Another week..

..has gone by. It has been hot and dry here so I have started my annual round of quilt and cushion cover washing! Having washed and dried this cushion cover

I decided that the time had come to replace it as it was getting just too frayed in places!

Lots of rubbed spots on some of the patches and the binding had worn away around the edges too.

Wanting to use some of my Scraptherapy squares I found just what I was looking for on the cover of the book.

The cushion cover uses 18 dark and 18 light 3.5" squares used to make 36 x 3" HST blocks. 2" squares are pressed diagonally in half and added when the squares are machined together.

The 2" squares make little pockets which I like but felt could easily catch on something or might not wash well so I decided to catch them down with the quilting.

So simple diagonal ditch quilting using 'invisible' thread which went across the middle of the triangle pockets where it met them. Itgave just enough puff to the cover to give it an interesting texture.

Very pleased with my new cushion cover.

Not sure why that block in the middle looks puckered - it certainly isn't in real life!

I am slowly preparing the applique flowers and leaves for my tablecloth

Long way to go yet though!

Have a great week.

FNSI for July

Thank you Wendy for hosting us again this month - you can see who else took part on Wendy's blog Sugarlane Designs.

First up, I have reverted to Legacy Blogger simply because of the labels system. On my last post I trawled the whole list of labels ticking boxes and then when I added a new label all my ticks disappeared. So annoying.

Earlier this week my fabric order arrived from UK which meant that I was able to add the sashing to my Red Manor House.

And also the border to my baskets.

Which means that on Friday I was working on the applique pieces that will go onto the border. I made a large quantity of bias strip to use as the stem. And then I started cutting out flowers and leaves.

Not good colour repro on that photo sadly.

The applique on the original design really stands out and I realised this was because zingy batik fabrics had been used.

So I went through my scrap box pulling out any batiks and my other fabric boxes and found that I had far more batiks than I thought! I am looking forward to seeing this come to life.

In other news, I finished the two string projects from last weeks scrap haul

And I worked on the applique for my autumn wall hanging.

It now needs a scattering of red berries and then I can add the border.

I have a pile of masks cut out in readiness for a delivery of elastic - but I think we have all seen enough pictures of masks to last for sometime!

So that was my week - hope you all had a good one and I am looking forward to seeing what everyone did for FNSI.

The week that was!

Another one has gone by so quickly. The temperature has gone up again and looks set to continue for the next 10 days at least. So back to gardening in the mornings and staying indoors in the afternoons. Lots of sewing that I can be doing of course and there is test cricket to watch! - summer is finally here.

Having gone as far as I can with my Red Manor BOM until my fabric order arrives, I turned to my flower basket tablecloth. When I left it I had made these diamonds to go into the flower baskets.

So I carefully cut out the pieces to make up the baskets and started putting them together. The Y seams went in like a dream so I was disappointed to find that nothing was quite square! The baskets are all together now as you can see here.

Unfortunately where the flower blocks meet there are a few points that are severely chopped, however there was nothing to be done about it so they will have to stay. This is now another project on the back burner until my fabric order arrives.

So what to do next? Well I suppose I could have got out one of my many UFO's but I didnt want a major project that I would have to put aside again when the fabric arrives. So after reading a couple of blog posts recently about organising scraps I decided to tackle my scrap box. Here it is pre sort - it is shoe box size.

I decided to sort it all into three piles - anything 2" square or larger, strips less than 2" and crumbs which went back into the box.

I decided to tackle the larger pieces first and spent an afternoon pressing and then cutting into Scrap Therapy squares to add to my collection. The squares are 2", 3.5" and 5". They work well together and I regularly dip into them when I am looking for something to make a border.

The next day I was side tracked as I came across a new pattern on Instagram called the #weeboxybasket. The pattern is available from @sweetcinnamonroses Laura Cunningham and comes in two sizes - the rectangle I made and a small square one that sits inside. The original pattern uses mesh for the pockets and although I have mesh I dont have any elastic for the top and anyway I find the mesh a bit annoying as things get caught in it!

This didnt take me very long - the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

It holds the machine threads and feet that I use most and sits neatly under the arm of my sewing machine when not in use.

So then it was back to the scraps and I wanted to tackle the strips. I pressed them and straightened those that needed it then sorted them into two colour groups - pink/purple/green and red/yellow/brown autmn colours.

I have used the pink collection to make 6 x 6" string blocks which are all ready for me to turn into a new sewing machine mat.

I think there are enough autumn strips for a couple of pot holders so they could be next.

Just time to show you a small piece of applique I have been working on in the evenings.

This is to be the centre of an autumn mini quilt. Before I go any further though - I am changing those end leaves for something larger!

Hope you have all had a good week - speak to you again soon.

Friday Night with Friends and a catch up.

First of all thank you Cheryll for hosting us again this month, I am looking forward to seeing what everyone has been working on.

It was one of those odd, pleasant days. It started out with an early trip to the market for our sausage and bacon supply for the next couple of weeks from Franklins Farm Quite chilly at 8am and I had to find a jumper. 

Then we went off to the hairdressers, our first trip in 4 months as fotunately we had squeezed in a visit just before lockdown. Perfect timing really as our hairdresser has been open since mid May and busy catching up with all those people who would have visited in March and April. 

Then a socially distanced visit with a friend on the way home who was busy spraying everything in sight with Zoflora!

After a late lunch it was time for some 'me time' and as the fabric samples I had ordered at the beginning of June had finally arrived I spent a happy time deciding which to order and browsing the web site for anything else I might 'need' lol.

I took photographs of these butterfly blocks which are this months task for the Red Manor House BOM

Such a pretty design which I think will make a great table topper at some point. They will be the corners of the border which includes these Flower pots which I completed earlier in the week

and the petals from May.

They need sashing in between each block, hence the fabric samples as I dont have enough of any one fabric that is suitable.

By the time I had printed out pictures of my June finishes and added them to my journal

it was time to water pots and the afternoon was over.

In the evening I worked on my RSC Dresden. Dark blues this month and I was struggling to find different fabrics to the ones I used last year until I remembered the lovely dark blues I have in my Christmas stash.

This has given me an idea and there may well be a red and green Christmas Dresden before the end of the year!

During lockdown I was busy working on some secret stitching which has now been gifted so I can reveal all!

My neice in Australia was expecting towards the end of June and so I had plenty of time to work on a quilt for her new baby. I used this pattern from Annies Craft Store

swapping the pieced elephants for appliqued ones. This was a lovely project to work on - I had all the fabrics in my stash apart from the grey elephant fabric which I ordered and it came from UK very promptly despite lockdown. (Far quicker than the fabric samples!!)

So the quilt was all ready to post off as soon as I had a name to add into the label. As soon as Dylan arrived I was able to post it off and it arrived in Australia 12 days later - never known the post to be so quick!

And here he is with his quilt!

Big brother Cooper insisted on getting out his quilt too

So thats me all caught up - I am getting out my diamonds for the table cloth today to make into basket blocks and theres an autumn mini that needs working on too. Have a good week.