Tuscan Inspiration

Posted on 18 May, 2016 by patchworkfairy

I’ve just returned from a holiday in Tuscany! A week crammed full of culture, churches, coffee, cake, gelato and pasta!

Lemon tart and coffee for elevenses!

Such a beautiful time touring medieval towns and hilltop villages and marvelling at the intricate detail in the artwork and architecture. I did take some crochet with me but only made one 6 inch square as I was so tired every night from sightseeing I had no energy to craft! I did however, get plenty of Tuscan inspiration!

We’ve always enjoyed looking at ancient sites and National Trust properties in UK so the decorative churches and stylish architecture in Tuscany were very appealing. I loved these floor tiles in Siena Cathedral – they reminded me of the patchwork block which joins diamonds to make what appears to be tumbling blocks!

Tuscan blue and cream tiles with a crescent moon decoration

Each diamond has a crescent moon and makes a 3 moon box!

This table was so pretty – much more so than the photo captures

This table was in a the Viti Palace in Volterra – I loved the colours.

We had fun on the day trip to Pisa!

Silly selfie!

On our last day we walked part of the Pilgrims’ Path – this runs from Canterbury in UK all the way to Rome, including the area of Monteriggioni in Tuscany where we stayed.

I love the mix of colours with the flowers and the grass

Wild flowers along the Pilgrims’ Path

So back home I have plenty of photos and memories for inspiration – I think a flower quilt or blanket project design may be taking shape, or an English Paper Piecing Diamond shapes quilt even!

Crocheted Fairy House Tea-Pot Cover!

Posted on 10 April, 2016 by patchworkfairy

So I’ve got this awful cough and cold and can’t get on with my caravan makeover so I have devoted my lolling about time to – what else? – trawling through Facebook and Pinterest of course😀 Best way to cheer yourself up – that and some crochet! A while back I spotted on Pinterest a most gorgeous crocheted fairy House tea-pot cover with instructions which I really, really wanted to try and make. Unfortunately as the pattern was in Russian and google translate couldn’t cope with crochet terms I though I would never be able to attempt it. So what have I been doing this weekend?

The ‘wizard’s hat’ part complete!

Oh happy day! I found there was a part translation in the files section of a crochet group of which I am (was) not a member. Now I am revelling in the pictures of WiPs and patterns etc from the new group and on my way with the crochet tea pot cover! Can’t ever be in too many crochet groups eh?

Crochet tea pot cover in purple and teal yarn

Just started the side pieces

I’m enjoying making this immensely, despite the racking cough and general aches and pains. It’s taking longer than the one day suggested but that’s fine!

Crochet fairy tea-pot cover taking shape

This was my progress last night when I had to stop and rest! There’s no detailed instructions for number of stitches etc after the wizard hat part as you simply make the cover to fit your tea pot. It’s not too difficult though if you are experienced in making things.

Completed the cover all round – now need to add the little mushrooms and fairies and flowers!

So, here I am with the base cover crocheted! Now I will have great fun making little extras to adorn it – some such as the door and windows are in the pattern, the rest I will make up or use some little flowers and leaves like ones found in Attic 24 patterns.

If you want to see what the finished thing looks like you can follow this link.Here to my Facebook page where I shared the finished crocheted tea pot cover by a page entitled Haken en breien en naaien en juwelen kantklossen woon idees. I can’t work out any other way to credit the original as it’s somewhere on the page last year and linking direct to it won’t show the teapot

Next week I will have my very own crocheted fairy house tea-pot cover finished! Watch this space for pictures!

Linking up with Handmade Monday

Mainly Crochet..

Posted on 7 March, 2016 by patchworkfairy

Oh gosh it’s been a while!

I’ve made some nice things over the last few weeks, mainly crochet, just haven’t got round to writing about it!

Charlotte’s new blanket

new owner of the blanket!

Front of cushion

Stylecraft Candy Pop Cusion – one large granny square on one side and lots of solid grannies (😂) on the other!

I’m also making a Spice of Life CAL blanket but I’m a bit behind!!!!

Next project is an amazing crocheted teapot cover I have found but the pattern is in Russian so not sure how I’ll manage yet! So it’s still mainly crochet for me!

New Year, Old Fabric!

Posted on 11 January, 2016 by patchworkfairy

Happy New Year 2016!

The title isn’t a misprint! One of my new year resolutions is to use up my old fabric stash and not buy any new fabric! So far so good as my first project of 2016 was to make a replacement bag for a favourite hessian shopping bag I received as a Yule present a few years ago. I saw the exact same colour hessian in Abakhan last summer and bought the fabric with the intention to make the bag right away, but in reality just added it to my stash and forgot about it. So last week I dug out the fabric and made a simple small shopping bag lined with yellow spotted cotton. I really like to make the interior of bags in a light coloured fabric as it makes finding stuff inside much easier!

