Soiree Arm Chair Caddy

I took advantage of the novel situation of being told not to go to work yesterday to get some sewing done!

I've been admiring these Soiree charm squares and jelly roll and wondering what to do with them, and looking at the mess around my arm chair and constantly losing everything under the cushion, decided to make an arm chair caddy.

I started with two appliqued circle blocks and then went from there, making it up as I went, so it ended up a bit of a riotous clash of colours!

Above is one side, with a largish pocket for all the quilty goods I need while I'm watching TV. And on the other side are three smaller pockets for my remotes (one of which is missing!).

I didn't put a pin cushion on this one, as I made this for the side of the chair the pups like to "greet" me from. And greeting usually entails faces and paws etc on the chair arm.

In retrospect, I think I could have done with a lot more white to break the fabrics up and make them more distinct. I was making this design up as I went, and really should have drawn a diagram or thought about it first! But, whatever, it certainly brightens the place up.

And here are a couple of dishcloths I made through the week:

Did I say dishcloths? I am going to use them as face washers instead.

More crochet from QUARANTINE

I have been a bit crochet mad lately. It's something easy to do while snuggled up in bed watching TV, now that it is getting wintery and I am still getting over the flu so haven't had much energy for anything else.

I made two sets of the above - the same as the white ones I made, but in a mercerised pink cotton.

And also this filet crochet runner for my dressing table:

As for the post heading, I am in QUARANTINE!

A work mate has a relative in the same dwelling with suspected swine flu, so as a precaution, my whole team was sent home this morning and told not to come back til Monday.

I'm thrilled cos I'm still feeling run down from the normal flu so am just ecstatic over getting to sleep in tomorrow and rest up more in bed.

We'll find out tomorrow if the person in question really does have swine flu, and if so, we'll all need to be tested and quarantined further. So hopefully it doesn't come to that and everyone is well and just gets a day off work!

Crochet from the sick bed

While confined to the house and doing nothing more exciting than watching crappy DVDs, I've managed to crochet this doiley for my new lamp:

I just love this pattern. I love the way each band just barely connects to the next. For once, my tension is right too so it actually sits flat!

And it seems to go well with my new lamp shade.

The best thing about this pattern is that you can make it in almost any size, by increasing or decreasing the number of bands. So I plan to make a matching one for the other bedside table and then a couple of coasters as well.

The pattern is from Australian Crochet V1 No3. I don't know what ever happened to this magazine. I think I bought this about 10 years ago and at that time, I purchased 3 issues and then it disappeared from the newsstands.

Finally .... a lamp shade

Remember those lamp bases I bought at the markets last year? Well, they've been sitting on a shelf gathering dust for a while so a few days ago I finally made a shade for one of them.

It was my first attempt so it is a bit plain. But I still have another to make so I will see what I can come up with.

I'm in bed with a nasty virus at the moment. I'm just terrible at resting though. I keep seeing things that need doing, dusting, vacuuming etc, or thinking of craft projects I'd rather be doing. So I get up and start, and then realise I don't have the energy and go back to bed, and then get up again half an hour later and start the whole process again. The result being that the house is messier than ever - vacuum cleaner and assorted other things lying abandoned all over the place. What's the point of a day off work if you can't do anything?!

Happy Mothers' Day

Happy Mothers' Day to all the Mums!

No, the puppies didn't pick these flowers for me - a friend sent them to me to cheer me up as I had dental surgery on Friday. I'm lucky to have such thoughtful friends.

I tried starting my Panda Quilt Along yesterday but made a big mess of it. I thought I'd made a mistake and started unpicking and trimming and realised I was right all along, and had just ruined it. I then tried starting some of my nine patches for that Quilt Along and messed them up to. So I gave up, disheartened. I blame drugs - I am on a mixture of painkillers and antiobiotics that are making my head all fuzzy.

Two Door Snakes

I'm still on my mission to use up old wool so this week I have been crocheting draught stoppers or door snakes. It seems funny to be reading the blogs of those in the Northern Hemisphere talking about Spring and Summer, when here it is starting to cool down and my mind is turning to woolly things.

These are filled with an inner made of plain homespun and filled with kitty litter so they have a nice weight to them. I made one of plain trebles (or double crochet if you are in the US) and one in a simple shell pattern.

Sugar is lying on the spare bed in my study waiting for me to finish up here, and of course, she has taken ownership of one of the snakes. I may need to crochet her a neck/chin roll!

Panda Quilt Along

For someone who hasn't sewn in weeks I am being a bit reckless with my promises, but I've just signed up to AJ Quilts Panda Quilt Along. Be sure to check out the cute cot quilt pattern she is posting in weekly installments, it is just so sweet.