A quilt, a postcard and a pouch

The end of last week and the weekend was dull, cold and sometimes wet, which was a complete contrast to the bright sunny weather the weekend before.  A lot of time has been spent crafting and whilst I managed some knitting and crochet in the evenings, I have been sewing too.

One of the items on my Finish A Long list was finished!  This was a strippy scrappy quilt (the spell check wants to keep changing to 'stroppy'!  Anyway, I found 2 large pieces of wadding to sew together to make one piece large enough for the quilt and a backing fabric big enough too, so no excuses.  I finished off an old can of spray baste on this quilt too, so I'm pleased to use things up to progress the quilt.  I used a variegated thread and wiggly stitch to the widest width and a longer length to quilt it and I wasn't fussed about precise lines so long as I quilted the length and width of the quilt. Here's detail below.

I machined the binding on so I could hem that when at Bourne Quilters on Thursday evening.  I continued on Saturday and labelled the quilt too. Below is the back of the quilt and the front below that.  The quilt finished at 36.5" square and will go the the local Project Linus group.  So that's the first finish of 2020!

Going back a couple of weeks and a new postcard swap was announced on UKQU Facebook page called 'to infinity and beyond'.  I found some suitably starry, space-y looking fabric and some silvery sparkly fabric and thought planet or moon.

I used a porthole technique to face the hole under which I put a padded moon underneath.  With the addition of sparkly thread and star stitches from my sewing machine this spoke of space too me. This was posted off end of last week to Devon.  Today I received this postcard from Adelle, who really did her homework and based it on an image of a black hole from an image captured by a network of radio telescopes in April last year.

Lastly a pouch.  I've made several pouches but the first time making this Lola pouch by Svetlana Sotak, of Sotak Handmade blog, which is a paid pattern.  I've seen several before on Instagram and wanted to have a go, so yesterday I pulled out some purple fabrics, to match the zip that I had.  I got as far as inserting the zip and so this morning I finished with the binding.  

The pattern comes in two sizes and I made the small size.  It is very detailed and has step by step photos and I really enjoyed making it.  I feel there could be more of these made, it's that brilliant.  Anyway here is the pouch.

The only thing I added to this was the small pocket in the lining because there was a small piece of the purple circles fabric just big enough to put one in.  I like the binding around the top of the pouch which really gives it a good finish.

So my dull, wet weekend wasn't wasted!

Finish A Long 2020

The past few years I've been following the Finish A Long each year and you will have found posts regarding this each quarter of the year.  The format is different this year and the projects and finishes are being posted on Instagram, which I did last week.

Here is my list

It doesn't seem very big but in compiling the list I piled the quilts in the making on the spare bed and it almost looked like that of the Princess and the Pea.

So here goes
1. The Kingfisher quilt - it's layered and tacked and I started on the hand quilting and that's it.  I wanted to hand quilt this one and it may take some time!

2. The Tube quilt - layered, tacked and some machine quilting done, In the square centres and around the squares.  I've got to think how I quilt the white squares now. Oh, and sew in the thread ends!

3. Ups and Downs quilt.  In pieces.  Found it was too long and narrow and took some of the blocks apart.  Not sure if this will get progressed, but we'll see.

4.  Black/grey and orange/yellow quilt.  The top is complete and the backing too.  Just have to get the wadding to progress this further.

5.  Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses Mini Quilt.  This is going slowly now so much crack on with this the main patchwork square and done and sewn together, now for the half square blocks as the quilt is on point.  For a small patchwork its taking a loooonnnggg time to progress.

6.  Scrappy Strippy Quilt.  I followed the Scrap Busting Sew Along on Facebook last Autumn and put a few blocks together made from strips of colour coordinated fabrics.  I now have a quilt top and found a backing just the right size and sewed together 2 pieces of wadding to make one piece of just the right size.  No excuses I must get to quilt that one.  I think it could be lines of wavy stitching, which would suit it well.

So thats all the quilts in progress.

In addition on my list is the cardigan that I'm knitting (more about that here).  That's going well having done a back, left front and now onto the right front.  I started that as my Christmas Eve cast on, so for nearly a month that's not bad going.

