A perfect day for quilting.

It's Saturday, a sewing day and I've been looking forward to getting on with some quilting on the baby quilt. Last month I worked on the top for my 'Let's book it project'.  This month I'm continuing with the quilt as my project and I hope to have it finished this week.

First I had to visit a quilt shop as I needed backing fabric and Wadding. There is a sewing and craft superstore within walking distance of my house but when I'd popped in recently I didn't see any fabric that I wanted to use for the backing so I needed to go further afield. It took an hour to drive there but I found this fabulous fabric which I think is perfect for the backing

Once home I got on with making the quilt sandwich. For once this went really quickly and I soon had my machine set up and ready to start. Back in January we visited Bath and whilst there I treated myself to a pair of gloves for quilting.

Wow I wished I'd found out about them before. I started quilting prepared to find that they were just a gimmick and I'd wasted my money. No, they were so good and made it so easy to move the quilt around whilst I whizzed along. They certainly helped with the whole quilting process. Now I just need something to help with the back and shoulder ache I get when quilting.

Over the afternoon I finished the quilting and all I need to do now is trim the quilt and stitch the binding. Oh and I must check to make sure I'll dealt with all the ends.

I also need to make a label. I haven't made labels for most of the quilts I've made but I decided I'm going to start doing so. Last month I bought a new printer as our old one died of old age and the new one is perfect for making labels.

Tomorrow I'll do the binding and then this quilt will be ready to be gifted. With the baby quilts I've made I haven't washed them before gifting them as most new mothers want to use their own choice of soap powder for their new babies clothes and bedding. I include a label with the washing instructions in the gift box.

This evening I'm getting on with some more knitting. I can't do many rows a day as knitting makes my right shoulder hurt. To make sure I get it finished I'm trying to knit between 5 and 10 rows a day.

I have some marking I need to do before I get on with stitching the binding but by the end of the week I'll have a finish.. 

I hope your Saturday has been as much fun as mine.

Lyndsey

Wednesday Progress

Over the weekend I got going on the baby quilt and reached the point of stitching down the fish. 

I had intended stitching down another four fish on Monday evening but I ended up leaving work late and we were going out to dinner. John came to London forty years ago on March 14th and wanted to mark the event. We all love living in London and love going out to dine so we were very happy to join him. We chose northern indian cuisine and it was fabulous. The restaurant doesn't sell alcohol but are very happy for you to take your own so we had a great red wine that worked well with the food.

Yesterday was John's birthday but the family weren't available and John had an evening meeting so we have yet to celebrate it. This was good as I had a migraine and wasn't in the mood for anything except an early night. 

Today is a day off and I'd been looking forward to getting some more sewing done but my head is still muzzy and I'd be sure to make mistakes so I decided it was safer to do some preparatory work instead. One of my goals for the year is to move the double wedding ring quilt forward. I should really say get it started as I've done so little of it. Anyway I wanted to try and get the arcs stitched. There are 98 of them in total and I think I've made 10 so i decided to cut the fabric pieces ready for this. 

I set up a system for storing the pieces using envelopes. I decided to cut 10 pieces at a time and put the 98 required in the right top corner and crossed it out to show I'd got 88 pieces left to cut. Later I'll check how many arcs I've already made and reduce the number appropriately. OK so I'm a little OCD but it helps to keep me organised.

I'm using solids for my arc and decided on the pastel shades for a change. I realise this is unusual as I always tend to use bright colours. I want this quilt for my bed and I think the pastel colours will be more soothing prior to sleep.

I'm going to start stitching these a little later. First I need to print out the arc template. I also need to prepare for Brownies and Guides this evening. I need to check what we are doing and pull all the bits we need or go shopping. Next week is our last meeting before Easter and we will be having an easter egg hunt and some easter crafts but I'm totally blank about this week's meeting.

Lyndsey

Lots of pretty fish

Today has been a fun sewing day. I had loads of other jobs to do, such as the ironing, but I really wanted,.... no I really needed a sewing day. Sewing is my favourite way of chilling out and as the last few weeks at work have been very busy, chill out time was top of my agenda today.

Yesterday when I left off sewing I had all the pieces cut out for the background and I'd stitched a couple of pieces together.

 I had also cut out the template for the fishes.

