February's Ufo - The Purple Quilt

So The Purple Quilt is on the list for February's Ufo. Again its one I've had on the go for some years. I'm using  Fabric Freedom's Light Fantastic range, and a pattern designed by Sally Ablett.

The bits are all cut:

 The blocks are going together beautifully:

Scrap Attack - update

The pile is growing:

The pile of strips doesn't seem to be reducing though!

Quilt as you go - Scrap Attack

One always seems to have lots of  bits of wadding leftover after any project. These bits are never quite big enough for another project, but too small to discard/recycle, and I positively hate joining wadding, frankly life's far too short for that, so they sit there in their own stash. Then there's the box/es of strips and fabric scraps  along with the ever growing fabric stash. A Quilt As You Go(Qayg) project is called for.

I've cut all the bits of wadding into either 8.5" or 7" squares, anything smaller went for recycling, one has to call a halt somewhere.

I've dug out some of the strips.

Decided to attack the stash and use some of my hand dyed fabrics for back of the blocks, which I've now cut to either 8.5" or 7", with leftovers becoming yet more strips/scraps.

and I'm ready to go...

Hugs & Kisses - UFO January 2017

After much hard work, and just in time, I've finally finished Hugs & Kisses, January's UFO.

This is a terrible picture but its the best I could manage so it will have to do for now!

As you can see from the detail photos the quilting is very simple.

Quilting half an inch either side of the ditch of the blocks and then again on the outermost side of the middle section of the blocks. All done with a walking foot the half inch was chosen as that was the measurement from the edge of the foot to the needle, so no need for marking.

That's one UFO down and so on to February.....

Hugs & Kisses - Progress Report

I'm making good progress, and with a little jiggery pokery, I've now made enough blocks for a single bed quilt.

This is it sitting on my design wall in all its glory.

Now to get on and join the blocks together....

New Year - New Start

Wow, it's been awhile - a slight understatement!

So I'm back to talk about my New Year's Resolution which is to finish some, actually twelve, UFOs (Unfinished objects to the uninitiated!)

Yes I've vowed to do this before... and it didn't work. so what's different this year?

Firstly, in 2015 as I finished a project I recorded it in a notebook, just the date and the fact it was finished. This was useful I could see how productive I'd been and give myself a pat on the back each month and at the end of the year. Though a good idea it had no effect on the UFOs. So last year (2016) I also recorded when I started a project. At the end of the year I had a start and a finish (or not) date for each project, and I could see just how many genuine UFOs I'd actually finished. Turns out it was only two which was disappointing as in my head I'd been going great guns!

A new strategy is called for.
First - Accountability. I'm declaring what I'm up to here
Second - Finish one per month alongside any other ongoing/new projects.

My Rules:
I'm counting anything started prior to 2016 as a UFO, anything started in 2016/17 will be considered and ongoing project. I don't want to be adding more to the list and there are two from last year that are looking suspiciously like it, if given half a chance! Vigilance will be called for.

One project per month, I'm tempted to put minimum here, but that will just lead to overload and consequently abandonment, so I'll stick to one.

I've chosen, I use the word chosen loosely as I've actually just taken the first 12 off one of my UFO lists and allocated them a month chronologically. This might require some adjustment later as I've got some pretty big quilts in the first few months, but I'll deal with that as and when I need to.

January 2017
This month I will be finishing a single bed quilt called Hugs & Kisses, started several years ago using two jelly rolls. At the beginning of this week, when I found it, there were 36 blocks completed and it was destined to be a throw. But I thought if I add a couple more rows it will make a reasonable single bed quilt and use up more of the fabric, thereby adding less to the scrap stash!

This is a glimpse of it up on my design wall.

Now to get on with making more of the extra blocks....

BabyCardigan/Matinee Jacket

I know I said I was bored of knitting but I appear to have been bitten by the finishing bug.

I found a matinee jacket I started knitting when my sister was pregnant with my now seven and a half year old niece. It was almost complete all it needed was for me to finish the buttonhole band and sew it up, how hard can that be? Not as hard as I have clearly been imagining for the past seven and a half years. A little effort and time was all it took.

This is the finished article.

