Dogs for twins

Well, I have made them: two patchwork dogs for the new twins next door.

They are the same as the ones I was making for my sister's new grandchildren last summer.  In fact, I had started the first one without considering who it was for.  The twins, Felix and Jo, were born ten days ago.  I have to confess that the standard of my work is beginning to slip but you cannot see the places where I had trouble.  As my right (non-dominant) hand weakens from the IBM I find it more difficult to hand sew.  You would be amazed at how much you use two hands sewing, not to mention your right foot if using a sewing machine.  I am beginning to find threading needles a slight problem as I cannot pinch my thumb and forefinger together.  Also I managed to thread the machine up when I moved it upstairs but I have yet to try changing the needle, something I normally do at the end of each project, or threading up with different thread.  I was never any good at using the Bernina needle threader as when I acquired this machine a series of train strikes meant I could not go to the free lesson in London!

I can see that my sewing days are coming to an end but I have become very aware of how many of us are getting older and having practical difficulties.  I started off an interesting conversation on the CQ Yahoo group this week by saying I needed to pass on my books.  Now everyone is at it with lots of suggestions of charities, educational establishments etc. which will take books and supplies.  There must be an awful lot of fabric in British houses!  I have always said that I would paint when I got to this stage as it only requires one hand.  Unfortunately I am not nearly as skilled at painting and drawing as I am at stitching and at the moment I prefer to concentrate on what I know for as long as I can.  However, do not be surprised if this blog mutates into something about art more generally.

More winter walks

We have been trying hard to get out when the weather lets us.  Over New Year we went to Marazion beach where we have learnt you can park for free at this time of the year.  We did not walk but just looked at the sea from the car.

Marazion is very popular with local people at this time of the year so it was quite crowded.

The sandy stretch in front of the car park is ideal for dogs as there is plenty of room for chasing balls.  Here is the view towards Long Rock and Penzance.  Looking straight ahead there is a view right across Mounts Bay.  As with so much down here, everything is much better in winter: no crowds, free parking in a lot of places and not nearly so many people especially once the Christmas hordes have departed.

And here is a reminder of what the beach has to offer.  Look at all the warning  and 'do not' signs!

Last Saturday we braved quite a cold day in order to try out my new four-wheel walker.

We drove to Helston where there is a park situated next to a large pond/small lake.  I was able to walk right round it although I learnt that there are lots of tree roots under the surface which means walking very carefully.  The pond itself is a haven for swans and ducks

and a wide variety of birds although I can never identify the species!

Because the whole area is level and paved it is a popular place for people with families.  There is even a skate park at one point although I do not have a photo of it.

The designer in me was interested in the vegetation around the lake, including this tree and the clump of bamboo.

At the far end of the lake there are good views back to Helston.  The town, which is famous for the Flora Day ceremony and dance, is built on a hill and the buildings stand out well.

Here you can see the parish church and in the next photo, the Methodist chapel.

Helston is the market town for the Lizard.  Most people also associate it with Culdrose airbase which until recently was the home of the Search and Rescue organisation.  Helicopters are frequently seen round here, planes less often except for large ones very high up. I have been told that after the really large jet liners are serviced they take them out on a test run over Cornwall and the Western Approaches so vapour trails are part of the Penzance landscape.

Relocating my sewing area

In this house I have been very lucky to have had a sewing area where I could shut the cats out,  It came about because when we moved in eleven years ago there was no utility room so we converted the garage (which is underneath the sitting room) into a combined utility room and studio.  We chose not to knock a hole in the wall from the room I use as a study because (a) we needed the wall on the study side for books and (b) that was the sensible place to put the sinks. I was lucky enough to get two sinks with this arrangement.  However, it has meant that we can only get into the studio by walking across the yard.  In the past I have tripped over the door sill which could be serious so now, with my disability getting worse, I have decided I should not be sewing out there in case I fall.  No-one would hear even though I have a Lifeline alarm and carry my mobile phone at all times.  What a bore!

So since New Year I have been trying to move some things back inside the house.  I now have my sewing machine set up on the table in my bedroom  where I use to sew before the studio was built.  There is a pendant light above it with a daylight bulb in it so that is good.

One of my symptoms is that I cannot get up off normal height chairs and need them raised with cushions or 'elephant feet'.  Then I realised that I had been issued with a 'perching stool' which I have never used so I have put that in the bedroom at the machine.  It is an ideal height although I have to be careful not to bump into it as I walk over to the corner where the electric plugs are!

