One thing leads to another

I have been making slow progress with my little bag - mainly because I have been making it up as I go along which rarely works out first time and usually has to be unpicked and done again!

I put a little pocket on the back and then discovered that it wasn't deep enough and would likely mean that anything put in it would fall out but as I didn't have any more of the cream leather effect fabric I couldn't redo it deeper and so put a magnetic press stud on it but that then meant I had to unpick the bottom of the bag to get at the inside of the pocket lining ..... and so it goes!

I still need to stitch the base and to make a lining for the bag plus some kind of strap but I think it will work eventually.  Whilst working on this I came up with a couple of other ideas for different bags I might make and realised that if you are creating something you are then more creative if you see what I mean and one thing leads to another in the ideas department!

You may remember I told you that I had met up with Carol when we went to the Tate Britain?  She had a little notebook with her containing odd sketches and notes and when I said how I wished I could draw or paint she suggested that it was a good idea to do a drawing each day - she has written a post about this here.  I took her advice and here are a couple of sketches I made ....

Steps outside the back door

I have to admit that I didn't keep it up every day but it was a good exercise as even if my drawing didn't improve any it made me look at things properly which can only be a good thing.  I will try to get back to a daily drawing but I am not promising anything and nor do I think I will be showing you any great art!

Nothing to do with any of the above - I have fitted a little emergency exit to the bird bath/drinking water dish having had to rescue several black beetles I have found paddling furiously in the water!  Hope they will find the way out next time.

Another trip to London is in the pipeline for this coming week!  I'll show you where we go later in the week if you are up for another guided tour?!  Thanks for you kind comments on the previous post - I must admit I couldn't do it every day and was tired and ready for early roost that night but I love London and never get fed up with it as there are so many interesting places to see. 

And then there were two

 I have finished the second little quilt - the fabrics were not what I might have chosen had I been buying them and not had them given to me and yet when mixed in a random fashion like this they don't look too bad at all do they?  I machine stitched the patches together but did the quilting by hand and I tell myself that the childlike stitching enhances the naive effect of the random patches - that's my excuse and I am sticking to it! 

I used an old sheet to back them and for the wadding an old cheap duvet which we had bought for peanuts in France and then discovered that, as always, you get what you pay for and it really wasn't much good but folded and fitted into a cover I made from an old flanelette sheet it provided a comfy bed for Thomas in the days when he liked to sleep on the window sill in the sun.  I removed the casing and inside was a thin layer of fleece; it wasn't of even thickness but for these covers it won't matter. So none of it cost me anything - I like that!  What shall I make next?

Now all we need is a nice warm day to sit out in the conservatory with a cup of tea - just now it is only 8 degrees out there so you'd have to wear a coat and be quick about drinking a hot drink!

Now for something completely different - earlier today I read an article here about food waste which really insenced me - I wonder what you think.  The supermarkets throw away tons of food every day which is past its sell by/use by date - it seems that Tesco, the only supermarket to publish their figures for waste (for which Brownie points to them) threw away 28,500 tons of food in the first 6 moths of last year!  That's approximately 57,000 tons of food in a year by one supermarket and to think there are people starving in the world!  Why do they stock so much more than they can sell I wonder it doesn't sound like very good business practice to me.  I can't imagine that we wouldn't be able to find a substitute if we happened to discover they were out of stock of an item occasionally so where's the problem?

