Floor Rug

There hasn't been much crafting going on here for a while. Work has been pretty busy so weeknights I'm just exhausted and on weekends, after the housework and gardening, there doesn't seem to be much time or energy left to do much else.

But I have started this floor rug. I am making it from some coarse woollen fabric I bought for no particular reason on eBay a few years ago. I've cut it into 1 inch strips, crocheted it into a chain with a chunky hook and am sewing it together in an oval shape. I'm not sure how big it is going to get but if I don't have enough, I also have some beige/green woollen fabric I bought at the same time so it may need to be two coloured.

Window Frostings

My bedroom is at the dark side of the house, but I can't leave the blinds open to let in what meagre light it could receive as it is at the front of the house on a street with a lot of pedestrian traffic. I like to lie in bed and read when I'm tired, and in winter when its cold, like to watch TV and sew there too, under the blankets, so I have always craved natural light.

Last weekend I experimented with this idea - creating the look of window frosting using Epsom Salts and water! I have also found a few on the net involving Epsom Salts and beer but I didn't have any beer at the time, and if I had, I would have found a better use for it than smearing it on my windows.


And gee, it actually kind of worked! At first nothing happened, and I thought nothing would, but eventually, over the course of a couple of hours, patterns like feathers and ice crystals emerged. It was amazing to watch it gradually appear. And I recommend this to all as a wonderful experiment, or performance art on a boring day or something. You can just wash it off with water when you're done.


But it didn't really have the depth and opacity I needed - I think it would look better in small windows - over almost 2 square metres of windows it didn't look quite right. So I found this great product online and ordered some from New Zealand on Sunday and had it arrive today, Thursday. It is an adhesive plastic like school book covering, and is about as easy to apply and was really a bargain.

Here is the view, or lack of, from my bedroom window now! So I can have some privacy but get some light as well. I have only just put this on, so can't vouch for its longevity, but right now I am thrilled with this product!

March Project Finished

I finally finished hand quilting and binding my Forget Me Not quilt. I am pretty sure Sugar thinks it is hers though and she wouldn't let me take it to photograph properly. Oh, well, we can share.




For the backing, I used some pink homsepun and some left over blocks, which I can't show too well here:

Pretty flowers

How gorgeous are these flowers, and would you believe they are artifical so they'll last forever. I need to work on arranging them more nicely, though. My friend Lyle picked them up at the markets amongst some other bamboo and twiggy type stuff he wanted for a tall display. I didn't have a vase big enough so I put them in this copper basket-y thing (don't know what it is called) I bought years ago at the markets too for $1!

I've been doing a bit of hand quilting on my Forget Me Not quilt this week. I am using candlewicking thread and biggish stitches so it is going along quite quickly, and am about halfway done.

Oma's Bag from Rosalie

I was so excited to receive my auction win from Rosalie Quinlan in the mail today. Gee, does that woman work fast!

Here is my gorgeous Oma's Bag, made by Rosalie herself. This bag is huuuge! Definitely something Omas (grandmas) or hoarders like me need to carry their stuff around in.

How cute are the little pockets:

And the bag looks so cute when closed with its drawstring tie:

Thanks Rosalie, for the gorgeous bag, and for the fantastic effort toward raising funds for bushfire relief.

Basting with Pups

I've been working on one my kits - Forget-Me-Not by Timeless Threads. It is such a fun and easy pattern, lots of 9" blocks - some plain, some nine-patch, some four-patch, some two patch - put together almost randomly for lots of sweet floral goodness.

I'm planning on basting it this morning. That is, if the pups will let me. Seeing Mummy crawling around on the floor seems to be an invitation to tackle her, and stick tongues in her ears and up her nose. And then when all the fun is over, have a nap on said quilt and refuse to move.

I'm not sure how I am going to quilt it. It is a bit bigger than what I usually like to tackle. I was thinking of some simple hand quilting in contrasting crochet thread with big, over-sized stitches, to give it a really naive, home-made look.