The month is galloping by

It was a day of sunshine and showers. The windy weather over the last few days has blown the petals off a few tulips, but most are intact. I've got several varieties, mainly vibrant shades of pink, purple and orange. Nothing too fancy as most of my bulbs - tulips, daffs and hyacinths - originally come from either Lidl or Wilko. Everything's coming to life in the garden now, including bluebells and even some cowslips in the rectangle of dandelions, moss, clover and a few clumps of grass that I optimistically label a lawn.

I hand-tied a quilt made for a relative's birthday present this morning, which was a task that needed doing. However, and very annoyingly, I found a seam where I'd not caught a raw edge of a block, so had to think up a way to disguise it. A trio of buttons has hopefully done the trick, and my mistake will go unnoticed.

Yodel finally delivered a parcel today, an impulse purchase from eBay of 22 mens ties. 14 of them are 100% silk. There are only a couple I'm not keen on the pattern/colour, though I'm sure I'll still find a use for them. When I've tackled some of the mountain of still-to-be-finished projects I've got half-completed I'll start arranging the ties to make cushion covers, though I'll need to do some unpicking first.

What else? Oh yes, I finished 'Still Life' and have begun reading 'Dark Aemilia' by Sally O'Reilly. It's set in 16th century London, and features Shakespeare and his so-called 'dark lady'. I haven't got too far into it, but it's looking very promising.

Okay, time to lounge on the sofa in pyjamas, drink tea and watch something on the iplayer. I'm currently re-watching episodes of 'Wisting'. Not a laugh a minute, but I do enjoy some Scandi style noir. Reminds me of when I used to be hooked on 'The Killing'. Sarah Lund and that distinctive jumper of hers. Remember that?

Have a good evening.

Comments

Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

HOW TO MAKE: these decorative birds

I suggested yesterday that I'd run through how to make a fabric bird wall or window hanging (can't think of a snappier title for it than that!) so here goes. I'll start with the first decorative hanging I made. It's something you could make in any colour combination you want, and would look good hanging at a window with translucent beads that'd catch the light I used five birds for this, but you could make it longer if you prefer. (Incidentally, if you're wondering about what's hanging off the bottom on this, it's a metal Christmas decoration, shaped like a lantern. For some reason I thought it looked appropriate to leave it there, looped over the end.) WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO GATHER TOGETHER: Assorted scraps of fabric for the front of the birds - aim for a mix of colours and textures. Silk looks good, as does anything with embroidery or intricate patterns. You might aim for a hippy-ish boho look, or maybe you're ...

Abstractuary ... no, I hadn't heard of it either

Goodbye January, the month that feels like it's stretched out to be extra-long, the month we have to plough through to get to February and real signs of Spring. You may know, if you've wandered by this blog before, that I'm beavering away at Ann Wood's 100 day stitchbook challenge. That's still going strong. Three pages done and I've started page four. But I've also stumbled across another monthly challenge, and this one originated with Tori Chatfield, a.k.a. Kool Kooky Kreatures. You can find her on YouTube and Facebook, and she runs something called Abstractuary. Tori's produced a list of prompts for each day in February, and the idea is that you produce something arty or crafty based on those prompts. You can stitch or paint or collage or use whatever kind of materials you want. I won't commit to following these prompts every single day of Feb, but I'm certainly going to use several of them. Tori's also produced a Pinterest...

rubykittyruby

Search This Blog