It’s three weeks since I last showed you my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt, I was hoping to be onto the next border by now but as usual life and other sewing projects got in the way. I’ve decided to stop feeling guilty over my slow progress with hand quilting this quilt, progress is progress, even if it’s just a couple of hours. Though what I really need to do is to try and quilt a little bit every day, even just one thread length a day would make a difference.
Anyway, three weeks ago I was here…
I was just about half way round the sunflower border.
Well I’ve done another Dresden flower and I’ve almost finished another sunflower, so I’m about three quarters round this border now. The straight lines are my basting threads which are gradually fading as I remove them.
Fingers crossed I might actually finish this border over the next three weeks!! Please follow the links below to see lots more hand-quilting, I’m sure they’ll have made much more progress than me!
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.
I’ve just finished my Tula Pink quilt! This one is going to be auctioned at a charity ball so I felt it need to be fairly striking, having said that I had lots of wobbles making it as the colours are brighter than my usual palette, so I have to give a huge thanks to everyone for your suggestions and encouragement, it kept me going forward! Now it’s finished I like it, yes there are changes I would make with hindsight, but everyone’s reactions to it since I finished it have been positive, so hopefully it will do well on the night.
To give a bit of a recap, it’s a free pattern on the Tula Pink website, it’s called Flower Market. I used predominantly Tula Pink fabrics, so there’s owls, racoons, squirrels, frogs, all sorts hidden within the designs. As a pattern it went together really quickly as some of the pieces are full block or even double block size. Arranging the fabrics and colours was more difficult as I had to fight my usual desire to have the colours fairly co-ordinating, the lime green really makes it pop but I did have to be pushed into using it!
I backed it with some plain fabric in a light blue/green colour which pretty well matches one of the fabrics on the front. In some lights it looked a bit bright but it works well now it’s all made up. It’s actually a lot lighter than it looks in the photo, you can see a peep of it in the photo of the quilt folded below.
I quilted it using a mixture of flower patterns and foliage of sorts. The flower design is one I found on the internet but I didn’t fancy using it all over so I also used my standard quilting pattern which is like meandering to a point! I found when I started free motion quilting that it was when I had to stop that I had a wiggle, so I decided to change direction at that point instead, much easier! My tension still isn’t perfect but it’s improved a lot, I haven’t got any ‘eyelashes’ from going too quick!
I used a variegated thread on the top which is purple and green, I think it nicely pulls it all together. The quilt is about 63″ square, so it was a bit of a handful when I was trying to quilt the centre as I’ve only got a standard size sewing machine.
I stitched teal green binding on, I always hand-stitch it down which takes quite a while but I’ve never managed to get a neat result with the machine. I understand a lot of quilters really dislike binding a quilt, but I see it as the last stage, it’s almost done and it’s actually quite relaxing. It took a few hours but it’s one of those activities where you can just let your mind wander and day dream away, before you know it you’ve stitched all the way round.
I just need to embroider the name of the quilt, my initials and the date on the back and it’s ready to be posted.
Pen-y-ghent is one of ‘The Yorkshire Three Peaks’, the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside, they are all within fairly close proximity so there is a popular local challenge to walk all three in twelve hours, a distance of about 26 miles. If you register at the pub at the start you can get a certificate at the end!
In May a group of forty colleagues from work are going up to stay for the weekend and walking the three peaks on the Saturday. It should be a great weekend as there is a good mix of people, doctors, nurses, radiographers and cardiac technicians, all ages, I’m really looking forward to it.
I did make it clear right from the beginning that there was no way I could do all three, I know my limits! I’d just do one, one of the doctors is also just doing one so I’ve got someone to walk with. However, I decided I wanted to do a practice walk, make sure I could actually do it (I’ve got no balance) as I really didn’t want to throw a wobbly with one of my work colleagues!
Yesterday we decided to tackle it, it was a nice clear morning, though it was pretty cold, we needed extra jumpers and hat and gloves! We parked at Horton in Ribblesdale and set off, there was a lovely view of the fell from the church, we were climbing up the steep right hand flank and coming down the gentler left hand side.
As soon as we gained a bit of height the wind started, and it was pretty strong, we were walking straight into it so it was hard work. Strong winds always make me a bit nervous when I’m walking as it’s so much easier to lose my balance. The path up Pen-y-ghent is pretty much straight up with varying degrees of steepness, so we had several rests on the way up, taking a photo of the view is always a good excuse!
