Dear Jane - Your Time Has Come!

My Dear Jane quilt has been a work in progress since 2002 although for most of that time it has languished in a box!
I first blogged about my Dear Jane here in 2012 and for a year there were various updates on my progress, but then I discovered Crazy Patchwork and poor Jane languished again!
Well, 2016 is my year of finishes and Dear Jane has surfaced! However, I now know that she will never be a completed full size quilt and so I have decided to just make use of the blocks that I have already made and enjoy them as they are. Not to mention enjoying the stack of fabric which was also stored away and which can be added to my stash!
So first of all I got out all my blocks and laid them out on the table in order.
Here they all are.

 I had 43 completed blocks.
By consolidating them

into a 7x7 square I could make a decent lap quilt. All I needed were six more blocks and luckily when I delved into the box I found two that had escaped the photo shoot which meant I had only four to make! I chose a few fairly easy ones so they were soon complete.
This afternoon I made a start on adding the the downward sashing between the blocks and this is how Jane is looking now.

Just the long crossways sashing to add and then I can think about the border which will probably be elongated triangles similar to the ones on the original quilt.

It feels good to be doing something positive with these blocks.

PS Linking up with A Quilting Readers Garden

The first PYT of 2016!

Yes, Piece Yourself Together is back and many thanks to Anthea for hosting this linky again. Pop over to Anthea's blog to see what she and everyone else has been up to.

I have been busy with my swap hexies and can show these that have been sent off in the last month.

And these that I have received

I am hoping that there might be a few more in the post on the way to me!

I am getting a nice collection of blue flowers now and am starting to think about a colour for the setting hexies - at the moment I am thinking a nice, sunny, golden yellow but that could change.

For the time being though, back to getting a UFO out of the way - more about that in my next post though.

Happy stitching.

FNWF and a New Year

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my first post of 2016!

And with Friday Night with Friends last night it has got off to a good start - many thanks Cheryll. Do pop over to Cheryll's blog to see what everyone got up to - just click on the link above.

We only returned from our Christmas trip to UK on Wednesday during which time I did no sewing - just a little knitting - so it was good to be back sewing again last night. I chose to work on my swap hexie flowers for this month as I like to get them sent off nice and early.

The green flowers are complete - the blue ones need their petals sewing together, so that's a job for this evening.

I took part in Sheila's Christmas postcard swap and my swap partner was Annie. I had not come across Annie's blog before so of course I went to have a look and found lots of exciting work. I was therefore watching the post in eager anticipation but nothing came! Poor Annie was on the verge of making another card when it finally turned up - and it was well worth the wait!

Isn't it lovely? The stitching on the snowflake is tiny and amazing. I love the binding - it is the same on the back of the card and just as perfect!!

And just look at all the lovely details on the back (sorry for my scruffy editing) including the lovely postmark.
Many thanks Annie - I love it.

Just a couple of Christmas gifts to show you that I did not show last year.

This little bag went to my great niece.

And this Christmas mini to our grandaughter. The tree design is by Gail Pan.

Well, now I must get back to searching for an elusive piece of embroidery that I put away safely before Christmas!

Have a good week.

FNSI and where have I been?

Many thanks to Wendy at Sugarlane Designs for all the work she has put into FNSI over the year. Last night was our final get together for 2015 so do pop over to Wendy's to see what everyone got up to.
As we are in UK I was knitting as we watched the TV and made good progress on this sock.

I've got the complicated bit to do next!

We have been in the UK a week now so if I have not been to visit you lately then that is why - we seem to have been busy all week Christmas shopping and visiting friends.
The weather here is incredibly mild - we saw daffodils flowering the other day - but also mostly grey and damp. However it has been lovely to see the Somerset countryside again with two trips across the levels to Street and to Wells. The levels on a misty morning are one of my favourite memories from when I worked in Street. The Farmers market in Wells is always a treat - just a shame that we can not indulge in all the lovely foods on offer during our stay.
Yesterday we went to the south coast - to Seaton where the sea front was very blustery but in the town all was calm. Found a lovely little craft shop and picked up some bargain Christmas ribbons which will feature in next years Christmas makes.

Well I must get on with wrapping Christmas presents this morning - it's wet and windy outside so an indoor job is perfect.

Wishing all my lovely readers a Very Happy Christmas and a Healthy, Peaceful and Stitchy 2016.

Piece Yourself Together time again..

.... and the last one for 2015. Thank you very much Anthea for setting this up and organising us this year, it has been great to see what other people are working on and we need to spread the word! 

So, to my swap hexies and this lovely one arrived recently

.

And here is one that I sent out in November

The other November hexies to send require fabric that I don't have so they will be sent when I get to UK next week.

Here are my December hexie flowers that I have posted to my swap partners.

Last time I showed you a sneak peak of some half inch hexies that I was working on - they were for postcards which have now been received so I can show you the finished cards.

This one was for the lovely Susan who is busy working on a dissertation for her degree!

 

And this one went to my swap partner Annie  in Sheila's Christmas postcard swap.

Annie blogs at Freeze Frame.

Many thanks to Sheila for organising another lovely postcard swap.

So Happy Christmas to my hexie friends and see you next year.

Another CQJP finish

And this is my block for November all done and dusted.

I have managed to incorporate a few TAST stitches in this piece - half cretan, crossed buttonhole, butterfly chain, bullion knots and knotted cretan. Trying to work out how to fit them in is good for the brain cells! and it is great to be trying different stitches.

A few close ups.

 Two layers of half cretan make the triangular section.

 Knotted cretan along the bottom.

 The zig zag on the left is butterfly chain.

The row of crossed stitches on the left is crossed buttonhole and the flower petals are bullion knots.

Today I am linking up with

hosted by Super Mom - No Cape. This is a linky for all things hand embroidered so do pop over and see what everyone has been up to.

Throwback Thursday #5

When Jenn A Quarter Inch from the Edge announced that she was setting up her Throwback Thursday linky I fully intended to link up each month with some of my older projects! Well, you know how all good plans somehow go wrong and here we are in month 5 and this is only my second link up!

Click on Jenn's link above to see what everyone else has come up with from the past.

Jenn asked us for Christmassy things this month - well I don't have a Christmas Quilt but this quilt was made five years ago for a Christmas present so I hope that counts!

The Quilters Guild of the British Isles ran a Mystery Quilt over 4 issues of their quarterly magazine. At that time I had not discovered the delights of online shopping for fabric let alone blogging! So this quilt was all made from my stash and the photograph is wonky but it is the only one I have.

This is just a crop of my original picture. Some of the fabrics are vintage Laura Ashley, some more modern. I did not have quite enough of the gorgeous pansy fabric and had to email the shop where I had bought it and they very kindly rummaged around and sent me an oddment that was tucked away in a corner.

The method of making the centre panel produced some spare pieces which very conveniently made a matching cushion but unfortunately I don't seem to have a picture of it.

So that's it - my throwback - I am now looking forward to going to see what everyone else linked up with..
Hope you have a great weekend.