The sewing up might be a little ropey but its finished, and that all that matters. 

It shouldn't really surprise me that it lay waiting all these years it's knit in 4ply yarn, what was I thinking?

Wool Stash (Just how much can I make out of the remains of a ball of yarn?)

I knit a baby dress for the shop some time ago, we'er talking at least one year ago, probably nearer three. It required a little white yarn for some edgings, since I didn't have any lurking I needed to begin a new ball.

After the dress was finished I had lots of white yarn left over, enough, I thought, for a baby cardigan. So I dug out a pattern one which required only 100gms and began. However, before I got it finished I ran out of yarn, so I started another ball, finished the cardigan and was left with considerable amount of yarn.....

This time I'm going to keep it small I'll knit a hat, to be sure I won't run out again I make it a prem baby hat. When its finished I still have lots of yarn left. I weigh the hat and the remainder of the yarn and there's more than enough for another one. This time I make a larger hat, I've still got yarn left. I'm getting bored of hats now. I make baby mitts, still got yarn left. Back to the weighing scales and there's still enough to make another hat, I make another even larger hat. I've still got yarn left. I make another pair of baby mittens. Finally the ball of yarn has about come to the end there is still some left, but if I try to make anything else I am going to have to start another ball and I'll be back where I started! So I've given it to the local school for the children to make something!

This has been going on intermittently throughout this year, in the previous two posts you can see the cardigan and the first hat.

Here is a picture of all three hats and the two pairs of mittens.

I've had enough knitting now for a while....

Knitted Baby Beanie Hat

I've finished another project, one I started in April, I'm good at starting things! Its a beanie hat for a premature baby, I didn't want to make anything too big in case I ran out of wool again and the object of this exercise is to use up some of my stash.

This was using up the wool left over from the white baby cardigan. But there is still lots left so I'm probably going to have to make another!

I just weighed the hat and the remaining wool and there is more than enough for another hat, I think I'll make a larger one next time.

The Year of UFO?

In an attempt to get some discipline into my quilting/sewing/knitting, life I have begun to document all my UFO's/WIP's/PHD's (for the uninitiated that's - unfinished objects, works in progress or projects half done). As very few of mine are WIP's and even fewer are PHD's I think I'll stick with UFO's!

The list appears to be endless, each time I think I'm there I find another. So in the interests of keeping my stress and also my blood pressure at manageable levels, I just take deep breath and add to the list when each new one pops up.

The endlessness of the list is not helped as I keep getting sucked into yet more and more new projects when at the shop!

Now for my first finish I give you the baby cardigan in white:

This was a PHD as all it required was sewing up, I soooo dislike sewing up knitted garments.

I began knitting the cardigan to use up a ball of yarn left over from another project, but there wasn't enough yarn to finish it so I had to get another ball.

Now that I've finished the cardi there is still loads of yarn left.... so I'm going to knit a baby hat, I figure it won't take the whole ball, but at least I won't have to buy another one, hopefully. I'll make the smallest size!

Melting in Milnthorpe & Christmas in July

Wow but its hot. This is England, how can it be 22 degrees at 8 o'clock in the morning?

It seems I've got to an age where I'd rather be inside sewing in weather like this.... what happened Enough about the weather, on to sewing..

At the shop we've taken delivery of Christmas. So I'm now busy making up advent calendars, Christmas stockings and such like.

Starting with the Advent Stockings from Makower UK.

Here's one I finished, just 23 more to go.....

First day of spring

According to google today is the first day of spring... I guess that explains the rain then!

Feeling miffed, I pegged the washing out and missed the start of the rain so the washing is now as wet as when I pegged it out!

Rain on the window

A forlorn daffodil in the garden.

On the positive side there will be no garden guilt as I spend the afternoon sewing!

Electrical Appliances and Christmas

Hope you had a great Christmas. We had a good one just a few family and pretty much chilled.

Can't say that for our electrical appliances though, a week before the big day my washer died. My sister has one in storage so I was able to borrow that for over the festive period, thanks Liz. I am hopeful that mine is fixable and will ring an engineer tomorrow....

The dryer is making a rather strange noise too, I will have to get the engineer to look at that whilst he is here.

