Wings and Pretty Things - a finish!

 Way back in February 2021, Michelle very kindly sent me her notes for the beautiful Wings and Pretty Things quilt that she was making as I had said how much I too would love to make one. I found a beautiful range of fabrics called Rue 1800 designed by Three Sisters for Moda on an English website and ordered a selection.

I added in a few fabrics from my stash that worked with them and off I went.

Fast forward four years and I have a completed quilt!

During that time we not only moved house but also moved countries. But I loved doing all the applique - each block is different - and the hexagons, slowly building to a finished top in October 22.

I worked on the quilting over the winter of 23/24 and again 24/25 adding the last stitch in March. This month it was bound and I have finally been able to get some photographs. The one above in Show and Tell at my quilt group and the following in our garden. I will just say here that I don't think I have ever been able to capture the beautiful colours of the fabrics in my photographs! You will just have to come visit and see the real thing!

All hand applique and hand quilting.

I am of course absolutely delighted with my finish and have loved every step of making this quilt and a very special Thank You to Michelle for sharing her beautiful design.

See you soon for some more finishes!

Friday Night with Friends

 A weeks delay for our FWWFs but thank you Cheryll for getting us organised this week. Sadly, having spent the day painting the garden fence all I could manage in the way of stitch was my Stitch Journal. Here is the last week

Friday nights sewing was that sweep of running stitch to remind me of the sweep of my paintbrush!

This week saw the completion of the quilting on Wings and Pretty Things. Look carefully and you might spot + marking the last stitch!

I worked on my Chookshed Challenge this week - a simple project that was done in an evening.

This little kit cost me peanuts in a local house clearance warehouse. The fabric is silk and the lovely threads perle. Now hangs from my bedside lamp.

I swapped numbers this month in favour of this simple project as I have secret stitching to do and that is now under way. Also this week I got the handles and bindings ready for my selvedge bag which I hope to complete next week when I get out the sewing machine.

So that is all from me for now. Have a good week. 

A busy week...

 ... but quiet on the sewing front.

We have been celebrating Philips 80th birthday this week with family and friends. Starting last Sunday with a family lunch out at Dunster which was delicious and fun.  Philips dessert plate was very tasteful I thought!

Rum and raisin ice cream and that little pot was full of rum!!! Good job I was driving.

It was a lovely sunny day too for a nice walk through the town and part of the castle grounds. You can see my suggestion of the castle in this weeks stitch journal.

I have been working on Wings again this week - down to the last 1/8th of the outer border and it will be finished this week! I need to get on with other things.

After a dry week and now that we have milder temperatures I need to get a few things done in the garden. Lovely to have spring here but winter is such a great time for sewing!

Have a good week everyone.

FNSI December

 

First of all many thanks to Wendy for organising our Friday Night Sew In's again this year.

As usual I started the afternoon with my Stitch Journal and Fridays star was the middle one of the bottom three.

Sorry for poor photograph - another grey damp day here.

I then walked to our nearest coffee shop with a neighbour and spent an enjoyable couple of hours catching up. However, when we left it was tipping down and we both arrived home looking like drowned rats!

I have completed the quilting on the first outer border of Wings and Pretty things.

Sooo good to have reached the edge. One down, three to go but I have now folded it away until after Christmas as space is at even more of a premium at the moment!

So yesterday evening I pulled out my Field Journal folder where fortunately the next few are already drawn up. This sweet little plant was very quick and easy to stitch up and I am looking forward to working on another one this evening.

I have started on some crochet this week - sorry no pictures but oh is it gorgeous! Some beautiful handspun yarn in a lovely colour combo. Pictures next time.

Meanwhile, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and I hope you have time for some quiet sewing in amongst all the busy festivities!

Friday Night with Friends December

 

Friday was a grey and windy day so after a trip to the supermarket we were happy to spend the day indoors. So straight after lunch I got on with my stitch journal - a new page now for December and we are all starry!

These are quick and fun to work.

I have been busy the last few weeks quilting the wide border of Wings and this week I came to the end of all the cross hatching. Just so happy with how it is looking.

Now to work on the outer borders. I spent some time yesterday marking up the feathers along one edge and in the evening made a start on the quilting.

We are in the middle of storm Darragh today. We had a red weather warning this morning expiring at 11.00am but I am pretty sure the winds have been stronger since we moved down to an amber warning! Strong enough to blow over my cast iron garden chairs anyway. Evidently we are to expect another 24 hours of strong winds so plenty of time to play in the kitchen - mince pies need to be made as we have finished the first batch - and with my sewing.

Have a good weekend every one.

FNSI October

 It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon here after a night and morning of rain - storm Ashley, the first of the seasons named storms. Fortunately for us it was not as fierce as expected although more rain on top of what we have already had will be looking for somewhere to go.

Friday was a dry day and we had a few errands in town in the morning. I spent a couple of  hours in the afternoon catching up with friends so not much sewing happened. But I did of course do my Stitch Journal leaf for the day and the page is filling up nicely, if a bit too quickly!

