What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 439

November already. Where has the year, never mind the last two weeks, gone? It's been quite a while since I posted and I feel guilty. It's not as if I didn't have anything to report - it's been a busy old time - but there's been no crafting to show and an empty desk week after week can be pretty boring to look at. Anyway, I've found some time this evening to join in with Julia's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and reveal what's on mine today.

A patchwork block in progress. Hopefully it will be included in the quilt that we are making at the craft group I go to on Thursday afternoons. It will be our entry for a competition at the March Hobby Craft Exhibition at the SECC Glasgow.

And talking of the SECC here's a few photos taken when my daughter and I had a day out together at the October Hobby Craft Exhibition last Thursday.

Every year there's a winter tableau at the entrance to the show. This is the one for this year.

There was no large quilt exhibition to speak of this time - it's the Spring show that usually has one - but I did find these two hanging up at a stall.

There was a wonderful steampunk display. The tartan wedding dress and hat were simply stunning.

Sorry about the quality of the photo. I'm still learning how to use the camera on my new phone.

The Haywood Girls entertained us in the dining area with swing numbers from the 1940s. Lovely ladies they are too.

Of course, I couldn't go to a Hobby Craft show and not come home with a bit of a haul.

There was a lot of yarn stalls and I was tempted. Plenty there to keep me busy during the upcoming winter months.

I picked up this inexpensive bag of tweed scraps thinking I could, at last, maybe get around to trying some of the applique projects on a ebook/video 'Harris Tweed, Applique for Beginners' by Chris Hammacott, that's been on my shelf for a couple of years now.

Not so interesting perhaps but necessary, new bits and bobs - blades for the rotary cutter, Wonderweb for applique and magnetic fasteners for bag-making.

That's my winter taken care off.

I'll leave you with a couple of photos of our Molly. She's quite a handful, full of life, intelligent and needing to be endlessly entertained - one of the main reasons why I've not been able to write up posts for this blog recently.. At our age, the EM is almost 80 and I'll be 70 in a few weeks time, it's clear we're not as fit as you need to be to handle such a lively puppy. Anyway, here she is.

Here I am with her on a walk in Culzean Country Estate. As you can see she likes nothing better than to go rooting around in the undergrowth.

Take care everyone and have a very good week.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 318

Happy Wednesday Fellow Deskers,

Whoops! And another week has zipped by. Time to report to our Head Desker, Julia, for another What's On Your Work Wednesday.

Some progress on last week, but admittedly not much. Since last week the flock of birds, twenty-one in all, have been cut out of fabric and pressed on to the base fabric which has a pretty dragonfly pattern on it; the photos are still there from last week but I have pulled out a few papers with a view to scrapping them; the crochet cover is growing too - all blues and greens for a boy.

So that's my desk today. All I need is to find some time to do something crafty. Anything crafty would be nice! But when the sun comes out, and being mindful of the need for the Sunlight Vitamin (vitamin D) at my advanced age, I'm spending as much time as possible catching a few rays before it turns to liquid sunshine ... we've had a lot of that recently :(

However, right now I'm off to join the EM for a spot of lunch, then I'll be back.

Have a great day everyone,

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 317

Happy WOYWW Everyone,

It's the 1st of July and it's a wonderfully warm day - what more could we ask for? Well, more time to craft might be nice ... it's been pretty scarce around here these past few weeks and my desk has been boringly bare, definitely not worth showing. But, figuring that I couldn't possibly miss yet another week, couldn't have Julia, our Head Desker, thinking I'd given up altogether!, I've gathered up a few bits and pieces I'm either working on or planning to work on and even a couple of finished projects!

At the back there's a little gift bag I did find time to decorate yesterday using the papers and toppers lying nearby. Beside that are some photos awaiting scrapping ... the top one is of me and my newest great-grandchild, the reason why I have been so distracted of late :) To the front a new magazine picked up on a trip to the Post Office yesterday. To the left is a flock of bird shapes cut from freezer paper.

These still have to be ironed onto fabric to create applique birds that will be scattered over the front of a pram cover for the new baby.

To the right is a couple of remnants picked up on a trip my daughter and I made to Remnant Kings in Glasgow last week. Haven't finally decided what I'll make with them but they were such a bargain, especially the wool plaid, I couldn't resist. On top of these is the beginning of a chevron design crochet cover ... this time a small one, just big enough to cover baby Callum when in his car seat.

And here's a pic of the multi-coloured bed runner I've been crocheting for months - only finished yesterday evening! Enjoyed the crocheting but hated all the yarn ends!!!

