Starburst

I've enjoyed finishing some quilts this holiday. The most difficult one I've ever made was one that I thought looked like an exploding star but my kids named Starburst. I improvised the piecing a bit to get it to work the way I liked. This is typical of me- I rarely follow a pattern completely. I more use it as a kind of guidance ands add my own twist to it. It really makes my quilts feel quite different sometimes. That's the best thing about quilting- there will never ever be another quilt exactly the same so everything you make is unique. Just like we as people are all unique...

So until next time
Gillian

Busy finishing the impossible

I've had a double bed size quilt top sitting in my sewing box for a year. I didn't think I could quilt it so I just left it there afraid I would ruin it. Then about a month ago I decided I better start finishing my work in progress. So Christmas decorations were finished, my green William Morris inspired fabric quilt was finished and my exploding star quilt was finished.

But still my double quilt sat there- I convinced myself I didn't have room to put it together with the wadding and backing.

Yesterday I had one of those moments, the one where you think "oh blow it, just do it, it's just wasted as it is and you may as well risk doing it!!!!". So I've put it together and edged it (I don't like the way binding looks so I see the edge right sides together leaving a gap then pull it through and hand stitch it closed).

I'm now doing machine quilting and about to do something else new- freestyle machine quilting. It's my quilt and I think it will look great.

I've noticed recently that many handmade items in shops and even in published books are no better than mine. It's not that I'm saying they are no good- its more that my are pretty good too and every little imperfection I am soooo aware of are just about invisible to everyone else.

So I'm taking risks and getting things done and making beautiful unique quilts which will last a lifetime and hopefully be passed on to my descendants one day. Oh it's good to do the impossible!!!!

Until next time
Gillian

Getting on top of things

Success is cooking 2 meals before 8am- one for tonight and one for the freezer.

Success is getting all the ironing done straight after work.

The payoff is I get to sit down and do what I want all evening!

Bye for now
Gillian

Details

Well we're back from taking Tom to university in Portsmouth. Its been quite a hectic weekend and I confess to very contrasting emotions about it- it is the right time for him to leave and move on so in a way I'm not sad, but I'm also a mum so I'm worrying about him all the time... gosh I hope I get past that stage quick! I have to keep busy to help forget ... cooking, crochet and blogging here I come...


I've been asked a few questions about the quantities of yarn I use to make my hexagon grannies so I've got my best maths head on and worked out a few things. 

 Firstly my Field of Flowers granny; 79 four round hexagons weighed 380g. This is with a fairly cheap acrylic wool blend- I'm not too worried that wool is softer (but then I'm the sort of person who doesn't use fabric softener in my wash as I don't really see much difference). I also use a 4mm hook with double knit wool. As I used wool from my stash I didn't buy anything to make this granny. I reckon on doing another 18 hexagons which will be another two rows. This will give a blanket that fits from lap to floor for one person - I may of course keep going and make it larger so two can snuggle under it- I still have plenty of left over wool- that will depend on how I feel about it... I make decisions with a very emotional viewpoint, ie I do what feels right for me... the best thing about doing grannies is that you can make the blanket as small or big as you like- mine mostly turn out about the size that covers my lap nicely when  I sit and watch TV so sizing them involves simply laying them over me and adding more until I'm happy with the size!


I took six complementary colours of wool with me to Portsmouth so I could crochet on the way. I've done 40 hexagons to round 3 already and really love these colours. I intend to try and make each one different. If I've worked it out right this means I can do 120 different hexagons. 


The maths part now- 40 hexagons to row 3 weighed 105g. So my six 100g balls of wool should be able to make around 240 hexagons. I plan to do row 4 in white to join the hexagons. Based on the Flowers granny 40 hexagons to round 4 is about 190g so for 40 hexagons round 4 alone would need around about 85g of wool. (If you've spotted a mistake in my maths I don't mind if you gloat quietly!) I bought 1200g of white not long ago so I've plenty and will probably do a picot edge when I'm done. 


