FB - flower brooches and facebook

Hello all!!

Just a quick share today. A little while ago I had an urge to make something small. Something that I could finish super quick. So I turned to Lucy at Attic24 - and her beautiful triple layer flower.

I made one in record time and decided it would make a lovely gift for a friend, and in my true scatty style I packed it off in the post before I even took a photo!! 

Silly me! 

So last week I made 2 more, one for me and one for Miss M, and we both love them!!

And the sun even shone for some photos :)

Mine is brightening up my coat now, very pretty!

I also wanted to let you all know that Henry's Shed has a facebook page!

I set it up a while ago but it has been a little neglected. I am going to try super-hard to use it more often (as it is sooo much quicker than blogger!)

It would be lovely if you could pop over and visit me and maybe give my page a like!?!?

See you soon!

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I finished something!

It has been another week of flitting between projects, which is fine, because I know it won't be for long. I know that a couple of the smaller things I have on the go will be finished soon and I can concentrate on getting some of my bigger projects finished. But for now, there isn't much visible progress!

But I did finish one little dolly dress. I started another almost immediately but that is not the point! 

I love this dress! Love the pattern, love the super-soft baby 4 ply, love the soft yellow colour. All makes me very happy :) I knitted it on circular needles which I normally try to avoid, but it has quite a full skirt, knitted in one piece so it would have been a real squish on straight needles.

We had some sunshine today, actual, real sunshine! So I rushed outside so get some sunny photos. Had to stay on the patio though, now the snow has melted I have very, very soggy grass!!

Pretty little yellow buttons :)

Beautifully modelled by one of Miss M's dollies!!

The next little dress I started is very nearly finished. It is a bit shorter so I'm going to make some little leggings to go with it too. Here it is so far...

I'm a bit disappointed that the pretty pink pattern doesn't really show up, the pink is too pale :( But it has been another very quick and pleasurable knit!

Well, I'd better get back to stitching - hopefully some hexagon patchwork progress photos very soon!

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This week...

This week has been chilly!! Started with a very snowy Monday. I didn't work Monday, just sat and watched the snow falling and stitched the next block for my sampler quilt.

This block is hand stitched, most of the others have been done on the machine. I love hand stitching and really enjoyed these sweet hearts! And love this thread!

I have 8 of the 9 blocks finished now. I have added framing and sashing to them all and they look so pretty! I took a photo of 7 of them laid out, to give me an idea of what the finished quilt will look like. It's a very poor photo, taken in the evening, but I'll show you anyway! Just because I love it so much! 

Oh dear, my Christmas box has found its way into the photo. That really needs to go up in the loft...

The heart block will go in the bottom left hand corner and the space is for the final block, which is a bargello. I started it in class on Saturday. Hopefully it will be finished very, very soon!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were pretty average school days. I managed a bit of knitting in the evenings. Friday brought snow again! Most schools in our area closed at lunch time. I had a very 'interesting' journey home at 12.30 - I'm not keen on driving at the best of times! Miss M also finished at lunch time but then disappeared off to Grandma's house (Grandpa finished work early to make the journey home to their village and took Miss M with him!) 

Saturday I braved the snowy roads again to go to my quilting class. Once I got out of our street the roads were all fine so not too traumatic this time! Class was great, as it always is! Bargello block is about half done, will post a picture when I finish it :)

And now it's Sunday again, and it is snowing again! It has snowed ALL day, so I have had a lovely time knitting in the warm. I finished the little yellow dolly dress I was making, it has had a little swim and is now pinned out drying so hopefully pictures of that soon too!

While I have been knitting today I have been gazing at my pot of daffs. I bought them almost 2 weeks ago in IKEA and they have grown and grown and grown! I was starting to think they would never flower but today a bud opened! Hooray!!

Can't wait to see them in the morning, see how much more they open up!

So, I have another snow day tomorrow, lots of schools have already announced that they are closed due to snow. Miss M's school hasn't decided yet - she WILL be cross if I get a snow day and she doesn't!! Should be able to get lots done tomorrow, crafty stuff you understand, not housework or anything boring!!

Keep warm!

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Flitting

Hello! I have resolved my technical issues - many thanks to the kind advice from winkels crazy ideas :)

It has been a busy week here at Henry's Shed. Monday saw Miss M and I go back to school, so crafting time has once again been cut short. I have found myself flitting between projects this week, I think there is a chance I may have too many things on the go at the moment! I like to have choices, but I do feel a bit like I'm not achieving anything because I don't spend a lot of time on any one thing. But with my new determination to take lots of photos I will be able to see the progress that I make! Hooray!

