Still Pink.

The quilt is back from the long arm quilter, the lovely Val from DaisyMay quilting has done a great job. Pity my photo was not a little better. My excuse is it was raining so it had to be taken indoors.

The new year has begun for the Siblings Together 2 group. The Queen Bee, Teresa has asked for two 12 1/2 inch Snail Trail blocks for this month. I have never made this block before, I am not sure I like the name as me and slugs and snails do not get on. I usually give them flying lessons over the fence on to the A12. It was however, a very simple block to make and Teresa had found a great tutorial to follow. 

theelvengarden.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/snail-trail-block-t...

2 Snail Trail Blocks for ST2.

Mine are now done for September and it was a welcome break from all the appliqué I am doing for the Floral Impressions Quilt. No photos at the moment but I am still plodding along.

We have been trying to get the front garden back in shape, as it has got a little over grown. So this week has been spent laying in a new brick path. These poor hands are not looking like quilters hands at the moment.

Thought I would try and get a better photo of the quilt, so have just been outside to try. It's slightly better and yep it is still very Pink.

Time to get back to the appliqué.






Keep safe and keep stitching.........Doti...

A Day with Lynn Edwards

My friend Maggie and I spent a lovely day, doing a class with Lynn Edwards. It was held at my favourite quilting shop Sew and So's of Bungay.

It really was a lovely day and we were learning the Nova Scotia Star Block to make into a cushion.

 This is where I am at with it, at the moment it measures 21 inches square, which sure would make a gurt (Devon word for huge) big cushion. Not sure I require a cushion that size so it is residing on my design wall at the moment till inspiration hits me, or not?

Yesterday was a day at the Bee and the Queen Bees were quite busy.

 Ann was adding to her 

Sew a Row quilt she is making in all shades of purple, lavender and greens. It is gorgeous.

Anns Sew a Row  Quilt.

It is so lovely that we have decided we will all sew a couple of rows and make it our group charity quilt for this year/next year. Though we have decided on a single bed size. Watch this space.

Jenny was making a cushion for her garden room. The pattern design was by Lynnette Anderson and also bought from Sew and So's along with a lovely wooden wheelbarrow button to sew on the front.

Well you can see what I was doing, more of the Appliqué on my BOM. coming down the side panels and as I have four to do this could take some time.

It is a lovely day today so Mr M and I are going to do some tidying up in the garden.

Keep safe and keep stitching..........Doti...

In the Pink again..

Now what does one do when you are having to rest up? Well I can tell you, search the internet for lovely fabric to cheer oneself up. That is just what I have been doing and I am not sure what has come over me. I keep getting drawn to PINK fabric.

As you all know, I am not really a pink person. I did see this fabric on Lilysquilts.blogspot.co.uk a few weeks ago, and Contemporary Cloth was offering 50% off shipping everywhere. So, yes, I went for it and somehow managed to get through customs too. Happy dance called for I think. Also I have a nice grey linen shirt that Mr M no longer wears that will go very nicely with these fat quarters.

The fabric is Flirt by Dear Stella.

 The BOM's for this month were a bit of a sticking point until I remembered I do not have to use the foot pedal to sew. I have a button that can be pressed to sew, and of course to stop on my Janome machine. Way! Hay! this months U W and X are done and just have to be added to last months

T Q & V.

The Applique BOM is going to be slow going as it's the four borders, but I am on the last border doing the stems. It was decided to do all four borders simultaneously, as I know if I finished one at a time I might get fed up and not finish them all. So watch this space.

This is the panel to be appliquéd.  It is 36" long and of course there are 4 of them. Oh well, best get on.

Keep safe and keep stitching.................. Doti...

Orphan Block to become a Cushion.

Been a little on the drag this week, I've had a little fall and been hors de combat.

Things are looking up now and I have finished the little Lunar quilt, but first things first. 

The little Orphan block was won by Anonymous, though she did sign her name Liz, and she is part of our quilting Bee. She said she was going to make a cushion with it, so I should be able to get a photo of it at some time.Sorry to those that did not win, blame Mr M as he drew the winner from the Pot.

Liz, I will get the little block to you as soon as possible.

The Orphan Block, soon to be a cushion.

 The finished Lunar Quilt, hanging over the gate, (that hose pipe should have been removed before the photo was taken), you can blame that on you know who too. Ha Ha...

 This photo was taken indoors, the one taken outside is much more like the real colour. and I am so pleased with it. It was a Panel bought from my favourite quilt shop called "Moon Shadows" designed for Benartex by Michele D'Amore Designs.

Finished Lunar Quilt.

This is a short Post today, going to put leg up for the rest of the day and hopefully do some appliqué. 

Keep safe and keep stitching............Doti...

It's Elfin Patches Birthday,and giveaway.

I started this blog 2 years ago today, really as a sort of diary for myself to chronicle my sewing and knitting activity and somewhere to put all the photos of the things I make.

