Creative Charity Stuff.......

Stuff for a charity stall......

From this....

To this.....

To this.......

From this........

To this......

I'm going to suggest £2 each? Would you pay £2 for a bundle of pretty pegs - or a bright tissue holder.... Answers on a post card please!

Ta Dah: Crochet Blanket

One of the QQ has recently joined another group of creative girls for extra hooky ....... the girls in her hooky group make blankets for Romanian Orphans. They recently put a call out for any wool to help with the continued creation of these blankets - in fact a request for teenage boys colours.  By luck not long after the request, my local charity shop had several bags for sale - so picking them up - most of the balls - shading of blues and bright colours were passed on the new hooky group but I also decided to pick up 10 balls of lilac and 12 balls of mint green.  I decided neither fitted the teenage boy shading request, so thought at some point I could produce a blanket or blankets for another charity - also useful to practice my own hooky!

So back in May......I decided on granny squares - out of each ball, a square as big as I could go. Each ball was 50g.

Several weeks later.... June.

By July I had produced 9 squares, oddly enough of various sizes.  Mainly two sizes 12" through to 13".  I have since discovered that I used two different hooks - both size 4, but the tension (maybe the way I hold the different hooks) was different per hook. Lesson One: Keep to one hook per project.

I 'blocked' each square - this certainly helped however, in hindsight I should have taken much more time with this process - especially as the squares were not all the size.

Boarders were added during July and August - using three more balls. And then the final blanket was 'blocked' again.

Ta Dah....

A liitle wonky (!).  Lesson Two: Spend more time 'Blocking' at each stage.

And then four little decorative flowers were added - I don't want any wool left from this project so the flowers were added to use up the small bits - and to try and make the blanket a little bit special for the new owner.  Although clearly not for a teenage boy, I will pass this to the Orphan group in the hope they can find a little girl to love it!! 

Note: 12 Balls of 50g. Final Size Approx: 47" by 43"

The best of both worlds......

A quick trip to visit my Mum and Dad this weekend - an excuse to catch up with my parents but in addition - a quilt exhibition AND a classic car show all thrown in for good measure!  I don't think we have ever been luckily enough to view quilts and cars on the same day.

Dad had informed me of the quilt exhibition some time ago - and with one thing and another only one day was available to visit. Held at the Museum of Life in Stowmarket - I was in two minds what to expect....

Their write up gave me great hope that it would be worth the journey....

Textile enthusiasts are in for a big treat this summer as the Museum of East Anglian Life presents a unique selection of Welsh quilts from the Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth.
Recognisingcthe harsh existence for farmers, miners and seafarers in mid Wales during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, handmade quilts provided comfort and warmth amidst sparsely furnished dwellings. The exhibition follows the winding path of economics through the use of scraps of old cloth, tailors samples and much repaired or patched quilts, compared to specially purchased colourful satins and silks. Each of these fabrics was used to produce visually stunning patchwork covers.
Most of the quilts have personal stories attached to their making. Not only are they technically interesting but they are also historically fascinating. Quilt making is usually a social activity bringing people together and giving the makers a chance to share time together.

Well...... two very small rooms - not much bigger than my living room - containing seven welsh quilts.  Disappointed.

As we looked, and looked again to check we had not missed a floor/room/building - we discovered a poster containing information about Quilts in the Garden - when we asked where these could be found we were directed to the lower floor to discover three miniature quilts....... um ......

I would have to give their Marketing team full mark, and perhaps even a pay rise for advertising the 'exhibtion' so well.  However, whoever suggested seven quilts made an exhibition should really be moved on......

Leaving Mum behind with her knitting - we headed off for the afternoon session of classic cars....

A short walk along side the river.....

The River Gipping runs in between both ICI and the new Bosch factory.  The Bosch factory was the old Qualcast/Atco factory many years ago, and during the last few years Stowmarket has seen many changes - especially a range of new access roads ...... one bridge used to carry one of the new roads highlights the story of the lawn mower factory.... 

The other side displays the Suffolk Punches.......

We did have a little bet on the walk into Stowmarket, as to whether the car count would be more than the mornings quilt count - and as it happens - more - we stopped counting at 70!!  

And what a selection - I never knew so many people lived in Stowmarket and I never knew there was so many old cars!!!!



