Far Across the Sea

I wrote all the way back here about the Do Good Stitches Charity Bee on Flickr. I am in the Cherish Circle and every month I stitch 2 blocks and send them off to that month's quilter who puts them together and quilts them. I am happy being a stitcher and letting someone else do the designing and organising, but I thought it would be fun to have one month where I could choose the quilt and choose the charity it went to.

So this is my month.

I wanted to donate a quilt to the charity Autism Initiatives Scotland, a charity I used to volunteer for a few years back. 

So this month's quilt will be for Kirsty, a 19 year old girl with Asperger's Syndrome, who the charity have identified as someone who would really benefit from having a quilt made specially for her.

Kirsty is at college and hoping to study travel and tourism soon. Her favourite colours are blue, green and turquoise.

So I immediately thought a 'sea' theme would fit in well!

I came across a block called 'Across the Sea'. Ellison Lane Quilts were doing a Quiltalong last year. You can look at the Flickr group here.

I thought the crosses in this block would look great in the 'sea' colours on a white background. But the block looked a little easy for the clever ladies in the Cherish Circle...

So I have re-designed it to include 4 crosses in each block. 

I have decided to call it 'Far Across The Sea'!

The finished quilt should look like this

As there was no specific tutorial to link to I decided to make a quick one for the Cherish Circle stitchers. And then I thought that you guys might like to share it too.


I have asked them to choose 4 prints (or throw in the odd solid) for each block in turquoise, green or blue, on a white background.

A = 2.5 x 2.5 inches
B = 2.5 x 1.5 inches
C = 4.5 x 4.5 inches
D = 4.5 x 2.5 inches

You will need to cut: 
8 x A in white
8 x B in white
8 x B in colour (2 of each print)
1 x C in white
4 x D in white
4 x D in colour (1 in each print)

I am really sorry about these photos! I was doing this at night so the light wasn't very good and my iron had just broken - hence the very crumpled fabric!
I pieced the block in strips, but first I chain pieced together B's to B's, in row 1 and row 5, and B's to A's in the middle row. Hopefully you can see this in the photo above.

Then I pieced the 5 rows, and finally pieced these rows in to one block (top photo).
It should end up at 12.5 inches, however, despite using a 1/4 inch seam foot on my machine, my blocks always end up a wee bit smaller! The thing I like about this design is that this won't matter when I am piecing the blocks as the crosses are 'floating'. Perfect for a Bee block!

 I thought you might also like to see some of the recent Cherish Circle blocks I have completed.

 This month was all about orange, aqua and greys, but we had a free hand to do whatever we wanted!

 I will take any chance to practice a bit of embroidery at the moment!

More grey mixed with pink and red, and all we had to do this month was include hearts. some of the group made stunning pieced heart blocks,

 But I took the easy option and hand appliqued all mine.

And this was last month's HST practice project! This is going to be such a gorgeous quilt, well they all are. I can't wait to see the finished quilts and all the Far Across the Sea blocks I get sent!

Around the Bend and Across the Pond

Well I failed dismally in my attempt to post about more of my current swaps before the weekend! I am just running to catch up, as always.

Never mind, I am here now to tell you about this unusual swap from the Old Red Barn Co Quilt group on Flickr. It's unusual because it is a kind of swap/bee hybrid. The name, Around the Bend and Across the Pond, refers to the fact that we are a mix of UK and North American participants and that we are adding bits to each others quilt beginnings. That sounds a bit confusing...
So I will try and explain about my particular group first. We are called the Awesome Rawsome Round Robin 8 (or ARRR8! exclaimed in a pirate voice!), named by the ever enthusiastic Dolores (yes,we are in a lot of swaps together!). We are each making the middle of a quilt and sending it on to the next person in the group to add a new 'round', and so on, until we receive a completed medallion type quilt top in the post!

There are 4 different groups, a Row group where they each send the first row of a quilt top and everyone in the group adds a row, and 2 groups of 'freestyle', where anything goes! I have always wanted to attempt a medallion quilt so the 'round' option seemed the most exciting.
Everyone else in the group has made a beautiful pieced middle so I feel a little lazy for just sending off a single piece of fabric, but what fabric! It is that gorgeous piece of Frida Kahlo fabric by Alexander Henry at the top of the page, given to me by Marilyn 'Spiced Coffee' as a swap extra a year or 2 ago. I have never been able to bring myself to cut it up so I thought this was the perfect project for it.
As well as the middle we have all made signature blocks to go on the back of the quilt once they have been signed by everyone on the way round. That's my siggy block above, with space on the white steps for names and hometowns.

