Lunch is served

My previous blog was just a short one while waiting for my lunch to cook.

time now to sit back and enjoy

So Quiet Friday

Today here where I live it is so quiet , I have neither seen or heard any children even though it is school holiday . Just the usual 2 fellas walking their dog .

I did a bit of cleaning , I,m waiting for my lunch to finish cooking , a medley of veg , with penne and topped with a cheese sauce and after lunch perhaps an hour quilting . I,d like to think lots of other people are having a peaceful day too .

This is how my garden looks today .

http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/

This is the site to view details of my previous blog ,' a site and sight to see'

A site and a sight to see

Could you ,would you ?
I was blog browsing at the weekend and came across a site called dresses for Africa , It is in co,operation with Nancy's notions

All you need is a pillowcase that can be made into a sundress , it is the easiest garment you will ever make .

When you look at the site you will see a group of children wearing sundresses .They will melt your heart with their smiles .These children have so little , I think they would remember your genorosity all their lives .

We all remember and know how exciting a new dress is.

This project could even be hand sewn while sitting in the evening .

If you belong to a group perhaps all would participate, everyone has a spare pillowcase or a yard in their stash to spare , if every participating member put £1 with their dress it would help with the postage to the organisation that distributes the dresses

They also need short trousers for little boys , that is called britches for boys and a delightful little chap being helped into his .

Even if you feel you don,t want to be involved please take a look at the site . I think I read 40 plus countries have helped .

I,m showing a picture of pillowcases and of bluebell holding up two that we had made yesterday afternoon , we had a very happy afternoon making these dresses and now we have the hang of it we are making more. It,s just as much fun being creative on this project as it is quilting .

White on White

I,ve been busy for a few days preparing a gift .

I,ve been crocheting and chain stitching the hours away.

These pillow cases will be on a journey down under.

I had so many problems trying to photograph them because they are white

Market Monday

On Mondays bluebell calls to see if I would like to go shopping for grocery . This week off we went as usual but called at other places too. Being as we were going to be out awhile we decided we would have lunch at one of the stops .

While sitting eating my lunch I said " this chair is really hurting my leg " close inspection, the chair was the same as the other chairs , "stop moaning "says bluebell .

When I got home and bluebell had left I thought , right I,ll inspect my leg , Well it was the back of the left thigh that was uncomfortable , Oh yes," stop moaning " she said , I found 3 big bites on my thigh .

The next morning when bluebell called I showed her my infliction ," Oh yes" says she "you have 4 bites !!! one more my leg might have fallen off . That bluebell has no compassion .

Yesterday I needed to buy milk , so I locked the conservatory door, all was o,k . When I returned about 15 mins, later there were flying ants all up the window , after shuddering and tackling them with rentokill . I went outside to breathe fresh air only to get coverered with greenfly . The weather was very humid . I felt like a walking picnic . I cannot stand mosquitos , spiders or flies of any kind .

The mouse that took to basking on my patio has now moved into the garage , bless it !

Lovely evening , I sit listening to folk music , beautiful .

Preview

This is a preview of the used shirt quilt I,m working on at present,the floral bits are from my stash to help give it a lift . I have pieced it from 5" strips

Shabby chic cottage quilt ? I think so . It is a joy to work on because of the pastel colours. I expect to finish it about the end of the month .

This picture gives a close up of the quilting .

THE DOMINO EFFECT

A very busy day yesterday, cutting 3 bushes down in the garden , (roots still there, that will be an ongoing job) shopping , wrapping stuff for the freezer , washing etc,.

Ahh, Ill relax , do a bit of blogging . just into my stride , starts to rain . run out there to get the washing in. I get soaked , the rain came so fast . Never mind , I,ll change my clothes and make a cuppa tea .

Make the tea , Mmmm I,ll sit in the conservatory to drink it , Whoooops I tripped . Tea everywhere , muttered and mumbled, surveyed the damage as you can see on the next photo ,changed my clothes again . put the settee stuff and cushion covers in the washing machine .

Whats the fuss , today all is back to normal It could have been worse , I put a white fleece over the settee so I can sit down straight from the garden . The tea went through that right to the seating. Ikea stuff , don,t knock it . the covers didn,t shrink and looked fine as you can see in the first picture

Shirt quilts

I seem to have aroused interest saying at present I,m making quilts with shirts from charity shops

Browse further

There are always a lot of bits left over after cutting out the big pieces .The smaller bits I make hexagons and keep in a plastic bag, sew up when I have enough to make a flower , save the flower in a bigger plastic bag .This is hand stitched hand stitched , hand quilted

Browse further

This quilt is initially 2" strips with a 2"sq square placed on one end and machined across diagonally to make a sort of fence post . This is not made from shirts but could quite easily be so . It is folded across the back of a chair in my sitting room. Hand quilted

Browse further


This quilt with the blue is what I call my cottage quilt range . 4" squares machine pieced .machine quilted.This one is made up into blocks 3 x 5 ,easier for machine quilting and then joined in rows, real cottage looking, Browse further

This quilt is shirts, these were my late husbands shirts. These were made into 12" blocks , machine pieced , hand quilted .

It took me 5 years before I could cut these shirts this year . Up till then I was still periodically washing and ironing them . I knew I would make them into a quilt one day . I still could not cut all his shirts , His evening shirts , bow ties and braces still hang in my wardrobe

So ladies ,go to the charity shops , buy the shirts, cut your squares or strips , save the bits for your hexagons. Tomorrow I will post a picture to show how the current shirt quilt is going , Its different to these , I love it .

