Patchwork

The hexagons are beginning to multiply.

Feeling Blue

My attempts to get a bit more organised have failed at the first hurdle. After deciding on a to do list for the month, what is the first thing I go ahead and do? Well start a brand new, doesn't feature on the list, project of course.

Not entirely sure where this one will head, just needed something portable to take about with me when I'm on the move. Inspired by this over flowing tub of scraps that was just sitting on my desk....

I now have a whole pile of these...where will these go next I wonder?

New Projects

With the bathroom cross stitch finished it's time to spread my wings and start something new. Trouble is once I got to playing I had so many ideas bubbling I couldn't just start one thing.so I now have 2 very different projects on the go.....
... and a work space which is now a mess of fabric and thread. Time to tidy up and get a bit more methodical.

I'm looking forward to seeing where these pieces take me.

Nan's Quilt

Now I remember why I have only finished one bed size quilt ever, you see the trouble is my house is just so tiny it's difficult to find the space to lay everything out.

Still I'm getting there. I've been trying desperately to think of a way that I can get a decent picture showing the whole thing but I just can't think of a way. So here is my top pegged out on the line. It doesn't show the whole thing but it gives you the idea.

This is such a quick and easy top to put together. There is one piece of fabric out of the 20 that I picked that I'm not altogether happy with but I really don't have time to change it so it will have to stay and grow on me!

Now on to the quilting. It's going to have to be something quick and easy. I'm going to see my Gran on Saturday which will probably be the last time I see her before Christmas so it has to be done by then. Wish me luck!

Crazy Cats Row Robin

Over the last few evenings in amongst housework, looking after MIL and working on other projects I've also been trying to get my Row for the Row Robin done and am pleased to say that I got it finished last night so let me introduce you to my bunch of crazy kitties.

This is where I probably sound slightly crazy when I say that when I picked up the basic blocks each of the kitties whispered me and told me what they wanted to look like so they came together very easily..

Blue kitty was full of love so he wanted a heart and some hand stitching.

Brown kitty is a bit of a misfit, he's had a tough life and is by no means pretty with his odd sized eyes and scruffy patches.
Green Kitty, loved the patterns in his border fabric so decided he wanted to be dotty, and he loved the idea of having different eyes. Orange kitty, is a bit snooty. He loves his pristine coat and wanted nothing more than a collar and tag.And pink kitty spied some scraps which hadn't yet been clear away on the worktable and knew they were perfect for him. It was difficult trying to get a decent picture of the row joined up, this shot of it pegged on the line was about as good as I could get.

I also made a very basic journal to send round with my quilt, cover made from an old greeting card I had in the draw.
I decorated the pages with plenty more kitties! My row is now all packed and ready to begin it's journey across the pond, I can hardly wait to see what this is going to look like in a few months time when it's ready to come home again.

And now for something completely different...

... anyone that knows me, knows that I am a totally incompetent when it comes to cooking. DH does most of the cooking in our house, unless it's beans on toast. Well recently for some reason I have had the urge to venture into the kitchen and yesterday I made my first ever apple pie.
Ok so it's not exactly pretty but it tasted delicious, nothing beats home baked, maybe this could be the start of a whole new life in the kitchen for me?

The drugs kept me lucid enough to venture away from the cross stitch and start on the embellishment of my row robin blocks too. I didn't get too far along the line but at least a start has been made.
Also I drew the winner of the postcard giveaway. Well done ROBIN C, thanks for leaving a comment, please could you email me with your snail mail so I can get the card in the post. Thanks to everyone who took part, and in general I just want to say a huge thank you to every one who takes the time to leave comments here. I do love to blog and it's nice to know that I'm not on this adventure alone!

Janet's Cat

With the healing hearts done, it's time to move on to the next UFO.

This is the Kitty that I started in the Janet Bolton workshop that I took a while ago. I came away from the workshop feeling a little disappointed. I'm a huge admirer of Janet's work but I just couldn't seem to get to grips with the small pieces that she is so skilled at using so my kitty is quite big.

Even though he is not quite in the same league as Janet's work I fell in love with him again when I spotted him in the UFO pile, I wonder what he will look like when he's done?

Row Robin - The Beginning

I didn't have much time for much stitching yesterday evening but to prove that I wasn't totally idle I did starting piecing my blocks for the Row Robin that I have signed up for. There is still a way to go as I have borders and embellishments to add before I join my blocks to make the row but hey it's a start.
I've chosen a really simple quick to piece block pattern and hope that the other ladies will use the time they save on the piecing to have a bit of fun and embellish these kitties to death.

