2 quilts and 4 turtles!

I made 2 quilts and 4 turtles in March. Weird, I know, but let me explain!

First I had quite a few 12½" squares in my odd blocks box so I got them out, worked out how many more I'd need to make a quilt and got to it. I used a green sheet for the sashings and binding and some yellow squares for the cornerstones. This is the resulting quilt. A real hodge podge but that makes it more interesting to me!

I didn't have enough of one fleece for the back so just joined 2 pieces of different fleeces together. It used up odd bits and is just as cosy, if not more so, than if it had only been one piece! More scraps used up - of fleece and of fabric! Yay!

Now, the story of the turtles. Jo asked me if I could make her a floor turtle. "A what", says I? Apparently, it's a circle of towelling on the bottom with either plain fabric or patchwork on the top with legs, a head and a tail. You put it on the fllor, stand on it (with one foot) and wipe up any spills or wet doggy paw prints without having to bend down. I looked at the photo of the one she showed me and decided that I could most definitely make her one. So I did! My hand is their for size reference!

Of course, one is never enough so I made another ...

... and another ...

... and another. I decided that 4 would do for now. Thankfully, Jo likes them - and uses them regularly! Yay! More scraps used up - this time of fabrics and old towels! Yay!!

Next, I decided I wanted to make another scrap quilt like the one I showed in this post. This time I used a rust sheet for the centre strip of each block and the sashings and binding. I quilted it using the QAYG (quilt as you go) method which allegedly takes less time than quilting the "normal" way but, you know, I am not convinced that's true. Anyway, no matter, the quilt turned out very well, in my humble opinion!

On the back, I used up some 8" squares I had in my stash. I didn't have enough of the rust sheet left so I used the rest of the green sheet I'd used in the first quilt for the back sashings. I love the back too!

So that's even more scraps used up and the 2 sheets I used for the sashings and lots of little bits of bump for each block's quilt sandwich. Yay!

I am delighted with all the makes most especially because I used a LOT of scraps! Still plenty more to go but that's part of the fun of my hobby! 😊

February's makes

I started the month with a quilt finish. This is the "square in a square" block which is one of my favourites to make. The centre squares of each block are 4½" squares and each finished block in the quilt measures 9½" which means it came together quite quickly.

For the backing, I joined 2 navy starry fleeces together which makes the quilt lovely and soft and cosy.

As it was coming up to Emily's 9th birthday (!!) and there would be a box winging its way to Canada, I thought I'd better get my act together and sew the mini quilts which the girls had drawn when we were visiting last July. This is Emily's drawing:

I added another row to the top and bottom to make it a square and then made it up using 2½" squares. OMG, I LOVE it!

I wrote a simple label on the back using a laundry marker.

Isla's drawing was slightly different. It started off (in the centre) as a trip around the world but I think she got bored at the idea of colouring all the squares and deviated from that plan.

I used strips instead of lots of tiny square - I would have had to use 1½" squares to get it to be the right size and that was just not going to happen. OMG, I LOVE this one too!

And the label on Isla's.

The girls have the quilts now and they love them too. Yay! There was talk that they might do some more designing. Bring it on!

what I made in January

I sewed and sewed and sewed in January but I only have one thing to show for it.

Basically, I sewed a huge amount of scraps together, added some black sashings in an unusual way, quilted it, bound it, labelled it and called it done. I've explained it in just a few words but it took me ages to sew because I had to figure out how to make it so that I could get the black bits to match up properly. I personally think it's fabulous but then I might be slightly biased! 😃

Here's the quilt:

The back is the last of the grey squiggly fleeces I bought in the Asda sale a couple of years ago. I'm sad that they're finished - I'm keeping my eyes open for more bargains like those!

I quilted this on the black sashings using the serpentine stitch on my sewing machine using a rainbow coloured thread on the top and in the bobbin. It stands out so well against the black.

The best thing about this quilt is I managed to use up a lot of scraps - but not nearly as many as I hoped I would! Even more importantly, I enjoyed myself. Isn't that why we do hobbies? If not, it should be!!

Needless to say, I'm already knee-deep in another quilt and hope to get that finished soon.

the last post of the year

As Christmas is now over, I can show Jo's diary cover which I made for her this year. I embroidered the design on my embroidery machine. She actually laughed out loud on Christmas Day when she opened it. It made me smile too! This is the front:

This is the inside which, sadly, isn't seen unless you take the cover off!

And the back.

I used to have such trouble getting the covers to fit well but these days, I buy the exact same make of diary every year - obviously one year on from the previous year!! - and then I know that the cover will be the same size every time.

Our next door neighbours had a baby girl at the end of November so, naturally, I made her a quilt. I'm really happy with how it turned out. All those wonky triangles just make me smile!

The back is one side of a downie cover bought in the sales at the end of summer. That's quite a quick turnaround for me to have used it already!