It has been great fun and I cannot believe over 31.000 people have read it in the last two years.

I love my little piece of this world here in Suffolk UK. My little flint cottage, which was built in the seventeen hundreds, and my ever changing garden. Which with the help of the birds and him above seems to take care of itself, with a little tweaking from me.

I have been away for a mini break with my grandchildren and son and daughter-law. We have been visiting lots of places near to where we used to live 40 years ago. Some were good some not so.. but a great time was had.

Now no sewing or knitting has been done so I have nothing to show. Not even finished the Lunar Quilt.

So to celebrate the birthday a little giveaway. I hope you remember the little orphan block that I did not use in the Mystery BOM.

Drawing of block.on A4 paper.

Finished Block aprox 9 3/4 X 11

Please feel free to copy the drawing, and if you would like me to send you the finished block please leave a comment at the bottom and tell me why you would like it..

If I do not get any comments ( as I do not get that many)then I shall turn it into a cushion.

Keep safe and keep stitching ...........Doti...

Still having fun playing.

This Blog is mainly pictures of how this quilt is going so far.

As you know, I bought this abstract panel plus an extra half which was all they had.

 So I cut it all up, and thank goodness I had taken the photo of the panel. Little quilt sandwiches were made of each block and were hand quilted , using a very high loft wadding.

All positioned again( so thankful for the panel photo) on the design wall.

Now for the sashing, using a shot fabric (blue one way and red the other) One inch wide, finished width half inch. Some of the joins are not quite perfect, so a little round of fabric might be needed to be appliquéd on over the joins. :0)) The sashing fabric frays terribly so does not lend itself to being unpicked very much.

All the sashing finished, and now on to the borders. The border reminds me of Mr M's R.A.F. tie so perhaps he will end up with this quilt.

I have nearly used up every scrap of the fabric for this quilt and as yet I still have to bind it. So it's a case of find something in my stash or another trip to my favourite quilt store.

I have been looking at the quilt hanging on the design wall this morning and have decided that the borders do not work. The quilt is just about big enough for a lap quilt or a wall hanging. so am about to make the borders into binding. 

Watch this space...

Keep safe and keep stitching................Doti...

Play time again.

It is nice when all the BOM's are done for the month. Ideally, I should be doing one of the many UFO's that reside in the sewing room, but that is no fun is it?

I bought an abstract panel at my favourite Quilt shop (Sew and So's) a couple of weeks ago and have been playing around with ideas as to just what to do with it.

Today I have cut some of it up so..... watch this space.

The very pink thing was residing on the spare bed and every time I passed it I thought.... ugh. So off it went to Daisy May's the long arm quilter. I am hoping she can make me like it more.

 I have only ever had one  quilt quilted by a someone else, and it took me six months to unpick that one Ha! 

The pink thing is different I would just like it finished, and I am sure Daisy May will make a good job of it.

This is how the Alphabet Quilt BOM looks at the moment,

 and this is this months. The red pile of scraps is going down slowly but I think I will have enough to finish it.

 Thought you were due for a look out of the back door, but it is looking good the other way around. Mr M has mended my seat as this is the coffee area at the moment. The pesky bird is still nesting in the rose arbour, and dropping unmentionables from above.

Most of these flowers arrived via the birds. Isn't nature wonderful...

Back to playing.

Keep safe and keep stitching ............. Doti..

Applique first this month.

I have reversed my BOM list this month and put the appliqué first. Partly because Wimbledon has been on the telly, and having finished my mystery Afghan ( I usually knit and watch the telly) I needed some hand sewing.

The middle nine blocks are finished though not stitched together, and this months it is the four corner Olive trees. Two down, two to go, they are very like the first centre block we did in month one.

One of the four corners.

I must admit they are far easer than that first block. That was a drastic learning curve for me.

9 center blocks.

Very pleased with the Rowan  Mystery Afghan, although I did not use the colours they suggested and I did mine in 4ply rather than DK, so it is slightly smaller. Mine measures 50" x 40".  The pesky rope around the edge seemed to take forever, probably due to the world cup football being so exciting.

Finished Afghan. 

I would like to knit another in shades of grey and white. These are going to be great as lap quilts in the winter. Also my wool stash is going down fast, possibly might need to buy some more!!!

Hope to finish the other two appliqué  corners today.

Keep safe and keep stitching .................Doti..

It's very Pink.

 Oh dear, it is indeed very PINK and as my friends will tell you, I am not very fond of pink. How did this creep up on me?

I have been playing with disappearing nine patches, and made quite a few with the fabric left from the Parsley and Time quilt. I selected five and put them on point with pink set - in triangles. Then added a floater and arranged more disappearing nine patches around the centre square. A second floater and then two borders. It was not until I looked at it laying on the spare bed that I thought " Oh my goodness, it is very Pink!"

