Kaleidoscope Blanket Progress

Hello Lovelies,
Maybe I should have called this post "Kaleidoscope Blanket...not much progress" :0) Those few completed hexagons on my mantle are all I have ready to join to this WIP.......

I still love this cute hexagon and I know that I will love all these bright colours even more when the grey days of Autumn and winter return......

You can find the tutorial for the hexagon and a separate tutorial for the joining method in my side bar.......

Does anybody remember when I started this project back in May ?? Well it got set aside in favour of lots of small projects followed by this blanket. Then this blanket.

When we were getting ready to go on holiday a few weeks ago I realised I needed a portable craft project to take with me . It's not that I ever get very long to craft when we are away but there are always a few quiet times and I do find it very relaxing to do a bit of simple crafting.
I'm sure I've said before how I love the fact that crochet is so easy to pick up and put down. A little metal hook, a small pair of scissors and a bit of yarn fits easily into your handbag . Like my camera ...I wouldn't do on holiday without it :0)

Here is my traveling crochet kit ....same as last year.....lots of bits of yarn ....I needed many colours and full balls take up lots of room ( yes I did make the bag...some time late eighties....it's lasting pretty well and I still love the Laura Ashley fabrics )..........

Then in the car and on the beach and in the caravan I made these.........

Lots of kaleidoscope centres. This pattern is a tad more fiddly than your average granny, each round being different from the last . So I find it easier on the brain to make them production line style, a round at a time.
I managed to complete 51 of these centres ....enough ,I think, to move on to round two . Better check with the pattern how it goes :0)

On a seperate crochet note I was thrilled to see another version of the crochet doily I made ( you can see it in the pictures above and there's a link to the pattern in my side bar)over on a blog I love ...Cozy Things.See Kristen's fab pastel version here and do check out the rest of her blog...some gorgeous crochet and stitchy goodness to feast your eyes on :0)

Have a great weekend

Jacquie x

July Nature Notes

Hello Lovelies,
 please excuse this repeat posting . Due to my lack of technical knowledge I accidentally deleted this post a couple of weeks ago .So I'm sorry if you have read this post before, and especially if you left me a comment.
I'm having to re write it as I don't want to miss a month out of this series of posts 12 monthly posts inspired by Edith Holden's lovely book ...Nature notes of an Edwardian lady. Edith's beautiful illustrations were painted in 1905 . A time when the only way to capture the close up beauty and colours of nature was through the medium of paint. I think her love of the natural world around her shines through in these images.....







 The book also includes interesting folk law and facts....



Here are my photos taken of the wild plants and animals observed in my local area in July.......


       I love the field Scabious growing tall amongst the long grasses in the above picture.

Knapweed is something I saw a lot of in Cornwall last week though this picture was taken in our local country park last month. It has all the prettiness of thistle flowers without the painful thorns.....


                     
Even the easily overlooked grasses look pretty in macro........



    

I particularly like this delicate type ( sorry I'm not familiar with their names)...




I have just found out the white parts on this grass are not seeds as I originally thought , but the male part of the plant , the stigma, waiting to catch the microscopic , wind blown pollen ( the first grass pictured above has pinky stigmas).........



I did not know the name of these mini beasts ,but after my first posting of this picture Louise kindly informed me they are Red Solider beetles...........



Along the roadside verges tall grasses mingle with the frothy white meadow sweet.........



Also spotted at the roadside this Chicory.....isn't that a gorgeous blue !..........



And thanks again to another lovely reader (Garden of Daisies) for answering my plea for the name of this plant...it's Greater Willow Herb and you can spot it in the verge picture above if you look closely...........



Last month I was also pleased to spot my first Peacock butterfly this year...they are really lovely but one I would especially love to see is a Small Tortoiseshell, they were so common in my childhood but I never see them these days , I'm hoping it's just because I now live in a different part of the country and not because they are rare these days( do any of you lovelies see them ? )............



Hopefully this is an improvement on my first version of this post :0)
Jacquie x

Back from our travels

Hello lovelies,
Yesterday we returned from a fabulous holiday in Cornwall ......yes that's the Cornish coast in the picture above...isn't it stunning !!!  Could easily be some where exotic don't you think ? There was extended family to share our days with. It was a fun filled mostly sunny week and looking through the 227 photos I've just uploaded  I'm feeling a little sad today......

 I'm also feeling pretty pooped right now but I wanted to pop in to say how much I have missed you lovelies. Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my patchwork. I can't wait to finish it soon and share it with you all.

I also wanted to apologize to those who kindly commented on my "July nature notes" post. I accidentally deleted it before I went away so I will have to rewrite it as I don't want a month to be missing at the end of the year.

Whilst we were at the beach I was so happy I managed to sneak  away for a little quiet time and I was able to take some lovely pictures for a seaside" August nature notes" :0)......

Look out for that in a week or so ......I'm hoping you will love it !

Yes I'm feeling very lucky this summer.......two fab Holidays in quick succession ......now I really need to get on with school uniform buying ......two sets of uniform for my twins who are starting secondary school in 3 short weeks...hope they still have plenty in stock .Wish me luck :0)

I hope you enjoyed the selection of Cornish images I scattered through this post....it really was a holiday to remember in an idillic spot .