My first job was to cut the fishes.

Next I stitched all the pieces of the background together. I laid the top on the bed to take a photo. As I was taking the photo the covers started moving. Picasso had snuggled under the bedclothes and he wasn't happy to be disturbed.

Next I ironed the fish onto the quilt top. I'd used some iron on adhesive to aid the applique. It stuck very well to the fabric I used for the fish but it didn't work so well attaching some of the fish to the quilt top. I was disappointed by this as the fusible was quite expensive. I pinned the fish onto the top to ensure they stayed in place.  By the time I packed my sewing away I had top stitched all the orange and green fish to the top.

I'm very pleased with how this quilt is coming. Before I started making the quilt I was a little worried that it might be too boyish but the bright fish and cute fish fabric make it suitable for both a boy or girl. I'm making the quilt as a gift for one of my work colleagues whose baby is due in June. She doesn't know the sex of her baby and doesn't want to so I needed to make a gender neutral quilt. 

Normally on a Sunday I try not to machine stitch but to do some hand stitching but I wanted to get on with the quilt. Having put that to one side I pulled some hand stitching. I had been working on my millennium sampler but I wanted a change so I pulled out the christmas tree cross stitch. This is where I left it a few weeks ago.

So this evening I was working on this whilst watching TV. I carried on with the sky as I didn't need to keep changing threads. I'll see how much I can get done this week. It would be good to finish it for next Christmas.

I'm linking this post with Kathy for her Slow Sunday Stitching link. i can't wait to see what everyone has been doing.

Lyndsey

Sewing and trimming.

Today I was only due to work during the afternoon so I had hoped to get some sewing done this morning but just as I was ready to set up my machine Kathryn arrived and we needed to have tea and a chat. After that we had to take a walk into town as I had some items to drop into the charity shop. Kathryn and Lucy are finally sorting through their belongings that they have left at home . Having not had the use of things for a couple of years they tend to find that they no longer need them. Once they have cleared all their 'stuff' from their old bedroom I will have a sewing area so I'm actively encouraging them in this activity. There are things they want to keep so whilst out Kathryn and I bought some plastic boxes which once full can go up in the attic.There are also some bits they want to sell on ebay or gumtree so I have to take some photos at the weekend. When we got back I found this pattern had arrived in the post.

The quilt is the perfect size for a baby quilt but I don't have any plans for it at present. I just loved the pattern. Richard always loved frogs and his old stuffed toy frog from childhood still sits on the top of his wardrobe. I have some other stitching I'm working on at the moment so this won't be started for a while which is good as I need to consider the fabric I want to use.

After work this afternoon I decided I would do half an hours sewing before I got back to my marking. My aim was to add the setting triangles to all the nine patch blocks I'd made. There were quite a number of blocks and the thread on my machine kept on breaking so the job took longer than planned. I'm not sure why the thread kept breaking. I checked the needle size which was OK and it was a new needle. I thought it was a problem with the tension but that was fine so in the end I put it down to the thread itself. Anyway having finished the sewing and pressed the blocks I decided to mark tomorrow and set about trimming the blocks.

I cut the triangles bigger than I needed to be on the safe side so there was quite a bit to trim off. Having done that I laid the blocks on my design floor to take a photo.

The blocks on the left have already been stitched together. The blocks finish at 4 inches so  at the moment the top will be about 24 x 36 inches. This is for a baby quilt and I want it to be bigger so I need to make some more nine patch. That will have to wait until Thursday evening as I have Guides tomorrow. I love how this quilt is coming and it has used up a lot of my 1 and a half inch scrap squares. 

I had hoped to make the first of the blocks for the Splendid sampler sew along but I ran out of time. I need to go to bed once I've finished this post. Never mind there's always tomorrow.

Lyndsey

Colouring and things.

Last night I'd planned to get back to my slow stitching during the evening but as time went on I just felt tired and as I didn't want to make a mess of the stitching I decided to do a little colouring whilst watching TV. Kathryn (older daughter) gave me this adult colouring book as a present and although I'd enjoyed looking at it I hadn't done any colouring.

A while back I was given a fabulous set of colouring pencils. The pencils are watercolour pencils but can be used to just colour or used with water.