I did intend it for a certain person and on second thoughts, she is not very fond of pink either. 

 

Now I must finish it or it will be relegated to the UFO pile.

So off I went to Bungay to my favourite quilt shop Sew and So's of Bungay and purchased the backing fabric and I am afraid I must tell you, I fell off the wagon so far as " my fabric fast" and bought some fat 1/4's of Mrs March's new collection. (I did last 6 months though ). They are just scrummy, and I see a little pink one snuck in on the end, ah well...

As well as sewing, I have been putting the mystery afghan blanket together and knitting up the rope around the edge, (which seems never ending). This one stayed all off-white, creams and browns. So I intend to make one with the lovely greys  that I did not use.

I have just finished reading a lovely book called The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow, and would recommend it to any quilter, it was spellbinding till the end.

Now to finish that pesky knitted rope.

Keep safe and keep stitching..................Doti...

BOM's Done for this month.

Happy day today, I have caught up with with the BOM's that I am doing and now I have the rest of the month to play.:0)

This is block nine of the Floral Impressions Quilt BOM designed by Deborah Kemball, using the lovely Oakshot fabrics. I should have done a little more embroidery but I love it as it is. I was really dreading this block, it was definitely a case of OMG with all those little berries and poppies, but I am pleased with it now that it's finished.

I have another quilt in mind to use up the lovely fabrics left from the Parsley and Time Quilt. However, as usual, I keep changing my mind so it's a case of watch this space.

 It's time I gave you another view out the back door as the flowers are changing. Some have died off and now the roses are out.

this is a view to the side, under a rose arch.

Lot of these plants just appear, courtesy of the birds, so we just let them grow.

Now this made me laugh this week. We have a holiday cottage which we rent out to visitors. We have had it for fifteen years and I have never seen this on the bedroom floor till last weekend when we were changing the beds. One friend said it was a Doti Elf and another it was smiling but it looks like a grumpy Gnome to me.

Now off to make some definite (?) decisions on this next quilt.

Keep safe and keep stitching...........Doti...

Working down the list.

I did indeed have a finish at the Bee last week. I finished the binding on The Siblings Together 2 Quilt. 

Now all it needs is a label. Considering the blocks in this quilt were made by 12 different people, it has come together very nicely and is a bright, cheerful, fun quilt and I love it. I do hope the child who receives it will love it too.

Back of Quilt.

I have been getting on with The Alphabet Quilt this weekend as well, just need to do the blanket stitch around the appliqué and add it to to the main pieces, and it will be half way there. Just another six months to go of this BOM. My red stash is definitely going down but I think I have enough to finish it. :0))

Blocks N,P R & O.

 I must  show you some of the beautiful Canterbury Bells growing in my garden. These are some of the paler ones and the dark purple ones have been magnificent.The seed for these was bought in Canterbury Cathedral several years ago and I save seeds each year.

The next job on my list is to cut out the pieces for The Appliqué  BOM. It looks a bit difficult this month, but then they have all looked difficult  so best get on with it..

Keep safe and keep stitching......... Doti...

Work in Progress.

It's a case of prioritising this week, so it is the quilt for the Siblings Together 2 that is top of the list now.

This is the first 4 rows put together

Rows 5 & 6 waiting to be added.

  It needs to be put together in time for the retreat. There are twelve people in our group so that is 24,12 inch blocks. I chose the slab block for my month from Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg. I thought it would be bright and cheery and the blocks from the rest of the group are indeed just that. 

To day, I hope to add the last two rows, make the binding and attach it. Then it will be ready for me to take to the Bee tomorrow to stitch down.

Love this blue block.

As the blocks arrived from the other members of the group I wadded, backed and quilted them.

Teresa is the last Mama of the month and she chose "scrappy trip around the world" blocks. Her blocks were the top of the list, so were posted off to her yesterday.

Blocks made for Teresa.

Last week at the Bee we celebrated the finish of Alison's quilt. She quilted it all in the ditch by hand.

It's very William Morris and just lovely.

Got to get back to the sewing machine now, and perhaps I shall have a finish at the Bee tomorrow.

Keep safe and keep stitching...........Doti...

Week End Finish.

The Parsley and Time Quilt is finished. Just the label to do, and I am one happy bunny to say the least. 

This quilt seems to have taken a very long time, first all the cow parsley stitchery,49 in all.

 Then the pieced borders.

 Then I decided to hand quilt it.

I do hope I am not boring my readers with so many pictures, but I just love it now its finished !!!

Though there is a sad note this week end . The bird who had built her nest in our Rose arbour is OK but a cat ate her baby, last year it was Bilbo our Border Terrier who did the dirty deed. Now next year if she decides to build there we will have to dissuade her, for sure.

Got to download this weeks mystery afghan pattern and all the BOM's for June.

Keep safe and keep stitching ..............Doti...