Ginny & Ginger

Here’s my latest offering, which I can show as it has now been received by Wendy. 'Pumpkin Wendy' as we’ll affectionately call her!!!!! (See previous post). And of course, it's rag dolls!!

The idea for these cute Gingerbreads came ages ago after seeing something similar elsewhere on the internet, and I knew that one day I would have to make them!

This is Ginny!

And this Ginger!

Wendy adores Gingerbread men, and she has been feeling a bit low lately, so I thought a pair of Gingers would cheer her up and they appear to have done the trick!!

The candy canes were another ‘must do’ and they seem to go quite well with gingerbread men ...... although the ‘mica’ glitter sprinkled on them seems to be everywhere I look now; the floor, my worktable, me – I’ll probably still be seeing it at Easter!!!

Long tiring day at work anyhow, so be seeing ya later!!

Bye for now!

Pumpkins Galore!!!

How often do we read on each others blogs about the generosity of fellow stitchers/quilters eh?? Well Wendy is no exception!!

When I set out my Autumn/Halloween display the other week (see earlier post), my lovely friend Wendy said that I should have some fabric pumpkins to go on my display. I had been planning on trying to make some myself, but time had not allowed of course! However, as Wendy is a bit of a whizz at making them, she offered to send me some of her pumpkins. Now, I thought that meant one, or maybe two. HELLO, look what the postie bought this morning just as I was dragging myself out of bed ...........



seven, YES 7 gorgeous pumpkins all made by Wendy’s fair hand!!



Aren’t they just something? I love everything about them; the cinnamon sticks, the moss with the leaves and the variety of colours in the fabrics. There is one baby pumpkin, five little ones and one BIG one – they are fabulous. And in honour of their arrival, I am going to leave my Autumn/Halloween display out now until Christmas before putting them away. I’ve told Wendy that I think she should go into business as a pumpkin maker – don’t you agree!!?

THANK YOU WENDY – you are a lovely friend.

Giveaway!

I just found another cross-stitch giveaway over at Patti's blog here - don't enter though, cause I want to win!!! LOL

Oh, go on then!!!!

Malvern Autumn Quilt Festival

I planned to blog yesterday, but I was having technical problems (sounds as though I know what I’m doing!!! LOL). Either AOL or Blogger was playing up – dunno which, but it seems to be behaving again now!!.

I was like an excited child on Saturday morning as I headed off with my friend Pam to the Malvern Autumn Quilt Festival; filled with anticipation of what goodies and inspiration awaited us! And it didn’t fail us. Wendy had pre-warned me to be ready to be shoved around, which I was a bit, but I did as Wendy advised ... and shoved back!! So, we had a lovely day and came home rather tired, but I was pleased with my purchases. I’m not going to bore you with heaps of photos – just a few of my favourites of the exhibition quilts. Note the first one – it’s a copy of the ‘Dear Jane’ quilt in reds’ blues & whites – isn’t it exquisite?!!

And finally one of my stash!! Fabric (5 metres in total), buttons, a hanger and Kim Diehl’s latest book, which I’ve been hankering after for a while!!

Another Cross-stitch Giveaway

I've found another fabulous cross-stitch Giveaway over at Nina's blog - go check it out!!
I thought prehaps if I enter enough of them, I might just win one - I'm willing myself to win!!!

Giveaway!

There's a great Cross-stitch Giveaway over at Candi's blog - go and check it out .... maybe you shouldn't though, cause then you might win LOL!!!! Oh go on then, I can't be that selfish .... or can I????

Willa Witch

...... isn’t she cute?!! Witches you see don’t have to be scary – don’t you just want to cuddle little Willa? It’s been ages since I’ve made a rag doll and I’ve been bursting to make my sweet Halloween Witch – so here she is – what do you think?

And here is Willa sitting amongst my Autumn/Halloween display. This is the first time I’ve ever had a display like this, borne purely from inspiration from other ladies out there in cyberspace/blogland. And why not eh? Everyone decorates for Christmas without a second thought, so why not celebrate all seasons ........ bring it on!!!



Take care!

Autumn ... again!!

I love Autumn .... OK, so that’s not a secret!! But I’ve been itching to make a wall hanging/banner in celebration of this beautiful season. So, I found some clipart of a tree, designed the wall hanging around that and then took a trip to my LFS, where I bought just fat quarters of some lovely ‘Autumn’ colours ..... and this is what I’ve come up with. I’m reasonably pleased with it; although I’m sure I could come up with something much better one day when I’ve learned more sewing/stitching techniques to make use of all these lovely colours. To the left of the wall hanging, by the spider plant, is a beautiful stained glass leaf hanging ornament (Autumn colours, of course!), which I recently purchased through ‘Folksy’ from Amy McCarthy. She has a website where you can see her work, (I particularly like her ‘nautical’ pieces). This was bought to add to the ‘Autumn’ display I’m planning.

In this picture (if you look closely), I’ve highlighted the tree that can be seen in my neighbour’s garden, which shows just one of the glorious shades which I drool over at this time of year. I’ve watched this tree, day by day; go through every shade of Autumn ....... the jewels of nature you could say!!

Be back soon!!

A Great Giveaway!

Brenda at Pumpkin Patch Primitives is having another fabulous Giveaway at the moment. The VERY generous prize is a Fat Quarter Bundle of Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals – how cool is that??!!!

So, rush on over to her blog, and if you tell Brenda that I sent you AND you post about it on your own blog, then I will receive an extra entry, so go on, help me to win – go on, you know you want to!!!!

