Crafting Materials

My suspicion is there's three main reasons why I didn't want to start on my study. The first was the Elder Offspring's belonging were forming a barrier to some of my clutter. This was dealt with yesterday. All of her boxes are now tidily stored in one corner of the room. The second was the sheer amount of clutter, and the third how much of that clutter was crafting supplies.

In the last 8 weeks I have been to a craft shop twice. Once was to buy batting and thread to finish of the Pre-Quilt, and once to buy fabric for a brand new quilt. I realised over the weekend I needed more fabric to finish the quilt. A friend was heading in that direction yesterday and bought the fabric for me. (Edited to add: I forgot about the cone of yarn I ordered from Amazon at the weekend. That's going to be a winter sweater for me.)

My intention for the last little while has been to work from stash as much as possible, only buying new materials to finish a project. A further refinement to the plan is to take turns making a new item and finish an existing project. It looks like I need make a further refinement to allow me to create totally new projects. Perhaps:

• new project (from stash)
• finish an unfinished one
• new project (from stash)
• finish an unfinished one
• brand new project

Looking at my recent work, there's two projects on the go, flared wrist warmers and the Muppet baby quilt. The wrist warmers are being made from stash, and the baby quilt is brand new. The Sea Foam Shawl was from stash, and the Pre-Quilt an unfinished. If I finish an unfinished I will be on track. There's a little sweater I unearthed yesterday that just needs some buttons. That will work!

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The five decluttered things have come not from my study, but the laundry! Whilst putting in some washing I noticed the shelf above the washing machine was looking rather disorganised. At one end there's paints and brushes, in the middle, cleaning products, and at the other end some gardening stuff. Saying 'bye-bye' are two decorative pots, two vases and a flower basket. My suspicion is the basket arrived about 10 years ago and after the flowers had faded the basket was put on a high shelf. The other items haven't been used in at least two years. They can go.

Study Declutter: Day 2

Whilst chatting with the Elder Offspring I found out she doesn't want her old computer, just the hard disc. The Beloved is going to remove the hard disc this week, and I'll pack it away with the rest of her belonging in my study. I'll lift the computer up onto the cleared desk, and this will give me some a way into on of the cluttered corners. This will be come the place to store the Elder Offspring's stuff.

Whilst I'm moving things around, I'll be on the look out for four items I can declutter. 

But, first things first. It's time to tidy my bedroom. ... And done! 1 minute and 20 seconds. That's how long it too me to make the bed, and tidy a few items of clothing.  Before going to be tonight, I'm going to put away my clothes and lay out tomorrow's outfit. Let's see if I can get the morning tidying down to less than 1 minute. If my 14 year old self could see me now! She would think I had been mind wiped and had my brain altered! But I do so like having a tidy bedroom.

The four items decluttered are all things bought, and unused: a handbag, curtain pole and rings, baby socks and black gloves. 

Also removed from the room: two baby cardigans, a wine bottle 'cozy' and a valance sheet. The cardigans have been washed. One was finished, and the other finished all bar buttons. The valance sheet will be cut up and used to make a pillow case for the Younger Offspring's bolster pillow. There might even be enough fabric for two! I don't know what I was thinking making a wine bottle cozy! It's being unravelled and will be knitted into a hat instead.

Week 36: Yard & Garden

Monday: Read Organized Home Challenge #36: Yard & Garden

Tuesday: Declutter gardening supplies

Wednesday: Declutter yard tools and equipment

Thursday: Declutter outdoor storage shed

Friday: Declutter front porch/outdoor entrance to home

Saturday: Declutter patio and/or deck

Sunday: Declutter broken and outgrown toys

The garden and terrace are very much in need of  decluttering. A while back I spent hours weeding between the bricks in the terrace. Two weeks of rain made the whole area green with new plant growth again! I wanted to throw up my hands in disgust. However, I want to have growing area out there next spring, and it needs to be sorted before then!

The shed has been a dumping ground. We have been clearing out bits and pieces over the last few months, but not consistently enough. A concerted effort is required.

We have no toys in the garden.

Bedroom Tidy and Study Declutter

I noticed my bedroom was looking a little messy, and decided to time myself as I tidied it. The bed is made, the towels straightened, everything is in its correct place, and it took me a grand total of 3 minutes and 45 seconds. It should be mentioned there's a few things in the hall just outside the bedroom, a glass, a pair of shoes, and a small back of rubbish from the bedroom bin. These will be dealt with when I go downstairs. My expectation is that will add about 15 seconds to the tidy time.

Given how long it has taken to do this, I think it is time to pop up to my study and find three things to declutter. Wonder what they will be...

