Mr Postman brought me this exciting little parcel…

Inside was a tiny present tied up in gorgeous lace (definitely going to use that in some project soon )

and inside that was this…

Just look at the tiny knitted jumper, and the careful machine embroidery – a wee bird, washing line and posts. There are even embroidered pegs!

The tiny flowers are all machine appliqued on too – someone is seriously good with their machine.

Love the vintage look to the fabric – in fact I love everything about it. Thank you Gill.

 

Quick update on the Silk Project – the worst is over, that is the sewing part I’d been nervous about, and it’s all looking good

Until next time,

Chris x

Accomplish

I have pondered and planned, thought and researched, designed and doodled and now I am ready to start the SILK PROJECT!

It really isn’t like me to spend quite so much time dithering before launching into a project but I think because this project :

a) is for a friend

b) is very special in its significance

c) uses very expensive materials

d) something I’ve never done before

then part of me is a tiny bit (dare I say it) scared.

However, this is the week when I shall accomplish the bulk of the project. I am determined to face my fears and just jolly well get on with it!

Pep talk over – I’m going in!

So friends if I’m not around much this week you’ll know why

[uh-kom-plish] 

verb (used with object)

1. to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one’s mission.

2. to complete (a distance or period of time): to have accomplished the age of 70; We accomplished the journey in little more than an hour.

3. Archaic. to provide polish to; perfect.

Synonyms
1. complete, fulfill; execute, effect.

 

Until next time,

Chris x

Bucket Bags

The weather here has been lovely and I’ve been spending time taming the garden. There once was a time when given the choice I’d always choose gardening over sewing – any day. But nowadays sewing is generally the winner, except this week, that is, when the garden called and I listened .

I have still done a bit of sewing, and my ‘Ladies Wot Sew’ group saw me finishing another batch of Babushka bookmarks – just like the ones I made here.

I’ve also been preparing myself for my ‘silk’ project by doing some free motion embroidery practise. I started by practising on scraps of fabric, then on some spare silk and then on a mini project – a bucket bag.

The fabric, as usual for these impromptu projects, is stuff I had in my stash. I was trying for a light airy feel to the embroidery – not too polished and perfect (not much chance of that at the moment ).

I added a bit of hand stitching and a little label to finish it off.

…and it’s already got a purpose – to hold my crochet work.

While I’m pleased with the embroidery – it has improved in leaps and bounds from when I first started practising – if anyone has any tips I’d love you to share them. Especially with machine embroidery on dupion silk.

In the meanwhile, my little ATC is waiting patiently to be posted on Monday,

Until next time,

Chris x