It's not a kangaroo!

Okay, let's start with some prettiness.  Growing on the allotment are these pink Californian poppies.  

Calendula, lots of 'em.   I intend to gather up handfuls of petals and make some calendula oil.  Have been googling how to do it.  

This photo doesn't quite capture the intensity of colour with these Catananche.  Grow them if you can, they're lovely.  

After trundling along to the allotment, taking pictures of flowers and picking raspberries - mmmm! fresh raspberries, delicious- I came home and made a little fabric fox.  

As with the leopard's head I made, I was influenced by the work of Instagrammer ievate.  It was only after I'd finished that I realised my fox has the look of a shocked kangaroo ... Doesn't matter, I like him anyway.

He's hanging around with the leopard, the bee, a felt picture of a winter's scene and a crumpled postcard of Edith Sitwell.  

Honestly, I wonder at my sanity sometimes!  But crafting is fun.  It's playtime for grown ups and if more people crafted, the world would be less of a scary batsh!t crazy place, wouldn't it?  

The bird that's not gonna fly

 

It's been a mixed kind of day, from a crafty perspective.  I'd seen on Instagram the collages of Clare Youngs.  Including a length of bunting, several paper birds strung together, all vivid colours and eye catching shapes.  I'll have a go at that, I thought, but in fabric rather than paper and card.  Hmmm, didn't quite work.  I cut out my simplified bird, trying to get it as close to the original design as I could.  Added applique details for the wings, beak and eyes, and backed with green felt.  But it didn't look right.  I've not got the overall shape right after all.  The whole thing doesn't 'read' as a bird in flight.

Oh well, you try these things and some succeed, some fail.  Never mind, it's only fabric and sewing thread after all. 

Having put aside my avian misfortune, I finished off a smaller version of the dragonfly slow stitching piece I made recently.  Here are the two for a comparison in size.  

I was thinking of attaching the smaller one to the front of a piece of folded card, so it could be used as a greetings card for a birthday or other occasion.  By the way, I found the perfect way to hang the larger textile piece, using a glass straw looped between two fabric tabs.  You can't really see from this photo, but the glass has a pink tinge to it, which is ideal.  

The other things I've made lately were - forgive me for mentioning Christmas so early in the year - a couple of fabric gift tags, and a bee.  Why a bee?  Well - uhmm - because - oh, I don't know!  I just fancied making a bee.  

Honestly, hand on heart, can you say you've never had the urge to make a bee?  Oh, come on! 

Strawberries, an angel, a dragonfly and a bee that might be a wasp

After not having any homegrown strawberries so far this year, and pretty much giving up on them, the recent heavy rainfall along with lots of sunshine has had berries ripening like crazy.  I've been starting every day with fresh fruit for breakfast, which is a lovely treat.  

This last week's been oddly enjoyable.  The house is looking much better after it's ever-so-late-spring-clean, and hopefully I can keep it this way.  Out in the garden everything's windswept and there're lots of plants leaning drunkenly over, me neglecting to stake them.  

I made a couple of little changes to the angel fabric collage, not having been entirely satisfied with her face.  

I outlined the eyes with thread and added a faint indication of a nose! This textile piece ended up being about 21 x 23cm, and it occurred to me that I might make a smaller version and use it to decorate a Christmas card.  (Sorry to mention the 'Ch' word in June, but you have to think ahead when it comes to handmade goodies.)  That thought led me to think about fabric gift tags, made like mini collages. 

This was a quick attempt, to get a feel for what size of gift tag and how I'd make it.  I also began making a smaller version of - not the angel - but the green and pink dragonfly design from a few days ago.  

I've made the background and added some quilting lines, and have the dragonfly pieces cut out and ready to applique on.  That'll keep me occupied tomorrow while listening to 'The Archers' omnibus, making it another Slow Stitch Sunday.  

I've also started yet another project, which is silly, I know.  Really, I should finish one thing before embarking on something else, but I like flitting between tasks.  It keeps them interesting.  After making that fabric leopard's head brooch a while back, I fancied making a bee brooch.  Or it might turn out to look more wasp-like.  Not sure yet.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

Summer Solstice

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  It's been sunny and warm, an oddly enjoyable kind of Wednesday given that I spent a fair amount of it cleaning.  I'm not a natural 'housewife'.  If the sun's shining or there's a chance of going outdoors I'd rather do that.  But do you ever have those moments where you look around your home - maybe the sun's beaming through the windows, illuminating every corner - and you suddenly realise how dusty that shelf is.  How there are smudged fingermarks on the door.  A cobweb in the top corner of the room.  The carpet could do with a really thorough brush and vacuum.  In short, everything needs sprucing up. 

So, I spent the morning cleaning the hallway and stairs, washing down the paintwork and suchlike.  Not the most fun in the world, but it looks much better now it's done.  I'll have a good go at the front room tomorrow, and start on the conservatory after that.  It might be more of a summer clean than a spring clean, but sometimes you just need to pull on the Marigolds and get busy with the hot soapy water!