This one is a bit special because of the link to Tom leaving- I've already called it Strands. The six colours either represent the strands of my family-the five of us plus us a whole... the strands are the way we all interact and mix in multiple ways...


or the strands of my life; wife, mother, woman, person, crafter, worker... interwined with each other...


or the stages of my life; baby, child, teenager, independent young adult, parent, independent adult.


All the strands weave in and out of each other, making the myriad colours and patterns of life.


So philosophical... must be to do with all the change in my life at the moment...


Oh and by the way, tonight I burnt the tip of my right index finger whilst cooking tea so I'm not actually sure if I can crochet today- won't stop me trying though!


So until next time
Gillian

Wadebridge

A twilight walk is so soothing...

I feel calmer for finding a tranquil place

Bye for now
Gillian

My lucky find

Whilst looking for my old coat today I found two balls of wool I didn't know I had (I didn't find the coat- where it went is a mystery!) . Does that sound weird? Well I thought I had used it all up making a hexagon granny blanket last year and so the blanket stopped growing as the wool ran out. Well now it can grow some more!!!







The wool is lovely to work with and produces a really gorgeous variegated result. So it looks like this will be my third hexagon granny on the go at the moment!  That's not too bad though as it is already big enough to cover my lap, so it will be wonderful to add to it as the evenings start to get colder as we move into Autumn. There's nothing as cosy as sitting under a granny blanket as you crochet... well perhaps you could add hot chocolate topped with marshmallows and cream... now that is perfection... a heavenly treat


Until next time
Gillian

Crochet along

Oh I've been busy this week- back to work Monday to Friday and getting everything ready for when Tom leaves home next Saturday to go to University. I think the only thing that has kept me grounded this week has been sitting quietly crocheting whenever I can. It takes just enough concentration to push out the stresses, yet I can have conversations and watch TV whilst doing it- just what I need...


I'm doing a crochet along with Inner Hooker on facebook aka Scotti, see also http://oxfordfam.blogspot.com/ . We're at the end of the first two weeks. It's the first time I've joined in with anything like it and I'm loving it. 


So as to my progress- I'm pretty happy with it so far... I now need to lay them out on our bed to take a photo rather than on the settee- I know it's a strange way to mark progress- but I've never claimed to be conventional!

The Field of Flowers granny is my first ever attempt at being random and is therefore quite therapeutic.  I am struggling with the lack of a repeating pattern- it means I'm actually constantly having to think about making sure no one colour combination dominates any area- that's harder than I thought it would be- I find myself almost wanting to plan it out- aaarh!

My other granny is the opposite- just four colours and a very controlled pattern- sets of 7 hexagons which I will join with surface crochet when they are all done. I had to get more wool today and managed to match 3 of the colours but not the fourth so I have to hope I have enough... I'm sure a solution will present itself if necessary...

I have two boxes on the go, one for each granny, here's the coffee one...

... I take these wherever I want to crochet- even in the car (I can get quite a lot done whilst John gets to be my chaffeur  - hee hee). I just keep grabbing 5 minutes whenever I can and doing a little at a time...


I discovered that I like crocheting in the car in the summer. During the 6 hour drive from Bodmin to Liverpool I made the arms, legs, muzzle and ears for this little fellow...

Amazing what you can get done when you are not able to do much else!


I made another little cutie during that trip too. 

Both are based on patterns I found on Etsy by Dawn Toussaint (note - I have made changes to both patterns to make them the way I wanted).


Anyway time to crochet beckons,
So until next time
Gillian

Little Successes

I've started a new blog today. It's really a bit of a journal for me. The special thing about it is I am using it to record my little daily successes. The things that make me feel good and special...


Here is the blog link  http://littlesuccesses.blogspot.com/


Until next time
Gillian

Another lunch bag

I've had fun this afternoon playing around with my sewing machine trying out an idea to make an insulated messenger style lunch bag. I used the last of my gorgeous white strawberry cotton, insulbright and a polyvinyl lining and made up how to do it as I went along.