We decided to assess the wind when we got to the start of the final ascent, however having scrambled up one steep bit there was no way I was going back down it so we were committed! Climbing up the final flank is a steep scramble, all hands and feet required! There’s no photos of this bit as the camera went in the rucksack! At times there was quite a precipitous drop beneath us so we had to keep calm and hold on! At the moment I’m reading a book by Simon Ingram called Between the Sunset and the Sea, it’s all about climbing mountains, he describes the fear and exhilaration you get climbing a mountain perfectly!
We finally reached the top, it was pretty busy up there but some gentlemen squeezed up on the stone bench in the windbreak shelter so we could sit and eat our sandwiches. It was a fairly busy route really, it’s popular anyway and it’s also half term so there were a few families out walking, we reckoned over the walk we saw about 50 or 60 people. There was a good view of Ingleborough from our sandwich spot at the top, I was so glad we weren’t heading that way today!
The way down is much easier terrain, though a slow descent is hard on the knees. We did a short detour to see Hull Pot. This is a huge pothole, a collapsed cavern really, what brought it to our attention is that a few weeks ago there was a sudden downpour, 5″ rain fell in a matter of hours. The whole pot flooded! There’s some photos here if you want to see. Hull Pot is about 60′ deep and wide and about 300′ long, you can just see some climbers at the bottom. It was quite awe-inspiring to think of it flooding so quickly.
We saw some very cute lambs on the way down, which helped to distract our tired legs!
Altogether we walked about eight miles, it took us about five hours including lots of breaks (sausage roll break, coffee break, sandwich break, sticky bun break…) but it was pretty tough terrain for me and straight into a strong wind so I’m pretty pleased with that. At least I know I won’t throw a wobbly on my colleague in May!
Things seem to be changing almost daily in the garden, shoots appearing, leaves unfurling and flowers opening. I do like this time of year! It’s been a bit colder but it’s remarkably dry, in fact we could do with a bit of rain!
Round the pond the hostas and irises are starting to shoot up and the foliage of the dog-toothed violets (erythronium) has appeared. The hellebores are still in flower though they are starting to droop as the new leaves push their way through the middle.
Over the arbour the clematis has lovely fresh lime green leaves and soon the blue buds will develop. The camellia is past it’s best now but it’s still looking colourful. At it’s feet is brunnera Jack Frost which is covered in tiny blue flowers. The fatsia japonica at the back by the fence was planted last year in a very tall blue pot, the area is very shady in the summer with the fence, the wall to the left and the sambuscus spreading it’s branches overhead, so far it’s still looking happy.
I don’t often show you the front garden, it’s mainly shrubs (and weeds!!) but this little area is looking particularly good at the moment. The perennial wall flower has flowered it’s socks off for months now and it’s rust/red flowers are still looking good. The white flowered shrub is a spirea arguta, it’s a very easy going shrub and once it’s finished flowering it gets pruned hard. The golden leaved shrub at the top is actually a privet that has never been pruned, I love it’s light, airy look.
Walking down our steep drive there’s all sorts happening now, the white plum blossom is out, the philadelphus has opened it’s lime green leaves, there’s quite a lot of buds on there too so hopefully we’ll have a good display. The flowering blackcurrant is flowering, thaty’re the soft pink dangly flowers, unfortunately the smell is not good – cat pee! Right at the bottom is an amelanchier which is looking very pretty with white blossom and coppery new leaves. I need to do a lot of hard pruning in this bed, the laurel is too big, for some reason the eucalyptus looks dead, I’ll cut it right back and see if it recovers but I’m not hopeful.
I have finally got some long catkins on my twisted hazel, I’ve had it about four years now and have only had short stubby ones up to now, but look at these!
I’ve got a few plans for the garden over Easter, I’ve just bought a garden bench for the Amber & Amethyst garden and I’m going to make an arch to go over it, at least that is the plan. I’ve found some instructions on a blog, just need to get some uprights and find a jig-saw in the garage…I may be some time!
