Share All The Things Friday #17
Things are likely to be a bit quiet on the Truly Myrtle blog over the next week. We're off on a couple of road trips before Christmas and then we're having a big do at our place on Christmas day. I'll not make any promises to pop in and that way, if I do manage a post, it'll be a nice surprise.
If you would like to see a little of what I'm up to when I'm away from my blog you might like to follow me on Instagram. Are you on Instagram? I love it. It's a fun, friendly community over there. Like a big, happy, virtual craft group. I post pictures almost every day. Little bits and pieces of life behind the scenes at Truly Myrtle. Of course there's an awful lot of knitting but often there's other lovely stuff too. See you there?
This post will be the last "Share All The Things Friday" post. But, never fear! I know some of you have really enjoyed hearing about things that catch my eye, so it's not going for good, just changing a little. I have plans - so keep reading!
- Although I've never ever mentioned it on this blog, I dabbled in a bit of quilting many many years ago. So far, everything I've tried has been pretty unsuccessful. See my paper pieced hexi's in the left of my photo? I made those when I was about 12. My aunt sent me a packet of paper hexagons from Liberty's in London during the early 1980's and I got started with all the scraps of fabric I could selvage from under the sewing table. I've dragged that motley assortment of hexagons all over the world for a long time now. It's a bit crazy but I can't quite bring myself to throw them away, although I doubt I'll ever finish them. The patchwork piece in the right of the picture is a quilt I started in 1999. I lavishly bought Liberty Tana Lawn at Liberty's and hand stitched every piece with teeny tiny perfect little stitches. It's a little larger than a cot quilt now but I don't think I'll ever finish that either. I knew nothing about choosing colours and patterns and it just doesn't flow. I don't think I'll put any more time into it but again, I can't throw it away. Anyway, lately, slowly but surely, the quilting bug is hitting me again. For years now I've been making vague threats to make each of my children a quilt. Then I stumbled across Debpotteringabout on Instragram and followed her over to her blog. Oh my goodness! Beautiful quilts! Deb lives in Christchurch, New Zealand and is working on making all the quilts in the book Beyond Neutral by John Q Adams. I can't say I've ever heard of him but her quilts are gorgeous. I'm totally inspired. See my Library books? I'm doing this thing! Four quilts for four children in 2015 ...
- So, I've made plans! I'm starting a free monthly newsletter in 2015. I'm quite excited about it. It'll include articles, bits that have caught my eye, previews, peeks behind the scenes and recap a little of what's been on the blog in case you missed it. It'll all be exclusive to newsletter readers and I'll make sure it's delivered straight to your inbox! I'm hoping it'll be like a mini-mag each month, a nice read with pretty pictures to enjoy with a cuppa. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy you can sign up by popping your email address into the box at the top of my sidebar where it says "subscribe to Truly Myrtle's Handmade Newsletter". Expect the first newsletter in the third week of January!
- I've been finding Madelinetosh's instagram feed really fascinating lately. Amy (the founder and owner of the very stunning Madelinetosh Hand Dyed Yarns) not only dyes stunning yarn but also takes beautiful photos. Lately she has been exploring natural dyeing with all sorts of materials from avocado stones to black beans. Her photos are stunning and happily, not only is she showing us what she's dyeing but she's also writing long, detailed explanations of her dyeing process. It's pretty cool.
Have a happy weekend! X