Some More Easy Knitting

I made a cute little hat to go with the cardigan I made recently, I love it! I've also managed to buy some pink ribbon to finish off the cardi properly.

Some Easy Knitting

I needed a very simple and straightforward project to keep me going recently, and this is the result. The ribbon is only temporary, it will be replaced by a nice matching pink one when I next get to a shop selling ribbon. The jacket is knitted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino from a pattern in her Baby Cashmerino Book 2. I'm now working on a little matching hat. As far as I know there aren't any babies due at the moment in the family, which is actually a fairly rare event. At times in the past there have been half a dozen (friends and family) waiting in line for quilts. This will go in a special cupboard, waiting for the next announcement :o).

Spring Table Topper

The table looked very bare after the autumn and Christmas stuff was packed away, so a request was made for a spring table topper. I had a charm pack in my stash from a Moda range called Fresh by Deb Strain, along with some leftover white on white and some green Makower dimples fabric. The squares went together quickly, the quilting took an afternoon and the scalloped edging a few more hours. It's more late spring/early summer, but I'm happy with it and it reminds us of the weather we're looking forward to.

The thread used for quilting the top was some leftover King Tut 988 (Oasis) and as you can see I only just had enough! The thread on the back was a Mettler cotton also from my stash. The wadding used is Warm & Natural, a nice flat wadding for table runners. I'm pleased to report that the whole thing was made from my stash, a rare event indeed!

Winnings!

I've been very lucky of late, we had a bag raffle last night at my quilt group and I won this beautiful bag. It's made using the Japanese folded patchwork technique and results in a very pretty bag in a very useful shape. I can see this being used for library books or something like that. I think the fabric is from the Awesome range by Sandie Gervais (Moda).




The raffle was in aid of the grandchild of our chairlady, he has a very rare cancer behind his eye and has been sent to Florida for proton treatment, in addition to the huge amount of chemo he's already had here and will continue to have when he returns. The funds are so that the family can be with him, he's 5 and the three other children range from 9 to 1, so the family wanted to stay together for the two months of treatment. The raffle raised £110 on the night, not bad from a group of about 40. Their total fund has raised over £30,000 and from all accounts they will need all that as they also have to fund a trip in a year's time for follow up. The NHS is funding the treatment and one parent's travel costs this time around, which is pretty impressive all things considered.

MORE Amazing Friends!!

When you hang out with quilters, you get quilts! I had another amazing present in the post this morning from my online buddies. It's a beautiful heartstrings quilt in my favourite colours, pieced by Bilbo, quilted by QuiltSue on Bertha and bound and posted by Veg Heaven. It started life in the Lake District, travelled via Leeds to Hull and then on to me. I am so touched by this gorgeous quilt, and this just shows what wonderful people quilters are. And no, we certainly aren't quitters LOL! Thank you, thank you, thank you my friends, you can never have too many quilts, and when I'm feeling grotty again, I will make sure I've got all my special quilts on me!

I Have The Most Amazing Friends

I had a day out yesterday with two close friends and look what Anne has made me. I am completely blown away by this hugely generous gift. As she was on an overland Africa trip from mid October last year, she didn't hear about my medical adventures until she returned home on 28th December. Between then and yesterday she sourced the fabric, pieced and quilted this amazing quilt, as well as having a conservatory built, going to Morocco for four days, unpacking from one trip and getting ready for two other trips and goodness knows what else in between. In addition to this she made lunch for us yesterday. I am just overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness. Thank you so much Anne, from the bottom of my heart!!

The fabrics are all flannels on the pink ribbon theme, so some of the proceeds from the sale of these fabrics go towards breast cancer research. The wadding is Warm & White, so it's a heavy quilt, but very soft and snuggly and warm too. It was quilted with our favourite - King Tut by Superior Threads.

Frosted Memories II

This is the second quilt I've made from the Frosted Memories range of brushed cottons. I've gone a bit mad on brushed cottons at the moment, they are so tactile and soft and make such cuddly quilts, plus they're very easy to work with. This one also has the Quilters Dream Wool wadding and it's been quilted with King Tut thread in Reed. I used my favourite technique of drawing the design on Golden Threads quilting paper and then free machining the swirls and stars pattern. I decided to piece the random stars to break up the squares a bit, without them the top was looking a bit monochrome. I did the design in EQ6, which let me look at various permutations before committing to fabric.