Crocheted Llamas!

Today I can share with you a project that I finished a few days ago but couldn't show you then because it was a little crocheted gift for someone and, I didn't want to spoil the surprise!! Now, I think that they have received the gift so I want to share with you these very, very cute little crocheted llamas!!

I first saw a glimpse of them on a FB page that I follow called Mohu. Mohu crochets the cutest little creatures and has a lovely  blog too.  As soon as I saw the photographs of these cute little guys I knew I would have to buy the pattern and make some for my eldest daughter and her friend.  I knew they would l-o-v-e them!!

So, that is exactly what I did!! I visited the etsy shop for Mohu, bought the llama pattern and set about making these two cuties!!  They have been very well received!!

I only had cotton yarn to work with so my llamas have smooth coats but, I really want to make a llama with a fuzzy coat so I think I'll have to make another one from some fluffier yarn!  Talking of etsy shops, I have recently opened my own little etsy shop stocked with a few of my handmade bits and bobs. The link is at the right hand side of the page. Just click on the embroidered wheelbarrow if you'd like to look round.

Yarn Bombing?

According to wikipedia yarn bombing is a form of graffiti where an inanimate object is decorated using yarn, either knitted or crocheted.  As this generally takes place in a public place I am not sure if I can claim to have yarnbombed my sewing room stool but, I have finished the cover I was making for it and I am extremely happy with how it now looks.

You may have noticed that this does not look like the same piece of crochet which I showed you the other day when I started this project and, you would be correct.  It isn't!!

I did continue to work on the coaster-sized circle of crochet but, as it got bigger I was less and less happy with the join at the end of each round of stitches. 

I kept unpicking rounds and re-stitching them but, I was still not happy with how it looked. If anyone has any tips on how I could improve this, I would love to hear them!!

In the end, I decided to start again completely with a different approach.  I did use the same combination of colours that I had started with before as I really liked them but, I changed the stitch that I used.  I am much happier with the outcome. I do have a few yarn ends to weave in but, it is more or less finished and is a very cheerful addition to my new re-arranged room!

How was your weekend?

Here in the UK it is a Bank Holiday today and, where I live, it is wet!!  After a busy weekend, I am on my own and, I plan to get working on a number of projects which didn't get much attention over the last few days!!  

On Saturday we had some friends round for dinner and, I wanted to get the house cleaned up ready for their visit. I decided to start with my sewing area. The idea being to move from there through into the kitchen and then on through the rest of the ground floor of the house.  I started off quite well except that cleaning turned into rearranging and, that turned into reorganising which, was quite time-consuming and, meant that the rest of the house didn't get much of a clean!!  I am, however, very pleased with the new layout in my sewing area!!!

We did have a nice meal with the friends, who didn't seem to notice the state of uncleanliness, so not to worry!

As I was busy with sorting out the house and, preparing the food, I haven't had much time for actual sewing.  I have started work on my sew-a-long project but, I can't show you that because that would spoil the surprise when we show and tell our first projects on Martina's blog.

I did also manage to get a little crochet project finished too but, I can't show you that either because it is a gift and I don't want the recipient to see it before it is given but, here is a hint!

I didn't get any more of my rediscovered teapot cosy finished but, I did decide that tea cosies were the thing to knit/crochet and ordered myself this lovely book  'Tea Cosies 4' which is published by GMC Publications Limited and, which arrived at the end of last week.  So be prepared to see a lot more tea cosies made!!

Rearranging my sewing area also convinced me that I needed to make a new cover for one of the stools I have in there.  So I fast tracked that project in front of everything else and have now started work on a crocheted cover for my stool.  This is how it looks so far.... I know it is only the size of a coaster now but it will be a cover for my stool by the time I have finished!!

Oh and, I was given two beautiful bouquets of flowers this weekend which has made the house look lovely (even if it is still dusty!)....

So that is it... my weekend... how was your weekend? 

They've been framed!!

I am very excited to say that I have found some suitable frames for my embroidered blocks and, with the help of my son have now hung them and, a number of other paintings and decorative pieces of artwork, on my bare walls!!

I am extremely pleased with the framed blocks.  I chose a dark wood frame for one and a cream frame for the other and they look great (well I think so!) Although, I have a feeling that one of my daughters may hide the smaller one in her suitcase when she returns to university in September so, I am not sure how long it will be decorating a wall in my house!!

Hanging the blocks was a good excuse to get some of the other paintings and artwork hung up about the house.  They were all still wrapped up in a spare room from when we moved in at the end of March. I was particularly pleased to get out one of my favourite quilts to hang.  I made this quilt following a block of the month button club designed by Lynette Anderson.  It is called Fernhill and I love it!!  It looks really nice in it's new home.... just the right colours!

The house had been missing a certain 'je ne sais quoi' and, as soon as the pictures went up, it immediately felt warmer and more like 'home'.  Very satisfying!!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! x

An unfinished project...

Hello! Hope you are all having a sunshiny day! Here the sun is shining although there is a slight nip in the air and, it was wet with dew on the grass when I walked my dogs in the park first thing this morning.

The other day when I was rummaging through my scraps and various boxes of trimmings, etc to find something suitable for my new project, I found an unfinished crochet project that I had completely forgotten about. I started it absolutely years ago and I never got round to finishing it.

I still had all the wool in a bag waiting for the right moment for the project to be completed.  Well, that moment has come!!  I have been in the mood for stitching a few little crochet projects recently so, I thought I would set to and try and add this poor, unfinished project to my 'completed' list.