As you will know, reading my recent posts I'm also participating in Attic 24's Crochet A Long blnaket which I started on 3 January, also here.  Part 3 of the colour changes was released last Friday, but I just finished part 2 yesterday evening.

My hopes are to get both the blanket and cardigan done and also the strippy quilt done in this quarter. If I'm lucky I might also get the Miniature quilt done too.  See how is goes .....

What Do You Watch?

I've recently taken to viewing You Tube a lot.  Quite a few You Tube presenters last month did Vlogmas videos, which were short daily (or almost daily) videos during December on the lead up to Christmas.  It got a bit difficult to see the presenters that I liked everyday, so I had to be picky what I watched!

Anyway today I'm going to share the videos or 'vlogs' (video blogs) that I watch.  Not many of them are quilting ones, but tend to be knitting/crochet ones.  I hope you will share those you watch.

Missouri Star Quilt Company - I love seeing Jenny Doan's demonstrations most Friday's and I like the way she breaks a block design down so that anyone can make it.

Just Get It Done Quilts - Canadian quilter Karen is another tutor who breaks down quilt blocks, but also shares strategies to organise your fabrics and tools.  This month she also talks about planning using a bullet journal.

Sewn Up by Teresa Down Under - This isn't a spoken tutorial but is animated with some cheery music.

The Gourmet Quilter - Susan is a New Zealand Quilter who you may have seen at Festival of Quilts last summer.  She runs a daily block programme, but she also shares quilting tips.

Jenny Smith Sews - short videos with quilters about the quilts that mean a lot to them.

Fat Quarter Quilt Shop - An American shop that has demonstrations by guest quilters.

I also watch some textile YT videos too.  Recent ones I've discovered are:

Arnold's Attic - I've been working my way through watching her short 'Meet the Artist' series, which has been interesting in introducing textile artists.

Kathleen Laurel Sage - Does short videos on her textile and embroidery techniques.

The following are knitting/crochet ones that I follow:

Stranded Dyeworks - aka Amy Florence - a dyer, knitter and crocheter who has recently moved to Scotland.  I like her style of video - nearly always with a weather forecast at the beginning!

Craft House Magic - Ellie from Norwich, who dyes her yarn, also knits, crochets and sews garments. What doesn't she do!

Crafternoon Treats - Kathryn is another dyer and Stylecraft Blog Star.  She dyes yarn, crochets and designs crochet patterns.

The Bakery Bears - Their videos are long, so I cut down the viewing into sections to watch this.  A husband and wife team, they knit and crochet and Kay designs knitting patterns.  They add in other subjects like the Pudding Club or exploring the local area.  They also have a radio podcast too which is handy to listen too while I'm sewing.

Little Drops of Wonderful - Ali is very chatty with her knitting and crochet projects and videos usually once a month, although some months does some 'vlogs' on a daily basis.

Not Enough Yarn - An ironic title as Lesley has plenty of yarn but never enough to complete a whole project! She compiles short videos over the month to present at the end of the month.

Cherry Heart - Sandra is a crochet designer (you may have seen her designs in UK crochet magazines) and I've watched her videos for some time. She is also a Stylecraft blog start

And some other YT videos I like to watch that don't come into any of the above categories

All the Stations - Geoff and Vicki explore stations on the UK rail system and Vicki has recently started exploring towns and cities.

The Last Homely House East of the Sea - Kate paper crafts, sews, knits, keeps chickens, bees and cats.  One of the cats, Norma, never wants to be left out of a video!

So there you have it - that's just a selection of the You Tube videos that I watch.  In case you're wondering, I do have time to do things and I'm usually knitting, crocheting or doing some hand sewing so I'm not doing nothing!!

What are yours - anything you like to watch??

New Year New Starts

On Christmas Eve I started a new cast on which would take me into the New Year.  I saw on Facebook a 'sponsored post' from a company called Knit in a Box, which is a monthly knitting subscription pack and I liked the pattern that was shown on the advert but the past box was no longer available.  I found the pattern was by Stylecraft and from their Ballisima range of patterns and yarn.