It’s three weeks since I last shared my Finery of Nature cross-stitch with you, I didn’t think I’d done that much, little bits here and there, but the photos show a respectable amount of progress! This is a Dimensions kit I found on the sales table at my Embroiderers Guild, it’s meant to be on black aida, but I’ve changed it to a soft green linen so my eyes can manage it!
Three weeks ago I’d tried adding some silver highlights and just started the border too. I was having serious doubts about the silver thread…
After much debating I decided to take the silver out, I felt it looked messy and also I felt the silver (which was meant to be gold!) was mainly to highlight things against the black, it just didn’t seem to add anything to the picture. There’s still back-stitching in other colours on the pattern so if I decided something needs a bit extra, I can always use a colour instead without it looking out of place.
The border is one place where I’m still trying to decide what to do. The swirls are meant to have a gold thread couched down the middle, I’m still hovering between a silver grey, a dark grey or a dark teal!
It would be nice to think I could finish this quarter over the next three weeks, but we will see!
This stitch-a-long is organised by Avis, we each choose our own project, work at our own speed, just share our progress every three weeks, it’s a huge motivator, so if you’d like to join us just send Avis a message. Please follow the links to see lots of inspiring hand-stitching.
With three months of 2019 already gone, it’s time for an update on my Nineteen for 19 challenge;
1 Scrap Quilt This will hopefully start this month as there’s a free quilt BOM I’m planning to make, just using my scraps – I desperately need to sort them out in the next couple of weeks into colours.
2 Tutorials; I’ve not had time to start this one yet.
3 sessions in the garden; March came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. I’ve really enjoyed the last few mild, sunny spring weather in the garden. My three sessions a week in the garden has definitely paid dividends, I finally feel almost on top of the back garden, well as on top as I’ll ever be! I’ve sorted out the area by the compost heap, so it actually looks like part of the garden and I’ve done lots of weeding and pruning.
4 workshops; I’ve got three booked at Fabbadashery in Halifax, the first one is in June, I’m looking forward to it.
5 presents; I’ve now made two presents, I made a bee mini cushion for my mum for her birthday. She loved it.
6 quilts; Just one finished one at the moment, which was the baby quilt for my niece. I’ve got five on the go though (six if you include my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt!) I’m making one for a charity auction which is now sandwiched and just needs quilting, I’m hoping to do that next week. I’ve a quilt for the Care Leavers Christmas Dinners which just needs quilting too.
7 new patterns; I’ve finally used a new pattern, a straight button down skirt, hopefully I’ll use another one this month too.
8 kits; My tally remains at two.
9 mini embroideries; I stitched a vintage map for the Travelling Sketchbooks at Embroiderers Guild, so my tally is two with another one to stitch this month.
10 things; I’m counting two sets of curtains as a ‘thing’, they were for my son’s house, he’s pleased with them. My total so far is now three.
11 cross-stitch smalls; I’ve been quite productive this month with cross-stitch smalls, two were very quick to sew (the bumble bee and the QR code scissor fob) Hello Spring and the cute bunny taking a bit longer. I also made four smalls from cross-stitching I did on bibs and nappy pin cushions over twenty years ago, I’m not counting these in my tally though as all I did was make them up. So four this month takes my total up to nine!!! Almost completed this challenge already!
12 pages in my book; I haven’t started this project yet, though I think I have worked out in my mind how I’m going to do it.
13 clothes made;I have finally made an item of clothing! A denim skirt with a button down front and a machine embroidered border. I’ve worn it several times and had lots of compliments 🙂
14 drawers organised;I’ve started sorting out all my patterns on the computer, somehow they all end up in different places! I’ve been putting them into folders to try and corale them all. I’ve also started printing off my cross-stitch patterns on the computer, as otherwise they just get lost and forgotton about. I’ve put them in a file so when I want a new project I can just flick through. With previous months sorting I’m counting this as three, even though they weren’t drawers!
15 minutes tidy-up at the end of a sewing session; I’m getting better at this and it does make a difference!