A second problem which I have not yet solved is where to iron. Originally I had an ironing board in the bedroom (it is quite a large room but an odd shape) but this went a long time ago.  I do not have room for another table so I have to go downstairs on my stair lift each time I need to press a seam which can be very often.  I am considering getting one of those portable ironing boards but I already have a Lakeland ironing pad in the studio and realise that would be easier.  But as you can see there is not much room on the table for that as well as the machine.

And now I find myself in the situation where half my stuff is in the studio and half in the house!  It was ever thus. If I want to do a lot of cutting I need to be in the studio so this morning I was out there but aware that John knew where I was and the neighbour who does our garden was also in the yard a lot.  

And what am I making?  I need to keep it simple as I have not done any sewing since the summer.  Then I was making patchwork dogs for my sister's new grandchildren.  Now I am making two more for the twins our next door neighbour had last Wednesday.  This morning I finished cutting out the squares for the second one.  Now I need to sew them all together, going up and downstairs to the iron of course.  And being January it is very gloomy and sometimes a bit difficult to see the work and stay motivated but I am trying!  Will post again when I have something to show.

A walk in the park

It is interesting how you can live somewhere and never go to some of the places that are really near.  On Friday we attempted to go up onto the moors but it was very soggy underfoot so we turned round and drove into Penzance.  Penlee House where I have done room stewarding for a long time sits in a park but I cannot remember ever having gone for a walk there.  As there are disabled parking places outside the museum we were able to park there and then walked down the main path.  I often see people walking through there as it leads to one of the main streets on that side of Penzance.  Now I learnt that the path is sealed and quite wide so ideal for someone who cannot walk far, even with walking poles.  There were lots of people there, many with small children.

I appear to have managed to take photos without people in them!  The path leads slightly downhill past a number of large trees which look really good at this time of year

I particularly liked this trunk:

At the bottom of the slope is a small pond with steps behind it.

Those are arum lilies on the left and yes, they are in bloom but this is Cornwall where the winters are mild.  On the right is a clump of papyrus.  We have some in our garden, planted by the previous owner, but I have never known what it was called.  It is very tough and ours recovers well from the odd frost.

Walking back up the path we noticed that there are memorial plaques on a couple of the trees at the top.

The whole park is a memorial garden as Penlee House was given to Penzance as a war memorial.  We will be going there again.  I knew about some of the other features of the garden such as the scented garden and the Open Air Theatre so it is a little surprising that I was not more familiar with this part of it.  And the photos of the trees might be worth fiddling with in Elements to create designs.

Inspiration from walks

We have had reasonable weather over the Christmas week.  The one disadvantage is that there are an awful lot of people who come down for the holiday.  This can lead to parking problems at popular places and I am now very limited as to where I can walk.  A couple of days ago we went back to Sennen Beach.  Whereas we only saw one person walking along the pavement on our visit the week before Christmas, this time I had to be very careful to avoid the crowds and their dogs.  However, I was able to walk a little bit further than the first time.  We went late morning again and it is noticeable how the shore is in deep shadow while the wider bay is in full sun.  I decided to look for photos that had the potential for art and design work.  Not that I have done any with them yet!

This is the view across the bay.  The foreground is in heavy shadow while the distant part is very sunny.  The waves breaking are very typical of this area and I have in the past got some excellent shots.  Not so many this time as I now only use a small Canon Powershot camera and even then it is 'point and shoot' as I also have to hold on to my stick.  This one shows one of the waves in more detail.

It is also possible to find good potentially good photos with people in them:

I also looked for detailed shots that might give me abstract ideas, both for stitching when I can do it again, and for art work as I tell myself I need to more of that.  This one is really quite abstract.

I know that what I now need to do is much more work in Elements in order to get really arty work!  I had Elements 14 for Christmas 2015 but do not have a printed book on it as they do not seem to have published one for it in the series I had for Elements 7.  I can see that there is plenty of work to do in 2017.

Writing this has also made me realise it is time I updated the look of this blog.  It needs a new picture and possibly a new layout but I am not sure I can remember what to do!  Of such things are New Year's resolutions made.  In the meantime, New Year greetings to you all if you have managed to find this post and the blog.

