Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

Posted on November 20, 2023 by craftycreeky

Apologies for the late posting, yesterday didn’t quite go to plan…we now unexpectedly have a new four legged member of the family!! We were planning to get a dog after Christmas as we have a big holiday coming up, however the owners persuaded us to take her now as a trial and they would look after her over Christmas. She’s a rehome rather than a rescue but it’s clearly going to take a while for her to get used to us and our home. Meet Bella, a bit damp round the edges after a walk in the rain…

Anyway, back to the quilting, three weeks ago I’d managed to finish lots of half made blocks…

I’ve not done as much this time as I’ve been concentrating on Hugo’s birth sampler but I have got a couple of finishes.

I needed to make one more block using the teeny weeny hexies, like the blue forget me not one above. This time I used the pink flowers off one of the fabrics, three darker ones and three lighter ones. I used a really pretty rose fabric for the background which I think sets them off nicely. It’s actually a pretty pale pink but we’re into the winter lack of daylight time!!

The second finish was applique flowers in a tea cup with a ring around it made from ten arcs. The circle hasn’t come out as well as the last one did (the owl above) it sort of bulges a bit to the right, I might undo that bit, I’ll leave it on my sewing room wall and see how much it annoys me!!

With those two blocks finished I have finally finished all the blocks from the third magasine installment (there is one more chequerboard circle which missed the photo shoot!)…

…and also the blocks from the fourth magasine…

So I’m two thirds of the way through the quilt. I’ve just started an embroidery from the fifth magasine too.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

Posted in Owl and Hare Hollow BOM, Quilt-a-long, Quilting | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

A Day out in Harrogate

Posted on November 18, 2023 by craftycreeky

Every year I like to go to the Knitting and Stitching Show, it’s held in Harrogate and it’s big, like three main halls and two smaller ones, full of stands and exhibitions. It’s the northern version of the show held at Ally Pally in London. It’s taken a while to get back on it’s feet after covid, previous years stalls have been a bit thin on the ground but I think it’s finally back up to speed. I had a great time this year!

I managed to win a pair of tickets from Sally Kendall AKA The Yorkshire Sewist, I have followed her blog and on instagram since the days of the Leeds sewing meet-ups as she was one of the organisers. I love seeing her various makes. She had a free draw on her Instagram page, I entered and won 🙂

I went with my walking buddy, she likes cross-stitch so she was happy to come along for a day out.

I bought all sorts! I went with a shopping list which I pretty much stuck to, with a few extras of course! I told my friend not to let me buy any patterned fabric, as I’ve realised I’ve lots of patterns and not much plain to wear it with. Within minutes of arriving at the show I’d fallen for two lengths of gorgeous linen, they were my colours, so I had to buy them both, a purple length for a dress and a shorter teal length for a skirt.

I had a few haberdashery items on my shopping list, like buttons, pins and a new Frixion pen, I didn’t realise they were refillable, so I was pleased to be able to get a new purple one and a pack of refils for my black one on a special offer.

I fell for two new tote bags, one has a cute sewing theme on the front and the other has a design to be embroidered. From the same stall as the embroidery one I also got a design to make the lid for a sewing basket, I’ve been thinking about making a basket for my stuff in the lounge and this looked a good size…I’m sure this purchase will please my OH!!

My biggest purchase was the kit for the Strawberry Sampler book by Jane Greenoff. I’ve had my eye on this for years and I decided it would be a good one to take on holiday with me. The wildlife squares were just too beautiful to leave behind! I’m not sure what I’ll do with them yet, I might see if a couple of them would work in my garden book, they’re printed on good quality cotton.

There were quilts on display from the Festival of Quilts, these were the ones that caught my eye…

The gold one is called Carved Fairy Tale, by Elena Smychenko, inspired by her mothers wooden box, it was just beautiful. Dawn Windows was made by Lynne Edwards, it was stunning! Antics at the Quilt Show made me chuckle, lots of Sunbonnet Sue’s causing mayhem round a show. It was by Nine to Five, which I presume is a quilt group.

The show finishes tomorrow, so if you’re undecided and within striking distance, I think it’s worth a visit this year. We had a great day out, I think hopefully it might become an annual event with my walking buddy too 🙂

Posted in Crafts, Fabric shops, kits | Tagged | 12 Comments

Peter Rabbit SAL

Posted on November 12, 2023 by craftycreeky

I’ve been busy, busy, busy over the last couple of weeks making clothes for a fast approaching holiday, so busy I’ve not got round to posting about them! Luckily I have had time in the evenings to work on my Peter Rabbit birth sampler. I think I’m still on track to finish it in time to get it framed for Christmas.

