A Bit of a Pain...

We all do it, try to make our blade in the rotary cutter last just a bit longer. This however is a little different. It was a new blade and the first day I used it I went over a pin and took a chunk out of it. I was so cross but I kept trying to use it (it was new for goodness sake),and yes you have guessed it I pressed so hard I have sprained my wrist. The pain down my thumb and up my arm is indescribable. 

Horrid to say the least, and now there is no sewing for me.. This is a selfie of sprained hand.

Really difficult to take a picture with left hand when you are right handed.

I was getting on so well with the Parsley quilt, two borders were on and and the third is to be decided.

Now I get withdrawal symptoms when I do not sew, I did however do a little knitting, but it's not the same and my hand ached after a little while.

So I have been sorting out my sketch book.These drawings are from 2011 and seem to combine my love of pots and stitchery. Though no stitchery for me at the moment, they would possibly be used on table mats. or a table runner, on linen maybe.

So this is one miserable unfulfilled sewer, saying "do change your blade when it gets blunt or damaged"

stay safe and keep stitching............. Doti...

Spring has sprung.

Another week has gone by since I wrote my blog. We have been so busy in the garden with all this lovely weather we are having. Spring has definitely sprung.

 This is looking out of my back door, in a couple of weeks it should be full of colour.

This little wall planter still sits under a plaque that tells you it is the Pottery,"that was another life" which I gave up in the year 2000. when my hobby took over from my work and I retired.

Mr M has made two new raised veggie beds, though only one will be for veg, and the other for more fruit bushes.We are cutting down on the rest, though I shall still grow tomatoes in the green house along with chilli peppers and cucumbers, hopefully.

 Now my hobby. You will be pleased to know the stitchery on the Parsley Quilt is finished  (all 49 blocks). Am I pleased? You may well ask, well you know me it's OK. Now to get on with the borders.

I did not do much in the way of drawings for the cow parsley sprigs. I drew them straight on to the fabric as I went along, some singles and some doubles. Not a good photo of the quilt top will try again later.

Now I was asked for a link to the Casco Bay Canisters. The pattern is by AuntiesTwo Patterns and the pattern number is AT218. Hopes this helps..

Now I am off to cut out the first border for the quilt top, and try to work out what I am going to do next..There are lots of things buzzing around in my head as usual, we shall see.

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

Time to play.

The  two BOM's that I am doing this year are done for this month, so now it is time to play.

 This is my hand turned appliqué block for March, designed by Deborah Kemball, and made with lovely Okeshott fabric.I must be getting better at this, and I actually like this one. At the end of twelve months I reckon I will have cracked it. We shall see...

The block for the Alphabet Quilt for this month, designed by Janet Stone for The Quilt Show. It's coming along OK and my stash of Reds and Pinks is going down a bit..

All my Charity blocks are finished too, so I do indeed get to play. 

I bought this pattern while on holiday in Key West last year, but only bought the cotton clothes line 

needed last week on a little trip to my favourite quilt shop in Bungay.

Not sure why but it's called Casco Bay Canisters. This is my first attempt, there are four different sizes. Not sure what I am going to do with it but it was fun to make though a bit fiddly.

Some more work is needed on the community quilt block, but I have till Thursday to get that sorted, so I did not feel guilty about having a little fun time.The Parsley quilt is progressing, only twenty something more blocks to do the Stitchery on.....I did intend to put up some of the parsley drawings, will do that next time..

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

All behind as usual...

It has been one of those weeks, chasing my tail as usual and now another week has almost gone by.

At the Quilting Bee on Wednesday we celebrated the lovely Jenny's significant birthday.

Alison had made a beautiful cake, even the cotton reel and buttons were edible. Jenny treated us to fish & chips and we had a rather nice pavlova for dessert.

 As you might guess, not a lot of sewing was done, though a lot of eating and laughing was done.

This is a quick round up of what the "girls" were doing.

 Ann was working on her churn dash quilt, big stitch hand quilting around each block.

 Liz was embroidering one of the mystery blocks.

 Annie was blanket stitching her hearts for her daughters quilt.

 I was big stitch quilting one of my "Siblings together" charity blocks.

Some of the others were knitting, and this is a Tapestry that Fiona had bought many years ago, and thought it was high time she finished it. 

The March BOM's have arrived, and I have finished the machine pieced Alphabet one, as it was very easy this month. I've cut out all the appliqué pieces ready to start this months Sunflower Heart. 

Alfabet BOM

Last, but not least, a few more sprigs of "cow parsley" have been added to the Parsley Quilt, so it's been a busy week in all.

Lot's more to tell you about, but this post is long enough already.

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

Well, I am Sewing.

Indeed I am. Lot's and Lot's, 'cos the Kitchen is finished !!

All blocks for various charities are done and now for some me time.

You remember that lovely bundle of fabrics I bartered for from the lovely sewing shop, 

Sew and so's of Bungay. After much stroking and fondling and just looking at, I cut two 5" squares from each of 32 of the fat quarters. and with some neutral background from my stash another 32, 5" squares plus some 1" x 5" strips of background. Now it looks like this. The idea came from a free pattern on Craftsy called  "Daisy Baby", though I made a lot more blocks.

I did try to take a photo outside as it was not raining for once, but the wind was blowing a hooly so it's an indoor shot on the spare bed.

I have got all sorts of ideas for lots of borders around it. As I want to put stitchery in the plain blocks, I thought now was the  time to do that, as it would be easer to work with.

My idea is to cover it with Cow Parsley or to give it it's proper name "Queen Ann's Lace."

