A little update

Hello Lovelies

This is a quick update!

I told myself I wasn't going to publish another post until I finish one of the many projects I've told you about but it's been so long since the last one and I've been missing you... sigh.

Well I have been busy...honestly!

I have finished and posted two little pouch bags and one largish mandala doily thingy

- all gifts and I didn't take photos as I was racing to get them wrapped and posted.

I'm sure you know how it is...

I have achieved loads more little stitches on the vintage hexies quilt but have slowed down as it is too warm to have on my lap.

I haven't got as far as I'd hoped with my first skein of the green lace yarn. 

I took both photos with my tablet... you wouldn't believe the shawly thing below is actual a beautiful green!

I'll reveal more later :-)

I have been working hard in the garden and in our village churchyard. I must remember to take a photo of the gorgeous wild flower bank that Lovely Husband and i have been tending - it's glorious.

Take care Lovelies, thank you for visiting me, it's been lovely to see you.

Ttfn

Tracey xxx

Heirloom crochet WIP gift

Hello Lovelies :-)

And welcome to Angela of Cottage Magpie (here) and to my Mum and Dad

who are new followers.

I had a fabulous surprise on Saturday when the postman made his delivery....

...a package from my mum :-)

Thanks so much Mum xx

I have no memories of this project and I would love to know if it was before my time or when i was very young.

Mum has always been a crafter of all sorts but I cannot remember seeing her crochet except for when mum taught me as a teenager.

So here it is...

...and some closeups of those tiny wee stitches...

...and the matching thread plus a yummy yellow ombre one (you know how i have a thing about yellow at the moment!)...

The ecru is...

Shade 609,  dyelot N564 

I don't think Coats produce cotton thread like this anymore.

I think I may make another cushion to go with the cushion I'm going to make with this.

Maybe I'll use it with the yellow fabric...

I know...another excuse to play!

(Oh, I nearly forgot....the pattern is lost but I may be able to figure it out.)

I will, of course, show you what the outcome is but it might be a little while as I am trying to finish the hand quilting on the vintage hexie quilt.

I'm making good progress.

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Thank you all for your comments and emails on my last two posts :-)

I wasn't happy with how the last post turned out...

I was stressing over it and pushed myself to publish it in the early hours one morning

....not a good move as it caused me even more stress later that day when I realised it didn't read the way i had intended..

Oops!

Thanks for bearing with me.

Ttfn xxxx
Tracey

Little stitches

Hello :-)

Just thought I would drop by and give you a glimpse of what I am doing today as I haven't given you an update on what I am doing with these vintage hexies....

Not a brilliant photo as I used my tablet but much quicker, allowing me to get on with hand quilting.

I will give you an update with better quality photos soon.

Oh joy! The sun has appeared :-)

Ttfn xxxx from Tracey

Rag or treasure

Hello lovely followers and visitors,

After reading Jacquie's blog (Bunny Mummy) the other day about the making of her patchwork peg bag - and the brilliant tutorial (that can be found here) -

I felt inspired to rummage through

my own stashed fabric remnants - its large because I keep very small pieces. 

Delving into it is like jumping into history.

Now you may have noticed if you know me well that i keep talking about yellow...

Sunshiney, buttery yellow...

So...

I was immediately drawn to little fragments of yellow, excitedly pulling them out and piling them atop my ironing board

As I'm all fired up from the Sew-a-long perhaps I could make a patchwork skirt...

...and then I searched the larger folded remnants in my cupboard

...and rediscovered this drawstring bag.

My darling Mum made this for me when I started school.

Perhaps it was for hanging plimsolls (similar to sneakers) or similar on my peg.

I LOVE this fabric and have done so since I was five.

Well this bag has sure seen some use and it's been around the world twice!

In New Zealand mum was very involved in 

Guiding - Brown Owl, Captain, District Commissioner....

- for about 21 years.

During this time mum used the bag countless times for Pack Holidays, Guide camps, leader's camps and trainings... you get the idea.

See, it's got my name beautifully embroidered in chain stitch and also mum's camp name in marker pen (latter not in this pic).

I started unpicking...

with my trusty 'quick unpick'.

I was a little excited... the bag is rather robust, it would have to be, it's 50 years old!

The cotton fabric is thick...I dared to hope it is double layered.

Let's see...

Oh, oh, oh lookie see... it is!

Mum gave me the bag after she left Guiding as I couldn't bear for it to be thrown out.

I know, I know, I'm very sentimental - you don't need to tell me :-)

The fabric is very worn in places - not surprising really!

The sewing thread is cotton and it's thick...

The top thread is the older one and the lower is hand quilting thread.

 Uh-oh, my name is sewn through both layers... decisions, decisions... 

I'm favouring keeping that bit intact.

Ok, so now it's completely unpicked (apart from the embroidery) and it's one large piece of fabric.

Dearest Mum, you made a wonderful job of making this into a bag for me all those years ago :-)

I cannot bring myself to use this 'precious to me' fabric in a patchwork skirt

...it needs to revel in its own loveliness...

Perhaps it shall become a small cushion cover for our bedroom where it's less likely to fade quickly.

I shall take my time and dwell upon it for a while, but not another 50 years.