16 books; I’m doing pretty well at reading now, finding different time slots to make it work, such as my train journey to work or the bus journey to my mums. I finished Circling the Sun, I also read Miss Eleanor Oliphant is Fine, this is a wonderful book though it took me a while to get used to the style of writing, I was pretty quickly hooked into the story. It was interesting to see how people can completely misunderstand behaviours and social interaction due to major traumas in childhood. I also read This is going to Hurt by Adam Kay, he was a doctor in the NHS and these are excerpts from his diaries from when he first qualified to being a Senior Registrar. I’ve worked in the NHS for the majority of the last 35 years so I could relate so much to the tales he told, some were very, very funny, but it’s also poignant and sad to read about the workings (or not!) of the NHS and how it affects the staff who work so hard to keep it going. So I’ve read six books this year, I’m pretty pleased with this.
17 blogs a month;I wrote 22 posts in March.
18 walks; I’ve not done so well at this one as my tally remains at three, our plans for walks kept being thwarted. The good news is my toe is fine now after the offending nail was removed (it was falling off following our walk last year!!) I’m now hopeful for the weekly walks we have pencilled in our diaries for this month.
19 Splendid Sampler blocks;This has been on a bit of a back burner this month as I’ve been concentrating on the charity quilt and keeping up with my Coming Home quilt BOM, so what I’m trying to say is I haven’t done any more this month, but as my total is already 9 I’m quite happy!
Another busy month sewing wise, my longer term projects have also taken up quite a lot of time, such as my Coming Home quilt, Nature cross-stitch and of course my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt. With a new quilt BOM and a cross-stitch SAL starting this month I really need to get a few finishes under my belt!
There’s also quite a few challenges that I’ve not even made a start on so I think I need to concentrate my mind a bit or maybe clear the decks a bit!
Over the weekend I decided to catch up with my Spring Wreath quilt, I had two blocks waiting to be stitched and I knew the next pack was on it’s way. This is a Block of the Month I started in the autumn, It’s designed by Andrea Walpole of Raggedy Ruff Designs. I’d not done machine embroidery before so it’s been a huge learning curve, but Andreas instructions are great and she’s always on facebook for any queries or support.
I made the blocks one evening, I was planning to just stitch the squirrels, but having pieced the background I decided that having enjoyed two glasses of wine it really wasn’t the time to start machine embroidery…so I made the owl background block instead and prepped all the applique for both blocks.
I started embroidering the squirrels the next day. I think this is the trickiest block so far, possible due to all the thin branches. One of my squirrels has a leg in mid air, but perhaps he’s mid-step! I find with this type of machine embroidery it is important{for sanity!} to keep taking a step back, as close up you can see all the wiggles and squiggles, but from a distance the eye sees the right line…fortunately!
In some ways the owl was a little easier, mainly because his eyes are closed, the eyes are definitely the hardest bit as they do make or break the picture, closed is much easier! The lower squirrel looks a little cross because of his eyes!
I really enjoyed stitching all the plumage on the owl, I love the effect of his wings in particular.
I’ve now stitched five wildlife blocks and a four extra blocks for in between, all that’s left is the borders which are made over two months (one arrived today so I can crack on with it!) I had a bit of a play yesterday on my design board, working out where the blocks would probably go, I’m so pleased with it, it’s been a delight to make, once I got over the nerves!
It’s a new month and we’re not long into a new season as well, so I’ve a fresh set of cross-stitch smalls on display. I’m trying to keep it fairly seasonal so there is a lamb, a gosling and a fluffle of bunnies too this month as Easter is approaching and we’ve also seen rabbits on the back lane for the first time in years, it’s nice to see them but also slightly worrying when it’s so close to the garden!
I display my cross-stitch smalls on a burr elm dish which is very shallow, I’ve decided five or six is the optimum number…
I stitched the April small last year, it’s from the Joyful World SAL by Matya of Snowflower Diaries, I’ve still to make the last three so I need to start stitching those sometime over the summer or October will be here before I know it!
I stitched the Hello Spring one and the cute rabbit with a daisy over the last couple of months, I made the most progress on Hello Spring when I was stranded on a train for five hours! It’s free design from the website Il Est Cinq Heures. It wasn’t the easiest to stitch as it’s cross-stitch over one thread – not my favourite! The daisy rabbit is designed by Dany Chevalier, there’s a cute one of a rabbit with a daffodil too which is on my to do pile!
The two light blue ones with the jumping rabbits and a gosling were stitched over twenty years ago, they were on a bib (rabbits) and a nappy pin cushion, a few weeks ago I had a bit of session and turned baby cross-stitched things into smalls.
