Blue and white quilt - progress at last.

I started a quilt last year and made fairly good progress at piecing together the blocks...and then I came to a standstill. Since Christmas I haven't really been in the mood for sewing and most of my projects have sat in boxes waiting for attention. Now, with the advent of Spring and the lighter nights I have felt inspired again and determined to get my many sewing projects moving forward.

This week I finally finished piecing together the blocks for this quilt. I love blue and white together and I allowed myself a little bit of pink in this one as well. It was a lovely feeling to reach this stage and lay them out according to how they're likely to be stitched together.

 And here's Lily deciding whether the blocks need some re-arranging or not....

....before heading over for her close-up!

The Sleepy Hollow Quilt

I love Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow and have seen it umpteen times. Watching it again a few weeks ago I noticed for the first time the beautiful patchwork quilt gracing Ichabod's bed - how had I never noticed it before? I suspect it's something to do with focusing on Johnny Depp. Which is natural. I guess that now with a patchworker's eyes though, the quilt drew me in. I thought about it for a long time afterwards.....but figured that with so much already on the go I really couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't begin a new venture. And so here I am - with a new quilt on the go. Ahem.
I wanted a very definite look - the size of the triangles, their elongation and of course the colours. I wanted a muted palette....perhaps colours I wouldn't normally put together. Flowers had to figure ( of course, when do they not? ) and a little abstract patterning too. The paper templates I am using are approx. 4 x 6 inches. With regards to the fabrics I am extremely lucky in that most of what I chose I had in my stash, buying only the gorgeous gold piece, and even when i bought it, I had no idea what I'd use it for, I just had to have it.

The quilt that fired me up! At least, I think it was the quilt.....

My choice of fabrics. I have started basting some, hence the discrepancy in sizes here....

Golden yellow...flowers....gilt....hhhmmmm.......

The plan is to use 8 triangles each of 11 different fabrics and then have a selection of oddities which I think work well - the small pile in the centre of the photograph. The rows of patterned triangles will be interspersed with plain triangles - perhaps a warm cream calico....I'll decide on that when all these babies are basted.

My new girls!

When I lost my beautiful Gus a few weeks ago I felt like I'd never smile again. Having lost a few cats over the years, it's a familiar feeling and one that pet-owners will recognise. I knew that I'd adopt again but the time had to be right and of course, the cat had to be right.

So a little way down the line, may I introduce my beautiful new girls Lily and Willow, 2 young sisters rescued from Haworth Cat Rescue. It's such a long time since there were youngsters in the house - the last few cats I've taken on have been middle-aged to elderly. Part of me wondered what on earth I was doing to take on two potential nutters and naturally I was worried how my older cat Nutmeg, would respond to high japes. My worries were largely unfounded. Meg has seen so many comings and goings and is largely unperturbed by their arrival, and Lily and Willow have been such fun and brought a lot of much-needed laughter. They are stunning girls, such lovely temperaments and up to all kinds of mischief but very funny with it. They are great companions and enjoy watching what I'm up to when I'm working on a project. They are strictly forbidden from my sewing room - how long this ban will last though remains to be seen...

Post Christmas post

Another festive season safely out of the way and once again, despite being a very good girl, a distinct lack of Hugh Jackman or Fernando Torres to unwrap on Christmas morning. Ggrr. But seriously, as always I was blessed in many other ways - I have few true friends but what friends they are - generous, thoughtful and kind beyond belief.
I intend to dedicate a post or two to share a couple of the Christmas presents I made for these special people. For my wonderful friend Rosie I made a cushion cover, choosing a simple hexagon/flower arrangement in lovely ditsy cottons. It has a simple envelope fastening at the rear.

The cushion cover itself was quick to whizz up. The most time-consuming part ( other than the patchwork itself ) was placing the design just so and then stitching it in place with invisible thread - which as the name suggests can be tricky stuff to work with because it's er, easy to lose sight of! I'll definitely return to cushions as gifts - watch out people you have been forewarned. Read and forget.....

