Our holiday in the Lake District

We had a good, relaxing week away in the Lake District. We stayed at Whitbarrow Village, near Penrith, where we have stayed twice before. We like the Northern Lakes, away from the crowds and dense traffic in more commercialised places, like Windemere.

Our main aim was to relax so we didn't intend going for great walks. Anyway, my knees and back don't seem to cope very well with walking over rough terrain any more. However, if you count walking the 18 holes on Keswick Golf Course, I did have at least one good walk! Yes, the Great Golfer took some clubs and a cart as part of his holiday equipment and I walked with him while he played. Thank goodness that was one of the days when we just had some misty drizzle! The scenery was lovely and I did pretty well until about the 14th hole; then the going got a bit tougher. However, I managed to make it to the 18th and then a very good lunch in the clubhouse.

We did enjoy more regular exercise with a good morning swim on five mornings. Thank goodness for 'adults only' swimming times. We both benefited from the exercise and by Friday morning my back was hardly affected.

Of course, we also indulged a bit! What's a holiday for, if not to have a treat now and then?! This was the final indulgence on our last day:

As for things 'crafty', we visited The Wool Clip in the village of Caldbeck. This is a co-operative of fifteen crafty people who spin, weave, knit, felt and make all sorts of wonderful things out of wool. It's not my area of interest and skill but it is always good to admire the work put into top-class crafts. To satisfy my inner craft self, I kept my hands busy with crocheting more squares for another little blanket and then visited a yummy fabric shop in Penrith, called Just Sew. What a feast for the eyes! Even the GG was attracted to the lovely fabrics, suggesting possible pieces for eye-catching bags! I managed to avoid impulse buying and only bought what I needed for some Christmas orders. Oh, the self-discipline!

On the day with the best weather all week, we drove to Ullswater Lake and soaked in the beauty and the peace and tranquillity of the surroundings. I really felt revived after sitting looking at the lake and the mountains.

Now we have more memories and more photographs so that we can say, 'Yes, we did enjoy our break away.' Tomorrow I'll be back in my sewing room!

Using my stash.

Why is it that I seem to run out of essential materials when I want to get on with a project?? I have such lovely fabric to make bags but have run out of the Thermolan interfacing I usually use as well as fusible fleece. We are taking a short break next week (going to the Lake District!) and I didn't want to order more and then not be here when it comes in the post. So I decided to use my time profitably (I hope it will make a profit!!) and use what I had in my stash to make some pencil cases for a Craft Fair on 10 November. For once, I had outer fabric, lining fabric and matching zips to make what I wanted - five pencil cases. I even found reasonably suitable charms to use a zip pulls. Here are the finished products:

Last week I made my granddaughter's present for her 8th birthday. She loves her ballet so I made her some ballet dancer bunting and a drawstring bag for her ballet shoes. I might have to explain about the bunting as my sister tells me that it isn't trendy in South Africa - yet. It certainly is trendy here as I seem to be making quite a bit of it!

The next bunting I make will be Advent bunting, which will double up as Christmas bunting. I got the idea from Craftseller Magazine but will not follow their instructions.

Still using my stash, I am going to make two knitting needle cases using some rather pretty tea towels that I bought a long time ago. This is another idea I found in a magazine.

The other step I have taken is that I have set up a page for MBags on facebook. I have hesitated about doing this but it seems to look OK and I've had very nice feedback from my friends (and family). I suppose the next thing I'll have to think about is a website for selling my bags. The thought of that makes me rather nervous, though.

All this will happen when we return from our little holiday. We are so looking forward to it!

A tale of two bags

I was asked to make a bag that had to have butterflies on it. I searched the internet and found some very pretty butterfly fabric on ebay. I ordered what I needed and, only after I had paid for it, I realised it was coming from Bangkok and would take a few weeks to get here! I told the person who had ordered the bag and she asked me to try and find some fabric locally (in the UK) as she needed the bag sooner than October. I found some that I thought was suitable and the bag was completed by the end of last week.

I emailed the lady to tell her the bag was ready but she didn't get back to me. Yesterday the fabric from Bangkok arrived, earlier than expected. I set to and made another bag in this fabric and emailed the lady yesterday afternoon to tell her she could now choose between the two bags. I attached photos of the bags and within a couple of hours her husband was at our front door to collect the bag made with the fabric from Bangkok.

It is pretty, isn't it? Fortunately, someone else has expressed an interest in the first butterfly bag, so I should be able to sell it. Next time I order something from ebay, I'll check where it's coming from before paying for it!

Some weeks ago I bought a very big curtain at a charity shop. The fabric has a very nice feel to it and I've been looking forward to using it. I had a pair of bag handles which I bought years ago and they go very well with the curtain, so I decided to make a basket bag. The bag was working out just fine and I had attached the handles and was putting the finishing touches to it when one of the handles came apart! I was so disappointed! However, in a previous life the Great Golfer was the Great Engineer and he loves nothing more than a challenge in that line, however big or small! Off he went with the offending screw 'thingy' that wouldn't screw together and less than 15 minutes later the handle was fixed and I was able to complete the bag. So here is my up-cycled basket bag.

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Bunting seems to be the thing at the moment in my sewing room! I have made three lots now with two more in the making and then some I want to make for my granddaughter's birthday. More photos of bunting to come...

Keeping busy

There seemed to be rather a lot of laundry, tidying, vacuuming and re-organising of bedrooms to do after our children went back to their home in Bahrain. It kept me busy, which helped with the empty feeling inside me and the quietness of the house. In a way, it was good to have our own space back again...

