Spray starch ...!!!!!

 

As it is only 100 and some thing days to Christmas I thought I would show you a picture I found I may have ago at something like these.....

Now a saga of the spray starch

When I went to the Tauranga Exhibition on Wednesday this week , a fellow embroiderer mentioned "Spray starch problems "  and lots of ladies said "Oh! yes I am having problems also"...

Now most of us starch our Linen when the project is complete ... but some people are having problems with the spray starch marking the linen  by leaving a  a brown mark when it has been ironed dried.

So I have done some research ..... Spray cans of starch tell you NOT to use on Linen ...I looked at a couple of different cans and both said the same.  So a bit of detection work and I found the answer ..... Drum roll ........The reason is they contain silicone's and this when ironed onto linen can leave a brown edged stain .... this happened to me on a really good dress shirt of my husbands years ago when men wore dress shirts under their dinner jackets... and these shirts used to have linen inserts in the front.... I digress sorry !!

So fear not I have found the  answer it is simple you make your own starch ....using the same ingredients  as good old Robin Starch used ..... Which by the way is no longer being manufactured.

So to quote  just as I found it .....

 

1 Tbs. cornstarch / cornflour

1/4 cup cold water

3 3/4 cup hot  water

Cream the cornflour with the cold water then add the hot water stirring well.. Before you begin the starch process, wash the  linen wring by folding into a towel but  leaving it  damp wet. Soak it in the well stirred starch, and once you've done that you need to wring out the linen again in a towel and then hang it to dry. This is not the end of the process. It needs to be ironed, and it needs to be damp when you do this.  To finish off the job, a reasonably hot iron is required

I am sure with a touch of brain power you could reduce this amount if you only have a small item to starch

So there you have it ...my computer playing and shopping trip was not in vain.... I hope this helps someone out there in blogger land besides all the ladies who embroider,

Embroidery Exhibition Tauranga

Today a large group of Rotorua Embroidery Guild travelled to Tauranga for their  exhibition there was some lovely work and here are a few  pictures ..... the ones that appealed to me for various reasons.....  if you click on pictures you should get a larger view.

These cones are worked on canvas approx. 6 inches high   .... I think they have Christmas written all over them but obviously with a change of colour

Not a good close up picture of a  pincushion and scissor keeper in Hedebo work.

 A box top in canvas work

A sweet set of smalls

A very interesting felt door stop or book end, with a fair bit of top stitching

This picture does not do this work justice ... this is woven fabric  on an art canvas which is then painted white with stitched  feathers or leaves falling  down the canvas to gather above the  woven area . This one really appealed to me .... may be give it ago myself.

2 more box tops

 

 

The boxes of which there were quite a few were the Tauranga President's Challenge this year.

A Monday Giggle .....

This is such a cute pincushion  .... will be doing some of these.

You may need a cup of tea and a comfortable chair for this one it is a little long ......

THE BATHING SUIT..... author unknown

When I was a child in the 1950s, the bathing suit for the mature figure was-boned, trussed and reinforced, not so much sewn as engineered. They were built to hold back and uplift, and they did a good job.
Today's stretch fabrics are designed for the prepubescent girl with a figure carved from a potato chip.
The mature woman has a choice, she can either go up front to the maternity department and try on a floral suit with a skirt, coming away looking like a hippopotamus that escaped from Disney's Fantasia, or she can wander around every run-of-the-mill department store trying to make a sensible choice from what amounts to a designer range of fluorescent rubber bands.
What choice did I have? I wandered around, made my sensible choice and entered the chamber of horrors known as the fitting room. The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary tensile strength of the stretch material. The Lycra used in bathing costumes was developed, I believe,
by NASA to launch small rockets from a slingshot, which gives the added bonus that if you manage to actually lever yourself into one, you would be protected from shark attacks. Any shark taking a swipe at your passing midriff would immediately suffer whiplash.
I fought my way into the bathing suit, but as I twanged the shoulder strap in place I gasped in horror, my boobs had disappeared!
Eventually, I found one boob cowering under my left armpit. It took a while to find the other. At last I located it flattened beside my seventh rib.
The problem is that modern bathing suits have no bra cups. The mature woman is now meant to wear her boobs spread across her chest like a speed bump. I realigned my speed bump and lurched toward the mirror to take a full view assessment.
The bathing suit fit all right, but unfortunately it only fitted those bits of me willing to stay inside it. The rest of me oozed out rebelliously from top, bottom and sides. I looked like a lump of Playdoh wearing undersized cling wrap.

As I tried to work out where all those extra bits had come from, the prepubescent sales girl popped her head through the curtain, "Oh, there you are," she said, admiring the bathing suit.
I replied that I wasn't so sure and asked what else she had to show me. I tried on a cream crinkled one that made me look like a lump of masking tape, and a floral two-piece that gave the appearance of an oversized napkin in a serving ring.

I struggled into a pair of leopard-skin bathers with ragged frills and came out looking like Tarzan's Jane, pregnant with triplets and having a rough day.
I tried on a black number with a midriff fringe and looked like a jellyfish in mourning.
I tried on a bright pink pair with such a high cut leg I thought I would have to wax my eyebrows to wear them.
Finally, I found a suit that fit, it was a two-piece affair with a shorts-style bottom and a loose blouse-type top. It was cheap, comfortable, and bulge-friendly, so I bought it. My ridiculous search had a successful outcome, I figured.

When I got it home, I found a label that read, "Material might become transparent in water."
So, if you happen to be on the beach or near any other body of water this year and I'm there too, I'll be the one in cut-off jeans and a T-shirt!

