Quick catch up!

 Getting ready for a short holiday here so just a few pictures of what I have been up to - actually not very many!

I have finished my Chookshed Challenge for the month - a nice easy one really, don't know why it has taken me so long!

This was the quilted panel I had from many years ago.

And it is now a cushion, here shown gracing a couple of new to me chairs that my neighbour had no use for.

Having used hand dyed fabrics for the applique and border I just had to go into my stash to find something to complement them. Procion dyed fabrics all seem to blend together well I find. This piece was the back of an old cotton shirt that I had dyed magenta and was the perfect size. I love the markings you can get from crumpling the fabric into the dye.

The second picture looks like a tulip to me. Anyway, there was the perfect zip in my stash and an hour later the cover was made.

Here is my stitch journal from the last couple of weeks.

My secret stitching is complete and I have made progress on the latest pair of socks and the crochet blanket - sorry no pics.

Just a few pictures from a recent visit to Dunster Castle although we only did the river walk round to the cafe. It is always very noisy by this bridge as the water rushes down from Exmoor. Always amazing to see how quickly the Gunnera grow, and how big the leaves are!

This little robin came for a visit while we sat there.

So that is all my news for today - short and sweet! Have a great weekend.

FNWFs May and other things!

 The car was booked in for a service on Friday afternoon so I went along with some quilting to do and sat in one of their comfy chairs drinking their very good - for a machine - coffee. Two hours later, all was well and I had completed quite a bit of quilting. Sadly I cannot show you as it is 'secret stitching'!

In the evening I worked on my stitch journal - that last lollipop tree was my Friday stitching.

And my stitch journal pictures for April

Many thanks to Cheryll for getting us together on Friday - always lovely to see what everyone is doing.

This week has seen a couple of new starts, first up a new pair of Winwick Mum basic socks. And by the way, if you have knitted a pair of WM basic socks over the last year then there is a great giveaway - this is the link Winwick Mum you need to read through the post for details.

I am using King Cole Zig Zag yarn which I have never used before so am looking forward to seeing what pattern emerges as I knit.

Another new start this week has been a Ripple Blanket using Lucy's lovely pattern I aim to use up some of my autumnal DK wools. No hurry with this one, just as and when. Maybe not so much over the summer should we get any warm weather!

On the subject of which, it has been a warm week here with temperatures of 26/27 degrees. Most un April/May like. Cooling down now though but it has not rained for a while.

Completed this week was my tree skirt roundel

these sew up nice and quickly.

I just had to initiate a major search for my Chookshed Challenge #8 as it was not in the box I had expected it to be in! However, having found it I now also know where #5 is, when we get to it!

So this is my #8

and it just needs making up into a cushion cover. It's just under 18" square so a decent size. I made it many years ago when I was trying out applique and never finished it because I didn't have a home for it. But I think I may have found one now. The fabrics were all Procion dyed with hand applique and hand quilting.

That quilting looks amazingly neat and tiny but the fabrics were all cotton lawn which makes for easier stitching.

So I think that is all I have to tell you this week - hope you all have a good week.

Friday Night with Friends, June

 June already and summer is here. Well at least it feels like summer as the sun has been shining and it has been several weeks since we had any rain.

Good to join in with Cheryll and friends again for FNwFs - pop over to Cheryll's blog here to see who else took part. Thank you Cheryll.

I spent an hour in the afternoon working on my Boro panel which I have started embroidering onto. I finished adding the twigs to my tree and started adding in some blossom.

There will be leaves added and possibly more twigs as I go along. The plan is to fill the rest of the panel with lots of flowers but I can see that I could be some time working on this tree!

Earlier in the week I needed something simple to work on during a zoom chat and wanted to start on my RSC hearts. However, Angela's suggestion of dark and bright blues I have already made this year so I decided to go for red. In the end she suggested adding in some green for teal but I will do that when the red month comes along! Anyway Friday evening saw me watching T20 cricket - Somerset are doing brilliantly so far this year - and sewing down the second heart. So here they both are.

Nice to have these done early on in the month and I can press on with a few other projects - I may just have been led down the garden path to another new project!! More next time.

Have a great weekend.

FNSI September

 A busy day of shopping, fence painting and an early dinner out didn't leave much time to sew! However, having pinned down the final border of hexies for Wings I allowed myself a little treat - sewing down those hexies is not very exciting!

And I worked on this little butterfly for one corner of the border.

Many thanks Wendy for hosting - I have seen a few nice things that were worked on yesterday, you can go here to see for yourself!

Have a great week - we are off on our travels so I shall not be around, but will be back in time for Friday Night with Friends!