 *

For Kath I ran with the Leeds Rhinos theme, which never seems to fail, and I made a large tote bag in blues and yellow. I used the Patchwork of the Crosses design which was new to me, but I totally fell in love with how effective it turned out. I would love to make a quilt with this block but just this one took quite a while to put together, so not much chance of using it on larger scale projects unless I sprout extra arms at some point.

I couldn't resist adding to the theme by knitting this hot water bottle cover in Rhino colours. I like the challenge of coming up with handmade items in these colours! Already thinking of her next birthday/Christmas gifts.....

A quilt is born!

After working on the snowball/octagon quilt for half of the year now, it is finally finished and I shall be handing it over to my friend Mary in 3 days time. Phew. I'm hoping that it will be her favourite Christmas present. In fact I'm hoping it will be her favourite Christmas present ever. It will be such a shock when she opens the box to find I've made this for her and I can't wait to hear what she thinks.
I've previously posted photographs and progress updates so it's lovely to post a photograph of the finished work - albeit in a casual, draped-over-chair way, but you get the impression.

Here goes...

I love how the navy blue back/border pulls it all together. I didn't trust myself to sew the borders in place on the machine - I didn't fancy my chances of keeping a straight line as well as feeding/supporting the bulk, so I hand-stitched the borders and corners and I'm pleased with how it looks.

 It's always an odd feeling to spend so much time making something and then letting it go....but Mary is the first friend I made when I moved to Leeds 19 years ago and she's very precious to me. It was a pleasure to make this for her and think of her as I made it, and love went into every stitch. Happy Christmas Mary x.

Goodbye to Gus.

At the end of November I had to say goodbye to my sweetheart, Gus. He became poorly quite suddenly and an x-ray revealed a tumour on his heart. There was no option but to go through with the last act of kindness.
He was approximately 17 years old, but had only been with us for 3 and a half of those - not long enough. One of the hardest things about losing him is that because he was diabetic we had such a strong daily routine together - insulin injections morning and night and meals at set times.
I'll miss how he managed to get so much cat food in his drinking water, his ridiculous curled tail which made him look like a curling stone, his rumble-purr, how he nuzzled my feet and I'll miss his beautiful green eyes. The house is empty without him. He brought out the best in me - tenderness and patience especially.
I think about him constantly and hope that he's still with me. Words are a clumsy way of expression at present. All I know is that when he went, I feel like he took my heart.

Covered notebook.

 I am a bit of a notebook girl - and I don't mean the electronic type. I get quite a thrill from leafing through notepads and handling pencils - there's probably a name for this condition. It can be quite a struggle though to find a nice, reasonably-priced notebook with plain pages rather than cheap-looking lines. Ta da! - I found such an item. The drawback is the fake leather outer shell - easily remedied. I've been meaning to do a notebook cover for ages but haven't had time - but I'm ahead of schedule with my handmade Christmas presents ( to be posted after the big day! ) and thought I'd have a play.

Wool cover and cotton inner selected...

Selected felt pieces for cover design. I wanted a fairly limited palette...

Threads. Yum.

I made my cover design and then carefully folded the cotton lining inside the wool fabric. Neatly pinned and waiting to be stitched together...

Edges were folded and sewn in and then the notebook was slipped inside.....

The finished work. Lovely colours, great notepad to work with and I can feel some follow-ups coming on....

My obsession with hexagons knows no limits...

With Christmas hurtling towards us and quite a few handmade gifts on the go, the last thing I should be thinking about is farting about with beginning a new project. And yet here I am, doing just that. For most of the year I've had a real yen to knit a blanket and I've gathered a few lovely patterns from library books and Google searches.
I've previously written about my love of hexagons and how they seem such a perfect shape....and I started to wonder if I could produce acceptable versions in yarn.
A bit of online research threw up results of varying desirability. And then I found this beauty, for which photographic and knitting pattern credit goes to Knit, Shear Bliss! blogspot. I won't be knitting the child, just the blanket : )

A raid in my yarn collection ( ye gods, how did I acquire so much of the stuff? ) has got me off to a great start. I'm a bit funny, well, very funny actually about lots of different colours together, so my version is more muted. Here is what I've made so far - I may well add another colour or two, I'll see how it looks when I've made more hexagons.
Clearly, these are not sewn together yet, the photographs simply show the shapes in their 'just finished' state.

