More log cabins

No sooner said, than done - some purple and green log cabins! Again, I have only shown 9 of these, but I made 16 to join the blocks pile. Not sure how I will lay them out, as they are not as high contrast as some blocks - but I did get rid of lots of small pieces of fabric, which was the point of the exercise, of course!  And don't worry, Ruth, I was leaning towards this colour combo anyway...

Scrappy Christmas

Because I've actually had some time to sew lately, I've been taking advantage of it to do what I enjoy best - making blocks. I'm not even bothering to put them into quilts at the moment, though that will come - but at the moment, it's just blocks.  I decided to further bust my Christmas stash by making some more of these blocks, which I've made in the past - they are very simple, you just join 3 3" squares and add a 3x8" rectangle down the side. You then stack and slash them and trim to your desired size.  I didn't have a lot of Christmas fabric to start with, and I am now down to very little, which is good.

Granny squares

I've been using these blocks as enders and leaders for a while, and have now made 16 of them, so I think I'll stop for the time being, and perhaps sew the blocks into a top at some point. Or else just let them hang around in a pile for a while!  I was really good in 2012 about not just making blocks, but actually assembling them into tops and doing something with the tops (in most cases, donating them) but at the moment, all I want to do is make blocks, so I think there will be some block set accumulation in the early part of 2013. So be it!

More log cabins

I'm a bit of a fan of the log cabin block - a fact which I have no doubt will not have escaped your notice if you ever read this blog - so when I feel like making blocks, it's one of my go-to blocks. I didn't sew at all today, as my brother-in-law was down visiting from Leicester, but in the past few days, among other things, I've been sewing these scrappy log cabins. Alex helped me choose what colours to use and then I've been piecing them using small bits of neutrals and blues. As it happens, there are actually 16 of them, but it was easier to photograph 9 together as it meant I didn't have to move the rug!

Now I have a hankering to make more log cabins - I'm thinking about some in another colour scheme, but not sure what yet. Maybe something with green - purple perhaps?

Cross stitch update

Lots of progress this week - nearly all of the background is filled in (not quite), so then there will just be the long stitching on the top, and then the border. It's nice to know it won't take me that many more weeks to finish this one off. 

More block lotto blocks

Four more blocks for the block lotto this month - a total of nine (the max).  The bottom left one doesn't have as much contrast as we thought it would from the fabrics in larger pieces - in larger pieces the red is more red (and less busy) and the black is more black (with less red in it). Funny how that works, sometimes. I may make another one to replace that one if I have time. 

A couple of blocks

A few more block lotto blocks - I have now made 5 for this month's block lotto. I hope to make 4 more before the end of the month - just being able to get at my sewing machine, is a major improvement, though!  

And of course, the lotto blocks aren't the only thing I've been working on today - I'll show more another time.

Giveaway!

No, not me, but my friend Kelly is starting a new giveaway - looks likely to be a series, as it's based on snow and she lives in Minnesota...  Anyway, I'm not sure the first week's giveaway will still be valid by the time I finally post this, but do keep an eye out in future weeks - it looks like fun!

Cross Stitch Update

I actually had a little time to stitch on the angels this week, for the first time this year, and have made a bit of progress, working on the red dress of the central angel.  There are about 20 bazillion shades of red in this dress (realistically, perhaps 8) so it's slow going and quite hard to count. The chart is coloured, so I can't even readily mark what I've done. I'm managing, but not at as quick a pace as normal, even on intricate pieces. 

The photo below isn't the most recent photo I have (for instance, more was done on the bell rope since that photo was taken), but it shows the red dress the best of the previous ones.  Still not well, but you can see there was a lot of white space, and now, not so much.

This next week, it's back to the Winter one - so far, no stitching time, but the weekend promises better things.

Cross-stitch update

Well, here is is finished - not pressed yet, hence the necessity of the remote control to hold down the corner, but I needed a photo and didn't want to get the iron out at this time of night...  Not a lot of stitching this week, but I have been putting binding onto quilts - partially sewed the scrapbuster squares quilt and completely finished the one which I can't show (of course).  After Christmas you can see it!  But I did take time to finish the bird triptych and yes, I have now got the Angels out and have even started in on them...  Photos of that next week, though, when there is hopefully a noticeable difference.