That was tough! I really didn't know where to start. But, it started with a folder of old paperwork. The most recent stuff was over 10 years ago. The papers have been ditched. The folder and dividers have been retained. They are just what I need for the new filing system. The next item to say goodbye is a yarn swift. and the third are three sets of straight/double pointed knitting needles I haven't used in years!

A couple of shawls/scarves have been brought down and put away in the wardrobe. A little yoga pillow has been brought down too. It has a month to prove its worth, or it will be added to the 30 items disappearing on the 30th. Also unearthed is a pair of fingerless mittens about 90% done. I'm going to finish them, and make some flip tops for them.

There's boxes of the Elder Offspring's stuff up there, including her old computer. Wonder if she wants it? I think what I need to do tomorrow is get into a corner of the room, and make a designated spot for her stuff. Currently it's forming a little wall between me and my clutter.

Muppet Quilt

This is the design I had decided upon for my next quilt. It is for a baby.

However, when I went to Sweet Ginger to buy fabric I didn't quite manage it. Instead, I was taken with this one instead.

And then came the shock when I picked up the colours from Gonzo, Animal, Beaker and Kermit. This is going to be a rather striking quilt! Very bold, and very colourful.

The Pre-Quilt and Sea Foam Shawl

The Pre-Quilt and Sea Foam Shawl have both been finished. The shawl was actually finished last weekend, but I haven't had the brain power to get my tame photographers lined up to photograph it. I feel a photography session coming on.

...

The coffee table runner has been photographed.

30 Day Declutter Challenge: September

In July, I took part in a 30 Day Declutter Challenge. (On the first day, you declutter one item, two on the second day, etc all the way to the end of the month. This leads to 465 items leaving the house!) It went exceedingly well. It's time for another! Yesterday, a scarf was decluttered, and today two more have been waved goodbye. A good start.

September is the month I really get to grips with my study/guest room/craft room/dumping ground. The first three items of the 30 Day Declutter Challenge were from my wardrobe, but the rest, I'm hoping, will all come from the mess at the top of the house.

Migraine Stops Play

I had forgotten how awful it can be to have a migraine. These last three days, I have wanted to do nothing but stay in bed. It's been quite some time since my last migraine, and would be very happy if this was the last one I was to get!

Thankfully, it feels like I'm getting my brain back. I've been able to do a bit more work on the coffee table runner, but everything is still a bit too bright, a bit too loud, a bit too hot, a bit too cold, a bit too odorous... 

Tomorrow is a new day, and I'm expecting to be much more myself again.  Yes, that's it, migraines are too much of everything, and not enough of me.

Week 35: Seasonal Clothing Switch

Monday: Read Organized Home Challenge #35: Seasonal Clothing Switch

Tuesday: Out of season clothing swap

Wednesday: Continue to replace out of season clothes with in season items

Thursday: Declutter and/or store outgrown or out of season clothes

Friday: Create inventory of stored clothing

Saturday: Declutter and organize sweaters and sweatshirts, and other cool weather clothing

Sunday: Declutter summer decorations

It's too early to be switching summer clothing for winter. There's still a number of warm days to come. When the weather changes, it will be good to pack away fine cotton skirts and light-weight trousers for more robust, warmer fabrics. There are a few items that will be 'retired' and not put into storage.

However, now seems like a fantastic time to take an inventory of my warmer clothing and check I have enough warm clothing for the winter. My suspicion is I will need new trousers and a new skirt. When I last decluttered my wardrobe I replaced summer clothing, but didn't replace the winter stuff.

My sweaters and cardigans are in a drawer, stacked vertically. This is a brilliant system for me as I can see immediately which sweaters/cargis are available for wear. They can stand up by themselves, and don't get in a mess when one is removed.

We don't have 'summer decorations', but it would be a good idea to switch things around a little, perhaps put some items into storage for a while.

Hand Quilting Takes Time

As it says in the title, 'hand quilting takes time'. Three of the six hand quilted Celtic knots have been done, and the fourth started. It take time, and a decent amount of light.

I'm been rather impressed with the Frixion pen. It writes like a ball point pen, but with heat the ink disappears. My other quilting pen is a felt tip and then ink fades over about 10 minutes. It's definitely Frixion pen I need for this project. It would be a complete nightmare having to re-draw my quilting lines every 10 minutes!

Short Stories

The Beloved and I are part of a Short Stories group. The group gathers every few weeks and about 10 people read or tell a short story. The story can be one you have written, or one you like. This next one will be the first where we have 'read'/performed. The Beloved is great at reading stories. Dyslexic little me is absolutely pants at reading someone else work. I stumble and falter, but I can tell stories.

My favourite one from last time was about a conservator at a museum. He was cleaning an old oil lamp. The story is told from hiss perspective, until billowing clouds of smoke start coming from the lamp. He grows light-headed, stand up quickly, and his world turns black. A genie pops out, and says in an exasperated tone, dripping with sarcasm, "Oh great! Another fainter!"

