Old Stuff, New Stuff.

I’ve had cause to look at some old photos on Flickr (remember that? I think most people at one time had an account, before Facebook and Instagram. I mentioned about the bag below in my last post.

I had put some of my old challenges and and postcard swaps on my Flickr page and if you have a few minutes you can have a meander through my photos to here .   On there is a selfie photo from 2007, which I found this on the site…

And today I’ve taken a selfie photo.  Not so fresh faced as just over 15 years ago, but above was my first camera phone. Below is me with my new phone, which I updated yesterday (I’ve had others in between). My old iPhone had lasted me 8 years, so I hope this one lasts as well.  I kept it going for as long as I could but newer technology had forced a change. 

I’m currently working on a quilt as you go quilt, except the blocks have been made by me. I’m assembling    this ‘new to me’ project as someone has left the completed blocks and the fabric to put the sashing strips together.  I purchased the quilt pieces in a pack for just £3 but have no history as to why the maker got so far and stopped.  It may go to charity, possibly Linus or Quilts for Care Leavers. So here are some pics, the one below is on Sunday afternoon, when I joined 3 rows, there were another 4 to go.

And this is at this morning - all the rows were joined by Wednesday and I cut out strips to join together. The light is bad in this picture.

I hope I can make a start on joining this weekend.  Let’s see how it goes.

 

It Was 16 Years Ago Today

 That I started my blog.  I wanted somewhere where I could journal my makes and some family life dropped in now and again.  Looking back at that first year I was a member of a couple of Yahoo groups (which sadly no longer exist) making postcards and sometimes some experimental techniques (heating fabrics, using an embellisher machine) and swapping.  I also had a Flickr page (that’s still going, just Google ‘Sue Wild Flickr’ and that comes up with my profile and photos).With my friend Brenda we hosted sixty quilters with a Quilting Day, which happened to be on St Patrick’s Day that year. So it was kept busy with quilting/sewing projects.

International Quilting Day organised by Brenda (left) and myself.

On a personal side,  I became a grandmother for the second time (to Leo, now a tall 15 year old and due to take his GCSE exams later this year!) and also a mother-in-law to Carly and Mary as they married my sons Jamie and Alex, that year.  And I managed to fit in a full time job too (how did I find the time?).

So what has changed?  Blogging was popular at the time and there was something called a blog ring, so the blog could be linked up with other people’s blogs with the same interest. One was run by Canadian quilter Michele Foster called Quilting Gallery and the blog ring was called Quilting Bloggers with blogs from around the world but that was disbanded.  She now runs a site called Aiming for Accuracy  I used to keep links in my sidebar of those I follow, but that’s no longer in use.  

One of my postcards, made for my sister, when she moved into her bungalow in 2018

A lot of other blogs are not kept up, but I’ve kept on with mine although I don’t get many visitors as it’s good to look back at what’s been achieved.  I’m not that brilliant at keeping journals so I’ve found it a good place to use mine as such.  Going through the years and changes that I’ve made, moving from and returning to my home town of Poole, working, retiring, holidays and works in progress.

A set of postcards, there are seven as I kept one for myself) on the theme of shoes for BQL postcard swap in 2007

Recently on one of the Facebook pages, UKQU (UK Quilters United) one of the admins said about a bag challenge this year on their sister UK Sewing Challenge group.  Another person mentioned about BQL bag challenge years back and looking through my blog I found I took part in that challenge in 2008 and one of those bags is still in use now for a knitting project! I wrote a blog post, but didn’t say a lot about it, here

Other things that have changed is that the postcard swaps are no more, which is a shame as I liked being challenged with a theme.  The BQL and Arts In the Mail went some years ago, before the demise of the Yahoo groups, but UKQU had a one to one postcard swap but that stopped a couple of years ago during Covid lockdowns.

A pouch from a sew a long earlier this year.

