Grans hoose

 

 

Wow this brings back memories. I was chatting on messenger to a relative, her mam (my mams cousin) passed away this year and she has been looking through old photos. This was taken in my grans sitting room. My gran isn’t in the picture but I know it’s her sitting room because of the maiden hair fern on the left on top of a display cabinet. Also from the view across the road. The lady in the purple top is Beldie, a cousin of my grans. The lady sitting next to her is Elsie, such a lovely warm lady, I remember her so well. When you were sick Elsie would give you a ‘nae weel’ (unwell) baggie. It was a bag of comics, sweeties, colouring pencils, just things to keep you occupied and comfort you. Me and my relative spoke about my gran, you were never hungry in her house! Ainsley remembered the butter biscuits (always with extra butter on them) mellow birds coffee, all things which resonate with my childhood. Such warm times.

Linen and threads sew along

 Well this was such a fun thing to do. Fox and rabbit designs do a free monthly cross stitch along. This years theme was talavera. This is my finished piece. It’s been a constant companion in the evenings this year.

Gartmore quilt

 Awww a bittersweet one this … the group of chums who go to Gartmore ‘quilts friends’ made blocks for us to make a charity quilt. I offered to put them together. That was almost exactly 2 years ago … we had a weekend already paid for and have arranged at least two new dates for it as it was cancelled in 2020. The re arranged dates have been cancelled too, the latest was supposed to be in January 2022. But I know we will get there, just not now. So I put the quilt together and it will go to siblings. And hopefully feel all the love which went into it.

I used up some meterage from the kaleidoscope summer sale, I had such a lovely trip there with quilty doings. Such a fun day.

Last siblings quilt of 2021

 Poor Scoobs!! He kept his mask on for this, poor soul was running in and out of the house picking up quilts, we are isolating from each other as he has been to see family, how very 2021 ….😂

I’m so pleased with how this turned out, this was my block choice for my month as queen bee for the siblings together group I am in. The pattern is a free one from the fat quarter shop ‘Bon Bon’ I chose green and blue as my colours, a nice gentle palette. This was waiting for time to finish the Alice Caroline SOS quilts. It came together so quickly, backed with some of the last meterage of liberty seconds from Standfast and barracks.

3 quilts from a layer cake 🤣

 Oh look at the concentration on this face!! Poor Scoobs, we are not having the best of weeks to be honest but hey when life gives you lemons etc! 

We are having to isolate because Scoobs has been home to visit family yea! But also hmmmm, he wanted to isolate because he was scared of taking omicron back home, so thats what we do. So what do you do with a week in the sewing room! You make quilts! Loads of them. First up is a layer cake set of quilts. 

My lovely chum Kim gifted me 3 layer cakes to make charity quilts with, I said she was lovely! So this is from the first one, it’s Mamma Said Sew by sweet water.

A fantastic range of text black grey and red prints. The first quilt i wanted to make was this one murmuration, a pattern for Moda by Chez moi. I love the way the blacks and greys fade with the raspberry  giving it a solid surround.

But there was quite a lot of the layer cake left , enough to make this! Splashdown  a pattern by Christina Camelli. I use 30s repro pink kitties for the background.

I had enough of the panda backing fabric kindly sent on by Trudi Wood, I used it for the splashdown and the teeny tiny quilt at the top of this post.

For the murmuration quilt i used some of the meterage of  liberty seconds form Standfast and Barracks

I was feeling a bit miserable isolating from Scoobs, posted heaps in my stories and loved the conversations with folks commenting, fair cheered me up.

I made a boo boo and only noticed when i posted the story!

It was fun and kept me sane, OK not the best christmas ever but not a bad one. And siblings and linus got loads of quilts! Thats a wind.

Final furtle of 2021!

 Well December what did you bring?  It brought reindeer cushions 🥰 i love these, the one on the left i made years ago, i made the one on the right for a chum this year. Used up the last of my special reindeer fabric.

We are almost there with the spiders web temperature embroidery! I have been managing to keep up and this was the progress as of end of November, i have most of Decembers done, and am determined to finish bang on midnight on the 31st! This has been a wonderful project to keep me mindful and distracted from worry.

Awwww happiest of happy memories! We went to a wreath making class at a local deli/outdoor shop the smiddy. Such a happy happy day, we had breakfast then spent the morning making wreaths, i love these ladies.

And here is my finished article on my front entrance.

