Fiddling with wool

Last night my fingers got itchy for creating something.... and as I was fiddling around on the Web yesterday I stumbled upon this cute little hedgehog made from wool. I only saw the picture, there was no pattern, so I  managed to draw it up. I stuck my drawings  and  cut it out of a cereal box to have nice strong templates. I traced the shapes on the desired colors of wool felt, sewed and glued it up, made a few french knots in the middle, attached a bead for the eye and finally glued a brooch pin onto it!

Fun! And definitely not a very good picture, but I love it and will be making a few as gifts soon!

I finished all my admin duties! Hooray x 100!! It was really giving me a headache! But now I've passed the work on to our new bookkeeper so these worries will never by mine again. And since she is much more qualified than me, she won't stress out like I do!

Ps: the jersey I am wearing my mom knitted a few years ago and it is still a favourite in my winter wardrobe.

Reading

I found this book at a rummage sale a while ago, not knowing when I will have the time to read it. I started when we were on holiday a month ago. Initially I struggled to get into the story, but persevered.... well, it was not an easy read. Mr Lamb uses a bit of foul language which I didn't appreciate, he uses "big" words that I had to google because the dictionary I have doesn't contain those words! ( I used a dictionary the kids used in high school). But I got into the story and eventually couldn't wait to find out how the story ends. I enjoyed the book, but I wouldn't rush out to the shop to go and buy a new copy....but I think it was not a bad read altogether. I think what was biggest turnoff for me is that God is not acknowledged as the one and only God ... and as a believer I wanted that to come through eventually.

Otherwise I've been knitting squares for a friend of mine. They want to knit blankets for a orphanage in the country side. I think they want 60 blankets. Each blanket will consist of 7 by 11 blocks. I've knit 10 blocks so far. I've also knitted a fluffy winter scarf which came out lovely. It's a mixture between brown and black - my 2 favourite winter colours! No quilting at the moment, as I am busy with admin duties for my husband. Next week life will be back to normal. I've got a quilt loaded on the frame, but first I need to finish the admin as the deadline is 31 May. After that: let the games begin....aka let the quilting begin!

OPAM 2012

 

A Finish!! I quilted this before we went on holiday, bended it while we were on holiday and managed to finish the stitch in the ditch yesterday. I cannot remember on whose blog I saw this quilt about a year and a half ago, but I loved it so much I worked the pattern out and remade it. This is now MY quilt, where all the others the kids and my hubby uses in front of the TV, this one I will be using.... not that I spend a lot of time in front of the TV....

Over the weekend I stumbled upon a few blogs that I've never seen before and it was so nice to "meet" new folks. I commented on there blogs and they all replied! Such nice people!

Not a idle moment

Last week I had a customer who loved my previous Lipgloss Girls bag and wanted to buy it... well, here is my new one...which I love even more! I sewed the whole of Thursday and Friday (my mom did the embroidery of the lips and glasses). The lace I used is from the rummage sale my mom and I visited in March and the braid I bought in Holland in 2010 - I am so glad I had a opportunity to use it.  This is the end result of last weeks post on Mistakes we make... well, how does the saying go : all is well that ends well!

I also managed to finish this mini quilt - my plan was to hand quilt this little one, but the classes are on a Thursday afternoon and I can't make it! So I stitched in the ditch and cross hatched it finished the binding on Friday evening. I wanted it done for Saturday as it was our quarterly Quilters Guild meeting and since I want to present it as a workshop, my example had to be done. I LOVE these feedsack prints!

Well, my prize from OPAM 2012 arrived in the mail on Saturday - thanks Peg! I am in need of a bookmark, as my current one is the pamphlet of how to use Mandy wax strips! The bag has three beautiful stitcheries, another OPAM in the making???

Finally, I quilted this quilt yesterday. My mom and I made it in December for a friend of ours who is turning 60 soon. She bought a lot of fabric a few years ago but never got into quilting, so we decided to make her a quilt from all her own fabric. All that we bought was the outside border. Now my mom just needs to do the binding.   

What I didn't mention was: as I was finishing off this quilt this morning, I sewed RIGHT through my finger - broke the needle in 3 pieces... not once but TWICE! Is there any excuses for being blond????   

Mistakes we make

Today I was so eager to start a new applique project, that I did not notice my mistake... I traced all the patterns on the "applique paper", cut them out roughly, ironed them on to the wrong side of my chosen fabrics, neatly cut them on the line and then tried to iron them on my background fabric.... but they wouldn't stick: there was no glue... so I re-ironed them, peeled the paper off again, but still no glue.... Not knowing what the problem was, I got quite desperate... only to suddenly realise I was using FREEZER PAPER and NOT applique paper... So, I started again: this time tracing all the designs on the REAL applique paper, now cutting them precisely and sticking them on my all ready cut fabric pieces... a good waste of two hours....

Blissful holiday

What a beautiful country we have! We went to the Drakensberg Mountains near Underberg in Kwazulu Natal for a week. What a long drive, but SO worth it! We hiked in the mountains, went horseback riding, played tennis, putt-putt and even paintball. The kids even swam in the small heated pool, but I didn't have a bather there... This photo was the view from the patio of the resort. It was so incredibly beautiful! We had tea and scones there 3 mornings in a row, we had meals there and the farewell barbeque. It was the best holiday in a long time! We arrived home on Saturday night and oh the bliss of sleeping in your own bed again! The dogs and cats were so glad we were home: both cats slept right on top of me! The dogs spent the night at my bedside(if the St Bernard were any smaller...she might have been in my bed too!)Well, the small black one was in my bed, but that was a bit much with the 2 cats on top of me...

Yesterday I spent most of the day doing the laundry and even managed to catch up on the 2 blocks that I was behind in the Blogger Block of the Month! My husband had to go into the office and the kids were catching up on homework, so I had free time...which I so enjoyed! I also made some progress on a UFO while we were away: I sewed done the binding on a quilt, but it still needs some stitching in the ditch before it is done ... so no photo's yet!