Crafty friends

 Crafty Club was busy this morning. Fifteen of us altogether. I was pleased to see a new member. She used to run the club a few years ago but handed it over when she had other commitments. I happened to bump into her on Saturday in The Range, and told her we have a new venue, and no longer meet at the Village Hall. She seemed interested. I turned up late as usual and the conversation was already full of laughter. I think she enjoyed it and will come every week. 

This is the start of a new mandala I am working on. The pink flower I made for the picture, but it wouldn't fit in with the rest of the flowers. It makes a nice centre piece for this. I have a large hoop for this one so there is a lot more work to do on it. I am using my last hoop, I was thinking I must get some more. 

Lo and behold, I don't have to buy any more. One of our lovely members gave me a set of five hoops, brand new, still in a bag. An amazing coincidence. How lucky, and how kind of her. I have some nice friends. 

Talking of friends. Another friend gave me some lovely fabric, and a box with some haberdashery items in it. Buttons, fabric, ribbon, and other useful bits and bobs. She had a sort out and these were surplus to her requirements. 

Looks like I'm going to be doing lots of sewing over the winter months. 

Now I'm going to make a mug of Horlicks for my bedtime drink. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

What I did today.

 Here is a brief rundown of what I did today. 

Went to the Coffee Morning and took some sewing with me. I wanted to get this finished. Another small hoop. 

After lunch I put Billy in the car and we went to Normanby Park for a walk. Somewhere a bit different for him to sniff around. 

At 4pm I did some litter picking on the Industrial Estate. Another bag filled added to the other six, now 7 awaiting collection. 

I might have a day off tomorrow.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Decorating a small hoop

Something to keep my hands busy when the weather is dull. I have a lot of  scraps of fabric. Cut them up into smaller pieces, stitch them together, and add embroidery. I painted the hoop blue using nail varnish.   

Now I am starting another one. The first was random shapes, this one will be a mini landscape picture. 

I did a bus out and walk back today. Some photo's from that to post tomorrow. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Crafty afternoon out.

It's about time I had a day out. Today I went to a Craft Fair at Lincoln Showground. The crowds had eased off when I took these photos. A good selection of hand made goods for sale. I bought two truckles of delicious cheese. Although they are not made locally, they are made in Cheshire in small batches. 

Some beautiful crotchet goods for sale here. I was tempted but they were a tad pricey. 

Lots of street food vendors outside. A very tall man to entertain the children. 

My friends Bob and Lyn were there. Bob does wood turning and Lyn does sewing. Nice to chat with them. Also Nikki from the 20 21 Arts Centre was there with her chap. That was a nice surprise to see them. 

On the way back I had time to pick a bag of litter. Nobody around. All tidy in this area now. 

The pile is growing. I see someone else has been picking and left their bag with mine. I had a look in it, not fly tipping, definitely a litter pick. I've got an idea who that might be. 

It was well worth getting out of bed for. 

Thanks for your comments. I am deleting any that are inapropriate. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Textile art

Happy Friday everyone.

I have added stems to the flowers. Tried them in various vases, glasses, and containers but it's difficult to arrange them into a bunch without them falling over. I think I might frame them something like this, so that they are separated, and all the colours are visible. The stems are from old artificial flowers. I have  wrapped them in green wool. 

I will think about it. Maybe I will add some leaves. I will have a look at the frames I have.

Have a good weekend. Toodle pip.   ilona

Still getting back to normal.

Good afternoon. 

Just popping in to let you know what I am doing. Sewing. I made these flowers. Don't know what I am going to do with them yet. I might attach stalks to them, add some leaves, and display them in a vase. Or I may stitch them onto a dark background and frame them. 

And I made a strip of mini bunting. Would look nice on the front of a shelf or hanging in a window. 

The power went off here last night at 11.30pm, which was rather unusual. I was about to go to bed. It was still off this morning when I got up at 6.30am. I'm pleased that the electricity company managed to fix it. Most of the village was without power, all the street lights went out. I hope this is not going to be a regular thing. 

I went to Crafty Club this morning. Knit and natter, Stitch and bitch. It was all rather jolly. We celebrated Jane's birthday, with cake. 

It's hot again today. I need to tidy the garden. A video is in the oven, coming out soon. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

I met a real Dame today

 Wow, it's been a hot one today. I went out early, 10am, that's early for me. Off down to the football ground to meet up with some people from the local bus company. They had a single decker to look round, nice and modern it was. Too hot to sit in it though for a chat. We stood outside in the breeze. 

They were doing a survey about transport matters, which I didn't get to do because I was so busy chatting. You know how I like anything transport related. I went because I wanted to ask about how to get a paper version of the timetable for my local number 60 bus. It's all electronic now, you need to have an app. I explained I can't do that, because as you know I don't have a smart phone. Anyway, the response was they will get my Councillor to print one off for me and post it through my letter box. Good service eh! If you don't ask you don't get. 

Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who is the Mayor for Greater Lincolnshire was also there. I had a lovely chat with her. I wanted a photo of us together, but I came out of the house in such a rush I forgot to put the camera in my bag. Not to worry, she very kindly took a photo with her phone. 