First I cut all three layers to the same size to make a long thin rectangle. I then layered them with insulbright then rightside up fabric then the polyvinyl. I stitched down both long sides and one end. Next I turned it inside out so the insulbright was between the fabric and the polyvinyl. I then folded it to the desired size with the fabric right sides inwards. I had some fun (=difficulty) persuading the thick sandwich to go through my sewing machine to sew up the sides- several cross words came to mind as it jammed several times before finally I got both sides done (I wanted to stitch it twice to re-enforce the seams but couldn't face doing it again). Next I turned the back right side out and finally turned the unstitched flap edge over and fastened it by handstitching with blanket stitch.

The gorgeous strawberry fabric

I'm pretty pleased with the result- I'm sure there may be better ways to do it, but It worked OK. I am happy with my lunch bag, and know I will be using it soon.

I really hope I can get more of the fabric soon- but in reality this is a summer style fabric so probably the shop I get it from won't stock it again until next year.


Until next time
Gillian

Creations

I've had a busy last few days of our summer holidays. Another day at the beach on Thursday. Friday and Saturday mostly at home because the weather wasn't brilliant. Of course that just gave me time to play and make...


I've gone a bit overboard making cute little lunch bags- just the right size to fit in a small lock and lock box, some crisps and a piece of fruit...

I saw a friend with a bag like this and through trial and error have designed some sweet little bags. They are basically  little tote bags but what I  love about them is that the tops of these bags have one long loop for the handle and one short one to thread the handle through- a great way to keep everything together.

Two loops...

...One handle

Though when I gave one to Sean he very seriously said "Mummy, I think we've got a problem. One handle is too small." - bless him...




He's actually taken one of the bags to keep some small toys in. I'm thinking of making some larger ones and ones with two equal handles instead of the loop and handle design...






My favourite bag is the strawberry insulated one. I used insulbright as a wadding in a straightforward tote shape- this makes it a proper insulated lunch bag. This one I'm keeping for me- oh how selfish!....








I'm also working on two hexagon granny blankets for a crochet a long with Scotti Oxford a.k.a. the Inner hooker on Facebook. I'm using a pattern I found on Attic 24's blog ( this is a great blog- one of my favourites)  at http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/hexagon-howto.html .


One is in coffee colours. It's hard to see in the photos but the centres are very pale cream, very pale flesh and off white. I find crocheting this one very soothing.

 The other is supposed to look like a field of wild flowers. I'm using lots of leftover wool and trying to avoid any regular repeats- the idea is to be completely random and wild.




Anyway, time to go and do...
So, until next time
Gillian

New Tastes

Sean eating his first ever McDonalds burger

This summer Sean has started to eat the same foods as the rest of us... for the first time in his life he has been trying new foods. So, after years of surviving on bread and butter with prescription vitamin enhanced milkshakes, he is daring to put new foods in  his mouth. This is a big deal for us all!

His motivation is that he really wants to go to school camp next summer on the Isles of Scilly. We've said he can but he has to be able to eat more foods just like his friends otherwise it's not really possible. Fortunately he is bright enough to understand, and though it is not easy for him, he is really trying.

(Admittedly we are also using bribery and corruption and giving him money  as a reward when he does try new foods- but even the psychologist we saw a few years ago said this would be worth trying when he was old enough to understand).

I've started a hexagon granny square blanket this week. Inspired by the crochet along with the Inner Hooker on facebook. Here is my first 10 blocks...

 I was working with the idea that they looked like a field of flowers, but my lot all seem to think they look like lily pads, so even I am thinking of them like that now... I've even started to look at maybe making an amigurumi frog to sit on them... I'm sure  I've a pattern for one somewhere...

Anyway, until next time
Gillian

Summer Laziness

Hi, It's been a while but I'm still around, busy enjoying our summer break. Five and a half weeks off work- the advantage of working in a school- I know that should have given me more time to blog but in my world it gives me more time to do so many other things I haven't had time for it!

So, what's been happening?

Two weeks visiting family- we do this every summer- it's hard not seeing them for months on end so we try and make the most of invading their houses and spending time with them all...

