It’s not just for me you understand……

May 22, 2011May 22, 2011 stitchesoftime4 Comments

By that I mean the large amount of fabric I am about to show you which was purchased at the Malvern Quilt Festival is destined to be used for lots of different gifts and sales items for my Xmas craft fairs so I do not in any way consider that I spent too much money, bought too much fabric or overindulged at all 🙂 I actually think I was very restrained as there was so much more I could have bought had I gone wild and just bought fabric with gay abandon rather than for the specific purposes I had on my list. In fact there was virtually no impulse buying at all apart from some very good bargains.

I am planning to make quilts as presents for the youngest family members this summer, play/cuddle quilts are what I had in mind made with two really lovely ranges from Makower. Firstly the very cute farm animals prints.

Then the Makower pirate range – and I found some fab pirate and sea creature buttons to go on the quilt as well!

Both of these fabric sets were on my shopping list and we had already been round all the traders once without seeing them as I was looking for bolts of the fabric when we went round again and found them at the very helpful Cookes Quilting Supplies stall. I have looked on their website before but wanted to actually see the fabric and they were very good at searching out missing coordinating fabrics for me.

I also got some really nice new Xmas patterns for making ornies – look at all these lovelies – all from Goose Chase Quilting who I had not come across before.

Along with some very cute Xmas buttons – there are little cookie cutters and gingerbread men in these packs! All these and previous pirate buttons are from Out of Africa suppliers.

Ellie also bought some lovely things – some flannel to make a lap quilt and jelly roll to make a duvet cover so she is going to have a busy summer sewing!

As well as the planned stuff there were a couple of impulse bargains –

These cute dinosaur labels £1 for 10 which I thought would make a lovely charity quilt for the hospice so I bought 3 packs.

And a lovely Robert Kaufman fat quarter – I think this is called Holiday Flourish with some more of the fabric I have just used up in my throw.

I finished the border on the throw last weekend and made the spare panel and another set I cut out into cushions covers, you can see them in the pictures below – now I have the batting I can put these together and I have also bought a darning foot for my machine so I will be trying out some free motion quilting on these!

I took lots of pics of the wonderful quilts at the show so will have to sort out some of my favourite to post here later. I thought I would just leave you with a few shots of Malvern railway station – again like Hebden Bridge last week a lovely old station with some fantastic ironwork.

I will try to post again mid-week as we will be away all next weekend – we have a Bank Holiday re-enactment show at Ashby de La Zouche Castle in Leicestershire so if you are in the area on Sunday or Monday do come along, it would be lovely to see you.

I hope you all have a lovely week ahead and thanks as always for visiting.

Never too early for Xmas crafting!

May 15, 2011 stitchesoftime2 Comments

Hope everyone has had a nice week. I have been getting on well with my Xmas ornie targets for this year – I am aiming to make one new ornie for me a month as well as the usual present ornies and stock for at least one Xmas craft fair. So I will be starting that stock as soon as term finishes at the end of May and I have a bit more time.

So far for me I have finished three JBW stockings (plus a blue one to hang on the conservatory door) and this week completed the JBW Xmas pudding ornie and another one which is taken from a bigger design using blackwork of ivy leaves from one of my old New Stitches magazines. I have made the ivy leaf ornie before for my Project Nepal fundraising but want to re-make a lot of past ornies just for me and this was my demo piece at last week’s WI craft bee. They are both backed with some nice holly fabric from my stash and the pudding one has a great stocking ribbon that I got at the Harrogate show last year.

I am now working on a JBW tree ornie for me. I have put together all of the blocks for my stained glass window Xmas fabric throw with the sashing and this afternoon will do the border which is pieced from all the Xmas fabric used and the backing. Hopefully that will be finished this afternoon as I have been very good and got up early to do the housework and spring clean the cellar!

I am very pleased with the way that it has turned out – I did have a bit of a challenge with the outer sashing as I discovered that the bottom row of blocks were quite a bit smaller than the top row (my inaccurate cutting!) so I had to stretch that row to make it fit but it turned out ok. With the left over block I am going to make a cushion in the same style and have cut out single pieces for a matching cushion. I have also got lots of odd rectangles from cutting the border so thought I would make a small runner for the coffee table so that my room can be very co-ordinated this Xmas.

