What Was I Thinking??

I decided to join a block swap on UK Quilters United, the Facebook group has a block swap subgroup, just making 6 blocks to swap.

These are just a couple of the cross blocks I made, this was on top of my bed quilt, but the choices I made aren't random enough, so I will make more to swap and keep these ones because I will want to make something with them.  These will just add to the collections of blocks I found that I have, so why on earth made me choose to join a block swap - I must be mad!!!

This is what I've also turned out this weekend -

Some blocks from a Classic Meets Modern sew a long from back in 2014 (I thought it was just a couple of years ago!) from Sew at Home Mummy.  I didn't follow this past Month 5! I think my intention was to make some blocks edged in purple fabrics to make a new quilt for our bed,  I though we could do with a new quilt.

Another were some quilted blocks that I was going to donate to Little Island Quilting's Soy Amado quilts, however this quilt collection is now ending (or may have ended).  Do go and have a look at the  blog, there are some stunning quilts photographed at various sites in Guernsey.  Anyway, here are the blocks

They are all 12.5" square.  No doubt I may find some more blocks that could be quilted to make up as a Linus/Teenage Cancer Trust quilt

I also found some smaller Sweet Sixteen blocks, I think two are mine and 3 from Benta, they are 8.5" square.  Not sure as yet what I am going to do with these.....  I think 4 more could make a good size for a small baby quilt?

But I also dug out this little bit of hexie sewing, which already had some wadding attached and a pice of fabric for the backing.  So Saturday morning saw me cut the backing roughly to size and machine sew around the hexagon pieces and a little way in from the edge of the piece.  I then trimmed the backing fabric with enough to turn a hem over to the front.  I took the piece of sewing to my friend Brenda's to slipstitch.

 A finished item, yay! A small table runner, which is now on our coffee table!

And that's the back.

In my last post I showed some yarn that I had from Easter and also a skein of yellow yarn inspired by crocus colours.  Last Wednesday I decided to wind the skeins into balls.  Really pretty they looked too.  I don't have any fancy equipment like a swift or wool winder,  I just put the yarn between the back of two dining chairs and wind.

 The yellow yarn looked too nice just to be made into socks, so I am trying something different, a shawl.  The pic below is when I sussed the pattern and made a start.  This is from the top down so starting with two stitches and then spreading further out.  The pattern is called Springtime Bandit by Kelbourne Woolens  on Ravelry.  The designer made this from Aran weight yarn on larger needles, but this is 4 ply so smaller needles are used.  So far I've done one extra pattern repeat than the pattern suggests to extend the depth and about to start on the third phase of the pattern.  I am really enjoying how this is growing.

On Sunday I went with my Mum to Brockenhurst Needlework Fiesta, which was quite busy when we got there.  Mum did buy a little bit of fabric but there isn't much in quilting supplies there, it is mainly  embroidery based.  So we stopped by Sammy Miller's Motorcycle Museum where one of the craft shops on the site has a limited supply of fabric but she found the fabrics she wanted.  But I managed to get some items at the Fiesta.

Some low volume fabric (back to the blue and white blocks in the block swap) some metallic thread, as I don't often see that around.  There was also a seller (just the one!) with some yarn, more Head Over Heels - resistance is futile!