my next project

One of our nieces gets married in 4 weeks' time and I decided this week that I would make this couple a quilt for their wedding present. Talk about late in the day!

Since I don't have much time, I knew it would have to be an easy pattern so I searched through a few of my books and found the ideal pattern in this one.



It's shown as a throw for a chair - in reds:



And as a bedspread - in blues:



Here are the fabrics I thought I'd use - by the time I paired them up, some of these got put back and others joined the pile.



The instructions tell you to cut out 8 squares each in light and dark fabrics and sew them all together to make the block. That's 16 squares per block meaning, for my 42 blocks, I'd need to cut out 772 squares. Yikes! I don't have time for that!

I thought about it and realised that if I cut out 2 strips (3" x 12") each in light and dark fabrics then sewed them together in a light/dark/light/dark combination I could then cut that into 3" strips, flip them and sew them back together and then I'd have my square made. Should be a lot quicker than cutting out and sewing up 772 squares! Hopefully.

Here are blocks numbers 1 and 2.



Only 40 more to go.

finished - baby quilt and cardigan

I didn't finish the baby quilt and cardigan yesterday - but I did finish them today. I am so pleased with both of them.

Here's the baby quilt:



I just love everything about it. The stripey binding, all the different squares and the fleece on the back - a slightly darker version of the turquoise used in the border.

I wonder if it's technically a charm quilt? I mean, all the squares are different fabrics so that qualifies as a charm quilt but maybe the 4 borders being the same fabric stops it from being a true charm quilt? Who knows? Who cares? Not me!! :oP

And now for Joanna's cardigan.



It's only taken me 3 years to get it done. Mind you, only about 3 or 4 weeks of knitting in total, I think. If anyone wants one - too bad. I won't be knitting another one any time soon! :oD

nearly finished

I'm at the binding stage of the baby quilt. I'm hoping to get that all attached tomorrow. Hopefully!



And this is a cardigan which I started for Joanna in 2008. I told her when I started it that I should get it done for Christmas ... but I didn't say which Christmas. :oD



I re-started it a couple of weeks ago and was really pleased that I was able to do the knitting. When I started it, I hadn't been diagnosed with my psoriatic arthritis yet so I had no idea why my shoulders and back were sore. I'm sure that was part of the reason I stopped knitting the cardigan. That and laziness. :oP

All that I need to do now is sew it up and sew the buttons and snap fasteners on. If the baby quilt binding goes well, I might get that done tomorrow too. Maybe. :o)

from the sewing room window - 25 July

Farm shop, South Queensferry and berries

Today we went to a Farm Shop to buy berries for jam. (More of those later.) I took just a few photos whilst we were at the shop.

A few chickens:


Joanna made a new friend ...



... who was determined to be her friend forever ...



... and looked forlorn when she walked away. :o(



Then we headed off to South Queensferry to see the Forth Bridge:



The Forth Road Bridge:



A long train (not all in the photo) heading up the east coast line - if we were at home, we would have seen the same train passing about 20 minutes after this photo was taken. But we weren't at home, so we didn't see it then. :oD



Some yachts enjoying the light breeze.



And here are the berries we got in the farm shop:





And here are the rasps after cleaning - all bagged and ready to be frozen.



And this was all the waste from the rasps - not very much at all!!



Now, why don't I have any photos of the strawberries all cleaned and bagged ready for the freezer? Probably because I was annoyed by the time I'd finished them and totally forgot to take photos.

Why was I annoyed? Well, I bought 5.2 kg of strawberries and, by the time I'd cleaned them, there was nearly 1 kg of waste. I realise I bought jam berries as opposed to eating berries but nearly 1 kg of waste is just a bit much, in my humble opinion.

Lesson learned - don't buy jam berries. Just buy eating berries, pay the extra and, surely, you won't have to spend over an hour and a half cleaning them.

Mind you, I had the telly on to watch the last real day's racing on the Tour de France and that helped to pass the time. Great race this year - the best I've ever seen in the 7 years I've been watching the Tour. Well done, Cadel Evans! :o)

baby quilt - top done!

