A Woolly Blanket and Quilts Galore

It's Thursday already! Well, it was and now it isn't!! Ha! The problem with this whole blog idea is that my world seems to move faster than I can post about it! No great problem but then I have soo many things to put on here it turns into an epic.. Oh well, here we go!

How quickly a week can go by. I have had a very sociable week and I have a finish to report! Here it is, the wool applique cushion I was working on - another one down! 

I love the colours and couldn't resist picturing them with these autumn gold Rudbeckia. Of course My first picture take was obscured by Mister Brown. I am afraid I have to include his pictures because he is such a huge part of my daily existence and he does closely monitor everything I do. (Yesterday he plonked his head down on my keypad and refused to respond- I don't think he's that impressed with the time I have spent on my laptop) Even when I struggle out to the washing line with a mound of leaning washing he will trot along behind me collecting up the

odd socks I drop enroute. And with a dog that is willing to participate in the laundry, how could I not include him? I'm sure he would be upset... (really Lou?!)

So this week has been superbly productive and I have really enjoyed some good company.

My sister, Jo, visited and we spent the morning in the cabin. I haven't managed to turn Jo to the Dark Side yet, and by that I mean stitchery, but there is still time! Jo, was painting some beautiful folky birds, practising for the front of an old set of drawers she plans to upcycle. More on that another time. We had such a great chat.

I was working with these lovely fabrics - what a creative mess of material! ( Not a great picture but I am sure I'll get better at taking them)

I'm using them for The Building Blocks Quilt Along with Leah Day. It's been running for a good few months now. With a downloaded pattern and online videos you can learn how to piece and then quilt as you go. There's a great community on Facebook too so we are all sharing our progress.... Needless to say I have fallen behind. But this week is about catching up on that... maybe next week too! I am enjoying learning to free motion quilt and I have made some new blocks.. There's one part finished lurking in that picture....

Here's my progress so far, not in their final arrangement yet.

Today, I had 3 lady visitors to my cabin. Mum came again. She has proposed a new project! EEk! But that's ok I have been knocking them off steadily.

New Project: True Blue Quilts

Mum wants me to join her in making 2 very simple quilts for my Sister's boys. Mum doesn't make patchwork, so it will be an absolute pleasure to teach her and work alongside one another. I am really excited by the idea. We have both bought some fabrics and today I spent hours cutting it up! Both boys appreciate hand crafts. Oscar has even visited me to make a patchwork cushion - Batik fabrics are his favourite so I better find some of those.

Here's Sally working away on my little Pfaff machine. She's a confident sewer anyway, having made plenty of clothes. These are some of the fabrics we are using, pretty bold!






Jean came today too. I have taught Jean to English Paper Piece. She has made a beautiful blushing pink hexagon quilt. Jean enjoyed the process so much that she is now learning to machine piece and quilt with me too.  It's the most rewarding thing to be able to share what you know with others. She has bought a new Janome machine and is happily machine piecing now, a special little lap quilt for a special person at Christmas time.

Jean chose a Minick and Simpson Moda fabric called Grant Park. Its lovely with some beige blues and reds, very classic prints. I want some if it now!

Chris has also visited. Chris loves to knit. She adopts the position in the rocking chair and off she goes. She makes blankets and jumpers and has just completed some little hats for the premature baby unit of the local hospital. I am going to buy her some Aran wool and she is going to knit me a cosy blanket for winter time. With no central heating here at my house it does get pretty chilly. My mum knitted me bedsocks one year. I felt like an extra from the Scrooge movie! (My pic of Chris didn't turn out so well, so I'll snap her next time.)

Its been a hive of activity. There has been some reverse stitching and searches for the elusive 1/4 inch seam but lots of laughs.

Once they left I put together this 9 patch block. Each block will be 18" finished and then we will sash them together so that I can quilt as you go.  Otherwise I can't be confident in myself getting two identical quilts quilted in one go without a couple of years gap! And No, that won't do, will it? We are just going to keep it simple as it's mum's first patchwork experience. We are not going to get hung up on accuracy either, just making something for people we love that they can use every day. I hope they turn out ok, This is quite a departure for me. I am looking forward to the quilting bit.


You know, I woke up today and somehow it feels full of possibilities - I get those days sometimes and they are just SO exhilarating -feels like the sky is the limit and I can achieve anything! I rarely achieve much as I have too much energy to stay focused on one thing on days like this! It's very Autumny here now, the air is thick with the sweet heavy smell of ripe crab apples. Today I have a big roast chicken to make for family so my energies are going into cooking. I have red apples ripe on the tree and raspberries too, There's ripe juicy blackberries out in the hedgerow, wont they all make a glorious berry-licious Autumn crumble!

Skirts and applique

What a roller coaster of a day in my tiny sewing world!

Yes, I have a finish! The skirt is complete and I am happy enough with it to wear it, so that's something. 

My mum joined me in my cabin today and we have had a giggle, the ups and downs of me not really knowing how to sew a blind hem but having a go anyway and wrestling with excess fabrics, dropping pins and thread reels running out. There has been a number of "it's going in a bag in a minute" threats...there were certainly tension issue's and I am not just talking about my machine! Slowly folding the hem back having stitched it, to see if it was any good, was like peeling back a plaster! Maybe I need to get out more..

I confess, I have spent a large part of the afternoon in just my tights and boots while I stitch and try on the skirt! NOT something for those with a delicate constitution! We have laughed.

So here is a pic. Yes, its not a great illustration of my work but Charlie dog stole the limelight. Conclusions are: 

• I would make another one (but not just yet)
• work more on getting a better fit through the side seams,
• needle cord would make a great fabric choice
• I am not as slim as I thought I was
• It would appear that I have inadvertently chosen to dress in the same colour as my dog!

Mum, here she is, Sally. She has been making a set of funky little birds as a gift, she uses beads from old necklaces for the strings between the birds and threads with fishing line so they are good and strong. The bells on the end are fun and also make them hang well. She made me a set for my birthday and used some beads from a necklace my dad gave her years ago. As he died some years ago I think that's a nice sentiment.

She finished them today, aren't they great!

 

I also finished stitching this little wool applique. It's from a Maggie Bonanomi design. The wools are from Canada. I used bondaweb just on the outer edge of each piece to stabilize the edges and then just whip stitched them to the background. It was really nice stitching through wool, satisfyingly soft and quick. Next time though I will use pellon lightweight fusible as its a bit more robust. I really like these colours, I love primitive folk quilts and applique. Maggie Bonanomi's designs really strike a chord with me.

I have several of her books. I think I'll make a cushion from the panel as is suggested in the book, Buttonwood Farm. But no one had better dare sit on it! I guess this isn't finished until its made into something, so can't tick this one off just yet.

It's been a nice day. Autumn is coming, the geese are noisily arriving in great flocks and although it's not too chilly the sunlight has changed. Soon be time to bring in the timber and light the fire...