I've been puzzling over a story for the next meeting, and have been struggling with the 'twist in the tail' element of it all. I'm so used to making up stories on the spot that I haven't learned how to construct them from scratch. Last week, I was at a workshop, and at the start, the leader explained there are two main types of writer, the architect and the gardener. The architect plans everything meticulously, and the gardener plants, waters, watches, and prunes. The gardener sees how things develop. I suspect I am much more an architect.

I'll been looking around for inspiration, and this morning an idea popped into my little noggin. Thankfully, the idea included a nice little ending too. The story's working title is 'How to kill your husband'.

Getting Batty and Knotty

The 15th of July was the last time I bought crafting materials. At the time I made a decision not to buy anything new for 3 months, except items needed to finish projects. 

The Pre-Quilt was in need of a backing fabric, and there was the possibility of needing more batting. A trip up to my craft materials storage room (also known as the guest room) revealed I didn't have batting, but I did have a couple of metres of the light cream fabric. There is enough fabric for me to back both runners and also bind them! A trip to the craft shop solved my batting problem. I was able to buy some iron-on batting and was very pleased with the purchase. 

The plan is to machine quilt the light cream areas of the square blocks, and to hand quilt a design in the larger, sandy triangles. The Celtic knot design above will be used. The design has been enlarged to fit the area, and printed out. This has been slipped under the fabric and drawn on using a Frixion erasable pen. When the ink is heated it disappears.

And suddenly I have a problem! I can't iron on the top onto the batting as this will erase my carefully traced design. I think I am going to have to treat it as ordinary batting and pin it in place whilst I quilt, and then iron over the places with the disappearing ink. Ah well! The best laid plans of mice and bears often go awry. 

Finished Pre-Quit Top

In our last exciting installment of The Pre-Quilt, I was unsure regarding the number of pinwheel blocks to use in the runners. I have decided on 4 blocks for the coffee table and 5 for the side board.

The blocks have all been sewn together. Care was taken to ensure the red sashing matched up as well as I can manage from one strip to another. Sashing was sewn to the top and bottom of the runner. The triangles were cut a bit too large. This will enable me to trim them down and get the sizing just right.

'Cinnamon Roll' Muffins

This is a second attempt at 'Cinnamon Roll' Muffins. The first recipe was from myrecipies.com, and it was awful. It was so dry. The Beloved and I each choked down a muffin, and the rest went in the bin! As the Breakfast Muffins were so successful, I decided to leave out the seeds, but include the cinnamon filling - the only good bit of the first 'cinnamon roll' muffins.  And it was totally the right decision!  So, so tasty.

Ingredients

1 ripe banana, mashed

2 large eggs

150ml yogurt

50ml oil

100g apple sauce 

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g SR flour (Dove Farm Gluten-Free)

50g rolled oats

1 Tsp  sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Filling

100g chopped pecans, plus 12 for decoration

75g brown sugar 

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp vanilla extract

50ml milk 

10g butter, melted

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Place 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin.

In a bowl, make the filling by mixing chopped pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, milk and butter.

In a large jug, mix the mashed banana, eggs, yogurt, oil, apple sauce, and vanilla. In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix briefly until you have a smooth batter – don’t over mix as this will make the muffins heavy. 

Divide about half of the batter between the muffin cases. Place the filling on top, then the rest of the muffin batter and top with a whole pecan. 

Bake for 25-30 mins until golden and well risen, and a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. 

Notes

I made up some glace icing (water and icing sugar) and drizzled it on top.

Red Sashing and Sand Triangles

A few days ago I saw Hint of the Holidays at Quilting Digest. 

The colours sparked a memory of those very first patchwork fabrics I bought, and as I had been thinking about making runners for the coffee table and side board I decided to jump in.

It was then I was unearthing the fabrics I realised pinwheels had been made previous, so wanted to use them instead of the central square. Borders were added, and when I was about to add the triangles to the square I realised the runners would be far, far too wide, and there would be a very real danger of not having enough fabric. Therefore the design changed.

Red borders (1.5" x 9.5") were added to the bordered pinwheel blocks, top and bottom. Then right angled triangles were sewn to the sides. My patchwork inexperience was showing with regards to adding the triangles and I decided to make them a little bit larger than I would probably need as they can always be trimmed later. The triangles were 10.5". The first and last blocks only had one triangle sewn to them, and the rest had two. A 1.5" red strip will be added between the sections. Strips will be added to the first and last. 

I don't quite know how many squares long it will be. The side board is longer than the coffee table. My suspicion is the side board will require an additional square. 

