2022 - No Craft Spending - I WILL bust my stash and make pretty things!!!!!

Florenceem

I haven't posted on here for ages. Not spent a penny on craft buys since August.
Only crafting that has happened are Birthday cards, repairs, alterations, stitching name labels in school uniforms and sewing badges and epaulettes on uniforms.
Hubby and I were enrolled as soldiers in The Salvation Army in July and time has been spent working at our corps.
There have been some lovely makes on here - I did read every post that I had missed.

plumduff55

Good morning everyone, it's a lovely sunny morning here and I'm sitting in my kitchen with the sun streaming through the windows. I've not been going for so many walks lately as arthritis is giving me jip but I think I'll force myself today.

I'm very pleased to say that I've achieved all four of last weeks goals. I'm quite sure I wouldn't have managed if I hadn't written them down. So here goes with next weeks goals

1) Sew the sixth and last Xmas bag. 

2) Sew a personalised Xmas stocking for my youngest grandson who arrived in May. This will be using fabric from my stash. 

3) Sew one of the Debbie Shore Xmas blocks.
3) Knit myself a cable hat to go with my new coat. I have partially knitted it twice and have had to rip it back both times. I'm using British Institute Soft and Chunky wool from Hobbycraft. I had knitted about 4" when I thought this is huge and very solid. Checked the ball band and it recommends size 9 mm needles. That's more like super chunky weight instead of chunky. So now I'm using 7.5mm needles and trying to knit the same cable and moss stitch hat with 66 sts instead of 92 sts. It's very difficult trying to adjust stitches to pattern and get the size right.  I'll let you know next week how I get on.

I'll post pic of the stool and pouffe I recovered. The stool is used for storing magazines so gets very heavy until I declutter it every so often. The wee pouffe is just filled with polystyrene beans and it's great for using as a footstool. 

Happy crafting xx

nimbo

I’ve had a read to catch up on everyone’s makes. 

You’ve all been super busy which has been lovely to read about. 

I’ve done a few bits. 

A Christmas bauble. 

Added six bits of the quilt. It’s slow going. The bigger it gets the longer it takes. 

A couple of lino prints. No idea what I’ll do with them but I’m looking forward to using them. 

I’ve started to spray three frames. They’ll need another coat maybe two. But I’ll please there has been some progress there. 

I’ve taken a bag to the scrap store. And bagged up two bags of rubbish for the bin. 

The wood I had cut for shelves is too long so I need to get that sorted out somehow. No way to get it sorted out by the original cutter sadly. I had hoped to get them up this weekend. 

305 / 250. 

£132.91 / £250. Budget spent 

emsi_b

I've made 7 cards, 6 dog poo bag holders, a pair of PJs, and a fabric basket! Now at 108/100

I didn't do any cleaning all weekend 🤣🤦‍♀️

I also printed out some business cards onto some card I already had, so that's 3 sheets more used up (and will print some more out if people actually want business cards!)

I now have 7 craft fairs coming up, so hopefully this rate of housework neglect means I have loads of stock to sell and have made a major dent in the stashes! I can sort of see some room emerging, but it's little bits and bobs of space. I need to have a good sort out to condense down again.

I do have to confess to having tickets to knitting and stitching show this weekend- I have a fairly lengthy list of bits I need (and want)- I have spent a bit booking craft fairs and buying a card reader which will limit the shopping down to needs only, I think!

Katiehound

here we go, this is the list of what I have made over the last 8 or 9 weeks

15 kennel coats for rescues- 5 are going to Romania next month & the other 10? en route to somewhere chilly- all made from donated blankets/ old damaged fleeces/ furry coat linings

12 doggy duvets
12 woven cotton bones- 'cords' from £1 T shirts
6 plaited cotton bones (need a lot less T shirt cord so using up stuff)
6 crochet 'granny' stars- yarn from unravelled jumper
8 wooden ring wreaths- crochet over ring with little embellishments- rings recycled, yarn new
The above items have gone to a craft fair over this w/e to sell for 'Dogs for Good' charity

6 crochet angels in silver & gold- made to order
44 cards 

Last week was asked if I could make 20 crochet angels at short notice- sadly No- they are very time consuming & I was nearly buried under the avalanche of duvets......

the stash never seems to go down!!
2 duvets donated in the week- would have gone to landfill
A shopping bag of material donated last month!

having a day off tomorrow and then back to the duvet factory.......

oh, and i forgot- one crochet knee blanket - to go with shoe boxes 2023!

greentiger

Hi. All, I’m later to the party than I intended – again!