And if that wasn't enough we also decided to send a journal with each quilt where we could lay out our likes and dislikes and where all the participants could add comments before sending it on. I was just on the look out for a nice notepad, when Lynz made her own cute little journal and the next thing everyone was making their own! Luckily Lynz posted a great tute on her blog and I managed to make this one, with a LOT of help from my work colleague, Sarah (thanks Sarah!).

So this whole package was sent off to Pam Uberstitch a few weeks back and I received my first middle from my fellow Brit Quilt Swap Mama, Jo, below.

Isn't it beautiful? Lot's of pressure now to add to the beauty and not detract from it! 

I am looking forward to having a go, and I'll let you know how I get on!

Hoop Inspiration

I mentioned a few weeks back that I have signed up for way too many swaps on Flickr.
In fact I am so busy making stuff for them that I haven't had a chance to tell you about them! I am going to try and do a few quick mini posts about 3 of them before I go away to Birmingham for a big trade fair at the weekend.
I must re-iterate the word 'TRY' in that last sentence...

So first up is the 'Hoop Up! Stitch and Send Swap' embroidery swap. In this swap you are grouped with 2 other sewers and we each make a piece for the other 2. We first have to make an inspiration piece so that they understand the 'theme' we are going for. The idea is that you will have 3 matching embroidered pieces at the end.

This is my first time with this swap and I am relatively new to embroidery, so I had to spend a lot of time researching before I found the direction I wanted to go with. This is my inspiration mosaic. I am hoping for  a 'magical forest' vibe. With trees, flowers and woodland animals - but with a magical, surreal, slightly disturbing atmosphere.

I love the illustrations of Aya Kakeda. They are cute and disturbing in equal measures and a lot of them are set in forests. So this was my starting point. And along with lots of other inspiring illustrations and embroideries I found on Flickr, I drew this design.

I then started embroidering it. This is really like VERY slow colouring in, but SO much fun! I mentioned in this post how much I loved making an embroidery hoop for a class, and how it was going to be a new passion. Well I feel this even more now.

I loved making this little picture and am so pleased with how it turned out.
I also can't wait to see what my partners will come up with! I was very lucky to have been paired with Dolores and Leila, both such talented stitchers!

Now what do you think, is the bear type creature gazing lovingly at his chicken pet? Or is he about to tear him limb from limb and eat him?

psychedelic crochet drugs

Time for a crochet post, don't you think?
Even though it doesn't feature on this blog nearly enough, I always have some crochet on the go.
It is also one of my busiest craft classes at work and so far I have taught 18 students to crochet and most of these have now entered a dangerous state of wool addiction. I do feel a bit like a drug pusher as they turn up at the shop week after week, glassy eyed, clutching cash and gasping for "more wool, more wool, please, just one more ball!". I do always warn them at the start of the 'Learn to Crochet' class that it is extremely addictive!
The Rooster wool I bought for the shop back in July has been a great success and I am now awaiting a huge delivery of Sirdar, Sublime, Patons and Regia sock wool any day!!! (see what I mean about feeling like a drug pusher!)
I have also noticed some crochet action on a few other blogs recently - Lynz has just taught herself through You Tube videos. Way to go Lynz! It's not easy to learn that way, much better to come to a nice workshop with me :)

I have another friend's special birthday coming up soon (in fact a have quite a few this year!), so I thought I would get started now on a lovely blanket which I could potter away at for the next few months. I started off making these hexagons, above, with Rooster aran wool. The pattern is from the same book as the Roses and Daises Blanket I made for my niece's wedding last year, and is based on a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. 

But it just wasn't doing it for me. It just looked a bit blah. So I have abandoned it and turned to my favourite crochet blog Attic 24 for inspiration.

And found it straight away on Lucy's gorgeous blog! Granny circles, perfect! I am currently obsessed with circles inside squares as a quilt pattern so this just shouted out to me. This is an old project of Lucy's, adapted from a vintage crochet book, and made into a gorgeous blanket by a friend of her's and featured here.

