2022 Week 2

So we start a new year with a new blog post - and some actual finishes!!!!

None were quite as smooth as they should have been though!

The Janet Claire sludge fabrics got added to a fleece backing with a lot of flaffing and measuring: I like clams but I dont see loads of them in my future!

I decided to use the sewing machine to blanket stitch them down: sometimes she was very happy, 

Other times she was a right pain in the neck!

Anyway: quilt got joined and bound, and was delivered on Wednesday - juts two weeks late, and she's very happy with it!

Another finish has been posted to Norway for a cousin's newish grandson.  His name, Sverre, is an old Viking king's name.  His mum is cousin to Theia and Saga's mum, so although I made a different type of I-spy quilt I wrote his names in the same style

Annoyingly I managed to trap some loose fabric on the back when I embroidered one of the names, but I added a strip of the blue spraytime to the back to match the front and the binding and that hid the problem!!!

I stitched badges for the scouts and other uniform groups that delivered the village Christmas cards

And I got to the hairdressers for a trim and a bit of colour!!!!

With a bit of help from Lisa my stack of granny squares . . . 

Is starting to become a bloanket

I have completed the January Hexi flower swap hexies

And received all the December ones

Lisa's Jim got me a fabric pack for Christmas: mostly mustards and teal.  He is colour blind so I know he sometime struggles to choose colours but he said he bought these because they must go together as they came in a pack, and I overheard him say that he chose a pack he liked in case I made him something from it.  This is the problem with having daughters - it honestly never occurred to me that Jim might want something patchwork!!!!  Also he lives in a house with a number of quilts I have made for Lisa over the years and a fair number of blankets that she has crocheted, so I don't know that making him one would have occurred to me . . . well now it has!  He has the box room as his 'play room' where he plays computer games, and there is a small mustard sofa bed in it

This was the pack he got for me

I ordered a few more mustards and a replacement teal, cut them into 2.5" strips

And now I have a flimsy round-the-world in mustard and teal!

I need to find the right colour fleece for the backing but I rather like it - hope he does too!

2021 Week 21

 I've seen pics of two gorgeous munchkins on their I-spy quilts this week - my favourite pics!  Thanks to the grandmas for sending them to me!

I started a mini EPP round the world rainbow  patchwork, inspired by Plum who has enough minis that she has created a gallery!!!  Do go an have a look: https://plumquilts.blogspot.com/2021/05/mini-gallery-opening-or-how-to-spend.html

I stitched a bridge and groom pair of Gingers for a couple getting married at church

And I went to help empty a lady's craft room - oh my gosh soooooo many planned projects - this is just (some of) the wool - she also stitched, did paper crafts, bead crafts, wire crafts and so many others - this has made me think about how much stuff I have and who will empty it out when I go (Plum and Jackie the girls say they are calling you and walking away LOL)

And this is some of the embroidery kits, other kits, sizzix dies, painting stuff and rubber stamps she had.  There are some needle punch tools priced 2 and 6!!!!! 

She had two or three identical (unopened) packs of some of the wire craft gadgets and tools

As a break from the sorting I did some sewing - I wanted a small handbag just to carry my phone so I made this

It was only when I went to use it that I realised the zip was inside out so it will be re-designed!

I've now had my second jab and the sun has been shining and is predicted to carry on for a few days yet  - got to count the positives!

2010 July (from original blog)

 

Another Tick on the To-Do List

Another tick on the to-do List... Littlest God Daughter has gone into Guides, and wanted a camp blanket to sew her badges onto. They still sell the same camp blanket as the Big Girls (Lisa and Niki) had - actually still have - (photographed here at camp, 2004), so I ordered one, and a few extra standard guide badges.




I've cut a hole for her head to go through, and appliqued 

her name on, and added some badges, and then I'll sew on her earned badges after her birthday (next week)

Hope she likes it

Happy Birthday Alice :-)

T Shirts and Quilts

Blisteringly hot yesterday - and I spent the day at the school fair, on the hook a duck stall, in the sunshine, as my shoulders will testify! Still before I went I did manage to finish the Hug Radio sample for Gary, so that's another tick on the list. However I did also remember another 4 items to go onto the list, so still it gets longer rather than shorter!

Today I finished a quilt for Sue's new grandson, Charlie. I had already made him a subtle Around The World using Mum's and Granny's choice of colours: creams, pale blues, greens and yellows, which has been much admired

It matches the nursery which is neutral colours, but mum then mentioned that she needed a bit of colour in there too.

Which is how this colourful quilt came to be.

Lots of scraps from I Spy quilts and displaying all the technical skills expected of a 10 year old, this quilt does have colours by the bucketful! I hope he likes it!!!


I especially like the border: a print featuring rulers that I picked up in WalMart last time I went to see dad - wish I'd bought more of it!!!

Got Distracted (!)

I've been working on Debbie's 9 patch and also Debbie's Blue Patrick quilt, as well as trying to think of a name for Charlie's I spy. Yesterday I had 4 school uniforms delivered which aren't on the to-do list ... so I spent today making a bag - go figure!

I've also been working on some cat paw prints for Sophie at Clip 'n' Groom - she wants them stitched on her car seat covers! She wants silver fill stitch, but I am hoping I can persuade her to have applique - the thought of doing 7 and then have number 8 go wrong makes me shudder!

