Crafting

During the long winter evenings, and in the run up to Christmas, I do a lot of crafting. I am best hand-sewing, I have to admit - my sewing machine and I have a love-hate relationship and it likes to play me up! I do basic straightforward patchwork, and all my offspring have hand-made quilts for their beds. Nothing exotic - hand-sewn hexagons, machine-pieced big squares - something I can throw together reasonably quickly, though I would love to make a more complicated pattern, log-cabin is about as complicated as I am likely to get for a while. Note to self - must get back to my log cabin quilt . . .

I like to embroider - or rather, embellish - things, though I am not particularly skilful. I have made several bags for my eldest daughter, who likes stuff that's a bit unusual (hmmm. Certainly gives me free rein to hide my mistakes!) I like to sew tapestry pictures, and x-stitch, though I now need a magnifying light for the latter nowadays. I knit a little too - currently knitting tiny patchwork squares for a bedspread my eldest daughter is making. I went on a 6 week spinning course in 2006 and now have my own spinning wheel. My eldest daughter has learned to spin too, and is a natural at it. I have also discovered needle-felting, which I really enjoy. I love the way ideas just "happen" as you are experimenting.

Here are a few things I've made in the past 18 months.
Top one is a suedette bag with beading and embroidery.


This is a work in progress (two sides of it). It will be a bag for my eldest daughter when it's finished - just crazy patchwork with all sorts of embellishments and simple embroidery.

The lovely print on the right is embellished with tiny beads - should show up better if you double click.


This is the 2nd thing I needle-quilted, a peony. The pink petals are slub silk I think, which also felts well.


This is a little log cabin mat for a penpal of mine.


My middle daughter's hexagon quilt, hand-pieced, and now keeping her warm up at Uni.