Hanging up the bunting!

I've been on an extended blogging break. I didn't realise it was quite so long. Looking back at my last post I can see how I was losing interest.
While I was making the owl I was thinking about how I could best display him for our craft group exhibition. I wanted him to be attached to a perch with a leather anklet, how you would sometimes see birds in captive at a game fair.
Somehow things got in the way and I didn't get time to make the perch and display him as I would have liked.
I didn't stitch anything for a long time after that. For most of last year I was back and forth to England to help look after my mum, she was unable to cope at home and we lost count of the numerous falls she had. My sister and brother- in- law, and me, were finding it all too much!
We tried out a 'care at home' company for a while, my mum didn't like that and decided she would prefer a care home. That meant spending time looking for a home that we were all happy with, moving my mum in, then the task of clearing her flat and putting it up for sale.

Over the summer we got the flat cleared and sold.  Gradually my mum's health improved.  The situation wasn't perfect, but it was better than before. Then she fell again and spent Christmas Day in hospital.  My mother can pick her moments. This time, at age 89, she was given a new knee replacement (I think the previous one was about 19 years ago).
This August 19th she will be 90 and she's been given a date for a knee replacement in her other leg - just right for her birthday. The surprise family celebrations we had planned will now have to go on hold and in a couple of weeks we'll all be visiting her in hospital instead. Yes, my mother can pick her moments, but I'm grateful she's having a new knee.

I left my craft group when the new season began last September. Time for a change, I thought.
I was a member for 7 years and loved my time there, but I couldn't see myself continuing on with the same thing year after year. Now I'm looking for something else to do!

So what have I stitched since the owl?  Wedding bunting.

hanging up the bunting

My son's fiancée asked if I could make her some shabby chic bunting for the wedding venue. She wanted the occasion to be more informal and 'home done'.  So for their wedding this June I cut 144 triangles, 288 if you count both sides. Then I stitched and stitched.

I cut most of the triangles using fabric from a sample book and also used some floral patchwork cottons. Pinks, blues and yellows.

I spray starched an old linen damask tablecloth and stitched on strips of hand-me-down lace across the triangles.

Then I bought an inch wide cotton bunting tape from Amazon, pressed it in half, then stitched.  I liked doing that simple stitching and as the triangles were all different patterns and colours it never got boring.

I made five pocket squares for the men, hand sewn rolled hems, fiddly!
When I told my mum what I was up to it reminded her of an old friend from years ago who used to stitch the rolled hems on silk scarves for Jaeger!

The flowers came from a local florist. They were hand tied and in Kilner jars and looked lovely on the tables.

The weather has been really poor this summer and on the actual day.... well, the photographer said the Fermanagh winds were mental!

It didn't stop us from having a good time though. It was a happy, very smiley day.

The bride is smiling under all that hair!!