Three weeks ago I was stitching Mrs Tiggywinkle, the hedgehog…

I’ve now finished Mrs Tiggywinkle and I’ve also done the pulled stitch frames round the characters. I’ve used a thread I found in my stash, a little thicker than a single strand of DMC thread and it looks a lot stronger to withstand the pulling! I like the effect, it just seems to add another texture to the cross-stitch.

I then moved over to the other side. I started at the bottom as one of the blue tendrils goes right across to the other side, so I didn’t have any risky counting to do! I also ran a running stitch across to double check my lines – it would be very easy to miss one stitch out of a long tendril.

I’ve stitch Flopsy the rabbit and the little Flopsy bunnies and I’m now half way through Jeremy Fisher, I just started him last night when I was watching the Service of Remembrance…

Once Jeremy is complete I just have Johnney Townmouse to stitch and then I can start the wording in the middle. I’m getting there!

This SAL is organised by Avis from Stitching by the Sea, please follow the links to see what everyone else has been stitching.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, 

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, 

Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret

Posted in cross-stitch, embroidery, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , , | 28 Comments

Lexie’s Chandelier Quilt

Posted on November 6, 2023 by craftycreeky

Last week I managed to bind the chandelier quilt for my great niece and also embroider a label. Here’s the finished quilt…

I used the same fabric for the binding as I used for the backing, it’s lovely and soft to touch and the colours go with the front really well. I machine stitched the binding on, stitching in the ditch from the front. It’s neat enough and probably more robust for a child’s quilt.

I embroidered Lexie’s name and the year in one of the squares on the back. I put Auntie Margaret as Great Aunt Margaret just sounds so old!! Somehow being a great aunt makes me feel older than being a grandma!! I just wrote the details on the fabric with a Frixion pen and then embroidered over it in back-stitch. Whilst the writing could be a bit neater, I quite like the idea that my hand-writing is effectively on the quilt too.

Today I handed it over to Lexie and my niece. They loved it, I said I’d rather it was used and worn out than sat on the shelf looking pretty. My niece told me she still has the quilt my mum made for her when she was a young child, well used and loved. Here’s little Lexie with her quilt, isn’t she a cutie…

I’m still hoping to make one more quilt before Christmas…along with everything else I want to make or do!

Posted in Quilting, Serendipity | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Chandelier Quilt

Posted on October 31, 2023 by craftycreeky

I’ve been making a quilt for my great niece, I promised one for her christening which was in the summer. I did make it clear that it wouldn’t be made in time for the actual day, but I did promise to try and make it before she was 18!!

I’d been looking at the chandelier quilts for a while on pinterest, so this seemed a perfect opportunity to make one. Last time I shared my progress I was trying to decide on the layout, organised or random…

I shared the two options on the UK quilters facebook page and I must admit random was the most popular choice and left to my own devices that’s probably what I would have chosen. However…I also sent the photos to my niece and she chose the organised one and now it’s made up, I love it. I made three extra blocks to swop out the ones in the bottom right corner that didn’t quite flow and here’s the finished top…

I love it when they’re all smoothed out and sandwiched together.

Having had a perusal on pinterest I decided to keep the quilting simple following the diagonal lines. At first I tried stitching in the ditch down the centre of the sashing, planning to then quilt quarter of an inch in from the other edge. My quilting in the ditch is never very neat so I abandoned that idea and just stitched quarter of an inch on either side of the centre seam. This made nice squares round the little squares. I then realised I should also be quilting down the outside of the sashing too as this nicely quilted round each big square! So the original three rows of quilting turned into six rows down each sashing, but it was worth it as I think it works really well.

The backing is a lovely soft cotton from Timeless Treasures which I spotted in the Remnant Shop in Harrogate, it picks out all the colours perfectly. It looks like a batik but it’s actually just a printed cotton which actually probably makes it softer – it feels lovely.

All I’ve got to do now is bind it and embroider a label.

Posted in Quilting | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

Posted on October 29, 2023 by craftycreeky

Last time I shared my progress on the Owl and Hare Hollow quilt I seemed to have lots of half done or not quite finished blocks, so I’ve been concentrating on those. This was helped by the fact that I’m up to date with the embroidered blocks at the moment as I’m just waiting for the next magazine to arrive with the next instalment of instructions, with a bit more planning I’ve been stitching the mini hexies on whilst out and about, my handbag stitching!

Thee weeks ago I was here…

I finished the last few flowers on the embroidery and then stitched lots of hexies together in strings of 19. I’m trying to make the hexie borders pretty much the same, though the positioning changes and as I progress through the quilt there will be a few substitutes as I run out of various fabrics. Having them in the same order makes it much easier as I don’t have to think about colour mix and balance each time.