The whole business of sell by/use by dates on things annoys me - we have become passively dependent on the manufacturers and stores to tell us what we once would have known for ourselves.  Did our mothers or grandmothers have such dates on the food they bought?  Of course not - they knew by looking at it, smelling it and feeling it whether or not it was safe to eat but we seem to have lost the ability to trust ourselves when it comes to this.  Why are we told to keep jam refrigerated surely the whole purpose of jam is that it is a way of preserving fruit.  If you keep it in the cupboard it might after a while get a little mould on the top but does that mean it must be thrown away?  No of course not just remove the mould and it's fine to eat - I also sniff mine and if it smells wine-y I might dispose of it but this is unlikely unless it's many months since it was opened.  I have a pot of yoghurt in the fridge which is past its use by date by about a week but I smelled it and tasted a wee bit and then plopped a portion on my stewed fruit and it was just fine.  No wonder we are told that we throw away 30% of the food we buy if we follow the manufacturers' and supermarkets' guidelines.  They of course have a vested interest in selling us more!!  I suppose they are afraid that if we are left to trust our instincts (whatever happened to those?!) we might eat something harmful and then sue them. 

Now I am not advocating that we eat meat or fish that isn't fresh and maybe if you purchase ready meals it is difficult to tell if they are OK or not done up in all the packaging but surely we can see if fruit and vegetables are OK and by that I don't mean perfectly shaped and polished and all exactly the same.  We know what is acceptable and what is not and if we don't then maybe we should.  I can see future generations who have no idea what food really should look and smell like and which will be in total thrall to the supermarket who will tell them what they can and can't eat.  How scary would that be?  Bah Humbug I say!!  What about you?

Voila! Or Nearly!

Ages ago I mentioned that I was making a patchwork quilt - I really, really don't know how you quilters manage to make so many quilts in such a short space of time as it seemed to take me forever!  Anyway as today is a bright and sunny day and thus the light was right to photograph my effort I decided to take the photos even though the border isn't quite finished.  I almost left it too late as the sun had gone from the washing line and the only place that was still in full sun was the hedge!  That's Mr M's hand you can just see bottom right holding it down as the wind was trying to blow it away!

  This quilt is the first proper quilt I have ever made - the one I made for the wanderer was simply backed with fleece and not layered like this one.  I was determined not to buy anything to make it and the fabrics are all bits I had - some were given to me by a friend of a friend who was downsizing and getting rid of some of her crafting stuff, some was from projects I had made in the past, and the backing determined the finished size as it was amongst the fabrics I was given and this was its size - 104 cm x 120 cm or 41" x 48" approx.  I was aiming for a completely random effect but now I see that I seem to have finished up with 3 orange squares together bottom left.  Oh well never mind!

 I machine stitched the patches together using reels of thread which I chose when a friend - one of a group of friends with whom I did the City and Guilds Creative Textiles course back in the late 80s and with whom I have stayed in touch - died and her family gave our group all her bits and bobs to see if any of us wanted any of it and I chose her tin of sewing threads along with a couple of skeins of her hand spun vegetable dyed wools.  So apart from the wadding which I originally bought for the wanderer's quilt and then didn't use I have made this totally from what I had.

The blue inner border is made up of strips joined to make a length and I am now wondering if I should perhaps quilt that in some way - maybe lazy daisies or crosses at intervals perhaps or maybe I'll just take the tacking stitches out and leave it.  I hand quilted the whole thing using Perle 8 thread in different colours - thread I already had.  I probably should have done it in both directions or done several rows of stitching but I'd lost the will to live by the time the first single row was done!  I can hear Madame le President, at the Patchwork group I used to go to when I lived in France, tutting at the stitching but then I thought perhaps it added a sort of naive look which went with the random and childlike effect of the patchwork - well that's my story anyway!  As nobody other than me will see it guess it doesn't matter too much anyway and I am quite pleased with it.  I won't be going in for quiltmaking in a big way any time soon though as however much I want to enjoy doing it patchwork doesn't seem to be my metier at all - as I said to the French friend who first encouraged me to join the patchwork group in France I am not accurate enough and I now know that I am also far too slow and I get fed up before I am halfway there!  I am in awe of people who can make quilts on a regular basis and those who go to their patchwork groups every couple of weeks with yet another one finished. 