Then a week and a half of high stress waiting to find out if Tom had got the grades to get into University- he did!- and also to see a Skin specialist to find out if I had skin cancer- I don't- the specialist said it was a skin coloured viral wart in an unusual place probably because it was where my sunglasses rest on my nose!!!! Anyway that was a relief and she froze the thing off so it looks better too. Still my lot are all taking using suncream more seriously now so hopefully they will never get skin cancer...

As part of looking after myself more I also started doing more exercise. I like doing DVD's at home as it's so much more convenient and cheaper than going to a gym. My asthma is playing up so doing aerobics is too much, so I've started doing pilates. Although it's really hard I actually enjoy it, it's good to feel strong and actually feel your muscles... it makes me feel good.

For the last week I have been able to relax more, Kieran got his GCSE's today, he was so laid back we had to beg and nag him to even get his results- they were really good even though he didn't exactly over do the revision for them!

I'm also making a new quilt topper- I saw two gorgeous polka dot fabrics in a shop last week and just decided to make it with just these, so that pattern is a simple checkerboard design, its working out quite well- pictures to follow soon...

I've been doing a lot of crochet- amigurumi and hats so far- again pictures to follow. I also just decided to do a crochet along with Inner Hooker on Facebook- ( see also http://oxfordfam.blogspot.com/2011/08/crochet-along.html ). I love making granny blankets but think it will be even better to do it to meet targets- so often I start something and then after a little while it gets put away while I do something else...

.....that's just the way I am I suppose....

So until next time
Gillian

Sail Away

Sometimes you can just imagine you are on a tropical beach looking at azure waters in glorious sunshine...

Isn't it beautiful!

St Ives, 3rd July 2011

So until next time
Gillian

Beach Fun

We went to St Ives today and I just wanted to share some of my favourite photos with you all...

I think you can see how much we enjoyed ourselves- no need for more words today!!!

So until next time
Gillian

Adventures in Geoland: St Ives

Adventures in Geoland: St Ives: "We had a wonderful day in St Ives, Cornwall today. It has been so gloriously sunny that it is one of those days that demands you go somewher..."

Finishing the Unfinished

Earlier this year I resolved to finish projects as I have a track record of starting lots of projects but not finishing too many. Its a big ask of someone like me who has more ideas than time...

Yesterday I dug out a blanket I started crocheting some time ago- I don't even know when- but fortunately I had some wool left and so I decided it had to be done. The only problem was that I hadn't left a crochet hook with it and I couldn't remember what size hook I'd used. I tried a 6mm but the stitches looked too big compared to the row that was already started. So I unpicked it and used a 5mm hook, this time the stitches seemed the same size so I carried on for three rows to finish the pattern repeat. I then held the blanket up to decide how to finish it. This is when I noticed that the blanket was not so much a rectangle as a trapezium. It was several inches wider at one end than the other...

...clearly I had ended with a smaller hook than I started. Aaaaarhhhh!!!!

So what did I do... well I couldn't face going back and unpicking a large amount. It was more than the three rows I did yesterday. I must have been inconsistent with my hook size more than once during the crochet. So I have left it!!!

I finished with a row of double crochet (UK) around the edge and am now sat under it- it is a thick yarn with a dense stitch and so is quite warm and it is a little cooler  today than the last few days.

I don't think anyone will notice it is not even unless they fold it in half so long as I keep quiet...

Anyway, until next time

Gillian

Apology Time

I'm sorry I haven't posted much recently. Life has got in the way!!! Again!!!

The latest thing is that I have been to the doctor about my earache and, after three weeks and two courses of antibiotics, she now believes I have something like glue ear. She is linking it to my hayfever and blocked sinus's causing sticky fluid to accumulate in my ear. Yuk!!! The result is aching pain, loss of some hearing, pain from loud noises and a completely scrambled brain- I can't seem to think straight!

So please bear with me- I'm trying to keep going but I am tired out and not able to keep up with everything. Hopefully this will pass in a few days/weeks...

... let's hope it is sooner rather than later!

So until next time
Gillian

Kindle

I've got a Kindle from Amazon this week- wow it's brilliant, so good I persuaded John to get one too and we are ordering one each for our oldest two boys who are both finishing a month of exams at school and college.

