Hexs, scraps, angels and devils

Today I got on my hands and knees (!) and laid out my rose hexagon quilt. Not much left to do if time's no limit :-)



Now I know where I am again and have handwork for travel. I will put the paper-pieced rose in before I assemble the two halves. I am working on currently getting it to the 2 halves stage. I really love this quilt and am looking forward to revisiting all the rose scraps to piece a backing (I will attempt the backing at some point in the very distant future! And hope that it doesn't take me as long as the front)


Yesterday, after trimming the scrappy blocks from the previous post, I laid them out and they are BRIGHT so they will be a kid's quilt. I had a few spares and put them together as table toppers, BUT I'm thinking they are a bit BRIGHT even for me!



(Did I mention they were a bit bright???!!)

I have sewn the rows, but not sewn the rows together, but I'll do that shortly. At the same time I am putting a border on my Linus heart quilt (photo to follow - when it's done)



A special thanks to an angel, Jo in Tas, who sent me this gorgeous sewing bag. Very nifty for all your bits and bobs.



Thanks Jo, very naughty! But very very nice! (and you know why!)


And lastly that blinking red (devil) pen!
Looks innocent enough...



Even looks quite clever really...





But 3 baths, lots of scrubs, a swim in the local pool and it's still with us!


Some reds can be very colourfast!

Scrap therapy

I was clearing my sewing space and decided to just finish some 'stuff' up before I start anything new (What?! You've heard that before??!!) Well anyway, my plan was going well as I had a few handbags cut out and almost ready so they were quick to think about :-)
But then suddenly a bag of scraps caught my eye...



I decided I couldn't throw them out. I'd make blocks, blocks are better that strips... and blocks became more blocks...


I made 52 or so of these very scrappy log cabins. They work out a 6" finished size. Not sure what I'll do with them yet...


But once I started I couldn't stop. Definite scrap therapy and fun to do :-)



On the homefront, I awoke this morning to a small child chatting away about something. When I opened my eyes he was colouring....



his legs, his hands, my bed sheet, my elbow...

Let it 'Shine Shine'

Fact: I love textile design!

Fact: I wish I did textile design!

When you see someone who does such bold and engaging designs it reminds me of these 2 facts.

When you read that they are in Cape Town, South Africa at the same time that you are in Cape Town, South Africa and they invite you to come and see what they are doing, you go! I went!!

Here's a glimpse of some Shine Shine fabric that came back to Yorkshire with me in my suitcase that according to DH was just far to heavy (I recall a conversation about men and mice... say no more!)



Tracy of Shine Shine (sitting behind her desk here), does great textile design and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her in her Bo-Kaap studio in Cape Town.


Shine Shine also turns great textile design into fun products: bags, cushions, aprons...!


If you are in Cape Town, and they ARE in Cape Town, pay them a visit, I thought it was wonderful.


On another note:
Here, in Yorkshire, the sun will not 'shine shine' this weekend, but it did the other day and the boys just love getting out in the sun and the river with friends...

And the cows and I enjoy watching them :-)

Enough about me, but never enough roses!

Last night I cut out hexagons from the gorgeous fabrics I gratefully and thankingly received from:
Tracy at Shine Shine,



(My visit to Shine Shine will get a whole other post though!)

Katie Z. of Zana's Ninis,



Carline of Lady of the Cloth,



and Wendy (no blog)

(Wendy and I swapped some Shwe-Shwe fabric for some quilt magazines).

I thought I would get a chance to baste these fabrics to the hexagon papers while I waited at the hospital today, but I barely sat for a minute: consultations, manipulations, x-rays, discussions, referrals... and not such good news. As DH says "it's not life-threatening so get on with it". So enough about me, let's get that hexagon quilt going again I thought!

So I got the 'bits' out and realised that I don't know where I was and what I had planned when I packed it away. Looks like I'll need a bit of time to put it together properly, maybe even permanently this time, to see which areas need filling etc. (Hence this hasty photo before I quickly packed it away before I find myself trying to get it together now.)



Then one day, hopefully not toooo long off, I will lay me down under my bed of roses and feel better, because every hexagon will tell me a story, remind me of someone or sometime and that's pretty cool me thinks!

Mielie Bags

Curious as to how the bags are constructed, I made a visit to the Mielie* bag shop at Montebello in Newlands, Cape Town.



I was told that if I visited the next day I would be able to see the ladies and the technique in person. Of course, I made it back the next day! Thursdays are when assignments are given out and finished items are brought back to be made into bags, pencil cases, cushions, ottomans etc etc.