It's been a while ....

.... since I did any proper patchwork.

I don't know if I ever shared the story of how my fabric obsession started? Well Once Upon a Time I used to make a lot of cards, while I was at a few craft shows buying bits and pieces some cat print fabric caught my eye and on a whim I bought it. I had no clue what to do with this fabric but slowly I started a little collection. Then I saw a Beginners Patchwork and Quilting Class advertised at my local college so I thought it was high time I actually put the fabric to use and went along to the class. The rest they say is history.

Quickly I managed to amass quite a stash of various fabrics and made a couple of quilts, then I found out about fabric postcards and it is through this media that I started experimenting more with embroidery and other forms of fabric art. And the stash expanded to include fabrics other than cotton, beads, buttons and threads.

Well now my little house is bursting at the seams with stuff and over the last few months I've come to the realisation that I need to use rather than buy more :) Changes in family circumstances and recent illness have helped me to the realisation that I don't need/want all this stuff hanging around. So I need to do some stash busting.
So I'm taking my first small steps on this journey and have joined a block lottery on one of the yahoo groups that I belong to. (Yes I realise this could backfire as if I win the lottery I'll end up with more stuff, lol, but at least it will be something that I can turn into a gift quilt!)

(oops this block is showing the wrong way round but I'm feeling too lazy to flip it round and reload the picture, but you get the idea).

It took me ages to make just these two blocks (I'm definitely out of practise) and they are by no means perfect but I enjoyed the process and hopefully I'll get quicker. I just signed up for a Row Robin and am hoping that not only will my piecing get quicker but it will also help me take some more steps towards reducing my fabric.

Currently I have 4 totes full of quilting cottons (this doesn't include my cat print collection which I am not concerned about reducing, grin) my target is to try and whittle this down to two, maybe even one in the long run but that will be a long way in the future I think!

I also have a couple of patchwork/quilty projects in the UFO bin which I have been so far ignoring so I'm hoping that this block practise will help me build up the confidence and enthusiasm to get them finished up, we'll see.

Healing Hearts

As the GWE samplers were such a quick turn around already it's time to pick another of my ufos from the box.

I thought I'd work on another cushion in the hopes that this will be a reasonably quick turn around project too. I have a couple of big projects in that UFO box but I'm trying to ignore them for the time being ;) After my Mum passed away two years ago some lovely ladies on one of the yahoo groups that I belonged to at the time sent me some healing heart blocks. I have been wanting to make these into a comfort cushion for a while but need to make a few more hearts of my own as I want to make it double sided. Somehow I just never found the time to make them. Now I'm going to make time!

I'm having fun with these UFO's and it really feels good to see the pile shrinking. There are plenty more to be done though so no time for slacking!

Something Beginning with L

I can't believe how quickly this weekend has whizzed by, and not much stitching to show for it. Yesterday I spent most of the day helping at Wiltshire's first World Festival held in my home town of Chippenham. The festival celebrated world cultures with dance displays, traditional foods and music workshops. It was a fun but exhausting day.

Today was mainly spent out walking and then a trip to the movies and here we are approaching the witching hour on Sunday with just the prospect of work to look forward to tomorrow.

But it's not all doom and gloom for this evening I finally managed to put together all of the tiny logs cabin blocks I have been making into the finished postcards for my Something Beginning with L swap.

Red and Cream
Log Cabin Rainbow
Loud and funky Logs

Blue and orange

I'm pretty happy with the way these have turned out. As they were hand stitched some have turned out a little wonky but all part of the charm I think.

Today I also finally decided my idea for the March TIF challenge but more about that another time.

Crafting in the Bath Part II

It's almost midnight here and I'm heading for bed but I thought I'd stop by for a quick post first.

If you pop in to read my ramblings regularly then you might remember a few short weeks ago that I was looking for the perfect thing for crafting in the bath. I tried the knitting which worked fine for the small pieces that I was making for my knit postcards, but I think I have found the perfect thing.

I'm becoming slightly obsessed with making these little logs, which is probably a good thing seeing how I need 24 altogether and I discovered this evening that if you have all your little scraps cut and ready to go they are the perfect in bath project, lol!


On a totally random note, I thought I'd share another quick picture with you. Can you believe there is a workspace under here somewhere, me thinks it's time to get tidying tomorrow!