Diddy Dotty Cot Quilt: Ta Dah

You wait ages for a little one to appear and then they all come at once!!  First we had a future QQ arrive last Sunday 21st July - little baby Alice first Grand Daughter for HS - and if we don't make a quilter out of her before she's 18 then we have not done our jobs properly!  Then of course the Royal Baby - Prince George and last but not least little baby Emily born on Wednesday 24th July. 

Luckily for me - only one is to receive a little quilted cot quilt. Little Baby Emily.  The pattern I have used has been taken from Super Quick Colourful Quilts by Rosemary Wilkenson - Page 70



With my pile of requested pastels, off I set selecting the necessary fabric....

Pieces cut in one evening, 

Pieces joined into rows during my quilting evening with HW, and the rows joined together Sunday morning.

Boarders added at the same time....

No template needed when you have a wonderful mug to hand!

Commence quilting ......

And before you know it - all quilted and binding on....... 



Ta Dah......

I always try and label my quilts - so when I become a world famous quilter when I'm old, people can say they have an original (lol and anyway when I wake up from my dream.....). I have a wonderful poem I add to the baby quilts, can't remember where it came from but think it was a fellow QQ who found it.  It has to be added to any baby quilt produced!

IT'S YOUR QUILT
Nancy Riddell

* * *

It's OK if you sit on your quilt
It's OK if your bottle gets spilt
If you swallow some air
And you burp, don't despair;
It's OK if you spit on your quilt

There are scraps old and new on your quilt,
Put together for you on your quilt.
If your gums feel numb
'Cause your teeth haven't come,
It's OK if you chew on your quilt

We expect you to lie on your quilt.
If you hurt, you can cry on your quilt.
On a cold, rainy night,
Don't you fret, you're all right,
You'll be snug, warm and dry on your quilt 

* * *

Welcome to the world, little Alice, little Emily and little George - I hope the world treats you all well and you all get everything you dream of.

Time and Motion Study....

I have been asked several times now about the amount of time I spend 'crafting'.  My reply is 'not a lot' - but I do try and fit in something when I have time free - be it 10 minutes or an hour.  I also do try and do a few hours on a Saturday (the only day I class as mine - although this is also my day for washing, cleaning, shopping, paperwork etc etc).

So...... here we go, a time and motion study for crafting hours by Creative Carole.

Total hours this week: 168
Total hours at Work: 50
Total hours Sleeping: 54
Total hours Travelling: Work (4 hrs) Social (4 hrs)


Leaving me with 56 hours to 'play' - wow 56 hours - great - I could do a whole double quilt in 56 hours - but I have a feeling life is going to get in the way!!

Sunday - AM - 2 Hours

Sewing my rows together on a baby quilt - boarders - sandwich together - quilt all squares and half the circles.

Sunday - Local Fate BH 3 hours



Sunday - PM - 1 Hour

Finish quilting circles and bind.

Sunday - Cut lawn & oil new cutting board 1 hour -  Swimming 1 hour

Sunday Evening  (Late) - 1/2 hour

Wash dyed fabric - anything Yellow, Red or Orange - rinse and put in washing machine.

Monday - Blog QQ 1/2 hour lunch time.

Monday Evening - . 1 Hour

Washing remaining fabric from Saturday

Monday Evening - 2 hours - fixing desktop computer

Tuesday - Blog QQ 3/4 hour lunch time. Blog CC 1/4 hour lunch time

Tuesday Evening - . 1 Hour

Sinking ends while watching New Tricks

Tuesday Evening - 2 hours - transferring stuff from desktop to laptop!

Wednesday - Blog 1/2 Hour Lunch Time

Wednesday evening - Drinking and a meal with friends...

Thursday Evening 2 hours with HW

Sewing Binding

And comparing my thread with HW dyed fabric from last weekend!

Friday Swimming and a meal with D

Saturday Morning 1 hour

Sewing binding

Saturday afternoon - Hair, make up and wedding reception

And the answer to the question - for this week - my creative time amounts to : 8.5 hours

So the conclusion of this study - not enough time - and a little bit of motion. I don't think I spend a great deal of time crafting - certainly not as much as I would like - however - I know when a deadline is near the cleaning gets put on hold and D gets his own tea!

BUT I think the question I really should have been asked this week - what do I do with the other 47.5 hours of disposable time I have. That's a whole UFO a week that I could be doing!