Red & Green

If you asked me what my favourite colours to

quilt with I'd probably say red, purple, blue, brown...,

yet once again I am sewing in red and green!

I don't know how it happens...

I know I love Bonnie Hunter's Criss-Cross Applesauce quilt

from her book: 'Scraps & Shirttails II'

And I know my raddishes are doing nicely ;)

And there's lots of green in Yorkshire...

And lots of sheep!

So maybe I need to use some creams and neutrals too ;)

A Start, A Finish and a Few 'Bits' Inbetween

The problem with blogging infrequently

is that when you do come to write about

your projects, you have too much to say...

So lots of (words and) photos in this post.

Recently a school friend passed away.

I've not seen her since school,

but thanks to connecting again through

social media I had a chance to catch up wth her

over the last few months... so I felt particularily sad

that she has passed leaving such a large hole

in all the lives she touched with her music

and her fighting spirit...

Her passing coincided with a week (or 2!)

of nothing seeming to go right.

Troubles with the longarm,

the opressivemess of my general clutter,

teething babies, sleepless nights,

the list goes on of many many small things

that I just couldn't control

or direct in a positive direction.

So what do you do when the world

weighs heavy on your shoulders?

Why, start a new quilt of course!!!

Mindless cutting and sewing IS the cure for all that ails you!

So a new Bonnie Hunter quilt it is:

Kate you'll know which one it is!!!

(especially as you are largely responsible

for reminding me of what a great quilt it is!!)

*****

And a finish:

Although I longarmed this top,

I didn't piece it.

It's a Kate special and I just love the colours and design.

Thanks Kate! Hope you like what I've done ;)

The panto was from Plum

(Thanks Plum!)

I think it's called Peacock Meander,

but to be 100% sure I'd have to go to the studio to check...

*****

Then here are the WIP'S

(works in Progress for the unquilty):

First borders are on my Purple and Green Oceans...

Outer borders to follow...

Nearly a 'cat-astrophe' here!!

The ground was so muddy

from all the recent rain we've had

and Abby decided it would be a nice place to

keep her paws dry

so the photo shoot ended rather promptly after this shot

of her walking the quilt top into the mud:

*****

I love Tonya's wonky letters

and I have her 'Word Play' book,

BUT I've never tried any until now.

Only thing is I didn't have the book next to me

when I tried these...

They're probably not wonky enough just yet.

*****

This little table runner is on the longarm...

Just to practise on...

There is only a tiny bit left to do,

but of course the bobbin ran out

just before the end.

(this was after I'd had a few tussles with the machine anyway

so a break was needed!

I'm sure now that I've had a little Longarm holiday

and 'sorted' most of the issues that

work will commence with vigour.)

*****

And finally, here's my house block with the sheep added.

I just freehand drew them and like how they turned out...

Hopefully no more additions before I quilt it!

Because I had thought of adding our cat...

*****

And a parting shot of all the seagulls on the fields.

they are grub-hunting after the fields have been sprayed.

*****

Phew! that was hard work,

I really will try not to leave it so long between posts,

but life does seem to get in the way lol.

Wordless Wednesday - Cat & House

When in Yorkshire...

We're almost halfway through May

and I've only just managed a blog post!

Teething babies and general life

including an attempt at the garden

in the most grim conditions

has been getting in the way...

Even though I don't blog about it,

I don't think a day goes by without a bit of sewing,

even if it's just thinking about it ;o)

I was about to quilt my house block,

but I just felt it was missing something...

something that made it mine...
A look out the window after taking the above photo

assured me that I was sewing in the right direction!:

*****

More to come...

because I have quilted another quilt,

dealt with longarm dilemmas

and started sewing for the school summer fair...

More Finishes for April (Jelly Bean and Christmas!!)

Having a longarm quilting machine

Is the best thing for my unfinished projects!!!

I have just finished putting the binding on my

'Jelly Beans' Quilt....

(the binding was leftover from my rose hexagon quilt)

Here's a view of the back...

I quilted a feather meander pattern,

in a varigated thread, which I thought suited the top,

which is very scrappy and bright.

It means the quilting is very visible on the back,

but actually looks quite cute.