Can you guess what it is going to be?

Here is a hint and it looks as though it is going to fit very well!

I'm hoping to get this finished to show you in the next few days or so!

Happy stitching!! x

Patchwork Loves Embroidery Sew-a-long

Today I am starting a new project.  Martina at Sunshine Quilting is hosting a sew-a-long of Gail Pan's wonderful book 'Patchwork Loves Embroidery'. 

The fun starts today!! The idea is that if you are joining the sew-a-long you choose up to five of your favourite patterns from the book and get stitching!! The first project should be ready to share on the 1st September and so on until the end of October (five projects).  You don't have to make five projects though, you can join in with as many or as few projects as you would like.  Martina is setting up a link on her blog so that we can all share what we are making and show and tell our finishes. Today is the day to decide on your first project and share which fabrics you will be using.

I have decided to start with this really cute little 'Bloom' pincushion. Such a pretty little embroidery design.

In my opinion, you can never have too many pincushions in your sewing room. I have quite a number to choose from...

and I love making them!!

I have chosen my fabrics, threads and trimming and, if you have been following my blog for a little while you may recognise the fabric as, it is the fabric I used with another Gail Pan pattern 'Ruby Cottage' which I made into a cushion.

Are you joining in the sew-a-long?  Pop across to Martina's blog and see what she has chosen to make and to link up with others joining in!!

Mrs Beasley's Sampler: Block 2: Complete!!!

Yay!! I am really happy to be able to show you my finished Block 2 of the Mrs Beasley's Sampler Quilt that I have been working on.  The quilt is a design by Leanne Beasley and is being published over four issues (10-13 inclusive) of Leanne's wonderful magazine Vignette. Block two was published in issue 11 and now I have to be very patient and wait for issue 12 to see Block 3.

Above is the finished block and below I have included some closer photographs to show the stitches.

There was a lot of embroidery work which, I thoroughly enjoyed and, I think I have improved my satin stitch.  I have never really been very happy with my attempts at satin stitch but with all the little satin stitch dots I needed to stitch for this block, I certainly had plenty of practice and I think it has helped!!

Now I've finished this block and, while I am waiting for the next block to be published, I have time to work on some other projects.  I have signed up to join a sew-a-long which is being organised by Martina at Sunshine Quilting. It is a sew-a-long which will be following patterns from the book 'Patchwork Loves Embroidery' by Gail Pan.  As this is one of my very favourite books ever, how could I resist joining in?  If you want to know more about it why don't you pop over and visit Martina's blog to get the details.  I have added a button for the sew-a-long to my sidebar on the right hand side which will take you to Martina's blog.

Have new magazine, will travel!

I am not really very keen on travelling.  That is to say, I like the place I am visiting when I get there but, I don't always enjoy the actual journey.  One of the things that helps me overcome my anxiety is, when I am able to buy some beautiful new magazines to read.  That is exactly what happened this time I was away.

I found two fabulous quilting magazines in the newsagent's shop before getting on my flight. The first is called 'Beginners Guide to Quilting' which, although I am probably not technically classed as a beginner anymore, has some cute little projects inside and, I just couldn't resist!!

The second is called 'Pro Guide to Quilting'.  This has some stunning quilts inside which made me want to head straight for my sewing machine!!

The magazines are published by Future Publishing who have a whole range of crafting magazines for sale through My Favourite Magazines.  I have already picked up some tricks and tips reading through them quickly and I know that I want to make some of the projects. I think I may start with this one....

Small Blog Meet

Hello! I have been away a few days, so I am sorry not to have been able to say 'hello' before now! 

While I was away I came across a new blog to read called 'Lily's Quilts'.  Lynne from Lily's Quilts has recently created a 'small blog meet ' (your blog has to have less than 50 followers) so that smaller blogs can grow their audience and get to know a few more people out there in blogland.

I thought I would join in and I have added my blog to the list of small blogs participating and have also added the link to my sidebar.  You will find it over there on the right hand side of the page if you scroll down a little.

If you have a small blog why don't you join in the fun?!!  I've already read some great new blogs!

Finished blocks waiting for their frames...

The last couple of days I have been busy finishing off the embroidery and quilting on my second little embroidered block.  I shared the start of the block with you on Monday. It is now finished and I am really pleased with the end result.

I decorated the block with the embroidery design given in the pattern by Mountain Patchwork and which appeared in the latest issue of Simply Vintage Magazine and added some buttons in the same way.

I machine quilted the centre of the block using a straight line spiral which I stitched with the walking foot of my machine.

I also prepared both the log cabin block and the previous nine patch block for framing. I started by trimming up the outer edges of the fabric and batting.  I then trimmed up the batting only to approximately half an inch smaller (at each edge) than the fabric of the finished block. Next I cut a square piece of card roughly an inch smaller than the finished block.  This square of card should end up the same size as the batting on the back of the block.

The block was then placed face down and the card lined up on top of the batting.  I ran a line of glue close to the edge of one side of the card and folded the extra fabric from the block over to the back and stuck it down.  I repeated this on the opposite edge and then the two remaining edges making sure that the corners were neat and that the fabric of the block remained taught. To finish I taped over the raw edges on the back to neaten them.

The blocks are now all finished and waiting for their frames! Yay!!

Thank you for visiting and have a lovely weekend!!