Christmas greetings and update

Well here it is, December 20 already and I see I have not posted on this blog since April.  There are reasons for that which I will go into but first I want to offer Christmas greetings to all readers.  I expect most of you gave up on me months ago but hopefully your feed mechanism might alert you to this new post.  As it is almost Christmas here is a photo I took last week which you can regard as a Christmas card.  It is of Sennen Beach near Lands End.  Being mid-week and mid-winter it was almost empty which suited us fine.

The second half of 2016  has been a terrible six months for us and that is why I do not have any work to present.  I was making new baby quilts but had to abandon this project when in mid-July I fell off the sit-kneel chair at my computer and broke all three bones in my right ankle.  I also had one of these chairs for the sewing machine which was out in the studio and I am just glad that I was in the house when the accident happened.  Both chairs have now gone to the charity shop!

The break was due to osteoporosis.  I will not go into details but after the best part of a month in hospital followed by six dire weeks in an old people's home I was allowed home.  I could not be at home until the plaster came off.  You can see why from this photo.

I was sent home wearing a think Velcro boot.  After only ten days I tripped off it and broke my left hip so it was back to hospital.  While I was there, Pania, one of our two Siamese cats, died.  She was only seven but had suffered from feline asthma for a couple of years and I think she just faded away.  Here is a photo of her taken in August 2015 after she returned from a lengthy stay in the vet's hospital.

Fortunately I was allowed home after ten days but my recovery is extremely slow because of my underlying Inclusion Body Myositis which effects the left leg badly and I do not expect to make a full recovery.  I have now graduated from a walking frame to a stick and am waiting for a walker with brakes so that I can attempt to get down the road outside.  My aim is to have a mobility scooter but there are other issues related to traffic, narrow pavements and hills which, together with the winter weather mean that I am leaving decisions about this for a couple of months.

I have not been able to do any sewing or art work since all this happened.  Initially I could not get out to the studio because the surface of the yard was uneven but it has now been resurfaced.  However, I do not think I should be working out there (there is no internal access) and am still considering if I can work in the house as because of the IBM there are issues about mobility including the height of chairs, getting up off them and where I would have the iron.  I now realise that to sew using a machine you need two good hands and a good right foot!  Unfortunately my right hand (I am left-handed) is beginning to be effected by the IBM and I know I will have to stop sewing sooner rather than later.  So I am thinking about these things.  Art work is ostensibly easier but I do not consider myself an artist and my skills are not that good.  All things to consider in the New Year.

In the meantime, here is the last known photo of both cats taken on Christmas Day 2015.

I am glad to say that Hinemoa (on the left) has adjusted well to being an 'only' and appears to be healthy.  Siamese are susceptible to various illnesses and some have short lives but we hope she will go on because there will be no more cats after her. And do watch this space because I will post.  If you are on Facebook you will find more there and I even have a page called Reensstitcher.  Meanwhile Happy Christmas.

Wall hangings for new babies

There seems to be rash of new babies in my sister's family: three in three months, so quite a challenge for the quilters in the family.  As there seem to be a lot of us, I decided that wall hangings was a better idea than cot quilts.  Leave those to the grannies!

The first baby was born at the beginning of April and received his present today so now I can reveal it.  I am afraid this photo is not up to my usual standards but we will pass over that.

The subject matter is Baa baa black sheep.  I now try very hard to make everything from fabric I already have in my stash.  This includes two New Zealand fabrics to reflect the baby's NZ heritage.  The strip at the bottom is of pukekos.  These are often found among sheep in New Zealand and I well remember many years ago paying a winter visit to a friend who lived on a farm.  There were the pukekos among the sheep along with pieces of pumpkin that had been put out as feed.

The border is also NZ fabric: a batik of traditional Maori designs.

Here are the sheep in close-up.  They are bonded applique.  The templates were ones I had for another great-nephew's quilt eight years ago and were originally designed by Claire Higgott of The Bramble Patch  Never throw anything away, lots of quilters say.

The quilt is all machine made.  It has made me realise how we all develop skills over many years.  Free cutting made the hills and field and it was machine quilted.  Unfortunately the bags of wool do not have a tie around them but I had no ribbon or cord in the right colour!

In addition to wall hangings I am hoping to give each baby a stuffed dog from the ones I made earlier in the year.

These are a really good way of using up scraps and would make good items for 'sales of work'.