The little blackwork sheep at the front is in the collection as the fields are full of tiny lambs at the moment, all gamboling around in the sunshine! I stitched it last year as a practice run for a blackwork square I volunteered to stitch for my Embroiderers Guild.
I’m enjoying having my little seasonal display, it means they all have their moment of glory, rather than just being sat in a cupboard. I think I need to stitch a few more summery ones now.
We’ve had another mild, sunny week, I managed a good session in the front garden digging up more weeds, still plenty to go though! The back garden though is looking pretty respectable at the moment, it’s that time of year when things change almost daily, new shoots appearing, leaves unfurling or flowers opening. After several months of winter it’s a lovely time of year.
Last week my magnolia stellata was just coming into flower, it is now glorious, the scent fills the air as you walk past. The mild weather means the flowers are lasting well, bad weather turns them brown as they are so delicate.
Round the patio I’ve several pulsatillas (Pasque flower) just starting to flower, I used to have a semi-circle of them until we had some building work done and they all disappeared, last year I planted three or four replacememts. I really like these plants as not only is the flower pretty but the seed heads are big fluffy silver heads which last for ages and look lovely.
The daffodils have lasted well this year, they’re still making a colour splash under the roses. The road embankments and verges here in the UK look wonderful at this time of year as they are often covered in daffodils. I think quite a few years ago councils made a concerted effort to plant the bulbs and now after decades of dividing they really cheer us up as we travel around. I have a vague recollection from when I was a young child of seeing the council workmen planting hundreds of bulbs along the roadsides, so we’re talking about 40 plus years ago!
There’s all sorts of shoots appearing round the pond, Solomon’s Seal, hostas, dicentra, mint, geranium, in a few weeks time it will look very different. At the moment the hellebores are still putting on a good show.
Azaleas are just coming into flower too, they seem to be a bit a head of the rhododendrons. This purple one is in my Amber & Amethyst garden, it’s just a little one.
Sometimes plant arrangements work better than I could have hoped for, at the entrance to the Amber & Amethyst (AA) garden I have a purple hebe, my favourite wine hellebore, a berberis and an amber primula I planted last week, the colours work really well together. I just need the hebe and the berberis to grow a bit more!
I’ve one UFO appeared, it always makes me nervous when I can’t identify a plant, mainly because I have such a weed problem! The only thing that makes me hesitate in thinking it’s a weed is that it is such a lovely purple colour and it’s in the AA garden. Any help in naming this plant would be appreciated…
I’m trying to crack on with the front garden at the moment, whilst keeping a close eye on the back so it doesn’t suddenly run away from me!
The other day I decided to make myself a top, I chose a fairly straight forward pattern with a crossover drape across the front and some lightweight jersey from my stash. I cut it out and then tested a few stitches on my sewing machine, whatever I did it ate the fabric, I tried a flat zigzag, a stretch stitch, different sizes, I had a new jersey needle in the machine but the machine kept stopping ‘for safety reasons’, namely that it was eating the fabric! I tried the overlocker with no more success! In the end I abandoned it and made a skirt instead!!
I bought this length of denim a couple of years ago on Otley market, it has a band of embroidered flowers along one edge. It’s one of those lengths that after I’d bought it I began to have second thoughts, mainly because the embroidery is in quite bright colours, was it too much! I decide to try it…
I chose a pattern I picked up from the swap table at the Dewsbury Sewing meet-up, Newlook 6013, it’s just a straight skirt with a button front and a split at the back. I decided it would work in denim.
It went together really easily, I chose a snazzy sewing fabric for the inside pocket lining which adds like a secret splash of colour. I lowered the height of the split by about 4″ as I felt it would have barely covered my bottom! The pattern also only used six buttons, as you can see I used about nine as I wanted the slightly closer together and a lot further down! I still haven’t quite mastered the knack of remembering to turn the button the right way up before hammering the back in. I used the keyhole buttonhole stitch on my sewing machine and they’ve come out OK.
I made a straight size 14 and I’m pretty pleased with the fit, it’s comfortable to wear and most importantly the buttons stay done up! I was thinking if the embroidery looks a bit bright I could always wash it with a few dark blue towels, but now it’s made up I really like it, it doesn’t look as bright.
I still need to make some tops so I need to master jersey sometime soon!
thecraftycreek 