SO .....

You'd better be laughing or rolling on the floor by this time.. Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain, with or without a stylish bathing suit!

August is already coming to an end ....

What an amazing inspirational picture this is ..... but on with the post ....

Yes ... where was I  Oh! yes  it is almost coming to the end of August  I have done various  embroidery items ....  lots of stitcheries  and I can still say that I love quilting ... BUT...
I have not made a quilt in may be 24 months or more now ... I have no idea why,   as I can go to exhibitions fall in love with patterns and drool over others work... but my Mo Jo to actually work on one  has left me. I think I need to go to a retreat or the like to be inspired again,  I think I need the encouragement of others standing over me or by the side of me working as well. 

I have at least 3 sets of "stitcheries" all finished waiting to be made into the quilt tops ... I have an enormous stash of fabric ( never the one I want of course).... oh well... every thing comes to those that wait patiently ...so I was bought up to believe  ... but I have been waiting  for along time now to regain my  enthusiasm to start quilting again..... all remedies should be sent " tout sweet"

Saturday ... I went to a 10 inch box making class thoroughly enjoyed that ...until late into the day I cut a piece of fabric in the wrong place ...**%$%#$@!!!!..... annoyed with myself  I was not able to find  the right adjective to describe my feelings.... I had found a lovely fabric  actually curtain fabric  with self coloured swirls on it ... so I embroidered  a small garland of Bullion knot roses in the swirl for the lid of the box ... lovely, I was so pleased with it... then  OMG how did I do this .... I cut the lid fabric 1 inch short all around so no extra fabric to lace it onto the lid  base .... All is not lost I now have to redo the embroidery on a piece that will fit the lid.  so here is sneak preview.....

This will not be wasted I will find another use for it ..... so watch this space as the saying goes for the update on the box ... the base of the box is finished just the lid to complete..

Guess what I saw today ??

Today there was a light in the sky .... which gave every thing a different glow.

As long as I had on the Gum Boots I could actually walk in the garden  with out sinking 6 inches into water ... Wheee!!   and this is what I saw ... that spring is not far away ....

miniature daffodils



A large Daffodil



One lonely Watsona  ( or I think that is what it is )



A miniature Azalea

Still not warm enough to be outside to long though so I cleaned and tidied  the sewing room and did a small amount of  construction and finishing on a couple of items,  pictures soon...  amazing what a glimpse of the sun will do ...  I must admit it raised my spirits.

Sons and Daughters .....

This week my son Iain turned 40 yrs old .... he had  party at the Firestation ... he is a volunteer Fireman..... You had to go dressed as the person you would call in an emergency,

So I went in ordinary clothes with a badge that said " 0800 MUM"
Well I would have done if I had not forgotten to take it with me.

To go along with this my daughter Kathryn posted on her blog all about her brother and his birthday  but when I read it  .......  it was a not only her thoughts on her brothers birthday  but a tribute to their Father and myself, so with a very swelled heart and tears flowing I have copied it here ... I am sure Kathryn will not mind me pinching it from here blog we often  share posts...

So ...  I love you both and could not have wished for two better kids  .... Hugs  Mum xx

 Kathryn wrote......

Today is my baby brother's birthday (my only brother).

My brother and I at my wedding in 2008

He turns 40, yes he is now a big boy and can officially join the ranks of adulthood.
He has survived, he has made it. He has fallen down and broken things, fractured things and crashed things but he is still here and is alive & kicking his way forward.
I am very proud of most of the things he has done and achieved over the years, ok there a few down right stupid things he has done but we will forgive him those minor indiscretions.

This also means that it is a sad day for my parents as both of their kids are now in their 40's and that means their kids are no longer babies, to some extent (although I know it never stops) their job is done. Although I think we both still have Mum on speed dial.

They can both be very proud that they have grown 2 super children to adulthood. They have gotten us both through the trials and tribulations of childhood, university, first loves, 2nd loves and even 3rd, 4th and 5th loves!
They have watched us move countries, leave their side and grow by ourselves.
They have been there to support us when we finally found the 'one' and celebrate us both getting married.

Iain, Mum, me and Dad

As my brother and I are both very obliging, we have happily produced 4 grandsons between us (sadly no girls) and they now have the pleasure of watching us grow these little people, although they are not so little either ranging in age from 7 to 11.

So happy birthday to my brother, may you survive another 40 years and just keep on growing with age.

 

To all those Grandies out there......

A Funny to help the day along ... This looks just like my number 1 grandson when he was about 3 yrs old.... Knowing his computer ability it probably was ....

"No Grandma, Listen  Double click the Internet Explorer icon "

I seem to have been away from Blogger awhile .... life is just to to busy  but I have been stitching and keeping warm ...  then fainting on recieving  the power bills .... and trying to say NO to things but I am weak and find myself doing everything for everyone plus more  ...
Many years ago I did  course on     " How to say NO nicely "  I only wish I could remembered how it went. 
 I guess while I am healthy and able I will just carry on .... what is it they say ... if you want something done give it to a busy person ... sometimes I think there must be other busy people around here ....  go and ask them.

This week I treated myself to a car valet, inside and out ....  a hampster could have lived for two weeks in my car and been well fed on the crumbs ...  for when I go early to the museum I often eat my toast on the way with a cup of coffee to go with it..... and some from the grand kids my fault for giving them stuff in the car ... it is amazing where those crumbs end up  .... what a pleasure it was to get a sparkling clean car back ... I have been trying to clean it inside for weeks and weeks but it has just been to wet or to cold to be out in the garage ... believe me it has been money well spent.

Catch you all again soon...