curtains

Sunday Sevens #19 21.2.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 27 Comments

A special Sunday 

 Last Sunday was a rather special day for me, on a personal note, one of my best friends (who used to live in Gibraltar) came back to visit with her family for half term. Despite being on a flight at the crack of dawn, failing to land at Gibraltar due to 80km per hour winds and the plane being struck by lightning they successfully landed at Malaga and got the bus down to Gibraltar to meet up with nearly 30 friends for a great (late) lunch at Queensway Quay marina. It was so lovely to have the old gang reunited and there were a few emotional moments. The photo above was taken as we left the marina to head home between the storms! 

Aside from that on a Postcard from Gibraltar note I had my most successful day yet. My post from last Saturday, about Gib Talks went bananas on social media locally and my viewing figures went through the roof. I woke to find I already had 39 views that day and that grew every time I looked at my phone to the hundreds!!! Thank you to everyone who has supported me on my blogging journey so far and hello and welcome to anyone who’s new to Postcard from Gibraltar, it’s lovely to have you along for the journey!

Curtain 3 completed! 

 I’m very pleased to say I’ve managed to make up any lost ground in my Home Furnishings course and in this week’s lesson I started and completed a curtain! It was a standard tape topped curtain in a very bland sample material. I have already bought the fabric for my next project and I promise it’s a bit jazzier than the previous three off-white offerings as I’m bored of that colour now.

A new week, a new skirt 

 As soon as one skirt had been completed on my dressmaking course it was time to crack on with the next one. From gathers to a full-circle skirt. This week’s lesson saw no sewing at all, instead there was measuring, drawing, cutting out and sticking. Firstly I had to redraw the pattern for a plain simple skirt to my own measurements, then adjust it to make a full skirt. That’s my carefully drawn out pattern sliced into strips like a grass skirt and then fanned out and stuck onto a bigger piece of paper. Also in the picture is the material I’m using to make it. I love this fabric, I bought it from a reduced / special offer basket at a fabric shop near my parents’ home before we moved to Gibraltar – that makes it coming up to 7 years old. I liked it so much I was frightened of making a hash of it. Now I can make my skirt with the help of an expert dressmaker, and not just bodge it together on my own – I’m so glad I waited!

Watercolour florals 

 After finishing my door painting last week, I decided to take a floral break from architecture for a change. I’m happier with the top 2/3 of this painting of fuschias than I am with the buds at the bottom, but it made a refreshing change before I get architectural again next week. I think I’ll try a window next. 

A bit of flower power 

 Our bougainvillea is doing really well on our balcony at the moment. It’s been such a grey and damp week weather wise, but this shot of magenta is a real pick-me-up as you walk past!

Founder’s Day   Yesterday, Gibraltar’s Scouts & Guides joined together to celebrate International Founder’s Day & Thinking Day. It was so nice to see all the different sections of the groups out in force. There was a lovely ceremony attended by dignitaries including the Governor of Gibraltar and his wife, who are the patrons of the Scouts & Guides on the Rock. The young people had been due to parade along Main Street, as is the tradition on Founder’s Day, but strong winds meant that part of the event had to be cancelled sadly. 

Stormy seas  

Those same winds made for spectacular scenes on the Eastern side of Gibraltar and at it’s most Southerly point, Europa Point. As we drove along the coast we could see the sea was very rough and stopped to admire the huge breakers crashing into the cliffs. The road was soaked by the spray and you needed the windscreen wipers going in order to see where to drive! It was very dramatic although perhaps a little scary to see the true power of the sea.

Sunday sevens #15 24.1.16

~ Making Stitches ~ 2 Comments

Processionary caterpillars  At this time of year we see this interesting phenomenon – the march of the progressionary caterpillars. They are pine caterpillars which live in pine trees (as the name suggests) and when they are on the hunt for food they head off for a walk to the next nearest pine tree in a long line. They are not as cute as they appear though as they give off a poison in the hairs on their backs which can cause irritation to humans and be very dangerous to animals. A good friend of mine almost lost her family dog after she tried and eat one of these. Anyway, these were taking a walk across one of the paths in the Alameda Botanical Gardens last Sunday and Mr Postcard took the photo for me.

Med Steps challenge update  I only managed one trip up the Med Steps this week but I am very pleased to say that I reached a huge personal milestone and did the double. I managed to climb them twice in one hour and forty minutes. I’m very pleased with that effort and delighted that I have overcome the hurdle of being able to do it more than once. I am still a long way off managing the five times required for the Med Steps challenge but I’m closer to achieving it than I was this time last week!

Curtain no 1 finished In my home furnishings class I completed my first sample curtain this week – a rod pocket curtain. Here it is in all it’s glory. Next stop a tab top version…
Meet the newest member of the Postcard family  Please allow me to introduce you to our newest family member. He’s cute, fluffy and doesn’t say much. We’ve only ever kept goldfish before now, so we’re on a steep learning curve with bunny.  He’s going to be a ‘house rabbit’ as both our balcony and patio get a lot of direct sunlight so we worry it would be too hot for him to stay outside permanently. He’s currently residing indoors in the biggest cage we could find in the pet shop but we are hoping to make him a bigger ‘run’ so that he can stretch his legs without us having to watch him constantly. So far his trips out of the cage have seen him making bee line for the edge of rugs and electric wires for a bit of a nibble! It feels so mean to keep him locked up but there are too many hazards for him at the moment to let him have free reign. Any tips on indoor rabbit keeping you can share would be gratefully appreciated. You may be seeing more of him…🐰

Skirt number 2 underway Two weeks into term and my second skirt is coming together quickly in my dressmaking class. This time it’s a corduroy gathered skirt. Its pockets, seams & zip are done. Bring on the waistband, gathers & hem :-). I shall do a big reveal once it’s completed (and if I’m happy with the finished article 🙂 ).

Star struck
I got a little bit star struck this week. I posted this photo on Instagram of me darning in my endy bits on my Attic 24 Cosy Stripe blanket and just look at who liked it… only Lucy from Attic 24. Oh my word – how exciting is that??? I told Mr Postcard and Number 1 son, their reaction to this momentous bit of news was total bewilderment…. Well I was chuffed anyway!

Watercolour door

 Well folks, the cling-film came off and it left me with nice textured stripes on my door. I’m not sure how happy I am with the whole picture but it was just a practice. I cannot take any credit for the techniques or the composition, as I mentioned last week, I was copying an exercise in a Jean Haines book called Atmospheric Watercolours (it’s based on a building in Venice). I would love to try painting a real Gibraltar doorway and I’m just gearing myself up for it!

 

That’s all from me this week for Sunday Sevens. I do hope you have had a good week and are enjoying a nice weekend. Sunday Sevens is a blog series and I’m linking with Natalie at Threads & Bobbins. Have a great day! 🙂