I spend a happy time colouring whilst watching TV. I had a great time, picking my colours and deciding how I wanted it to look. I still haven't finished the picture but I'm very pleased with how it looks. Meet Ellie the pretty elephant.

I shall be finishing this off probably tonight (if I can stay awake) I like this book because it gives you a detailed picture to colour but on the opposite page gives one with less detail and space for you to draw in your own design.

Opphs my shadow head got in the way of the photo again! I was going to show you some more pictures from the book but there are so many beautiful pictures I couldn't make a choice.

I've done very well for presents recently. Kathryn gave me a cute dog soft toy It has a basket of tea fastened around its neck and was made by a quilter in Hungry.

I've seen this pattern recently in the magazine that I used for the baby quilt. The pattern suggested making the quilt and making the dog to go with it. I've already gifted the quilt but I might make the dog. The quilt was made with 2 1/2 inch squares but I think the dog would look better made with smaller squares.

Today at work the students were teaching each other a skill. They are all healthcare workers but they were asked to demonstrate a skill that had no link to healthcare. One of them showed us how to create a small indoor garden without soil. He gave it to me as a present....mostly because he had a train journey home and it would have been difficult to carry.

It's pretty but I'm going to take some of the glass beads out as I think it would look better with less of them. The students enjoyed the session and it was fun finding out their different skills.

For now I must practice some of my skills and do a little stitchery. Tomorrow I need to get some marking done but tonight is my time.

Lyndsey

A chilly weekend

Last weekend Lucy and I took 17 of our guides to Freezer Camp. If you want to see what it was all about Click here to visit the facebook page and play the video. It was cold with the temperatures sitting around -1 to +1 degree C and we slept in tents! We all survived the weekend but I ended up with a rerun of my cold and cough so although I've been to work this week I haven't felt like doing much when I get home, not even my stitching. I must finish sewing that badge onto the unit camp blanket. One of the guides started the job but having taken the photo I can see it's not fully stitched on.

Having said I didn't do much I have done a little as well as keeping up with the blogs I follow. First I made some more of the little nine patch for the baby quilt I'm making. It's a good job the baby isn't due for a while!

I have a lot of the nine patches made waiting for the setting triangles to be added. I just need to cut some more white and these blocks all need trimming. Here's what I've already put together in case you missed it. There are still more blocks ready to be stitched together.

Having sorted those blocks I decided I need to get the rainbow scrap challenge blocks made. The colour this month was brown (with a hint of pink) Well brown isn't a colour I have a lot of scraps pieces and all of the fabric I have is quite bright and patterned. 

When I pulled my brown scraps I was a little worried whether the blocks would look OK once made. I thought about buying a fat quarter but I'm trying not to buy fabric at the moment as I have a storage space shortage. Also it is a challenge to make good looking blocks out of scraps and I love a challenge. The orange leaf fabric is much browner in person. If you remember I'm making five granny squares from each months colour. Here's what I made.

First two the same. I used the outer fabric to make the hedgehogs on a mug rug.  I love the way they look. I have this mug rug on my desk at work.

I'm not completely sure about the  block on the left but it works well enough when viewed in person.

Earlier last week a package arrived from the US. I had won the draw that Sharon runs each month on her blog for her Let's book it challenge. Sharon's challenge is to make something from those books and patterns we have stashed away but forget to use. I won the January 2016 draw and my prize was this lovely charm pin and the 2016 quilt charm.

I just love the cute little charm pin. I was sent the other charm ages ago when I took part in a mini quilt swap. It's been attached to my embroider scissors but looks much better on the charm pin I'm sure the charms must be available in the UK but I've never come across them.

Finally I've been doing a little slow stitching. Some of it has been running repairs, sewing on buttons and catching down a hem that had been caught but I've also finished the second side of the outer border of my millennium sampler. I've also added some single stitches in across the quilt. I need to finish the 1066 block but the helmet is made of fractional stitches and my cold made my eyes rather blurry. Here's how I left it last week.

and here's where I am now. I going to carry on with the border and finish off the 1066 block this week.

I'm linking this post with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. Now I'm off to cook dinner so I can enjoy some slow stitching whilst watching Vera this evening. The scenery in the series is fabulous.