This quilt started when I saw Sio's Carnival Corn.

I just can't believe I've finished it!

And now I'd like to do another one in Sio's colours!!!

*****

And here's another finish,

this one was quilted on my regular sewing machine
and bound in leftover binding from my 1980's star quilt...

Started when Kate came to visit in November (I think)....

So, you can see, I'm getting a bit better at finishing things

in under 20 years now LOL

April Finishes or Cats and Quilts!

The Maple Leaf quilt is bound and finsihed!

I quilted it on the Longarm

with a panto called 'Tangles'.

Quite a fun panto,

and I think it goes well with the maple leaves

as it's quite an angular design,

yet sort of leafy :)

I hung the quilt over our garden gate

for a few quick snaps

of the front...

And the back...

Hopefully this photo shows

the pantograph a bit better...

*****

Our resident quilty cat thought

she had found the perfect place to hide

in one of my 'work' bags...

Even though, I didn't see her,

Miss-Kalico spotted her!!!

And laughed and laughed and laughed!

Abby just ignores her now :)

*****

I wanted to quilt my Simple Pleasure House block,

but still hadn't quilted the Christmas House Block

I made when Kate came to visit...

So to ease my guilt, I did

and now that's done, I can guiltlessly

quilt my 'new' house block LOL.

This Christmas one just needs binding.

*****

And my 'Jelly Beans' quilt is loaded up

on the longarm.

I'm still deciding on the pantograph,

as I want to try something new,

but I also like the feathers

which I have done already....

Me-ow!

I liked the patterns

in my new 'Make Your Own Soft Toys' book so much,

I just had to try this little guy:

He comes with his own fish

for sharing with his friends...

I have made him as a gift,

but my eldest son seems to think

he's very cute so I hope he makes it to his new home!

A quick photo op in the flowers...

Perhaps, it's a she? :)

House Cleaning

I had a birthday...

.....one of many LOL.

 Besides eating lots of cake,

I was gifted this brilliant book:

I have already started thinking about the first one to make.

 ******

I have finished the applique on my house block

 And added borders...

Now to quilt it!

*****

A new quilt is on the machine,

so I'm just deciding on a pantograph to try...

*****

And 'Spring'

 (dare I say that word after our long winter!!)

always makes me feel like washing quilts.

The reds and greens

of the foundation pieced rose

in my rose hexagon quilt ran :(

I only noticed it after I put it on our bed,

but I washed it today

and most of the colour has come out -

Phew!!!!

*****

The greenhouse has been cleaned out

in anticipation of some seedling sowing...

 And the girls,

 And their lambs

are 'weeding' and tending the vegetable patch.

 We're all hoping for a good summer

and a bountiful harvest.

I'm also hoping for lots of sewing time!

Simple House Pleasures

It's not often that I buy a book

and then immediatley feel compelled

 to make something out of it :)

But I had the 3 'spare' Ocean Wave blocks...

(and I quickly made another one out of the scraps)

And this book as inspiration...

Well, I needed a small handwork project!

**

More to follow as it gets sewn down.

*****

I have finished quilting the Maple Leave quilt

on my Longarm!

I went for a sort of abstract swirly pattern...

I used pale pink thread and thankfully

the tension was spot on so it looks good on the back too.

(If I say so myself LOL)

Another case of the quilting makes the quilt! -

I was not that keen on the top,

but I think it looks lovely now that it's quilted.

*****

As soon as I finish one quilt,

I just want to get another on the machine...

so I whacked some borders on my

'Jelly Bean' quilt...

I wasn't sure I liked the borders,

but the quilt-inspector approves

so we're going with these borders :)

*****

In my previous post, my neighbour

photographed me holding a quilt up in the wind.

We chatted for a bit and he expressed 'grass-envy'...

So we have garden visitors at the moment!

2 sheep and their lambs

are 'mowing' the lawn for us at present!

The boys and I keep joking

about all the 'chocolate peanuts' they leave us LOL.

We're hoping Miss-Kalico doesn't try eating them! :)

*****

On the weekend we had sun!!!!!

We even had our first BBQ of the year!

Sadly, it's gone again! :(