February is closing in

This week I finished the crochet blanket I was doing for KOGO

This picture gives a better idea of the colour

The rows are based on this Attic 24 pattern..... ( I do love her patterns)  Most of them are on line or as blog posts though I got a few printed ones when I have bought her kits.

Some time ago I posted that I was working with the Quick Curve Ruler and a pattern by one of the inventors of the ruler (Sew Kind of Wonderful)

This week I put these blocks together, there are other 9 patch blocks to make and they are set on point, but I quite like the circles this way makes

Gardeners Journal has been bound......

I do love the mix of piecing, stitcheries, applique Anni Downs does.  I custom quilted going around the stitcheries and different curvy shapes and lines in the various blocks......

This week a quilt top I made in 2021 is being quilted.  William Morris fabrics and some plain ....

some leafy feathers and twirls....

Tuesleydale got another 6 blocks this week.... 10 down 50 to go!

The friend I am doing the Foundation piecing with gifted me a braid roll of papers.... so today I went stash shopping and found a jelly roll of an old Moda range called Portobello Market.  I will do the braids in PM and add the cream sashing and some meterage of PM for the binding....  I do love an inexpensive quilt kit.  I would have bought the jelly roll when they were $45 I expect (double that now)

I won't be starting it for a while though but I do love a plan.

Righto, Gotto Go.  Eldest son from UK is going to visit so I'll be offline for a couple of weeks.  Will be so good to see him.

Have a great rest of the week....

Early February

This week I made a bunch of zippy bags.  When I gave Jack his fishing quilt I had made a small zippy bag from left overs thinking he could use it for something.  He quickly asked for more so he can have his reels in separate bags.  As he really does look after his equipment I was happy to oblige and was given some more fishing themed fabric.  I also used up some boyish scraps I had to make a large selection to post off for him!

These seem to take me ages, and I have a variety of other ones prepared as I want to use up some 'odd blocks' I have

At Christmas I made DD a travel bag, and so I made up a zippy bag and a drawstring bag with some of the leftover fabric to go with it.   They will work for make-up, undies or whatever.....

I have loaded another long awaiting quilt on the frame....  Gardeners Journal was stitched and pieced in 2018 !

Last week at Hardanger I did the blanket stitch around the edge. A completely different way to how I usually blanket stitch so it took a while.

... and I have done more rows on the crochet - I still have a ball of each colour so hopefully it will end up a decent square.  I will have a few parcels to send off to KOGO as they close over Christmastime so I have been keeping my makes till they open later this month.  Then I'll give the KOGO crochet a break as I have done it consistently for a couple of years and will focus on something else. (I do have family members who want one)

That has been my crafty week..... 

Righto, Gotto Go, I do still have a bunch of zippy bags which I'd like to make up and get out the way.  At least I feel I know what I am doing now and not putting the zips in the wrong way around....

Take Care and have a great rest of the week....

Middle of the month.....

Time is spinning out crazily...... mid April already.  

This week I got the last two blocks for Gardeners Journal together....

Here are some garden tools

and here the friends are off to a garden show

I experimented a little with the tea - you can see on the scrap where I stained half of the piece... just tones it down  

Please meet Tilly the Tea Lady - this is the next set of blocks I am working on for Angel Story

(well one of the next set of blocks!)

Friday night with the girls was cancelled this week so finding a bit of extra 'machine' time I put the GJ blocks together and added the borders... and stained the blues....

Ta-da.... Gardeners Journal top is completed 

I do love it.... I love stitcheries and piecing 

So now it is joining the quilting queue..... 

This picture shows the difference between the blues before and after staining

perhaps a tad more muted than I had meant it to be - but I prefer it to the brightness

Righto, Gotto Go....  I'm going to do something very practical and make a bunch of towelling cloths.  A bit boring but in my opinion they work well and are tough.

Have a lovely weekend ...xx

Coming together.....

With the stitcheries done and all the blocks cut I am managing to get through a few more of my Gardeners Journal blocks....

The apple trees in the orchard look like they have a decent crop...

Clearly I was exhausted from not supervising Hubz properly so I sat and watched the birds....

The birds do love the bird bath... and the sprinkler on a hot day....

The blocks are not sewn together but this is how they will sit... there is two more to go on the right - then the borders. 

I used fabric with a kit... looking at it I don't like the bright blue very much.... I think I might be painting with tea to mute it a bit??? ... I'm not unpicking...

I got a few more circles done in the evening .....

... as well as these 3 Dutch Treats .....

In between quilt jobs I try and do a bit of sorting..... I had some African animal fabric in swatches 

I've cut them into squares and slashed across to add the green stripes (I am following a Kiwi pattern which is also a bit African in design)

There was also a few pieces with these smaller pictures.... I am going to make these into polaroid pictures - it will make a nice childs quilt....

Now that I have plans for them I have them boxed, bagged and ready to sew when I can.... there is also a nice bag of scraps.....

I find if I don't do this I forget what I wanted to do with the fabric and then it gets put away in a box again.

I have seen Africa themed fabrics with these before...

... hmmmmm....

I left them out

Righto, Gotto Go... it's showday holiday here today so nice and quiet outside - I'll still be working though

The long weekend....

I was given these sweet tarts last week... they are melts and smell as good as they look....  they look pretty on my plate with a little bunny....

On my machine I learnt to quilt roses.   I'm quite pleased with how they worked out...

Another block for Gardeners Journal was put together..... I think the designer was quite complimentary with my back view!!

Here they are all together..... I love seeing how it starts looking like a story... 

At the weekend Hubz and I visited a local Railway museum....

They are fixing up the trains and carriages to run trips... this is the Piano lounge....

This is a separate carriage "Great Gatsby" and decorated to suit

This carriage had actually been burnt by vandals many years ago so all the fittings and decor are newly made for it.... they have done it beautifully

a new bit of line has been added for when they run their trips.... very pretty gardens.  Completely run by volunteers who rely on donations and their own hard work.

another of their lounges with the bar in the background....

Lovely from the outside too...

There was coffee and slices available so we had that whilst listening to a Ukelele group..... 

Another lovely carriage had been painted Dreamtime, the artist called Domi did such a great job.  No photo's were allowed but they did have these beautiful postcards for sale which show some of the pictures...

this one gives an idea of the inside of the carriage... the whole roof was painted and various pictures on the sides....  

Played a little with my circles... these squares are all trimmed back to 4 1/2" but they are not sewn together... still a way to go as this is still small.... 

Righto, Gotto Go......time for some lunch....