Inchies

I saw a method of creating blocks of squares where all the joins were in line and the squares even here its a way of making stamp blocks easily.  I thought I'd try it out and my results were not as good as Elizabeths by a long way.  I liked the idea of the grid but found it tedious putting all those fabric squares together but that might have been because I chose my squares to be 1".  If I'd chosen a big bigger squares things might have been different.  Having said all that I could well use the method sometime in the future.

These were samples so ignore the binding and for some reason I decided to sew along the seams, durr what was I thinking of they were better without the stitching.

I've been in a really lazy mood the last few days, I've been reading a lot and just plain getting on with chasing dust bunnies and filling the freezer with things to eat.  Also we now have drawers full of clean linen, didn't know I had three black tshirts all with bleach stains......

After my visit to see the diabetic consultant last week and the decision to change my insulin because it appears to be doing nothing I thought I really should make an effort to include a bit more exercise in my daily routine.   It lasted a couple of days, hence the purge on the house and home but I am now back to normal.  I will wait until tomorrow to see what the clinic's advice is before jumping up and down with excitement.

We did go out to Scaling Dam yesterday for a walk but because birds are nesting both on the water and on the nearby moors we had to keep Buster on his lead.  However he did get to play in the water.

We intended to walk along the banks of the dam but we couldn't move for frogs.... they were everywhere, singly, in pairs, in threesomes, mating all over the show.  Every four or five footsteps you had to hop over them.  Buster thought it was great fun until he picked one up, he spluttered, shook his head and dropped it in disgust but he didn't learn he kept on trying.  In the end we moved on to Leeholm where there is a river for him to play in and a lovely little garden centre.

While we enjoyed half a lager in the pub.

Tea at the Daffy Caffy

To get to the Daffy Caffy we had to walk through Farndale one of the remotest (is that a proper word?) dales on the North York Moors.  At this time of the year Farndale is covered in daffodils (hence the name of the cafe).  Last year we went and we saw four daffs in the whole of the valley today there were a tad more but still loads to blossom yet.

 We walked out along the valley bottom beside the river and when we got in smelling distance of tea we were pleased to see this sign.

 The Daffy Caffy turned out to be a cottage in a hamlet that during the months of March and April provide food and drink for the day trippers.

 Having Buster with us we had to sit in the garden, which wasn't a hardship.

 Waiting for our bacon butty, Buster has his eye on a piece of cake someone had dropped.

 After filling our stomachs we need the facilities, which turned out to be a bit primative.

But the surroundings were beautiful.   By the time we got back to the car Keith's knees and back hurt, my feet were complaining but Buster was ready to go again.

Whose a lucky girl then..

Here in the UK today is Mothering Sunday where it is traditional for children to present their parent with a small gift. I was over the moon with my Mothering Sunday goodies from my sons and their partners.

 Simon and Julie invited the family to dinner and backed individual sponge cakes for me and Julies mum.

 This is a charm for my bracelet, its a silver basket but it looks red in the picture, this was from Sy and Julie.

 Marc and Alix came armed with fat quarters, I'm training them well....

Together with three hanks of really soft yarn to knit a bag.  This is going to be my holiday project when we go to Wales in May.

I have been doing a bit of sewing since I last blogged.  My niece gave birth to a baby girl at the beginning of March.  She came early as my niece had problems with rising blood pressure so it was all hands to the pumps to get her baby gift ready.  I made baby Charlotte Grace a floor quilt.   The picture taken is of the top but I have now quilted and bound it and sent it on its way.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the finished article.  The pattern can be found in Lynne Edwards book "Stash Busters". 

Get knitted

You may have seen the 50metre long scarf on tv.  It appeared overnight this week and is the mystery knitter(s) contribution to the 2012 Olympics.  The scarf was sewn onto the railings of Saltburn Pier and has knitted figures doing various sporting activities.  Well we decided to go and see for yourselves and we loved it.

Start of the scarf

It's a Knockout

Goal!!!

Not sure what this is but the general opinion was audience.

Gymnastics

Syncronised swimming heads

Syncronised swimming legs

Another Gymnast this time he has got over the box.

View along the railing, the knitted scarf stretches on and on.  These are rowers and swans.

Off your mark, another swimmer with a runner behind.

At the end a competitor with knitting needles and yarn for you to add your bit for 2012.

Just been pottering along

After all the fabric hunting I've come to a full stop.  I started making one quilt and ended up doing something different, so what's new there then.  I wanted a new log cabin block table topper in neutral shades but a bit more modern looking.  I started out making a block with a star in the corner.

But don't like the way its going together so I've put it away to unpick at a later date.  Then I found some foundation blocks already printed onto fabric.  Heaven knows how long I've had those but thought I'd make some up.

I've done ten so far and its more of what I had in mind when I set off but I'm finding foundation blocks tedious.  However I will make enough for something, not sure what though. 

In the meantime to take my mind of tedium I made a mug bag and mug rug to take with me when I go to workshops etc.

However its big enough to take a teapot!!!  It'smade from some batik scraps I had lying around and had forgotten about.  How many of you have a rummage through your stash now and again and find treasure?  I have enough of this left to make mug bags for the whole family.