We had a bit of a show and tell of all the different blocks on Monday at Quilt Group. This is a pic of Davina’s blocks that I took at the workshop which just shows how different the choice of fabric and sashing colour can make the quilt look.

If you go and visit Davina’s blog you can see the pic she took of the original stained glass pattern with solids and black sashing.

I have had a very nice week, very busy at work but I have had a few trips out to visit my students which is always lovely. On Monday I went ‘over the border’ to Nelson in Lancashire. It was a lovely train journey through very beautiful countryside, this is a very historic area full of beautiful hills and moors and lots of industrial heritage – mainly dating from the Victorian era when all the mills were built. Here are a few pics to share with you – the first two are taken at Hebden Bridge station, then there is a view of the hills from the train and the flower was near the college I was visiting.

I hope you have all a nice week ahead. I am very much looking forward to next week as I am going down to visit Ellie in Worcester and we are going to the Malvern Quilt Show ! There may well be some additions to the stash (it would be a shame if there weren’t!) and then I am helping Ellie bring all her stuff back up as she is coming here for the summer this year which is lovely as we can do lots of crafting together.

Thanks for visiting.

Photo Scavenger Hunt – April

May 6, 2011May 6, 2011 stitchesoftime10 Comments

Once again I had great fun with these – trying to interpret some of them in different ways. Most of them were taken on my recent trip to Spain. Hope you like them!

A church

This pic was taken from the boat when we went on our trip to the island of Tabarca and shows the old church which is being restored. I love the contrast of colours between the blue sea and the stones of the buildings.

A cross

Again from Tabarca, this is taken outside the church and is the cross from the top of an old well. I really like this pic – think it is one for printing off and framing.

A sculpture

I did see lots of nice sculptures in Spain as they love public art but then came across this on the beach so thought it was a good one for this category.

A set of keys

I wanted something interesting for this as all my personal keys are very boring them I came across this advert for a cross stitch picture which I think is wonderful so I am using this. The kit is called Keys to the Kingdom from Rosewood Manor Designs and I am using this pic from their website as I have not got around to ordering this yet. I am going to stitch bits of it as greetings cards – I thought they would be lovely for 18th and 21st cards.

An interesting shop name

Not only an interesting shop name but a very lovely shop. This is my LYS in Huddersfield where I go as much as I can for Knit and Natter!

April showers

Back to Tabarca for this one which is interpreted a bit differently. Most of the beaches in Spain have showers where you can rinse yourself off after your stay. Some are just for feet but this is a full size one. So here you have a pic of a shower taken in April!

Breakfast

I have posted pics of breakfast before on my blog and I now I get to do it again without seeming strange. This is my all time fave brekkie which I have for special occasions – scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and bagel – yum yum! I like the way my chilli sauce has formed a heart shape – breakfast with love!

Eggs

Jake found these in a supermarket in Spain – we were there just before Easter so I guess it must be a Spanish tradition. I was going to use them for scrambled eggs then I thought ‘ I wonder what huevos cocidas actually means? ‘, looking at the label – it means boiled eggs so we had them for picnics instead!

Something to do with Shakespeare

This pic was actually taken in March as we went to Stratford for Ellie’s birthday but I thought the fact that we had actually been to Shakespeare’s birthplace was too good to miss. No pics allowed inside so here is a shot of the house.

Something to do with St George’s Day

Again a great one for me as we did a three-day show at Bolsover to celebrate this the other week. My pic of choice from that is a shot of William de Bohun’s beautifully decorated helm resting on its stand after our show. De Bohun himself was looking a little hot after fighting in full armour in very high temperatures!

Something yellow

Again from Spain, these pretty flowers grow wild everywhere, they are all over the beaches and any uncultivated area. I don’t know their proper names, they have very thick fleshy leaves to conserve water and come in pink versions as well.

My camera

Pic taken using mirror in good old blog tradition! My trusty little camera – on its last legs but still taking some lovely pics – what would my blog be without it! It is a Fuji A850, about 2 years old.

ThimbleAnna’s pics can be found here – she’s got a good one for keys and the lists and links to other’s collections are at Kathy’s blog if you want to join in.

Thanks for visiting – see you for more craft updates soon!

