New granny squares throw

Here's a test run of joining the squares together as you go. I was originally going to use the taupe colour in the squares and join them together using the off white, but I am really really glad I chose to do it this way, I think it looks much softer, and gives it an all together different look. Now I have only a zillion squares to make and then join them all together.  Also trying to sort out my applique on the quilt, finish my Dubai scrap book album, find a home for all my stash of wool, help mini-me with her art "body of work", do housework,  aaarrrrghhhh......................

Scrapbooking

Many many years ago I used to scrap book.  I gave it up as I spent way too much on papers and embellishments, and I bought a digital camera and never had any photos developed.  Recently in December, thanks to my friend R, I started scrapping again.  On a Friday night the local scrap book store has open nights, so, as I don't have a life, ha ha, you can find me when I have nothing else planned, scrapping away, getting ideas and trying to finish a few more pages.  I decided to scrap photos and post cards from our holiday in Dubai in Jan 09, when we stayed with friends.  I am going WAY outside my comfort zone and trying to embellish more and use papers with a more intricate and interesting pattern. 

Here are a couple that I have finished.

You can still see the old me style fighting to get out. In this one below I used postcards.

I just love the papers and would quite happily have a scrapbook filled with pages of beautiful paper, no photos, no embellishments.

The photos I should have posted

I took more photos this morning, and the cushion looks a lot better.

I am really happy with this one.

Ripply/Wavy Cushion

I need to find a new name for this cushion. I finally finished it tonight and took photos at 9.30pm, under fluorescent light and/or with flash. I broke all the rules for good photography, but I don't care as I wanted to show that I actually have been busy.

This is the front, the colours are actually pretty true to life.

And this is the back, hmmmm, without the flash the off white has turned to a yucky cream, and the blue looks more grey. The blue should be the same as the dark blue in the front of the cushion. However it is a good photo of the buttons.

This is another photo of the back, using the flash. The colour is now more realistic, but it's not exactly a great photo.

A not very productive day

No photos today.

Today, didn't start off as well as it should.  I was going to take photos of the granny squares that I joined last night.  I am very very pleased with them, and it was the first time I had tried joining them "on the go" as opposed to sewing them all together at the end. I forgot about the photos until late this afternoon, when it was dark, cloudy, gloomy and about to rain!

I want to applique some shapes on to my "Japanese" quilt. I haven't machine appliqued for a very very very long time. I thought that this would be quicker than needle turning..... Well, it wasn't.  First, it took me a good 15 mins to remember how to attach the sewing foot, and that was only after I finally found the instructions in the manual.  I started off on a sample piece to get the hang of it.  I was a bit nervous and didn't exactly flow back into it, but I began to get the hang of it.  Finished up, cut the ends, turned it over and OMG the loops of thread on the back, I could make a pile rug with it. So knowing a teensy weensy bit next to nothing about sewing machines, figured I had the tension wrong, so adjusted it and tried again, bent the needle and jammed a whole lot of thread in the bobbin casing and housing. I gave up on free machine embroidery at this time. Tried straight stitching ( with a new needle) to check tension, all ok. I had a change of heart and thought I would try one last time, and yep, more loopy thread underneath.  So now, what do I do???  Send my trusty Pfaff off to intensive care, or hand applique and just use the machine for piecing, hemming etc.  I am sure hoping there is an easy fix, so if anyone out there has any suggestions, please help, pretty please.

PS I changed the bobbin and used a different colour thread, it is definitely the top thread looping underneath.

PPS I almost finished the back of the ripply/wavy cushion and if I would just leave the computer alone I could probably finish the last few rows tonight, ready to sew together and have it finished by the end of the weekend.

PPPS I hope your day was better.

A first

My first ever crochet flower.  Will definitely, absolutely be making more.

All my other crafty endeavours are taking a bit of a back seat at the moment, to crochet.  It is so quick to achieve something, compared to quilting and scrap-booking.

New project

These are my latest granny squares.  I have started on this throw, been trying to do more of the quilt and also finish the back of the wavy/ripples cushion. Hopefully the cushion will be finished this week.

Once I have completed more of these square I will sew in the ends (they are all hidden artfully for the photo) and block them to make sure they are actually square. Before I join them together.

Friday Flowers

I needed some prettiness for the weekend, so here are some snaps of flowers in my garden, today. I am not a photographer, and just use a small digital Panasonic so no awards for the photography, but the flowers were nice.

Begonia

Ixora "Pink Malay"

Ixora "Kampong"

Frangipani

Evergreen Frangipani

Ginger, a bit past it's prime but still amazing

And finally a Croton, lovely leaf colour.

Granny Square Crochet

As it is my friend J's birthday today I can reveal one of the things i have been working on over the last few weeks. Well, actually I finished it ages ago and I posted a couple of photos on flickr, hoping that she wouldn't come across them as she doesn't "do" flickr. So here is another crafty thing I have finished, yeahhhh.