Just off to catch up with my favourite blogs.
Jacquie x

Playing with Fabric

Hello Lovelies ,
this week I had to get out my sewing machine...to alter some clothes for a friend....not a job I relish. But as she kindly offered to have the boys for a couple of days whilst I was at work I really didn't mind .

Having my machine out also gave me the opportunity to do something with these little fabric squares I cut up a while ago.......

I was inspired by some amazing patchwork duvet covers ....using gorgeous vintage fabrics....check out Kates and Janes wonderful creations.
I have only managed to acquire a small amount of vintage fabric on my charity shop trips so I also used bits from my stash ...some of it's pretty old any way .

I think a big part of the appeal of patchwork to me is that it is a great way to recycle fabric and use up little scraps left over from other projects.

So I sewed the squares right sides together into pairs...must have done this before many years ago or seen it online.....

I then ironed the seams open ...again I'm not sure if this is correct but I just went for it...no time to check online....I would have to put my machine away soon (the only place I can use it is on the dining table ) ...anyway I was having lots of fun making it up as I went along........

When I had ironed all the pairs I arranged then on the floor...again I was aware how little time I had so the spread of colours and patterns is not perfect but hey ho.

I quickly sewed together the rows and ironed the seams.
Then I joined the rows ...taking time to pin the corresponding seams in an attempt to avoid seams that didn't meet.

Here's what I ended up with ..........

Ooooh ...lovely :0) I had a big smile on my face when turned over the finished piece ......

It's not perfect but I don't really mind .I love the vintage effect of the soft colours with an occasional bright square .

At the moment I'm in the middle of quilting it ...something else I really have no idea about :0)
I found some wadding in my stash and cut up an thrifted duvet cover for the backing, then began hand quilting with embroidery thread and a running stitch.....

The stitches are not  huge, the squares are pretty small...just 3 inches before joining and now about 2 1/2 inches . I'm using pale pink thread as I didn't have enough white but I like it more than I thought I would. As you can see my stitches are not perfect but I'm hoping that will give a "rustic" effect . I was way too scared to try machine quilting....

I'm really enjoying playing with fabric and finally doing some patchwork...one of my crafty resolutions for 2011. It's just a small project ...maybe it will inspire me to try a larger piece someday.Like the fabulous quilts on this blog or this .

As to what this will be...maybe you can guess but I'm not saying at the moment :0) but it is to go with an earlier thrifty find .

Hope your week is going well.

Jacquie x

p.s. thank you to Louise and Garden of Daisies for your Nature answers in the comment section of my nature notes post.

July Scavenger Hunt Photos

Hello Lovelies,
Thank you all so much for your extra kind comments on my Giant Granny.You really do make my day :0)

The list for July's scavenger hunt ( see the other entries to this monthly challenge  here ) had a holiday vibe so I intentionally left taking any pictures till we were away last week.

It's nice that these pictures for the scavenger hunt also allow me to share a glimpse of our first trip to the seaside this year with you lovelies. The images are not in the order of the list...but in the order they were taken.
The first three were taken in the resort of Wells -next-the-sea. It was our first visit here and we would love to return one day. So much to see and do.

1. Celebration.......

well sort of .....lots of bunting and flags in this street made me think of celebrations

2.Ice Cream

Fish and Chips and Ice cream...2 must have food items at the sea side.

3.Red , white and blue

I was particularly taken with this fishing boat in wells harbour. We were having a go at crabbing when I took this picture...along with many others. I think the crabs have got wise to this sport and learnt how to tease us by taking the bait then letting go as soon a you try to lift them more that a foot out of the water...what clever creatures :0)

The next couple of pictures were taken back at our Caravan. It really was a souper dooper one and it must have belonged to a family who sub let it as there were so many sweet personal touches like colourful crockery and great resources like puzzels and games.

4.Stars

well OK one star (fish) on this gorgeous tea pot .Isn't it great !

5. Stripes

Had to be my latest blanket. I'm loving picture for both it's colourful crochet and the glimpse of my cheeky son who sneaked under the chair when I went to fetch my camera and then gave himself away by giggling. You can just see his trainers and the top of his head if you look closely :0)

The next four images are from Thursday ...our only sunny day this holiday

6.A Kite

A Dad and a very sweet little boy enjoying the day.

7.Sea Shells

the incoming tide making this shell look so colourful. I love wandering along with my feet in the waves looking for shells and unusual pebbles.

8.A Flag

Hunstanton proudly displaying it's blue flag ...I'm loving the blue sky!

9.Flip Flops

For sale on the prom

10.Something that makes you happy (not a person or animal)

Crochet on the beach :0)

11.Fields



Norfolk Lavender fields taken on the journey home.The grey skies had returned but this weekend has turned out sunny ...great for getting the mountain of washing dry !!

Hope you enjoyed these . Now I just need to squeeze in my "Nature Notes" post....pressure !!
Have a great Sunday .
Jacquie x
P.S. Just realised I missed out Strawberries from my photos ...oooops