WHAT'S ON YOUR WASHING-LINE WEDNESDAY!

Cor Blimey......

.....It has been one incredibly busy week.  My workdesk has been temporarily dismantled so here is my washing line instead!  As previously reported by Mrs Dunnit, I was tempted by the call of a fabric shop in Winchester en route to Portsmouth.  There was some sweeeet fabric and as I've got an NCT fair for parents, babies and toddlers coming up, I thought I'd simply HAVE to get some more stash..oh deary me... *grin*. 


These little baby trousers are a prototype for some friends' babies.  The heart material is going to be the outside of a drawstring bag with the floral as lining.  I don't know what the gingham is going to be yet - a tablecloth for me probably as I love it sooo much, I can't let it go (what a saddo....)


Ditto for the little boys' gear - I've made the bag but haven't threaded the drawstring through yet.  The heart material is slightly brushed, it's incredibly soft and strokable...lovely!!

Postscript from last week's post: Julia nabbed the grey/green fabric, so when I have time, she's going to get a cover for her Kenwood food mixer.  I might have to be creative to 'stretch' the amount of fabric - but I relish a challenge!


After admiring Shaz in Oz's beach photos, I thought I'd share 'my' beach in South Wales.  I've just come back from visiting my parents and was on this beach last night.  It's called Cefn Sidan (Welsh for 'Silken Back', referring to the sand banks) and I grew up a mile away. 




You can just spot me and Son No 2 walking out for a paddle! The land in the distance is called the Worm's Head on the Gower Peninsula.  Apparently the Vikings called it Wurm, meaning Snake or Dragon - it's Wales' very own Loch Ness Monster :)  Hope you like it, Shaz!!

It's my 50th birthday next Monday - this is the cake my 86 year old mother presented me with......


I had to put up with A LOT when I was growing up...!!


And finally, Harry was infuriated that Ron got all the fuss last week, so here he is, looking rather snuggly inside my tuba gig bag!!  Honestly, any warm spot is fair game to a cat, isn't it??!

Hope you all have a wonderful week - I'm hooked on this blogging lark now.  It's all your fault.....LOL!!!

Look What Turned Up!

FORGOTTEN FABRIC......


Not all my fabrics are laid out beautifully on the bed - here's my shameful secret... my nether regions, so to speak (the boxes are under my desk, what did you think I meant??). 
Shoved into these plastic crates are the materials that I used last year and got a bit bored with.
         
I had a rush of blood to the head and decided to tidy them up.  Look what I found...

                       
                                      

Aren't they lovely?  I'd completely forgotten about them.  And now I can have fun deciding what to make - yay!! Spotty, dotty bags and flowery aprons and.....hmmm, not sure about the grey print. There's not enough for an apron and the pattern's too big for a doorstop.  Place mats or a table jogger (it's not long enough to be called a runner!).  All suggestions welcome :) xx
Here's my retro tote bag, not my best but it's bright and breezy and it'll be fine for shopping!  I didn't have enough spotty material for the whole lining, so I made a pocket for the interior: one smaller section for pens/sunglasses/phone etc and one larger for other stuff!  Think I prefer the interior to the exterior - ah well, not all my experiments are successful.



Ron, my ginger cat, was most indignant that Harry got all the kudos last week - so here he is showing that 'anything you can do, I can do better!'  Poor Harry's been relegated to a seed tray, fortunately for me, an empty one!! Both of them look really hacked off - perhaps they're fed up with being faced with the paparazzi..er...paparazzo...or is it paparazza for a female snapper??  Ah well, whatever it is, they'll be demanding appearance fees from now on :D 



Hope your week is a happy and productive one!

Getting the Right Shot....


Behind the Camera......

I like to keep a visual record of what I make, because it is so easy to forget otherwise!!  'Oh Yeah..' I say, when revisiting my photos, 'I'd forgotten I made THAT!'

I like to take a decent piccy and try to capture the fabrics, details etc.  But goodness, does that open a can of worms.... For example, here are the things that were being made on my WOYWW last week. Do you....


                              Shoot it in natural light?        Or indoors with a flash?

                   

                             Handle down?                     Or up?  Is the black background better?


And don't get me started on bunting!!  I was trying all sorts of layouts, all unsatisfactory.....

 
 


Until my OH, who has moments of genius sometimes, said 'Try the points facing inwards...'

Et Voila........
                       
 Not high art, I know - but ooh, it makes a difference to me!!


