Friday 28 March 2014

Rainy Day Singer Featherweight Makes

Hello

Rain stopped play or rather rain stopped gardening so I could play!  Yippeee a guilt free day off.

Been playing with my Featherweight

Made a sweet little needlecase for my quilting needles.  Used some of my old, probably antique mother of pearl buttons on the front.  It matches another needlecase I made a little while ago.







Then started a cot quilt but ran out of wadding so have to wait for it to be delivered.  With the left over printed fabric, I made a dear little tote bag to go with the quilt.  It should have been slightly larger but I made an error with my measurements.  Last time I made this bag, I must have used 2.5 ins squares for the nine patch but wrote down 2 ins in my notes so following the incorrect instructions made the bag smaller DOH!


Cheers
Sharon

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Weekend Away - Sylko Bobbin Love

Hello

Had a weekend away, stayed at Ribblehead in the Yorkshire Dales which is famous for its viaduct.  There isn't much there building wise, apart from the pub which allows you to stay in your motorhome in the car park for free!  I like free.  We went on Thurs afternoon, I worked in the morning so it was all systems go to pack everything before we set off.  I forgot to pack my camera!  So I will have to rely on the internet for images.

http://www.thestationinn.net/



The Station is a great place to visit, super food and reasonable prices, really friendly staff, Buzz was made welcome.  It was really busy over the weekend with people walking/running the Three Peaks.  It snowed on Sat morning but it didn't stop the group of University Students staying at the bunk house, attempting the peaks, off they set at 7 a.m., 6 were still out at 8 p.m. with some completing the peaks, some having to call it a day after getting lost in the low cloud. The 6 were picked up safe and sound later in the evening.  I thought they were totally mad going out in that weather!

The advantage of staying at Ribblehead is that you can catch a train on the lovely Settle to Carlisle Railway.  We choose to visit Settle and Skipton.  I had a look around a lovely craft shop in Settle called Cottontail Crafts where I bought some fabric to make a bag.




www.cottontailcrafts.co.uk

I also bit of a look round a vintage shop and bought this jar of Sylko cotton reels, I just loved the colours.  My featherweight loves sylko thread, its sews beautifully with it.


We enjoyed our trip to Skipton and on the way back to the station I stumbled upon the most wonderful fabric shop called Fent Shop.  Unfortunately, I was very pressed for time so had a very quick look in, I will be back soon, its fabulous.  Wall to wall fabrics.  I got some Liberty fat quarters for £2 each.  Not sure what I am going to do with them.

http://www.fentshopskipton.co.uk/

Their website is in the process of being built but it does have a map to find it, it is easily missed as it is tucked away.  It looks small from the outside but is huge inside.

So a great break, it was good to get away. The Yorkshire Dales are so pretty even if the weather unsettled, we had sunshine, rain, hail, snow, more torrential rain while on the way back to the train! oh, I forgot wind!

Cheers
Sharon

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Sew Tidy aka Thread Catchers

Hello

Got carried away making these.



They are called Thread Catchers but I think that Sew Tidy is a much better name for them.  They are "sew" handy.  I have two now, one next to my Singer for when I am snipping cottons ends off my sewing, note the pile of threads etc in the picture below, once over all this would have ended up on the floor as I am a rotten shot when aiming for the waste bin.  While I was on, I made a new ironing pad as my old one was getting tatty, I just loved this hedgehog material.  Its got the heat resistant wadding inside to protect the table.



My other Sew Tidy resides on the arm of my sofa in the living room, I keep my scissors, thimble, thread, reading glasses in it for when I am hand sewing, it stops me loosing stuff down the side of the sofa.  The pin cushion part is packed with organic wheat and some home grow lavender out of my garden so it smells nice.  Here it is on my Lloyd Loom Chair arm, the wheat weighs it down and keeps it stable when stabbing your pins in.


I have made a few for friends and family and they have been delighted with them so made these extra ones to go in my Folksy Shop http://folksy.com/shops/GrannysButtonBox

Cheers
Sharon