Finish-A-Long Quarter 2

The proposed finishes for this quarter were as follows:

      Dress Up Quilt

      Frivols Quilt

      Hexies
      Cosy Crochet Blanket

Progress so far- the Dress Up Quilt is done

The Cosy crochet blanket is done

Frivols quilt is still is progress, unfortunately I haven't progressed this further so will go into the next quarter.

Hexies have been sewn together so there is progress there. This will also go into the next quarter as I applique the hexies onto the background fabric and quilt it.

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But there have also been starts and finishes in this quarter too. A couple of practical items like the crochet tea cosy

  

And a peg bag

Also a couple of cushions too

At last after a very long time the cross stitch picture started by me back in 1999 and finished by my Mum at the end of last year has been framed and is now hanging our living room.

So now I will link this post with Finish a Long finishes and have a think about what I will get finished for next quarter.

Losing It, Finding It and Losing It Again

I'm not being careless about my projects, don't think so anyway, but this is about weight.  Six and a bit years ago when moving back to Poole from Yorkshire I can back quite a bit heavier than I should be and started at a Rosemary Conley class in Bournemouth at 12st 12.5lbs.  Over the year and a half I got down to 10st 3lb.  That was 2012.

Five years on the weight I lost found me again and when I asked David for a photo to use for my Quilter's Guild member page this is what he forwarded to me.

Oh dear.  This was taken at the RHS Spring show in Malvern last month. I think drastic action had to be taken before Sarah's wedding in September.

I started going to a Slimming World class locally on Canford Heath, as Rosemary Conley slimming clubs  are no longer around.  I weighed in there at 12st 5.5 lbs, not as bad as before that bad enough.  After 3 weeks I've lost 4.5lbs and my clothes are starting to fit me better. I hope to lose a stone by the time of the wedding.  I'm getting used to a different kind of diet, but seems to be working, see how I go.

Some Finishes This Month

Sorry I've not blogged for a while but I've not had much to show for a while. This weekend, in spite of the heat (June has hotted up this last week) I've managed to get quite a bit done.  

On my Finish a Long List is hexagons.  One of The Bramble Patch subscription boxes contained 2 packs of 2.5" squares and a background fabric with instructions to make a table runner.  This was going to be a slow project so wasn't fussed about getting the hexies joined together, but with going to Bourne Quilter's last week and Sewing Saturday yesterday afternoon followed by watching some You Tube videos this morning (Sew Sweet Violet podcast and Simply in Stitches sock tutorial) I got more stitching done than I thought.

The Bramble Patch instructions were for 3 long rows but I didn't want a lengthy runner so it'll be 5 short rows. I've used one pack of the squares, but will have to break into the second pack.  The pack of papers were also supplied, they are 1" hexies and the good thing about the project is that the fabrics can just be wrapped around the papers and tacked, easy! I'm finding the sewing together surprisingly relaxing, so potentially this could be a finished project? Wait and see.

We've needed a new peg bag as the fabric on the one I've had for years has started to rot. They were furnishing fabric samples that were used with a coat hanger inserted and I don't know how many years ago I made that! So unpicking the pieces and using them as templates I used 2 teatowels from a pack of three from Primark, the third is being used as a tea towel, which were really bright and colourful.  I cut the pieces out yesterday and sewn this afternoon.

Just a tad bright, should cheer up any washday!  In spite of using the old fabric as a guide for cutting out I ended up with a shorter piece for the back. No problem, I just inserted a piece of the pink fabric in the middle and it actually looked a lot better for it.  The tea towel fabric was a breeze to stitch through and at £3 for a pack of 3 it was a bargain make too.

Another finish is the beach hut cushion cover which was in progress in my last post.  Here it is

And here again with the first cushion cover I made last month

Got a better pic than that...

And here are the backs

The envelope backs are a different orientation due to the cut of the fabrics, but they don't look too bad and I'm p,eased how they turned out.  Only thing is I've borrowed the pads from other cushions to take the pics, so you can guess what my next task is! 

Flaming June

Edit to post: I typed this on 4th June and saved in draft and didn't publish on the blog! 

Well it could be, but sometimes it gets a bit chilly too.  Here we are 4th of June and May seems to have flashed by.

I was pleased to have a finish in my last post and to have 2 of four proposed finishes done for this quarter with 26 days of June to go.  I've got another start and finish which I can't show just yet, not until later this month as its a birthday present, 

Also on the go is Crochet A Long (CAL) in Crochet Now magazine called Vintage Sweethearts, designed by Sandra Paul, aka Cherry Heart. She blogs and also does a video podcast on You Tube. This CAL uses yarn with a soft coloured vintage style palette for this design and I bought a yarn pack of Scheepjes Colour Crafter from the Wool Warehouse.

I was hoping that the last issue would arrive before we went on holiday but didn't so I didn't start on this until after I got back home.  So here are the first blocks.  They have all been blocked to the same size and there is a layout to stitch together but I haven't go around to that yet.

I subscribe to Crochet Now and got the latest issue early. David was out until late yesterday evening so I made another block

Followed by 2 tiny blocks

Yesterday also saw me sewing another seaside cushion cover, I really must get some cushion pads!

As you can see I'm part way through quilting this but I also have the backs done already.

These are the remains of the kit that I had from the Bramble Patch club earlier this year. In the top pic the fabrics on the top and bottom strips were those I already had in my stash, but they were from earlier Makower seaside collections and toned in well with what I had left in the kit from making the first cushion cover.

I'm still keeping busy!