Chain Stitch

If you have been following my blog for any length of time then you will have seen several projects that I have worked using this piece of plastic.

It is one of a set of double sided rubbing blocks and my favourite by far. This was my first project using the block.

And I turned it into this little Bushkiri bag.

You can see it here with some more little bags I made using some of the other rubbing blocks.

And there is another one

There is a white version

I have used it as the wallpaper at the back of my blog.

And you can read about how I made this pink version here

So once again I am making a tissue case for my gift box and I never tire of this design. However this time I thought I would challenge myself into using as many different chain stitches as I can. Here is my square of fabric just as I was starting - I used a gold Markal paint stick to transfer the design.

So far I have used nine different chain stitches and am aiming to pack in quite a few more.

The greens in the fabric and the threads are not showing up as well as I would like in this picture - it's actually looking a lot brighter and I am very pleased with the look so far.

Hoping that this post reaches everyone - I understand that there are lots of problems with blogger at the moment.
Hope you are having a great weekend.

PYT Tuesday

It's great to have Anthea back - hope you feel better soon Anthea. To link up with all things EPP visit Anthea's blog here  If you have any EPP work on the go then do please link up - we are always looking for eye candy and new inspiration! Thank you Anthea for hosting us.

You may remember that towards the end of last year I started making 1" tumbling block hexies as my new RSC project.

After making 60 of these little hexies I decided that they were taking up too much of my time and so I put them safely away to await inspiration!

This week I decided that it was time that my 2018 sewing journal had a cover and remembered the tumbling blocks. So out they came and I started to play. I started off with these linking circles which I liked very much.

I was thinking that I could join them together and then applique them to a plain background which would look great but then I started filling in the gaps and liked the effect even better.

And so I have started sewing them together - this is as far as I have got.

My only other EPP project at the moment are my swap hexies - these are this months, winging their way to Australia.

I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been working on.

FNSI May

Yesterday was Friday Night Sew In - many thanks to Wendy for hosting us. You can see what everyone got up to here

A few weeks ago I came across Jennifer Clouston's Boro Inspired Sewing Caddy and I immediately thought of my solar dyed fabrics from a couple of years ago.

I pulled out my box of fabrics and had lots of fun choosing the fabrics for the outside of the caddy, working the little embroideries and then 'boroing' it all together. Sorry - no work in progress pics! On Friday afternoon I was able to sew the drawstring bag into position and add the ribbons. So here it is.

The yellow side - fabrics dyed with rosemary, walnut husks and onion skins.

The blue side - fabrics dyed with black bean soaking water, morning glory flowers and elderberries.

The inside

I still need to find a suitable cord to cover and then attach around the outer edge of the bag - it also makes the loop for a button closure. So far everything was from stash but I think I am going to have to go out and buy some suitable cord. I love this little bag and - it goes beautifully with the log cabin pincushion I made last year which sits very neatly inside the drawstring bag.

I have also recently acquired a copy of Anni Downs 'A Gardeners Journal' and have been looking forward to starting on one of the embroideries. I am not planning on making the quilt but the designs will make super minis for gifts - and me! I decided to start with the Dovecote and here is how much progress I made yesterday.

The sun has been shining here for the last few days which has made a pleasant change - last weekend was awful! So I am off outside with my embroidery - hope you have a great weekend.

Friday Night with Friends and RSC

Great to be joining in again with FNwF - thanks to Cheryll for inviting us round even though she is off on her travels! You can see what everyone got up to here.

I started off my afternoon by machining up these two blocks for April and May's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Yellow is almost non existent in my fabric stash but I managed to find these gold and mustards in my box of squares so they will do. The selection of pinks was a little better. I am linking up with Scrap Happy Saturday

Next up were some swap hexies - I finished one during the afternoon and the other in the evening.

 

After a cold spell last weekend it has started to warm up again and we were able to spend some time in the garden yesterday afternoon planting out our tomato, pepper and aubergine plants. They all had to be mulched with grass cuttings too to try and stop the soil drying out too quickly around them.

 

Come the evening I was very happy just to sit and sew. After finishing off the second hexie flower I cracked on with my next pink block.

 

 

And am very happy with the progress made.

Thanks Chez for an enjoyable FNwF's.

It's been a while....

.....but hopefully I am now back on track and will be posting regularly! April has been a busy month with two visits to UK to see family but the suitcases have now been put away until the autumn and we are busy getting the garden tidied and planted up for the summer. I have also some decorating to do before our first visitors of the year at the beginning of June.

There has been sewing time and I have a couple of things to show you. First up, quilting on my pink BOM has continued - only five more blocks to do now.

I am really loving this QAYG - each block is so quick to quilt and it does not seem so daunting as quilting a whole quilt.

I have also finally finished the Winterberry embroidery that was in my winter Craftpod - you can read my post about the Craftpod here
I usually avoid satin stitch like the plague so am really pleased that these little berries do actually look like berries!

The patchwork girls met this afternoon and here are our EPP blocks for the Mystery Quilt.

As you can see they have all done really well. Don't they look effective!

This month their new technique is curved piecing and I am interested to see what they will come up with for this. Here is my block all quilted up so I am ready to start on the next block.

Just noticed that a fly flew into my picture! How annoying.

We had a frost last night - hopefully it will be the last one now until the autumn. Just hoping that it was not hard enough to damage the blossom and our walnuts. A late frost last year did a lot of damage.

It's Friday Night with Friends this week - sign ups are here and I hope to see you there.