Lyndsey

First finish of the year

I'm very happy that I have finally got a Friday finish. I have posted about the baby quilt whilst it was almost done but now all the ends on the front and back are sewn in. The quilt has been washed and all the markings for the quilting have been washed away and it's fully dry,. 

I love the quilting pattern and I am so happy that I followed it. It was also fun using the monofilament for the first time. I'm pleased with the result. I had planned to take a photo outside but during my lunch break and when I finished work it was raining. If it's nice over the weekend I'll try and get a good picture before it goes to its new home on Monday.

I'm looking forward to many more finishes this year so I'd better get a move on and finish a few more projects.

I'm linking with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts .

Lyndsey.

End of January catch up

Over the week I 've been trying to catch up with work, whilst still feeling a bit below par which meant I needed extra naps and got less stitching done. Having said that I did finish my baby quilt and enjoyed slow Sunday hand stitching.

The baby quilt was my January 'Let's book it' project. I haven't had the pattern lying around for ages, in fact I bought the magazine in November 2015 and fell in love with the pattern.I needed to make a baby quilt and the pattern was perfect and would help use up some of my scraps.

I still have to pop the quilt in the washing machine to get rid of my quilting marks. Most of the marks just disappeared in the air but some just won't go but they will wash out.

The piece of grey on the bottom edge isn't anything to do with the quilt. As I was taking the picture I knocked my cross stitch pattern onto the floor. I'm pleased with this quilt as I've tried two new techniques. The first was using monofilament and the second was the quilting pattern. I love the way the waves look. I'm going to take some photos outside as I can't get a good picture indoors.

My slow stitching this weekend was working on the millennium sampler. I have the helmet and the riders legs to finish for the 1066 square. I've also done more of the border. This project has taken so long to finish that the fabric is really grubby. Once I've finished it I will give it a wash before it is framed.

I also finished stitching the binding on the baby quilt over the weekend. I enjoyed stitching the binding as you can snuggle under the quilt whilst you stitch.

My January goal was to finish the quilting on the 9 patch quilt but this is still waiting to be done. I have now set this as my February goal.  For the 'Let's book it' project I'm going to see how far I can get with the millennium sampler. This is certainly a pattern I've had for a long time. Sharon says you can work on a long term project so long as you make progress. That then gives me time to sort out the patterns I've got so I can decide what I want to keep and make at some point, and which to pass on to someone else.

I'm linking this post with Sharon for January's Let's book it and with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

I hope you've had time for some stitching over the weekend.

Lyndsey

Just hand stitching left

This morning was very cold and there was still some snow on the cars. I'm reliably informed it started snowing at about 1.30 this morning and at times was fairly heavy but by this morning it had all but gone. That's generally the story of snow here in London. Anyway I had a plan to finish the quilting on the baby quilt and snow and cold wasn't going to stop me. I settled at my machine and kept on going until the last of the quilting was finished then I added the binding. I still have ends to sew in as well as stitching the binding but that is all handwork so I can make myself comfortable with a good movie on the TV and just stitch away.

This was a great pattern for using up a load of scraps plus you can just about see the wave pattern quilting which I did for the first time. The quilt will go in the wash once I've finished the hand stitching as the air erasable pen I used to mark the quilting lines hasn't fully erased. Picasso also came running in from outside earlier and left muddy paw prints on it. I was in a rush to take this photo as Picasso has been trying to bite the binding clips, so I apologise for the angle.

I was really pleased to receive these clips from Richard this Christmas. They are making stitching the binding much easier and I'm enjoying not stabbing myself with pins.

Having trimmed the quilt this morning I left it neatly folded on a chair whilst I went and prepared my binding. When I finished that and was ready to attach the binding I found that Scamp had taken over the quilt and made himself comfortable including hiding his rawhide bone under it.

Scamp wasn't pleased when he got told to move. Both Scamp and Picasso seemed annoyed that I was sewing and Picasso decided to keep a very close eye on the goings on at the sewing machine.

Picasso can be very helpful and had just picked the bit of fluff you can see from the needle. 'Humph you're purrfectly hopeless at keeping this machine neat and tidy. I don't know how you'd cope without me..ow. Remember I'm watching you'

So lots of hand stitching this evening. I've been working on the christmas tree cross stitch. I decided to continue working on the sky so that the stitching I'd completed was worked down from the top. I do have to admit I'm bored of stitching in blue.