So that's my desk today. As already mentioned, it's a lovely day here, not bright sunshine but definitely hot. Muggy too, I feel a storm coming on which is the perfect excuse to stop indoors for a session of blog-hopping.

First, I'm off to join the EM for a spot of lunch, then I'll be back.

Have a great day everyone,

Cloudy Day - Appliqued Tote

Evening Everyone,

Well, another day of horribleness has just about gone and it's looking as though there's going to be no let up from the storm for some time yet. We've had the lot: gales, lightening, sleet, hailstones and a deluge so far, everything, in fact, but the snow that has been forecast. It's only a matter of time!!!

So it doesn't take more than one guess to know where I've been for much of the day. That's right, in the craft room, in the sewing corner, stitching away and this is the result ... quite appropriate considering the weather :)

The idea for the applique I first discovered on Pinterest when I was looking for some inspiration for decorating tote bags. That took me to Retro Mama's super blog and that's where I discovered the pattern to make a tote from scratch here. There's a link to the templates for the cloud and raindrops included with the instructions. Having already purchased the plain tote from an Amazon supplier.  All I had to do was open up the sides of the bag using a quick unpick/seam ripper ... this was fiddly and took a wee while to do - so much for being quick. Tip and note to self: a faster way would be to simply cut the side seams off. This would reduce the finished width of the tote but would be so much quicker than unpicking.

My less than perfect applique clouds and raindrops. I traced the templates on to iron-on fusible web which I then ironed it on to the fabric before cutting out the shapes. Once that was done it was just a case of removing the paper backing and ironing the shapes on to the front of the tote. I finished off by satin stitching around the edges of the shapes ... much fiddlier than it sounds, and I see one of the raindrops is less than straight too :) These raindrops use the tiniest scrap of fabric. Snippets, in fact, so I'll be popping over to Pixie's playground and linking this over there.

To finish I stitched up the sides again, first with a straight stitch and then with a close zigzag stitch to stop the fabric from fraying.

Right, time for a cuppa ... just in time to watch the second part of the Lost Honour Christopher Jefferies.

Hope you are having a lovely evening.

Happy Crafting

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW Wk 288

Afternoon Everyone ...

... and a very happy WOYWW to you. I should have been here earlier but there's a storm raging outside and despite battening down the hatches, etc., we couldn't prevent an interruption in our telephone service, TV and broadband too, hence the delay. Now the rain has stopped, the wind has died down, the sun is shining and we are back online - yeah! So, finally to the point of this post - my desk:

This is the photo I took Tuesday evening. Yet another right old guddle! That's cushion #6 being planned out but there's a whole lot of stuff cluttering the work surface and just getting in the way. It was bothering me so much that this morning I decided to clear it off.

Better! There's still painting  and cutting equipment plus various adhesives stashed at the back but there's a whole lot more space for me to spread fabrics on while I plan the cushion cover.

And just in case you are wondering what that roll of white stuff is balancing in the empty coffee jar - it's the iron-on fusible web I used for the applique on cushion #5. And for the eagle-eyed, that's today's episode of Bargain hunt on TV and next to that is a late birthday gift - a teal coloured Grand Calibur. Haven't had much time time to put it into action, just a quick test run to check it was in full working order, but I have high hopes of giving it a fuller work out after Christmas is over :)

And because I mentioned it above, here's a glimpse of cushion # 5. I plan to post a bit more on it later.

In the time it has taken to write up this post the sun has gone and the rain and wind are back again. This storm is coming over from the Atlantic Ocean and it is wild ... I see the BBC are calling it a 'weather bomb' - whatever next!

Clearly, I won't be going shopping today and a proposed trip to the PO in town has had to be postponed. No, I'll be staying in and, as long as we are online, I will be popping in to see as many WOYWW desks as possible.

Before I go I'd like to thank everyone who left greetings for my birthday recently - every one was much appreciated.

Do take care and enjoy the rest of your day.

Sunday Snippets - Poppy Drawstring Bag and Tag

Hello Everyone

Happy Sunday to you all.

Today I have for Pixie's Snippets Playground something a bit different. The theme for the November Swap over at UKPC was to make something that  included poppies ... after much pondering this is what I came up with.

I've been experimenting with iron-on transfer material and this little drawstring bag with matching tag is the result. Here's a close-up - note the lovely sunshine too :)

Here's a break down of how it was made.

- I started by stamping the Poppy Field stamp from Rubber Necker using distress inks in reds and deep pinks on to a snippet of white card. Archival black ink was used for the outlining stamp.

