Monday Makers:

It's not a fancy bit of sewing, but I wanted a quick make this week - I've got some advent calendars to make and needed something to protect the kitchen worktop so I can press all those fiddly pockets. 10 minutes later and, Hey presto, - a nice cheery fabric pressing mat

with a reverse that doubles a a design wall (for very teeny projects)

It's already been put to good use and a festive table runner for my sister in law...


and the first of those advent calendars for my little ones are well on their way

Linking up:

Crocheted Baby Blanket

Started last winter, I finally got around to finishing of my crochet baby blanket last month. Lovely little Georgia arrived safe and sound on Bonfire Night and is doing well. So here's a snap of the finished article.

All the blocks are from Eatons 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afgans. A great book it you want to try out crochet and are totally new to it like me. They have a nice reminder of what the stitches are in the back, along with edgings and how to change yarn colour.



At the start I was relying on youtube videos for each stitch too, but by the end I had the confidence to try for a wavy edge with no pattern at all! It's a real learning journey of a blanket, so I won't worry too much about the blocks that came out a little too small of the massively uneven tension in places!

Hope it keeps some little toes and finger snug and warm through the winter.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday

Woodland Height Chart: A FMQ finish

The Finish

A month ago my mother in law asked how to free motion quilt on the machine she kindly got me last year. So I got out this cute height chart panel I'd picked up and long since hidden away. I'm so happy I did. The Husqvana Automatic I use is an old machine, but a lovely one. All those problems of bunching fabric, eyelash like loops on the back of the fabric and general difficulties in getting the lines of stitching where I wanted, were gone.

So, off I set, trying out lots of patterns I'd been admiring on pintrest blogloving. I did loops for the sky (hoping to add movement), a bark pattern for the tree and a bit of a sampler feel for the coloured blocks on the left.

I can't say the quilting is all that, but I'm really pleased to have finished it and got my first FMQ project under my belt.


The Creatures

The Free Motion Quilting

The Woodland Plants

Linking up to Fabric tuesday at quilt story and a late link to up to Finish it up Friday, as I really love this and want to share it!

Slow Sunday Stitching

From this...

To this...

in the space of two weeks.

It's amazing what you can do when it's cold out and you're on an autumn caravan holiday on the Yorkshire coast!

Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching, at Kathy's Quilts, WIP Wednesday, at Freshly Pieced, Wow on Wednesday, at Esther's Blog and

  

(by the way, just found a great list of linky parties organised by day of the week. Check it out here if, like me, you want to share but don't know where)

A Finish!

After a stop for a zip at the weekend, my hand quilted cushion is finished. Happy Me.

 It's a lovely sunny edition to the pile on the sofa, warding of the overcast autumn outside.

When making the back I measured twice, cut once and realised I shouldn't try measuring anything while chatting to the kids. I had a nice square of fabric, 2.5 inches too small, and not enough fabric to cut another. Thankfully I did have a nice selection of greys to choose from (Simply Solids had a lovely sale not too long since), so it was a quick fix.

Clearly I am in need of sunny colours this month as I've moved onto using a moda scrap pack in oranges I'd had no idea what to do with.

I'm thinking dolls quilt or yet another cushion for this one - a local women's running a handmade charity auction to raise fund for Chrone's Disease and I though I'd contribute something. I am nervous making something intended for people I don't know, but enjoying the pace of the EPP!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday

Wordless WIP Wednesday

Slow Sunday Stitching

Today has been a lovely Sunday. After a slightly wet family walk yesterday, I've had a great day out with the kids and my mum and dad today: feeding the ducks, eating lunch outside and running round the playground for a couple of hours. Lovely. A real last gasp of summer

This week I've been trying my hand at hand quilting and I've finished of the 10" panel below. I love the vibrant yellow on this print, a real summery colour. It's been sitting in my stash for over a year, but leapt out at me when I was looking for a print to try some hand work on.

This is only my second go at hand quilting (and my first go was big stitches only), so this was a bit of a challenge. I chose to quilt with white thread along the white lines in the flowers, hoping to end up with something usable, even if the quilting went a little wonky. The stitches were pretty uneven to start with,...

But they improved as I went on, and by the end I was pretty pleased with them. I'm keen to see what will happen to the texture after a wash, when the fabrics softened up a bit.

I'm figuring this will be a nice little cushion with the addition of a border (especially as the back looks a bit of a mess)

I've loved the slow stitching in front of the telly during the week, and I can definitely see myself doing a bit more as the evening start to draw in. In fact, I'm tempted to cut up the rest of the fabric and start another panel right now. I do think it would look great on the front of a tote bag.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at  freshly pieced and  Kathy at

Winter Geese Cushion - a finish

Schools back, and life is busier than ever, despite the fact my youngest is a preschool now and I have a morning in on my own a week. I have, however, kept sewing in the small bits of time between the usual rushing around and have a finish to share.

Here are a few pictures: -

the front: a paper pieced circle of geese patter from Jeli quilts

the back: my first log cabin.

My second ever go at a zip was much more successful than my first!

It's my first bit if FMQ for ages - really I wanted a tiny scale meander over the background fabric to make the geese pop, but it was way beyond my skill level. If I do the pattern again, I might try echo quilting to emphasize the direction the geese are flying instead. I think it would be a much stronger design

All in all, a happy finish. Not a perfect execution of what I had in mind, but with each finish there's an improvement from the last. Now, who shall I gift to to?

Linking up to finish it up fridays at Crazy Mom Quilts

Wordless Wednesday: Quilted Winter Geese

Winter geese, front

Winter geese, back