Road Trip Scarf!

Posted on 17 August, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Wow I’ve been having much fun this week chatting in facebook groups where I came across the ‘Road Trip Scarf’ pattern on Zootyowl’s blog Now almost everyone in my facebook crochet group has made one, or is making one! Fortunately that means lots of help with the pattern! I am almost finished – I have to finish the top edge yet and do the flower trimmings but I am pleased with the way it’s looking already.

Road Trip Scarf – not quite finished

I’m having a bit of trouble following the last row of the pattern but other than that it’s been a lovely quick make! I’d recommend it if you enjoy crochet as once you get going it’s easy to do whilst watching TV or chatting! If you wonder why it’s called that just read her blog post about the pattern via the link above!

I also decided my ripple blanket wasn’t looking quite right and so made up a wavy edging to finish it off – I have one and a half sides to go yet!

wavy edging on ripple blanket

Whilst I was browsing all the other road trip scarves I fell in love with some purple King Cole splash yarn which just happened to be on sale!! Well couldn’t pass that up could I?

my latest delivery 🙂

So now I have to make a few more RTSs!!!

I am enjoying all this crochet as I am still incapacitated with back pain although it is slightly better after my GP prescribed some more drugs. I have my MRI date – 3rd September – not looking forward to that as I don’t like confined spaces 🙁 but at least I might then know what the problem is and what can be done to help it.

Finally I had to show you the lovely plant and card which my aunties and uncle sent for me to ‘cheer me up’ – and it did – immensely!

get well plant and card

So that’s my week – crochet, crochet, crochet and the road trip scarf! Now over to see the peeps at Handmade Monday, wonder what’s been going on in your world?

Ripple Blanket Progress

Posted on 10 August, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I’ve not made as much ripple blanket progress as I originally imagined and have decided that after 60 ripply rows that I have had enough! It is now going to be a lap blanket/shawl!

Although I am fed up of rippling I have decided to make a few double crochet edging rounds to finish it off nicely and then leave it at this smaller size. So far I am on my second dc round in lavender, the first being in raspberry.

edging the ripple blanket

I haven’t much crafty stuff to share this week as I have been away camping in Aberdaron and the packing up process has done me a mischief. I am in agony, unable to walk properly with acute lower back pain. I am managing a bit of crochet wherever I can get comfy (not easy) but anything else is out of the question.

After a week of pain and still no improvement it’s so frustrating not to be able to get in my craft room as I have two projects waiting to be finished which are for presents and are now not going to be made on time 🙁

Hopefully I will be able to link up with Handmade Monday and catch up on everyone’s lives as I’ve really missed my blog fix the last couple of weeks, being away without internet access.

Crochet en France

Posted on 20 July, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Well we’re back after a lovely week en vacances dans un gîte in the Normandy countryside in France. It was very quiet and peaceful, we could just about see one neighbour’s house over in another field. The weather was very hot though, too hot for us really as neither of us are sunbathers. We prefer sitting in the shade reading or doing crochet (me) or dozing (him) !

happily crocheting on first da

I bought a crocheted hat on the ferry over and so the first thing I did when we arrived was to crochet some flowers on the side to make it my own.

two little crochet flowers

It’s very cool and comfy to wear and only 12 euros from the Ferry boutique. The flowes are crocheted in lilac, cream and brown as the hat is a coffee and cream colour.

As well as drinking lots of café noir and eating yummy crêpes we visited the D Day landing sites and also the Bayeux Tapestry Museum which was very interesting to view. It’s almost two feet in height and 230 feet long and is displayed in a long glass cabinet at head height. You are given a hand held recorded commentary to listen to as you walk along past it and the scenes are numbered so you can look at what the numbered recording is referring to all the time.

I remarked to my husband that it looked more like embroidery than tapestry to me and so was interested to see a reference later to the fact that is actually embroidered linen not tapestry! It’s a really clever piece of work and depicts the lead up to, and the actual Battle of Hastings in 1066. Sadly we were not allowed to photograph it although I did buy a paper replica to bring home – just got to figure out how to display it now!