And here is a close up of the cushion. I used DK wool.

This is the back, I adapted the idea from Lucy at Attic 24,  in this tutorial. Lucy uses thrifted sweaters, I live in Queensland and it is the middle of summer here, so there is nowhere I can find a thrifted sweater.  I decided to crochet the back and finish it off the way Lucy did in her tutorial.

I finished with some buttons I bought in a Vintage pack from Spotlight, as of course I didn't have 6 buttons that were similar or even looked good together.

Hot and Steamy in Paradise

With the temp up around 32C (90F) today and the humidity hovering around 80%, it was a day perfect for hiding in air-conditioned comfort. Instead of melting away under the burning sun, and sweating perspiring and getting all stinky,  I thought it the perfect opportunity to start on a new quilt, so I cranked up the air con and dusted the cobwebs off the old faithful Pfaff.  My brain started frying when I had to try and remember where I stored all my quilting gear.   I sort of new where it would be, it was more trying to remember what paraphernalia I would actually need to use.

This was my spur of the moment purchase on the weekend. Instead of waiting like a good girl until the beautiful fabric I ordered from the US to arrive, I had a moment of - I have to have it and I want it now. 

After staring at it and running my fingers over it since Saturday, it was calling to me.   I crossed my fingers and started to plan what I would make and then try and cut, without making mistakes.  I decided to use the quilt pattern Confetti Bloom Quilt from  here as the basis for the quilt. I have altered it and I am making it half the size and I am going to applique something different, which I will reveal later when I have actually cut it out and figured out which way I am going to applique, I am torn between hand sewing and turning under the edges or machine sewing and leaving a raw edge.  Machine sewing will probably win out as I am lazy and love a quick result.

This is part of what I had completed late afternoon. I had to stop and take a photo then as the light was going.  Unfortunately it has come out a bit lighter than it should. It should be the same colour as the first photo of the roll at the top of the post.

Happy flowers

Any horizontal surface in my house usually has "junk" placed on it. Junk being something that shouldn't be there. I bought these lovely gerberas the other day and I was about to put them on the dining table when I realised there was so much stuff on the table, I wouldn't see these pretty flowers in all their loveliness.  So I got to it, and tidied up all my crafty things that had been sitting there for weeks without me actually using them, my daughters school books, pens, and all the other stuff.  So now I am happy, as these flowers are so pretty, and to let them do their pretty thing I cleaned up my table and that also makes me happy. I think that is a win all round!!!!

Don't they look beautiful.  I would not normally buy flowers this colour, but I just lurve those beautiful black centres.

Crochet Waves

This is my latest work in progress. I adapted the pattern from The Big Book of Dishcloths.  I added a second row of double crochet (UK) single crochet (US) in between the colour changes so it would stand out more.  I love the colours in this piece, although the dark colour is chocolate brown, it looks almost black in the photo, and the darker blue is more of a slate blue and it looks a bit jacaranda blue here.  I am going to make a cushion, but as usual I forged ahead without doing a sample and figured it would be the correct size after measuring the first couple of rows.   Low and behold it is much smaller than I wanted it, but I am not undoing it. I am now trying to figure out creative ways of adding to it to make it the correct size.  Failing that, I WILL find a cushion insert that will fit!!!!!

I am really loving crochet again. It is so quick easy and very portable. Great when ferrying a teenage daughter around!  The only problem is I have to do it in air conditioned comfort as it is no fun sweating in 30 degree C (86F) heat and 70+ percent humidity and having the wool stick to your fingers, eeewww!!!!!!

I have also been working on another piece, but I can't reveal it yet as it is a present for someone, so stay tuned, in a couple of weeks I will post it.

Hacked

The other day I was driving around the car park of the hospital, looking for a parking space, I was there to visit a very close friend J who had just had surgery.  My phone rang, I have blue tooth hands free, so I could answer it!!!  A girlfriend, R says to me, hello, what has angel bitchypoo done, why do you hate her? Silence my end,.......... ummm, what are you talking about?  R says, you have posted on facebook...I hate my daughter!!!!  Keep in mind I am desperately trying to find a parking space, so am not really concentrating,  I just said, are you sure, I would never type that on facebook, (I might have cause to think that occasionally but I would never ever put it in writing!)  I finally found a parking space and said that sounds weird, I definitely wouldn't have done that.  I have to go see J, talk to you later.

After a couple of hours visiting in the hospital, I come out to find have a couple of missed calls from another girlfriend.  I ring her to apologise that I had missed her calls. The first thing she says to me is.......I was just seeing if you needed a shoulder to cry on, what has angel bitchypoo done? Again, silence my end.  T says I have just been on facebook and saw that you had written...I hate my daughter.  The penny now drops and I realize that bitchypoo has hacked into my facebook account and written that, because she was really really annoyed with me.  Aren't teenage daughters wonderful!