A Bit More Knitting

I've made a couple more scarves from bobbly wool (Rico PomPon), but I got carried away and wrapped one up before I'd photographed it. Here's the other one in gorgeous berry colours (Multi Mulberry).


The first one was made from this colourway called Pebble:

The Top Secret Fishing Quilt

This is OH's christmas present, it needs a little more quilting, but at least it's usable. As you can see, it's not taken Fatcat long to find out how comfy it is! The fabric is all brushed cottons and the wadding is Quilters Dream Wool - the end result is extremely soft and cuddly. The fabrics all have a fishing theme, as does the label which was done with the add-on embroidery unit for the Bernina 630 (borrowed from my friend). The quilting so far is simply in the ditch with a cream thread.

More Christmas Sewing

I also made some Christmas stockings ...



The embroidered names were done on my Bernina 630 with the embroidery unit (borrowed from a friend) and they were just made quickly from fleece, so no seam neatening required. Even better, the fleece was already in my stash, so no major expense either ;o).

Christmas Presents

We've had an early Christmas with my brother & family who are visiting from South Africa, so I can now reveal another present that I made recently for my SIL. The leather handles are made by Clover and they've been in my stash just waiting for the perfect project. They were very fiddly to sew on, but I'm very pleased with the finished effect. I used Warm & Natural wadding and the pattern was one that I found on the Moda Bake Shop website. It's designed to use a honey bun (1.5" strips), but I cut mine from fat quarters that I had.

Knitting Update

I have been doing a bit more knitting in the last couple of weeks, I've managed to finish the first sleeve for the pink cardigan and I've also made myself a scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves. The scarf took a couple of hours one evening and the gloves were made today.

The scarf is made from Tivoli Vienna wool, each bobble has a 2" piece of string in between it and the next bobble, you simply knit two stitches into each section with some 4mm-5mm needles, making sure you don't catch the bobble in the stitch. Garter stitch all the way and you end up with an extremely soft and cuddly scarf that everyone will want to stroke!


The gloves are knitted in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran which is a gorgeous soft wool. You only need one 50g ball, so they're cheap to make as well. I used a pattern I found on Ravelry.com. You have to sign up to a free account, once you're on there, search for a pattern called "Fetching". I had more wool left than the pattern suggested, so I unpicked the cast-off and did an extra 4 rows (including one cable) on the finger end which makes them more comfortable too.

Christmas Quilt Along - November - A Finish

I've ascertained that my little friend doesn't read the quilting blog, so here are photos of her Christmas present :o). I'm planning to put a few sparklies on it, but the sewing is done. I've had such fun planning and making this bag, aren't we all "girls who love pink" at heart?!! Well, I am, and I hope she is too. I did the writing on my embroidery machine, helped by the software I had for my birthday and an excellent website where you can download virtually any design you can think of - see Embroidery Library if you're interested.

Christmas Quilt Along - November

I'm calling it a night, I'm pleased with what I eventually got done today. I've finished the bag sides and made the closure tab, now I just have to sew the pockets to the lining and put the whole thing together. I'm being a little circumspect with the picture until I know a certain person doesn't read my quilting blog - don't want to spoil the Christmas surprise! The colours in the photo are awful, the reddish colour is actually a fuchsia pink corduroy, the main fabric is a dark blue denim and the embroidery panel is a light blue chambray.

Christmas Quilt Along - November

I've cut out the pieces for the bag and started sewing a couple together ...

(sorry, light and colours are terrible)

Christmas Quilt Along - November

Not making much progress, but I have made a start :o). In the end I couldn't sew guilt-free without clearing the front flowerbeds, so that took another chunk of the afternoon, but I'm all set to make a bag this evening.

Christmas Quilt Along - November

Today is a gorgeous sunny day, so we had to get out in the garden this morning at least. So far today I have washed up, emptied the dishwasher, done 2 loads of washing (hmm, this all seems to be indoors stuff!), helped paint the second coat of deck oil on the shed floor, helped paint wood preservative on the shed doors and window and ... no, I think that's it. Not bad actually for a morning's work, now I can sew without feeling guilty!! I should clear out the front flowerbeds, but that might have to wait for another day.

Christmas Quilt Along - October

I didn't manage to take part in this month's Christmas Quiltalong as I was away yesterday, but I have done some quilting since the last quiltalong on the top I started in September. Only another 4 strips to go.

Apron - Birthday Pressie

I made a cute apron this week, it was a birthday present for a friend to go with the cookbook I'd bought - Kitchen by Nigella Lawson. Several of the fabrics come from the L'Amour range by Sandy Gervais for Moda, the colours reminded me of strawberries and chocolate (all were in my stash). The pattern is by Fig Tree. If I made this pattern again I would cut the binding wider, it was a real struggle to sew it down neatly!

Christmas Quilt Along - Still Going

I wanted to get the borders onto this quilt, so I've cracked on today, and I have to say I'm very pleased with how it's coming along. I love working with these brushed cotton fabrics, they're so friendly and well behaved :o). The second picture (taken in the conservatory) gives a better idea of the colours of the fabrics, they look very washed out against the green carpet in the lounge, but the shadows were a bit strong in the conservatory to give a good image. Now it just needs sandwiching, quilting and binding. The hardest part is going to be deciding on the quilting pattern, I'm thinking stars and swirls, but I'm open to suggestions.

Christmas Quilt Along - Calling it a Night

I've been sewing sporadically all day and have got to the point where I need to sew on the borders and mitre the corners. Since I don't want to spend tomorrow morning unpicking, I've decided to call it a night, it's gone 9:30 so I'm not going to push it. I've laid the top out on the floor to get an idea of how it looks, I think it's going to be a good 'un :o). The binding will also be in the red.

I also took a few snaps during one of the torrential downpours, it really was stair rodding! Sewing in the conservatory was the best place to be.



All ready to go in the morning ...

Christmas Quilt Along - Going Well

Good progress so far this morning, I've put the centre of the top together. It's looking very muted at the moment, but it's going to have more red in the border. The green carpet doesn't help, but there's too much sun and shade in the conservatory to get a good picture. Not that it's been sunny all day, we had some really torrential downpours earlier and overall it's been great sewing weather.

Time to stop for lunch ...

Christmas Quilt Along - September

Today is the second Christmas Quilt Along that QuiltSue has organised, I made a head start yesterday, and am planning to crack on today (though I confess I have already been distracted by the PC this morning!). Yesterday I cut out my squares and also some triangles to make some stars, I had to have a good rummage in my ruler drawer for the right tools to get the triangles on accurately. A dear friend of mine brought the Quilters Boot back from a holiday in America, it's been quietly sitting and waiting for the right moment and I have to say it was invaluable yesterday. I used the boot end to trim the ears off the triangles, then used the Scrapmaster ruler to trim the corners off the squares. And hey presto, accurate triangles on my squares :o).

The Cardi's Slowly Getting There

I've now finished both fronts and the back for the cardigan, I'd been putting off finishing the top of the second front because it needed some concentration on the decreasing. I must have had a niggle at the back of my mind about the other side which contributed to my procrastination, because I ended up unpicking the top triangle on both of them once I re-read the pattern properly! But, they are now done and look the right size and shape, so it's on with the sleeves. I've done about 8 rows of the first sleeve, they are made completely in the cable pattern, so they're going to take a little while. Or do I cheat and do them in stocking stitch??

Frosted Memories - Extra Pictures

Tennessee Waltz - Extra Pictures

Click on the pictures to see a larger image, click on the Back button to return to the post.