Spaniels and finished CQJP...

Today we left the spaniels on their own for about 2 hours and although I thought I had dog proofed the house, but when we came home it was obvious I'd missed something!!

Yes, I forgot to put the cushions away! And on top of that he had managed to remove more buttons off the sofa! I do love my spaniels but sometimes.....

On the plus side I have finished my first CQJP 2013 6" crazy quilt. It was my first ever attempt at a crazy quilt square and on the whole I was really quite pleased with it. More practice required and probably more planning before I start rather than just doing it kind of ad hoc, but I already have ideas in my head for what comes next...

"Spring"

 

Community spirit and my belief in human nature restored

Yesterday we got up to lots of snow and I ended up walking the last 2 miles to work as I couldn't get up the small hill because of the snow. Today we got up to the main roads being much clearer but the compacted snow on the road in our little cul de sac had frozen overnight and was solid ice. I started the morning by clearing snow and ice in the back garden to enable us to get to the gate safely. Then I went out to the front and cleared the front path and the bit of the drive (only about 6 feet) to the road. Liz across the road was clearing the snow on her drive too. We stopped to chat and were talking about the ice on the road and how I watched a car sliding sideways towards a parked care earlier on (it didn't hit it I hasten to add but more by luck than judgement). Anyway Liz and I decided to try to break up some of the ice on the corner of the road and before long we had 9 or 10 neighbours helping and within the hour or so most of the cul de sac road was clear of road. We can now all drive safely to the main road if we want to. One of the neighbours made us all tea and coffee and we spoke to people we'd never spoken to before. All in all a real show of community spirit - and let's be honest noone else was going to clear the road were they!!!

Later on in the day more snow as hubby and I went out with the spaniels! Throwing snow balls for them was funny as they really couldn't work out where they vanished too!

 
  A good time was had by all and with all the exercise who needs the gym!!

In the sewing room I have almost finished January's  CQJP 2013 entry and for a first ever attempt at a crazy quilt square - or any quilting come to that matter I'm quite please. Tomorrow a picture of the finished object... Then I have promised to complete the pony as my next UFO to do. That is then my 2 finished UFO's to match the new project of the knitting needle roll. So then I have to finish 2 more before I can start anything else new. Frustrating as I have new doll patterns cut out...but they will have to wait a few days..

Things on the sewing table..

In my last post I said pictures of the Quilt exhibition followed by things on my sewing table. However I seem to have temporarily lost the pictures from the Quilt exhibition, so pictures from the sewing room instead!! 

This is my partially finished pony! As you can see from the sewing machine in the background, he's quite large!! Actually much larger than I anticipated. It's funny how a paper pattern doesn't always give an accurate idea of the size of the finished article - or maybe I just didn't look close enough! Anyway he still needs his tummy closing, ears, eyelids and eyelashes, not to mention saddle, bridle and rug!! Oh and a rider to go with him - that might take a little while longer!
  

This is a partly finished flamingo, started 3 months ago at the dolls club I go to. It's a present for a friend - supposed to be for Christmas, but fortunately I haven't seen her for ages so it can still be a belated Christmas present and I can claim that it was just awaiting delivery!! Unless of course she reads my blog!

This is my first months entry for CQJP 2013. That stands for Crazy Quilt Journal Project for 2013. I've never done anything like this before so it's a learning curve - and fun, mixing and matching the colours. I have done a bit more to this since I took the photo and am hopeful of getting this completed in January as per the challenge rules. If you're interested in finding out more follow this link 

 http://www.cqjp2013.blogspot.com

This is a pair of bags that I started for me to use for work. I have layered the fabrics with cotton wadding and lining fabric, using machine embroidery to join the fabrics together. The smaller one (to use as a handbag) is much nearer completion that the larger one (to use to carry papers etc to work). It just needs fasteners and a carrying strap, whereas the larger one is really just the layered fabric with nothing else done!



There's lots more unfinished projects but I thought that would give you a taster. Anyway today, despite making a promise to myself not to start anything new until I'd finished at least 2 UFO's, I had a crisis. I picked up my knitting needle roll which I had been given as a present years ago, and yet again everything fell out of it. It was badly designed to my mind, with the needles facing both ways, which meant that it didn't matter which way up you carried it things fell out!
Anyway I was finally so frustrated I went into the cupboard, dragged out an old curtain that used to hang at the back door when we moved in but which has since been replaced, and made myself a new knitting needle holder!

It also holds all my crochet hooks and a few other knitting accessories, with extra pockets, a fold over top with velcro  fastenings and two machine embroidered ribbons to tie up the roll. 
Anyway I was so pleased with myself for starting and finishing a project in one session! And then to really put the icing on the cake so's to speak I recycled the original knitting needle holder by turning the pockets round and altering it to fold over so nothing falls out so I can use if for my set of double pointed knitting needles!

So I finished the day one very happy crafter!! And I have promised myself (again) that I will finish at least one UFO this weekend - keep watching to see if I manage to keep my promise....