On our last day we went swimming on Omaha Beach on the northern coast. On the way to the beach café we passed these rather charming French beach huts – not at all like English ones. From out of one of them came the oldest couple I have ever seen in swimming gear! She hobbled down with a stick in one hand and a beach chair in the other then went back to help the old man down and into the sea. They didn’t swim but stood there waist height just taking in the scenery! – there’s dedication in ‘taking the waters’ eh? I love to swim in the sea but not sure I’ll still be making that kind of effort in my 90s!

French Beach Huts

Well I’m off to Handmade Monday now to catch up on the blogs I’ve missed whilst away. There was hardly any signal during our holiday which meant very limited internet time! Hope everyone is enjoying the summer wherever you are. x

Rag Quilt and Crochet Bag

Posted on 7 July, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Well after a lot of thinking I decided my crochet circle would be a bag! However it isn’t really looking like one and is more like a sombrero! I am following an Attic 24 pattern so it should turn out ok but I am wondering if floppy cotton was not the right yarn as the original pattern is in merino. Oh well – perhaps an interfaced fabric lining will be required to give it some form!

bag base and 12 rows on

The other thing I decided to make this week was a quilt for me to take on holiday in a couple of weeks – it’s using up lots of the stash I recently received and as it’s a rag quilt it was fairly easy to make compared with making a quilt top and then quilting it to a base.

I made some quilt ‘sandwiches’ first, then quilted each ‘sandwich’ with a cross of stitching. These were then sewed together in long lines and then the lines joined up – all had a half inch seam allowance for fraying later.

quilt sandwich showing the wadding / batting

diagonal stitching to quilt the ‘sandwiches’

using the walking foot to quilt the edges

After sewing all the quilted squares together I made some long sashing strips in bright purple and made long rectangular ‘sandwiches’ to sew right round each edge. I quilted these separately with long diagonal lines and then finally a line right round the egde of the quilt leaving a half an inch seam allowance for fraying.

The hardest part if snipping all the seams for the fraying but it’s worth is when you take the quilt out of the tumble drier and it’s all soft and lovely! It’ll certainly keep me cosy of the cross channel ferry!

pastel shades of floral fabric rag quilt

finished quilt

I’m rather late for Handmade Monday as I was at a Boyzone concert in beautiful Delamere forest yesterday but that’s another story!

Boyzone in Delamere Forest

Ocean and Coral Crochet in the Garden

Posted on 29 June, 2014 by patchworkfairy

What a lovely day today after torrential rain yesterday! I am sitting in the garden with my new crochet project, writing my blog post and drinking a cup of tea on the swingy seat! I am using cool oceanic and coral crochet colours which is quite restful on the eyes in the glare of the sun! I think I may have mentioned before how much I love sitting in my little hideaway at the bottom of the garden 🙂 There are birds on the grass right by me, eating the cherries from our tree!!! Every year they eat them before we do and I swear they reccy the tree for weeks leading up to them ripening and then sit on the fence squawking out the information to their cronies! On the day most cherries turn purple and yummy, if we are not at home, we will come back to a bare tree!

this is a small selection of the tree!

This is my crochet – I am using a lovely soft cotton and acrylic mix by Cygnet. It is going to be a holiday bag but it’s so soft and comfy while I am making it I feel I should turn it into a summer blanket! We are going on the ferry to France and an oceanic and coral coloured bag seemed just the thing, but then so would a cosy blanket for snoozing under on the journey!

this is the bag base with all the colours to use

Oh well decisions! I will have a think whilst watching Dolly Parton at Glastonbury! Later I’ll be popping over to Handmade Monday for a catch up with the other blogs. Hope everyone is having a lovely Glasto-watching weekend too!

Photo Cushion

Posted on 22 June, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I mentioned last week that I was making a photo cushion for a special occasion! Well it was my Uncle’s 80th birthday! His actual birthday was a couple of week’s ago but as the ‘girls’ in the extended family usually go to see my aunty and uncle in the summer we were combining this trip with the special birthday.

We set off Saturday morning, stopping on the way for a picnic at the Cannock Chase which was a very good stop over with picnic tables, café and park and lovely summer solstice weather.