I stitched the rings of hexies round the three embroideries waiting to be finished and also stitched a circle in the centre of the flowers so that was another three blocks completed…

I still hadn’t finished the applique owl that I started weeks ago. The owl was complete – he’s having button eyes which I’ll stitch on after quilting. He was just waiting on the applique border which I must admit I was putting off a bit as I found it fiddly last time. A couple of nights ago I settled down, made the ten paper piecing arcs, stitched them together in a circle and after a good press managed to get the papers out without distorting the shapes. I then just had to stitch them on, after all that prevaricating the border went on without any issues and I really like this block.

Two other unfinished blocks were those made with hexie flowers. I mounted the larger hexie flower onto a double ring of fabric, this is the second version of this block, matching the pink one I made earlier.

The ring of ‘forget-me-nots’ was also waiting to be finished. This one was hanging on for me to find a very pale green background fabric. I just couldn’t find what I wanted in local shops, I nearly used silk paints to colour one of the fabrics. I found this one that in certain lights does have a definite greenish tinge to it. In the end last night I stitched them all on. I did think this morning I could have stitched them on a darker green seven inch circle and then stitched that onto the lighter background…I’ll bear that in mind, I’ve another one to do so I might try it with that one and maybe change this one.

I think I’ve another two blocks to make before I’m up to date and officially half way through this quilt-a-long. I’m already mulling over ideas on how to quilt this one, hand or machine, whole or quilt as you go…decisions!

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday, please follow the links to see what everyone has been stitching.

Posted in embroidery, Owl and Hare Hollow BOM, Quilt-a-long, Quilting, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Peter Rabbit Birth Sampler SAL

Posted on October 22, 2023 by craftycreeky

I was getting a bit worried three weeks ago that maybe I was being a tad optimistic thinking I could get this birth sampler finished for Christmas but I’m ticking along nicely now!

Three weeks ago I was still stitching the first of six characters, Peter Rabbit…

I have now completed Peter, he was meant to be one of the Flopsy Bunnies with a pink jacket on, but as it’s for my grandson Hugo, I changed it to a blue jacket to make it Peter instead. The pattern had her holding a blue book, so I changed it to yellow which is the colour used in the pattern for mouse at the top, which I think is called Little Johney Townmouse.

I then carried on up the lefthand side and stitched Jemima Puddleduck and I’m over half way through Mrs Tiggywinkle. I have a soft spot for Mrs Tiggywinkle as according to the book, she lives on the side of Catbells, one of my favourite climbs in the Lake District.

I haven’t done any of the pulled stitches yet, I’m thinking of doing this side first, then tackle the pulled stitches round these characters, I think it might help me make sure I’ve lined the two sides up correctly, one thread out a couple of times over those long blue tendrils and I’m a whole square out! I’m also wondering about just running a tacking thread across one line to make sure I line it all up correctly.

This SAL is organised by Avis from Stitching by the Sea, please follow the links to see what everyone has been stitching.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, 

Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret

Posted in cross-stitch, embroidery, Sewing for Grandchildren, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , , | 23 Comments

Owl and Hare Hollow HQAL

Posted on October 8, 2023 by craftycreeky

I seem to have ended up with lots of blocks half made, so I’ve made a concerted effort to finish some this week…

Three weeks ago I’d prepared lots of 1.5″ squares as I had to make four 5×5 blocks. I’d decided to make them all the same as they wouldn’t be near each other on the finished quilt and just by turning them they would look different…and it took too much thinking to work out fabric choices four times!

I stitched them into the chequerboard blocks fairly quickly as I didn’t want to risk the box of squares being up-diddled! The blocks sat for a couple of weeks in my sewing box but this week I trimmed them into a circle and gathered it round a 7″ template. Four blocks more blocks finished.

On my visit to my daughters I finished stitching another embroidered block, this one just needs the ring of hexagons. I love this one…

On the train journey back from London I started stitching another embroidery, this has lots of flowers on and will have an appliqued circle in the middle. I’ve used several DMC and Anchor variegated threads for this one. It’s almost finished, sorry I can’t press it for the photo but I’ve used a Frixion pen to trace the design and it disappears with heat!

I finished the block with a large hexie flower on, it’s mounted on two circles. I’m not entirely happy with this one as I think the flower gets a bit lost. With hindsight I would have been better to have the pink flowery fabric as the outer ring and the green one inside. I might leave it and do a pink flower for the second one, with the circles fabrics the other way round, or I could take the hexiflower off this one and maybe make a darker pink flower instead.