Spaniels and knitting wool!!

As some of you will be aware from previous posts we share our house with two wonderful black and white springer spaniels called Rocks and Diesel. Diesel hasn't lived with us for that long in the scheme of things and, probably because he had a rough start in life, he is now going through puppyhood! For that read when we go out we expect to come back to chaos! 

What I have discovered is that Diesel loves knitting and spaniels and knitting don't mix! I've been doing some knitting and 3 times now I have come home to this devastation! And worst of all I have replaced the knitting needles three times!

 It's taking me a very long time to finish this project. I have, so far, knitted 8 gloves but only 4  are actually still in one piece. When we came home today, having only been out half an hour, to say I was cross would be a major understatement. When we went out the knitting was inside a bag which was knotted at the top, on a bookshelf behind a table and still he managed to get it out and trash it!!

I just keep telling myself he'll grow out of it. I sure hope so!

Tomorrow I thought I'd look back to the quilt show at the NEC in Birmingham and just post a few pictures of my most favourite quilts, and later in the week pictures of the two latest projects on the sewing table...

A trip to London

Darling Hubby bought me V&A membership for Christmas and yesterday I took advantage of this and went to London with a friend to see the exhibitions that were on at the V&A for free. There were 3 separate exhibitions on and they were all good but for differing reasons.

Firstly we went to the Ballgowns : British glamour since the 1950's exhibition. I found this absolutely fascinating and loved all the different styles and fabrics on display. Photography wasn't allowed so I have purloined some of the pictures from the V&A website instead...

I was lucky enough to be given the book that accompanies this exhibition for Christmas from a friend and the pictures in it are equally great and will remind me of our visit.

 All of these gowns were on display along with a whole host more. We had some fun deciding which of our friends would suit which outfit! 














And after the ballgowns we had coffee and a cake in the Members room to give us a rest. Initially we headed for the normal cafe but it was so busy there was nowhere to sit and the queues for food and drink were so long that we decided to find the Members room up on the 4th floor. It was much quieter, although still pretty full, but certainly far more relaxing than the cafe down on the ground floor. If you go though and are fortunate enough to be a member be aware that the food in the members room is very limited - tea, coffee (no latte) and a snackette! As you can see from the picture the members room isn't very large...

Once rested and ready for the fray again we headed off to the Hollywood Costumes exhibition. There was lots on display, but, and it is a big but, it is so popular and so full of people you have to queue all the way round and it takes ages. It is a great exhibition though I have to say as throughout it explains the way costume designers work and how they have to fit the costumes to the character, even when it doesn't appear that much work has been done. I found all that side of it fascinating but got thoroughly fed up of the crowds and the queues. Anyway, once again no photography so once again I have purloined photos from the V&A website...

There were costumes from every era and every kind of film. Some were far better than expected, some as expected and even one or two that weren't what I expected. I suppose without the characters in them they are only clothes when all's said and done!

Dorothy's shoes from the Wizard of Oz sparkled, Captain Jack Sparrow's pirates costume was as expected not as exciting without Johnny Depp wearing them, but the most disappointing outfit for me I think was Marilyn Monroe's famous white dress. It was really nothing special at all. Aside from the outfits being famous it was fascinating to see how the outfits were developed by the costume designers.

After the Hollywood Costumes a rest was needed, feet were hurting and we were thirsty. This time we braved the main cafe and were rewarded with 2 lattes, a chelsea bun and a scone with cream and jam. Sitting at a table across from us there was a young man who had what appeared to be a sling round his neck, and yet both his arms were fine and in full working order. On watching closely it became clear that the sling wasn't for his arm, but for a tiny dog, maybe a chihuahua, that appeared to be quite young. He was obviously very attached to it, stroking it a lot, but we did wonder if a very noisy, very busy area was the best place for this young dog. 

Our final exhibition of the day was Light from the Middle East : New Photography, which was a selection of photographs, some in black and white and some colour images too. This collection of images with the information alongside them made for some serious thought about the middle east and it's people, it's image and it's culture. An exhibition worth visiting, even though it is relatively small.

A final visit to the book shop and we then wound our weary way home via the underground and Paddington station, very tired but thoroughly happy with a great day out...

UFO's...

Yesterday I talked about finished projects. Today I'm going to list and review my UFO's. I believe that all crafters, whatever their craft speciality is, have UFO's - that's UnFinished Objects to anyone who doesn't know. I guess we collect UFO's for lots of different reasons. In my case it's mostly because I have so many ideas going round in my head that I want to do, and also I guess the other reason to a degree is that I lack confidence in doing things as well as I want to, and so I stop short of finishing things in case they "aren't good enough". Not sure what that says about me, but I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day!

Anyway back to my UFO list.. I actually went up into my tiny sewing room and consciously went through all my stuff to see just how many unfinished projects I had. I was amazed and to a degree embarrassed too. So I thought if I listed them honestly on her it might give me the push to finally complete at least some of them. I have also promised myself that I won't start anything new until I've completed two unfinished projects. In theory this means that I will gradually unclutter a very cluttered workbench!