Pink hessian bag with Liberty print heart appliqué

I used some of my (ahem) small stash of Liberty to add a heart shaped appliqué on each side and then found a lovely white-cotton-with-lemon-spots fat quarter for the lining. I’ve had this fat quarter for about three years so using it added to the virtuous feeling 😀

The yellow spotted cotton lining

My second craft-related resolution is to clear out and streamline my craft room and to keep it an uncluttered and stress-free area …… yeah right! But I have made a start – might even be able to photograph it for the blog if I keep up the enthusiasm 😀.

Linking with Lucy Blossom Crafts

Knitting Socks!

Posted on 13 December, 2015 by patchworkfairy

I don’t know how many of you read Attic 24 ? But Lucy recently posted about her foray into sock knitting, as opposed to her usual crocheting. Well half the world (including me) seems to have gone ~~sock bonkers~~ been inspired to also take up sock knitting and the wool that Lucy used has vanished from sale as have nearly all the circular needles in 2.5mm! I tried to order from Amazon but they were cleaned out and didn’t have a restock date! The power of social media eh?!

I did manage to find some wool in the same range, but not the colour way as that had sold out completely! I managed to secure some pretty alternatives though!

My 4 varieties of sock wool!

I couldn’t just order one ball though like a sensible person, no I had to have 4 so that I didn’t pay postage! Saving money! Totally justified 😜.

I selected my ball for my first ever hand knitted sock and joined the online support group called Winwick Mum Sock a long! The sock pattern was designed by Christine Perry aka Winwick Mum and the FB group is full of devotees who are willing and eager to be as helpful as needed.

My post in the group of this picture has about 70 Likes!!

The adventure begins!

I was quite excited when I posted the above, but that soon gave way to frustration and misery as I tried to make the tiny little needles behave! So much harder than my lovely, comfy crochet hook! I’ve also got a gap in my knitting which obviously shouldn’t be there and I am a little embarrassed yet to own up in the FB group! Hopefully I can do a bit more this evening and get it in better shape!

So that’s my crafting for the next few weeks sorted! As well of course as making Santa sacks for the grandchildren, finishing patchwork Yule items and making family pressies!

I’m going to hop round Handmade Monday blogs this evening and tomorrow where I shall undoubtably find most people have finished and wrapped their crafty presents already! Ho Ho Ho!

Auditioning the Fabrics

Posted on 22 November, 2015 by patchworkfairy

Hello! I haven’t been around on here for quite a while so today I decided to write about ‘auditioning’ the fabrics for my grandaughter’s new quilt!

I’ve been getting over the knee replacement (much harder than anticipated) and also the return of the dreaded Sciatica!! Having two bad legs has been pretty difficult pain wise and then to find there is an 18 week waiting list to see the Pain Consultant has been very demoralising. Especially since the initial appointment only leads to another waiting list for the actual injection treatment, which is the only thing which made me better last time.

Anyway DH did some research and suggested buying a home ultrasound kit and it actually seems to have made a difference. I’ll never know if this time the sciatica was going to be milder or whether the daily ultrasound treatments have stopped it in its tracks so to say. So I’m cautiously optimistic that I am improving and ohave started going about for a bit longer without any terrible repercussions.

I’ve only managed a limited amount of sewing in the last few weeks and it been more a case of sitting down with crochet hooks and a bag of cosy yarn! But never mind that today! Today I must tell you of a new term I learnt in my weekly patchwork class, it’s called ‘Auditioning’ the fabric for a project. So, if like me, you thought you were just messing about with your stash when you were wondering what to make and/or what to use, you weren’t, you were auditioning your fabric for a place in the final item, in my case it is a quilt.

Auditioning Patchwork squares for the quilt top!

DD is obsessed with pink girly everything after having two boys but I think it’s nicely balanced with some non pink in it.

That’s it for this week, hopefully I will be able to make it to the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate on Saturday and I’ll have lots to write about next Handmade Monday!

Crochet-a-Long and a new project book!

Posted on 28 September, 2015 by patchworkfairy

I am very excited this week! I have started the Spice of Life Crochet-a-Long (CAL) run by Black Sheep Wools (you can see my blog post of my first visit to the shop here). There is a Facebook page for the CAL which has lots of wonderful pictures of people’s blankets as they complete the first part. A new part is published on the BSW website each Tuesday. I am slightly behind as I have only managed the first two rows but I will catch up soon. I am also very excited this week because in perusing all the pictures last week I noticed some had a lovely looking project book in the background in which they were recording their blanket progress. Facebook is wonderful for finding out stuff – of course I wasn’t the only one who liked the idea of a new project book and someone had already enquired in the comments as to where to get them! Quick bit of link-following and via the magic of PayPal I had ordered one. Today it arrived!

