My Patchwork Pillows

On a recent shopping trip I bough myself a couple of bargain pillowcases.  I only opened them last Friday (after chucking the receipts) and realised that they were crazy huge, continental size 26" square! 

I had wanted standard pillowcases so was a little annoyed at myself as they were very pretty.

Normal pillowcase on the right, continental on the left.

Only one thing for it, I cut them into 6" squares.

My new pillows, I was quite pleased with these I have never attempted a pillow case before.

 Due to the odd size I didn't have enough fabric to make a full back so I had to patch it with white cotton at each end. 

I stripped the bed a day early this week as I was itching to try them out, I would like to report that they were very comfy and are still intact!

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Mini Crochet Bunting

Whenever I'm frustrated or bored with a project I always put it away and go back to crochet.

Crochet is my default craft, it's so easy to do, you don't have to be sat up in the correct position with the right light, you can crochet almost anywhere, anytime it's very portable.

I have an intermittent back problem (for the last 18 years) and when it's playing up I get myself wired up to the TENs machine get on the sofa in a comfy position, pop the telly on and crochet. A week or so ago I had a bad day and thought I'd make some mini bunting for my bare bathroom door transom.

Using the pattern I used for the crochet hearts in my last post I made these little bunting triangles.  I used a smaller hook (3mm) and followed the pattern to make the heart from the bottom up and stopped at the length I was happy with. Joined with a simple crochet chain - ta da, mini bunting!

 The colours complement various shades in my bathroom.

I blocked and starched them, but with them going in a bathroom I though I would add glass beads to the bottom of each one to give a bit of weight to them to hopefully stop them from curling with the moisture.

before...

and after ....

  That's better! 

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Happy Mail Circle of Love

Happy Valentines Day

Over on Instagram Jackie of Sew Special Bears fame has created and organised a happy mail circle of love swap (thank you!).  The opportunity to craft and gather a few valentines related gifts was too good to miss.

I have been seeing these pretty crochet hearts all over blogland and Instagram, they were created and shared on Lucy's blog (Attic24) so I whipped up a few and following the pattern on Flickr by Made by BeaG.

Another little hearty make was heavily inspired (or stolen - I did ask permission though honest) by a little magentic heart I bought from Hookin' With LaaLaa's shop ages ago.  It love it, it lives on my fridge and I thought I'd make a couple as gifts after coming across the little magnetic frames recently.

My LaaLaa Frame is at the top, the bottom two are now with their new owners (grr photo will not rotate).

These were the handmade part of the packages I sent out and I received some beautiful handmade items back in return!

Imagine my pleasure at receiving this little lot.

From Meanyjar

 From Noodle Bubble.

And from Jackie herself

Beautiful and thoughtful goodies from kind and thoughtful ladies, many thanks.

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Keeping my Hands Busy

I am a person who can not sit still. I am unable to even watch a movie or TV without sitting and making something.  I have had a horrible cold for several weeks now and even with that I am unable to just sit!

Lately I have been enjoying cross stitch and embroidery, I bought a beautiful kit designed by Jane Greenoff of Cross Stitch Guild Fame.

This is my current endeavour, the thing with work like this is that many many hours produce little results.  It will be a long time before I have a finished article but I am enjoying making it and it is keeping my hands busy.

I did take a break from this to create a gift for my friend Lynda, the design is heavily inspired by my CSG make but with my own touch.  

 The words are inspired by a note I received from Gill some time ago, it lives on my fridge and is a motto I like to live by.

"Make Much of Time"

Little antique sampler needle roll.

I have joined a little 'Happy Mail' swap over on Instagram organised by @hunnypothouse and I have made a couple of little bits for that but I can't share until they are with their new owners.

So for me it's back on with my needle roll and when I get the chance a little more crochet.

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Learn to Knit

So, I can do the basics and have knitted quite a few things in my time but I am very basic. Here are some of my little knitted makes. 

 When it comes to crochet I find that much simpler I tend to be able to find common sense in the patterns and if I struggle to follow the pattern I can generally work it out, I don’t find the same to be true for knitting.

I bought a bag of yarn in 2011 to make myself a jumper and it is still in its bag, I did get as far as ¾ of a sleeve but I had to frog it as I had cast on the wrong amount of stitches and I lost hope at that stage. 

Late last year I did try my hand at intarsia with dreadful results, I made a wrist warmer and it was about 4 sizes too small and would have fit a toddler.  Mmmm I need to walk before I can run I think and I need to go back to the beginning and master the basics like tension, yarn and needle sizes etc.

Maybe it is time to find a class and get some proper tuition, I think I will investigate this avenue, any suggestions or advice?

So if I do nothing else this year I will learn to knit and by the end of the year I will have produced a substantial knitted ‘something’.

I will be sure to keep you updated.

Things to Make

Ok so I thought if I get it all down in writing it would be a point of reference and I would get some satisfaction from ticking stuff off my list. I am a big fan of lists and am forever bleating on about the importance of writing stuff down, I sometimes add stuff to my lists that I have already completed just for the sheer pleasure of crossing them off!

Mad I know!

Well I have had a rummage through my crafty cupboard and have come up with a comprehensive list of all the WIP’s that I have sitting there, all the unopened craft kits and bundles of yarn and fabric sitting waiting for me and this is a quick run down of what I want to get on with. I will not buy another thing until I have made a good dent in this little lot!

List of WIP’s

Crochet Hexie Blanket – coming along quite well, I may run out of yarn before it get’s to a reasonable size though.

Crochet Mini Garden Squares Blanket – completed just over 100 of 400, very unlikely to complete this anytime soon, I feel a cushion coming on.

Lynette Anderson Christmas Quilt – two of the large applique panels are complete, I would love to have this done for next Christmas.

Small Hexies – I will not be making anything with these just yet but I know I will go back to them at some point.

Stitched CK pouch – I mean come on, how much effort would it take to complete this, maybe next weekend!

Completed Cross Stitch

Crochet Polar Bear – I am a bit stuck with it’s snout.

Blanket Squares Swap – need to join these together and do some more filler squares. Could I maybe incorporate the mini garden squares into this?

This is less than half of what I have sat half finished!

I thought it better to concentrate on things I wanted to progress as there is no point flogging a dead horse trying to plod on with something I am no longer in love with.

I had followed this list of things to complete with a list of things I have ready to start, but that list is longer than this one so I may complete that another day! Eeek!

Since I completed my list I have already made a start on a new needlework,

 and have been making crochet jar covers (from this pattern), 

there is no hope for me, my list is ever growing!

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