Tuesday 31 July 2018

Bead on 22-28 July

Sorry for the long silence.  Struggling a bit with spending much time on the computer because my right eye, which was getting rather blurry, is in need of a cataract surgery. 🙈 The date is the 21st of August.
 I am looking forward to having 2 eyes to see out of! 😜

So, those and a birthday and a very busy weekend doing things with friends.

week 30  2018
I didn't do much on the trim, so that will wait, but I still did the daily beads.
bead on fabric

I have been doing future project thinking, which is easier than wearing out the one eye which does work. When I do small things or try to sew on the machine, I have to close the blurry eye. But that makes perspective off and you should see me thread a needle!

Anyway, I want to do something wonderful with these threads I got from InStitches in the Spring.
I have been sorting cupboards and fabrics (instead of sewing), with an eye to what might work for the project. This loose weave navy with stripe is what caught my eye. It will set off the threads nicely, and the stripes will give me a guide to work with.
Not fully decided on a specific embroidery stitch or several different ones. But this will probably become some daily project - or weekly. I really like the work Penny Berens and Judy Martin do. I would have loved to go to their recent joint exhibition!

Saturday 28 July 2018

Something on Saturday

Cow 80

Another hilarious cow (bull).
This is one of Holly's toys. I don't know what the fur stomach is about. With the nose ring(which is actually yellow), it must be a bull. and there are too many of those furry bits to be udders if it were a cow. So, just a cowy thing. Perhaps the makers thought the texture would be something dogs would like?

Anyway, Holly shakes it all around. Unlike her teddies, which get the same treatment, this one whips all its appendages (including a tail, which you can't see) everywhere. Anything in the vicinity is in great danger of being whacked. Holly doesn't seem to mind being whacked herself!

Sunday 22 July 2018

Bead on 15-21 July

week 29 2018

bead on fabric

turning the corner again next week.

trim


1/2 way done with the pink ruffle effect.

Saturday 21 July 2018

Something on Saturday

Cow 79

The last of the cards by Lucy Tidbury. Or at least until I get some more!
I debated over this one and one which had Corfe Castle and also the Steam Train that we went on. But this one won out because it reminded me so much of Cow 36.
Maybe even wilder!


Brown Cow - a reproduction of a batik by Jane Hickman

Thursday 19 July 2018

I like Thankful Thursday

...Even if I ran out of time to tell you til the end of the day!

I like skirt hangers. I use them for (skirts, yes) hang a sheet onto my cupboard doors for a design wall.

or since I picked these up at Sainsburys the other day, I use them for hanging fabrics on the cupboard to see how they play together for an upcoming project.

I like that I found fabrics at Lady Sew and Sew's July sale for my upcoming project.

It took me a long while looking through bolts trying to find 4 that work and that also were within my budget. But in the end, all four were £5 a metre.

Plus that left enough money for another summer dress. Also £5 a metre! and just enough on the end of the bolt for doing a simple summer dress! Lets hope I can sew it before it stops being summer.

I like finding the sequel to a Douglass Adams book with Dirk Gently as detective. I found it at the hospital bookshop.

I enjoyed Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency when I read it some years ago. I wished there were more (I already read the Hitchhiker series ages ago.) So, then I discovered this was the sequel. i might actually re-read the first one before starting on this.

Last month when we were on holiday, I discovered I like Rooibos tea. (now called 'infusion') a nice hot drink from South Africa.

There was some in the cupboard at the bungalow. I had tasted it before, but wasn't bowled over. I tried it with honey and wow! So, I bought some for home. I have been drinking it hot or left to be cold all through this hot summer. Lovely!

and I like getting a text from my friend to say there was an article about me in the local paper!
Really?

Small and succinct, but there it is! I think it was sent out by the organisers of Festival of Quilts, which is very nice. Almost like a proper gallery taking on your publicity.

Check out more likes from the others taking part...links on LeeAnna's blog.

Monday 16 July 2018

and a slip!

I needed a new slip/petticoat for various reasons including the current one was beginning to tear easily.
So, at the weekend, I found a length of cotton lawn and made a new one. I sewed a weighty cotton lace to the bottom. This is hoping the slip won't creep up to my waist when walking wearing tights. We shall see!

Sunday 15 July 2018

Bead on 8-14 July

week 28 2018

bead on fabric


trim
I did take out the next picot edge because each set was too close to the next one.
So, I used more of the same beads, which causes the set to stand away slightly. 5 beads in each set rather than 3. It alternates pink with the metallic grey and pink with a dark red (like a transparent red with a glaze that looks metallic in some positions. To be honest, they look nearly the same when on the trim, so it is quite easy to realise you carried on with one colour instead of alternating.