- next step was to scan it on to my PC importing it into MS Publisher, tweaking the size and creating a JPEG image ready for printing on to the iron-on transfer material, found on eBay and purchased from Mad About Ink.

- next I ironed the image on to a piece of white cotton fabric following the instructions that come with the pack ... not difficult but they do have to be followed carefully - my senior brain had to read the instructions a couple of times before fully understanding what to do and, more importantly, what not to do!

- at this stage I hadn't actually decided what I was going to do with the transfer but I knew I wanted to applique it on to something. After a wee bit of thought I remembered seeing the instructions on how to make this little drawstring bag over here at Sew What? by Debbie Shore. So, with a bit of modification and some scraps of fabric leftover from previous cushion projects, this little bag is the result. Debbie's original bag is 10" square but I only had enough of the red/white spot fabric to make mine 8" square and because of this the other fabric strips were re-sized to measure 8" x 3". Other materials needed were bias binding - love this red/white polka dotted one bought at the craft show in Glasgow last year - I knew I'd find a use for it one day - and the narrow black/white gingham ribbon, source forgotten because I've had in my stash forever :)

- the transferred print was trimmed down and appliqued with a zigzag stitch, set to create a satin stitch, to the front section of the the red/white spot fabric before making up the bag.

- once the bag was finished it needed a tag ... so, the original stamped piece was cut down and attached to a snippet of red card, trimmed to form a tag.  The punched hole is threaded with a length of ribbon left over from making the bag.

Here's a view of the back of the bag ... not obvious in the photos but it's fully lined with black/white ditsy print fabric.

Nothing has changed much on my desk since my WOYWW post on Wednesday, it's still a mess! But that's about to change. Oh yes ... I'm going to clean everything off and start again. What's the betting it will be a complete mess again this coming Wednesday :)

Hope you have a wonderful day, with lots of 'you' time for you to enjoy your crafting ... or whatever else floats your boat on a Sunday :)

Happy Crafting,

Birds Flying High - and Friday Smile

Hello Everyone

Birds flying high

You know how I feel

Sun in the sky

You know how I feel

Well, there I was just thinking what to call this cushion when Birds Flying High came to mind and with that the lyrics to the song - and now I have this earworm playing repeatedly in my head :) 

The idea for the cushion top came to me after cutting out the two pieces for Bertie Birdie which came free, along with Cedric the Cat, from a recent issue of HomeMaker Magazine.  (Cedric can be seen in this post here). The instructions were to sew the two pieces together, stuff it and add a loop of ribbon to hang it up with, but then I had a think and then I thought the two pieces would look great appliqued on to something. 

And then one thing led to another ... a circle of yellow cotton for the 'sun', blue/white patterned for the 'clouds' and the 'meadow' from a scrap of green print.

The base is a plain white cotton from my local shop and the border is from an aqua/white polka dot half metre  brought back from holiday last year - the same fabric was used for envelope style back.

Materials: cotton fabric - white for front base; turquoise spot for edging and back; scraps of yellow, blue and green fabrics for applique; the Bertie Birdie pieces; white, black, yellow and green cotton thread; batting/wadding; sewing machine

Having that tune playing over and over again in my head prompted me to do a wee search on YouTube and I discovered a couple of great versions of Birds Flying High ... Michael Buble and Nina Simone for example. However, I really enjoyed the one below, the film that accompanies it made me smile so I thought to share it with you and Annie over at A Stitch In Time. 

Enjoy!

Some recent sewing projects.

Hi Everyone,

I hope this finds you all well and Monday has been a good day for you.

It's not been so good for me. I've been having increasing pain in my right hand and arm for the last few weeks. Up until the weekend it's been just about tolerable but then it got worse so the EM insisted I see the doctor and it seems that it's inflammation on my shoulder that is causing the pain. Advice is to keep taking the pills and rest it for while - if it isn't okay in a month he will refer me to the hospital to see the arm specialist. Needless to say, I shouldn't even be typing so I'll make it as brief as possible!

I made these two little pot holders so that I could try out some easy quilting.

The square with the chicken motif has been in my stash for at least two years ... so nice to find a use for it at last.

The appliqued heart was made by tracing round the largest die in my Homespun Heart die set.

And here's what I made from some of the lovely fabric I bought at the Glasgow craft show.

I know there's one or two chicken keepers out there who would love this :)

The tote bag is fully lined, has a double pocket on the front and is really easy to make.

Okay, I'm off before Matron, aka DH, catches me behaving badly :)

Take care and happy crafting everyone,