I was really pleased with myself this morning as I managed to get the top of the new baby quilt finished.

I changed my mind on the design of it and, instead of doing it like a Sudoku quilt, I decided to join all the 81 squares together in one piece. I like it a lot! There's so much to look at - I think the new baby will be fascinated with it.



Then, because I didn't need so much sashing, I could use one of the bright colours I had in my stash. I didn't think I had enough in the length of the pieces to make the corners as well so I just cut out another 4 pieces of fabric and put them in the corners instead. I *LOVE* it!



Next is putting it on to a fleece blanket for the backing and then adding a binding. I've got both of those things in my sewing room so no need to go and buy anything! Yay!! :o)

new baby quilt - the start

I started cutting out the bits for a baby quilt for our niece Vicky's baby. The baby isn't due until November so plenty time to get the quilt made.

Here are a few photos of the start of the quilt. It's going to be a sudoku quilt like the one I made for her sister Fiona but, instead of using 9 fabrics for the squares, I'm using a different fabric for each square - ie 81 fabrics. I'm also making the squares 4" square rather than 3" square.

In this photo, I've cut 11 squares with the other 71 fabrics sitting waiting to be cut.



Here are all 81 squares cut with the trimmings lying in a tidy pile.



Here I laid them out into 9 rows of 9 to make sure I hadn't miscounted.



And here they are all in their piles of 9 ready to sew.



BTW - I did miscount - I had cut 82 instead of 81. :oD

from the sewing room window - 18 July

Julia knits!

Did you know that Julia Roberts knits? She's been quoted as saying:

"I sit on the set and knit. It's a very social hobby, as opposed to reading at work - I can chat with people and still be fully engaged."

All you need for knitting is a girlfriend to get you started!"

back to sewing

I got back to some sewing yesterday. Yay!

Joanna asked me to make her a purse to keep her coupons in. As that's what I now use the purse I showed here for, it was an easy job for me to re-make it.

My biggest problem was picking the fabrics - as if that mattered! Anyway, here's how it turned out. Thankfully, Joanna likes it! :o)

more Canada pics

I've decided that my favourite photos of our Canada holiday are of the people - and dog - we went to see. So, here are just a few of my faves.

Silly Debbie. :oD



Jason using his "new coffee mug". :oD



I *love* the look on Jason's face! :oD



Who's chasing whom? Is that right? I think it is but it sounds daft! No dafter than Douglas and Molly chasing each other around and around!



Molly and me - she thought I looked cool in my sunspex. :oD



Douglas had many conversations with Molly.



A pair of nutcases.



Isn't she sweet?



Debs and Molly - taking up most of *my* side of the couch as well as their own!



Having more words with Molly. It doesn't look like she's paying attention to him! Ach well, he's used to that! :oD



Debbie and Jason on the boardwalk at Fisherman's Cove.



Even Molly is smiling for Douglas's camera!



Molly swimming.



Molly under the seat trying to get away from the sun.

my Canada loot

Here are some of the things I bought - or was given - in Canada.

This book is full of the most amazing tips and shortcuts about sewing. I've been sewing longer than I can remember and I've learned a lot already - and I'm not even halfway through the book!



This is something I was given. Jason made it. Isn't he a clever laddie? I'm supposed to use it as a cutting board but it's far too nice to use so it's in my kitchen being admired every time I look at it! :o)



More fabric which we bought in Fabricville in Halifax. There's more than this but it was in various places - left with Debbie, gone to Joanna's house or on the washing line - so I can only show these.



A pinny pattern. I could have just made it up myself but I decided to be rash and buy one. :oP



This was in one of the photos yesterday but I decided to take a photo of it on my sewing room wall. I like it!



And these are free patterns - knitting and crochet - that we picked up in Michaels. It never ceases to amaze me that places give these away for nothing. We don't have anything like that over here. It's time we did!! The pink wool is for making the piggy slippers for Joanna. Aren't they the funnest thing? :oD



I've more to show but I need to check Douglas's photos first. He took over 2000 photos on our holiday. Isn't that insane? I think so! :oD