The one thing that starting this blog has made me realise is just how blooming picky I am about things.....I don't know if I like that about myself!!  But, to quote the wonderful Terry Pratchett, 'the leopard is never too old to change his shorts'  !!


Maybe there's hope for me yet then.....    :D xx
                                                         

WOYWW 110

MY PRECIOUSSSS....

I love colour, spots and sparkle and whenever I succumb to another little purchase, I then find it extremely hard to use some of it!!  The spottiness of the cute buttons, the gingham-iness of the ribbons....sigh.  So, I was a big, brave gal and managed to let two buttons out of my grasp to provide the finishing touch to my friend's doorstop.  It's for her little girl's bedroom, so she's worth it!


Mind you, I only used the little ones...... the biggest ones on the desk are still mine, all mine *grin*...

Here's my part of my stash of ribbony gorgeousnessnessness - mmmmmmmmmmmm
The doorstop underneath, on the left, is an early prototype which I use for holding down slippery fabrics when I'm cutting out - really useful!  The pink/flowery material is a tryout for a specs case, all padded and squishy.  Also there's a roll of bias binding that I use as bunting tape.  I love making bunting, it's quite soothing as it's so repetitive.  I think it's a bit like Transcendental Meditation.  Hmm. there's a good title for a book 'Zen and the Art of Bunting'.....


Below is fabric from a fat quarter bundle that I bought from Fabricland.  The camera doesn't do it justice, they're really funky and a bit of a departure for me.  I'm making myself a tote bag out it and am using some more ribbon!!  Hey, I've already used some buttons, let's live a little :)  It's going to be lined in either plain black OR black with white spots - what do you think?



I'm a mad keen gardener as well - and look at what I spotted growing in my greenhouse the other day.  A rare hybrid known as Harry the Mog!! 'What me?' he's saying, 'I'm just keeping your compost warm!'


That's it from me, I'm off to count my buttons.......!

Thanks for Nothing!!!

Hmmmmmm.............


I've got a BIG birthday looming and my husband asked me what I'd like as a prezzy.  Oooh, I said, something sleek, black and shiny, preferably two doors, bit of chrome.

This is what turned up...... 




He'll be fine once he gets out of traction............  :D !!

OO-ER......

WHAT HAS JULIA STARTED...??!!

I blame it all on her, of course!  Without her 'encouragement', I would still just be peeking at all your creations out there in BlogLand - instead, here I am joining in.  Thank you to everyone who commented so positively on last week's post - I was overwhelmed by your kindness.  I had no idea that the WOYWWers were so far flung across the globe until I started posting on their blogs.  I'm pleased to be another thread in Julia's amazing worldwide tapestry.

 So, here is my first Lunch Lady Jan's Fabric Frenzy post.  As you can see, there's a variety of fabrics on my desk.  Already cut out are squares and handles for two doorstops that were ordered at the weekend's craft fair - the pink for a little girl's room, the scotty print for a kitchen.  The green fabric with pink roses is going to be a tote bag with the dusky pink spot as lining.  There is a local volunteer run tea-rooms that sells craft stuff for people like me - the bag and another doorstop will be going there.  Let's hope someone likes them!  I had to buy extra fabric to fulfil a couple of other orders, that's the rose print, pink gingham and scotty dog.  Honestly, that doggy print (by Clarke & Clarke) is incredibly popular -  whatever I make in it goes instantly.

I keep waking up at 6am most days and do a lot of cutting out (in my nightie!) while the rest of the house is asleep.  That means I can crack on with the sewing machine later in the day.




Below is a shot taken at a school fete last weekend - I must get some longer cloths to camouflage the boxes under the table!  By complete chance, I met up with the lovely  Morti - see her blog (2nd July) for the unfolding of the story :)  In her photo of the stall, I'm right in the background, in my rather fetching brass band uniform - LOL.  That's a story for another day :D The smaller aprons on the display/ironing stand are reversible childrens' ones, the blue dragonflies material is particularly popular.  You can't see my tiered 'Tart's Aprons' !! They're a bit like ra-ra skirts that those of you of a certain vintage may remember - or try to forget!!  What DID I look like in the 80s??...sigh.... Big Hair and power suits, ah yes, I remember it well :)

You can see Harvey the Rabbit in the foreground.  My son and I ran a 'Name the Rabbit' competition, made some money for our band and a 6 year old girl went home clutching a bunny that was bigger than she was - result!

Thanks for stopping by xxxx



WOYWW 769

 WE'LL MEET AGAIN.... I'm going to take a break from blogging for a while - please don't worry, all is ok! - think I just need a...