They will be joined together in a simple over-stitch I think - colour of yarn for this yet to be decided upon - a long way off in the future. Now, I really must get all these Christmas presents finished.....

It's a wrap!

It's a given that come September, I have to get my knitting needles out. I don't know if it's a primeval calling or simply a response to darker nights, colder weather and the downright need to feel cosy. Whatever prompts it, I give in to it.

Two years ago I started knitting what was to be an Aran poncho. It was no small undertaking - both sides were to be approximately a meter square in size. There were over 200 stitches on a needle and each row took about 5 minutes to knit. Unsurprisingly I lost heart. I managed about two-thirds of one side and then it got confined to the deepest depths of my knitting box.

This week it was time to face my demons, cut my losses and other such cliches - and deal with it. I decided to cast off and turn it into a lovely warm wrap. It's actually a great width and length, allowing for an array of folds and tucks. And a perfect excuse for wearing a beautiful brooch or shawl pin. Result!

It's a simple basket-weave pattern with garter stitch borders. And it's very warm.

Snowball quilt nears completion.

This week I finally finished the bulk of the snowball quilt for M. It's a great relief to have reached this point as it was quite awkward to stitch. After having a few doubts about certain fabrics and if they went together as an entirety, I see the piece now and absolutely love it. When I was putting colours together I didn't realise just how 'marine' it was, but this is my over-riding impression now - perhaps hardly surprising from a water-lover.

I am now intending to have a small break from the work, after which I intend to square off the edges and that will be the patchwork finished. I have basted my triangles to sew along the sides, and this is the cotton I have chosen to use...

 
I am thrilled to be able to make something for such a special friend - I know that she will be gobsmacked when she opens this on Christmas Day.

Small diversions.

It has to be said that at the present time I go to bed and see patchwork projects when I close my eyes - hexagons, squares, octagons, paper templates, colour combinations, threads, wadding, backing sheets. And I keep hatching more ideas....but I shouldn't complain because it's a wonderful thing to feel inspired and to be able to make lovely things.
From time to time though I do need a little break from large-scale works and during one such sabbatical I knocked up these phone pouches. Quick, easy and way too tempting to keep making in all kinds of cotton prints......

I have a slight obsession with the USA cycling team strip - the ' Captain America ' suit as some cycling pundits keep calling it. So, when I saw this print, it reminded me of the suit and I had to have it....

Then I made this cute one for my other half - he is a grown up, sophisticated person, honestly. But he fell for this print whilst I was looking at fabrics online in Thailand so I ordered it as a surprise.

And this one is for my friend Kath - a huge Leeds Rhinos rugby fan. I found this small piece of cotton at the Skep in Farsley, one of my favourite shops. If I see anything blue and yellow I am programmed ( sadly! ) to think of Kath and rugby - and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

The Big Knit 2012

This year I've contributed again to the Big Knit, whereby money raised through the initiative goes to help make winter warmer for older people. During winter months, bobble-hat wearing Innocent smoothies appear in selected stores. For each one of these sold, Innocent donates 25p to Age UK.

They're good fun to make and don't take long. So, this is what I've been up to for the past few weeks.....Very special thanks to my friend Kath for contributing lots of lovely yarn.

Blue and white quilt blocks

The blue and white quilt blocks which I began working on last month are really beginning to grow in number now. I have enough for 3 rows of the lap quilt. I am lucky in that all of the fabric I've had to hand in my stash, which makes for quick work. And I've just acquired some lovely, high-quality cast-off shirts from my sweetheart, and they will make the quilt even more special.

