November 2018 Photo Hunt

Once again it's time to show my photos but, better still, to see what you have all done.  Thanks to Hawthorn once again and please click here to see her photos (and everyone else's too!).

1  Post/mail box

At first you might think this is just a standard Royal Mail Post box but if you

look carefully is bears the cypher for Edward VIII.  He abdicated on

11 December 1936, less than a year after he became king.

Click here to read him.  Click here to read about these rare post boxes.

2   Decay

This year we had an excellent crop of pears from our single pear tree.  Sadly they did not keep very well so I was eating lots of pears before they rotted.  The pheasants, rabbits and other fauna that visit our garden enjoyed the pear feast!

Click here to see (I hope) a slideshow of the decay taken over days.  I've kept the slideshow frills-free!

Just in case it does not work for you, here are just 2 of the 15 pictures I took.

3   Secondhand

Let me introduce you to Lucy.  She was gifted to me by a friend who was downsizing!

Lucky me.  She has a view out of a window, looking at fields where there are sheep.

She seems happy in her new home.

4   Strand

I made this necklace from different STRANDS of yarn.

It is a Kumihimo braid, made on a disc rather than on my marudai stand.

Click here to see an earlier post about Kumihimo braids.

5   Fold

FOLDING thickish paper to make Christmas cards.  Not easy to do when my right

wrist, whilst free of its plaster cast, does not want to work like it used to!

So not a perfect example of paper folding but at least I managed it....

6   Own Choice

I 'don't do Christmas' ......  but I still like to see decorations, mostly in other people's houses!

I was at an Art Fair recently and saw this wreath hanging on the wall and

thought I could make that.   So I did, despite my wrist being awkward to use!!!!

I used my Kumihimo disc to make a simple braid and found bells in my stash.

My Beloved described it as AMAZING, since he was involved in

making a mandrel to help me obtain the same size cone each time.

Well that's it for this year.  I hope Hawthorn is able to provide words for January 2019.  I've really enjoyed taking part and looking at your photos.  Thanks Hawthorn for your time and patience!

I hope you all have the Christmas of your choice.

October 2018 Photo Hunt

Well, I'm still in plaster so am making an early start to this month's photo hunt!  I will not be beaten by a 'broken wing'...

Now I'm in pink plaster.  Well white plaster was a no-no and I did not fancy Royal Blue!

I was offered glitter but I politely declined!

The typing for each picture will be minimal apart from the last picture, as I'd prepared the text months ago (when I was able to type properly).  Now as I type, I have to backspace a lot!

1   Print

Learning to PRINT with my left hand .....

2   Leaves

My leaf pile (about 3 years' old) at the bottom of the garden.  No idea if I'll be able to add

more this year...

3   Spot

One of the different rabbits that visited our garden.  We called it Spot!

We've not seen it for ages.

4   Boundary

The boundary mark between our village and nearest town.

5   Flame

My worn-out little wellies (oh how I miss them) going up in flames!

6    Own choice

At the top is a picture of a postcard I bought in about 2000 ish or earlier.

There were no details about the quilt on the postcard but the postcard

came from a visit to the Bankfield Museum (Halifax).

Then in 2010 I decided  to make my version of it.  It is shown in 

the bottom of the above picture and I called it Twisted Star.

A few years ago I came across a book from a 

quilting exhibition (Quilt Art on Tour)

 and there was the quilt!  It was made by Deirdre Amsden 

and is about 1 m square.  It was one in a series she'd made 

in the mid 1990s.  Mine is about 1.82 m square.....  much bigger.

Click here to see another example in her series of Colourwash quilts.

In my quilt there are 11 blocks across and 11 down, ie 121 blocks in total.

Each block contains 4 different fabrics, colour graded and no fabric was repeated.

So that is a total of 484 different fabrics!

The black and white 'stars' form part of each block; each block was cut

(carefully) and then the appropriate white or black right-angled

fabric triangle sewn on.   Only then could all 121

blocks be sewn together and at last I could see if the 

black and white stars were there and in the right place.

It took 4 months to make and I had to be so organised to keep 

the blocks in the right place in the 11 x 11 grid; I even resorted to 

using Excel to help me plan it out.

I remember running out of dark fabrics and driving immediately 

to a local fabric shop to buy some more dark fabrics; sadly 

that lovely shop has closed.

So I hope you have enjoyed this weird assortment of pictures as I could not take photos of what I wanted to use (using my camera is not easy!!).

Thanks to Hawthorn once again and please click here to see her photos (and everyone else's too!).

September 2018 Photo Hunt

Once again we are going to have a few days of picture loveliness as we look at this month's collection from the photo hunt.  Can't wait to see what you have done with the words Hawthorn provided.  A couple had me stumped for a few days but then I had a few ideas.

1   Brightly coloured

I saw this at the recent Harrogate Quilt Show.  At the moment I seem to be going through

a 'rainbow period' and would have loved to have taken this home with me....

2   Upside down

Now this word was a bit of a problem.  I nearly had to resort to taking a picture of Beloved when he is bored; he says as a child he used to lie upside down in the chair......  then I had a better idea!

A nuthatch eating upside down.....

3  Ink

Years ago I did have some old red and green ink in lovely bottles but house move etc.......  after a discussion with Beloved and a search of his office, we came up with the goodies!

The ink bottle on the left contains ink for his barograph; the stopper

looks very cracked so I had to be careful not to touch it.

Don't know what a barograph is?  Click here to find out.

4   Bag

Ah, the happy memories associated with this bag.  We kept chickens 

from 1984 to 2014 ish.  We knew we would be moving in 2015

so I gave our few last chickens away.  I still miss them but I

do not miss the work that went with them!

5  Pattern

One of several visitors in March 2016, hoping we'd soon be up and open the door

to feed them!

6  Own choice - not really my own choice but something forced upon me by my own carelessness!

I was in the garden last Sunday and slipped on some mud.  

Fell backwards and hurt my wrist.  Off to Airedale A&E I was taken.  

Three hours later I left with my right arm in plaster!  I have a distal radius fracture.....  

Worst bit is I'm not allowed to drive.   

No pain to speak off but I've yet to see if I can crochet!

I can just about hold a ball f yarn......

Quilt making will not happen and there I was about to start one....

But I'm finding ways to do stuff.  Just managed to do some ironing now.

All part of life's rich tapestry!!!

I think I've waffled enough about my photos, especially the last one.  Once more thanks to Hawthorn for organising the Photo Hunt; long may it continue.  Click here to see what the other participants have done with her words!