Now having just got wet through running to get my washing in I,ll change my clothes and have a cup of tea .

A very big welcome home to SCRAPPY QUILTER,

In Anticipation

This is the design wall in my garage where I spend time planning and sorting through my fabric

I have started work on a quilt , It is now pinned together and ready for hand quilting . I will show the front when it is finished, hopefully the end of the month or just after .

I bought good shirts from a charity shop and added fat 1/4 s from my stash . The backing has a faded streak across the back , it was a reduced price but with worn and washed on the front I don,t mind about the fade mark .

I will call it my shabby chic quilt . In my eyes it is lovely, soft colours ,simple design . not out of a book . I have not made a quilt from traditional patterns for quite a while now . I have been using 4" squares to make my cottage quilts . This one is not squares . If you look closely at the photo you will see the faded line .

This afternoon I will watch a film with my work on my knees and start quilting . I have drawn round a dinner plate for my stencil . Everything on the cheap but the wadding is the best quality.

Lavender

There is 3 weeks between the last lavender photo and this one . It cannot possibly get any better . I wish I knew who,s bees were feeding on it , I think I would like a pot of honey

People are Talking

Bloggers are talking about their lavender .This is my hedge of Hidcote taken 3 weeks ago it was not fully in flower then , but now , it,s sensational . It,s growing in a gravel bed , I planted up 5 self seedlings for myself and swopped another 5 for 6 Penstemon with my neighbour .

Good marketing eh!!

Embroidered Pillowcases

I have embroidered these pillowcases using a design from the blog of

http://elefantz.blogspot.com

Jenny puts lots of free patterns on her site . She also shows beautiful designs to buy . I have almost finished my shabby roses b,o,m . The designs for the shabby roses were just so pretty .Check out her site .

Thank you Jenny

One more for crochet

I think this is the most explicit for a beginner, This lady Teresa holds the yarn the same as I

Go to my dashboard and on the side of blogs I watch you will find

Learn to crochet -free instructions the site is immediately underLavender hill Studio

Lots of videos and instruction ,

MORE INFO ABOUT CROCHET

I have just put in my google bar--how to crochet--then search . It came up with a site that will give basic instructions.

I shall continue to search for infomative sites for you but will try to help any other way if you need

Crochet

Thankyou all for the comments on crochet . There is no mystery about crochet , it is one of the simplest crafts to do . people find the most difficult part holding the yarn . It really is just a series of chains. Forget patterns , you are not going to be making doilies or lace tablecloths when you start .

My samples have been worked round a piece of fabric with the sides hemmed . Then a row of blanket st,. as a foundation for the crochet

Tie your crochet cotton into a blanket st loop to secure it

Into each loop work 1 treble st and 3 treble sts at the end and beginning of each row all around each side .

Now I can hear everyone saying how do you do a chain, and what is a treble !!

On your Google bar put in crotchet tuition , there are many sites with ladies showing how to crochet ,they do it really slowly , it will always be with wool that they are showing but the sts are the same whether you use cotton or wool or string

chain - practice tying a loop on you hook and just keep doing a long chain
double crochet which is basically 2 chains then going into the next stitch and doing 2 more chains , continue along your row of blanket sts,
treble which is 3 chains,
double treble which is 4 chains ---it is simply wrapping the yarn 1, 2, or 3 times to lengthen
the chain ----------------------------------------------------------
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These ladies show you how to make shell edgings . No mystery , much easier than patchwork .

WILD THINGS

This little spray of flowers give me just as much pleasure as a bunch of flowers from the shop.

Parsley and radish gone to seed mint and perpetual sweet peas . Cost nothing , pleasure 100% . This little bunch smell like when you walked through the fields as a child .

Yarn over hook

My friend bluebell wants to crochet edging round a pair of pillowcases , she is a novice at crochet but keen . The thing is she looks as if she is knitting , she holds the yarn in the same hand as the hook . I,ve sorted these sample bits out to see what she fancies doing . I didn,t use a pattern for these so no hard and fast rule ,when you get to the end of the round decide what the next round will be.

She will be taking this project on holiday next week . I will be all agog to see the pillowcases

Ready to eat

I,m growing my cucumbers on my garage bench

One seed in each pot and I have a bounty

They are handsome and healthy .

I bought 3 pkt,s of seeds for £1.50 from Wilko,s . little gem lettuce , mixed salad leaves and cucumber .Didn,t I do well , everything was so prolific

BETSY ROSS and PAUL REVERE

America is approaching Independance day.

I,m a collector of blue and white so I thought I would show you two of my little treasures . A milk jug and sugar bowl . They feature Betsy Ross on the sugar bowl and Paul Revere on the jug .

The pictures have great meaning .

The dashing Paul on his horse

I love these two treasures they lived in Cyprus with me and came back to England with me .

Arch Roses

These are the roses growing on the arch .

I,m not sure but this white rose has been in my garden a long time , I think it was named for Princess Diana

This rose is also an established rose , I think it is also one from the royal collection . Over the years flowers lose their labels ,

This was a new rose last year , I do remember this one

Chapeau de Napoleon . it is listed as pure pink , can be grown as a climber , tolerates poor soil, rich fragrance ,size 5' x 4' 1867 .

It has 3 fluffy green sepals behind each flower to represent Napoleons tricorn hat

I don,t have much room left for low plants so from now on it has to be up ,up, up.