Summer loving! Summer weddings & babies .

I have been a busy girl since I last posted. I was admitted to hospital one night not long after the baby shower with terrible abdo pain. It was decided that I have lots of gallstones & the surgeon is going to chop me about & give me some of his sewing tips!I am waiting to have some more tests done, these are next week & quite frankly , I'm a bit scared! I'm sure I will be fine but if I could get out of having an endoscope , I would!!!
 I also start a new job next week , just a few days before my hospital date. I am so excited about this job. I'm going to be an Heir Hunter! That's the same as the t.v Heir Hunters . Its been a while since I last had a proper job & I am looking forward to it. I have worked hard to find a job I really liked & I think this is kind of similar to what I did before , just there will be more happy endings this time.
We have a new baby in our family. Its a little boy & he is just two days old. How lovely to have a brand new baby! I was at a loss as to what to send mum & dad for the baby. The first born was a spring baby , so most of his clothes will probably be too warm for this one. They live in Austria & it is really hot there at this time of year, in the 30's some days. I decided to make a quilt as part of their gift . I love choosing colours & fabrics & I plumped for a nice grey & orange colourway & made it out of washable baby friendly cotton with a 100% cotton wadding as well. I'm afraid the budget couldn't stretch to organic cotton , but this I think is just as good. I made sure all the dressing in the  fabric was washed out well along with any starch I used to stabilize the fabric as I sewed.
I used a pattern I bought from Craftsy . I used the Baby Chevron Quilt pattern. from Piper's Quilts and Comforts. Its very simple to make , the only thing I wished I had known before I cut & sewed the squares into half square triangles is that once they are cut , they stretch like heck!This is preventable by using a ton of spray starch & pressing the fabric carefully & well . Press rather than iron , as this will help avoid the fabric from moving out of shape. Also to recheck the squareness of the blocks before sewing them together.
One other mishap I had was using some unknown cheap thread. It puckered all my sewing & I had to unpick every last bit & re sew it all. This took me a whole evening & made me get really behind time. Moral of the tale , use a tried & tested brand. Never use cheap thread or cotton as it just wont perform the way you want it to. Apart from the odd pucker here & there , I am very happy with the quilt for this little boy & hopefully it will become a firm favourite of his.I just have to make a label for it & it can be packed up & posted off.

Squaring up ready to bind the edges.

A crocheted blanket for friends who got married.

I also finished a blanket I had been making over the last year as a wedding present for friends of ours. It was so nice when it was finished , I didn't really want to part with it! I made a label on the printer using freezer paper. 

This is the front of the baby quilt.

Back of quilt showing pieced fabric. I managed to use nearly all the fabric I had bought without having to buy extra for binding or the back. I like the way it looks all pieced together. I love the multi fabric for the binding as well.I hope little one will use it as he gets older & finds great comfort from it.I cant wait to meet him.

The fate of the Very Hungry Caterpiller

Two months ago I attended a very dear friends baby shower. She was about 3 weeks away from having her baby.
I made her a flower baby basket , which I unfortunately did not take pictures of . I also made her a little cardigan in the first size & she had the Very Hungry Caterpillar outfit. Lou was absolutely thrilled with it. We had such a fun afternoon.

 The girls get their nappies on!

 Mum to be opening the Very Hungry Caterpiller

Granny to be made the lovely cake.

Long awaited post for needle felting.

I belong to the Lincolnshire Guild of Weavers Spinners & Dyers. We meet on a monthly basis & enjoy getting together , celebrating & sharing creations made from fibre . Every so often we have someone to talk to us about a particular hobby that may overlap one of the crafts we practice or may be more in depth with helping us to learn the craft.
My last visit , 2 months ago , we had a wonderful lady called Cindy visit us from Chicktin Creations. Cindy makes these wonderful dogs from needle felting wool fibre together over a wire armature. Her dogs are so lifelike. She told me that a few months ago , she was selling a piece on Ebay. A person lodged a complaint about selling puppies on Ebay as she believed they were real dogs! What a huge compliment to Cindy.
We had a great chat from Cindy & she was asked many questions & showed us how she made her creations. The detail in them is amazing. Obviously to get certain parts for that size is a near impossible task , so Cindy creates those herself. The dogs noses & hooves for the ponies , she sculpts from Polymer clay & most of the eyes are beads she finds at car boot sales or charity shops. Please visit her website & she is also on Facebook as Chicktin Creations. Hope you enjoy the photos below.