And my final play was to make another mug rug from some fabric I'd previously used as a clean up cloth then stamped with a face.  Not sure that its actually practical as I can't remember what I stamped it with but it was a lovely 9pm curfew project.

Talking of 9pm curfew projects (the time when we both put down our toys and talk to each other) I came across a piece of work I'd obviously been trying out machine stitches on and wondered what it would be like if I added hand stitches to it.  I've been pootling along with this piece for a couple of weeks now and have almost filled in the gaps between the machine stitches.  I wanted to keep to a narrow range of colours, yellow, yellow-greens as that was the colour of the machine thread.  Here it is so far I think it needs a beads, what do you think?

Thinking about this piece it has almost all the stitches on it in the TAST challenge which I hadn't realised until now. 

It's an absolutley lovely day today, sun is shining and the temperature has risen to 18C, not bad at all for February up here.  We decided to take Buster to the seaside for a romp in the sea.

Who's a happy dog then.

Swaps and Challenges

 This month's BQL challenge is to make a cover for something like a rotary cutter.  I decided to use some of the selvedge bits I'd been storing for some time. 

 I really enjoyed sewing them together and would have continued making a selvedge fabric if I hadn't run out of time.

The BQLPC monthly swap is 'Nature's Gifts'.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do for this until I found some photos in my folder of sloe's and bottled sloes.  We made sloe vodka from them but it is more usual to make sloe gin.  In any event it proved very popular and we now have none left.  This year's sloes however were less fruitful so we decided to leave what there was for the birds.

At last I found the fabrics I wanted to make the table topper, Kona plains.  The colours are a bit dimmer than in real life.  I found four neutrals, a lime, a burgundy and a lime/burgendy print.  Now all I have to do is decide upon a pattern.

I've been looking for fabric - again..

Wasn't successful though.  I wanted fabric to make a new table topper to go in our living room.  I wanted neutral colours with a flash of something seductive (must be the Valentine's Day effect).  My LQS  is a good 60 mile round trip so we thought we'd make a day of it and go to Embsay Mills just outside of Skipton (about twice as far as LQS).   First call was to dh's woodturning store, then mine.  I was looking for creams, beige, white and perhaps lime or blue or something that had the WOW factor.  I was disappointed, they did have creams, beige, white etc but naturally the ones I liked were very expensive, not cotton or I just plain didn't like them.  So I ended up with some rickrack braid, magnetic catches and a Book of Baby Gifts (I did tell you didn't I that I'm expecting a great grandson - can't wait).

I also got the news yesterday that the CQ group want two of my button quilts for display at the NEC Sewing for Pleasure next month.  The two I've chosen are December and January.

You seen them both before but I thought I'd just show which ones I was sending.  Keep an eye out if you are going to the NEC next month and give them a wave so they can bring it back to me.

Valentine's Day

Hope you have all had a loving Valentine's Day, I only just finished our placemats in time, phew.

I tried to get as many red and white fabrics as I could, my stash is now much smaller.  I cut out the circles and hearts with my Accuquilt and sewed a different stitch pattern round each one, some I liked others not sure of.  But I've got the done in time for dinner tonight.

One other thing I've finished is a Biscurnu pincushion.  I've been looking at the pattern in the Embroiderers' Guild 'Stitch magazine for some time now.  It was one of those patterns I wanted to do just for the fun of making something an odd shape.  I even took it away on holiday with me but then never took it out of my project box.  A friend of mine said she was making one and this prompted me to actually do something about it.  It took me two evenings to complete and I used two different random threads, both perle 12 but sewn together with a matching perle 12.  The fabric is 18 ct even weave.

I joined the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge and have completed it so far but not shown the stitches.  This is because I haven't done much else but the basic stitches on a monoprinted fabric.  But I will as soon as I get to the bottom of the piece of fabric, nearly there.

January Lace Postcards

I've now got all my lace cards from my fellow swappers to show:

 Pauline's card has a multitude of lacey bits and pieces and is very pretty, much more attractive than this poor photos.

 Top card is from Marian who has had fun playing with her new embroidery machine.  The bottom one is from Chris.  I always think black on yellow stands out well.

Top set on this photos is from Carole and she has used lace both as a background and as a motif.
The bottom one I love, its Janet Boorman's take on Lace, just wish I'd thought of it.

Brusing from fall on Friday is much better, less like a contour map so not such a good design source.  I've been amusing myself making a couple of Valentine placemats which I want to surprise his lordship with next week.  Will sneek a piccy in before then though.

February's JP

The second in the red dance series, this one Valentine Waltz.  The first four JP's which are the red ones have the same woven fabric backgrounds but the values change as the months go on.  This one starts out with the same as January then moves to a slightly light value, sort of dark to dark/medium range.  The background has "I love You" and hearts embroidered onto it and the edges of the velvet hearts have real gold thread couched round the outline.  Each heart has a waltzing line going from one heart to another. 

I am supposed to be giving the vote of thanks this afternoon at our Embroiderers' Guild meeting but who tripped and injured her knee?  Of all the silly things to do, I knew the steps were there just forgot to lift my feet.  Result, one swollen knee, sciatica, and a bruised bum that could put itself forward as a design source.  Hopefully it will be better tomorrow, what an excuse for sitting sewing.