Sunday 8 September 2013

Weston & star frustrations...

So this time last week, we were in Weston-Super-Mare. We have an annual trip here as this is where my Grandad lives. We would be happy to come more often, but with the cost of train travel it is not possible.
The journey itself is quite pleasant, and of course it is lovely to catch up with family.


We chatted, put the world to rights, had a wander around his garden, had tea and cake and watched the football.
In the evening we walked down the long, endless road, with a lovely sunset to view.



We arrived at our B+B, which we hadn't stayed at before, but was perfectly adequate for our needs.
We had a great choice for breakfast in the morning, in the lovely breakfast room, which set us up perfectly for the day ahead.


We started by going around the shopping area of Weston, which we haven't been around previously, before heading towards the beach.
We wanted to go to see the Sand Sculptures, as we normally do, as it is the most fantastic exhibition.
Every year they have a different theme, and this years was Hollywood....


These are huge, magnificent, sculptures which has a basic wooden frame, and the rest is just built up with sand.


As the weather has been good this summer, they were able to continue making and building, where as they usual have to make repairs from the elements they have endured.
We watched as a lady was making a small 'Mike Wazowski' from Monsters Inc, and it showed how slow and delicate the process was. Spraying the sand with water to make it more managable, and lightly scraping the sand away, tiny amounts at a time, to make the shape. Scrape too much away and you cant put it back on again!


My favourites had to be the 'Up' sculpture and of course Sid the Sloth...


For lunch, we went down the traditional route of 'Fish and Chips' by the beach


and then we finished off the day with fun on the pier


Although it was only a couple of days, it was lovely to escape and to have a change of scenery to refresh the batteries.


Craftwise, it has been a very frustrating week. I'm still persisting with my star in a square, but not making much headway. 

I worked two stars together, and worked around them.


I went back to the original star/square, and used the colours from my new stash that I intend to use. Firstly, I felt the star look too snowflake-like in the cream, and secondly I could still not get past the fact that I think it's too open.


I tried again and forgot I was doing a square, and went into a pentagon.



But today finally I think I'm getting there, as this time I worked into every stitch around the star edge.


I did wing it, and go by eye, so it isn't perfect, the square is a little wobbly and uneven, but at least I have something to work from now, and just need to count and plan ( something i'm not used to ) to get the sides equal

Hopefully this will be the last version as its been a long and frustrating two weeks of doing and redoing, i'm looking forward to be able to just crack on with making...
Any feedback regarding the cream, dark red and grey for the autumnal colours would be grateful.

16 comments:

  1. It's really nice to be able to follow someone else's thought process - how you're creating your star in a square (tricky considering you have to shape 5 sides into 4!). It looks like your last attempt is definitely working though. I love the red, cream and grey together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you :-) it certainly has been very tricky!
      I will be sticking to that colourway for the scarf x

      Delete
  2. Hooray for you! The star looks great. You have a lot of patience. Your photos are beautiful. Looks like you had a great time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you we had a lovely time :-)
      It has certainly started to test my patience! x

      Delete
  3. Looks like you had a lovely time. The sand sculptures are SO impressive. Well done for persisting with the star in blocks and I like the grey cream red combinations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sand sculptures always manage to impress us!
      It has been hard going but am determined to get resoolved!
      I will be going ahead with the the grey,cream and red for the scarf, but may change a little for the cushion x

      Delete
  4. I hope you have framed the picture of you and your grandad - it is so lovely :o) And the star looks great - you have such patience!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes youre right i really should get the pic framed, in fact i might get a few copies and frame for xmas family pressies :-)
      This project has certainly tried my patience!!

      Delete
  5. love those sand sculptures, what a work of art! It must be a real treat to visit each year.

    Your final version of the star in a square is fantastic! well done for your persistence, it paid off in the end!

    My personal preference colour wise would be the cream and red together without the grey, although i love the grey, its a cooler colour and i love the warm tones for Autumn :) x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we look forward to our annual trip, its certainly worth it!
      Thank you, it pushed me to the limit this pattern!

      Thank you for your colour opinion, I appreciate your feedback. I agree I prefer warmer tones for Autumn. I will go ahead with the chosen 3 for the scarf as these fashion colours seem to be around at the moment, but for the cushion i may warm it up with some purple :) xx

      Delete
  6. I agree with free Spirit, red and cream are really autumnal colours. You should be proud of your star in a square. It takes a lot of determination to keep redoing something until it looks right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you x i was very determined to get it right but i sure felt like throwing in the towel at times!

      Delete
  7. By George I think you've done it! The contrast of the orange and pink is wonderful and that pattern works really well. Well done for persevering x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you x its been very testing thats for sure! x

      Delete
  8. It is really great to see how your design has progressed. Thanks for sharing it with us. xx

    ReplyDelete