Ok, 

so some people will think of this as a rag 

and me as crazy...

...too bad!..

I'm delighted that I can make use of this preciously sentimental, sunshiney treasure.

What do you think...

rag or treasure?

Ttfn xx

Hooky joy and other things....

Hello lovely folks 
and very happy Mothering Sunday to you :-)

In this post i show you a couple of my knitty creations, catch up with the latest news on those vintage hexies, check on the garden and last but not least, pop into the studio to see what been up to this week with crochet hook..... you may like to join in.

I adore colour so it it's not surprising that I drool over the work of Kaffe Fassett and more recently, Cath Kidston.

The two following items have been influenced by Kaffe. The basic batwing pattern comes from a magazine in the eighties and I've made up the design as I've gone along with no previous planning. It is knitted up from hand dyed, hand spun yarn and commercial yarn. It's never been washed or blocked...

So without further ado.....

Ta dah!

I love it!

...and the next to show you is my shawl that I made at the end of last year. I acquired a lot of tapestry yarn... I do really mean a lot! I was in heaven with all that variegated colour. The basic pattern is from one of Kaffe's books where you cast on 3 stitches and increase one stitch at both ends of every row. I had about 450 (approx) on my circular needle at the end. It's so big that the fringe touches the floor...I may remove the fringe and add a crochet border...now that I can crochet.

Ta dah!

Some garden updates...

And the news from my studio is that some of my home made bunting is cheerfully decorating my creative space. I made the bunting a few years ago for my 50th. I generally use it outside in the summertime but as I did have an addiction to making bunting at one time, I have plenty for both. On the odd occasion at church I get nicknamed Tracey Bunting!...(It's because I can be a little crazy, perhaps eccentric at times).

I've been fiddle faddling around with my vintage hexie finds trying to choose a background fabric that will fit in with my decor, show the hexies up well and fit in with the vintage feel.....

...still deliberating...

 I need to do some research before I decide. I've more or less decided to applique them to a background fabric but I'm still unsure if they should become a quilt top or several smaller items. Perhaps I could do both...  well see :-)

Other creative news...

I'm joining the mand-a-long that the two lovely ladies... Chrissie Crafts and Lazy Daisy Jones.... have instigated, along with the help of Wink. It's my first ever crochet-a-long and I'm rather excited. I've made my first mandala.... I guess I could show it....it's been pressed but not blocked.  I used the yarn that Deci gifted me last week.

it's from Wink's pattern in issue 14 of Simply Crochet magazine. It's certainly not perfect but as it's my first I'm not worried in the least as I will be hooking some more for sure. It's a fab pattern to follow and it's completely my fault that I didn't get it right as I didn't count stitches... do I hang my head in shame.... No way, as I had such fun hooking it! And anyway, if you only see perfect ones and you are a beginner like me, it could put you off trying and then you'd miss out on lovely hooky joy...... and what a shame 't'would be.

Well I think that is it for now, I was going to hurry off to make dinner but Lovely Husband has it all organised... Thank you :-)

Cheery bye!
Tracey xx

A vintage find

Haven't we had some lovely weather the last few days?  My garden is positively erupting into colour.  Gorgeous.

Ah, but this post is not about the weather. No. But I did need the sunshine for the photos.

After visiting my lovely friend and her beautiful little baby daughter yesterday I did a spot of charity shop perusing in my local town centre.  Just as I went into one shop an assistant was placing 'new to the shop' items on a previously empty table and I was so delighted to find that they were crafty things.  Of course I immediately pounced on the table to see what treasure lay there...

I found this...

I didn't open the bag until this morning when I went over to my arty crafty room.

Can you tell what it is? It's not yarn, but is something rather exciting if you like fabric and even more so if you like vintage fabric.

The bag is full of paper pieced hexagons, many of which date back to the 1950's.  How do I know, I hear you say... well, take a look at these....

"By Appointment to the Late King George VI"

and there he is on the stamp!

Hmm...I know... the card and stamp don't necessarily make the fabric the same age and I am not a textile historian but isn't it nice to think so...?  I do.

Perhaps you want to see some more...



and here is a view of the 'right' side...

I believe these hexagons were made over many years as some of the backing cards are much younger and the fabrics a little more familiar.  For example, several could be from the seventies as they remind me of fabrics that my mum used in making clothes for my younger sister.

Below is a not so brilliant photo but here they are all laid out together.

There's also some smaller hexies in the bag, some of which are sewn together and a pile that are loose...



It's hard to date these ones but they are not so old.  The black lumpy things are my slippered feet.

The thing is, I now have a bit of a dilemma as I was going to use the fabric (goodness knows what for at the moment) but now I am thinking that I shouldn't spoil the connection between the backing card and the fabric.  Wouldn't the biggy wigs in some quilting association want it documented?  Am I being silly? 

What would you do?

The hexies are not well constructed in that they are all odd shaped.  To sew them together would not be fun at all as some sides are longer and others short.  However the tiny stitches of the sewn hexi flowers are lovely and neat.

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While I was out in my arty crafty room I took a few photos to give you an idea of the lovely space I have to work in.

...and a couple of close ups of yarny stashy goodness... 

Thank you so much for your comments, they really do brighten my day :)

ttfn xx