I've brought the big embroidery machine up from the shed and am going to put it back together and see if it's in a better mood, and I'm going to go back to working from my list!!!

A Short Holiday

I haven't posted for a week as we've been away in Norway. We went to my Cousin's cottage south of Bergen and met up with a dozen or so friends and family. We swam (well Niki & cousins did) in the sea, we climbed up to a glacial lake, and had coffee and cake up there, looking at the awesome scenery.


At the cottages, we played cards, read, sewed, and we chatted, and ate and ate and ate and had a great time!

These photos are from Brian's phone: more to follow when the cameras get downloaded

Astonishingly I found more patchwork magazines in the small newsagents at the airport that I have ever before seen in one place, and have picked up hundreds of new ideas that I want to try, but need to finish at least Marilyn's birthday quilt first!!!

Log Cabin Christmas Tree

This morning I woke up at 3am with a start - I knew exactly what I wanted to make!

A bit of background - my uncle Geoff died in January this year, of Prostrate Cancer. He died at home, but spent the previous 6 weeks in a fantastic unit at the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford where the staff were just awesome. Being in hospital over Christmas is gloomy for patient and visitors and I wanted to do something for them for next year.

I woke up thinking of a log cabin Christmas tree: each block made roughly 10x8, then trimmed to a wonky 8inches tall, by about 6 inches wide, where the centre of the block is either a bauble (snowball block) or a lighted candle (coloured centre strip, topped with a small elongated yellow snowball?) and all the strips are shades of medium to dark green. These would be arranged in a triangle to represent the tree. This would be too narrow at the top to hang, so dark blue blocks (for the sky, maybe some with yellow stars in the centre?) at the top and then white blocks at the bottom for snow would form the sides to keep a rectangular shape so the whole quilt could be hung up.

I started today to look at the greens I've got in my stash - hum, not many! I can buy some, but I dreamt this in loads of different greens as a tree has so many different hues.

So I wondered if I could change this to an appeal - an appeal for either fabrics or donated blocks. Then it occurred to me that other people might like to do the same thing, so maybe it would work to swap blocks - you send me a few, and I'll send you a few back: that way we get some variety

I haven't thought it all the way through, but I am so excited by the idea that I have ignored my to-do list (again!!!) to make the first block, and here it is - just a hundred or so more to go!




EDITED 3rd August

Here is the quilt that inspired me, by Nadine Leroy Bohy, seen in the May/June Magic Patch (should be rotated clockwise -ooops!)

Another Tick on the To-Do List

I've finally finished Marilyn's 60th birthday quilt - a bit late, but at least I haven't seen her since her birthday in June so I don't feel to bad. We're meeting up, with Lainey and Lisa, for lunch on on Thursday so I had to have it finished by then. I have learned that hand sewing a border on a fleece lined quilt when it's 25 degrees isn't a great idea!

My mother taught me that orange, red and pinks and purples don't go, but I think this quilt shows that rules are made to be broken!

I love it, and I hope Marilyn does too!

Happy customers & recipients!

I'm disheartened about the Christmas quilt, [Kandy pointed out that hospitals have specific requirements for items in the wards] but can fully see Kandy's point of view. maybe I'll make myself one to remember Uncle Geoff

I gave Marilyn her quilt today and she loved the colours, and Gary came and collected the Hug Radio sample, and I packaged Tyler's blanket for posting, so that's three projects finished. An enquiry arrived by email about some t-shirts for "Be puppy farm aware" and Sophie's Clip and Groom t-shirts are on their way to me.

In the meantime I've been working on Patrick's pale blue quilt and Debbie's cream quilt, and having a play with a few journal quilt ideas:

This is one of the rocks from Halsnøy beach - the stitched version took ages (and isn't quite finished) but I love the effect

Why do I avoid what I SHOULD do???

I've not finished much sewing this week, but I have had two embroidery order deliveries in the last 24 hours - two PE kits to be named, and 16 T-shirts to be embroidered by Thursday ... so instead I choose today to decide to get on with finishing Debbie's cream 9 patch!!! (the photo doesn't show the cream fabrics too well, but the quilting on the border shows quite well, I was really please with that)





After that was finished, I dug Sally's Pink Brick Road out of a stack and added the border, and, as I had black thread in the machine, I got out the red and black jigsaw quilt (the one pieced by Rosemary) and added the border to that too!!!

As Louise has cancelled lunch tomorrow I shall be good and get on with the embroidery before I get back to any more UFOs or hand finishing the black borders!!!




Ooooh, and I sold another design on ETSY, so the seagull has been emailed to Megan in USA :-)

I've been a good girl today

I've been a good girl today, and I got on with the Hug Radio t-shirts - and have finished all 10.

They were more fun to do that I expected because Gary gave me free rein with the colours, so I kept changing colour for a bit of fun :-)

Invoice emailed today and T-shirts being collected on Thursday

Sally's Pink Brick Road finished :-)

Had a good day today taking Niki and Becca and my special boy to Legoland. Thank to R's condition we got exit stamps so we went on loads of rides without having to queue much. We have just heard it may be one of the last times we care for him, so I'm especially glad we were able to finish on a good day.

This quilt was finished this morning - just a small lap quilt for my friend Sally to keep her lap from getting too hairy when she knits! The fabric was given to me at Christmas as part of a Secret Santa swap arranged through the BQL yahoo group (British Quilt List). Thank you to my Secret Santa - lovely fabrics :-)