Each row will be approx. 49 inches ( 117cm ) across, minus borders.

The blocks are all hand-stitched. Progress so far...the blocks are in no particular order.

I've been fabric-shopping....

Last week I visited one of my favourite fabric shops, the Shipley Shuttle. It was love at first sight for this gorgeous cotton - I adore pink and yellow or orange together.

I spent a portion of my weekend making this large tote bag.

I cut out a couple of flowers from the fabric and backed them with interfacing and felt and then stitched around them.

I sewed them to yellow spotted ribbon ( a perfect match for the elephant ears featured on the fabric ) and then I tied the decoration around one of the bag handles.

I had enough fabric left over to make this purse. Not bad for a long and lazy Bank Holiday weekend...

A new quilt takes shape....

Despite having two fairly large-scale patchwork projects already on the go, I decided last month that I would start another quilt. I am a recent convert to the combination of blue and white - I love the crispness and cleanliness of the two colours together. I thought that a little pink in places would be a nice way to warm up the work. The blocks are 7 inches square, and a relief to work with alongside the 1 inch square patchwork which is still ongoing. I am, as usual, stitching this by hand and using the English paper-piecing method. The quilt will probably end up as a lap-quilt to use in my sewing room in the winter months.

The fabrics will be a mix of floral, stripes, plain and some checks.

Here are my first six blocks. They are randomly placed together - I will not decide how they all fit together until all blocks are completed.

Experiments with seedheads.

Since I began to garden a number of years ago, I have been captivated by seedheads. I photograph them outdoors and some I then collect to keep them in vases and jars. I decided to have a go at recreating some seedheads in thread and fabric and here is my first attempt. I'm sure there will be more experiments as I particularly enjoyed this way of working.

Try as I might, I cannot photographically capture the true colours of this piece! I tried outdoors but even that didn't look right, so this will have to suffice.

Close-ups give better results and a more accurate depiction of the subtle colour scheme.

I like the piece in its round embroidery hoop, so I'm going to leave it as it is and hang it upon the wall like this - so, looks like I'll be needing new hoops....

My new love - and it's nothing to do with sewing.

For the past year or so I've been desperate for a bike...and I've finally committed. So, this post is for the friends I have who have been interested enough or kind enough to ask about what type, what colour, what I'll be doing with him etc.
Our journey together has begun - and I love him. All I know is that he's fast and when I ride him I feel like Boadicea - all-powerful, all-conquering. And I'm sure that I have a big daft grin on my face the whole time. It's that good. Oh, and he's called Spartacus. Or Fabian if I'm being gentle with him.

We'll be doing many miles together - and this will take me away from home and my darling cats and my beloved sewing. Gulp. But I'll be out in the fresh air, seeing wonderful things ( I saw a stoat this morning! ), and that is a wonderful way of topping up the happiness quota......

Pin cushions for charity

Over the last couple of nights I have made these pincushions. I cannot take any credit for the original idea - I think they were part of a DMC kit I saw at a show a couple of years ago and the design stuck in my mind. The colour scheme is unusual and a fairly accurate rendition of what I remember the kit to look like. I drew the little cats onto paper first and used as a template.

I am going to make a batch of these - perhaps in various colours - and donate them to Leeds Feline Friends so that they can be sold at their Christmas Fair, an event I always attend.

The chicken and the egg

I finally got around to making a door-stop, a much-needed addition to my sewing room. It was very quick to hand stitch, the only difficulty being what colours to chose. I adore gingham and plumped for the orange version from my stash.
I made use of yet more pieces of left-over wadding to form the chicken shape.

The fabric was then tacked around the wadding and felt details stitched into place along with a beady eye.

Both pieces were stitched together and stuffed with buckwheat - I'm so glad I finally found a use for that!

And totally unrelated, I quickly made these egg-cosies as a small gift. Again, wadding was used to provide structure and insulation.