Learning to use my Canon 600d

Just over a year ago , Mr T bought me a Canon 600D . I was so thrilled  but it has taken me a little while to get used to it & start getting images that I can be proud of. The great thing about a DSLR is that you can snap away & take a mountain of images , delete the ones that are bad & keep the successful ones.This camera has many great features & is lovely to use.Never having a DSLR before & only ever using a compact camera or phone camera , this was a big change for me.
I started learning to use it by taking a short 10 week course locally. I had no clue about f stops & ios's! I really needed to learn this. The course was held at Unique Cottage Studios & we really enjoyed it.It was about general photography & not just about using DSLR's but that was not an issue. Other people had compact cameras & bridge cameras. We all learnt so much. At the end of the course , we had a trip out on the Spalding Water Taxi which apart from being great fun , we managed to photo lots of wildlife from the boat !
From this course it gave me the basis to go on & get some reasonable pictures. I still needed learn more. I had been bitten by the bug of getting better pictures. Youtube & Google have been great sources of information. Its amazing what you can find that is totally specific to what you want to know. I taught myself to Tat on New Years Eve this way.Today I have been reading up about was to get great images when your subject is a child. The post I used is here . The best tip on the same website , Its always Autumn , is this, Give Kids a reason to look at a camera, Pez Sweetie Dispenser !I love these little sweet dispensers & now I have a reason to buy one , or two....! I am so doing this!!
The next step I took in my photography journey was going to a photo shoot. Mr T knows a guy who is really into photography. He was organising a shoot to give local up & coming models , MUA's & stylists a chance to work on a shoot & gain experience at little cost to themselves. No one has rights over the images & they can be used in any way. I went along a took back ground shots. I learnt from my mistakes & gained a whole lot of experience & information. I really do think you have just got to jump in & get on & do it. It was pretty scary for all of us. I have just done my second shoot & through talking to those who attended previously I found that most of them felt the same apprehension & nervousness. Its not easy , but it gets easier as you learn.
Here are a few images from the first photo shoot . The location was at Fydell House , Boston, & it was organised by Paul Hutchinson .

Since this shoot, I have learnt so much. I now know how to change the light levels. See the difference below!

We have just had our second shoot & I cant wait to show you the results of those , once I have done some editing in  Adobe Photoshop

I hope I have shown you a little about my journey into photography & its not been too boring. I have lots to show you coming up , so do please check back here soon.
Have a great day ,
Lilibet , xxx

Two weeks

Two weeks ago , we were getting ready to go away on holiday. We were off to Lanzarote, Calla Teguise  to be precise. What a lovely time we had. From the hotel at Gatwick pre flight , to the hotel in Lanzarote. It was all lovely. Relaxing time was had by both of us , until we caught the flu bug.....
Neither of us have been so ill for such a long time.First Mr T came down with it , then me. We flew home last Thursday & poor Mr T had to be at work on the Saturday & he was still ill.We are still struggling to get over it.
Here are a few snaps to show you just what we enjoyed. I took lots of yarn projects with me to do & I did. I just have not snapped any of them yet. If the weather is good tomorrow & we have some good light , I will take some pictures to show you what I have been making.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

A dear friend of mine is expecting her first baby very soon. Like most expectant mums , she has been planning her nursery. Her & her partner have chosen a literary theme & I think one of her favourite stories is of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I have been nominated to make a very cute outfit for her little girl to wear when she has a newborn photo shoot at some time. It was found originally on Facebook.

The little outfit was from this seller. http://kbeanies.co.uk/BABY-BEANIE-SHOP.php. 

I know this is quite a simple project & I would be able to create something similar without te help of a pattern. I set about looking for suitable yarn in my stash & came up with some very nice yarns. Being a crocheted item , I know it will use a lot of yarn which is fine , seeing as I have so much of it anyway!

I have made a start this evening & I am about half way up the cocoon. If the light is good tomorrow I should be able to take some reasonable pictures of my progress so far.

These yarns were just meant to be !

Welcome.

Welcome to my very brand new blog , Lilibet Loves!
Here I will share my crafts & things I make . Show you how I am getting along learning how to do new things . Share with you things that inspire me to be creative or enrich my life.
My previous blog Magweeds Mayhem may have been what has brought you here , or you just may have come across me by accident. I hope you stay a while & enjoy some time & experience some things that I would love to show you. These are things that I love , that Lilibet Loves!