Some block lotto blocks

Here are three blocks made for the December block lotto.  I am hoping to make a few more of these before the end of the month - they are totally scrappy (i.e. no set colour scheme, just dark/medium/light) and not hard to make, so they suit me perfectly and more would be fun.  All the fabrics here came from scrap stash, which is a bonus...

Cross-stitch update

Well, it's time for the seasonal cross-stitch pieces.  This one first, because it's not purely Christmassy, but just wintery. I think I said before, I may try to finish this one this year, as I can keep stitching on it even once I've had enough of Christmas per se (which means, on into February if necessary). I actually got quite a lot done on it this last week. In addition to the upper right hand corner, which has come on a lot, there's quite a bit of background which has been filled in, which doesn't show quite as well.   In the next week's rotation, I will first finish the triptych and then get started on the angels. 

Pile of binding

I had an unexpected sewing day today, in the middle of the week, as Alex was not well this morning and ended up staying home from school, and of course, that meant I stayed as well. I did a few bits and pieces including a few block lotto blocks, which I will show later this week, but most of the time was spent putting binding on the three (yes, THREE) bed quilts I've had longarm quilted recently. Recently in this context being the past 6 months. One of them, I got back last week and haven't showed yet (and you will just have to wait a little longer on that one). The other two I've had for a while - the scrapbuster squares was done in October and the red and white back in July.  I do actually have plans for all three quilts - the red and white will be set aside as a wedding present for a friend; the scrapbuster is going to live in the boot of the car to be a picnic rug/emergency quilt and the other, well, you'll see sooner or later.  Wonder how long it will take me to bind them - bearing in mind I don't want to lose all my cross-stitching time in the evenings!  Only one of them has to be done soon, so it's not an issue...

My kind of weekend...

...one spent with a friend, and sewing was involved!  Not a lot, for various reasons, but we did have fun on Sunday morning digging through Karol Ann's Christmas scraps to make these little houses. The idea is to quilt them up like this and have a finished little Christmas wall hanging.  I've not quilted mine yet, but am hoping to get to it this weekend.  Can you guess whose is the red and whose is the blue?

Cross stitch progress

Amazing how different the piece looks in different light...  Anyway. I have now completed the first three sections of this - I am caught up to what I have received in the post.

Here's how it looked last week:

So you can see there was quite a lot of work done on it - nice to be able to say that about something in my life!

However, I'm now going to put it away for a few weeks (even if I do get another installment of the pattern) while I work on seasonal stuff. I have started one seasonal piece (or rather, picked up where I left off last year, in February, when I tired of winter) - one which just says "winter" and isn't Christmassy, particularly, so I will carry on with that one until it's done. Probably.

I'm nearly finished with the triptych of birds I've been working on (probably only two evenings, possibly even one if I have a long block of stitch time), so I'm going to finish that before I pull out the other seasonal cross-stitch (yes, for those of you who follow this blog regularly, I am talking about my Christmas Nemesis, the Angels).  What I should do before I start on them this year is check to make sure I have all the reds I need before I start.  Maybe I will do that later this week, and really get organised.

I don't expect to finish it this year (there's still a lot of stitching to come) but it would be nice to make some progress, I think.  Of course, who knows what I would do if I ever actually finished them!  I do have several other Christmas patterns knocking about though, so I'm sure I'd find something to fill the space and time...

More granny squares

I'm not getting a huge amount of sewing time, with one thing and another, but I did get a chance to make another granny square or two. I am now up to 7. I think I set aside enough unique squares for about 16, which will make a nice, small baby quilt. Eventually. 

Cup of coffee?

One more coffee cup for the block lotto this month - I had hoped to do a few more, but I ran out of black on black and also of time.  These are fun, though - I might do some more in a different colourway - I like the dark backgrounds, but I might use some of my not-strictly-BOB fabrics to make some for myself.

Cross-stitch update

Making good progress on the third section of this design, although as it happens, I ran out of one of the greens and will have to order more. I only need about 12 inches more, I reckon.  Oh well!

