what have I been doing instead of gardening?

Beautiful, labours of love. They must take some time to do. When I was younger, I crocheted a table cloth, it took me two years to complete, each circle took a lunch hour to complete.

Beautiful . . . I love your colour combinations :)

Seaburngirl I admire your patience and skill - so beautiful - I have made covers for our summer house chairs and conservatory chairs and a tablecloth but at the moment the machine is sitting with its cover on waiting patiently for the next bout of sewing mania - Jane

Thankyou for your comments.

The large one uses nature inspired patterns. Victoria is doing ecology and wildlife conservation so the fabrics have hedgehogs, 2 ferns a light background and a dark background, stylised fern leaves, floaty seed heads and bluebells. the fern materials are botanically quite accurate even having their botanical names on the fabric.

the applique are : hedgehog, rabbit, stylised flower and a toadstool. I used cookie cutters for the flower and mushroom. I made the other on cardboard after getting a suitable outline on line. I cant draw to save my life unless it is a biological drawing, then that is just passable.

the lap quilt was put together as fat quarter bundles.

My sewing machine never gets put away. It has a table in the spare room. I am going to make a cover for it to keep the dust off instead of the tatty plastic bag cover it came with. I will do the same for the over-locker too.

Those are really something to be proud of. Sorry to be ignorant but what are fat quarter bundles?

Heirlooms SBG. I know your girls understand the hours of work and love going in to your work and will take care of them.

Stera a fat quarter is a piece of material approximately 50cm x 50 cm . you can buy them individually or in bundles of colours/patterns that seem to go together. A bundle usually has 5 or 6 pieces of material. And ignorance of technical terms for any activity is fully understandable and nothing to be ashamed of. I didn't know about long quarters or why they were called fat quarters until I went to classes.

The lap quilt came with a pink version of the purple fabric but I didn't really like it so I just used the 2 navy ones, mint, purple and white fabric.

Then there is the 'long quarter' which is 50cm from a full width of fabric. quilting materials seem to come in widths of 36,45 or 55 inch.

I hope the girls will cherish them. They will be told that they are to be looked after and then if not wanted they can be cleaned and put away for later. I am planning another one for Elizabeth my eldest girl. She wants dark colours a bit 'goth' I suppose.
I have the fabrics for mine in reds russets and golds. Just need OH to redecorate our bedroom for it to 'go' with the décor. [is that a flying pig I see?] I will do updates as they develop.

What beautiful pieces of work. I can appreciate the hours of patient labour you've put into these. I do cross-stitching in the summer evenings, when the light is better to see the subtle shades of the silks. I'm sure your girls will treasure your 'gifts' in more ways than one.
Any decorating done in our house has to be done by me and actually it's our bedroom which is crying out for some attention next. I'd love one of your quilts for our bed (when I finally get round to doing it).

I do cross stick too. the only thing I cant do is crochet. that is also on my to learn list. Mum taught me candlewicking, lace making [didn't like that] and crewel embroidery. I self taught dressmaking and knitting. But dad taught me to weld, strip and rebuild engines as well as rag rugs. well being a Geordie he had to teach me how to make a 'proggy mat'.

Rag rug - gosh that takes me back. Mum and Grandma used to make them, using strips cut from worn out coats etc, pulled into a hessian backing made from recycled sacks. I bet yours were a great deal posher... thanks for
the info about the patches. Do you ever just buy dress lengths and cut them up yourself?

I would find this very difficult indeed. It has to be so perfectly square at every corner. I really admire anyone who can achieve this! I'm not a fan of sewing at all. Yesterday I hand hemmed a pair of voile door panels and made tie backs with the lengths I cut off. I much prefer sewing by hand than with a machine, but I don't really like it tbh. I think I can remember my Dad making rag rugs...or perhaps it was Mum...not sure. I prefer crochet and knitting. I love wool. Beautiful work though SBG :)

Me too Karen. I admire people who do it, but I'm hopeless at sewing. My boys would grow out of their clothes before I'd get round to mending them!

