Winter Colour

Hi folks! Are you, like me, in need of a bit of cheering up? I know "t'is the season" and all that, but I have been attacked by a nasty little virus recently which, quite apart from laying me low and giving me some pain and grief, has put paid to three days - THREE WHOLE DAYS - of lovely events over this weekend gone. Add one or two other little worries to the mix and you have a not-very-festive frame of mind here in Chez Gill, I'm afraid.

SO, I thought, let's have some colour. Without too many words (I'm sure you won't mind that!) and quite a few pictures, here we go - enjoy the show!

COLOUR - in the garden.

                                     Brave little blossoms, keepin' on keepin' on!

                                               My garden mosaics hangin' on in there.

COLOUR- in the summer house

    On the left we have the almost-finished-painting shelving unit Jim built and I wall-papered and painted. I hope you like the paper - discount store, cheap as chips but JUST what I was looking for!

On the right - the almost finished armoire. When it has its door with chicken-wire and pleated fabric finish, it will look perfectly lush. See what I mean about that paper? Picks out so many shades in the other furnishings and paint.

COLOUR- all over the place!

                                All my blankets - apart from the two in the summer house.

This is my Lucy Bag Mk 2 - the first one grew SOOooooo huge it now holds a gazillion balls of wool.

Lucy Bag, and the Noro wool bag I made a few months ago. Just didn't have sufficient for the strap, unfortunately.

                                       Can't get enough of these shots of deliciousness!

                                                                       …….. can you tell?

Well, that's your lot, hope it has brightened up a chilly day for you. I find clusters of colour like this actually DO make me feel warmer and happier. Visual endorphins, maybe. I hope you find something to give you a burst of cheer today. Until next time!

Long To Rain Over Us..........

                                                                       Very Wet Lovage

No, not a spelling mistake, just a comment on the state of play,weatherwise, for the past 15 or so hours, and no let-up in sight. Not wishing to labour the point.........

                                                "Raindrops on Roses....tra la la...."

                                          Ladies' Mantle sparkling away prettily

Ok enough with the rain. Here's what we cheered ourselves up with on the supper front last night.

                                                 Chinese Fish Broth with Noodles

No, bear with me, it was great. I sauteed off a very thinly sliced red onion, red pointy pepper, 3 cloves garlic and a few button mushrooms. Threw in a handful of cherry tomatoes. Added a couple of hefty shakes of Chinese 5-spice. Laid a freshly caught and cleaned rainbow trout on top and covered with fish stock.  I chopped and added the usual garden herbs - parsley and lovage I think. At the last minute I thought to add a couple of anchovies in oil. When it was bubbling I broke up a good handful of spaghetti and bunged that in, then tore up the remains of the spinach from the salad drawer, lid on, slow oven. When ready to eat, I removed the trout, deboned and chunked the flesh, and served. Bloomin' good it was too!

So while we're enjoying the colour, here's what I found between the living room and my sewing room, all old stuff but bright and.....er....beautiful? Well, I thought so at the time!

My Caravan Blanket. No, we don't have a caravan.

                                       My version of Lucy's Granny Stripe Blanket

                                                              My Lucy Bag

I did make leaves for the flowers on the original bag I made, but unfortunately I crocheted it in acrylic wool which s..t..r..e..t..c..h..e..d until it was HUGE enough to hold my entire wool stash; it is buried at the moment under quilts so fortunately I can't show it to you! Second time round I used cotton and it held its shape, but by the time I'd made the flowers I had had enough!

Here are some crazy patchwork bags I made back in the dark ages - I used to teach a workshop on making these - Exotic Embellishment - Not for Minimalists! was the title.

                        Notice the beads at the bottom - I called this Muggers Beware!

                                            Details from a couple of smaller bags

        I was really into making machine-wrapped cords, too. I made yards and yards of them!

 

It seems I was never off my machine in those days. Now I only use it to whizz up a few seams and binding. Oh, and a little free-machine writing and scribble embroidery. But that's only recently, and for the craft fair. Nowadays I am much more into Slow Cloth, having become entranced by the work and words of Jude Hill - check out her blog Spirit Cloth, especially her archive.

Well, folks, I really hope the colour has added a little cheer to your day, and most importantly, for those of you involved in any outdoorsy happenings for the Jubilee - I do hope this rain stops for you and you have a wonderful, DRY celebration!

Craft Fair Count Down

                                                                          Bless this Mess!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Polly and (Esther) in the previous post - I'd love some feedback as to whether you'd like to see them again.

                            Amongst the mess, you can see what keeps me going - copious amounts of talking book!

This blog was set up with express purpose of documenting the events and preparations leading up to Textile Treasury's first Craft Fair. Circumstances have changed, but I decided, with encouragement from friends and family, to continue my commitment to both the blog and the fair, not knowing how I'd get on with either.

                                                Oh dear, sewing room looking like a jumble sale......................


Less than a week to go - as you can tell by the state of my sewing room! I decided to come clean and put some frank and fearsome photos up showing the extent of the mess. Truely a Room of Doom! Lots of boring -but-neccesary jobs to do, like pricing and labelling. And of course, everyday life goes on, so have been very busy, not a lot of time to dream up an intellectually stimulating blog theme! You'll have to make do with a load of diverse piccies and a few comments.

                                Stuff hanging around all over the place. Notice my macbook for dummies........

                                                             Slightly more attractive mess!


Obviously I shall have to see how the craft fair pans out, one would like some little degree of success to encourage further effort! However, the blog seems to have taken on a life of its own, which I am enjoying hugely. I've been thrilled to discover how many other folks are reading it - yes! I have discovered my stats!!! And where they are coming from - it is quite incredible that I have regular visitors from Russia, Poland, Turkey, India, China and other far-flung - and near by - places. It's even more fun when you leave me comments, as I enjoy the bits and bobs of discussion which have sprung up. Keep 'em comin'!  I still struggle a little with the techie bits, but am getting used to whipping out the camera at the drop of a hat, and jotting down snippets for later use.

                                                                    vintage textile bundles


And speaking of snippets, here are some vintage fabric bundles which arrived last week from Christine at the Sea Garden - including a lovely piece of old quilt which she popped in as a little extra - thank you Christine! Aren't they beautiful? Love the Suffolk Puffs, and have made some little fabric collages and popped them onto cards as a try-out.

                                          Textile cards and Japanese pouches...er and a bit more mess!

I wouldn't like you to think that I don't do ANY housework (No sarkey comments from close friends, IF you please!) I have tried to keep the stitchy mess from migrating out of the sewing room, but it doesn't always work out.........

                                                                        Right-hand end of sofa......

                              left-hand end of sofa...spot the Lucy Granny Blanket? Subtle colours, eh?

                 See, I do dust! Although I've just realised that there are two small angel dolls in that Portmeirion bowl!


So, only four and a bit days to go. While you lot are all enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend, sunning yourselves on the beach, stuck in traffic jams with other day trippers, cooking up a storm for your visiting hordes, or watching the dripping garden through rain-streaked windows, I shall be running around like a mad thing trying to get organised for Monday!

                         A relatively tidy pile, I feel. Notice smidgeon of my Lucy Bag hanging on door.


Next post, it will be all over. I may have brought home a HUGE amount of stuff! Ah well, it'll be less to make for the next one...........Ho Ho! Anyway, wish me luck, and I promise to spill the unexpurgated beans when I have the energy to write a new post. Have lovely weekends, and I really hope the weather is kind - to all of us!