Inkle weaving and other things

Whilst in the town centre last week we came upon a pop up book shop organised by Healthy Planet which offers up to 3 free books per visit and here is one I found.  I had this book from the library many years ago when I was doing a City and Guilds Creative Textiles course and found it very useful and more recently I wished I had had a copy of my own but it is now out of print.  So it was my lucky day.  Kath I remember you doing a post about a museum you went to where you came across inkle weaving too.  For a description of the technique see here.

I wanted to make a bookmark with my friend's name woven into it to take with me to France so I found out my loom - made for me about 25 years ago by Mr M (it's so handy having such a practical chap for a husband!) - and searched out some yarn and got going but I got into such a tangle warping up the loom that I am afraid my friend's bookmark will have to be a Christmas gift now as I will not have time to weave it before I am due to go to France. 

Just to prove I can do it here are some bits I made earlier!  I made a whole length of these trees one year - this one has been pinned up at some point by the look of it.

Here are two sample lengths using different techniques and the background is a piece of fabric I made from inkle braids joined together which was going to be a waistcoat but never got that far!

This belt I made using yarn I had dyed myself and this was actually accepted by the Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers for display in their Exhibition one year!

And here is one of my final pieces made for the C&G and I wished whilst weaving all the braids that I had chosen knitting or something as one of my specialist modules and not braids as it was a lot of work and as the yarn was cotton I had to wear a mask cowboy style over my nose and mouth as the fluff created was horrible!  I have never worn it and it looks very old-fashioned now but I keep it as a souvenir of my C&G days which were great fun and when I made several good friends with whom I am still in touch with all these years later.

 I have also been busy crafting this little gift booklet for my friend - each page/pocket to contain a little gift.  I hope she will like it.  She is a crafter so I think she will appreciate the idea anyway. 

 My written French leaves a lot to be desired but I dare say she will understand!

The little yellow felt cockerel is one of a couple she gave me a long time ago so will be going home!

 And for an English gardener friend I hope to see whilst in France a few hollyhock seeds in another of my little packets - again I hope she will like it.

Thank you all so much for your kind supportive words on the post about my mother - these were the flowers I picked in the garden and they lasted just the two days from the anniversary of her death to her birthday - I am sure she knew I was thinking about her.

I am hoping to have some lovely quilts to show you next time if photography is allowed at the exhibition I am going to in France!

She's gone!

 Who's gone?  My muse that's who.  I can't think of anything to say lately - can you imagine me not having anything to say?  Well neither can I but it's true!

 I think blogging is something you need to do regularly otherwise you lose the inclination.  However all is not lost and in the time I have saved by not being on the computer all the time I have been busy making things.  This little dear is for a friend's little girl for when her new baby brother or sister arrives.  I'm afraid her hairstyle is a bit like mine as the pattern (from an old Woman's Weekly) says "cut strands of yarn and stitch to doll's head" but it doesn't say how!! 

The cushion above on the left is one I made earlier and have in my guest room so when a friend admired it I decided to make one for her too - not quite the same but then each piece is unique!

 I've made 3 pairs of these in different yarns and given two away and kept this one for myself as I find them so useful and the pair I already had are getting tatty.

A mohair shawl with a corsage.  Using up some yarn given to me by a friend.

And finally my proudest achievement the beginning of a little lap quilt!  Spurred on by the news that my wanderer is to return within weeks instead of months and she will feel the cold after 2 years travelling in Australia.  Made using up fabric I already had - see I CAN do it!!  However now comes the difficult part the wadding, backing and finally the quilting .  I'll let you know how I get on!

Postscript added 16/1/12 - Spent yesterday afternoon quietly cutting up oranges whilst listening to Classic Fm to make marmalade and now have 9 pots of Seville orange marmalade to add to my "makes"!

Out and About

It seems ages since my last post - my feet don't seem to have touched the ground lately so apologies for not having visited as many blogs as I would wish nor leaving as many comments as I like to.  I did post a quick post earlier in the week but changed my mind about it as it had been done in a rush so appologies to those of you who found it on your dashboards only to find it gone!!