As for my own work, I would have called myself a quilter a few years back, but now knitting and crochet had returned into my craft life, together with embroidery and recently a bit of paper crafting. I have said that I don’t want to go down another rabbit hole, but who knows where things will lead. Quilting is not as important to me as it once was and I guess everyone evolves in one way or another as artists don’t always stick to the same techniques. So long as I can hold a sewing or knitting needle or crochet hook or pencil I will keep crafting in one form or another.

Thank you for bearing with me over my brief look back at the last 16 years.

New Year and a New Month

 Here's January Monthly Marker

For this year's markers I thought I would share some mini quilts from a challenge that I took part in 2016.  The one above is called Blue Monday, which marks the time in the middle of this month when its a long way from the pay day of December to the pay day in January with the bills from Christmas coming through. 

So its a time of New Year Resolutions and to think of the year ahead.  I'm going to keep things low key this month and do a bit of sorting out and not get too bogged down with things to be finished.  That can come later.  I have got some knitting on the go but that is done in the evenings, but I made a start between Christmas and New Year.  It is another Harvest cardigan, a free pattern by Tin Can Knits .  I was going to start this later this month, but a friend wanted a ball of chunky wool to finish her cardigan and Wool Warehouse had the same dye lot as the wool she was using, so I ordered the yarn  for this cardigan as there's free postage when you order over £25.  The yarn I'm using is King Cole Fashion Aran in blue Jura colour way. Last year I made the same design in Fashion Aran Combi in a brown colour but that is now discontinued, but it is a lovely snug cardi for this time of year so I had no hesitation in using Fashion Aran again for this one.

Above is the back, below the front view

So far I've done the shoulder shaping and the sleeve stitches are on waste yarn.  Theres still some increases on the front but after that it's garter and stocking stitch until I get to the bottom.  

I've got to do an 'audit' of any sewing projects that are outstanding and find where I am and what to do next.  As ever social media always tries to find a way of drawing into a shiny new project, but no, I must try not to succumb!

In recent times I've taken to doing some paper crafts but again do not want to get drawn into card making if I can help it.  I have been thinking about whether to carry on with ATCs, but I would like art of some sort.  I have enjoyed seeing Art, Paper Joy's daily ephemera You Tubes last month and it is tempting to start art journalling.  I think that I miss the creativity of postcards that I used to make and swap years back but I do need to be organised and have a 'kit' of things to be able to pick up and go with.  So I think I need to focus on that.  

Last autumn I took the decision not to make any blocks for Siblings Together Bee for the time being, so I'm free to be able to look at what quilts need finishing too.  I also picked up a pack of quilt blocks ready to join together so will have a go at that.

So, right, lets get on and get off that computer!  I'll be back next week.

(After 3 posts from me already, you'll be glad of a rest!)

Looking Back to 2022 - Places Visited.

 It was great to be out and about again after the previous 2 years of restrictions.

Not far into 2022, we had a quick break to Gloucester in February as David wanted to go to the Waterways Museum, which turned out to be closed due to unforeseen circumstances, which was a shame, but had a meander around the city, cathedral and off the cathedral square a shop dedicated to The Tailor of Gloucester. My brief post about it is here.

These two pictures show views around the docks in Gloucester, above is a little chapel. Below are the houseboats moored in the canal basin.

In April we had a day out in London with my brother in law and his wife. Initially it was to find a grave in a cemetery in north London, but because it is more than 75 years ago the plots are reused, so what we were looking for is no longer there.  But we made the most of the day by visiting Stratford Olympic village, travelling on the Underground and the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf. 

In May we went and had a week in Guernsey and a chance to spend some time with distant relatives (on the Wild side).  I’ve posted about this here.  Living in Poole there is a Condor Fastcat service that links with the Channel Islands and St.Malo, France, so it took no time at all to get to the port! Before COVID we often had day trips to Guernsey (well, a few hours, most was spent on the boat journeys) so it was good this time to spend a bit more time on the island.