Lucy promised to note down the pattern very soon, but I couldn't wait and liked the challenge of working it out myself - which I did! Not sure if I have done it exactly the same way as Lucy, but I love it! 

And the difference between these squares and the earlier hexagons is that I just can't take my eyes off them! A great crochet design should be totally mesmeric and every square you finish should fill you with joy. This design is a particularly potent psychedelic drug, and I am hooked (haha)!

But what of that amazing African Flower Blanket you were working on a year or so ago, Jo? 

Well I am STILL working on it! In fact I love it so much I don't think I will ever stop, but just keep adding more and more flowers until I become crushed under the weight of wool - what a way to go!! (I think this is known as O.D.ing on crochet!).

'The Neighbourhood' quilt top finished

First off, thanks for all your kind comments wishing me a happy holiday. I had a lovely relaxing time, and have come back very tanned from all the gorgeous sun out there!

Well I finished the House Block quilt top! Now re-named 'The Neighbourhood'. The original inspiration for the quilt was 'The Burbs' from the first Material Obsession book, but I prefer The Neighbourhood, as it is also the name of one of my favourite Arcade Fire tracks (get me, sounding so hip!).
Most of the quilt blocks were made by the Tag Square Bee which finished last year, and I have added some extras to make a bigger quilt.

You all gave me excellent advice when I last posted about about this here. The main thing, you all agreed on, was No Sashing. Which I was pleased about. So I made 2 more house blocks.
The one above is the 'Owl House'. The owls like to fly around their rooms, whilst keeping an eye on their pet peacock who is strutting around the ornate lawns.

And this is The Dressmaker's House, inspired by one of the houses made for Leila in this post on Where The Orchids Grow blog. The dressmaker is showing all her wares in the window and has stuck her mannequin in the way of the door (well she is short of space in that little cottage).
God, I love making these house blocks, and I think I enjoy making up silly stories about each of them even more!

I also made one more random 'patch block' to balance out the one made be Teresa. I still have one more geometric block (made by Jackie) for the back. Also, I am pleased to say, that Juliana's beautiful 'Fairytale House' arrived safely from Poland.
So here they are, all sewn together, but I knew they needed a border, and as I have such a bulging scrap bag at the moment I decided to make a scrappy Piano Keys border. You will need to scroll back up to the top to see how that turned out. I managed to make 3 and a half sides of the border just with scraps!

But I realised I needed something to go in the corner spaces, so I made these little mini houses with more scraps.

Here they are in place. 

Now all I have to do is quilt it!! But that will have to wait a while as I have totally overdone it on Flickr swap sign-ups! I have 4 Flickr things on the go at the moment and it is taking me all my time to check the groups daily, never mind the sewing!

What about you lot, have you taken on too much already this year?

I think I'm going to need more socks!

I was a very lucky girl and got 3 awesome craft books for Christmas. I love getting a new book full of projects that I just can't wait to try! I hope to share projects from all of the books with you over the next few weeks, but first up, I'm going to play with my socks for a while...

I totally missed the whole sock doll craze, but when I saw this book I just loved the idea of using 'stray socks' (even though most of the projects in the book ask for a pair!). I always have odd socks in my drawer and they are usually my favourite ones. Where do all those socks go?!

The book is written by a man called Daniel Lin, who is obviously totally barking (in a good way!). The book is full of eccentrically captioned photos of sock dolls and is very Japanese in style. My first attempt was this long-eared mini doll.

However my socks must be a bit longer than Daniels as my doll's ears are a bit too long!

Still at least he can tie them up in a knot if they get in the way! I added the buttons and hair for a bit of extra personality. Though something about him reminds me of Mr Blobby! Still he was my first attempt.

My next stab turned out to be much more successful. In fact, I have to say that I am totally in love with this little sock kitty!

Isn't she lovely? And made from just one stray sock! I have been carrying her around with me like a little comforter. Especially during the dreadful storms we had this week, 100 miles an hour gales! We lost half our greenhouse and had no power for a day and a half. So Sock Kitty cuddled up to me on the sofa as I strained my eyes reading Nicholas Nickleby by candlelight (Dickens felt very appropriate in the circumstances!).

Just one my photo of her as she's so gorgeous!

