The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about. 

Good morning my lovelies! How good is it to wake up to the crisp autumn air, the sound of the birds greeting in the new day.....and Milo crying like a big baby at the back door? 🐕🍼 Oh wow!!!!! Actually today you all might hear someone else howling as well. So....Verbena, Francesca and Laura....if you girls can hear some strange noises all the way over in Italy....it will just be me moaning, crying and howling 😭😭 because I have work tomorrow. lol

After having a glorious two week holiday it will be time to return to work and I'm really hoping this term is a whole lot better than last term. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, as promised, I have taken a good photo of the flower cushion that I had almost finished last posting. All that was still needed were the buttons stitched on and some ends sewn in. As always I make my own cushion inserts and it is now complete.

 And yes, as you can see, I have also been busy with other projects. I have two more bright granny square cushions, that were made recently but also needed finishing off and adjusting. One of the cushions needed major surgery and at the end of this post, if you want to see how I did 'surgery' on one of the cushions, go and check it out. I had to remove the centre piece in one of the squares and replace it with new yarn. It is very interesting how it was done.

This pretty little girl just melts my heart. My faithful dolls pattern that I use so much has once again helped me produce a lovely finished project. Every bit of bright fabric that was left over went into this girl. The little piece of dotted pink fabric, the leftover button, orange stretchy lace around the collar. I was so pleased not to throw these pieces out but to use them. I always thank my Mum for teaching me the value of not wasting. For her, during the war time and the time that she was growing up, it was of the most importance to use every precious thing you had.

Now what are these girls talking about?

perhaps they are admiring the patchwork bag?

A friend of mine had given me these fabric squares a long time ago and while I was scratching around in my fabric stash, I came across them. Instead of always making for others, I would make something for myself.

A little walk around my garden, admiring the geranium plants.🌻🌷🌹🌺

Now my friends, it is time to go and howl and cry.....do some housework. I will enjoy my Sunday and be assured that I will let you know how the week goes next time I post. lol 😂😂 I hope your week ahead is fabulous and full of good things.

Ciao, Anita.  The Surgery.......↓↓

So to my horror, after I had completed this beautiful cushion cover, I discover that one of the squares has a fault in the yarn and the thread is coming apart. Of course much of my work is done at night time so I did not pick up the mistake as I was working. What the heck!!!! Not wanting to let throw out a whole cushion because of this, I put my thinking cap on to find a solution.

I decide that if I can somehow get that centre piece of work out and replace it, the cushion can be saved.

1 Run a piece of yarn through the double crochet stitches in the next row. (I should've used a different colour to highlight it better). See where I've got the needle going? Do this for the whole round and when you remove the centre piece your stitches will not fall apart and undo.

 2 Once you have done this, cut out the centre work and throw it away. The new centre piece is going to be replaced. I cut a length of yarn long enough to make a whole new centre piece. One end of the yarn will also have a needle to sew through stitches, and the other end will be the end you crochet with. 

I made a magic ring and then did 3 double crochet stitches and two chain stitches.

3 This is where it gets tricky. After you have made the 3 double crochets and 2 chains, you are going to have to get a needle and thread it to the other end of the yarn and sew it through 3 double crochets in the next row. This photo shows where I've sewn the yarn through the bottom part of the next row.

4 Now, the crochet hook is going to be going through the same place as the needle and yarn have just gone through. You will need to turn your crochet hook around and put it through backwards. See the photo below.

5 Now that you've pulled the yarn through to the other side you will have to also pull it through the next lot of 3 double crochets

, it is going to feel a bit tight but that is ok as you will see. Once you've done this you are going to continue to make 3 more double crochets into the magic ring.

 6 After you have made the next lot of double crochets and 2 chains, you will repeat from step 3. You will need to make 4 lots of double crochet to replace the centre part of the work.

7 When you finish the fourth lot of double crochets, make a knot and you can sew in the end of the yarn to join it up and hide the thread.

 8 This is the end result for me. A new centre piece and the cushion cover saved. It might be a little fiddly and take some concentration but when you consider how much time you've spent making the whole cushion cover and compare it with the time you've used redoing the centre piece and saving the cushion cover.....it is well worth it.