A quick catch-up post

I wanted to get a quick update in before we go on holiday this weekend, although I haven't had chance to do much of anything crafty for a couple of weeks, my bum has hardly had chance to touch the sofa for even watching the TV.  Does anyone else find that they seem to have less time in the summer?  I find that as long as it's still light I keep finding jobs to do and before I know it it's almost time for a shower and bed and I haven't had any relaxing time.

I tell you, I am SO ready for this holiday!

All the holiday shopping is now thankfully done, just a hair appointment tomorrow to get rid of the silver blonde roots that seem to keep growing through (ha ha), and I'm good to go :-)  

Joanne has to pick up her wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses tomorrow, the woman at the bridal shop is going to pack them up so we will just be able to put them in the case, Joanne has extra luggage allowance and a box for her dress but the bridesmaids will each take their own dresses in their normal luggage or as hand luggage. 

Of course being the disorganized person that I have been lately I left the ring pillow until the last minute.  I knew in my mind what I wanted to make and Joanne had shown me what sort of thing she wanted, something with a sort of shabby chic / vintage feel to it, so I had ideas, trouble is I can never stick with one idea, I look too much and over-think everything.  

In the end I just gathered together lots of different things on the floor and played around with them until I got what I was happy with.

I think it turned out ok, although not without it's problems.

I've said many, many times, I am not good at finishing things with a sewing machine, or even hand sewing for that matter.  I can work the machine, it's the mechanics of putting the thing together that has me flummoxed, the measuring, the cutting, the getting things level, honestly, It's a mystery to me, I must approach things in the wrong way, because surely it's not as difficult as I make it.

That one little pillow up above took me a whole evening to put together, now tell me, is that right?  

(I won't even tell you about the mess I made in TWO rooms, lol)

But, it's done and I just hope she likes it.

Needlecraft haven are doing a seasonal SAL this year.  I missed stitching the spring one, but got the Summer one done well before time,
(I know, not like me at all, lol)

This stitching finish should be revealed on Sunday, but as I will be making my way to Sunny Cyprus on that day I hope Clare will forgive me for sharing it a little earlier.

Clare framed her Spring piece and I thought that was a great idea, so I stole her idea and framed mine too, (hope you don't mind Clare) :-)

If I get around to stitching the other seasons I will be able to change the stitching.
The frame I bought from Wilkinson's  , it wasn't the colour I wanted so I painted and gave it a bit of shabbiness, it looks right at home on granny's cabinet :-)

I think that's about it for now, I will be bombarding you with wedding tales and photos in a few weeks time, no stitching though because I never take stitching on holiday, just my kindle with lots and lots of lovely new books to read whilst I'm laying on that sun-bed, ahhh, can't wait :-)

See you soon

-X-

Flowers blooming everywhere

It's a relief to know that I'm not alone in my same colour peg obsession, I suppose we all have something that we like done in a certain way and that we are not happy with unless it's just so.   I'm happy, (I think), to say that I have also trained  past on my clothes hanging ritual to my husband, I can now happily ask him to hang out the washing confident that It will be done exactly how I would do it...who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks ;-)

I was having a clear out last week and came across this tapestry that I started sometime last year.  I hadn't got very far before packing it away, but I managed to get the rest of the darker red and a chunk on the left hand side done at the weekend.

It's not very large and will be a bolster pillow when finished.  Unfortunately I've lost the picture that came with the kit so can't show you what It should be like when finished.

I'm not even sure that I will be able to find a place for it any more when it's finished, but I still quite like the design, although I don't really like dragging the wool through the mesh, it sort of puts my teeth on edge if you know what I mean, perhaps that's why I put it away, I can't remember.  But, If I only spend one night a week working on it it will eventually get finished, right?

I also finished the seasonal SAL that I stitched along with some of the Needlecraft Haveners.  I didn't join in with the Spring one because I couldn't get my mojo going, but I've finished the Summer one, and It's all ready for the reveal, unfortunately all I can give is a sneak preview of the frame for now.  

It looks right at home on my granny's cabinet though :-) 

Speaking of Summer, where is ours?? The weather took a backward turn last week, we had a few days of rain and wind, it also went quite cool again and we ended up putting the heating on again.....not good.

The combination of rain and sunshine has been good for the garden though, we have a new colour addition, a lovely lilac rhododendron.

 The weather has been good for my hostas too

 You either love them or hate them, but I look forward to them every year

 The Pieris has changed colour yet again, it's now a yellow / gold  colour.

My 3 tier planter and baskets are planted up now, fingers crossed they will survive this changing weather.

That's all for now

-X-

Seven things about me

Thank you to Lee for nominating me for this award, I've racked my brains trying to come up with Seven things about me to entertain you.

Seven Things About Me.....

I still only live 2 miles away from the house I was born in.

I have an OCD tendency on certain things, and some of them are a bit strange, for instance, I have a basket full of pegs in 3 different colours, when hanging washing on the line each garment must have matching pegs, no mixing and matching the colours and, I will use all of one colour before moving on to the next.

I have a phobia of moths and butterfly's, I will run a mile to avoid both, even pictures of them give me the shivers!  I once had a moth in my bedroom when Mark was working away so shut the door and slept in another room until he came home to get rid of it.

I learned to knit from both my mother and my grandmother, but I am a first generation stitcher and crocheter.  I have 2 sisters but neither of them do any crafting.

I started a stitching group :-)  I was looking around for a group and couldn't find anything so started my own.  We have been going for just over 3 years and have steadily grown, currently we have around 16 ladies who come to our monthly meet-up.

I have traced the family tree on my mothers side back 4 generations but only

3 generations on my fathers side and found both interesting and amusing things. My maternal great grandmother put the name of her husband on her youngest daughter's birth certificate, but her husband had already been dead for 5 years!!

In WWII my fathers's eldest brother was captured in Singapore and held on one of the 'Hell Ships'.  Really must get back in to working on this some day.

My (sort of) claim to fame is that my Great uncle, Benjamin Hodgetts is seen in most the photographs you see of the making of the Titanic anchor/chain, he was one of the men who worked on making it and was also the one who presented a miniature replica of the anchor to the Prince of Wales when he came to the Blackcountry.

Now, I am supposed to pass this award on to 10 other bloggers, but I've noticed that quite a few of the blogs I visit have already done it, so, I'm going to throw it open.  If you have not received a nomination for this award and would like to share with us seven things about you please feel free to do so.  

And If you do, please leave me a comment so that I can come and be nosey find out more about you :-)

I'll be back with a crafty update soon, but for now here is a couple of photos of my Great uncle Benjamin, (because no blog post is complete without photographs, right?)

Making of the Titanic Anchor & Chain

Benjamin Hodgetts is the one in the flat cap

And presenting to the The Price of Wales, Edward VIII

Until next time

-X-