Monthly Archives: June 2012

I have a plan….

Hello my blog friends

In my part of the world, 2 week of school holidays starts at the end of today. Huzzah! We are not going away at all. We’ll be staying around the local area – a staycation.

I often run into other mothers during the holidays and I hear so much moaning! You know the kind of thing – “I hate having the kids underfoot”, “I can’t wait til school goes back”, “the kids are driving me mad”. I have never got that. I love having my family about. We do things together, make things, bake things, spend time on our own, go places and generally have fun. I hate it when they end.

I love it when they start. This week has been full of anticipation. I am a list maker. Love a good list. I love the satisfaction of crossing things off.

My lists are still a work in progress, but my basic plan for these holidays is fairly simple. Every day we will clean some part of the house, organise a drawer or cupboard, cook something and make something. 4 Lists – so much to cross off hehe.

The Make-A-List To Do Stamp by TheSmallObject

This is what I am planning on making a start on. Its a pretty ambitious project for me as a beginner crocheter, but I just love it. I have made a sampler square using basketweave stitch and once I got the hang of it, I loved it. If you know me at all, you will have already worked out I will be doing it in another colour though. :)

Basketweave Twists Afghan

How do you feel about school holidays? Do you make grand plans?

Where do you get it?

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I’ve added a new page today to make it easy to find where to buy my pincushions. It just up the top there, next to the Pincushions page.

More recently, I have made the change to made to order for some of my designs. There will always be one off, ready to go pincushions available, but some will now be made as orders are made. This will only add a day or two to the order.

To whet your appetite, here is my newest made to order design – the rainbow. Rainbows are so eye-catching and bright, and a natural occurance. What better way to decorate than with all the colours of the rainbow? I stitch this free hand, no patterns or lines, just me, a bunch of bright coloured embroidery thread & a needle. Happy-making

Embroidered Rainbow Pincushion

Treasures

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Last weekend I got out the family crafting heirlooms from my camphor chest.

I wish I knew more than I do about it all. All I do know is that it was all made by my great-grandmother on my Mum’s side. She was amazing. She could knit, crochet & embroider and probably a whole lot more too.

Hand Knitted Bedspread

Knitted baby blanket

Hand sewn & embroidered tablecloth

Can you see a faint line around the middle of the tablecloth? I have no idea how it was done, but it is perfect on both sides. This is it up close :

How?

This tablecloth was done by embroidery Cutwork – you sew it & then cut away the middles. These days you can do it all on a sewing machine with special fabric stabilisers. Imaging doing it by hand?

Cutwork Embroidery tablecloth

I’m guessing my great granny had a round table or 2. Here’s a fillet crochet tablecloth. I can’t wrap my head around the time this would have taken.

Fillet Crochet tablecloth

Hankies didn’t escape the Great Gran’s touch

Hankie love

Of course, in those days you needed a pretty cloth to put your crystal perfume bottles on – more fillet crochet.

Dressing Table Cloth

Now this is another bedspread – my mum has memories of this always being on her Grandmother’s bed. I thought it was damask, but Mum thinks not.

Damask?

Now we are up to the pride of the collection of Great Gran’s creative works. This is truly mind-boggling. It is a bedspread done with fillet crochet using the finest of cottons. I have no idea how on earth she managed this, with poor light and a vastly different lifestyle to ours that would have left very little time. It must have taken months if not years of work.

Peacock Bedspread

Details

Wow huh? I am so glad that this has all survived to come to me. Treasures! Somehow I can’t see my creative things being as revered by my descendants LOL. Do you have any treasures?