December Scraphappy

........kindly hosted each month, on the 15th, by Kate and Gun 

I haven't done very much sewing this month, being mainly pre-occupied with painting.....not the artistic kind, but walls and furniture.   To prove it, I have multi-coloured splotches on my feet, my hands and up my arms......pretty green from my sewing room walls, lovely turquoise from sprucing up an old armoire-type cupboard, also for the sewing room and dollops of navy from transforming a stained timber tv cabinet from the op-shop into an eye-catching piece for my lounge room.

I did manage some scrappy stitching though.  I wanted to make a gift to send to the US as part of a Christmas swap, so I played with various size patches in shades of blue, and laid them out 'boro-style' to make the background for some bunting.

A start 

I added some green, cream and some of my sun-prints for contrast and interest, and after cutting the triangles, and backing them, settled to the task of kantha stitching  the layers together.  I find this easy rhythm of the in and out of the needle calming and peaceful, almost a meditation.

  After binding and joining, I added buttons.

Then deciding it needed a bit of sparkle, I stitched a bead trail in a snaky pattern the length of each piece.

Yes. that's better 

And here it is, all finished. For the binding I used a scrap of green I had left over from cutting up an op-shop (thrift store) cotton shirt I'd used for something else.

My swap partner was delighted with her gift, and has it hanging on her apartment balcony. She said it reminds her of Van Gogh's painting 'Starry Night' as it sways in the breeze.

As always, you can visit Kate or Gun to see who has joined them this month in the battle of the scraps.  We even have a yarny scrap post this time, with The Snail of Happiness showing her stripy granny squares.

The day has cooled, there's a good breeze blowing in from the east, so it's time to let the hound loose.

.....until next time

Photos retrieved

...... no new camera yet 

I've been looking though, reading reviews, asking others what they have, but haven't made a decision. I only want a compact, but most of the newer models have lots of bells and whistles I don't want, so the search will continue until I meet the right one.

In the meantime, I wanted to show the bunting/banner I made for Fran in Tasmania.  I showed a little peek of it here, but now that Fran's received it, I can show it all.

It's double sided, wool embroidery on hessian and is about 40cms long by 30 cm maybe....I didn't measure it before I sent it......plus the long tails and the bead dangly thingy.

Fran blogs at https://theroadtoserendipity.wordpress.com  about her busy, productive and mad hippie life on a farm in Tasmania, living sustainably and growing vegetables safely in The Sanctuary away from her rascally dogs.  This bunting and others sent from all over will soon be flapping happily there.  Go check her out and see what she has to say.

That's all for now.......

'til next time

A lot of work....

 ........and still not quite finished.  Not even half way through and I was wondering why was I doing this. 

  Plenty of books still to be shelved.....maybe some culling first?

  

This being swapping rooms.......my bedroom into what was the sewing room.  Behind a huge cupboard that was in the room when I moved here was quite a few years worth of dust and cobwebs!   So there was heavy duty cleaning to be done as well.  Moving the bedroom , not so bad.....the packing up of the sewing room......oh dear!  It all took me the better part of two weeks, and felt quite overwhelming at times.  The sewing room is still not shipshape, I promised myself there'll be no shoving things in a cupboard out of the way, I want it all to be organised and everything where I can easily find it all....ha ha, famous last words?  We shall see. 

 

Overall though, now that my bedroom is organised, I'm glad I did it.  My 'new' bedroom is now at the front of the house in the larger room.....feeling quite grown up about that!....and away from the noise of one of my neighbours who goes out at 4.30 most mornings to do triathlon training.  Her car is parked quite close to my old bedroom, and I was woken by the click of their back door closing or the sound of the car starting up.  I know she tries hard to be quiet, but in the stillness of the early morning sound travels clearly.  So no more being woken too early, I'm cranky all day when that happens.  And my sewing machine is in place, as is my worktable, so at least I can step around the waiting assortment of who-knows-what and have a little fun in between the sorting and organising

 

Some of the fun included sewing for  Jewell's  Easter swap, which I joined. This involved finding gifts for your partner beginning with the letters of Easter Time. A lot of fun, and a bit of a brain stretcher to come up with interesting items.  I was very creative with some of mine!!  I can't show you the gifts as it's a secret swap, but here they all are wrapped up ready to go. They were posted last week.   I hope my partner likes them! 

 

 

 a sneak peek at one of the items I made for the swap 

 

I managed to find some time to sit and relax and do some kantha stitching on the little patched piece I showed in a previous post.  It was very tempting to just sit and work on this rather than sort out my moving mess, but I resisted. I'll get back to it tomorrow at sewing group.

  

 And during the move, before I took my work table down and packed up the sewing machine, I quickly put together this bunting for my neighbour's little girl (yes, the same one who's noisy in the mornings)  She's just had a cubby (play) house built, so this will look pretty strung across the front. 

 

 

 I'll leave you with this sweet kitty face, the last thing I see at night as I turn out the bedside lamp, this is Neesa,  stretching across to give me a kiss ..... she was treated very cruelly as a tiny kitten, poor love, and sadly, isn't keen on being held or sleeping with me, so the bedside table is as close as she gets.  

 

 

 

 Until next time............