Urban Sketching - Sketch Book Challenge

a quick sketch.while waiting in the car park at the local supermarket.(raylee).

Patches On Patchwork

I made this quilt about 15 years ago. it's a bit worse for wear, threadbare in places,faded, jaded, torn & worn. even though the fabric on the  back of the quilt is older it has stood the test of time, faded but not torn. .

 made from brushed printed denim, very 70's, & a yellow cotton with a bird print, also from the  70's.

 the patches  were cut mostly from cotton shirts i had made in the 90's, gingham curtains from a couple of different kitchens i have lived in over the years, floral sheeting, a bandana i wore in the 70's to keep long hair from my face, & blue & white snowdrop print cotton from our first feather doona cover. the quilt has been waiting patiently in the "one day basket" as in one day i will mend it!
found a linen tablecloth at the op shop, just the right colours, blue & yellow. beautifully embroidered pansies. it was meant to be the mend material. in this case" the patches for the patchwork".

 while sewing these patches onto the holes on this old quilt i thought "what if i could patch the holes, the torn bits, the worn out parts of my life?".......the mistakes, heartaches, failures, regrets,sorrows,the could haves, the should haves but didn'ts, the pains, the empty spaces.......

 but it would be like taking the bumps out of seersucker.......it wouldn't be seersucker anymore. it wouldn't be my real life.
patches don't remove the holes, they just cover them up.......so i will wear my holes & tears & worn bits & just be me.

for every tear that has run down my face there has also been a smile too. my life is a lot like the texture of seersucker.......a series of ups & downs. (raylee).

Crocheted Blue Birds Bag

 From this selection of fabrics......a pillowcase, some floral linen , a piece of chenille bedspread, a bit of plain cotton, a bit of printed broderie anglaise, ribbon & check bias binding combined with crocheted blue birds in fine cotton,....... a new bag .......

the front.....

the hand printed label......on the side....

           the back view.....handles stitched from the floral linen to add some pink to the blue colour scheme....

        & again......from the other side.....

it is lined with white cotton sheeting, i have washed & tumble dried it to soften it up......the crocheted birds were a gift from holly over at holly'sproject366........(raylee).

sewing for a change

I felt a need for a change so I dug out the sewing machine...

went through the hoard of clothes...

that I'd kept for the fabric...

chopped out all the seams...

cut into rough squares and rectangles...

then pieced together and sewn...

the quilt covers the top of a queen size bed...

but I am the wonky one...

not properly square when folded...

so be it...

cream crochet...ta da..

finally finished this variation of the shruggy...

I didnt get another ball of cream wool...

pulled a few bits out and tightened them up...

found another ball of weird wool...

that was actually lots of bits of different colours and types in the same tones...

just knotted together...

that sort of went with the cream...

so I made a built in scarf type of thing that made a collar...

and extended the front which was a bit narrow...

now I decided that it needs pockets...

so thats the next challenge...

more crochet in pink

another square in my current favourite...

then with the leftovers...

more granny squares...

not sure that they will go with the current batch of knitted squares though...

 am hoping there will be enough for something pretty one day...

Morning or Evening?

 Are you at your best in the morning or in the evening?

I started baking these biscuits at about 5.30 pm........ they are Anzacs  but i added some chocolate chips & extra coconut to the recipe.

 While i was waiting for them to cook i did a bit of doodling in my "flights of fancy journal".......with coloured Faber castell Pitt pens.........the page had previously been block printed with acrylic paint & collaged with magazine pictures & some notes i had written on a used envelope.....








.& earlier in the day i stitched some more crochet squares together .......slowly becoming larger. i tried to follow the instructions for the placement of the squares........but gave up as mine just did not correspond, so did my own thing as usual. it will be ok on the day.......my answer to the question.....definitely an evening person!

Hope you all had a wonderful day.........thank you so much for taking time to visit us.......

we love to see you!!

(raylee).

green scarf

here's another scarf we had a play with...

Mum had 2 short pieces of knitting...

then we found some nice wool to join in...

so I crocheted a piece in between...

to make it a bit more...

and she added the flowers for a bit of pretty...

Shades of Blue

'Sit quietly doing nothing,
spring comes,
& the grass grows by itself"
zen wisdom.
(raylee).

'

,

earthy brown shruggy

here is the next earthy colour shruggy

looks wonky on the hanger...

the colours remind me of the outback...

so I had a go at wearing it and taking the photo in the mirror...

not so good either...

but you get the idea of it...

I had enough wool left over to do a mini one too...

not sure what size it is...

just small as you can see by my hand...

Hibiscus Cushions

 Do you remember the hibiscus cushion cover? .......now it has a matching  mate & a new green one made from a polo shirt .

Here they are lounging around on a white vintage chenille bedspread .

 Happily brightening this outdoor setting in their new home.

I love to see where the things i make end up, & how the owners use them to interpret their own style of decorating. (raylee).

Cheesy Spinach Pastries

 Our family really like their food, ........but it is the male members that sometimes surprise me.......the topic of food often comes up in conversation.

 Sometimes some of them don't just talk about it ......they actually cook it!

 One of my nephews gave me a demo on his version of   these cheesy spinach pastries.......they are quick & easy to make & even the younger kids will eat them .....hot or cold.

You just take sheets of frozen puff pastry add a handful of english spinach to each piece.........mix some ricotta & mozzarella cheese with half a teaspoon of nutmeg or not.......put a big , big dollop on top of the spinach then fold the corners of the pastry to the centre, squeeze together, bake at about 200 for about 15 minutes give or take according to your oven....... this is a kid friendly version of the recipe......we love them!.....so thanks to nephew L..... (raylee).

Sketch Book Challenge Catch Up -April

April's theme for the "sketch book challenge" was...... "open".....
.for my  quick sketch of cracked open egg shells  i used gel pens on black sketch paper ......
(raylee).

Chinese Proverb

"Be not afraid of growing slowly,
Be afraid of standing still". - Chinese Proverb.
(raylee).

Bag Made From Brown Cargo Pants

Based  loosely on  a  pattern from this book .........

.....made from a pair of second hand brown cotton cargo pants. i made use of the pockets from the front & the back of the top of the  pants as i wanted to have pockets on the outside of the bag, four in all, ,......i stitched  the lining from a scarf.....added a pocket to the lining (inside pocket).

 stitched some loops from braid on to the top of the bag to hold the circle & square plastic thingys ( from swimwear), to put the straps through to make handles......

 then stitched the hand printed "ess-arr" label on to a pocket flap...... then stitched the lining to the outer part of the bag........cut the top from a pocket & pocket flap that was on the leg of the pants & stitched it onto the top of the bag .......this became the snap closure .......

 the gusset of the bag is made from a sample piece of floral cotton furnishing fabric......then piped around the edges with a stripey cord......added a bit of bling with a broken brooch.........ready to go.......all of the materials used were either given to me or bought from op shops.

(raylee).