I have also kept at it with my sewing, although I haven't really had a heart for it. Some orders are coming in for Christmas, though, so I've got them done and I've finished the crocheted knee rug I wrote about in an earlier blog. It will go to our local church Victorian Christmas Fair. I'm so pleased that I've used up all the wool that was left over from knitting jumpers for my granddaughter. There's still some pale pink and white wool so I'll make a little baby blanket. The weather is decidedly autumnal and I won't mind working with wool in the evenings. Here is the finished knee rug:

Oops - I meant to rotate the photograph!

A lady in the choir I sing with asked me to make a bright bag for her and this one certainly is bright! She says people comment on it whenever she uses it - I'm not surprised!

I also had an order for some bunting for someone's birthday. It looks very pretty and the person who ordered it has asked for some more, this time in shades of purple. I ordered the fabric online this morning. I make the bunting the quick way: I sew the triangles together with the right sides on the outside and then use pinking shears to neaten the edges. They look pretty and it saves the time it takes to turn the triangles right side out and press the edges.

Christmas is in the air and some people are already thinking of stocking fillers. Despite the move to reusable shopping bags (one I support!!) there are still plastic bags around and a colleague asked me for two plastic bag holders.

The criss-cross coasters are proving popular and these are orders for Christmas stockings:

The care home where I work had a table top sale yesterday. I wasn't able to go but I made four shopping bags for them to sell and these little coasters. I bought strips of little horse pictures a long time ago and thought they would make useful little coasters. I hope there were some horse lovers out shopping!

I have been offered a table at a Craft Fair on 10 November, so I need to get some bags made. I have plenty of fabric and have got started. A very generous person gave me some wonderful offcuts of curtain fabric, which I'm looking forward to making up. If only I didn't have to work and then use up valuable sewing time by sleeping in the daytime!

Bag for Bahrain

Next week my daughter-in-law and two grandchildren will fly back to Bahrain. I foresee some rather sad moments! However, I have enjoyed making a new bag for Sharon and she is thrilled with it. It is a Pleated Tote and she chose the fabric: it is curtaining fabric in sage green, pink and cream. It looks really good and I'm pleased with it.

Fortunately, I had some dark pink cotton fabric that suited the lining and the bag is interfaced with fusible fleece. There are two internal slip pockets and the top has a magnetic snap fastener.

 

Golfing partners

The houseful of visitors is dwindling in number. Our son flew back to Bahrain on Saturday. The whole family left before 06.00 for the London train from Hull so I didn't see them leave as I was at work. Driving home after 07.00 I felt a bit tearful at the thought that our son wouldn't be there and I don't know when we'll see him again. Our daughter-in-law and grandchildren have gone for a final visit to friends before flying home in about ten days' time.

One of the nice things about having our son here has been that he and his father, the Great Golfer, have played golf together several times. They have partnered each other before in a very different sporting activity. During 1999 they spent hours and hours training together for a gruelling ultra canoe marathon, called the Duzi Canoe Marathon. This takes place every year over three days in January between Pietermaritzburg and Durban on the Umsunduzi and Umgeni rivers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Father and son decided to do it together in January 2000 to celebrate the new millennium and Father's 60th birthday. They survived the ordeal in extreme heat and difficult paddling conditions.

Now, in August 2013, they are older and wiser and stuck to dry ground (except for having to fish the occasional ball out of a water hazard!) and enjoyed playing golf together. Far more relaxing for the whole family!

The photographs speak for themselves!

Personally, I've found a bit of time to sew and have made three more charity tote bags for the sale table at my place of work and a set of coasters for a colleague's birthday present. These coasters are easy to make and are very popular with the recipients.

The person for whom I made these has ordered four sets as stocking fillers for Christmas!

Now I have a bag to make for my daughter-in-law before she returns to Bahrain...

Visitors

I guess summer time is when one either goes to visit people or you have visitors come to stay with you. This summer it is our turn to have visitors stay with us.

Our family from Bahrain has come to the UK to see us and various friends - and to get away from the 50C temperatures! Actually, we seem to be the base from which they are going out and about. At the moment, our daughter-in-law and grandchildren are visiting friends in Oxfordshire and our son is here with us. It is the first time he has stayed with us alone since he was 18 and he is now 41! At least I don't have to worry about him if he is out late, although he did get off the bus in the wrong village on Sunday night and ended up having an hour's walk to get home!

Our other visitors thus far have been our French friends who spent a few days with us last week. Our grandchildren were here at the same time and our granddaughter enjoyed practising her French. I must confess that I was rather exhausted by Friday last week, thinking of meals and trying to make sure the visitors were entertained and the grandchildren were behaving suitably. I don't think I am coping too well with teenagers; I find them rather stressful!

Before our French friends arrived, I did manage to make a set of South African-themed placemats as a gift for them. However, I forgot to take a photograph of the placemats. I have just finished another set for my daughter-in-law to take back to Bahrain; they are also South African-themed, this time with pictures relating to the San people, or Bushmen as they used to be called. This is what the mats look like:

I bought the fabric for both sets of placemats in South Africa. It comes in panels, printed with the placemats, so all you have to do is cut them out and stitch them.

Continuing on a South African theme, I have a South African friend currently staying in our village. She enjoys knitting so I made her one of these:

It is a zippered pouch with an eyelet in the front and keeps the ball of wool tidy while you are knitting. You put the ball of wool in the bag and thread the end through the eyelet and get on with  you knitting or crocheting. The ball of wool is kept clean, it doesn't bounce around the floor while you are working, and the cat can't get it! The bag in the photograph is one my friend ordered to take back to South Africa to give to a friend of hers who loves knitting.

I have also made my daughter-in-law and black and white wristlet to use when she goes out at night as she only brought a rather large bag with her. So I have done some sewing over the last couple of weeks; I just haven't had time to blog about it!

The children will come and go before they return to Bahrain in a few weeks' time. Then we will have a break till the next visitors come in September. Time to get on with some sewing!