Done and Dusted!

The deadline for shipping for my first IG swap has arrived! Well the deadline for international shipping at least, so I can share at last the final contents of the package currently winging its way to my partner.

You have already seen

the Kilt Pin Brooch and the

Thistle-like linen pouch

My main project took a bit more effort mostly, it has to be said by my son!

My final make was this Lauren bag from the book, Making Vintage Accessories by Emma Brennan. I love the projects in this book and was looking forward to tackling a new one to me, but all the patterns in the book need to be increased before you can use them. It is the only drawback in an otherwise excellent book.

This was where said son came in. Calling in the odd favour or two, I asked him to photocopy the patterns for me, which he duly did. However, when I called in to collect them he discovered that whilst he had retrieved the photocopies from the library copier he had left the book behind! Well a pattern is all very well, but it helps to have the instructions to go with it :)

When he called into the library to try and retrieve the book, he discovered that one of the librarians had been so taken with the book that they had built an entire display around it, which he was about to ruin by removing the main item! Cue one rather sheepish son :)

Still the book and the pattern were finally reunited and I got cracking on the bag.

The swap is based on the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon and was timed to coincide with the release of the new TV series based on the books. The original scenes in the book, upon which this first series is based, are set in the 1940's just after the end of WWII, so this bag based upon an 1940's pattern seemed like the perfect make for my (very silent!) swap partner.

The linen for the flap was brought back from Latvia, and the wool for the main body was a lucky find in a scrap bag of fabrics bought many moons ago. The satin for the pleated front was another lucky find in my stash, but I have no idea what it was originally bought for. I am sure I had something specific in mind at the time :)

I have been hoarding this Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt since buying it in a sale over a year ago, so thought it would be the ideal lining to brighten up the very muted palette of the bag exterior.

I am thrilled with how this bag turned out and delighted to have another finish done and dusted, and a new experience to boot, it is all good!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

Sew the Library at Weekend Doings
    

Old and New

We have had a fascinating visitor attraction on our doorstep for over 2 years now, yet it has taken all that time to actually make the effort to go there despite driving past a couple of times a week for all of those two years!

The attraction in question is called Northumberlandia and is a wonderful piece of public art in the form of a landform sculpture in the shape of a female created from the clay, rock and soil of an adjacent opencast coal mine. Northumberland being the county of England in which the sculpture is set.

The various elements of the sculpture only become apparent as you move around the site. You can see the face above, and can perhaps see the scale of the site with the very small human perched on the forehead!

And here's the view from that self same forehead :)

The sculpture is 100 feet high at this point and is in total a quarter of a mile long. If only this had been here when our boys were younger, it would have been the perfect place to bring them to burn off some excess energy :)

You can just see in the background here, the opencast mine from which the material for the original structure was taken. With its constant movement of large trucks and machinery, the mine and the viewpoint from the top of Northumberlandia is a big attraction for boys young and old!

Equally impressive, but from a very different era is another local attraction, Belsay Castle, the original part of which was built in 1614.

and the plaque to prove it is still there!

As is this intriguing carving in an outhouse wall.

Graffiti, do you think? Certainly superior graffiti if it was :)

It makes you wonder what modern buildings will look like in 400 years time doesn't it?

And speaking of time, there is still time to link up to this month's Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party before it closes tonight

Link up at SLIK stitches to be in with a chance of winning this great pattern.

Linking up to
 

Still waiting!

I have managed (just) to scrape in with my second block for the Siblings Together Quilting Bee before the deadline at the end of the month.

So, this Wonky Log Cabin block joined

this one I made earlier, and they are both now in the post.

The request for next month's block, which will be the last in this round, is for a rail fence block so, hopefully, I will get that turned around a bit quicker :)

Needless to say the block that I need to make for myself is still unmade! Hopefully, this week there will be some progress.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday

There is still time to win this great pattern donated by Bustle and Sew to kick start your Christmas and Holiday crafting

Just head on over and link up your Christmas/ Holiday makes in this month's Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party at SLIK stitches