The boys and I braved the steep stairs and entered a wonderland of colour and activity!













Adri, showed me their new laptop bag



as well as this gorgeous ottoman.



Of course, I managed to spend a few $$$$$ in the shop! It was well worth the visit!



*Mielie is the South African word for sweetcorn. The rug-hooking technique used resembles this vegetable and makes it a very suitable name for these gorgeous bags.

Next to the workshop and shop is a great place for a cup of coffee especially if you need to let the kids run off that energy.

Home again, home again...

We'll, we're back in sunny Yorkshire and the weather is fabulous. We stopped over in London for 2 days on our way back home which included a visit to the Science Museum. This picture sums up the Museum visit for me:



The boys were a blur of excitement and activity.

Unfortunately the friends we stayed with were burgled while we were there and a lot of their possessions were lifted through the broken window. DH was also badly affected and had his laptop, camera, driver's license etc stolen.
3 months of holiday photos are now sadly in the hands of thieves which makes me wish I'd blogged more... so here's a gratutious rose photo taken on our friend's street...





Thankfully Sonnja's bear's were released a few days before our departure so Ruth and I were able to deliver them. I had never seen a Beertje Zonn in person and they are stunning!



Thank you to Sonnja for making them for sick children and for allowing me to spread some joy by delivering them.

Not long now...

and home will be another place.

Cushion: www.veldtdesign.co.za


The boys are counting sleeps, remembering friends and toys back home...
and I am wondering if I will remember how to sew, how to wear socks and how to open mail...


3 months of being in South Africa is almost over. 3 months of seeing the sun

and the lagoon

and the sea...



This week we will drive to Cape Town for the last time for a while and spend the last few days of our time in South Africa preparing for the onward journey to the UK...

bags will need to be packed (fabric secreted between clothes), goodbyes said and life will change again.



Sadly, it has taken almost the entire 3 months to release Sonnja's bears first from Customs and now the Post Office... I am hoping in my last few days here that I will able to deliver them to the children at the Red Cross Hospital with Ruth. But TIA (this is Africa)...


I feel sad to be going, but I have not properly unpacked my suitcase in 3 months.., I have lived the moment, but not the life.., I am ready for routine, but not complacency..., I feel nervous for the journey, but not the destination... Perhaps I am just ready to sew...More likely though I am ready for our new kitchen (!!)

I have missed friends, but will miss others that live here... I will miss my family, but have family there too. This is the life of one who has African soil in their soul and an Englishman in their heart...

I guess that's why I'm always covered in threads... Threads of these 2 lives. Fabric that sews me together and keeps me from falling apart. (And if I'm away from my friend Angie's cakes I'll not fear bursting at the seams either LOL)

And what will you read on this blog when I return? Perhaps a return to creativity? A finished project or two? Perhaps. But then that would be telling ;-D

Bag L O V E

I coveted this 'Mielie' bag soooo much.



I went into the shop at Noordhoek Farm Village so many times to look at it there was almost a path tread by my fitflops! Then one day I went in and it was gone. Gone! Oh well, I thought, it was a great bag, of course someone would buy it. I just never realised that someone special had bought it for me!!


Thank you so much A. I love it (serious bag love here!!!)

Perhaps I should have looked it up

I have never been very good with the facts :-) Even when I was given a book on succulents, I still thought I knew better... this could also be said for any of my crafting ventures LOL



Turns out it's not a Desert rose ahem, but the above succulent is indeed a white Mexican Rose or Mexican Snowball, Hens and Chicks or in fact: Echeveria Elegans

Many fine examples in gorgeous pots can be found at Pret-a-pot (http://www.pret-a-pot.com/) in Plettenberg Bay...

This shop is situated at Old Nick's which has the most amazing flowers in the gardens.
Roses... (I know this for a fact LOL)

And something gorgeous and purple (I declare I know not what it is...)

On the crafting front I have been drawing quite a bit and love it. Mother was going to teach me to crochet. We bought a hook and some red wool. I don't think I love it. It looks such fun and Mom says it's really easy, but it makes me feel all fingers and thumbs :-(
I shall admire from a distance I think...

The colours of Cape Town

When I'm in Cape Town, I am pretty much cut off from the internet.

But the colours of Cape Town...

The fabrics...

the flowers...

...

fill my days (and my new eyes!)....

Normal blogging will resume soon (I hope!)