A quick search on the Wool Warehouse website and I found the pattern and a different colour of the yarn (the box version was pink and I liked red).  I'd also recently looked at ordering the Dahlia crochet blanket pack (more about that later) so an order was put in and delivered very efficiently!

I wanted to finish a pair of socks I was making so I could start on Christmas Eve.  This is pattern below and I am making the V-neck version (shown on the right).

I think this must be the progress around Christmas

 And the back was finished last night and the left front started.

 I'm surprised how far I've got with this, but as its mostly stocking stitch its easy to do.

A new start is the Dahlia Crochet blanket crochet a long (CAL) and this was in the same Wool Warehouse order.  This is a pattern by Lucy of Attic24 and I wanted to make this blanket but I needed to have a home for it and fortunately my daughter Sarah would like it.

The yarn comes in a net bag (as all the yarn does) and I made a start yesterday while resting to make a tension piece which worked out well.

This is how the blanket looks as at today's date (7 January) as I've now completed row 8 (of 15 rows) of the mixed stripe sequence.

To the left are the yarn bands with the appropriate colours around them as a guide to know what colour I'm working on.

13 Year Blogiversary

Today, 13 years ago I started my blog.  I started it to record the stitches I was using as part of Take a Stitch Tuesday, on Pintangle blog authored by Sharon Boggon.  That blog is still going and there is another year of Take a Stitch Tuesday.  Should I start this again and challenge myself to new or not-worked-on-for-ages stitches?  I'll think a little longer about that one.

This was my first attempt.  I enjoyed (and sometimes still do) fabric weaving and added some TAST stitches to this sample, which I think must be postcard size.  I can't remember if it was actually made into a postcard - some of my samples were.

Looking back at that year I certainly enjoyed challenges.  Have a look at my 2007 posts from the sidebar.  At the time I belonged to British Quilt List Postcard Group, making several postcards at a time and Arts In the Mail, both groups being Yahoo Group lists, which, although I stopped making for those several years ago have now sadly finished due to Yahoo's.  One challenge seemed quite ambitious with layering fabrics, slashing them and distressing with a heat gun!  I do still make the occasional postcard but usually one at a time instead of half dozen and that's for a swap group part of UK Quilters United Facebook group. Below are the last two that I made which were displayed at Craft 4 Crafters in October.

I was also a member of 2 local quilt groups, but now member of one.  However since retiring year before last I have joined an embroidery group, which I quite enjoy, to learn different techniques. That hasn't changed - I still enjoy the process of learning - there is always something new out there.

There is no sign of knitting or crochet!  These are two things that have crept into my crafting life recently.  I knitted for my children (they are all well into their 30's - my eldest will. be 40 next year!) up to when they started growing up and sweatshirting became fashionable and knitting definitley wasn't!  The internet I think has changed that with a much greater awareness of wanting (rather than having) to make clothes and wanting more sustainable fashion.

There were 2 weddings and a grandson's arrival that year.  I made a quilt for the grandson, Leo, who's now 12 and have made quilts for all except for the youngest, Cecily, and my Mum has made one instead. She makes quilts for Project Linus and photos of some of her quilts appear on my blog from time to time.

That year was the third year that my friend Brenda and I ran International Quilting Day meeting at Sturminster Marshall and the following year was to be the last one that we ran together.  It was on St Patrick's Day.  We look back on those days with fond memories, but it ran on for 2 or 3 more years under Pauline and Sarah of Pauline's Patchworks, but the quilting day had run its course.  It was a lot of hard work organising.

This was a picture of Brenda and I in front of a St Patrick's themed challenge.

Lets see what challenges lie ahead for my 14th year of blogging!

Finish A Long - Fourth Quarter Finish

Just the one!  Other items on my Finish A Long list as still in progress.  Some have been progressed a bit further but not finished so will add on to my list for 2020. (Oh the shame of it!)