This is how much I have done now; a little over 12 in/30cm.
Going for the lacy look. I am not sure if I have enough of the pink to do both sides, but I think it would be a bit too hard to control if it were on both sides.

Saturday 14 July 2018

Something on Saturday

Cow 78

A Jersey cow on this card by Lucy Tilbury.


This one at Old Harry Rocks. All of these have been places we saw when we were on holiday. There is one more next week.

Monday 9 July 2018

Wanderer returns

A Certain Young Man has returned from his wanders.
He and a couple of friends have been doing a road trip round some of the historical sites of the East Coast of America. from Plymouth Plantation, to Long Island, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Boston, and up to Maine where they stopped and saw my Mom for a few moments on their way to Mt Katahdin...the highest Mountain in Maine...which happens to be very near.

He will be off back to uni to finish his projects and thesis for his Masters.

Sunday 8 July 2018

Bead on - 1-7 July

week 27 2018

bead on fabric


trim

Starting a combo of these beads along the side. But I may back up and make it not so tight. However, it has been too hot to sit and fuss with it!

Saturday 7 July 2018

Something on Saturday

Cow 77

Another of the cards I fell in love with by artist Lucy Tidbury.


and this one is a Cow and a Dragon! Or  a Moo Selfie at Durdle Door.

Thursday 5 July 2018

I like Thankful Thursday

I like the lovely sunny weather.
The crocosmia is beginning to bloom.

It gives such a wonderful shot of colour against the green that is around, and is brilliant when paired with the lavender.

The unknown plant has flowered...
   detail 
very tall!
   

The flowers quickly develop into the dangling tassels

I really wish I knew what it was!

Along with the sunny days, it has been windy. Holly has convinced herself that it is dangerous in the house when it is windy. (She doesn't like it when the wind catches a door and bangs it shut.) So, she dashes out to the garden where it is 'safe', somehow.
One of her 'safe' places.
She has made herself exhausted by worrying all night about the wind (because she is inside). So, she spends most of the day catching up on her sleep. She has several spots she has dug to make a cooler place to lay. She was so asleep when I took her photo, she didn't even wake up to see what I was doing. I like the tiny leaf over her eye. Maybe like my eye shade (from some plane journey) which I put on because the sun gets up so early these days.

I like that I finished my dress and wore it on Sunday. (but didn't get a photo wearing it!)
Just a simple sleeveless sheath dress. I like that I can just put it on and go...no fussing with waistbands and the like.

Check out more likes from the others taking part...links on LeeAnna's blog.

Wednesday 4 July 2018

Hollyhocks

On the other side of the front door

The hollyhocks in the front garden have really enjoyed the fact that they are no longer competing with the ivy. (we had someone take it down and then the Thoughtful Man dug out the 'trunk' and the roots.)

The stems of the hollyhocks are very thick, enabling them to stand on their own without being staked.
Just a few blossoms now, but they should be pretty when they are full of blossom.

I would like to grow some other colours, if possible.

Tuesday 3 July 2018

Roses

Apparently, this is a good year for roses.
just by the door in the front garden

The Thoughtful Man is very conscientious about deadheading the roses. It makes the Roses keep producing flowers longer. He usually snips them when they are about to lose petals.
Because of the warm weather, they are going from bud to full-blown quite quickly. I asked him if we could save the petals this year. We did a bit of that one year, but not purposefully.
I didn't expect so many! This is about the 4th/5th time I have had a batch of petals to dry.
I have been spreading them and tossing them periodically. They feel so silky smooth! With the heat, they are drying fast. I have been filling loads of dishes and vases around the house.

Some of the roses we have.
When we bought them, we looked for scented ones. But the lovely regular rose scent, not the perfumey one that we smelled in one of the RHS gardens. I don't know how to descibe the difference, but I think most of ours are like David Austin roses.
I love yellow roses.
This bush has a darker yellow than the cluster above.

These orange ones look amazing when they are fully open. Such different orange shades and variations.
I usually put them in a low dish of water for a bit just to get a bit of pleasure from them for a while.

There is one called 'chocolate'. But at the moment, it just has buds.
But I absolutely love the depth of colour in it. Actually more like cinnamon.
The photo isn't really showing it. But here is a close up of a couple of the petals in the mix that is drying.

And somehow I wasn't consulted about this purple veined rose being planted alongside the red through yellow roses!

But it does make its own statement there in the shade of the firethorn bush.

We do have a white one, which blends well with the yellows because it looks cream colour as it ages. My mother-in-law gave it to us for our 25th wedding anniversary.

Monday 2 July 2018

Bead on 24- 30 June

week 26

I have been watching the World Cup football with The Thoughtful Man, so haven't had time to deal with photos. (Stitching and/or reading, though)

beads on fabric


trim
both sides with a picot edge

detail

now I am expanding the edging to make it look a bit lacy.