Wonky log cabin blocks and a concertina notebook

On a day when the News is full of doom 'n' gloom - crumbling concrete roofs making schools unsafe, the situation in Ukraine, attacks on retail workers rising, Asian Hornets being found in the UK and the dire thread they pose to our bees - it was good to lose myself in crafty pursuits. When the world feels like it's going to Hell in a handcart there's a lot to be said for immersing yourself in sewing or drawing, knitting, embroidering or whatever your favoured craft is. This morning I made further wonky log cabin blocks, getting a little production line going, cutting out strips of material, attaching them, pressing them flat, pinning more strips on.

Before I got started on the blocks though, I made a quick concertina notebook, complete with covers made of upcycled Amazon cardboard packaging and covered with Gelli prints.

The pinkish-red is the back cover, the blue one is the front, and the pretty ribbon is courtesy of a charity shop.

I think I'll make some of these as Christmas presents. They're so easy to do, and handy for jotting down notes or even sticking little photos or keepsakes inside. I am particularly pleased with that blue Gelli print too. I love the abstract circles and ovals from the stencil used, as well as the bubble wrap.

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Threads of Freedom and charity shop bargains

It's Saturday afternoon, and I haven't done half the things I'd meant to. Partly because I spent most of this morning messing about with paints, stencils and the gell plate. Never mind, everything on today's 'To Do' list will join tomorrow's 'To Do' list ... it's hardly life or death if I don't haul the hoover around the room or pull up weeds in the front garden. I thought I'd show you what I made on Wednesday. I'd gone to my monthly StitchArt group, and this time we did something a little different. There's a project called 'Threads of Freedom' which is working with various community groups across the city. It's about creating little stitched pieces, some of which will be included in a textile panel to go on display at Leeds art gallery. There was lots of fabric we could choose from to sew with, and I picked this vintage tray cloth with the roses embroidery. My own embroidery's not a patch on those flo...

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....

Another week's flown by ...

Saturday's rolled around again, and it's not been the most eventful of days. Cleaning and hoovering, a walk to the shops to buy groceries, an hour on the allotment, then home to do some odd tasks in the garden. The strawberry plants are sending out runners, so I've been dealing with those, plus deadheading the perennial sunflowers, and cutting back the gone-over flowers on the sage and marjoram. I'm sad to see those blooms gone as the bees loved them. This afternoon I spent a few hours finishing 'Dawnlands' by Philippa Gregory. It's a really good book, a page turner where you care about the characters and want to be reassured everything's going to work out well for them. Plus you become enraged about the corruption of the so-called justice system at the time of the Stuart kings and queens, about transportation of prisoners to the West Indies, and about the vile nature of the sugar trade in the 1600s and the vast profits made from it....

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