Autumn & a Cross-stitch

It’s been a while I know ..... another case of work just getting in the damn way of crafting! Anyway, I’ve finally finished another little cross-stitch. An Autumn themed sampler from a chart by ‘Bent Creek’. I ordered a frame for it yesterday, which should be ready by next weekend and then it’ll be complete.

Everywhere is changing colour into lovely shades of green, gold and red – so beautiful. Is there any better time of year – I don’t think you can beat it? I would certainly advise against driving too close to me at this time of the year, as I become so absorbed with the beauty of the changing landscape, I am quite likely to go slap bang into the car in front – so be warned!!

Anyway, I can’t stay on too long, as I’ve just been on the telephone to my cousin Bev in Australia (near the Gold Coast) for 1½ hours, so I’m a tad behind with everything, but, hey, what the heck, the house isn’t that dusty (I kid myself)!! However, I must do the ironing, otherwise I’ll not have anything to wear for work tomorrow – oops, sorry for using the four-letter work on a Sunday!!

Be seeing ya!

Giveaway!

Paulette is having a great ‘Giveaway’ over at her blog ‘Sweet P Quilting and Creations’. The giveaway is for a new Canadian magazine, together with fabric to make a lovely ‘Partridge in a Pear Tree wall hanging’ that appears in the magazine. Go check it out!

Harvest Home

I’m doing this late at night and am rather tired, so please excuse any smelling mispakes!!

I can’t believe that having just had two weeks off work that I’ve achieved so little sewing. I thought I’d do loads! However, I’ve only managed a couple of little things, this being one of them.




And this is a re-work of an earlier project. I was experimenting with the pinwheel pattern using the ‘Harvest Home’ range of fabrics, which I absolutely lurrrrrve, but wasn’t happy with the result, so I took it apart and tried again ..... it’s marginally better I think. It’s only a small piece and fits nicely over the back of the settee and also blends very nicely with the colour of the settee, which was lucky. Not terribly inspiring though!

....... back to work on Monday (big GROAN):0(

Haworth & The Brontes'

Well, I’ve had a very agreeable few days away with my lovely cousin, Pauline. We went to Haworth in Yorkshire – home of the Brontë sisters. I’ve been before, but Pauline hadn’t. However, it never fails to amaze me just how quaint and charming the village of Haworth is with its old, cobbled (and very steep!) main street, and many of the original buildings – wouldn’t like to walk down the road in the winter when it’s icy though!! It’s mainly there for the tourists these days and the buildings are, therefore, very in keeping with the Brontë period. My favourite shop is the Apothecary, which is where Branwell Brontë (Charlotte’s brother) bought his Opium! Now it sells all sorts of gorgeous bath goodies and old vintage style nik naks – really lovely! This is it here:-



And this is the very steep main street (one from near the top and one from the bottom):-




We visited the Brontë Parsonage Museum, which was home to the Brontë family from 1820 to 1861. And just down the lane is the church which the Brontë sisters’ father (Patrick Brontë) presided over.




My cousin thoroughly enjoyed her visit to Haworth ....... and here is a photograph of Pauline looking very interested in ........ umm, I can’t remember what now!!! I don’t think she'll mind her photograph being on my blog – she said she wouldn’t mind so long as she didn’t look daft in the picture - and she couldn't possibly look daft as she's so lovely - that enough creeping darling Pauline??!!!




This is a cobbled passage near the church taking you down to the main street (so full of old-world charm)



And this is the view from our hotel, which had spectacular views like this all the way around:-



I told myself that I wasn’t going to post a picture of me, but, what the heck – here I am – notice I’ve cut the hips and thighs off – I’m not so stupid you know!!!!



I managed to stick to my diet for the first few days away, but slipped towards the end of my stay and unfortunately, that’s rolled into today as well – I just couldn’t resist a cream cake whilst I was out and about – naughty, but nice!!!

I need to get back to my stitching me thinks ...... take my mind off food!!!

More Cross-stitch!

............ a pincushion this time. Nice and easy to do too – it didn’t take long to complete. The pattern came to me courtesy of Pat – thank you Pat. I have deviated slightly from the pattern, as the pattern title is called ‘My Pins’ and the original has the word ‘My’ at the top whereas I’ve simply repeated the word ‘Pins’ instead. I’ve also used what floss and linen I had to hand ...... trying to use some of my stash you see – aren’t I good??!!! I was quite impressed with myself actually, as the only linen I had was an antique white, which is lovely, but not what this pattern called for, so I tea-dyed it – first time I’ve done it – and it worked. Why do I sound so amazed with myself I ask!! So, I’m really hooked on cross-stitch again now, although I have just started on a small patchwork project – well, truth to tell, I’m re-working an earlier patchwork project that I didn’t feel worked out very well ...... may be able to show you that next time!

But right now (well, in about half an hour) I'm going away for few days! I’m off to see my lovely cousin Pauline in Macclesfield and her equally lovely other-half, Jonathan. Then Pauline and I are off to Haworth (Bronte country) in Yorkshire for a couple of days – can’t wait! I’ve been before, but Pauline hasn’t.

See ya later!

Blackbird Design Finish!

..... and two whole weeks off work – boy am I happy today!
Well now, I’ve finished my Blackbird Designs ‘Buttons & Pins’ cross-stitch and then I ummm’d & ahhh’d – "shall I make it up into a pincushion as in the pattern picture (see last post) or frame it. As you can see, I decided on the frame. The frame (a 50p bargain from a recent car boot sale!!) is exactly the right size and I think the black compliments the colours of the design ......... anyone disagree strongly? I could still make it up into a pincushion, but my next little project is going to be a pincushion, which is what swayed me with the frame.

Any comments gratefully received!