I’ve finished making the tiny blue hexie flowers, I haven’t mounted them yet as I fancy getting some very pale green fabric for them. I’ve to make another set too, I’m undecided whether to make a pink set or some hexie sheep! I’ve had a big cutting out session of the larger (1/2″) hexies as I’ve three or four embroideries ready and waiting for the circle of hexagons.

I’m pretty much up to date with the embroideries now, these have been my handbag stitching this year, so I think I need to prep some hexie circles and tack them on, these can be properly stitched on then during my lunch hour or whilst waiting for appointments…or buses!

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Please follow the links to see what everyone’s been stitching.

Posted in embroidery, Owl and Hare Hollow BOM, Quilt-a-long, Quilting | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Mother Daughter Time

Posted on October 7, 2023 by craftycreeky

Last weekend I had a wonderful few days with my daughter, she lives about 200 miles away at the moment, she comes up when she can but for various reasons I hadn’t been down there, so it was lovely to see where she lived and have some time together.

The weekend started on Thursday, she bought us tickets to see Shania Twain for my birthday. I made myself a blouse and after chatting to a younger work colleague who went earlier in the week Helen also managed to get some cowboy hats at the last minute…and then we got some twinkly lights to go on them on the stalls outside the arena. We had a fabulous time, here we are just before the concert…

On Friday we drove down to Colchester to her house for the weekend. On Saturday she suggested that we go to Beth Chatto’s garden. I’ve wanted to go for years as it’s quite a famous garden. It’s actually Grade II listed which is pretty rare for a garden. I’d heard about the dry garden which she famously made from a carpark back in the 1960’s, it’s never watered, she just planted plants that like dry conditions.

I didn’t realise however that there’s much more to the gardens, there’s 7 acres altogether with several ponds and beautiful borders. What we particularly liked is that it wasn’t pristine, there were weeds around, she used lots of easily available plants, like verbena, sedum, hydrangeas, there was no neat colour scheme, there were lots of ideas that were usable in the average sized garden…and some amazing vistas…

On Sunday she said we’d have a walk round Dedham. Something about Dedham rang a bell with me but I couldn’t remember what. I asked Helen what was there, oh it’s just a pretty village with a nice walk along the river. It still niggled me when we were having lunch in Dedham, why had I heard about it! We were walking along the river when we came across a National Trust exhibition…about Constable’s Haywain, probably one of the most famous paintings in Britain! It was painted in 1821 at Flatford Mill which is in Dedham!! The painting now hangs in the National Gallery. ‘Who’s Constable’ says my daughter!! Her artistic grandmother would be spinning in her grave!!

Anyway, we could see the spot where Constable painted the Haywain. I was surprised to see it was a dead end of water, I always presumed they were crossing a river, so I’m not sure why they didn’t just go round the end!

On Monday I left my daughters to come home on the train. I travelled via London and met up with two girls I trained as a nurse with, one of whom I hadn’t seen since about 1987!! We shared a flat for a couple of years and it was wonderful to see them both again, lots of reminiscing. We’re hoping to have a reunion early next year as it’ll be 40 years since we started our nurse training.

I was quite exhausted when I finally got back home on Monday night!

Posted in Garden, Serendipity | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Peter Rabbit SAL

Posted on October 1, 2023 by craftycreeky

It’s time for a new project!

I’m stitching a birth sampler for my grandson for Christmas. I usually stitch a non-baby design as otherwise I think they can have a pretty short shelf life, however they always seem to stay with the parents when the children move out anyway! These are the two I did for my children…

I was beginning to think that they didn’t appeal to the younger generation so I was delighted when my daughter-in-law mentioned that she’d love a Peter Rabbit birth sampler…and of course I sold a pattern on e-bay during my clear out earlier this year!! I first stitched it back in 1988 for my niece and luckily I managed to buy a pattern back again .

I think it’s a particularly cute design as it’s based on the frontispieces of the Beatrix Potter books which have six of the characters reading books. I like the pulled thread detail too.

I’ve made a start on the bottom left. I changed it from one of the flopsy bunnies to Peter Rabbit with his blue coat as it’s for my grandson. I just need to decide on the book colour now.

It’s a while since I’ve done any cross-stitch, I’m using 32 count linen, so 16 stitches to the inch. I’ve had the odd bit of frogging to do when I’ve miscounted, so hopefully my maths will improve fairly quickly as otherwise this is going to take sometime! With a bit of luck I’ll have finished this block and be on with the next one by the time of the next SAL post.

This SAL is organised by Avis from Stitching by the Sea, please follow the links to see what everyone else is stitching.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, 

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, 

Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Cindy, MaryMargaret

Posted in embroidery, grandchildren, Sewing for Grandchildren, Stitch-a-long | Tagged , , | 10 Comments