Well done, Betharooni.   Little hats are always welcome.   Good work re matinee jacket too – and all your other projects.   What is Swedish tracing paper btw?

craftingmad, I don’t set myself targets any more; I’d just get fed up when I ‘failed’ to meet them, as I always would.   Now I just aim to use up as much of what I’ve got in mu multiple stashes.   I work in spurts, so I have productive spells and barren spells.    And 1560 makes is AMAZING!!!!

I love the bat costume, emsi_b – well done!   Good work on all those makes and on the card making – I am way behind on mine now.

Congrats on the blanket repair, bit_by_bit.   That can take almost  as long as making a completely new one sometimes.   You did a great job on it.

Your new skirt sounds lovely, Wraithlady.   What a clever girl you are!   My granddaughter would love your rag doll.

plumduff55, you are a crafting machine.   Your cardi is great.   And all those hats too!   Your tote bag looks great.   Thanks for sharing your instructions.   (I have a book that I keep notes about all my projects too; it can save so much time,)   you made a great job of covering your footstools.   I hope your arthritis lets you out more often again.

Happy new puppy, sammy_kaye18,   With him around to cuddle and play with (and the others), I don’t know how you have any time left over for crafting!

“I'm a bit on the slap happy side!!” katiehound, you’re a girl after my own heart!   That is some list of makes you’ve completed!   I STILL haven’t made Stanley’s coat that I measured him for last November!   Last month I did take apart an old one he had, but ….

Florenceem, thank you and your Salvation Army corps members for all the good work you do; it’s needed more than ever these days, it seems.

Your makes always sound intriguing, nimbo, especially when you don’t know what you’ll do with them!

As for me, I’ve not sewn anything, finished a crochet lap quilt (and started another), knitted 1 and a bit bow tie scarves, and made 1 card -  a pretty poor effort for a couple of months, really, but better than nothing. So a total of 3 items finished,   Tomorrow is my granddaughter’s birthday, so I must get her card made and a bag for her present – before 2pm when I have to leave to pick up my other granddaughter from nursery (she comes to us for dinner on a Thursday too, because Mum & Dad work late).

What’s in the pipeling?   Gift bags for Christmas, Christmas cards, birthday cards, finish the lap blanket ……   We can all dream, can’t we?

 

 

 

 

Katiehound

and forgot- 3 woolly scarves made from some skirt (100% wool) material, Zigzagged, then fringed.
Shoeboxes 2023

plumduff55

Hi everyone, well just managed 2 and a half out of my 4 goals last week 🤪

I finished the Xmas stocking for grandson. I'll post pics. Usually my stockings are all Xmas red, gold and green but I had this fabric in my stash. It is Christmassy but blue and white. Baby will be 7 months on Christmas Day so he won't be complaining about the colour 😂.

I finished the hat and it's perfect. I've written down the modified instructions as I would buy that wool again.

The Christmas tote bag is only half finished as I didn't have another red zip so hoping the zip arrives soon.

I've never even started the Christmas quilt block. I must now decide whether to concentrate on getting the quilt blocks done or leave it till next year. Once we're into December life just gets so busy that it's hard to get much done.

So my goals for next week are

1) I have some wool left from the hat and scarf so I will try getting another scarf out of it. I have a lacy scarf pattern that doesn't take a lot of wool and knits up quickly so I will knit that.
2) Finish the Christmas bag when the zip arrives.
3) Either get 3 quilts blocks done or GIVE UP !!!
4) Re-start knitting the Aran jacket for youngest dgd. I've already done the back and both sleeves so panic there. 

Happy crafting xx

emsi_b

Another 3 to report- 2 cards made and finally finished the coat I started making for my son last year... AND IT STILL FITS!!! I am very pleased 😂 now up to 111/100

I did go to The Knitting & Stitching show- I stuck to my list of needs with only a couple of variations off of it- 2 fat quarters to make up a bundle, a Christmas bunting panel and two fish shaped buttons, one of which I put onto the coat to finish it off. The bunting panel is for my stall, and I think I can use the fat quarters for kids purses- will give them a go and see how they turn out. It's quilting cotton but I usually use scraps of thicker fabric 🤷‍♀️

I also did a craft class today and didn't buy the kits she was selling alongside- a big plus! I love jesmonite, but I'm not buying stuff for another craft, I'll just go to these classes and do it that way.

nimbo

It’s lovely to see everyone has been busy. Glad people are on track. Xx

ive finished spraying the three frames and put the pictures back in them. Not a massive amount of progress but some at least. 

308 / 250. 

£132.91 / £250. Budget spent