Flowers & PJ's

So in my head I was thinking I could get both of my Chrysanthemum cushions completed for this week, but this is the problem, what my head thinks and what is reality are two different things!

I have pretty much completed one though, apart from the last couple of buttons to be sewed on.

I will get cracking with the second and hopefully fingers crossed they can have their special ta dah moment together pretty soon!

Until then I'll just leave you with a sneaky peak!

I did get a little side tracked at one point. I had been tidying the bedroom, which led to me sorting out my wardrobe, when I found a pair of P.J bottoms that had got a hole in. Now I'm sure the average person would just chuck them, but for me I saw potential! I sat down immediately and starting cutting them up in to strips, and before I'd got too far, I grabbed my largest crochet hook and started a circle.

I absolutely love how this looks. It has an amazingly thick feel to it, perfect to turn it into a basket. A fab quick, fun project I thought, BUT, it totally kills the wrist, and gave me a shooting pain up my arm. Gutted! I will persevere, but I will be sensible and do just a little at a time. I had set aside some jumpers to use too, and was looking forward to having a play. I don't know if it would help if I used a larger size hook, as I just went with what I had, which was only 6mm, so it does turn out quite dense! I will have a go, but all in good time....

I did do a cheeky little yarn order. Sensibly it was because I needed a joining colour, so I could actually finish an old wip,

 but as there was a drops sale, it would have been rude not to throw another pretty in the basket too!!

As I'm finishing projects. this meant I had nothing portable to do in lunch breaks. I decided to make some more flowers.

 If you remember these were from my monochrome cushion, but I have something different planned for these, but you'll have to stay tuned to find out what!

I'm still continuing with my floral mood blanket.

 It's growing well now, and I appreciated that it actually covers my legs now when I sew in the ends, as it was beneficial when we had a couple of chilly evenings!

That's all for this week, I hope to have more visuals for you next week...

Sticking with hearts...

So this week I carried on in my happy sticky place!
More cutting tissue into little squares, and glueing them into place round the heart boxes.

I also had a try at using paper napkins. I have read on other blogs of these being used as a medium and I liked this idea. So I popped in to trusty Tiger and found a pretty patterned set, which I initially dismissed as I thought it looked too (whispers) Christmassy, but then I realised that was a good reason to buy it! I liked the way this turned out and by peeling away each layer it gives you plenty to work with. As I am upcycling boxes, I have a pattern I need to cover up, so using the plain white back layer of the tissue this works well. I then started to add the second layer of tissue, which has a fine imprint of the design, and I left it, as I thought this looked like a pretty pastel version.

Once I'd completed the bright version, I thought a tiny sprig of holly, or a festive bow would finish it off nicely, so it looks like a trip to Hobbycraft is in order...

I now can't wait to move onto some bigger projects, they will need much more embellishments, but all my papercraft  resources are buried at the back of the garage!!

With all this paperwork going on it meant I didn't get much crochet done, in fact the only progress I've made on my summer flowers cushion is some sewing! Yes, you did read that correctly, Sewing!!!
The problem I had, was I wanted some smaller, more delicate flowers at the bottom of the cushion, but even the smallest flowers in my crochet book were turning out larger than I hoped. So my solution was to add some embroidery flowers. Firstly I had to look up how to do this. I found a great little video clip on Needle 'n threads website, on how to do the daisy stitch. It's was just what I wanted, and possible for an amateur like me!

I think they will look cute nestled in the leaves and stalks of the bigger flowers, and I added some button centres to help make them stand out more.

I've gone back to basics with this weeks mood square, for the simple fact that @suregal27 declared it to be grannysquareday on Friday and a whole host of crafters posted a close up picture of their granny square,

which enabled us by the end of the day to make a collage of people's squares and end up with a virtual blanket...

My second tah dah!!

So after two weeks and I have my second tah dah in a row!!
I've finished my 'Summer Flowers' cushion, which was quite a joy to make, so much so i'm dyeing to make a second one, but not sure ive got quite enough green left!!

After sewing down the petals and creating the stems and little leaves, i was left with quite alot of ends to deal with on the back.

The problem was, they were all different colour threads, which couldn't be woven across the main colour, as they would show through to the front, but i did my best going throught the back of the same colour stitches

I added some pretty little green buttons for fastening

And finally i crocheted the edges together, so I now have another scrummy, fat squishy cushion!

I managed to grab a little bit of sunlight this evening, after work, to take my new cushion for a little walk.....

I'm very pleased with my two cushions, but I haven't touched anything since!

I think I've been revelling at having achieved some finished projects. It's certainly made me feel more positive, more than just the pleasure of creating, but having a purpose at the end of it all...

 I'm a bit undecided what to do next, of course I still have some more wip's to complete or maybe i'll allow myself a new project!!

This weeks mood square (I confess I haven't had a chance to sew in the ends yet!)

