A bag well travelled

Good evening. I'm cheating a bit today, posting pics of other people's craft projects. The ladies brought them to this mornings craft club to show, and I thought they were so clever that they deserve a place on my blog. We have got some talented ladies in our group. This is a picture embroidered onto canvas. It is stretched over a wooden frame, all it needs is an attractive frame to complement the scene and it is ready to be hung. This is not a kit, the lady designed the whole thing from choosing a nice scene, to picking out the colours and stitches she wanted to use. 

The stitching is really intricate, I love it.

The back has extra fabric machine stitched around the edges so that the threads can be pulled tight across the back to keep it square.  

Another lady brought in two books that she has made. The picture on the front is embroidered in tiny stitches.

The front and back cover is two separate pieces. The fabric is pulled tight and secured at the back, then covered in decorative parchment.

The pages are thin card so it could be used as an album.

Here is another one, with a cat on the front. 

Lots and lots of small French knots make up the picture.

Very clever how the pages are joined together.

This afternoon the weather was glorious. I took my radio outside and listened to Steve Wright in the Afternoon while I planted up my beans, peas, and courgettes. My ears pricked up when I heard the name Jack Munro (linky to her web site) mentioned, she came on the show to talk about her book. She's doing very well for herself  promoting cheap meals. My meals will be even cheaper when I start harvesting my home grown vegetables.   

Dinner tonight was very cheap, all reduced of course. Half a punnet of mushrooms 11p, two chopped spring onions, a handful of chopped spinach, cooked in a little oil, a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a shake of garlic powder, and a dessertspoon of plain yogurt added at the last minute. Served on a large microwaved potato. Must have cost all of 25p at a guess, and it was chuffin lovely. Beats all your fancy mucked about food they serve up in restaurants.

The smiley Sue G has sent me a photo, she is carrying an original 'Ilona' bag, on her way back from holiday up north in Scotland. Below is the email she sent.  

Hi Ilona,
Just thought you'd like an update on your (now my) bag. 'Bag' has been on holiday, to the Inner Hebrides, to Islay and Jura in fact. (Should have taken it to Iona really, since it has Ilona embroidered on it!) Anyway, it came in very handy for putting all sorts of things in, and it enjoyed it's two weeks away very much. It would be interesting to know how well-travelled your other bags have been. 

Here is Bag coming back past the Kintyre peninsula, on the way back to the Kennacraig Ferry Terminal:

Thought you'd be pleased to know what a wonderful time Bag had, camping and birdwatching and seeing lots of winter geese. Thank you Ilona!
best wishes
Sue G

Thank you for the pic, Sue, I'm pleased that you like the bag and you are finding it useful. Your suggestion of finding out what has happened to the other bags I sent out is a great idea. Let's ask everyone who won a bag to send in a photo of themselves using it, with a description of where they are in the world, and what they use the bag for. That would be great fun, I will post them on a separate page so they don't get lost in the main body of the blog. So how about it folks, email your photo's to the address on the sidebar.

I'll catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip