A Flutter Of Butterflies

 

 

I've tatted a flutter of Jane's SCMR  butterflies and am busy sewing them to the food cover. I need to deliver the food cover tomorrow, so I must get on with it. 

Of Bags And Butterflies

 

Once we got going, a lot of fun was had, decorating my cloth bags. The circles with a cross in the middle were done with cotton reels, the rest with bubble wrap and straight painting.  I do like how each one is unique. 

I had planned to tat more butterflies for my food cover after the craft meeting, but I had an urgent request for lavender, so I tatted those instead. I delivered one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday, and have tatted another three towards the order for 10. Muskaan is right, I need to keep a few in stock.

I now need to sew more jewelry bags. The silversmith has asked for them to be a bit smaller, so I will have to work out the measurements before I start. 

Sold

 

A lady contacted me to say she'd seen the bath puppets at the market and wanted to buy four.  So the market wasn't such a bust after all. 

I had hoped to have finished the food cover by now, but I way underestimated the time it would take me to prepare for tomorrow's craft group. How did I think I was going to make 10 market bags in a morning? 

I have now finished sewing them and decorated a sample:

To make the flowers, I put bubble wrap over the end of a paper roll, put paint on that and used it as a 'stamp'. I just drew the stems and leaves with a wax crayon. The members of the group will likely come up with other ways of doing it. 

Butterfly Net

 

I showed my food cover to a friend recently and she said, "Ooh, please make two for me". My own cover has a tatted edging, but that would take too long, especially as Grace wants hers a little bigger than mine. So I used my sewing machine to sew a 'leafy' stitch and am sewing beads between the leaves. Beads help hold the food cover in place. I've made a start on the butterflies, but will need many more to decorate the cover. I'm using Jane Eborall's SCMR butterfly, using a variety of thread sizes, which will make butterflies of different sizes. 

Two Finishes

 

I'm done with Wiosna 2024, thanks very much Renata for the pattern. I haven't completed the doily, but it's already slightly too big for the space I want it for. I'm glad to have it done, it's been a UFO for a few months while I was busy with other things. One of the ladies in my knit'n'natter group boasts about how many unfinished projects she has, but I like to finish before I move on! 

I finished another project this morning, the knee blanket in waffle stitch:

I stand by my opinion that the yarn colour is not well suited to waffle stitch, but I carried on regardless and it's done. Summer has arrived, so I may need to put it away for a while before I find someone who needs a knee rug, but it was an excellent take along project, so the timing is secondary. 

Working On Round 12

 

 I'm working on  round 12 of this year's Spring doily. This is the last round I plan to do, so I want to push on and get it done. The whole doily has 22 rounds, but I don't need a doily that large and I don't have the time needed to complete it, so I'm stopping early. I'm enjoying the round and think it will finish the doily off fine. 

Tomatoes and Strawberries

 I enjoyed my morning at the market, but didn't sell much. All the stallholders I spoke to said the same. Oh well, it's probably a good thing as it gives me more time to do other jobs, like processing the tomatoes and strawberries that are ripening rapidly in the garden.

I cooked the tomatoes up yesterday with onions and celery for the freezer. Today I'm making strawberry jam and strawberry mousse. 

Replacements

 

I sold four puppets on Friday  - hippo, dog, frog and shark. I've made replacements for them, plus two monkeys. That will be fine for Saturday's market. The gift shop down the road has also asked for puppets, so anything that doesn't sell at the market can go there. Or I may need to make more replacements! 

Squaring Up

 I was very tempted to tat over the weekend. But I have another order for jewellery bags and I need to prepare for Saturday's market, so I got on with sewing bags instead. 

People who are experienced in using a cutting mat will say, "Duh!" But, new to me,  I discovered that when cutting the strips into bags, I need to make sure the ruler is aligned with the whole grid on the mat, not just the part covered by the fabric. I knew that using a rotary cutter and mat would need practice and experience. I'm not yet up to patchwork standards!