Difficult times

Not done much sewing just don't have the incentive at the moment.  Keith continues to be unwell with the cancer pain beginning to take its toll.  He sleeps much of the time but we did manage to get one day out when he was feeling a bit better.

We went up into Swaledale to Reeth but forgot that they are working on the roads for the Tour de France.  The direct route to Reeth was closed so we had to follow the redirection route.  I'll never complain about going up Sutton Bank again!!! The route over the moors was new to me and most of it on single track with passing places.  It was steep and tortuous with lots of Z bends over tiny brooks. Very picturesque but it tested my driving skills to the utmost.  To make matters worse when we finally got to Reeth there was no where to park.....  On the way back (a different route to the one we came on) we came across a small beck and let Buster out to enjoy the water and cool his paws.  He did not want to leave it.  There was a run-off from the fells emptying itself into the beck and Buster was fascinated by the noise it made.

By the time we got home Keith was exhausted and spent the next couple of days in bed.  Guess we won't be making too many more days out, just the odd drive when he feels up to it.

I've joined a Yahoo group called artforthecreativemind and am in the process of trying to create a steampunk paper doll.  Not done anything steampunk before so it is certainly a challenge.  I chose the group because its one-to-one swapping which at the moment I find easier to deal with (as well as cheaper on the postage).  But its very different from anything I've swapped before so we'll see what I am capable of.

Good Days Bad Days

The last few days have been good ones, we've had sun, Keith has felt fit enough to play with his wheelchair (in shorts!!) and I've managed to do some Easter sewing.

I saw this collapsible thread catcher on YouTube (just google it and you'll find lots of links) and thought it just the thing for my sewing group friends.  It's very quick to make and you use recycled stuff, such as a bit of milk bottle plastic, cereal packet and an empty Pringles tube.  It took me two nights to make five, by hand.....

 When I'd finished making them I remembered a packet of small Easter eggs I'd bought and wondered if I could put one or two in.  It took two and don't they look cute, just like a couple of eggs in a nest.  I gave them to my friends on Monday and they were delighted with them as the thread catcher is small enough to pop into their sewing boxes.

I didn't buy Flynn any chocolate this year as last year he was inundated with them.  He likes to draw so I bought him one of Crayola white boards and some erasable crayons.  These are great as they just wipe off with a dry cloth or a damp one if he decided to use the walls and furniture as a drawing board.  Then I decided to make him an art folder to put everything in.  It has a pocket for the white board plus one for his crayons on one side.  On the other there are four pockets, one with a zipper the smallest for the cloth to wipe off his board.

I put his name on the front of his art folder, unfortunately I didn't think of this before I had put the whole thing together so the letters had to be bondawebbed on.  

But that was yesterday today isn't so good.  Keith has quite a lot of pain and he's back on the morphine at quite a high rate.  I'm due to go and get my hair cut but depending on how he feels in a couple of hours I may need to cancel that.  I just wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him at home on his own for a couple of hours.  I know he would probably just sleep but I'd rather be with him.  Tomorrow he may be okay again, hope so as Sy and Julie are putting on an Easter BBQ for the combined families.  Keith enjoys socializing so fingers crossed.

Flynn's Quiet Book

I've managed to get a couple of pages made for Flynn's Quiet Book.

 First one is a sock matching game.  As Flynn loves to help his mum unpack the washing machine I thought he'd love this one.

 When not in use the socks can be stored in the washing machine.

All ready to be paired up on the sock page.  The socks and sock page all have small magnets in them.  I found it difficult to find magnets that were strong enough to hold two layers of felt together and not so strong you needed a crowbar to part them.

 Next page is the Build a sandcastle page.  The pieces are loose so that they can be placed in any order.

And when he has finished playing with them they all go in the bucket.

The last page I've done for now is a shape matching one, I've left one of the sides open so the pieces can be stored.

There are lots of these books out there on the web but I particularly liked the free patterns from www.imagineourlife.com  This lady has some seriously cool pages and I shall be using some more of her pages as well as one or two of my own.  I have yet to think of a way to put these pages together, most of those I've seen involve ring folders or the rings like those in folders.  A few years ago I did an on-line course with Maggie Smith and created a folder to show off different edges.

It comprised of canvas pages with button holes at intervals along the edge through which I threaded a handmade fabric strip ending in a loop.  The loops were then wrapped round wrapped sticks to hold in place.  It has proved to be very effective and you can add and remove pages without nipping your fingers in the ring binder.  Flynn's folder will be different but I'll probably use the button hold method to hold the pages together.  Now onto the next page, hmm shall it be a puzzle, build your own burger, five monkeys jumping on a bed or......