July NewFO Party

Could someone please make time stand still. It seems like only yesterday I was writing a post for Barbara's June NewFO party over at Cat Patches and here we are at the end of July. With time going this fast no wonder there isn't time to fit all that quilting and embroidery in.

It also seems that not only is time whizzing by but my memory has also been affected as I can't remember anything I've done this month. All I can think about is what I was stitching yesterday for the HO HO HO blog hop. Stay calm, breath and organise my thoughts. Ah that's better.

My first NewFO this month is a baby quilt for a little girl. I used a charm pack I already had, 

and added two further fabrics. In the end I didn't use the yellow with pink blocks on it as it was too bright. Yes I know I love bright colours but there are times when a fabric can be just too bright for the project. The yellow was for the sashing and I also used it for the binding whilst the pink windmill fabric was for the backing.

I used a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman for Sew Mama Sew from 2009 and the top simply flew together. Some of the charm squares used are left whole and the others are cut in half. The longest job was arranging the rows to try and avoid similar colours and designs being next to each other. After that the sewing was easy.

This is a NewFO that is also a finish and I took the finished quilt to Wimbledon Common to take the photos . Because of the very high temperatures here in London the grass was all scorched. We've had rain since then so I guess it is now looking greener.

I quilted using an all over meander in a variegated  thread but decided to do some flowers on some of the charm squares,

and hearts on some of the others.

The quilt  is all ready to go to its new home when the new father returns to work.

My second NewFO is a project for the HO HO HO blog hop at Sew We Quilt . The hop started yesterday and tomorrow 2nd August is my day. I have yet to take photos of my project so come back tomorrow to see that NewFO.

My final NewFO is a new quilt. I love Barbara's 'Love me, love my cat' quilt and I was very pleased when I found that Bird Brain Designs do a 'It's a dogs life' quilt pattern. We have both a dog - Scamp and a cat - Picasso who are both very important members of the family so it was difficult to decided whether to make a dog or a cat quilt but the dog quilt won as I have several lovely patterns for cat quilts. One of the cat patterns could well be a NewFO later in the year. Sorry the photo isn't straight but it's of the picture with my kit.

I ordered this in early July and was thrilled when it arrived. I also ordered a pack of fabri-solvy which  acts as a stabiliser and transfer for the design. So far it is working very well. I don't usually use an embroidery hoop when doing back stitch but decided to give it a try. Between that and the fact I was wearing my new contact lenses my stitches are all uneven. I have unpicked this and restitched plus I've stitched further areas. I haven't taken a photo since I unpicked this.

I'm sure I've started another project this month that I haven't blogged about at all but it has totally slipped my memory so I'll add it to next month's party.

Now I need to pack up my camera to return to NIkon and claim on my gadget insurance for the laptop my daughter had stolen. Then it's a trip to the post office and some shopping. The temperature is way up again today so I'll walk Scamp later this evening.

I forgot to link my baby quilt finish to Richard's Link a Finish Friday last week so I'm doing so today.

If I'm lucky I should get some sewing time this afternoon which will make today a great day.

Lyndsey