Throwback Thursday......

.....comes around a little too often for my liking. Another month has gone by already!

Linking up with A Quarter Inch From the Edge  It's exciting to see what everyone has dredged up from the past.

This month I am sharing my second ever quilt, made way back in 1982.

A few close up's - not brilliant as I only have the one photo.

All needleturn hand applique except the map! I think the blocks were quilt as you go and all hand quilting. Machine construction. All cottons, mostly Laura Ashley with some Strawberry Fayre.

I was very fortunate to have this quilt selected for The Quilters Guild second exhibition in 1983.

And that it was shown in colour in the catalogue as many of the quilts were only in black and white.

As the quilt is out on loan it is the picture from the catalogue that I have used here.

Unfortunately I was living in Rome at the time so was unable to see my work in the exhibition - but I did make the local press in what was then my home town, Norwich.

Do go and see what everyone else is sharing and have a great weekend.

Another UFO off the list!

Several years ago a friend came back from Le Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork with this beautiful bag.

All made with beautiful silks and velvets. My friend very generously allowed me to borrow it (thanks Mad) to make a pattern and you may remember seeing my almost finished bag here when I was unhappy with colour of the handles. They have now been re-dyed and the bag is complete.

I have made it using my own dyed cotton velvets plus some silk furnishing fabric samples which I have had for years and knew would come in handy one day!
The interior is lined with hand dyed silk and has one large pocket.

I have used a sparkly brooch to decorate.

Unfortunately my friend does not remember who she bought the bag from and there is no label inside so I am unable to credit the designer of the bag. If anyone recognises the bag then please do let me know so that I can rectify this.

Another UFO surfaced this afternoon and I got this Mystery Quilt from The Quilters Guild layered up.

It's from a few years back now and we worked on it a row at a time. Hoping to get the machine out over the weekend and make a start on the quilting. Meanwhile my Four Seasons Crazy just needs its binding hemming down and a hanging sleeve - handwork for the evenings while the football is on! - so hopefully that will soon be finished.

I have been playing with a couple of small projects. First of all I saw this gorgeous little dish in a charity shop in UK and at 50p it had to come away with me.

I found some gorgeous Tilda fabric that I had been saving and made myself a new pincushion.

I have see quite a few boxed zippy pouches around and had a go at making one using this tutorial.

Not a bad effort although the corners could have been more symetrical! I shall definitely be making more of these though.

Well I think you must have had enough of my pictures now! Hope you all have a great weekend.

More Morris Hexathon blocks

Linking up with Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches for EPP Tuesday.

And I have two more Morris Hexathon blocks to share with you.

#7 Avebury Stones

and #8 Greenwood

Are you working on some EPP? - if so then why not link up with Anthea and share your work.

Have a good week.

UFO update

Just a short post to update you on the progress of my latest UFO project. My Four Seasons crazy blocks have now been joined together using the velvet that I dyed olive green here. And I am really pleased with how the colour has worked with my blocks.

The first thing I did was to extend the 'forsythia' out of the spring block into the frame and also brought a climbing flower out of the summer block.

 

But I also wanted to do something that would unify all the blocks and so I have started to add a heavy chain stitch meandering around the frame with the intention of treating it differently as it touches each block. The first section is complete and I have given it a frosty treatment with sequins, beads and sparkly thread. 

I also added a button 'snowdrift' in the corner.

As a complete contrast to snow we have had a sudden heatwave with temperatures of over 30 for the last three days. Tomorrow they dip again with possible storms so ever changing here.

Back soon.

Christmas Through The Year

Thank you Anthea for hosting this link up for our Christmas makes. Go to Anthea's blog here to see what everyone else is making - and to get some ideas for your own Christmas stash!

I am also linking up with Super Mom - No Cape and her Stitchery Link Party.

After FNSI I showed you this little peek of a stitchery that I am working on.

I fell in love with this design as I watched it being stitched on Instagram by designer LiliPopo so as soon as she released the pattern I had to have it! It's called The Flower Gardener. Isn't she sweet!

Sorry for the poor picture - she needs pressing which of course I can not do until I have removed the blue pen lines. I am really enjoying working on this. You can find the pattern in LiliPopo's Etsy Shop along with lots of other delightful designs and some preprinted panels.

Hope you have a super stitchy week.

June FNSI

June already and what has happened to the weather! It just seems to keep raining here and the garden is soggy but growing like mad.
I have taken the opportunity to do a bit of decorating. Some of you will have seen pictures of my 'studio' before. It is in fact an alcove in a corridor, so tiny. My desk is too big to get through the doorways - I built it in there and it is sort of shoe horned in place along with the tall chest of drawers where my computer sits. So it has not been moved in many a year! I decided that it was about time that the window and the wall behind were painted so on Thursday I moved everything except the desk into the adjacent dining room and pulled the desk back as far as it would go. I cleaned everything down and undercoated. So on Friday I spent the morning painting the walls and glossing the window. Of course putting everything back took so much longer as it needed sorting and reorganising plus I wanted to reline the drawers so they had to be emptied and tidied. By the end of the afternoon everything was back in place and looking clean and tidy.

So it was pleasant to sit and stitch for a while yesterday evening and here is a peek at what I was doing.

Many thanks for hosting us again Wendy - pop over to Sugarlane Designs to see what everyone else was doing.
Have a great weekend.

EPP update

Hello everyone - it's Piece Yourself Together time and I am linking up with Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches again.

Pop over to Hibiscus Stitches Here to see what everyone has been stitching.

There have been three new Morris Hexathon blocks since my last post

#4  Box Hill. I am afraid I chickened out of making a mini version of this block!

#5 Upton

And it's variation #5 Downton!

and the latest block #6 South Kensington Star.

Tricky to get all the points neat in the middle - my centres are not brilliant but could have been a lot worse!

Many thanks for organising the linky Anthea.

It's grey, damp and chilly again in St Victor - whatever has happened to the weather this year!

Hope your week is warmer and drier.