My next project was to make myself a dress to wear for Christmas Day. I decided to use McCall's 8553.

I am not scared/wary/terrified of zips in the slightest but this one nearly broke me. I was so close to just throwing the whole thing in the bucket but I didn't. In the end, I decided to ignore the pattern's instructions for the zip and did it the way I thought it should be done and that made all the difference. By the way, the pattern tells you to use a metal zip and to cut off the ends to make it fit. No way was I doing that! I used a normal plastic zip and it worked just fine!

I'm so glad I persevered. I LOVE this dress! (As usual, my facial expression is just silly! 🤣)

It was so comfy to wear on Christmas Day - no tight waistbands to worry about! LOL

Jo got a kit to make a "gingerbread house" out of chocolate. We had so much fun sticking it all together with melted chocolate. We've made a few real gingerbread houses over the years and they've never gone together as well as this one did!

And demolishing it a few days later was fun too! Nom nom nom! 🤣

This was the last thing I made this year. I have so many tree wallhangings that I've decided it's my thing. You know, some people collect frogs or pigs or whatever. I make tree hangings! That's okay, I enjoy doing it and there's plenty of wall space to hang them! 🤣

So, that's 2025 nearly over. See you in 2026!

February's bits

I've been trying to get this post written since the end of February. So many things wouldn't work the way I wanted them to - specifically the photos were annoyingly fuzzy and I couldn't figure out why. Today, for no apparent reason, it all started working again! So I'm going to post this in a hurry just in case it all goes to pot again!

We started February with Douglas's birthday. Jo got him this card - soooooo brilliant! LOL

I found a recipe in my recipe file which I hadn't made before. I have no idea where it came from but I decided to have a go and am glad I did. These are sooooo delish!!

Here's the recipe:

I finished the stained glass quilt for Jo. I loved making this. It's such a happy quilt!

I always keep notes of how I made my quilts so, as this was a repeat, I looked back at my notes to see how I made the back. That saved me so much time as I just followed my own instructions and it worked out perfectly! Here's the label and you can see the yellow fleece I used for the backing.

Lastly, I made another smalls bag. I found myself getting annoyed at only having one when I might need one for lights (my bras) and one for darks (my tights) so now I have 2 smalls bags and don't get annoyed (at that) any more!

I'm currently knitting a cardigan for Isla. I'm up to the armholes of the second sleeve so nearly done. I hope to get it finished soon and make a start on one for Emily. I doubt I'll get Emily's finished in March but I should have Isla's ready for showing off in March's post. 🤞

makes for January 2025

I started the year by making a new smalls bag. The one I was using was beginning to show signs of over-use so a new one was needed. It's not particularly pretty but it does the job so that's fine by me!

I then decided it was time to put together the Squares and Chains quilt the blocks for which I showed back in November. This is the front - all made from the contents of my scraps boxes:

I LOVE it!

And this is the back with a label I sewed on my sewing machine. I was sure I could reduce the size of the font but I couldn't figure out how to do that so I just used it in this big size. I also should have balanced the lines better but, you know what, if anyone complains about it, I'll tell them where to go!! 😝

Jo gave me this faces fabric last year and I decided it was time to use it so I made a couple of pinnies ...

... and some oven gloves to match. Jo got one pinny and a pair of gloves and I kept the others. They've already been slotted in to the pinny/oven glove rotation. I LOVE them!

I'm now working on another Stained Glass quilt. I made this one back in March last year and decided I'd make another one this time for Jo.

All the squares and strips and sashings are cut and I've made a start to the blocks.

I'm loving re-making this one and I know it'll be just as stunning as the original one.

So, that's January done. How can a month of the year be gone already? 😵‍💫

October's makes

I spent most of October helping Joanna move house but I did manage to get this quilt made too. It's a pattern for a donut quilt. Doughnut?? Anyway, I wanted to make it with Christmas fabrics so I added a bow to the top of the "donuts" and called them Christmas wreaths. I am more than delighted with the results!

As I forgot to take photos of the individual wreath blocks, I took photos of each "quarter" of the quilt:

Here it is in full:

Tilly wanted to join in the fun! 🐶 💕

I used grey fleece on the back.

And the obligatory label made on my embroidery machine.

I LOVE it!

Mmmmm, I just spotted that the label says it was finished in September! Actually, that makes more sense because, as I was helping Joanna move, I hardly even set foot in the sewing room, far less made a quilt!! 😳

I also finished a couple of cardigans for Emily and Isla. They seemed to take me ages to do but, in truth, Emily's sat half done for months and, once I finished hers, Isla's was much quicker!

They look a bit big but that's not a bad thing really. It just means they'll last them more than one winter! These will head off to Canada in the next few weeks along with some small Christmas gifts and their traditional Christmas tree ornaments made by me. I haven't even thought about those yet so I need to get going! I can tell it's going to be a busy November!