The one finish is my cream eyelet cardigan.  This was a pattern by Sue Stratford of Knitting and Gin and I bought the pattern when I visited Unravel wool festival in February last year.  It is a top down all-in-one cardigan called Line Dried.  I made a jumper using the top down method the year before and it always feels a little different to work in the reverse way a normal commercial pattern making the back, fronts and sleeves separately and sewn together, but it does work well.  The bonus is that you can alter the length of the sleeves (which were a perfect length for me) or body (which I wanted another pattern repeat longer) by adding onto the bottom of the work with not a lot of effort.    The downside is that because you're carrying the whole garment as you knit it it does become heavy and bulky when out and about so it's not really car knitting.  That's why I like knitting socks as they are a small handy project to carry around.

I started the cardigan in March this year

I wanted a neutral cream colour and got this yarn by Carol called Wool Rich Heritage DK (55% wool content) from my local wool shop.  Its very soft and knitted up nicely.  Even taking out the stitching at the bottom to add extra length didn't curl the yarn up very much and I might use this yarn again.

This was when I got to the bottom of the body.

And this is another view

And finished!

So this is my one finish.  I will link this up to the Finish A Long 2019

Late December Furtling

Now 5 days into the New Year (Happy New Year, by the way) and I've come late to Mini Archie's Furtle Around the Blogosphere party due to a virus thingy on New Year's Day which had me feeling headache-y, aching all over and feeling very tired.  The day after disappeared as I slept through most of it!  Getting back to some semblance of normality (whatever that is!) now and catching up with things.

December was a busy month socially with Christmas coming up and also getting presents ready.  We have been stumped by what to get some members of the family but got there in the end.  I have been doing some making too.

I knitted a cardigan for my youngest granddaughter, Cecily, to go with a pinafore dress/top/leggings outfit that I bought.  The pinafore, which I wished I'd taken a photo of, had furry pockets one of which had a little cloth cat that was attached to it.  Although the cardigan is mainly pink with other colours merged in it doesn't look too girly.  The yarn is a King Cole Baby Comfort one and the pattern is a really old one in my stash.

But what I was give her was this

I had almost a ball of sparkle white yarn left from Flo's cardigan, made back in October so enough to make Cecily one.  However when I washed it, along with some other hand washing some pink migrated from another jumper I was washing.  I could hardly give that as a present but will give that to her mum later as a 'messing about' cardigan.

I started a pair of socks (for me) at the beginning of December as some car knitting for our trip to Exeter and posted on Instagram with "will I get them done for Christmas?" and I did just. So here's a 'sockfie'.

I used Giddy Aunt's yarn colour way 'Ooh La La' with Stellina and the pattern is Winwick Mum's Easy Cable Socks .  I can't say it was easy counting the rows, even though I was moving a stitch marker up the sock for each cable pattern repeat but I am really pleased how they look.

Another present made was for another granddaughter, Isobel.  It was tricky knowing what to get her as she is getting older so a trip to Claire's Accessories for little bits and bobs that she likes and I made her a small messenger bag to put the little things in.  She is a pink girl (at the moment!) so I knew this would go down well.

Having made two bags this year I'm building up my bag making skills so there may be more bags to come in 2020.

I said it has been a social month as I had a trip to Bath Xmas Market at the beginning of the month, followed by a few days away in Exeter (and a Christmas Market there too!).  I have 3 Christmas dinners (on separate occasions, not all at once!) and also visited Bournemouth's Christmas Tree Festival too, so a lot of out and about-ing.  One of the Christmas dinners was with the Bourne Quilters and instead of cards I gave out some Christmas coasters.

I have accumulated quite a few Christmas fabrics and it only took an afternoon to get these done. They are folded squares that are woven into each other and sewn onto a scrap square and background.

I started a Christmas Eve Cast On for which I started a new cardigan for me.

Progress so far at today is that I've finished the back and now on to the left front and a second ball of wool.

Between Christmas and New Year I made progress on my Luna Lapin and she was finished on New Year's Eve.

 But she's not dressed!

That's better, she has some knickers!

And now she has a dress

So that has been my Furtle in December.  I've got to catch up with a few things on the blog so expect a few posts over the next few days.