More Borders for Pre-Quilt

Previous post about The Pre-Quilt

A cream border has been added to be pinwheels. These border pieces were 1.5" x 7.5" for the top and bottom, and 1.5" x 9.5" for the sides. The block currently measure 9.5" square (ish). It's a little undulatory, but as Jenny Doan says, "Finished is better than perfect."

Whilst checking the spelling of Jenny's (the quilting goddess) surname, I saw she is leading a quilting cruise next year. Oh, my beating heart!  I was overcome with lust for a few moments.  To go on a cruise with Jenny, and learn so many tips and techniques - oh my! A moment later, when the locations came up on my screen I realised I really didn't want to go, as in really, REALLY, don't want to go. The Caribbean is a wonderful, wonderful place, but I would melt! It is not the place for 'a little bear'.

Week 34: Children's Bedrooms

Monday: Read Organized Home Challenge #34: Children's Bedrooms
Tuesday: Clean out and declutter under children's beds
Wednesday: Declutter children's bedroom shelves
Thursday: Declutter flat surfaces in children's bedrooms
Friday: Create bedroom cleaning checklist for children
Saturday: Declutter baby gear, supplies and equipment
Sunday: Declutter guest bedroom or area where guests sleep

Sunday's task is going to take an awful lot longer than 15 minutes! With fully grown children, I don't have children, but I do have a very messy, very cluttered guest bedroom/craft room. It's going to take an awful lot longer than one day to declutter. 

The rooms I use most often have been decluttered, and lovely. I only go into the guest room/craft room when I need to. The clutter in there is oppressive. But, the time has come to set about decluttering that room.

Trimming and Bordering Pinwheels

In 2011 or 12, I made a start on a quilted table runner. I got as far as making these pinwheels. Each of the pinwheels was made by making 4 half square triangle blocks, and then stitching them together.  

The original squares of fabric were 3.5". My cutting/sewing as rather wobbly, and my finished pinwheel blocks were all slightly different. My first task was to trim them all to the same size, 5.5". Squares that are actually square! The next step is to border the squares.

When I was explain this was the prequel to my first quilt, the Beloved and Younger Offspring suggested the name of this quilt be 'The Pre-Quilt'.

The first border has been added to the squares. These border pieces were 1.5" x 5.5" for the top and bottom, and 1.5" x 7.5" for the sides. 

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Many years ago, I took a fancy to do some machine patchwork/quilting. This is after saying for about 20 years, or more, that I didn't have the patience for patchwork and quilting. But, the fancy took me, and I duly ventured into my local craft shop. There I bought some fabrics to make a coffee table runner and one for the side board too. Also bought were a cutting mat, rulers and a rotary cutter.

I started then stalled. Some wonderful coloured strips came my way, and I wanted to play with those. These strips formed the first quilt I had made.

Next, I spied a beautiful set of strips, a rainbow! A quilt top was made, and then left unfinished as the fabric was bowing and distorting. (Since then I've learned the cause, but haven't taken the time to unpick the stitches and rectify the problem).

I've made 6 quilts, and a top, but have fabric for quite a few more! Today I saw a quilt and realised I had similar fabric, that very first set of fabric I bought in 2011 or 12. A number of pinwheels were made, and I'll adapt the design to incorporate those pinwheels. How fantastic will it be when I complete the very first quilt I started?!

Creative Writing Workshop

A local author was running a workshop on creative writing. It was immensely interesting and engaging.

Right at the beginning, the author spread out before us a number of paint chips, lots of colours, and each colour has a name.  We were asked to select a colour. The one I chose was 'endless shadow' - a soft grey.

The task was to allow the name, and the colour to inspire us. And we were asked to write down as many things, as quickly as possible.  

Several exercises later, I had come up with the start of a story about teenage Ciar (pronounced Keer).  Ciar's elderly dog dies and it's final breath it's spirit leaves the body and become visible - just. The spirit dog is no longer old, but  a curious mix of puppy and mature dog. It invites Ciar to follow, and this starts Ciar's adventure. The dog leads up the mountain side, into thick fog that regularly settles on the mountain. The journey through the mist into the into the land of the People,  the Shining Ones, Themselves.

There's so many cliches!  I've read many stories of teenagers discovering magic and that it lies within them. The spirit guide?! Using mist to travel between realities... And, the end of the story is Ciar doesn't return with the dog, having failed in the fairy quests, but they do return with a greater knowledge of themselves.

The story is set in the Isle of Man, and brings in references to Manx folk tales. Ciar is a red-head with white, white skin, a sprinkling of freckles and green eyes. Perhaps the only non-traditional part of the story is that Ciar is not given a sex nor gender. We just know them as an individual.  

I don't know if I wish to take this story any further given how many cliche boxes I have ticked. It might make a good exercise to complete it though - rather like working on scales and arpeggios when practising a musical instrument. Perhaps it might be a better idea to grab another paint chip and practise working on a story with fewer cliches.