The middle part of the square is the 'Spoke wheel' pattern from the 150 blocks to knit and crochet
colours this week = peach - hot summer days
lilac - relaxation
purple - work and lifes chores...

I have no work now for over a week!! We are off to visit my mother on Wednesday, once hubby has had his Mri the day before.
So I'll back with you guys again in a fortnight...

My first ta dah !

So finally I have done it ! I've finished one of my 'works in progress'

All panels made...

Ends woven in...

All pieces sewn together...

Little buttons added for fastening...

My lovely fat squishy 'heathers' cushion...

I love it...

My original plan was to make a big fimo, decorative button for the centre, and then I wondered whether a big crochet flower would work well, but now I'm not so sure whether it needs any decoration at all? What do you guys reckon?

I've also moved onto the next wip, and continued with the 'summer garden' cushion.  After all your lovely comments last week, I made a start on securing the flowers to the background.

My next dilemma was to figure out how to produce the stems. When I was playing around with the design, all I had done was lay a strand of yarn loose on top and loop de looped it. So how to achieve that effect and not produce something too heavy and overpowering. So I tried simply crocheting directly on to the main panel, kind of like a crochet version of embroidery.

I just went with the flow and you know I love it!  Sometimes simple is best!!

I may well add some 3d leaves too, I'll see once the stems are completed...

So hopefully it won't be too long before the next finished item.

This weeks mood square:-

I chose the 'Spoke wheel' pattern from the '150 blocks to knit and crochet' book, and then turned it into a square. Its amazing how different the pattern looks after squaring it off...

I used  pale green, rose pink, mid blue and bright sunshiny yellow, for the lovely hot sunny days, relaxed days off, a little bit of frustration as we still await hubby's knee to be assessed, and a little bit of lifes stresses that creep in.

So that's my efforts for this week...

Heathers and Bluebells...

Thank you all for last weeks lovely comments...
Sadly, no I don't' have a proper pattern for my Owlie, I have a bad habit of making things up as i go, even if i have the good intentions of writing down as i go, it doesnt quite happen, see a true disorganised crafter. This though, is a habit that i really must rectify!! I even have about 6 notebooks on the go to try, where I keep attempting to be good, so i really need to come up with a proper system, so i know what yarn, colours, the pattern, and the cost of each item....
Does anyone else have system in place??

This week, when i had a good rummage in my yarn stash, I was really taken with the beautiful tones of these little balls...

They reminded me of heather...
Although i knew i didn't have enough to do a project with these yarns, i picked out some similar colours for my next cushion. I quite like the colour palette although i would have preferred some more purple hues...

This is the back of the cushion completed, just a basic granny square, where as the front will be made up of four quarters...

As I had a lovely three days off, i took the chance to visit a dear old friend, who i've known for over 20 years. Having recently lost her husband she was very low, so after lunch we picked up her dogs

to go for a long walk

Its a great walking area, with open fields and woodlands

We were so lucky on this occasion, that the bluebells were still around, a whole carpet of blue and violet as far as you could see...

Beautiful stems and individual flowers

I had some 'happy mail' in the post. I spotted a picture of some skull fabric on instagram. I had one of those "I have to have" moments. I didnt Need anything but I just couldn't say no, so I asked 'SewRayMe' for a little storage bag to be made for me with a contrast lining. Of course I have lots of lovely bits and pieces that can go in it, so it will be put to good use.

This weeks mood square:

Lilac = relaxation, Purple/Green = fields and bluebells, Pink/Cream = relaxed days off

Next Sunday, we are off on our long annual journey to Cornwall, to visit my Dad, I'm so looking forward to it, and fingers crossed we have some nice weather, but we've had a set back with hubby's knee, as its swollen up and painful again, lets hope it improves so we can enjoy some trips out...

Ends and new beginnings. ..

This week has been quiet and uneventful, though I guess that's not such a bad thing!
Hubby is still laid up, but hospital confirmed it was a ruptured Bakers cyst, he just need to sit it out to heal!
The beginning of the week was all about sewing in ends.

I got as far as I could with the crochet of my cotton ripple cushion,

so it was a mammoth task with all those colour changes to get the ends dealt with!

I have ordered some cushion inserts, so when they arrive I will be able to continue making this cover the right size and working out a border!

On one of my charity shop visits I spotted some yarn. Now this happened to coincide with an idea I had formed in my head, for a Spring cushion and this was a perfect backdrop colour! Anyway, as we all know a crafter can never have too much yarn!. I got started with it straight away and its such lovely yarn to work with a mix of acrylic, cotton and wool.

I've also had odd moments at lunch where ive managed to continue with my multi toned squares.

This weeks mood square...

A bit of blue, for my usual tired state, and a mix of pastel pink, peach and yellow for a steady week.

This is how my mood blanket is looking so far...

A whole 15 weeks in...

Its going to be a pretty hectic week, with the busiest days of the year at work coming up, but i'm sure i'll squeeze a little bit of crafting in, especially as its my vice for relaxation...

Until next week...