So here goes....

An African textile doll (started summer 2011!)
A feisty old lady doll (started winter 2011)
There are two other doll heads - nothing specific in mind
Willowy stump doll
Gold 50's wiggle dress
Textile art seaside picture with a difference
Three different miniature teddy bears
Felt Christmas decorations (winter 2011 - not even this christmas just gone!!)
Steampunk groom to go with the goth bride
Steampunk cuffs
White on white embroidery of a unicorn
Applique horses to an old shirt
4 or 5 cross stitch pictures
A knitted jumper
3 pairs of knitted fingerless gloves ( they all need the thumb finishing!)
Pony - complete with saddle, bridle, rug, feed bucket
Rider doll - to go with above pony
Two everlasting advent calendars (were supposed to be completed for Dec 2012 for my nephews)
Flamingo - present for a friend
Blinds for kitchen and garage windows
Handbag and matching Tote to use for work

I'm sure if I rummaged around more I could find more, but that list will do for now...
And a photo of the workspace to give you some idea of what it looks like right now!!

So as you can see there's not a lot of actual working space right now, but over the next few weeks that's going to change... And I'll post photo's of the UFO's both when I start them and when I finish them. This weekend's aim is to complete the pony, although I only have Sunday as I'm going to the V&A on Saturday to see the both the "Ballgowns" exhibition and the "Hollywood costumes" exhibition so I may be being optimistic about getting the pony completed but I'm ever the optimist.

Things I made in 2012!

Well I thought as a starting point for the new year I would look back at the things I managed to complete making last year, so here is a list (and pictures of some!)

I made dog coats (towelling inners, fleecey outers) for when we've been out walking and they're cold, wet and muddy (or sandy if on the beach) and they work really well, although the hoods don't stay up very well - mostly because they use the hoods to grab hold of each other to play!!

I made dolls....

 Meet Miserable Maud! I had fun making her when I was away on holiday in the summer!

 And then I brought her home to over see the gardening! She's away on holiday now trekking through the jungles of Madagascar (have you seen the children's film? She's the lady with the handbag!!), before coming back here to take over as Prime Minister.

 This is my Goth bride - she's a secretive one. So secretive she hasn't even told me her name. She has a spider and web over her bouquet, and she's waiting for her groom to arrive. She was fun to make and get to know. She doesn't like too much "fuss" when it comes to her outfits - but loves to show off her hair!

And just for fun I also made a rabbit....

Why you ask, well just because I could really! He's only 2" tall sitting down (not including his ears) and normally he sits and watches me sewing. I love his slightly scruffy look and his names Seaside. Don't ask me why it just is!





 What else have I done?

I've made a set of sofa covers for my sister, shortened 6 pairs of trousers for my brother, made a bag for a friend, knitted gloves (sadly the spaniels got to them before they were finished - and then they were well and truly finished!!), made a window cleaners belt pouch, embroidered 6 pillowcases for Santa and started a whole load of other projects which will be the subject of tomorrows blog - my UFO's!

Aims for 2013...

Two blogs in one day, must be a miracle! 

Today has been a beautiful sunny blue sky day. As I walked the spaniels on Salisbury Plain I had time to think about what comes next and where 2013 will take me. I had decided not to make any New Year resolutions this year as in the past I haven't managed to keep them very well. 

But I have promised myself that the one thing I will do is finish the things I start. I have any number of UFO's in the sewing room that I really need to finish. I started to play the saxophone, but I can still only play one tune. I began learning Italian, but I only managed one term at college and haven't spoken a word since. I started to train the spaniels, but only got as far as the basics. So that's my aim for 2013...

The only other thing I have promised myself is to be grateful and to say thank you more often, to appreciate what I have and the people around me...

Oh and last but not least to make more dolls!!!

An update and new year...

Well it's January 1st 2013 already. Another year over, another one just begun as the song goes. So here's wishing the happiest and healthiest of years to all. 

New Years always make you look back over the past I think. It's fair to say that 2012 wasn't the best year for me and mine, but we'll bounce back and 2013 offers all sorts of things...

First an update however after the last rather depressing blog!

My newest spaniel has recovered from whatever ailments he may or may not have been suffering from thanks to the wonders of steroids and has turned out to be one of the most loving and loyal dogs ever!

My son is now residing in New York with his wife. His visa finally came through in November and he was on the first plane out!! The photo on his facebook page of him and the daughter in law shows just how much he loves and missed her and it is fabulous to see them together again. Even better we now have somewhere exciting to go on holiday! 

And my husband earned major brownie points for taking me away to a cottage in Cornwall for Christmas as he knew I would miss the family christmas times. So Christmas day on the beach was fabulous!!

So all in all things have turned the corner. 

And 2013 is the year that I finish all those things I started, so here's to a great year ahead.