Coffee cups

Over on the block lotto this month, we're doing free-form coffee cups (with some specifications). They don't have to be red, mine just happen to both be. I hope to have time to do a few more before the end of the month as I really like them. 

Granny squares

Lots of people seem to be making granny squares at the moment, so I couldn't resist. I'm trying to use up scraps, though, so there's no theme to mine, just scrappy scrappy scrappy.

Cross-stitch update

This is a nice fast stitching project - which is good, as it has twelve parts to it.  I finished the first part and have moved on to the second, though I haven't got far with that - just the branch and "is t".  But it will come!

Hawaiian Quilt Finish

I know I haven't finished a lot of things recently - or indeed, worked on a lot of things - but here's one thing I have actually done - quilted and bound this little Hawaiian shirt lap quilt, which is soon off to a new home, but I shan't say where...

Cross-stitch update

Not been doing a lot of stitching recently, either cross-stitch or other sewing, but I did manage to make a little progress on the cross-stitch. A few more weeks before I get the seasonal ones out (early December, I think - I usually carry on with them until mid- to late January).

Cross stitch update

Having finished the chilis, and it not being close enough to Christmas to start the seasonal cross-stitches (though they will have to start in a few more weeks), I decided to start this multi-piece project. It's a huge piece which you can (sort of) see all of here.   But I couldn't resist the cute birds. I'm getting it as a monthly project, and at the moment, I have two months' worth and have started the first, so I'm not too far behind yet. I think it will be quite quick to stitch actually, as it doesn't have tons of backstitching and there's lots of open space, both things which I find make the stitching go a lot faster. I love the canvas colour as well!

Finished Chilis

As I suspected, it didn't take long to finish the chili peppers - despite all the shades of red, this was actually easy to stitch (once I got it the right way around, that is).

Green Stars

This isn't actually a completed top, just 9 blocks with green stars in a pink and purple background - another scrap user.  I've not been sewing much lately - too busy - but I do try to do a little bit now and again...

Cross stitch update

After I finished the Hallowe'en cross stitch, I went back to the chili peppers - then realised a few days later I should have gone to the bird design (not that there's a law about it or anything!).  However, I was pretty close to finishing the peppers, so I decided to stick with it - even beyond the usual Wednesday changeover - so that I could finish it completely...

Pink and Purple Rectangles

Here's another baby quilt top - this one for my own stash - once again from that great Judy Laquidara pattern, Peaches and Dreams. I have now used that pattern in three different colourways (none of them the original one, of course). And I will probably use it in more before I'm done - I really like it. 

Roman stripes, of a sort

Still trying to use up those strips - I decided to cut some solid squares (I have almost no solids in my stash, as it happens) and use them as half-foundations to get rid of some more strips.  There are still strips in the bag, but not quite as many as there were...

Something seasonal

Here's the little seasonal cross-stitch I snuck into my cross-stitch rota - I had originally intended to show it at an early stage, but didn't manage to blog it  before it was finished...  I have a pattern for two more of these words, but although I could probably stitch another before Hallowe'en, I won't because I'll save them for another year...

Cross-stitch update

Quite a bit of progress on the chilis this week - more than I thought, actually, as I stopped early so I could work on something seasonal, which I will show soon - perhaps tomorrow.

Little top

Here's another small top using largely strips - I started with two orphan blocks and went round them log cabin fashion with strips of a single fabric (found some more strips - in a bag of binding offcuts!).  It's only small, but should work nicely as a cot quilt for a small baby, etc.

Finished Strippy Top

Doesn't look all that different from last time I posted it, I know, but I added a few more rows just to make the size work better...  Still thinning out the strips a bit, but for the moment, that might be it.

Scrapbuster Squares

This absolutely ancient top (from about 2006, I think) was the result of a swap of 16 patch blocks - 2" squares. I have had it put together for a long time, but it's very big, so it needed to be longarmed. I have to ration what I have longarmed, as unfortunately, I am not made of money. Anyway, it was finally the turn of this beast, and I got it back this week.

It looks great, of course! 

The backing is a large single piece of fabric which I found in a car boot sale for £4. As I intend this quilt to be a car-blanket/picnic quilt I thought it really suited it for a backing. Of course, I still have to bind the quilt...