So here is a little peek at my current WIPs. There are a few more things that are started but have been put away for a rest :)

I finished another block for my sampler quilt. This time - pinwheels.

Apologies for the quality of the photos - I am trying to get better I promise! The colours are actually not this washed out.

Next, a little bit of knitting. Another dress for a dolly! This time in 4ply on 3mm needles so it is working up fairly slowly.

I do love the pattern though, very pretty and super easy!

Ahh - something I forgot to share with you before Christmas! Miss M picked out a pattern for a hat, a scarf and some gloves. I finished the hat way before Christmas and it has had lots of outings. I started the scarf this week as something small to take to my knitting group.

Miss M's quilt has a few more flowers sewn on :)

And there has been some progress with the mixed stitch blanket.

Looking at it all here it does seem like a lot!! It's progress from about last Wednesday so just over a week of crafting. A couple of the projects have deadlines, which means I shall probably have to put a couple aside for the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to finishing a few projects and having some ta-dah moments! We do have some snow forecast for this week, so maybe schools will close and I'll be able to stay home and be busy!!

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Quilt progress

Good morning! I have been having a few technical issues!
I've not been able to add any photos to my post?! I click on the little picture icon to add a photo, but the for some reason, I have lost the little button that says 'upload'. No idea where it has gone. Mr T discovered that if I switch to HTML view I can add the pictures, and then switch back to compose for everything else. A pain, but I do now have photos!

So this post was written last night...

Hello! It's been a busy, crafty day here at Henry's Shed today! Well, actually not here, because I went out to do my crafting! I packed up my sewing machine and lots of bits and bobs and went to my sister's house. This seems to be becoming a regular event now, she has a lovely 'crafting' room, big enough for us both to set up our sewing machines, so we sew and chatter and drink tea and generally have a lovely time!

 

So I have managed to make a fair bit of progress on my quilt. I only have 3 more lessons left of my quilting course. This means my quilt will be finished, which I am very excited about, but I will be sad not to be going to the classes anymore. They have been so fun and I have learnt so much.

 

So here are my 6 finished blocks!

 

Storm at sea

 

Twisted log cabin

 

Inner city

 

Folded bow tie

 

Rail fence

 

Drunkards path

Only 3 more classes to go! I can't wait to be able to show you all my finished quilt!

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The other secret project

Good morning blog-land! I hope you are all having a good start to 2013!

 

You may remember, towards the end of 2012 that a lot of my time was spent on 'secret projects'. Two projects that I couldn't blog about, for fear of ruining surprises! The first was a crocheted blanket for a very lovely friend. And today I'm sharing with you the second. The hardest secret to keep. A secret project for Miss M. Have you ever tried to make something in secret for someone you live with? I don't think I have before, maybe little things, but not a major project like this one. It was hard work. Soooo hard in fact, that I failed to finish before Christmas. Failed quite spectacularly actually!!

 

This is what Miss M got on Christmas morning (not her only present, don't worry!)

 

A shoe box full of hexagon flowers.

All in different yellow fabrics.

 

Now, if someone gave me a shoe box full of hexagon flowers I would be THRILLED!! But Miss M is 13. I was fairly certain that if I had presented her with a finished quilt on Christmas morning she would be really happy. For a while I thought I might manage to get the quilt top finished and that would be ok too. But just the bits of a quilt? Would she be able to imagine the finished project? Would she be disappointed? Would she think her mother was a bit mad?!

 

No.

All my worries were for nothing.

She was excited about all those pretty flowers.

She could see what they were going to be.

And she did love it.

PHEW!!

She enjoyed having a bit of a play about with the hexagons Christmas Day, and then I started to sew them together. Which is soooo much easier to do now that she knows! No more secret sewing while she showers! No more waiting until she goes to sleep to pull out my box of fabrics!

So this is where I have got to. It almost covers our kitchen table. I decided when I started to use quite big hexagons. Much as I love teeny-tiny ones I knew it wouldn't be finished in time if I used them, so went a bit bigger. These hexagons are about an inch and a half, so each flower measures just over 7 inches.

 

It is so lovely, so pretty.

I have enjoyed it so much already, and I'm sure I will continue to enjoy it as it grows.

And the best bit is that Miss M loves it too!

 

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