I'm really pleased with the progress of this piece but I must put some work into the millennium sampler as this is one of my goals for the year and preferably the first quarter of the year.

This week I'm only in work for three days so I'm hoping to get some of the quilting done on the nine patch quilt. So far January is looking good. I should have a finish by the end of the week and if I'm really lucky I should be able to finish the 9 patch.

I'm linking this post with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching Why not visit and see what everyone is doing.

Lyndsey

Baby quilt and scrappy top

It's time for Friday finishes and this week I'm doing a happy dance as I have two finishes, plus this is the second week in a row I've been celebrating. It's such fun as it has been a while since I finished anything.

First I put together a top with the 49 blocks made for the rainbow scrap challenge in 2014. These nine patch blocks finish at 6 inches and the quilt top overall is 58inches square.

I love this top it's so bright and cheerful it just makes me smile. I haven't had time yet to go through my stash for a backing fabric. However I wasn't planning on quilting this at the moment. I want to work on some of my other unfinished projects.

My second finish was the baby quilt. This really should have been finished a while back but at least it's done now and I can get it in the post tomorrow.

Getting a picture of the quilt has proved difficult as the weather is being most uncooperative. I tried it on my bed but the lighting is rather dim. So then I draped it over the settee with pillows to push it out abit.

The strips across were cut from fat quarters and from scraps left over from other projects. I love the different fabrics.

I thought you might like to see the backing fabric and the binding.

I'm very pleased with this quilt and I hope Charlene will be pleased with it. This also means I have completed another of my November goals. I now have to to collect my fabric for another baby quilt, but I won't be starting that until next week. 

Tomorrow I'm going to cut out the blocks for the 'It's a dog's life' quilt. I'm hoping I'll get time to stitch some of the blocks together. I also want to catch up with this years rainbow challenge as I'm two months behind 

I'm linking this post up with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts Why not go and check out what everyone's been finishing this week.

Lyndsey

Remembering the fallen and some slow stitching.

Today in the UK and Commonwealth countries is Remembrance Sunday. This is held every year as a day "to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen in the two World Wars and later conflicts" It is held on the second Sunday in November, the nearest to 11 November, Armistice Day, which is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. in 1918. Some people also know this day as Poppy Day. There is a National ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall which members of the Royal family attend. Across the country there are lots of local events. Each year we take our Brownies and Guides to the local ceremony and they enjoy parading their flags and laying the wreaths. Each year we explain to them why it happens as for many of the younger girls they haven't known anyone who was alive during World War 2 and haven't learnt about it in school. My father in law, who did serve in the last war is in his 90's. Last year artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper created an amazing installation of ceramic poppies at theTower of London to mark 100 years since the start of the first world war. You can read more Here

It seems appropriate on such a day to slow the tempo down and have more time for quiet reflection. Yesterday I finished the final bits of quilting on the baby quilt 

As you can see I did an all over meander except on the end panels where I did some straight line quilting. Well maybe not as straight as it should be. Even following guide marks I wobbled a bit.  I had some of this lovely pink spotty fabric for the binding and it was a quick job to join into a strip, press in half and attach to the quilt.

The only bit that didn't go completely to plan was joining the ends once I'd attached the rest of the binding. I mis-measured at the first attempt so I had a bit of unpicking to do. The second attempt worked fine and it is all ready to be stitched to the back. I shall start that once we have eaten dinner. Then the quilt can be put in the post and I get another Friday finish to show you. It will also mean I've finished my two main objectives for the month. It only goes to show that setting yourself goals really does work.

A goal for a little later this evening or even tomorrow is to hunt out the Christmas tree cross stitch I started last year. I know I won't finish it before Christmas but it will be great to work on it in the run up to the holiday.

Tomorrow is a work day so I doubt I'll get much sewing done but I must remember to pick up some apples on the way home as Denise at Count it all joy  made an apple pie and posted the picture on her blog and now I really want apple pie.

I'm linking this post with Kathy at  Kathy's Quilts  for her Slow Sunday Stitching. I love settling down in front of the TV on a Sunday night with some hand stitching. Tomorrow I'll show you how I got on with last week's stitching. I would take the picture now but my camera battery needs recharging.

Lyndsey