After lunch I did an hour on the allotment.  The Phacelia, which had proved such a bee magnet, has nearly finished flowering, but everything else is flourishing after the recent rain.  I managed to find a few ripe strawberries, and the raspberries are beginning to appear.  

Back home I continued with another fabric collage based on the work of Janet Bolton.  I'd enjoyed the slow stitching 'dragonfly' piece I'd made, and having seen an image of an angel the artist made, I thought I'd do a version of that.  

By chance I had two different fabrics patterned with tiny stars, and a couple of scraps of blue-green material perfect for the planet earth.  

I built up the background, then dithered over what to make the angel out of.  

I picked a shiny pink for the dress, a leaf pattern for the wings and a little bit of silk from an upcycled men's tie for the halo.  

But that shiny pink was bothering me.  It wasn't right, though I was reluctant to unpick it and start over again.  Instead, I covered it up, adding a lightweight double gauze material in a softer matt pink.  

That's much better.  I quilted most of the finished piece and while it's not quite as pleasing as the dragonfly, I'm happy enough with how it's turned out.  I was going for a naive, folk art kind of look, and hopefully that comes across.  

Slow stitch Sunday

 

The pink poppies are in full swing on the allotment.  Masses of them.  

I'm not the biggest fan of this particular variety as they're a bit too 'pink frilly knickers', but I love them when they're in bud and just about to bloom, also when the seed-heads appear.  I always collect way too much seed for my own needs, so scatter handfuls on grass verges, hoping they'll pop up at roadsides in years to come.  

Once home, I had the urge to do some simple stitching.  Ages ago I cut out and kept a picture of these little fabric pieces by Janet Bolton.  

I intended to make something similar.  Plain fabric background, simplified image of a dragonfly.  Initially I gathered together orange material, along with neutral pale browns and cream.  But I didn't have quite the right brown for the colour scheme I wanted.  Anyway, I always tend to drift toward pink.  So instead I picked out a scrap of pink with gold hearts, as well as a linen look plain pink that I particularly like.  

Using a straightforward running stitch I sewed horizontal and vertical lines, then added a simple binding.  

I'm dithering now over whether to add a dragonfly or not.  I quite like the idea of something delicate, the wings going over the edges of the binding.  I'll put this mini project aside for now and have a think about it.  

I'm typing this blog post to the sound of rainfall.  Finally we've got showers, and probably later there'll be thunder and lightning, a good storm to clear the air.  I'll read another chapter of my book before I turn in tonight.  Kate Mosse 'The City of Tears'.  It's a doorstep of a book, but very readable, an old-fashioned page turner and all the better for it. 

Hope you enjoy what's left of the weekend.  Bye! 

The Leopard

Hello from my corner of sunny West Yorkshire where we still - still! - don't have any rain.  I mean, the sun's gorgeous, but my plants are thirsty and the allotment soil is dry as a bone.  I'd better head down there in a while and tip cans of water over the squash, at least.  

The photo above shows the Alice Hoffman book I've recently finished - terrific - and the novel I'm reading at the moment, Andrew Taylor's 'The Shadows of London'.  It's set in London 1671, and is clearly written by an author who knows that period inside out. The historical details are fascinating, while the murky murders and court intrigue make for a gripping tale. 

Apart from catching up on my reading, I've also had a go at making a leopard head brooch ... as you do ...  I'd seen a fantastic embroidered brooch by an Instagramer called 'ievate' and loved it, so had a try at my own version. 

It's a simplified effort.  The original had a plain fabric for the animal's fur, and the black spots were embroidered on like French knots.  The nose and eyes were stitched, but I did applique instead.  

I love the patterned fabric i chose.  The scale of the black spots is perfect, and it was pure chance I had the fabric in my stash.  Serendipity, I think that's what you'd call it.  Now, what animal can I make next?  

 

Patching a bag and foraged fibres

Today's been hot, hot, hot!  I mean, it's lovely, don't get me wrong.  Wall to wall sunshine makes you feel good, but - but - you see, the gardener in me is pining for rain.  A deluge.  A downpour.  Thunder and lightning would be an added bonus as I love a good storm.  The garden and allotment are desperate for rainfall, and the two water butts by the back door have barely a thimbleful left in them.  I keep topping up the makeshift bird bath, and refilling the bowl of pebbles and water left out for bees, wasps and other fluttery, buzzing creatures, and I worry that lots of people aren't doing the same.  Our thirsty wildlife need all the help they can get.  At least I can turn on the tap when I'm in need of drinking water, but the poor things can't do the same.  

