Essentially Irish

Now that I have my delivery of essential dots I have done some more work on the Irish Chain top.

I have changed the design slightly as I felt that this looked too much like a nine patch alternating with an X block

So instead I have reduced the number of X blocks and added some / blocks (there are probably technical names, but I don't know them)

Anyway the design is now like this

and here are the first 59 blocks - exactly half way on making blocks

Bucket Blogging

Husband brought me home a present: I had explained what I was after and he'd listened (!) and come up trumps

I can hear you asking whether a bucket really has a place on a patchwork blog - and that is a reasonable question, but I can assure you the answer is yes (well I think it is anyway) but you'll have to wait until I've finished to see why

Selvedge Surprise

I hadn't expected to post anything on my blog today, but that was before the post arrived!

My order from Thread-Bear arrived - lots and lots of yummy Eternal Dots so I can carry on with my Irish Chain

And far more exciting . . .

Back in September, fellow blogger, and all round lovely lady, Fiona was making a quilt that needed scrappy triangles, and I just happened to have loads so I packaged them up (I did send them to you, didn't I Fiona?) and felt good that I'd got rid of some stuff I would never use

Well Fiona saw my Selvedge Edge post and offered my some scraps that she didn't have a need for. And look what else my postie brought me today

A big 'baggie' full of selvedge strips, and a doubly useful calendar diary too, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Fiona, this is great xxx

Decisions Decisions

Decisions Decisions - and what I learnt

So having cut my tessellating star blocks, I convinced myself I kind of had to stitch them together, and I pretty soon learnt something that hadn't been obvious from the other sizzix dies I have.    With this die, fabric cut face down is not the same shape as fabric cut face up:

The two different types of stars won't actually tessellate!

So: from the fabric I have I can make two smallish tessellated quilts like this: they would each be about 32"x48", but I could pad them out with some cream border

Or I can make a bigger top using all the blocks (it will come up about 48"x64" - an Ikea fleece is 51x67 so a good fit) but it cant be a full tessellating design

I could use this arrangement (lampshades)

Or this one (cream lava lamp with red zigzag)

Or it's twin, red lava lamp with white zigzag

 

 Or double zigzag

Or double lava lamp

Or, the last one I can think of,  alternating:

Not that I have any problems with decision making since I hit menopause, but please tell me which one you prefer!

The Christmas holidays are now over, and I'm back to school tomorrow, so my sewing time will be cut and I'll be back to blogging every few days or when I've had a chance to sew

Sizzix Excitement

I may have mentioned I received a reasonable grant from the Bishop to run Crafty Church, and really it doesn't cost anything to run, so I introduced Kids Crafty Church - and if you've ever done crafts with kids you'll know they can get through resources at quite a rate.

So I've decided to invest in some Sizzix dies as these will go on long after the money has run out, and paper and card I can get hold of cheaply.

Well look what arrived in the post . . .assorted goodies

including snowflakes

3D trees

Build a flower dies

and make a gift bag die  (this is tiny, but I think the kids will enjoy making them)

  Here is a bag with my ring inside to give you an idea of the scale

And out of the kindness of my heart I will look ater these dies :-) After all, they will need my die cutter to be able to use them!

Long Long List

So I decided to update my UFO / PHD / FIT list, and it is embarrassingly long - and there are also a few bags and scarves on my to-do list too!

So, 25 quilty things started to some degree or other . . .

UFO List

Selvedge Edge 

Irish Chains

Lone Star

Christmas STAW

Jen's Strings

Boy Racers

Rainbow Hexi

Rainbow Hexies

Yellow Hexies

Rainbow Stars

Christmas Tree by Candle light

Green Summer Tunic Top

Turquoise Patchwork Trousers

Australian Blue and Cream, see Nicky's Fractured Quilt

French Linen (need more fabric)

Sorbet Squares

Japanese Swapped Charms

Woven Five-A-Day

Australian Charms - Hexies Stars.  (Need more fabric)

Woven Denim (pieced, needs quilting)

Postage stamp Snowballs
Strings and Triangles

Calendar Quilt

Lisa's Curtains

Hexi I-Spy stars

Itching to Start

Tea Towel Table Cloth

Summer olives

10" Strings 

Tesssellated Sizzix Stars

What should I do first?

(I have a confession to make: Tessellated Sizzix Stars wasn't on the UFO list, but once I started cutting it was SO easy I just had to carry on!)

Farewell to Festivities

The Christmas tree and decorations have been put away, the last of the loose chocolates have been eaten, the last of the wrapped chocolates have been put away to go to the homeless: sadly Christmas is over and in a few days I'm back at work, (and back to the gym!!!)

The Christmassy crafts have been put way for the next 11 months but I thought I'd show you my advances:

The 3D Christmas tree has snowflakes added

And the front door has been completed on the crossstitch - It *might* even get finished next year or the year after!

