Quiet weekend

First day of spring ......

A very BIG thank you for all the front-line workers who are working tirelessly to keep us safe, at this critical time.

Past few days staying home from work, I had time to work on my creative pieces. I bought few tee shirts from the thrift store which I cut into strips, they add a different texture. I am also adding pieces of velvet,felt and other thick yarn.

quiet moment....the new normal 

Thank you for stopping by,

till next time
Gaia xoxo

Winter Saree quilt update ..

Block 5

Block 6

 Block 7

I have completed all the blocks that needed a pattern. Each block will have a different paisley design. Now, all that is left is, to quilt everything together.

*yesterday was rainy and overcast; the pictures did not come out well.

Phone book makeover..

I still carry a phone with me.  It started to fall apart and, I was not sure if I wanted to start a new book all over again. So, this weekend I finally, I did a make-over using fabric and, a small embroidered piece. I happy with my effort.

ring, ring : )

Sunday morning from my window... looks like winter does not want to go away :(

Thank you for stopping over,

xox

Gaia

Learning crewel wool embroidery

Babushka

A small piece practiced with crewel wool. I bought these wool, some from the thrift-store and, the others from, when they have our annual neighbourhood church sales.  I do not have lots of colour selection, but I tried my best to match.

Using acrylic paint, I added details to her face and, some parts of her dress.

 inspiration;  my collection of nesting dolls

Winter Saree Quilt update;
Block 3

Couple of more blocks completed on the saree quilt too. I enjoy making up a pattern to fill the motifs.

Block 4

would you like some tea ?

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Thank you for dropping by,

till next time,

xox

Gaia 

Crewel wool embroidery...

sharing.....

Another small project with crewel wool.

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 Petal squares... I manged to crochet 10 squares each from the five colours except for blue, which had enough for nine only; even though they are of the same brand and new balls. So, to get an even number I made one with all the colours  Now, all is left is, to put them together and do the border.

Few months ago I attempted this motif but it turned out with many mistakes. I re-read the pattern again and gave it another try. I think this time I manged to get it almost correct.

From the thrift store... needle lace pieces, I do not know whether they are hand made or machine made though.

Thank you for stopping by today..

till next time,

Gaia

My blanket of many colours - part 2 [learning left hand crochet]

I have manged to make about 10 larger squares joining 4 smaller ones.  Most of the yarn are left-overs that I get from the local thrift stores, so they don't have labels; but I have manged to get quite a lot with similar texture and some lovely colours too.

I still don't know how big I want to make this blanket. But for sure, what I have made so far is not sufficient.

I am noticing my skills are improving.

I also picked up this craft book, on one my recent visits to thrift store. It is all about sunflowers; crochet, knit and some felting.

 

I tried a few of the patterns. I struggled with the written instructions at times, however there are charts for all the patterns, which I found useful.

I added a pin to one of the flowers and made a brooch to wear in my spring jacket. I love it :)

Thank you for taking your time to stop by,

till next time,
xxx,
Gaia

Petal Square - [learning left hand crochet]

I came across this crochet book, recently at the thrift store.

A complete guide to Crochet Stitches -Mary Dawson

It is published in 1972, in Toronto, Canada. There is no information about the writer though only her name. The original cost of the book is $3 and it says no tax! I paid 0.99 cents for it. I'm very pleased that I found this book.

It has so much information for a beginner like me even though it written for right handed people. It only has black and white pictures of each explained stitch but no diagrams, just the written instructions. I think, reading the instructions several times will make me understand better.

I was eager to try something out; this is the Petal Square;

I noticed that usually rows start at somewhere in middle, maybe because each corner has more than 2  chain spaces. This pattern has 5 chain spaces. I was able to get the stitches alright up to the 4th row, but the last one is still to be worked out properly.

The saffron coloured wonky one is the first one I tried. The green turned out a little better.

I also tried joining them using the method explained in there... what I  did may not be right but looks nice though.
* It says to join by crocheting - work ss along edge,inserting hook through 1 st of each motif. or for a flatter seam ss worked through front loops only of edge sts.*

More learning to do ........

Thank you for taking time to stop by,

Have a peaceful Remembrance Day !!

Until next time,

xxx,
Gaia

Kantha Work - a small reversible quilt -Part 2

Half Way

I have reached the halfway point. ....a small sigh as I continue on.

I am running out of the colours I started with, so I am using other colours I have, hoping that it will not effect the final result I have in mind.

I have also experimented with arranging even stitches, but it is not easy keep up with that. Mostly, my stitches are random.

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Yard sale finds!
This flowered teacup n' saucer, is another summer yard sale find. Cost is $1. The ladies who were having the yard sale said that it belonged to their 'grandma'.  The two are from different sets, but both made in England. The teacup has a small chip on the bottom, other than that it in perfect condition. I was wondering whether the gold lines painted are real 'gold' ? It really does not matter, I m just too happy to have it :) :)

lets all have tea !

Thank you for taking time to stop by,

Until next time,
xxx,
Gaia

Hearts ! [my left hand crochet]

Pink  Hearts !

Another string of hearts ....
The yarn I used is acrylic worsted from the thrift store, the label says Hudson Bay Company.  But, I don't think they sell yarn these days [ i could be wrong], so this must be old.

Some hearts are little smaller than the others due a miscounting of the the stitches. I feel that I am getting better in understanding the stitches and adjusting tension when crocheting.

I tried, but cannot get a picture of the whole string in one shot, there is twenty of them and when everything was put together it became quite long.

I hope the lady who is going to receive this will like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

my achy breaky heart :) 

Thank you for taking time to stop by,

Until next time,
xxx,
Gaia