(though come to think of it, I did crochet a pram cover a very long time ago . . )

I can't crochet, my attempts at knitting are pathetic. My sewing is best not mentioned. I did used to help my mum make 'peggy' rugs. Other than that, I'm not really very 'crafty' I used to paint but haven't done any for years. Is there anything you can't turn your hand to SBG?

our rag rug was also made from old clothes and old potato sacks. With 4 children to feed and dad in construction [very dodgy employment in the 60/70] we all had a rag rug on the lino in our bedrooms. I can still remember the shock of warm feet on cold floor and frost on the inside of the windows. But the joy of snuggling under blankets and an eiderdown quilt.My first central heating was in uni accommodation late 70's. Don't think parents got it before the 80's. So not posh at all.

I still make meals from odds and ends and left overs, like I was taught. The bin men used to comment on how little rubbish we threw out.

The squares are trimmed to shape after construction. I haven't quite managed to get them all spot on yet. It depends on how the fabrics are cut whether on the grain [little stretch] or on the bias, [lots of stretch].

This has been a trip down memory lane for me. I still have my rag rug hook. In the time before telly it was a great family past time. We little ones helped our older siblings to cut the old clothes in to strips before we were strong enough to pull the rag through the old washed hessian sacks. It was great fun being a little kid. When Spring cleaning was done it included painting the room walls. We were never too young to join in the fun and while mum did the main colour we were given small pots of contrasting colours and either a piece of rag, a sponge or a potato cut in half with a design carved on the flat side to daub on top of the main colour. We were allowed to be graffiti artists long before the description was coined. Modern mums take note it costs very little to have fun and keep your kids from being vandals. Once a week on a Saturday morning the lino was polished. Mum applied the polish then my younger brother and I had a grand time, weighing down an old grey army blanket, being pulled up and down the floor by my older brother and sister. My favourite hobby after reading was embroidery and I enjoyed learning various quilting techniques after I retired. I have lots of material waiting to be used but never the time to settle to it. Stovies make from the left over lamb roast is still a favourite. There was never any left over food in our house only a challenge of what to use it for. I like to think we are as thrifty as our parents but the house is full of stuff we will need if we throw it out before it is seven years old. Lol

So true Scotsgran.
mum used to let us do a similar thing on the lino in the hall. if memory serves the polish was a dull yellow colour in a red tin.
we also black leaded the hearth/grate.

I used to enjoy putting pillow cases through the mangle and watch lots of tiny soap bubbles blow through.
I got my girls using potato stencils and they can both cook, knit and sew. They both enjoy cross stitch but not crewel embroidery.

I cant paint to save my life, except walls and door frames type painting. Though OH is critical of my decorating attempts.

Hi Sbg, all this is way over my head. but they look very nice, Derek.

I am envious of your sewing skills, because I have none whatsoever, the quilt is a work of art in my eyes, well done, be proud!!

Lol Sbg I do not remember the red tin, I thought it was yellow but do know it was 'Mansion Polish'. I just googled it and we are both correct. The lid is red. Believe it OH and I inherited a mangle from a family member when we got married. It did a beautiful job of 'ironing ' the washing.

That's it Mansion polish. she used min-cream for the furniture. I used to love polishing the sideboard with it. :o)

How wonderful. SBG... I like doing patchwork in the winter too

I've finished my daughter's and made another lap quilt for the craft shop and I have just cut out another 9 patches for another lap quilt for her.
I will put them in another blog soon.

Do you fancy posting pictures of yours Sandra?

up to my eyes with the nursery at the moment...but I will find time soon... My latest patchwork is for my number two grandchild due in the autumn..

ooh congratulations in advance of thee event :o)

Thank you...we get to find out on Thursday if it's going to be pink or blue...:-)

we described ours as plugs and sockets haha.
do you have a preference or don't you mind? we didn't as long as they were healthy.