2022 April first half

I felt as if I had spent most of the last few weeks copying blog posts from the old blog onto this one, but as I look throuigh the photos on my phone I realsie there has been a fair amount of making too

I have ticked off some of tyhe projects in the Book of Days:

Labels for cloths store at church

Scissor labels for Kandy and her grand children

Gingers with Daisys for Mothering Sunday (do excuse the art work!)

Gingers with Ukrainian Sunflowers, and sunflowers

And red white and blue bunting for the Diamond Jubilee coming up in a few months

  

I then mutilated a quit!!!

I made this one quite a while ago, and I'd missed the faric in quite a few seams

  

As it's a size that isn't very useful, and there are lots in the same size (a single fleece blanket size)

At Richamond and Kew Quilters a month or so ago we looked at making jackets from a really simple pattern of rectangles.  It fitted by quilt perfectly - and became a no-waste pattern (coincidentally Plum and I have been looking at these) 

The construction is such that you dont have to inset the sleeves: you add the sleeves to the middle of the sides then sew two seams: from side/bottom of the jacket, up to the junction with the sleeve, then out to the sleeve cuff.

Luckily I was able to keep the quilt binding as the binding on the bottom of the jacket and as the cuffs of the sleeves.  AND I found the box of left over fabric so I can bind the centre front and the neck in the same fabric.  The photos are poor but I'll take better ones when it is ready to be shown off!

 

I made April's crocuses for the Facebook Hexie swap group I'm part of

And I finally got round to teaching screen printing at Chertsey Museum: it was put off from a few weeks previoulsy when I had COVID.  The ladies have printed onto tote bags (after lots of test prints on paper and waste fabric).  In a few weeks time we will embelish these

As I was buying some paint and some screens ready for the class I also ordered one I designed myself:

To design a pattern with a repeat you start off with a few parts of the design on a piece of paper the right size.  You then cut the paper into quarters and rearrange them so the newly cut pieces are the edges and the blank bits are in the centre - this enable you to add more designs

By leaving a small clear section around the pattern I can print it again and again so I get a repeating pattern.  This will now be sashiko stitched with red embroidery thread

Lisa specifically asked for a patchwork for her birthday: it needed to be bir enough to go over the top of the beds and to cover the sides!  Either for her and Jim to sleep under with blankets added for each of the according to preference, or to go on the spare bed to keep it free of cat hairs.  She chose these colours and was happy with the design.  It isn't actually finished but I wanted to be sure it was big enough before I added the binding.  I think the 225 squares represent 10 m of fabric!!!!  Anyway they like it and are delighted with the size - phew!!

A friend of Niki's asked if I could make a chemo quilt, so I did.  

There were some scraps of the fabric left over  so I added a matching tote bag

And finally a few more Gingers - This lovely couple from church gor married this week: I had made a gebneric bride abd groom but once they posted wedding photos on FB I realsied I could match their colours 

  

And these two from our church gor confirmed in February.  Due to work and other uissues they havent both been in chgurch since then so this weekend we were able to gift them a bible.  I made covers for them both, plus (of course) a ginger bookmark!

2020 Week 52

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas - probably not what you are used to, but most of the year has been like that!

I had some lovely crafty gifts - thank you!  A map making DVD from Plum (watch this space), a needle keeper and a chocolate sewing machine (yum) from Avril.

I finished another julenissen for us:

and have completed this flimsy.  I'm a bit cross at the way I've arranged the colours, but it is what it is!!!

Looks good hung up with lights behind it - almost stained glass!!!

Very good friends moved out of the village just before Christmas so I made them a tree hanger of their old house - apparently I made her cry . . .  that's a good sign right????

  

I've made and posted the FB hexi swap flowers for December (poinsettias) (yes, I confess, I havent finished mine yet!

The vicar was delighted with his ginger nativity set and wore them for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve - I mist try and make some of the rest of the cast for next year!

Another Elf sized "ginger" dressing up outfit was delivered 

And the spiral crochet has been finished (as I came to the end of the wool) and just needs a bit of blocking.  I might need to buy some more so can can start something else!!!!

I got some fabric packs for Christmas, and some  other crafty bits, but this is my absolute favourite . . . Lisa bought me a class to make these!  Once we are allowed to be in the same place at the same time we are going top have a go

Christmas was mostly virtual  . . . but good to see everyone 

My triangle EPP has been pieced.  Where the points meet is supposed to look like this 

But many junctions didn't get the memo!

I have a circular die for the sizzix, so I cut lots of circles from heat and bond and ironed them onto each junction to keep the points in the right place

Since them I have removed the paper backing from the circles and ironed the whole lot to a white fleece, and have quilted it in variegated thread - jut binding to do then another one done

And finally I've been embroidering in front of the TV.  I found this panel in a pile that needed putting away, it had been pieced but was just pattern / black / pattern / black.  I've had fun extending some of the patterns into the black and now will make it into either a zippy pouch or a basket

I do believe that for once I am going to start the new year with fewer UFOs that I started it with - yes there are still some, and yes I did get some fabric for Christmas that I may be about to cut into, but things have definitely been more chaotic in the sewing room in the past!

Keep well everyone, and keep safe xxx

2020 Wk 1 - Hexie Round

The Hexie Round is getting really rather big - to sew one hexie on at a time is a lot of holding a big flimsy, so I've been making it easier for myself.

I have tacked what feels like a zillion pieces, and sorted them into light and dark - and here are the darks for the next round.

I've stitched them into rows about a dozen hexies long (wide?) - the next round needs 14 on each side

I've now speed-dated the strips - first attempt:

But these two blues are too similar to be next to each other

So I can slide the row along and separate the blues.

I can add the extra hexies to the row or to the flimsy, and I'll probably do the same with the two circles of light hexies - speed-date them and add them to the darks then add all three rows to the flimsy in one go

And I thought I'd share some of my gorgeous Christmas pressies

And the prayer weaving we did at the Christingle service on Christmas Eve

And the penultimate gingers - two of these for Niki's teacher friends