Cushions and cat beds.

Cushions and cat beds.

crafty stuff sewing

Hello. That's another job done, the duvet which was passed to me, is now ten cushions and six cat beds, like mini quilts. I used every bit of the quilt, and I had some stuffing from another donation of lumpy cushions which I used to add a bit more bounce to these cushions. 

The covers can be removed from the cushions and washed, the brown fabric was donated, from a blog reader I think. People give me stuff and I can't remember where it came from, but it all gets used or passed on to the ladies in the Crafty Club. The patterned cushion covers were a curtain which I no longer required.

The cat beds are covered in donated fabric.They can be put in the washing machine as they are.

I've made a little video showing a few other things I have made from recycled materials.



I'm glad that jobs done, I'll drop the cushions off at the church in the morning. Now I can move on to another crafty project.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

A visit to Brick City, a Lego Exhibition.

A visit to Brick City, a Lego Exhibition.

arty stuff exhibition sewing

Hello. Here are a few pictures of the Lego Exhibition on display at the moment at the 20 21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe, until the 20th of June. I was dead impressed with this. Warren Elsmore is an artist who gets to play with Lego all day long, a job I think many would like to do. He has had this passion since he was a young boy, now he is living his dream. I will leave you to look around. 

There is more information on his web site. 

So, what else have I been doing. The quilt is divided and and cushion pads/beds made. Now I need to make the covers.

I am giving the Summer House a makeover, some of the paint has faded so it's getting a lick of paint using the small sample pots. No buying new, I will use what I have.

It's good to see so many of you are still enthusiastic about walking, thanks for checking in with your miles. If you haven't already done so you can go to the 1st of the month post any time to update your progress.

That's lunch eaten, now I'm going to get on the sewing machine. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Heidi learning keyboard skills.

Heidi learning keyboard skills.

cats experimental food sewing vegetarian

Hello. It's goodbye summer and hello autumn here today. Damp and drizzly all day, now chucking it down with rain. Blow that for a game of soldiers, I'm not going out for a walk today, no sireeee. Twas a bit quiet at Crafty Club this morning, just the two of us, made a change because I could actually get a word in edgeways instead of battling against the banter going backwards and forwards across the table. Last night I machined a few pieces of fabric together to make a book cover to take with me. I added some cross stitch to it. 

This afternoon I made some more shopping bags, now I have 14 to sell on the cat stall next month. Owain the Welsh weather man kept me company, he is now a presenter on BBC Radio York, and his lively chat keeps me entertained.

My lunch today was a big fat sandwich. I am really getting into them now, and they are getting fatter and fatter as I stuff more filling into them. For dinner tonight I made a pan of this whatever you like to call it. A chopped onion, three mushrooms, handful of frozen peas, and broad beans, two pieces of frozen spinach, and some Quorn mince. It's sort of mild curryish with turmeric and vegetable granules for seasoning. Instead of water I gave it a slosh of cranberry juice. Served on a bed of tagliatelle. There is enough for two more meals which I will eat tomorrow and the next day. It's very tasty, and filling.  

Now I am being interrupted, Heidi's nose is two inches away from this keyboard, she is demanding my attention. I'm not going to get much more done tonight so I might as well give up. Perhaps I can get her to write the blog posts in future.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Keeping busy indoors

Keeping busy indoors

crafty stuff food reuse sewing vegetarian

Hello. That got you going. Did you like my colourful words, ha ha. The weather is still unpredictable, I've been in most of the day, apart from when I went to the Post Office, then did my three mile walk. I got caught in a shower of hail and wind, just managed to stop the brolly from blowing inside out. 

A couple of recent lunches, one from yesterday and one today. I don't have much veg left so it's root in the cupboard and the freezer time. Two slices of toast, half a tin of spaghetti hoops, and two Value Tesco veggie grills. A cheap meal. 

Today I made a sandwich with two slices of toast, cheese spread, Danish Blue cheese, and the last of the salad leaves. I plonked the rest of the tin of hoops on top.