Cross stitch and cactus

April 20, 2011 stitchesoftime5 Comments

Hello everyone, have just got back from seeing my wonderful Mum in Spain who was 70 on Monday. Here she is the day before with her very tall and a bit windswept grandson, my lovely Jake .We had a day out with a boat trip to an island just off the coast where I indulged with lots of pretty pics – some which I shall reveal in the April Photo Scavenger Hunt post in a couple of weeks.

Spain - Jake and Granny — On the island of Tabarca

She had a lovely birthday and appreciated her presents which were a new camera, wool and these wristwarmers which you may remember from a while ago. I also introduced her to the delights of Ravelry so that she can get some lovely patterns to use up all the wool!

Spain wristwarmer — She is a lovely hand model!

Her friend Eileen had stitched her this card for her birthday – isn’t this great?

I spent a lot of the week knitting and reading my fab Benni Harper quilt mystery books – have finished four this week and am loving them. I am also making good progress on the pink Sublime baby cardi though the eyelets are still proving to be a challenge – have had to abandon the stitch markers as I was doing something peculiar with them which meant I was making holes!

Had great fun with my camera again taking some more pics of the local flora and fauna – look at these wonderful cactus flowers.

We are off for the weekend to do our first re-enactment show of the year at Bolsover castle so I am really looking forward to that, the weather forecast is very good for the weekend and I am really, really looking forward to camping, the first of many this year. I have had four barbeques this week (3 in Spain and 1 here) so am definitely in Summer mood now!

I hope that you have a very lovely weekend and a very Happy Easter to you all – just remember that chocolate is definitely one of your five a day as it is a bean which is of course a vegetable! Thanks for visiting.

Made with love – and surprisingly straight machine stitching!

April 10, 2011April 10, 2011 stitchesoftime3 Comments

Hello there everyone

I have just been sitting outside in my garden basking in the late evening sunshine drinking a glass of bubbly (only the cheap cava type!) and celebrating life. It has been the most glorious weekend here – hope you have had nice weather where you are.We have had a really unexpectedly hot weekend – it is never usually this hot in April in Yorkshire, to be fair it is often not this hot in Yorkshire in July.

I have spent most of the last few days finishing off my charity quilt that I posted about earlier this month. This has been a WIP for many months but I got a lot done on the last Quilt Group sewing day and wanted to get it finished to take to the Quilt Group meeting tomorrow. I am very pleased with the way it has turned out – the machine stitching is not perfect but better than I have managed previously.

Hospice quilt 1 — The quilt front with hand quilted hearts

Hospice quilt 3 — The quilt back made with fleece and a bunny applique

Hospice quilt 4 — Detail of the bunny face with embroidery

The quilt was machine pieced and then mainly machine quilted – I quilted ‘in the ditch’ round all the blocks which was good for developing my machining skills and shadow quilted around the dark turquoise border. The original design had the bunny on the front but the consensus at the quilt sewing day was that the front was very nice on its own so I just added some hand quilted hearts and backed it with fleece and the bunny applique.

In the style of one of the bloggers I very much admire, Hen House , I have taken pics of the finished item in the garden, lovely son Jake has been absolute star today and spent two hours mowing the lawn (not that you can see it in these pics) but it has been a great help. I have been on light duties only as my back has not been good so I have been deadheading!

I have posted lots of pics of my garden before but have been trying to take some more arty shots so this is one I took today which I really like, the garden is looking very splendid now which makes such a difference after the horrible wet and messy months.

Garden - April — Can never remember if this is a Skimmia or a Viburnum - anyway I have two and they are very pretty!

This quilt is going to a local children’s hospice which is opening soon so it has been a strange piece to make. I have enjoyed making it but I have been thinking a lot about who will use it and the things that they and their parents will be going through. It is a cot quilt so that make is very hard to think about especially as I have so many friends who have young babies or are expecting babies. But life is often not easy and all we can really do is support people who are experiencing difficult times, be it friends who you can help face to face or others who you can give a little gift made with love.

On the subject of made with love I thought that I would show you a few recent baking goodies – one of the reasons that my son is so nice and helps out with the garden is that he gets a regular supply of cake. These are adapted from a very nice recipe from Sainsbury’s magazine and are chocolate orange cupcakes – yum yum.