I also cut the backing fabrics for my Magic Lantern runner which is now almost ready to layer up - just some little black feet to add first.

It does rather resemble a Dalek at the moment though!

In other sewing news I have been working away on quilting Wings and Pretty Things and have turned the first corner of the wide border.

And have been dipping into another white sampler piece destined for the tea and rust pot!

It will eventually be attached to the first piece and I am on the lookout for a suitable piece of driftwood to wrap it round.

So that is me all caught up, thanks to everyone else for their company and I will see you again soon.

The end of another month...

 ...and the start of summer! Well, at least the weather has perked up and the start of June is looking fine and dry, it is even a bit warmer which is nice.

The end of May means the end of my pink Stitch Journal page and I have really enjoyed this one. I have referenced the work of Hundertwasser in most of the sections - with a blip in the middle for a few holiday memories!

I am now looking forward to a blue month and have pulled out this selection of threads to work with.

I have finished quilting the first of the large border blocks on Wings and Pretty things and have now put it away until the cooler weather comes in the autumn and I need something to snuggle under in the evenings.

The fabrics I used for Wings are mostly from a range by 3 Sisters for Moda which I fell in love with as soon as I saw them. I recently spotted their new range online, Etchings, and couldn't resist ordering a charm pack as the designs and colours are once again just delightful.

No idea what I shall use these for but I just had to have them! Also in the range are some linen fabrics and as a couple of them are script fabrics which I love, I just had to have some! So these dropped into my basket as well.

Earlier this year I bought the Summer Essentials Bag pattern from Irina at Nordic Crafter as I thought it would be handy for my phone whilst out walking. This turned out to be the perfect pattern to use with some of my new linen fabrics and I now have this cute little bag.

This was a great pattern - easy to follow instructions etc. I did make it 1/2" longer as my phone seems to be a little longer than the average. Also if I were making it again I would make the flap a little narrower to allow the strap loops to sit a little more comfortably but really, they are not a problem.

So I think that is enough from me for now - I have holiday photos to share but I will come back another day with those. Meanwhile have a great weekend.

Friday Night with Friends May

 And I am late on parade! But have enjoyed catching up with everyone else.

Not a lot of sewing happened here on Friday - just my Stitch Journal for the day. So this month we are 'pretty in pink' and I have enjoyed pulling out a few threads to work with. It seems that for some reason I have a vast amount of pink threads and I don't know why as it is not a favourite colour. Anyway, here we are so far this month.

And here is my finished page for April.

It was lovely to have a visit from my niece and great niece on Friday to help celebrate my birthday - and many thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes.

We had a lovely lunch out with of course yummy dessert! Lemon posset.

And a photo for posterity - we don't get to meet up that often.

Earlier in the week I finished quilting the first two borders on Wings

and I have now marked and started quilting the wide applique border. Looking good - photo later. I should get plenty done as my patchwork group has an open day on Tuesday so I should be able to settle down for a good session.

Meanwhile, more celebrations tomorrow and we have a public holiday so there is a car boot sale to visit.

Have a great week.

End of March catch up

 I have been planning to post all week but there was always another stitch to make! And there was the week gone, just like the month really, cant believe how quickly it has gone.

So my purple Stitch Journal page is almost complete.

Each little box has been outlined using a different method or thread combination of couching. Lots of what if's  here and some have worked better than others. I will post some close ups when it is finished. I have been using small bits of precious threads - some silk or linen - in the last box rather than throw away and am planning an Easter egg to work on the top of them. Then looking forward to next months colour - and circles!

Another pair of Winwick Mum basic socks were finished this week.

The yarn for these was called Robin.

I have made a start on quilting the first borders of Wings and Pretty Things using a simple feather design.

I have not made as much progress on this as I had hoped, mainly because a distraction arrived in the post.

Raewyn sent me this delightful little pattern and, bliss oh bliss, some gorgeous blue Cottage Garden thread to work it in. Thank you Raewyn. And so of course I got started and couldn't put it down - until I had to wait for the measuring tape tape to arrive that is.

So delighted with this little set - I even ordered a new pair of scissors! and made the scissor pouch a little larger to accommodate them. Am now waiting for some press studs to arrive as I have been unable to track down my tin full. No doubt they will turn up in a day or so when I am looking for something else. Otherwise it is all complete. Now I am going to crack on with the quilting.

We are well into 'April' showers here with torrential downfalls one minute and blazing sunshine the next!

But did manage to pick a dry day last week for a trip out to a National Trust property. Lytes Cary Manor

which was a first for me. What a delightful house with lots of beautiful wood paneling. I didnt take any pictures inside but nicked this one of a beautiful stumpwork mirror frame from the NT web site.

The bottom third of the stumpwork was worked in the 1660's the rest in the early 20th century. Lots of beautiful details including Kings Charles and Queen Henrietta in the original section and Lytes Cary Manor in the top section.

The gardens were looking good and the gardeners were busy moving a huge heap of compost from the front of the house to the gardens. Here are a few of my favourite pics.

That is all from me for now. Wishing you all a very Happy Easter - and of course chocolate!