 We had a challenge for the GMQG which was curves and green, this was my offering

 I went into my usual ‘end of the year must finish all the things’ berserker rage 😂 i made 5 quilts!!!! I was only going for 4 but there were enough hsts left over from the 4th and i had enough panda backing fabric too make a teeny one for Linus! My lovely chum Kim gave me a layer cake to use and i got 3 quilts out of it, so chuffed! 

I also used the time in the sewing room over the break to put together some quilts which had been nagging me for a while! Below is a quilt made with lovely blocks from the Gartmore chums, we were supposed to be going in January, a get together held over from 2020 … but omicron put paid to that …. Anyhow our quilt will at least go to siblings together which is good.

Talking of siblings this is the quilt made from the block I chose this year, I chose green and blues, it turned out really well, a free pattern ‘Bon Bon’ from the fat quarter shop

Finally a cross stitch finish! This was a year long free stitch along from linen and threads shop, what a great pattern, we all got to choose our own colours, the theme was talavera.

And thats it, my last furtle of 2021! Thanks as eve to Archie for hosting, next year I should have even more time to make things  😉 so watch this space!

GMQG challenge quilt

 Well this one was fun! The Glasgow modern quilt guild challenge this year was for curves and it had to have some green in it. I wanted to use this shweshwe fabric  I bought at the bridge of Allan world textile day this year.

I struggled to think of a pattern but then decided i wanted to use the oval template set from Jenny Haynes, pappersaxsten. I was going to lay it out quite symmetrically but then thought i could borrow the layout from the Sonia pattern from Lucy Engles, i am so chuffed with the result! It didnt win or get 2nd or 3rd but thats ok, i had fun making it and thats the main thing really. Plus it goes to siblings so win win!

Celtic wheel of the year- yule, winter solstice

 

When Carina Craft Blog released a pattern for the Celtic wheel of the year I knew I had to do it. One thing I have been yearning for is to become more attuned to the seasons.

The first of the patterns was for yule, winter solstice.  In the winter solstice we reachbthe depths of the darkness and I felt this was where I was personally too. The depths of darkness with work, this winter was particularly awful, also with shielding having to stay separate from Mark after he visited his parents at Christmas was awful. 

But and there is always a but, at yule a wonderful thing happens. The sun stops its decline and that is what happened to me too. Things stopped stayed still. I waited for the turning and it came. 

We all have moments of darkness when we don't know how much deeper we will go before the light starts to return but then in our lives theifht comes back and from the yule onwards the light did start to return.

Memories

 

I found this photo while pootling through my iPad. Not sure exactly when it was taken, some elements date it, the sewing table dates it as being no earlier than 2015, the position of the red chair dates it to before 2018 which is when I got an ikea cube for that spot to house my books, the notebook on the cutting table dates it to around 2016 as I got that notebook fromFlorence in 2015.I love my sewing room, always been a real haven, no more so than these past 2 years.

wreath making with chums

 I am always wary of calling too many things the "best day ever" but this does merit it! Look at those smiles! says it all really.

the wreath making class at the Smiddy Blair Drummond was the brilliant idea of lovely Kim. What we didnt know at the time was that lovely Jo (center in the pic above) would be moving back down south to be closer to family soon. We are so chuffed for Jo, but we are a little sad for us, but we will just have to arrange other get togethers!

The class was run by Bramble and Thyme flowers and what a fab teacher Fiona was. It was all in the marquee outside, which had plenty natural ventilation (hence our snazzy cozy outfits!) so I felt very safe.

The class was half a day which was just right, we got tea and coffee and the biggest piece of shortbread I have ever seen!

The picture above shows all our wreaths together, mine at the top, Jos at the left (with hessian bow, really pretty) and Kims to the right (green bow at the bottom of the wreath, loved that idea, will use it when i make another)

Fiona advised not to put too much 'extra' things in, like the oranges, the flowers etc. I agree these looks fabulous and dont need any extra bling really, the foliage speaks for itself. Eucalyptus leaves which smelled amazing and so many other pieces of natural foilage, loved it.

Above is Jos in a bit more detail

Above is Kims in more detail, we all used much the same materials but they are all unique.

And finally below is mine hung up outside the house. Looks as if it was made for it! Which it was. In these strange times we find new ways of enjoying ourselves and I think I  am more grateful for things i may have taken for granted before, this was a special day, totally love it.