Last Day of Holidays 8{

Yes today is the last day of school holidays for my boys. As of tomorrow we will be back into the swing of things with having to be up early, getting lunches made and packed, having school diaries signed and all that goes along with being back at school. It is also back to work for me. I could really get used to being a full time stay at home mum again but the need to send my boys to a really good christian private school outweighs that at the moment, and I must admit that I do really enjoy my job and the people that I work with really are very nice to be around.

This week also looks at the start of Friday Craft again and I am doing a stint of teaching this term. I am going to be teaching a table quilt designed by Debbie Mumm called "Honey Bee Table Quilt" and this is my version of it.

I took this photo outside and I think it was a bit windy so it may be a bit hard to see properly. The 4 ladies that I am teaching seem to be excited about the idea of learning to do patchwork and quilting and I hope that I am up for the challenge. I thought that it would be a good quilt to start with as it is just two basic patchwork blocks and they are quite large (12" finished) so shouldn't take too long. We have 10 weeks to get it all finished so will have to post some photos of their finished products.

Well I did get my crochet cardigan finished and no it doesn't fit me so am very disappointed with that. I am now trying to see if I can somehow add to it to make it bigger. It is mainly the arm length that is the problem (this is always my problem with any tops) so will see what I can come up with. As for the WIP quilt, well am still plodding along with that. I did manage to achieve a lot with my scrapbooking however and will post photos of that when it is possible to do so.

Well hope to be in touch again soon,

Regards 8}

Simple Pleasures

It was my birthday very recently and I received some money from my lovely Grandma so thought that I would put it to good crafting use. I am sure that she would appreciate it as she is an avid crocheter and knitter and was a pretty good seamstress in her day. I bought these yummy DMC No.8 Pearl cottons and also a large selection of crochet hooks so that I now have just about every size you could possibly need and therefore can crochet any project I choose. I am looking forward to using these items.

I have already put the brown pearl thread to use in a secret project that I am working on. I dare not mention too much about it just in case the person it is for happens to read my blog before they receive it.

I managed to finish one more of my applique blocks and actually found that I had 3 more to do so I guess it means I still have 2 left. I may get some more done today.

My cardigan is almost finished. I am up to the neck of the last front piece and then I can put it all together. I am hoping that it will fit properly as it has taken many hours of work and I know that it will be really warm.

TTFN

8)

Stitchers Swap

I have just signed up for this fantastic swap. As it is the first swap that I have been involved with I am quite excited. It starts on Monday 18th  August and goes for seven weeks with a new pattern from a fantastic designer every week. All the details are found here, so if you would like to join in sign up quick.

What I am up to Today

I started my day with some washing and am praying the rain will hold off until it dries.

Did some tidying up from the weekend and thought about what craft project I will work on today.

I think I will try to finish doing the hand applique on my quilt blocks as I have only got two left. 

 

Then I can think about how I will quilt the fabric squares. It is going to be a queen size quilt cover made with 12" squares. This has been a WIP for about 4 years. I kind of got stuck on it as some of the squares were actually pieced and I decided that I hated them so decided in the end to replace them with plain fabric squares instead. I feel quite keen to finish it now. I find that I get bored with large project so tend to do quick simple ones instead even though I love the finished product with large projects. I guess I just need to realise that some things need to be WIPs and do take some time to complete.

I will let you know the progress of this as it happens. Maybe this blog will be the incentive I need to complete it.

I think I will also work on my scrapbooking project which I will talk about in another post.

Mid Semester Holidays

I am finally on holidays for a week so am looking forward to spending some time with my boys as well as have some much needed craft catch up time. 

I found this great little tutorial here on how to make a mini pin cushion using recycled materials so managed to whip one up. 

It only took about 30 minutes which was great. I can see myself making more of these.

I am also working on some crochet which I am hoping to finish during the holidays as well. It is almost complete. Just have to finish the left front and then stitch it together and put on the buttons. 

I am quite pleased with how it is turning out considering it is my very first big crochet project using a pattern. I have only ever done granny blankets and some scarves before.

As I am fairly new to the blogging world and I am not sure how many people will read this if any. I have decided that I am going to use this as my own personal record of crafting projects and if people want to read it and see what I am up to that is fine with me.

I will report later in the week with my progress and any other photos of my WIP's and finished items.

Enjoy Life 8)