Postcard Challenge

In my last post I said I would show you what I'd been up to with my 20 minutes a day

and my free day.

Following on from making artist trading cards

I took up Leah's challenge of making a postcard a month.

Leah was also in the ATC swap that I took part in.

For January she challenged us to make a postcard

using a bird and yellow.

So this is what I came up with.

The bird is quite small

and attached to the background using free machining.

The background is machine embroidered.

Because the leaves are so small,

I attached them by hand.

I'm a bit late with January's postcard.

I think I was too busy with my hexagon quilt to get my machine out.

The theme for February was

'things we love'.

I was going to do something to do with chocolate

but decided against it.

Instead I chose

flowers,

bright colours, though I've only used red,

butterflies,

stripes,

stitching,

stars and hearts.

I suppose you could say the butterfly and red spotted fabric are vintage.

I've had them that long.

That must make me vintage as well!

I had fun making them.

Although the photos don't show it

I have finished off the edges of the postcards

but then left a border.

I thought I would frame them and use them for pictures for our walls.

After all we didn't bring any of our art work with us when we left Sweden.

It's still in storage there.

I really enjoy making something like this.

It does take me a while to think up the design,

and it doesn't help that I have a limited choice of fabrics here.

My main stash is also in Sweden.

The postcard size is only four by six inches,

so they make quite small pictures.

The postcard with the bird is nice close up with the detail,

but the bird is too small to be seen across a room.

The second postcard would have benefitted from being quilted.

It would have added more 'substance' to the overall look of it.

It's nearly March

and the theme is 'words to live by'.

I've already got my ideas for the next postcard in my head.

I'll show you how I get on with it

when I've made it!

In the meantime,

pop on over to Leah's to see who else has joined the challenge,

and how they have interpreted the themes.

Meeting People, Making Friends

I tried writing and publishing this post last night with no success.
So it comes to you with fewer photos.
I've been experiencing problems trying to move the photos around once I've uploaded them
so I changed to using the new editor.
More problems!
I haven't been able to upload ANY photos,
neither would it save any text.
So I gave up and went to bed.
I am still experiencing problems with uploading photos this morning,
and when I tried to revert back to using the old editor
all I got was a jumble of computer text!
So enough of my Blogger problems.
Lets just hope it's all back to normal tomorrow.

The top photo was taken last week when there was a bit more snow around.
It looks across the river to our village and the vineyards running up to the top of the hill.
We often walk the Hounds through these vineyards.
The other day Mike heard a man working in the vineyard say to his colleague,
'Ah, the English.'
He gave us a cheery hello as we walked by.
Yes, I think we are quite well known in the area,
as being the English couple with their 'wind hunds'!
Pronounced, 'vinthunt'.
What a lovely name for them don't you think?
The other morning a man and woman were just starting their work in the vineyard.
She stopped to say hello to the hounds
and we chatted for ages.
It was easier than it often is to hold a conversation as the man spoke good English.
We are still struggling with German.
They explained how they are pruning the vines ready for the grapes to grow this year.
The grapes start to form about April and are harvested in October.

Yesterday was a good day.
We set off to meet someone Mike had only conversed with over the internet.
Unfortunately it was a grey damp miserable day,
but a warm welcome greeted us.
The couple and their daughter that we were meeting
are in the process of moving from England to Germany.
We were able to give them a hand,
and met what I think are going to be very good friends!

Today is lovely and sunny.
I think all the snow has gone now.
Perhaps we can dispense with piling on the layers of clothing everytime we go for a walk with the hounds.
The hounds too have gone for the occasional walk without their coats.
So maybe spring is in the air.
But I do like the photo below of the vineyards.

And as for my 20 minutes a day,
well it has had the desired result.
I am making progress with my quilt,
but I will have to show you that another day,
hopefully when uploading photos isn't a problem.

Taking Shape

The '20 minutes a day' that MarmaladeRose initiated
has certainly been motivating for me.
Today I got my Hexagon Quilt out in it's entirety.
In yesterday's post I mentioned how I was removing templates from some of the hexagons.
Today I looked at it as a whole, deciding on the design.
I even did some stitching, about an hours worth before the light faded,
and I could no longer see to thread the needle, (even with the light on!).
At last I have an idea how it might look when it is finished.
Part of the problem in making something for so long is that:
you loose site of the original idea;
you get tired of it;
you change your mind on the design;
you run out of fabric!!
Eeek!
No not really, but nearly, very nearly.
I thought that was the case today when I set about laying out the pieces on the bed.
I always like to place a quilt on the bed to see how it's taking shape.
It isn't the same if I put it on the floor.
I wrote about this quilt back in 2008.
It looks a bit different now that I have the dark green pathways stitched on.
But it was the dark green that I thought I didn't have enough of to complete all the pathways round the diamond shapes.
But when I checked again, I did have enough for that, maybe not enough for additional pathways , but I can live with that design change.
But it does mean that the design will be dictated by what fabric I already have and also by what I have already sewn.
At this point I am not going to toil over making extra rosettes to fit in with a design.
I am going to work on completing it first and foremost.
That way, I get to start on a new one sooner!
When working on any quilt it's inevitable that you consider the alternative design routes you might have chosen.
At least, that's what I do.
This quilt has had a few design changes,
but now I know how I'm going to proceed with it,
there's no excuse.
So keep calling by and ask how I'm getting on with it.
Just to keep the momentum going.

20 Minutes a Day

Yesterday I was due to fly to Dublin,
then from there fly to Newcastle,
and then travel by rail to Carlisle,
where my sister would have collected me,
by doing a 40 mile round journey.
I would have had to have set off from home at 5 am.
arriving at her home round about 19.30.
A long day,
and with so many legs to the journey,
a bit risky in the current situation with the weather as it has been in the UK.
There was no guarantee that I could have completed the journey.
As it happened, we had more snow fall here overnight
making the roads risky at this end.
To get to the airport
meant driving up hairpin bends in order to get out of the valley.
So the decision to stay was made.
I'm really pleased that I visited the UK before Christmas.

I haven't been out very much for the last week or so.

My foot is swollen and I don't know what's caused it.

So I've tried resting it to see if it makes any difference.

But it hasn't.

So I went on a walk today.

We crossed the river by car,

then followed the path that we have often taken.

We were able to look across over to our village.

You can see it in the first two photos.

The photo below looks down one of the vineyards.

They look very stark in the snow.

Yesterday, I finally got out some crafting bits and pieces.

It was about time I did something,

and I wanted to send a little something to my grandson

with his birthday card.

Yes, I was going to the UK to see my Grandson for his 5th birthday.

So it was good to make something after weeks of not making anything
I can't show you what I made as I didn't take a photo.

But I made something with paper.

It was nice faffing around.

It's something I'm good at.

So in order to keep the momentum going,

I've joined in with Fi

to do just 20 minutes of crafting a day.

It can be anything,

sewing,

crochet,

even some hexing.

Yes, I'll be doing some of each of them

and I'll endeavour to show them here.

Just to keep me going.

I feel so much better for creating a little every day.