Lots of things to do

Since my last post I have been very busy with work and home but I have still managed to find time for some quilting and knitting. Wednesday was Lucy's birthday but was also our first evening back at Guides so we had a birthday party. Yesterday was spent driving Lucy back to university in Bath for the final term of her second year. By early June she will be back for the long summer break and feeling inspired is hoping to make a comfort quilt for her boyfriends birthday.


I have almost finished the final knitted baby blanket for our Linus project and I have also managed to complete a blanket for a friend of Richard's who is expecting her first child in May. The only problem with them is that they were too large to be very portable so were knitted in the evening whilst watching television. However the hexipuffs are perfect for knitting on my twice weekly train journey to and from Reading.

Having started the new term at Guides it has been a busy time sorting out the quilts the girls are sewing,checking the seams, pressing and cutting out the backing fleece. They are looking really good and all should be finished by the deadline of 30th May. I have just got to order the labels to say made with love by Isleworth Guides. The final job will be hand sewing in the labels. The photo shows some of the quilts with their fleece backing waiting to be sewn.

A friend of mine, Barbara, is a leader with 4th Streatham Sea Scouts and they have 2 boats taking part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on June 3rd. We were considering how to decorate the boats and decided that royal purple bunting, (the groups scarf colour) was needed. We have decided on the size of the bunting but haven't fully worked out how much is needed for decorating as it mustn't get in the way or impede the view of the young scouts who are rowing. However I am about to start the cutting out and will then be stitching two together with heavy duty interfacing in between to give it added body. The aim is to have it all sewn by May 19th.So far I have cut the template and taken the fabric out of the bag!

I am still working on my Dresden plate quilt and waiting for inspiration for the old patchwork quilt I was given. Yesterday I also started a Grandmother's garden quilt, well I've stitched the first 7 hexagons together. I downloaded the hexagon template from moxyideas The templates are available in different sizes but if you want to use them remember to download the file and print from the downloaded version as printing directly from the web doesn't give you the accurate sizes. The hexagons I am using are 1inch and it is a truly portable project so my train journeys will be more interesting from now on as I can alternate activities -the hexipuffs one way and stitching the hexagons the other. I am using the English piecing method for making the quilt, which was my first introduction to patchwork and quilting aged 10. In case you have never tried this before I will post a tutorial when I have time later this week.

One final job added to my list is to make yellowy new ears and repair his face. Yellowy was given to Lucy when she was one day old. He is much loved and very delicate. Unfortunately Scamp got hold of him and played with him rather enthusiastically hence the damage.