My sewing studio is a bit of a disaster zone, I've been ripping jeans apart with gay abandon for a quilt for my nephew for Christmas. There are threads all over the carpet and the bits I didn't use are strewn around the room. Our house guest is out today, I'm not at work and actually have some spare time, so thought I'd begin my next project. But I wanted to have a little clean before I began in earnest, or at least get the threads off the carpet. The vacuum cleaner took one look at the job I had lined up for it and promptly died. So now I've got to get that fixed too grrrrh

Just a tiny area of the carpet waiting for a good clean.

What is it with electrical appliances at Christmas? In the past our fridge decided to die on Christmas Eve, I'm pretty sure the dishwasher died at Christmas too.

I should just get on with the next sewing project.....

A Recent Finish

I've not done a lot of sewing this year as my sewing studio has been in uproar for a good part of it. We've had the decorators in and a new carpet has been fitted which meant getting everything out. I now have the unenviable task of finding homes for much of my equipment. The shelving arrangement I had before just wasn't working so I'm now trying to establish something better. My stuff is lodged around the rest of the house, whilst I make some decisions, which isn't ideal but I want it to be right when we've finished!

In the meantime I've been busy sewing Christmas projects for the shop:

This is a great new Christmas stocking from Makower, featuring Santa on one side and snowmen on the other. Pictured here as a work in progress all ready for quilting and the finished article.

I made the stocking double sided but it could easily be made into two stockings by using a plain back.

You cannot see here but I quilted it using a metallic thread from Gutermann, so it's all glittery.

Goslings Two Weeks on...

What a difference 2 weeks make in the life of goslings, or rather guslings as they are known here, due to the fact they are most often seen eating ;-)

 Captured here in a rare moment giving their jaws a rest, enjoying yesterday's sunshine.

Return of the Bees

It was a better day for bees today, thankfully there were a few more than yesterday but not as many as there ought to bee (sorry couldn't resist that one ;-) )

 Three busy bees hopefully this means we will get some apples in the autumn.

Apple Blossom

This is our apple tree, as you can see it is laden with stunningly beautiful blossom. It smells delicious too :)

The air should be filled with the sight and sound of busy buzzing bees. Unfortunately today there were just two, very worrying where have all the bees gone?

Goslings

I've finally taken some pictures of the goslings:

In their pen in the barn 

Relaxing in the sun

 As it is such a beautiful day they have been outside for the first time today.

The proud parents!

The First Gosling.....Ahhh.....

How cute is this little guy? He's the first gosling my son hatched in his incubator.

He/she has now been joined by two more, whose photo I have yet to take.

The Dark Side and the Power of Two.....

  

Once again I've been seduced by the dark side....

One cold, dark and miserable November afternoon, I was seduced by the gorgeous wrap/shrug thing on the Debbie Bliss poster below:

Its also on the front cover of the Angel Pattern book. I'd been wearing the gossamer like fingerless gloves from the same book to keep my hands warm and was bowled over by just how warm they were, considering how light and airy they are.
  So the wrap had been whispering to me for some time, the Party Angel yarn was tempting me too but the warmth of the gloves was my undoing, under these provocative circumstances I did the only thing a girl can do.... I indulged.

For those who don't know, Party Angel is a delicate yarn in a delicious blend of Super Kid Mohair & Silk with a very fine thread of glitter running through it. The glitter gives a very subtle glisten to the yarn nothing too blingy.

Now this thing is knit in one piece and its got more than a hundred stitches. As you may know knitting isn't my passion and after the first flush of excitement it all got a bit tedious, but I'm not a quitter and I still want the wrap so I've had to force myself to keep going. This is where the power of two comes in, now don't laugh but what I'm doing is knitting just two rows of it a day. I know 2 rows doesn't sound a lot, its not, but its achievable and it does add up. I can't say I've stuck to two every day and some weeks I've been less than enthusiastic but most weeks I have managed to do a few rows even if it was only a couple. This week I've been particularly good and managed most days. I began a new ball at the weekend and I've done over an inch since then, I do like measurable progress.

Obviously its not yet finished but it is about half way there, if I keep on like this I may even have it finished for next Christmas..... but don't bet on it.