Anyhow, on to craftiness.  I've started patching up a shopping bag.  It's one of those just-in-case bags that I bet most of us have lying around.  It's unbleached cotton, and exactly the right size to fold up and put in a pocket or handbag, just-in-case we're out and about and unexpectedly need to buy something.  You might've been given one or more of these bags as a promotional item, emblazoned with a firm's logo.  

They're handy, but do have a tendency to look tatty after a while.  If you wash them, they often shrink.  Which is a drawback.  I thought I'd disguise the tattiness with a bit of improv patchwork, lightly gluing scraps of fabric on to the bag or pinning into place, overlapping some edges, leaving others raw.  

I'm using a simple running stitch to secure some of the patches, and when the bag's completely covered I'll do horizontal & vertical lines of running stitch to fully secure all of 'em.  That'll strengthen the bag, prolong its usefulness and make it look a bit smarter.  Well, that's the theory.  I'm in no rush to complete this project, and will do it in fits & starts as the mood takes me.  

Okay, a break from crafty talk for some greenery.  Here's the mint on my allotment, growing like topsy.  

Dozens of pink poppies are standing tall.  

 

Here I have Love-in-a-Mist, feverfew and foxgloves, all mixed together in a pretty jumble.  

And here's some more Nigella.  

Okay, let's finish with some thoughts about weaving.  I know, that sounds so random.  But I was idling through Instagram and came across an account called Foraged Fibres.  Lots of amazing photos of baskets made of foraged plant stems, tree bark etc.  There are short videos showing how to process the foraged materials which include brambles, Crocosmia leaves, Ribwort Plantain stems, Iris, daffodils, bindweed and even banana skins.  My fingers itched to have a go myself.  

So this afternoon, on the walk back from buying groceries, I gathered up various stems and they're drying in my sunny conservatory.  Once dried I'll try winding them into cord and string, as per the videos.  Even if I don't manage anything as advanced as a basket, maybe I can at least  make garden twine.  It's always useful to know how to make something, rather than buy a commercial product.  Garden twine included.  

Will let you know how it goes in the days to come.

Oh, before I go, a confession.  I'll failed in my June challenge, of listening to classical music each day, as chosen in Clemency Burton-Hill's 'Year of Wonder' book.  I had good intentions, but that particular Not-A-New-Year Resolution has petered out.  Oh well, you can't win 'em all.  

I've made a couple more

 

I made a Japanese style rice bag the other day, and thought I'd have a go at another.  This one's larger, a good size for storage or it could even have a long strap attached and get used as a beach bag or similar.  Initially I used a ribbon for the closure, but swapped it for a length of cord, as you'll see from later photos.  The fancy ribbon came from a stack of four posh soaps I'd been given as a present.  I'd tucked the ribbon away, knowing it'd come in handy sooner or later.

The fabrics chosen were mainly pink on the outside, and more varied on the inside. 

After finishing that bag, I impulsively decided to make another!  I'd some pieced-together stripey fabrics lying around, made a few weeks ago without any real idea of how I'd use them, so I incorporated them into the third bag.  I backed the stripes with interfacing, then trimmed them to the size I wanted.  7 inches square, if I remember rightly.  More fabric was chosen for the bags lining, and I got to work.  

This is the bag with the grey cord and red beads (taken from a charity shop bracelet) which I latterly decided wasn't right and swapped it.  

I love that apple fabric.  I'm not the biggest fan of novelty prints, but that's cute.  

If I was making this type of bag again, with stripes, I'd quilt them.  Hand-quilting might take time, but it'd look good.  

Finally, here are pictures of the bags once I swapped the ribbon and grey cord over.

Here's the smaller of the pair.  

And the larger one.  

That's all for now.  Hope you like 'em.  

A little blue rice bag

Here's the allotment.  Not providing much in the way of food at the moment, but oh boy!  Isn't it pretty?  

Yup, no doubt about it.  Prettiness everywhere you look.

Back at home, my sewing machine's playing up.  I changed the needle which improved things, but the tension's not right and I've tried different makes of thread and that helped a little.  I think the machine needs servicing, so will find out where I can get it done locally.  

While it was grudgingly behaving itself, my stroppy machine obliged by sewing the seams of this little bag.  It's based on the Japanese rice bags that I've seen being made in YouTube videos, and was an easy make.  

Five squares of fabric for the outer, five for the inner, small rectangles for the loops, cord and beads for the tie.  

I used cotton material, without interfacing, so the bag's quite floppy.  

A denim version would look rather handsome, don't you think?  

Pleased with this blue bag, I started making a larger version with pink as the predominant colour.  Will show you that when it's finished.  I've a feeling it won't be as successful, mainly because I reckon these bags look best when they're small and cute, not larger and a bit unwieldy.  Oh well, it's all a learning process, isn't it?  

Oh, before I go, yesterday's 'Year of Wonder' music was based on Nordic folk music.  Ribers No   8, Danish String Quartet.  While today's was the lush and romantic Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from 'Spartacus' by Aram Khachaturian (1903 to 1978).