After all the bad weather here I am doing a very sensible (and yet very unusual for me) thing and jetting off to the sun tomorrow for a weeks holiday! I hardly ever take a holiday so this will be a real treat. I am going to Tenerife with my sister, Jane, and my dad to stay in Jane's apartment and soak up the rays. It is a very pleasant 22 degrees there at the moment (as opposed to 2 degrees here!) and I can't wait!

So it may be a couple of weeks before you hear from me again but don't worry about me as I will be just fine!

A hearty Goodbye to 2011...

... and Hello to 2012! I am just hoping it will be an improvement on 2011 which was a pretty pants year as far as I was concerned, but it did have lots of good points too.
And look at all the quilts I managed to actually finish! I am very impressed with myself. Of course most of them are tiny doll quilts, and some of them involved glue, but there are 12!

I do like making mosaics, so I made one of non-quilting stuff too - bags, cushions, an owl (of course), and a surprising amount of dollies! I think that crocheted 'Roses and Daises' blanket is my favourite project out of everything I made this year.

Just room for one more mosaic, this time looking forward. This is an Inspiration Mosaic for the first Flickr activity I have signed up for in 2012. I just sneaked in as they were shouting 'Last Call' on the ORBC 'Around the Bend and Across the Pond' Round Robin. This is an offshoot of the main Old Red Barn Co Quilt Along group, where 4 different groups are taking part in different versions of a Round Robin. I am in the 'round' group where we each make a middle and send it to the next person who makes the next row and then sends it on. At the end we each get sent a completed quilt top, AND it will be a surprise (somehow). There are 'row' groups and 'free form' groups. I am super excited about this and so was the first to get my mosaic made.
It's great to have happy stuff planned already for the New Year. What about you lot out there? What's your next project/swap/bee?
I hope you all have happy stuff to look forward to as well and A Happy New Year to you all!

Warning - vintage notebook overdose alert!!

A couple of months ago I made my first two of these notebook holders. I wrote about them here and I hoped to teach a workshop on them. However this was another of those classes that didn't get enough interest (I seem to be always saying this, but lots of my classes do get booked up - honest!). So I decided to sell the notebooks in the shop.

They sold very quickly. So I decided to try some diaries too. These sold quickly too, so I started making quite a few more! In fact this is one of the reasons I have been so busy these last few weeks.

Here is one I just finished today, before it gets wrapped around the notebook. I have been using pieces of my vintage embroidered linen stash and just patchworking a wee frame for it.

This is the other side. I started off using the excellent tutorial on Teresadownunder's blog, but I have adapted this quite a bit now to make it quicker. I don't use any interfacing, I use one piece of fabric, folded in half, for the pocket and find this needs to be no bigger than 7" (and can be quite a bit smaller) unfolded, and I don't topstitch round the outside.

So basically, they are very quick and easy to make. And actually lots of fun, as I really enjoy putting the different combinations of fabric and linen together. And picking out the perfect button from my vintage collection (many of which belonged to my Mum).  I also like practicing my embroidery with the word 'diary'!

 And I am using fabric from my 'everyday' stash, not my 'precious' stash, so it's not so hard to part with!

In the end customers were buying 3 or 4 at a time so I have had put the price up! I was selling them for £14.99 (with book or diary), which probably was a bit cheap for handmade (but they are way quicker to make than my little crocheted owls and I can only get away with selling them for £9.99!). Now they are selling for £17.99 and the sales have slowed down a bit.

Are you getting bored yet? I really hope you like looking at vintage linen notebook holders, because if you don't you've come to the wrong place today!

I also made a few special ones (using 'precious' fabric) for Christmas presents, like the one below for my best friend in London, who is kindly putting me up for the retreat next June, and lending me her sewing machine for the weekend.
I was so pleased and excited to discover, after my last post, that so many of you European bloggers are going to be coming to the Fat Quaterly Community Retreat next year, and quite a few from Scotland too!

I also made one for a very special, long distance, blogging friend. I forgot to take a photo of this one but  she has received it and has promised to blog about it, so soon you can take a look at it here (I know you will be just dying to see more of these!).

Nearly finished now! Here's 3 more I just finished this afternoon, some still waiting for buttons. I did make one more after this but the light had faded by then so you will be spared one more!
Well Christmas is nearly upon us, and that will be the last one I make this year.
But I think I might just have time to top up on my owl stock...