Happy Henlow Adventures

One of the secret projects that I’ve been working on is this piggie cross stitch. I’ve had the kit for a while and not made it as I wasn’t sure what I would do with it and I wasn’t too sure about the message on it but in times like these I have found that I am resurrecting some older things that I’ve had to a while and making some use for them.  I started off doing the really exciting bit that you get with new projects and sorted all of the thread onto a thread holder. There are some lovely colours in here. Then I set to work on stitching the piggie. I love the way that it started to come together with the way the shading worked in the pattern. It was really enjoyable to stitch as well due to the different shades in it but all of them covering large enough areas that it wasn’t a massive faff changing colours all the time.  I stitched the pillow next as I knew the little piggie would definitely need that to look all snuggled up. And then started with the flowers and g...

I hope you’re enjoying the long weekend. I certainly have been. The weather has been gorgeous (far too hot for me!) so I’ve spent most of my time in my craft room. I’ve been working on a project that’s going to be a gift for someone the last couple of days. Today however I have been able to finish another gift off and get that in the lost box ready to be collected tomorrow (that was enough sun for me for one day!) and spent the rest of the day working on this little project for myself. Do you remember the tapestry I told you about in this  blog post . Well I wasn’t sure what to do with it but I saw on YouTube the idea of turning cross stitch projects into cushion covers. I’m not sure if I would think that cross stitch was a bit delicate to be turned into a cushion personally but I was fairly sure that some tapestry would be up to the task. This morning I set to work turning this into a cushion cover. I wasn’t sure how to do it but I knew I needed to make it bigger to fit th...

During lockdown my Dad has tried his hand of a bit of creativity - I guess it must run in the family. A while ago he started to collect driftwood off the beach close to where they live with the intention of doing this one day. It has been drying out throughout winter in the garage so now has been the perfect time for him to start crafting. I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing a few of his creations with you. I think they’re awesome. So imaginative. I think my favourites are the flowers and the little blue and green fishies. They’re just so fun and different. I love them. With these in mind I thought I’d put a bit of effort into the card that I sent to him and make it for him. I found a free pattern online so I began to stitch this little fish design (it seemed appropriate). I like the way it turned out - just the right size to put on a card for him too. I stuck it onto the front of this card blank that I had (I thought the coloured worke...

Once I had basted my patchwork next was time to actually start sewing it together and quilting it. This was the slightly scary part. I ordered a new foot for my sewing machine as it was recommended to use a walking foot as it should in theory pull all of the layers through evenly. Fitting it was exciting! Not as easy as you’d think but I managed it eventually after struggling with the screw to attach it.  I then had to test out this foot on a spare bit of fabric. I adjusted the tension of the thread down to 1 to make the stitches even and both threads cross over in the middle of the fabric. Then to start sewing up the seams of my quilt as per  this  tutorial video by Melanie  It was nerve wracking making the first few stitches. I wanted to get it right. I checked after the first few stitches that it was looking ok on both sides. When I got to the far end I turned around and started heading back the other way. i completed the first line both w...