Churndashalong update

 Here we are, nearly at the end of another month, so it's time for a Churn Dash SAL update. And I am pleased to say that the top of my little mini quilt is complete.

I have appliqued some little rosebuds along the top border and am very pleased with how they are looking. I hadn't tried these before but they are very simple and very effective - the tricky bit was pressing the vine and leaves without squashing the buds!

Septembers task will be to get this quilted and to press on with my other churn dash project, the small tablecloth.

Thanks Chooky for organising the stitchalong, just the motivation I needed.

Friday Night Sew In and dashing along

 FNSI has come round again! Many thanks to Wendy for organising us and you can see who took part here .

I have joined in with Chooky's Churn Dash SAL which I am calling a Churndashalong! I had no intention of joining in as I do not want to start another quilt, but when I realised I could make anything using Churn Dash blocks then the idea of a wall hanging was born. I have plenty of the pretty fabrics that I am using for my Wings and Pretty Things so I thought that I would use those . I am also hand pieceing as there is no room in this house for my machine to be out permanently. Besides, I do love hand pieceing. It was how I learnt to make patchwork blocks all those years ago before rulers and cutting boards had made it to the UK and I resisted joining in with the fast machine piecing for many years.

Anyway, back to my Churn Dash blocks which I pieced for FNSI on a hot (for UK) afternoon and evening.

They are 4.5" finished. I will need 4 for my wall hanging, one of these and three more in different fabric combinations. The other one I will use as the centre of a larger Churn Dash block, then probably a third to make a small table centre/cloth. I enjoyed putting these together and am looking forward to next month when I shall make another block.

I also found time to cut out the applique pieces for my last Wings and Pretty Things applique block - here are two that I finished this week.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Friday Night With Friends

 Many thanks Cheryll for another lovely evening stitching away with friends. You can see who else took part here

I spent my afternoon and evening watching cricket and working on appliqueing these RSC blue Dresdens to my top.

Then I moved on to my next Wings and Pretty Things block and got the stems sewn down and some prep done on the rest of the applique.

I have two completed Wings blocks to show you

Just three more to do.

Another finish this week was my hat.

I am very pleased with this finish - it is made from a lovely silk and merino mix from Perran Yarns. Lovely to work with and it is going to be very snuggly on windy days next winter.

I will be back soon.

Friday Night with Friends, March

 Didn't get to any sewing until the evening as we were out celebrating Philip's birthday during the day. We visited Dunster which is on the north Somerset coast. The castle and gardens were closed but we enjoyed a walk through the village and lunch in the Luttrell Arms.

Followed by a visit to the beach.

I had three Wings and Pretty Things blocks that needed some embroidery to complete them and this had been my plan for Friday evening. I got most of it completed, adding the last few stitches today.

These pretty fabrics are definitely not easy to photograph!

Many thanks to Cheryll and my other Friday Night Friends.

FNSI December

 Friday was a busy day so it wasn't until the evening that I was able to sit and sew - and by that time I was too tired to do much! Anyway, I was working on this Wings and Pretty Things block which has progressed well since Friday.

Not much left to do now. These fabrics are not photographing well!

The first block is finished as far as I can go.

That bird looks a bit manic! He will look better when he gets a beak and an embroidered eye. As you can see, as well as the embroidery there are also some twigs missing. We are in the middle of moving house and I managed to pack the little bias pressing gadget which I knew I would need! Also all my embroidery threads have gone too. Well, I shall be able to add those little bits later.

That's it from me for now - many thanks to Wendy for organsising our Friday Night Sew In's all year. Please click on the link to see what everyone was working on.

A couple of finishes!

 Yes, I have been beavering away here, clearing up a few ongoing projects. First of all I am proud to show my completed tablecloth!

So pleased with this and apart from the hassle of trying to get those flower baskets square (which they are not!) I loved every stitch of this project.

The flower baskets use scraps from my collection, the applique is all using batiks and I have made a scrappy batik binding.

A couple of shots in the garden (it's the bench that is not level - not my photography)

and finally on the table where it will live.

Now for my second finish I have this scrappy cover for my Kenwood Chef which I started in the summer.

This replaces the old blue and yellow cover that I made many years ago and which has been well used and washed. It is now looking very tired, unlike this picture where it was brand new!

Also to report I have progress on Wings and Pretty Things. Whilst in UK recently I caught up with the fabric I had ordered for the first border so I have been able to add that and the second border of hexies and butterflies.

Now I can make a start on the next applique border of pretty things.

And finally a couple of Field Journal blocks which I finished back in August but had not got around to photographing.

Well that is all for now. I need to get on with some secret stitching this week and I may get out another Field Journal block to work on.

Have a good week.