Tai Chi and OPAM

Whew what a hectic week, every day I've had ladies in the shop sitting and sewing and so many that I hadn't met before. Even on our 'closed' day the shop became full with about 18 members of the local Women's Institute.  I was so in awe of the stories they were telling me that I forgot to take photo's, these women, some with gnarly hands of age and work recalled crafts that they did and do enjoy.   They were so inspiring, mind you later on I recalled the movie Calendar Girls and struggled to imagine any of my visitors doing tai chi upon a hill top, or taking it all off for charity.  I'd like to thank Jenny who took the time to introduce them to myself and the shop - I know I will see and have seen some of them again.
Wednesday, four of us sat hand stitching for the day just enjoying each others company and getting to know each other better, then yesterday four ladies, Roberta, Ngahuia, Marg and Lovey came over from Christchurch for a sewing pouch class.  So as you can see, it's been all on.  But wait there's more...
Yep, I got a number of things finished and a couple of goodies in the mail.
First off my finishes, on the right here is Avlyn Crystal Fusion, a wall hanging that I'll be teaching as a class project in the near future.  It's this little sew and sew that I broke my machine on while quilting - mmmmm! 
Then, after many starts in cross stitch I finally finished a number of mini pillows - funny though, the bigger I get the more I like the smaller things. I'm sure some one a lot more intelligent than me could have all sorts of fun with that statement! LOL.
O.K., I'm sorry you can't see them that clearly so here they are one by one 


Here's a close up of the heart one, I kind of got carried away with the beading.






My goodness this post is turning out to be  rather long so I think I'll add these to my OPAM finishes and post about the goodies that arrived tomorrow.
hugs

Yeah, purchases arrived

A couple of weeks ago and prior to the loss of my wallet I spent an evening letting my fingers do the shopping.  Amazon was where spent just a little bit of DH hard earned cash – don’t tell, he doesn’t know!   Anyway, I found three lovely books from Blackbird Designs, lookee here , aren’t they just yummy?  Well, they arrived the day before yesterday and after pouring over the contents I found a dear wee cross stitch pattern.  So with teabags at the ready I put my fabric in to soak.  White just wasn’t doing it for me, I wanted that aged look.   The cross stitch design is very small and I altered it just a little bit but I’m pretty happy with this new, old looking sampler that I’m going to put into another mini pillow.  Unfortunately the flash on my camera has made it look a lot lighter than it really is.  In real life it’s almost a tan colour.

Sunday’s bag making class went down a treat. Although small in numbers the ladies were such fun that teaching them was easy and at the end of the day they all left with a completed project which I’m thrilled with as all to often I find many classes don’t see the project through to completion.  In the end UFO’s from courses gone by just pile up.

Well, I guess that’s it for now, I’m busy with yet another cross stitch for another mini pillow, then once that’s done the patterns for more that I ordered last night should be here (yep, I did it again), so I can get stuck into those, then I should be just about ready for getting into those stitcheries I got a while back.  Busy, busy.

hugs one and all

Just in time for OPAM

Whew, where has the last month gone?  I know we are a few days short of the average but it’s starting to feel like a few weeks short.

Anyway, after creating the sewing room makeover, fretting over a lost treasure and then not to forget new purchases, which by the way I’m itching to get stuck into.  I have finally managed to post an OPAM finish.

I have made this bag before  and it is no hardship to make it.  Last time was in the red and stripes.  But I’m due to teach a class on it and needed to refresh my memory on the changes to the pattern that I had made.  This one I chose to do dear wee black print, however I wasn’t going to shy away from a touch of strong colour.    Maybe hiding it inside could be like the pearl in an oyster.  So, I went for a lovely coral Krystal, this I also used as a binding on the outside pocket tops,and then to go even brighter a lovely yellow batik.  The inner pocket almost shines from within and I’m really pleased with it.  I think it works, what do you think?

Now I’m more relaxed and ready to greet the mad March hare.  Somewhere along the line I hope to get into some sewing, but stock take is looming and I know that is just going to drag on and on.  We have increased our stock by a huge amount and it’s not just the fabrics, buttons, beads, threads and notions that need to be measured and counted,*sigh.  Friends have offered to come and help so I’m planning a stocktaking party with drinks, food and spot prizes – well, you’ve got to make these mundane jobs fun haven’t you and how lucky am I to have friends like mine.

Have a wonderful weekend one and all

hugs

Last Class of the Year

One of the benefits of working from home is that often I can take opportunities when they arrive.  Today was one of those days.  I thought I would get stuck into some sewing when three ladies turned up to the shop and asked if they could take part in a class.  I was a bit puzzled because they had said during initial chatter that they fly out of Christchurch tomorrow.  They wanted me to teach a class now! Well, what was I to do, and what could I teach that would be a starter project for them?  One of the ladies picked up a cushion from the sofa and the others agreed that, that was what they wanted to learn how to do – crazy patchwork, no less.
So that is exactly what we did for four hours.  I started them off, then while they were busy with ribbons and beads I frantically printed off stitch sheets for them. They were thrilled, especially when I told them about including a cobweb in each piece.  Each joking about the natural ones that will be waiting for them when they got back to Holland after being on holiday for 3 weeks. 
Taking a class on Boxing Day just didn’t feature in my plans for today, but what an awesome day it turned out to be.  Much better than the quiet day I was expecting, and three new friends from a far off land :) Thank you ladies, I hope we can do it again sometime.
I hope your day was as full of fun as mine was, or are you all still in ‘recovery’ mode after a hectic Christmas Day?