I found anther Christmassy project though - one which has been ignored in the sewing room for the last few years.  Back in 2010 I wanted to make a scrappy Christmas tree, and I envisaged something with far more shades of green than I had.  The lovely ladies from BQL (British Quilt List Yahoo group) kindly sent me loads and loads of scraps of greens, and I made this tree with them (currently plonked on the starry background, but will be appliqued on, eventually).  The blocks are scrappy log cabin blocks, and the candles were based on my granddad's tree when I was a child - he actually clipped white candles onto the tree and lit them

It sat on a shelf for the following three Christmases with no work being done on it, so I've now put it away with the decorations so next year I will be reminded at the beginning of December

Not Quite a Plan

Having cut strips for my STAW (Scrappy Trip Around the World) I was up enthusiastically this morning - sewing, pressing, cutting, and ...

Well, the idea of the STAW is that you can see the stripes, Bonnie Hunter explains it really well here,  and this is why it uses six different fabrics per block, and is a good general stash buster.

*HOWEVER* my plan was to use Christmassy fabrics - they are (in my stash at least) generally red or white/cream, so I had the really good idea (?) of alternating them

Yes, if you look hard, you can see the stripes, but what you actually see first is the red / white checker board effect

So I'm adapting the plan, and making my blocks slightly smaller (5x5 instead of 6x6) and adding sashing

 

 Four down, 16 to go!

Slightly higher in the counting stakes is the yellow hexi top: about 650 down, and who knows how many to go!

 Still it has grown over the holidays :-)

Sort of Scrappy

I'm a member of the Yahoo group BQL, and there is a challenge to make the Scrappy Trip Around The World quilt. I was inspired by Jackie who has already started

Having received a small red Christmassy jelly roll for Christmas I thought I'd join in and make a Christmassy version: I've cut all my Christmassy fabrics into 2.5 inch strips, but haven't yet started sewing them

I have done *some* sewing though:

The selvedge edge quilt has been started, but now I need another 160 inches of 5 inch strips, so it will be a while before it gets finished.
The lovely Fiona from Celtic Thistle blog [sorry no idea how to make a hyperlink here] has offered me some and I have graciously accepted - if anyone else has any needing a good home I'm happy to swap for scraps, FQs, machine embroidery, chocolates... Pretty much anything!!!

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Scraps of Selvedge

So I finally tidied my room so I could get in, and then I couldn't think what to sew! I'd found a half made Christmassy basket so I finished that

But then what?  I thought about starting a scrappy Round the World (yes I know I'm ages behind the rest of you) but then I remembered an idea I'd had in the middle of the night

I have been collecting selvedge edges for ages, and have 20 or so 5" squares plus lots of extras

I made one panel 10x20, and two strips 5x20 and two more 5x30, then I made 4 fan shaped 5x5 blocks.

There is lots of trimming to do, but I think this layout shows quite well how it will look

The plan is then another border of purple, and then one more of selvedges, but that will take 160 x 5 inches plus four more corners, and I certainly don't have that many more strips at the moment, so this is definitely a long term project (but not a UFO!!!!)

Christmas Crossstitch

I keep putting off the essential tidying of my sewing room, so I can't do any machine sewing!  Instead I have been hand sewing and eating chocolates in front of the TV! 

I've been alternating between hexies and crossstitch, and thought I'd show you the Christmas crossstitch today.  When it came out of the loft with the Christmas decorations it looked like this 

Now it has progressed to this 

So room 3 is finished and room 4 has been started - I might finish this before the turn of the century!!

Christmas Cache

I was very spoilt this Christmas:

Lots of sewing and fabricy goodies from the girls

And from some lovely mums at school,

 

And felted robins from Jackie

I just haven't managed to get near the sewing machine for four days: I think I need to do some tidying!

Hope you had a good one

 

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Madly Making!

Having lost yesterday I've had a fair bit of catching up to do today!

Final embroidery for customers completed 

Final embroidery for husband's Christmas pressie completed 

And four more scarves almost completed, for M-i-l and S-i-l and two nieces:

Now, (10:30pm) I'm off to Tescos for food shopping, I really hope no one else has had the same idea, or has chosen to abandon the idea due to the naff weather.  At least I have a car, unlike poor Lisa who had to walk home in the rain

Don't know when I'll be back either making or blogging so I hope you all have a lovely Christmas xxx

Lousy Lurgy

Working with children always carrys the threat of catching their germs , but apart from a cough and the sniffles I'd been ok until last night , but now I'm putting the Christmas quilt to good use 

Luckily the lurgy held off until after Kids Crafty Church: I'd arranged this Christmas alternative to our usual monthly Crafty Church and had NO idea how many would come. 

Anyway, I'm delighted to say that 18 was the absolutely perfect number!

They started diving into the bought kits

But then, I'm delighted to say, started to use the resources and their imagination 

The lovely afternoon far outweighed the horrible night!