The day after my last post I spent the day in Salisbury with friends - plenty of gossiping but no photos I am afraid!

 Then on Friday 16th a friend arrived to stay till Monday and we were busy exercising our tongues most of the time but we did also go out and about and on Saturday we were here at Montacute.  Luckily we dodged the showers and were inside the house when it rained.  I loved the bark on this amazing old tree - could it be used in a knitting pattern perhaps?!

 See the sun did shine some of the time.  Having finished here we had a cup of tea in the village and then went to Ham Hill to see the views although as it was by then a bit cloudy we didn't stay long and got back to the car just as the heavens opened.

On Sunday it poured with rain all morning but on Sunday afternoon we went to Barrington Court and again luck was with us as we were able to enjoy the gardens and were in the house when it rained!

Cyclamen seem to be doing well this year and I have seen loads of them recently - I love them growing naturally under the trees like this don't you?

We finished our tour with tea in the restaurant overlooking the garden and then had a poke about the craft shops in the old barns - there was a new (or new to me) patchwork shop there which had loads of lovely books and I bought some ribbon with Love, Live, Laugh woven into it and another with Follow your Dreams.  I shall use them in my crazy patchwork (if I ever get enough spare moments to do any crafting!)

 Then on Wednesday we did another walk again from Sherborne but this time in a different direction - north towards Sandford Orcas.  Again the path was along grassy lanes...

under the trees...

 

and along an old drovers' road.  I imagined the drovers with their flocks or herds making their way along here in all weathers and could almost hear their footsteps.

Much of our route was sheltered and quite warm and there were a lot of flowers here and there including this clump of Michaelmas Daisies which the butterflies were enjoying.

Sometimes it was cloudy but..

sometimes the sun came out too.

After the heavy rain we had had the path was often muddy!

But we were wearing our walking boots so we managed to pick our way through the puddles.

Here you might be able to make out Glastonbury Tor in the distance if you can enlarge the photo?

If berries are a sign of a hard winter then I guess we are in for one of those!

We stopped for tea as before but this time we were within earshot of a B road so it wasn't quite as fabulous as the previous week's tea break but enjoyable all the same.

On the home straight now - wind blowing in my hair and making it more like a demented poodle than usual but how lovely it felt!

Not much further and we were back to the car tired but feeling very righteous and pleased with ourselves after another great walk in the beautiful countryside - this time just under 5 miles I think

Next day I said to my husband "I don't think I could do another  5 mile walk today even though the weather is good could you?"  and he replied "Maybe not but we could do the short one round Milborne Port"!  So we set off after lunch on a short walk round the nearby village this time in Somerset rather than Dorset.  The county boundary is a wiggly line round here and we had travelled from Somerset into Dorset and back into Somerset to get here.  Here is the church.

This used to be the pump house (and to think I had always thought it was just a bus shelter!) and alongside it the well now beside the busy A30.

This used to be the school.

This part of the village was all buil tbetween 1818 and 1822 and is called Newtown!  Many pretty thatched cottages but no more photos as there were too many parked cars for a decent view!

These two little dears were enjoying themselves in their little enclosure and wanted to know if I had anything to eat - which of course I didn't although a little further up the lane we passed a table with boxes of apples of various types and a notice saying "Help yourself" - sorry piggies!  Everywhere I am able to help myself to apples round here as it has been a good year for apples this year and everyone who has a tree has more than they know what to do with!

 Yesterday I did some much needed housework, washing and ironing and a trip to the shops to replenish the stores as today I knew I would be out all day doing a scrapbooking day!

If I take as long to do all my family photos I will be 100 before I am half way through but it was an enjoyable day and I can now breathe a sigh of relief as the diary for next week is comparatively empty!!  

What did I see outside the village hall in Broadwindsor where we were to do our scrapbooking but another box of apples with a notice to take what you wanted so tonight we had apple sponge for pudding!

Hope to have a bit more time to visit you all next week but don't hold your breath as life often has other plans I find!!  Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.