WI cake — Version 2 - with white chocolate stars

In other crafting news the pink Sublime baby cardi is coming on well – the eyelets have been a bit of a challenge and my knitting friend Barbara suggested stitch markers which I have been trying for the first time but have been getting a bit tangled with – they seem to slow me down a lot! The Spring exchange piece is almost complete. I am off to Spain on this week so am planning lots of lovely sitting on the terrace in the sun reading and crafting – I have four Benni Harper quilt mystery novels to take with me so am in for a lovely time!

If you read last week’s post about Mothers’ day you may remember I was writing about how much I admired all those Mums who have young kids who craft and this week at knitting group I met another person who does just that. She knits, she quilts and she blogs – it was very lovely to meet Justine and I have really enjoyed looking at all her posts and links to fab fabric sites that I have not come across before. I have saved them in my favourites and may have to indulge very soon! Please do go and visit her blog Sew Justine Sew as it is lovely!

Hope that you have a nice week ahead and see you all in a couple of weeks – thank you for visiting.

Photo Scavenger Hunt – March

April 5, 2011 stitchesoftime2 Comments

Hello there

An extra post this week as I have got a new addition to the blog. Some time ago I read on Thimbleanna’s blog about a photo scavenger hunt for each month organised by Kathy – each month she puts a list of things that you have to go and take pics of and post them on your blog and there is a Flickr group as well but not done that yet.

As I love taking pics I though it would be fun to do and it was, there were some that were a bit of a challenge and I had to be quite creative with. I kept my camera in my bag while I was out and about on my visits – quite a few of these are from a day out in Leeds. I have just gone and looked at the list for April on Kathy’s blog and am very excited as there is something that fits in exactly with our recent field trip!

Thimbleanna’s pics for March can be found here and mine are below.

Peeling paint

This picture was taken on my way home from work – my building is next to a canal and this is from the bridge over it.

A lion

I had to think hard about this one as no zoos near us! But very near the train station where I spend lots of my time is a building called Lion Chambers built in 1853 and they have not one but two lions – one on the roof….

… and one over the door.

Apparently the one on the roof is not the original stone one but a plastic replica – have not been near enough to check!

A lamb

Of course living in Yorkshire there are loads in the fields but could not get out to the country for a good photo but found this cute little choc one!

A rainbow

This was a challenge as well – lots of rain here but no bows, until we went to visit my sister and I spotted this logo on one of her Facebook pages.Sorry it is so fuzzy!

A collection

I had spotted this the week before in Leeds, this fantastic collection of old sewing machines is the front window display in a clothes shop in one of the beautiful arcades, they are a chain and one of my friends mentioned she had seen the same display in their branch in Manchester so they must have hundreds of them. They are so lovely.

Here is a close up so that you can see them better.

Something as old as me

I was going to use this one for another category but here is a pic of my feet paddling in the sea on my recent visit to Spain!

An empty chair

This is one of a pair in my garden – we don’t use them to sit on any more but I love the way that the terracotta has weathered.

Something sentimental

This belonged to my Nana who now lives in Spain. She bought it when she first visited Spain in the 1960s and it is a little matador jacket and hat for a bottle (every home should have one of course!). It used to live in her lounge which she referred to as ‘the room’ which we only ever went in on special occasions like Christmas. She used to make corned beef and onion sandwiches on white bread which I thought were delicious and trifle and coffee with all milk as a special treat.

A fancy gate

This was taken in Leeds again and is at the entrance to one of the Victorian arcades with all the very posh shops in! The actual gates are folded back at the sides.

A shadow

I could have used the one of my feet above but I decided to try some arty shots so this is me taking a pic of one of the statues outside the train station in Leeds.

A ring

I wanted to interpret this rather than take a picture of a ring. This is part of a water feature outside our train station (again) – as well as water there are lights that change colour.

Something green

Again from my garden, I have several of these terracotta representations of a pagan figure – the ‘Green Man’ – they gradually degrade and get covered in moss.

I have really enjoyed finding all these pics and hope that you have enjoyed looking at them. Have got the new list for April so will be off snapping again!

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Stitches of Time

I have created this blog to share my interest in all forms of stitching, quilting, sewing, knitting, medieval re-enactment and costume making – particularly my love of historical embroidery. I also love travelling,especially when it also involves any of my other interests.

Category: photos