2021 Week 47

 Hmmm, no post for a month 😱

My excuse has been that I've been busy, busy and ill, ill, too ill to care about being busy and now busy again, with a hint of being ill!  At least I haven't had Covid - *just* a horrible cough and cold and then (without being guilty of TMI) a burning sensation that is being sorted by antibiotics!!!

So a review of the last month (broken down into two parts)

The Gingers have decided to start a countdown to Christmas!  I made a few of these to sell at a village Christmas Fayre, and a few others which will go to the half dozen or so lovely Ginger fans in the villages!  I'm just finishing them off so they can be delivered by Tuesday

A young friend in the village is an amazing cheerleader and trampolinist.  One of the groups she trains with have these sparkly backpacks with their names on in gold - she was gifted one but it had someone else's name on - so a gold patch was created and hand stitched onto the bag over the previous name

My girly trips (see under LSA labels) to Europe have all had a badge made for them.  It started with a backpack for the ones that went to Norway in 2007, with a norwegain flag on it, but they suggested that all the trips should have a design, so they got created and added to the bag.    Since then I have been making them as a patch - I've managed to lose my bag so have re-done them on a fleece shawl: it looks as if the other bags are getting rather full!!!

  

I have made and posted the November Hexie flowers for the FB swap

And taught a class on Sashiko embroidery.  I bought pre-printed panels but as we stitched in white it doesn't show very well 

A bit of grand-kitty spam, sorry, but aren't they cute!!!  Penny is sat in the pouch Jackie and I made Niki for her work stuff

And Thor is sat in a cat cave that (based on the receipt date) he and his sister have totally ignored for 367 days, but NOW its a cozy place to sleep!!!

At the start of the horrid cold I had a few days away with girls that I worked with about 30 years ago: so lovely to be together

And finally for this post - I had fun sorting out all the keys for the village hall - now I only need the few keys to get in and then can access all the other stuff from this key cabinet - I love that it's colour co-ordinated and all labeled - is it very sad that this makes me so happy???

2021 Week 43

I had an Ikea blanket that I turned into a sort of shawl ( bolded in half to make shoulders and cut up the front so I could throw one front panel over my shoulder).  It was a place that I could sew on the badges I make for each trip I go away with girlfriends.  Well, I used it in Swanage and it didn't work.  The throw-over-the-shoulder but kept falling down so the shawl wasn't held in place.

I have attached a load of buttons so the front looks buttoned (it's stitched closed) 

And now it works much better (even though my phone camera is rubbish!)

I have designed and stitched this year's badge - Swanage is on the Jurassic Coast hence the ammonite, and the seagull is for the one that tried to nick our fish and chips on the harbour wall!!!

I finished my shwe shwe bag

And went on a painting class with the very talented Plum !  Very out of our comfort zone but a lovely evening!

I made a few Halloween Gingers

And made a second rope bowl from off cuts from a bridesmaid dress!  Both brides (and their mums) usually come here on Christmas Eve for waffles before the Christingle service.  No Christingle service this year but hopefully they will still come for waffles and can have their gifts - and if I get organised they will be filled with resin mementoes of their wedding flowers

Last year I started the Ginger journey by making a bin man and then a few NHS staff and a Tescos delivery Ginger and a postie Ginger . . .  they expanded to about 50.  These were auctioned off and the the neighbouring parish council asked for a full set - they have now been mounted and are on the wall in the new community building!

My lovely boss-come-friend, Dalwyn's passing left a big hole in many people's lives, including that of his partner's niece.  I was asked if I could turn his Christmas jumper into a big cushion for her . . . I hope she likes it!

2020 Wk 31 - another two weeks gone!

Where on earth does the time go???

I finished the design for the village pharmacy and stitched it - the boss was delighted!

This Ginger was designed and stitched for this village character's 85th birthday

 

Duplicates of the 48 Key Worker and Local Hero gingers were finished and delivered to Wraysbury Parish Council.  These will go into a display cabinet, and I wondered if people, in a few years time, will wonder why some of them are there, so I've created a new blog:  "Covid19Gingers" which discusses them all, and also, on the 'technical' page, has links to videos showing a bit of design work and a ginger being stitched out

Two air hostesses were designed and stitched

and 

You may remember that I go away with a group of girlfriends every year and somehow got talked into making a patch for each trip

Well of course we aren't going away this year . . .  but they still wanted a patch LOL

And now I'm out of ginger felt so I can legitimately take a bit of a break!

I did some tie dying with a friend and her kids - we had great fun!

There was a little bit of paint left - and there was a 5 year old!!!  I've wanted to add colour to my hair for 40 years, and she was desperate to - so I did and she did!!!! (weirdly the blue and green washed out, but I'm loving the flash of pink!!!)

2019 Wk 44 - what I've been doing (and should have been doing)

I'm teaching a class today at Chertsey Museum - and planned to teach a sewing caddy in a glass jar with a pincushion lid.  As I started to prep for the class I realised this would take no more that ten minutes so was NOT a good idea.  Instead I made this (just for fun, we wont be making these at the museum until December 2020!!!)

Then I had to get back on track: I have a couple of dozen polystyrene balls planned for the sewing caddies so I had to find something that I could do with them.  Thank you Pinterest: two ideas!

I treated myself to a new storage organising thingy so spent the best part of a day sorting lots of little bits and pieces into this - I think everything little is now easy to find except a box of bells that are still hiding somewhere

I did some machine embroidery for a customer

And I love it when I get pics of things I've made being used

And that pic wasn't the only one this week: I got this from the Windsor Homeless Project showing Chris with his hat

And this from Lily's granny - what a cutie!

The hexi rounds flimsy has grown, and hopefully the dark rings and the light rings are obvious.  I can go two more light and half a dark with prepared hexies, and then oh dear what a pity never mind I'll have to do some more!

I'm almost up to date on the temperature project

And I am up-to-date on the European-trips-with-friends patches.  Do I sew them onto a bag as originally planned or would a zippy or a scarf be better?

2019 Wk 42 - Happy Hexies

I last showed a random collection of little hexies in early September.  They looked lovely in a box, but I didn't have a plan for them.  Since then the number has just about doubled, and I have started sewing them together.

There is only a vague semblance of a plan but I hope it is visible?

If not maybe this mono photo shows it better?

A light central flower with a ring of dark and two rings of medium and light hexies, and then repeat dark, medium and light (twice)

I've also been embroidering the holiday patches for the last three European city trips I did with girlfriends.  I do a patch every year, but have clearly been tardy!

So here we have Bologne (2017),

Sunny Athens (2018) and

Sicily 2019

These are designed to go on drawstring backpacks - but I've managed to lose mine!  So I am in the process of re stitching the badges going back to 2004 for myself!!!

2019 Wk 38 Sicily and Inspiration

I've just come back from a few days away in Sicily: some random street art like these "windows" and "doors" in a side street

and lots of fun, chat, food and just a few drinks with these lovely ladies.

Such random stuff

 but some of it I fancy trying

 This cork pencil wrap was lovely and simple - and was selling for 148 Euro!!!!

I really like this simple clay design

And thought this was a great toy teaching so many things - matching, balancing, counting, colour recognition . . .

Mount Etna was having a little puff, but otherwise the skies were blue

As was our little apartment

I've been thinking about ideas for next year's Chertsey Museum classes: Separated (not EPP) hexies

Using crochet with fabric

I thought these might make good mega Dorset buttons

 And can I do anything fabric related with these?  I have 13 and a tea light just fits inside!