I had booked 3 rooms in a Hotel in Tamworth for Saturday night. This meant we could get up and enjoy a freshly prepared breakfast on Sunday before driving the last 50 minutes to the restaurant for the birthday lunch. Sadly my oldest grandson was awake at 5.30am and so then we were we all soon wide awake as well! This is after being allowed to stay up late the night before in the hope of a lie-in – no such luck though !

We had a good pub meal on the Saturday night – my youngest grandson was well behaved waiting for the meal as spent the time covering himself in stickers ! Here he is enjoying his pudding!

Pudding and Stickers!

The birthday lunch was another yummy meal – a carvery and very good too, followed by crème brulee! Gosh I was full. The boys enjoyed entertaining the relatives with their silly antics and best of all my uncle loved his present!

So here is the cushion I made for his birthday present! Thank you to Wendy for the idea in her post here a couple of Handmade Monday’s ago!

80th Birthday Cushion

The birthday balloon picture was taken at another birthday obviously but seemed very apt for the cushion.

So now over to handmade Monday and hope you all had a lovely summer solstice!

: 80th Birthday Cushion Reverse side with hidden zip

New Rotary Cutter and a Photo Cushion!

Posted on 15 June, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Haven’t really done much this week after my flurry of industrious sewing last couple of weeks! One thing I have started though is a photo cushion like Wendy made a couple of week’s ago. I bought some fabric paper and some other bits and bobs and am going to enjoy designing some new personalised items for upcoming family events. I have started the cushion front and back and put the zip in and printed off the photos. Cutting the fabric was made so much easier by using my new rotary cutter!

cutting fabric

In my quilting group on facebook I recently read of all the accidents people have using the normal rotary cutrter and was amazed that I haven’t had one – I am rather accident prone in regards to things like that. Anyway shortly afterwards I saw this machine for sale which is like a paper cutter but is for fabric. It’s really good – unlike the Simplicity one I bought last month but had to return. This one by Fiskars actually does cut! I first saw it on Create and Craft TV and it was exclusive to them but it sold out before I could order one! Now it seems to being stocked in other places and I managed to acquire one. It’s wonderful for anyone who has any sort of hand or arm problem like me and who may just wobble enough to slice off a finger tip when using the hand held cutters.

I will post a picture of the finished cushion next week as it’s for a special birthday and can’t be unveiled just yet!

View of Lake Vyrnwy early evening

This is the shore of Lake Vyrnwy where DH and I relaxed in the late afternoon and early evening sunshine one day last week. We had been for a trip to the Charlie’s store in Welshpool and decided to go home via the scenic route with a stopover on the way.

It was lovely sitting reading and resting by the lakeside with only lapping water making any sort of noise. I was engrossed in my book and we had a very nice few hours there.

Well I will join up with Handmade Monday again now, a bit later than usual as we have had the children here for Fathers’ Day – all at different times today so not had a moment to upload till now!

Finishing WiPs! – Pixie Coat!

Posted on 8 June, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I have been on a roll this week as I finished two WiPs!! (Only about another 7 to go 🙂 ) Firstly I just had to show off my finished Pixie Coat. My friend was delighted with it and asked me to upload it to facebook so if you want to see all the pics pop over to my page, The Patchwork Fairy. But here are some anyway!

Kate posing in her coat!

Then we have me showing how it fans out from the back!

me showing the twirl factor !

I put some felt applique flowers on the back which I sewed over free form embroidery style. On the front I needle felted a penguin as Kate loves penguins and collects penguiny things!

Needle Felted Penguin

The children at the nursery where Kate works are going to get quite a surprise when she walks in tomorrow!

I am very pleased with the coat, it was the third one I have made. Not all of the jumpers felted properly but as they were my friend’s late Aunty’s jumpers which I specifically wanted to use for her I went ahead and it’s worked out ok I think! Whilst I would answer any questions about making the coats I am not going to write a tutorial as it wouldn’t be fair to Katwise who is the originator of the coats. So, if anyone fancies making a coat from upcycled jumpers I would recommend buying the Katwise tutorial – it’s a very entertaining read as well as informative!

