Wednesday, October 31, 2012

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!

Monday, October 29, 2012

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).

Sunday, October 28, 2012

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...

Thursday, October 25, 2012

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...

Sunday, October 21, 2012

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. 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

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...



Friday, October 19, 2012

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...


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

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.




Sunday, October 14, 2012

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.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

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.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

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...

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Cross-stitch update


I seem to be doing more cross-stitch at the moment than other sewing - probably because I am less busy on evenings than at the weekends...  Anyway, making good progress on this third panel - there's quite a lot of stitching on that tree branch, even if it may not seem like it. I'm very keen to get this piece finished, so I can move on to another big, installment piece I have started receiving. It's really sweet and very different. And of course, before long, it will be time for the seasonal pieces to make an appearance!  Which reminds me, I think I have a small Hallowe'en piece or two I should stitch up.  They are only little, though...

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Green and Purple Baby Quilt Top


A simple design to try to thin out some the small pieces of hand-dyes I have in my stash - the solid colours are fairly easy to use, but the funkier fabrics can be a bit tricky.  This colour combo makes a nice neutral baby quilt (i.e. neither overtly boy or girl) to have in the stash!

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Another strippy top


Actually, this one's not quite done - I want to add another row or two - but I didn't have time to finish it today. And I still have quite a large pile of strips to get through...

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Cross stitch update


You can see there's been a fair amount of progress on the peppers this week - it stitches quite quickly when one isn't unpicking the whole thing and starting again!  I can tell that the backstitching will be a little tedious, but I will do it as I go along as much as possible, which will help. It really does accentuate the peppers, though - totally necessary...