This pile of 14 cleaning cloths used to be a toweling bath robe. It was looking a bit grubby, and a lot of threads were pulled due to Mayze cat pummeling me with her paws. She thinks I am her mummy. These will come in handy for dish cloths, floor cloths, polishing cloths, (not that I do much of that), and any other type of cleaning job.

I've started another project. These small circles of fabric, 2 inches across,  are Suffolk Puffs, ironed flat and decorative stitching added. I need lots of these.

I came to a halt with the wooden garden sculpture because I ran out of small pieces of wood. I found a big box of scrap wood yesterday at the back door of Wicks the DIY store, they said I could take what I wanted. I will be able to get on with that when the weather is a bit warmer.

I need to make a phone call now, so I'll leave you to it. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

One tree and some flowers picture

One tree and some flowers picture

arty stuff crafty stuff sewing

Hello. I think I have done enough on this now. I don't think more stitching will make it any better. It was supposed to be a woodland but I stopped at one tree. I wasn't going to put glass in it because the texture shows up more without it. I took the photo's without, then put the glass in, and decided it looked better so left it in. It's 15.5 inches square including the frame. 

I think the gold frame suits it fine, there are small roses around the inside edge.

Time to move on to something else.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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Crafty ladies visit Hull Scrapstore

Crafty ladies visit Hull Scrapstore

crafty stuff Scrapstore sewing

Hello. Four of us went to Hull Scrapstore today. The other three ladies hadn't been before so were curious to see what it is like. Scrapstore is a charity and relies on donations from businesses. Tracey is the van driver there and she goes round and collects anything that can be used for crafting purposes. There is lots of fabric, cardboard, paper, haberdashery, paint, plastics, wood, anything that businesses have no further use for and need to dispose of it. Here is the Facebook page for the Hull store. Other towns have them, gooooglie to check if there is one near you.

Shopping at a Scrapstore is not like shopping in an ordinary shop. You never know what you will find there. They rely on people visiting and buying materials for their craft work. Teachers pick up supplies for their classes. It's best to go with an open mind, draw inspiration from what you see. If you go looking for something specific you might not find it. Best to take a good selection and think up ideas for what you can use it for. If I find I have fabric which I haven't used and no longer need, I will take it with me and donate it back to them. Our shopping is loaded in the car, mine is the biggest bag, and the tins of paint are mine. 

A good selection of colours. Some great fabric to make sturdy shopping bags. I donated some of my bags back to them today, they can sell them in the shop.

I did a yellow sticker shop last night, and found some bargains. I also gave two shopping bags away to two very surprised people. It makes me chuckle. I have made a video showing what I bought, but I've got to load it on yooootoooob, which will take a while. Be patient, I'll post it here tomorrow. 

It's been raining a lot here today. I won't be going out walking in it. I've also got a sore left leg, it's quite painful, so I'll rest it awhile. I had a massive cramp early Monday morning in bed, jeez, didn't half make me leap about. The calf muscle twisted badly, I massaged it, but it's still not quite right.

It's time for dinner, so I'll say toodle pip until tomorrow.

Making six mini quilts

Making six mini quilts

cats sewing

Hello. It was a good turnout at Crafty Club this morning, another new member started, she had an enormous ball of knitting wool. If any more join us we will have to get another table out. 

It was raining first thing, but cleared up after lunch. The cats decided to venture outside. They don't wander very far, mostly stay within the garden. The daffs are near the back door so I pointed the camera through the window for this one. Heidi is a sweetie. 

When my friend moved house a few weeks ago she gave me some wadding, so today I cut it up into squares.

And now it is six mini quilts. These are ideal for cat beds, small dog beds, or for putting them on a chair to protect it if you have a pet who insists on lying on the furniture. Fully washable in the machine. These will be sold on our cat rescue stall at our Village Summer Fair in June.

I am let off Bailey dog walking this week, someone else is doing it. His owner will soon be able to do it herself, she is feeling a lot better now. A trip to the Scrapstore in Hull is fixed up for Wednesday, two ladies from the club want to go, so I'll take my car over the bridge.

I'm off to bed with a book. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
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