My other finish this week was a picnic blanket and matching bag. The stash I recently inherited contained a fabric sample book like you see in a curtain shop. It was full of rectangles of what looks like 1960s/70s fabric – it has the information sheet intact with a house all done out in the fabric! It’s not what wanted for my house but it is great for outside so I carefully pulled all the samples out of the book, washed and ironed them all and then sewed them into a patchwork mat. There was one large piece which was at the front of the book which has made a great bag for carrying it in.

: picnic mat

waterproof backing on mat

: matching bag with matching lining

folded picnic mat showing waterproof backing

I can’t take credit for the waterproof backing idea as it’s a shower curtain and I read about this idea on Vicky Myers’ blog! It’s a very quick and easy way to damp-proof your mat! I even lined the bag with the curtain too so when the mat goes back in dirty I can wipe the bag clean easily!

That’s all for this week! As usual I am off to Handmade Monday! See you there? x

Pixie Coat

Posted on 1 June, 2014 by patchworkfairy

So was I productive in May? Well I was in my head 🙂 I have far more ideas buzzing round than actual projects being completed!

I mainly worked on my latest pixie coat this month. It’s the third one I have made and the first in a year as my overlocker has only just come back from being fixed.

This is the last stages of the coat – just the front ties to sew onto the body now and then add some embellishments!

pixie coat almost finished!

It’s not easy to find pure wool sweaters for these coats which will felt up properly. Many wool sweaters are treated to stop them shrinking and felting – great for normal wash days but not for recyclers!! The sweaters for this coat came mainly from my BFF who’s aunty had died. She passed on the sweaters for me for my stash as she knows I recycle them but I decided to make a special coat for her which will be a lovely keepsake (I hope!). She has admired my other pixie coats and so I really hope she likes her present.

hood on pixie coat

I made my Pixie coats from the Katwise tutorial – she is the inspiration for these coats. I think it’s much cheaper to get sweaters in US dollar stores than in our UK charity shops though unfortunately for me!

The other main thing I have completed this month is my entry for the ‘Make it your own’ clutch bag competition. Here is my 70s inspired bag. (This was the last decade when I could actually have a bag that small and went on nights out!)

bag with my seventies beads!

The competition was run by Deby at Sew So Easy and you can read my post about making the bag here. Please think about popping over to her blog and adding a vote for me using the link below!

http://so-sew-easy.com/make-contest-time-vote-blogger/

: handy pocket for essentials!

Linking up with Handmade Monday and Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet at Lily’s Quilts

So Sew Easy ‘make it yours’ competition

Posted on 30 May, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I thought I’d have a go at the exciting competition over at the Sew So Easy blog but I am a bit on the last minute!

The competition is to make a bag using the pattern provided here and add your own design features/embellishments etc to make it your own. The contest rules are fairly straightforward – you can read them here. The bag pattern was for a small clutch style and this type of bag always reminds me of a ‘night out’ as it’s the only time I ever have a neat little clutch bag! Most of my life has been accompanied by a handbag big enough to carry round extra paraphanalia applicable to my stage of life! This was nappies, wipes, drinks etc when the children were small – and now taking my mum out it’s …. well not a lot different really 🙂 (ha ha she’s not really that bad!)

So onto the clutch bag!

I chose some milk chocolate coloured linen look fabric for the outside and an orange floral print for the lining – very 70’s – more or less the last decade when I actually did go out and about as a young free thing!

After cutting out the fabric and some interlining for the interfacing the first thing I did was to insert the magnetic snap closers. I found pushing a pin through the marker on the pattern and then marking where it came out on the other side was a good way to ensure the parts are in the right place for matching up later.

pinning through the pattern marker

marking where pin comes out

Next I decided to add an internal pocket in the same fabric as the lining as that way it’s not so obvious where your valuables are when you open your bag!

using paper template for the pocket placing

Getting in the right place was a little tricky as I had to keep folding the bag into its finished form so as to make sure the pocket would be placed right. I used a paper template to mark out the final position.

I cut a double sized piece of fabric for the pocket piece, folded it right sides together and sewed up the sides. I then turned it right way out and sewed it to the lining, turning under the bottom hem as I sewed.

handy little internal pocket!

inside the bag

bag with my seventies beads!

I finished the bag off by sewing a shaped piece of lining fabric to the front and adding two big decorative buttons! Just need to get my orange nail varnish and beads and I’m off!!