David in Trinity Square, where we think his dad once posed in the same place

The back of Victor Hugo's house, a little bit of France (it is part of the Musee de Paris) on the island

August saw us go to Bromsgrove to stay around the Midlands for the Festival of Quilts, which I haven’t visited for 3 years.  We went exploring the area and visited the Needle Museum in Redditch, the British Motor Museum near Stratford Upon Avon, Hanbury Hall and locally the Avoncroft Outdoor Museum. Before going home we also went to Wightwick, near Wolverhampton.  I’ve written a post about our trip here.  A separate post about Festival of Quilts here

Above is one of the many displays of needles by one of the companies in Redditch

A life size Lego model of a Mini at the British Motor Museum

Tudor chimney pots at the Avoncroft Outdoor Museum

A china collection at Wightwick Manor.

On to the end of September, beginning of October and a stay in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.  A chance for me to go to Yarndale, a wool festival in Skipton, amongst other things.  We went back to Skipton again on one of the days to take in the rest of the town, but also visited Eden Camp, Harrogate Fountains Abbey as well as exploring Knaresborough itself.

The crypt at Fountains Abbey

Play area at Eden Camp (no, we didn't take exercise there!) the huts where the exhibitions are displayed at a bit dark inside.

Skipton Castle

At the Embsay and Bolton Abbey railway, this is the first electric railcar from 1901.

Looking up at Ripon Cathedral.

That was a lot of time away and things have been quiet on the run up to Christmas.  We had intended to go away somewhere in November, but that was put on hold, but think we’ve done pretty well on the exploration front this year. Lots of memories to look back on.

Future plan is to go away to Scotland in early summer this year and David has sort of worked an itinerary, but I am hoping we may get away before then, well I'm pretty sure we will.

So thats it for my look back at 2022.  I hope you've enjoy these last 2 posts.  Now onward to January.

Makes of 2022

 Happy New Year

Last year was a year of many crafts so there may be more than one post in the next few days.

First one is a newish craft of ATC’s as I joined an internet group on the Townswomens Guild website.  I’ve quite enjoyed making the themed swaps and made me use a variety of different methods, so here are a few that I’ve made.

One theme was tea time, so I drew a Custard Cream biscuit, which I drew out first before painting the card and using brown fineliner pen for the detail. 

Another was a bit of a cheat as I scanned in the Christmas card and added snowflakes and glitter glue, which I mounted onto blue card.

Another was to do with weather and most of us in the group made rain related ones, including this one. I drew and coloured this rainbow umbrella and mounted onto grey coloured card with verse and Posca pen raindrops.

Below is a card based on nursery rhymes and this was Baa Baa Black Sheep and I used fabric sewn onto card with some linen for the bags into which I tucked some yarn and added a black felt sheep

So as you can see I’ve used a variety of techniques to make these little works of art.  Because of the postal strike, the swaps have been suspended for a while, but I hope January will bring a new theme.

With knitting, aside from my last post about the makes for Christmas I have made cardigans for me, Flo and Cecily. 

This cardigan below is from a pattern by Tin Can Knits and more details can be found on my post in April. 

I’m now knitting another in blue this time.

A second Spindrift scarf (pattern by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade)

Socks (pattern by Kay Jones of the Bakery Bears)

Crochet Paperchains for Yarndale (pattern for knitted and crocheted chains on Yarndale website).

Tried a mosaic crochet blanket. This is Flora’s Fauna by Rosina Crochet, which I really enjoyed 

And thoughout the year there has been washcloths (by the Kitchen Sink shop, they are dishcloths but the designs are far too pretty to reside by the sink) below are just a couple of them.

There has been some sewing of course, but there has been less of it in the last year. I have been making some blocks for Siblings Together.

So the above were just a few of the blocks made last year.  Plus I made some for a mini block drive too, and these were a variation on the Plus block.  I have decided to step back from making blocks and concentrate on my own work.  But I may return to that in September/October.

After the Festival of Quilts I had a go at Julia Gahagan’s little kit and produced a flower mini quilt.

I had completed one quilt that had been hibernating in March

 and another in progress - the one below was being quilting, but is currently hiding in the naughty corner.  I must get that out and finish it!

I made a little pouch in a sew along. And for the first time in a long time I made myself a top.

So thats just a snapshot of some of the things made in 2022.  

The next time will be of places we have been to in the last year.