Crochet project book and two rows of crochet in Grape colour

Only two rows done but got my nice new project book

It’s published by Doodlestop – they make all sorts of wonderful accessories for knitting and crochet- the yarn holder is definitely on my present wish list! The WIP-0-PEDIA has some useful information at the beginning then the rest is printed pages with headwinds for you to record your WiPs details, like yarn used and pattern source. As I never remember these things a couple of years down the line, I intend to fill in all the details at the start of each new project as I tend to become bored and to start new projects before finishing the others 😀

And on that theme, here is my other WIP – summer blanket in cotton as I thought it would be more pleasant in the hot weather than crocheting with wool or acrylic. This is the one I started on the day of my admission to hospital in early August for my Knee replacement. The latter is also the reason why I haven’t got very far with it!

WIP-O-PEDIA book and a summer blanket in cotton yarn

My summer blanket – typically being finished in Autumn!

this too will now going to be recorded in my new book. I’ve always loved new stationery so combining this with new crochet projects is just, well, perfect!

I should be able to have a good sized piece of CAL blanket to post next week as the pain from the surgery is much less now and I am starting to feel more ‘normal’ and able to do things without needing a nap every hour! Post surgery napping time is essential for recovery but really eats into your crochet time!

Linking up with Lucy Blossom Crafts Handmade Monday!

Charlotte Florence collection

Posted on 14 September, 2015 by patchworkfairy

Been very hard going the last few weeks – I never anticipated how hard a knee replacement was going to be! It’s a frustrating and painful process trying to regain flexibility in a new knee! It’s also impossible to do much in the way of sewing or sorting out fabrics.

So this week I have concentrated on sorting out my photograph collection of some things I am calling my Charlotte Florence collection – I began making things for this over a year ago, some vintage inspired and recycled/refashioned items as well as some more crochet items. Now I have them in a gallery on my website I can sort out the uploading to Folksy and Etsy!

You may remember my little granddaughter is called Charlotte Florence! Hence the name of my new collection.

Me with little Lotty

here she is now

I’ve linked up the collection page directly with Handmade Monday at Lucy Blossom Crafts!

ATC August 2015

Posted on 23 August, 2015 by patchworkfairy

This week I thought I’d share my ATC which I made as part of the ATC August 2015 swap over at Very Berry Handmade! I haven’t got a lot else to show as whilst recovering from surgery my days are mainly taken up with exercises, resting with ice packs and sleeping!

So what is an ATC swap? It stands for Artist Trading Card and is a small, handmade card which is crafted to a theme. It can comprise all different crafts as long as there is some stitching involved. The them this time was a bit more flexible than previous swaps as it was ‘My Favourite………’ I chose to add the word ‘crafts’ on the end and so made a card with a mini quilt, some crochet, a mini Quillie, a little greetings card and some freehand embroidery.

i had a lot of fun making the card, it distracted me from the immediate aftermath of surgery and focussed my mind on something other than the pain! It’s not my best work as I just wasn’t in the best state to craft it but I decided it was ok enough to send to my swap partner in France! I had collected all the things needed to make my card into a little box before surgery and so everything I wanted was within my grasp once I was back home. It will be a while before I am back in my craft room, but part of that. Is my fault as it’s so messy in there it’s dangerous when you are walking with two sticks!!

Little card with mini patchwork quilt, some crochet and a little greetings card.

ATC My Favourite Crafts

Linking up with Lucy Blossom Crafts!

Post-Surgery with a bit of crochet!

Posted on 16 August, 2015 by patchworkfairy

Just a short post from me today. Been into hospital and had my total knee replacement surgery! I am so glad to be home 😀. I took my crochet in but only did some whilst waiting to go to theatre as afterwards it was enough of an effort just to get myself to the bathroom and back!

Now I am resting most of the day with little walks and knee exercises inbetween. I have been so glad of my soft Liberty fabric patchwork quilt, my warm colourful ripple blanket and a new bright owl fabric cushion I made last week before I went in. All of these have helped add a little bit of comfort to a rather painful time!

Yellow owl fabric cushion and crochet granny square in pink, cream, green and peach variegated cotton with two lilac rows.

My growing granny square and owl fabric cushion

The crochet is going to be a big granny square summer blanket using Rico Creative Cotton which is soft and not splitty at all

Well that’s all for now, time for my nap!😀

Linking up with Handmade Monday as usual over at Lucy Blossom Crafts