A finished top

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. At guides on Wednesday we had a thanksgiving themed evening which the girls really enjoyed. They wanted to try some recipes they had found from America and the one that won the day was roasted sweet potato and marshmallow. Mmm tasty but very filling. Some of the girls thought it was the best food ever whilst some complained it was too sweet. Whatever their feelings about the food we tried they felt it was a great idea to theme the evening around a celebration from another country. By the end of the evening some of them had devised a list of religious and other celebration days from around the world.That takes care of planning for quite a few weeks next year.

I haven't had a lot of time for stitching this week but I made good use of the time I did have. I finished up the top for the 'It's a dogs life quilt'. The more I stitched this top the more I liked it.

Unfortunately today in London has been wet so no pretty photos taken outside. Our bed had to supply the background. I am very happy with how this quilt top looks. I've got some other projects I'm going to be working on so this wont be quilted until next year.

I have also been working on my hexi quilt from last years rainbow scrap challenge. This top still isn't finished as I have to add the borders.

I love this top and I can't wait to get it finished.

Finally I was asked by older daughter if I would make her an advent calendar. There were quite a lot to choose from but most were aimed at children and Katy is an adult. In the end I bought this one.

I've already added some of the pockets. It takes a bit of fiddling and a lot of concentration to get the pockets to match the background pattern.

I must remember to get our advent calendar out the loft this weekend and buy the sweets ready for the first of December.

Earlier today I realised I have 3 weeks at work before my two week break over Christmas and the New Year. I know we all tend to say the year has flown by this this year really does seem to have vanished. Realising Christmas was so close sent me into a spin until I remembered I've just about finished my present shopping and just need to make a final decision on the menu. I do need to make a quilt for Buddy for Christmas. It's a shame that he's such a big dog. If he was the same size as Scamp it would be a quick job.

I'm linking this post with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday  November has been a great month for finishes for me. I hope November has also smiled on your quilting projects.

Lyndsey

Hugs and kisses

When I signed up to take part in the Hugs and Kisses blog hop I had never tried paper piecing as a technique. I'm always up to learn something new so I decided that taking part would give me the push I needed to find out what paper piecing is all about. I love English Paper piecing but that is totally different. 

For this hop we received three paper piecing patterns that had been designed by Madame Samm from Sew We Quilt and Soma fromWhims and Fancies. I printed the patterns off and at that point I wondered if I could actually manage to make something. 

The first sheet was fine as it just had the pictures of the hearts and kisses shapes but underneath lurked a confusing diagram. What to do? 

Well as a Brit there was only one thing to do ..put the kettle on for a pot of tea.  A little later feeling calmer and refreshed I decided to stroke some fabric before taking another look at the pattern. I found this lovely FQ from the Lovey Dovey Collection from Riley Blake designs.

So back to the patterns. There was a kiss, a heart and a heart with an arrow through it. I decided the one with the arrow would be good to make.I'd already looked up how to paper piece in my quilting techniques book so now to put it into practice.

I decided that now would be a perfect time to start my double wedding ring quilt that I am going to make to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. The arcs in this design are paper pieced but the pattern is much simpler than the ones for this hop.

The arc worked well and was easy to make. I did find it rather wasteful on fabric but that could be because I'm new to the technique. Having had this practice I was now ready to get on with the pattern. I had decided that I would make a small mat. The block finishes at 10 inches square which is perfect for a candle mat.

As a first attempt at this technique I am very pleased with the end result.  The shaft of the arrow where it enters the arrow head went a little wonky but I enjoyed the process and will be doing more paper piecing in the future.

Thank you Madame Samm for organising this hop, it has been fun and I've learnt something new.  I'm going to make up the other two patterns in the future.

Now you need to visit the rest of today's participants.  There's sure to be lots of great projects to see.

Lady Beth

Beth Strand

Lady Jenny

Squawk That

Lady Britt-Inger

Hill Valley Quilter

Lady Carla

Create in the Sticks

Lady Marian 

Seams to be Sew

Lady Lyndsey

Sew many Yarns

Have a great Thursday

Lyndsey