The best bit is that we can have a choice of books at any time without carrying loads with us and we can all read the same book at the same time. The downside is that it all has to be registered to my account (and hence gets billed to me if anyone downloads a book). I suppose it's not too bad as John and I have always shared a bank account from almost as soon as we started living together, but I wish we could all have separate accounts and share the book downloads in the same way we do if I buy a paper copy of a book.

I'm also shocked that although paper books are not taxed in the UK, ebooks are subject to VAT (value added tax) at 20%- how is that fair?  I don't like being political, but that is unlikely to change under the current Conservative Government, no matter how ridiculously unfair. I really think this is crazy, especially as you could make a case for e books to be more environmentally friendly that making and transporting paper books!!! (I know there are environmental costs of producing e books too but these are lower).

Oh well rant over. I do love my Kindle already- it's really brilliant!!

So until next time
Gillian

Freeform and Tunisian Crochet

It's been quite a week for me, so sorry blogging has not happened for a few days. I've had to interview for the jobs I currently do, apparently this is the current trend in the UK when work hours have to be reduced- it's a horrible process causing enormous stress and I can honestly say this has been the most stressful week I've had in this job. Additionally we've had a Fair Trade week at school cumulating in a Fair Trade type sale of products made by the kids on Thursday; plus one friend left work  after 19 years there and another had a baby on Friday- that made it quite a week!!!


This week I did do a little internet shopping and bought a book on Freeform Crochet, basically it seems that anything goes when it comes to making things this way. There is no pattern, you just make small motifs or patches and crochet or sew them together to make a pleasing result. It gives unique results and can be used to make one of a kind items of clothing or bags for example. For me it appeals as I sometimes just want to play around and not worry about making something specific. Sometimes I really do not feel like following patterns!!!


This is my starting point. It's just a simple spiral but I'm going to add to it... More will follow in the coming weeks.


I think it will help me learn new techniques, and as I can also incorporate knitted pieces, I could also practise new stitches. It will also allow me to play with colour and texture as both are important to add interest in freeform crochet.


My first freeform is going to be mostly white, though I may add some light pastel elements. I'm thinking of also embroidering the crochet too. Maybe using funky fibres/threads with texture for interest.

Today we've been out shopping in Truro and I visited my favourite wool shop. As well as some lovely wool I bought some large diameter crochet hooks (my plans for them will be revealed another time) and a Tunisian crochet hook. This is really a hook with a long handle the size of a knitting needle. It's basically worked so one row is worked onto the needle whilst the next works off the stitches off the needle.






I've never done it before so this is my first little swatch. I like the result and think it is going to actually fit in with the Freeform crochet.


I'm going to enjoy the relaxation of not worrying about gauge/tension, it is like playing with wool to make little swatches and patterns. It's also very portable which makes it quite handy to carry a crochet hook and small ball of wool in my handbag for when I have a quiet moment when I'm out...


I'll post more photos as my freeform grows...


Until next time
Gillian

Skimming Stones

One of Sean's favourite things to do at the beach is to skim stones. At Charlestown there were plenty of stones and he had a wonderful time.

At one stage, as the tide came in, Sean had the beach to himself...

He had a wonderful time on the beach!


Until next time
Gillian

Why I don't like cliff top walks!!!

We saw this sign on the coast path above Charlestown. It sums up one of my main worries about cliff top coast paths. (The other is falling off!!!)

Until next time
Gillian

Favourite Photos

These were the best photos I've taken in a long time. I think photos with stormy skies stand out as super dramatic and we had very stormy skies! We were lucky it didn't rain...

(None of these photos have been edited)


Until next time
Gillian

My Family

 I wanted to share some gorgeous family photos I took today at Charlestown, Cornwall. Sean, John and I went there to go geocaching and more on our day there can be found at Adventures in Geoland http://adventuresingeoland.blogspot.com/2011/06/charlestown.html .

Sean on a sea wall

Sean

John and Sean

John 

Sean and John

Me (Gillian)

Until next time

Gillian