Rob Waltham was also there, he is a local Councillor and is very keen to promote litter picking. So we had a lot to talk about. I was chatting to Rob after the bus and it's crew left to go to Gainsborough. The car park at the Football Ground is massive. I spotted an abandoned Tesco trolley some distance away  on the edge. I said I have to go to Tesco which is across a busy road and I would take the trolley back. Then we spotted two more trolleys so we gathered all three together. I noticed that all around the edge of the car park was massive amounts of litter. I will go back there to tidy up. 

I delivered the trolleys to Tesco then went in to speak to the man in the phone shop. I bought my phone from there about six months ago, maybe more, and I have never topped up the credit. I asked him how to check the balance, which he showed me how to do. I was surprised to see that I still have £35 left on it. Amazing. Understandable though because I hardly ever use it. It's only for texts and phone calls if I need to contact someone. 

While I was at Tesco had a look around the back of the store which backs onto open fields. What a mess, tons of litter. That's another grot spot ripe for picking. I went next door to the big Aldi store and picked up a few things there. 

Then to The Range because I need a bag of wild bird seed. Then a massive detour home because there were road closures due to roadworks. By this time I was sweltering hot and pleased to get indoors. 

Yesterday was a crafting day. This is what I made. I need to make a video about the flowers. I might do that tomorrow. 

Five pet beds. Different sizes. Using up a duvet given to me, and the last of the fabric I was given ages ago. We have the village Summer Fair coming up soon, so I need to sort out what I will put on my table. 

Don't forget to put bowls of water out for wild animals and birds. I have eight bowls of various sizes on my lawn. 

Thanks for popping in. Now I am going to eat. Catch ya later. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

PS. 

A post from Andrea on tweeeter

Dame Andrea Jenkyns DBE 

@andreajenkyns

·

9m

Fantastic to be in Scunthorpe today for my Transport Roadshow. A massive thank you to everyone who turned out in the heat to chat with me. ​You told me loud and clear what needs fixing: better rail frequency at Brigg, more Sunday and evening buses, and a transport network that actually connects properly.

Toodle pip again. 

16 decorated circles.

I bought this macrame covered hanger thingy from a charity shop for £2.50. I think it's a hanger for your scarves. Put them through the circles and hang it in the wardrobe. I saw something else. I want to fill the 16 circles with colourful felt and decorate them. I saw it had potential to become a wall hanging. Each one is cut to the right size and stitched onto the back of the macrame frame. 

I have photographed it on a black background so the colours stand out more. When they were all finished I cut 16 more circles and stitched them onto the back to cover up the messy stitching. I like a tidy back. 

I didn't do the macrame, I just designed the 16 centre circles. I had no particular theme in mind. The decorations are all embroidered by hand. No glue has been used. 

Lots of praise from the ladies in the Crafty Club this morning. I am pleased with how it has turned out. As usual I am not in a hurry to sell it. I will keep it for a while until such time that I will let it go. It will be wrapped up and stored in the wardrobe to keep it clean. 

There will be an Open Exhibition at the 20 21 Arts Centre in town, later in the year. I might enter it in that. 

Time to get the hedgehog food out. I mowed the lawns this afternoon and the garden looks lovely. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona 

Yesterday and today

Good evening. 

Here's a video about what I did yesterday. As I mentioned in the previous post, I went to Barton on Humber to the Visitor Centre, and to The Ropewalk, and to Tesco. I spent a bit of money. This is what I bought from the Craft Fair. 

This is what I did today. back to the Industrial Estate. It was very quiet this afternoon. Later on the night trunker trucks started rolling in at about 5pm. 

I have picked this area before, thought I had better come and check it out. Oooops, I think I might have over filled the bag there. It's all tidy now.  

Two bags filled. One tyre found, and a smaller bag of glass bottles. 

Checking out my next picking spot. Found a small fly tip. There isn't much, I can tidy that up. 

The first hedgehog out tonight is quite small. Let's see how many more arrive for their supper. Or is it breakfast for them if they have just woken up.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Future craft events

 I am sorting out my drafts folder. A place where I store things until such time that I might publish them. As we move from April to May, some of these events have already passed us by, but it looks as though they are to be repeated in May. There is a web site with up to date information on dates and places. Based mainly in South Yorkshire, but covering the whole Lincolnshire/Yorkshire region.  

Make sure you organise your 'going out' diary. I have already missed an event because I wasn't paying attention. I must remember to make notes on my desk calendar. 

Toodle pip.   ilona

Another book cover finished.

At last, the new book cover is finished. It's been a long time coming. I keep getting distracted. Have been going out a lot more now we are getting some sunny days. 

The measurements are not perfect, I prefer a tighter fit. This is a bit wrinkly. Maybe I should have ironed it more while I was stitching. 

The inside is very plain. I had to add a piece of fabric at each end to make pockets for the book cover to fit into. 

These two pictures are from the first book cover I made. The book is called ILONA. Here is the blog post I wrote about it. 

New book cover video.

The weather has gone back to wind and rain, after a nice day yesterday. I went to the Arts Centre in town today, to have a catch up chat with Nikki. Then a quick one bag litter pick on the way home. Got caught in the rain again. 

Have a good weekend. 

Toodle pip.   ilona