This is the centre block, I am freehand drawing them on the blocks (so that each one will be a bit different) and backing with a little stabiliser. Using Cosmos thread this one is a greyish blue, which goes well with the subtle fabrics.

This could take a long time, but it's fun, and what's time when you are having fun..

I did finish the 12" block for the community group quilt "the fish shop" and I am quite pleased.

It was fun to make and a lot easier than the last one.

This was it with photo before I stitched everything down

And the finished Block.

I need to get back to my stitchery on the Parsley Quilt before next months BOM's arrive in my sewing room.

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

Not much Sewing Done.

Painting, decorating and sewing does not mix very well, and our kitchen was in need of a makeover, so most of my time has been taken up wielding a roller while Mr M does the fiddly bits of glossing the woodwork.

I did however manage to get two blocks done for Alison of Little Island Quilting

Orphan blocks for Soy Amando

This is what Alison says on her flicker site.

Little Island Quilting says: I'm trying to get around 70 quilts made for a home in Mexico City that I visited on Christmas Day 2013. The home is for former street children who had the worst start imaginable in life. While they are all now clothed and fed they don't really have anything special that belongs just to them. I took a baby quilt when I visited and they completely 'got' how special a quilt can be. In an ideal world we' d all make whole quilts (single bed size) but I know that time and cost are barriers so to make it as accessible as possible to everyone who wants to help, I am asking for quilted 12 /1/2" unfinished quilt blocks so I can assemble whole quilts from the blocks I receive. I really don't mind what you send me. I'm sure we've all got orphan blocks tucked away that we're just never going to use. If they are too small just add a border, too big cut them down. Add batting and backing, quilt and then send to me. On each quilt I am free motion applique Soy Amado - Spanish for 'I am loved'. Please Flickrmail me for my address or leave a reply to this post if you have any questions. Thanks very much Alison

Now I bet every one has at least one orphan block tucked away somewhere, and my goodness, it's for such a good cause. So lets help Alison to get to her target of 70 quilts, so that each child in that home has something special to call their own.

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

Applique Block Finished.

Yes indeed, the February BOM's are done for this month, so I have the rest of the month to play.

Februarys Block.

This one was by far the most difficult to stitch and it has been difficult to photograph as well, either too light or too bright. This is a little on the bright side.

Now talking of playing, have I got something lovely to play with.

 A great big bundle of the most scrumptious Lecien fabrics. I know what you are going to say,
 "thought she was on a fabric fast"

Well I was and in a way I still am. These Beautiful fabrics are from Sew & Sos of Bungay one of the nicest quilt shops in the whole of Suffolk, a dream place for quilters.                                                                                                      
The lovely Verona who owns the shop with her husband Rob, did a bit of bartering with me. She is going to write a pattern for some of my red work designs and I get to play with these lovely fabrics. So watch this space...

Yesterday we were all at the Bee, lots of fun and laughter and too much cake, as usual..

Ann, (to much applause) FINISHED hand quilting her Chinese lanterns Quilt, her first UFO of the year. It really is a fun quilt..

I ought to be finishing some of my UFO's, but I do really want to play.  So for a few days I am going to do just that and then maybe look at all my UFO's and see which one shouts the loudest.. :0))

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

Plodding along

The last thing I said on my last post was that I was going to sit in front of the fire and finish my socks.

Well here they are, not had their first wash yet but very toasty. They look very pink in this photo, in fact the wool was bought for Mr M, as he only wears red socks, but when it arrived from the 

Natural Dye Studio it did indeed tend to lean towards the pink side of red, if you know what I mean. So they are now mine.. I could have been a little influenced  by the name of this wool. It was called "Combe Martin"and as you in the family know we used to live there..

My Alphabet piecing block for February is done, just the buttonhole stitching to do around the letters. I have to get my trusty old Bernina out to do that.

 All the quilting is done on the Mystery Quilt, but no photo as yet. I do need to take that in the daylight, when it finally stops raining.

All the appliqué shapes are cut out for my hand turned BOM, stems done, and now on the leaves and it is looking OK..

 I am sorry, I forgot to give you the last two drawings for the Elfin Way Quilt. So here they are.

I did however embroider "Elfin Way" between these little terraces of houses.

Back to the appliqué BOM, then to cast on another pair of socks to start this evening all cosy beside the fire..

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

It's going to be busy in February..

I thought I would get a post in before the 1st of February, when the two BOM's I am doing will land on my sewing table and the OMG's begin again, or more politely what have I let myself in for..

Well the lovely Deborah Kemball has done it to me already and it's a case of OBH.

This is February's 12" block.

You must agree it was a case of just a little swear word, sorry Deborah, but this is the hardest one yet..

If I make it through this one I shall have conquered my fear of hand appliqué .

The fabric for this BOM is from Oakshott fabric, We are using the Impressions range.

I have been very busy as it's all those Birthdays again in February. Six of the "girls" in our Bee group are all born in February, so I have been making little see-through zip pouches. You will be pleased to hear its all from my stash. I did wonder when that roll of vinyl would come in handy.

I finished hand quilting the top half of the Mystery quilt and added the binding and hanging lugs.

My friend Jenny is to blame for the next project, she roped me in.  It's a community project with

 St Felix School, and local ladies that do craft work.

It will become one huge quilt, all about Southwold and surrounding area.

This is a house on Southwold High Street (see small picture ) and my attempt to recreate it in fabric. All from my stash and would you believe it from my ugly drawer, you know the fabrics you think why ever did I buy that. I did say in a post the other day things always come in handy one day...

The next Block is the Fish and Chip Shop, watch this space..

Now to sort the fabrics for that pesky BOM. Put my feet up and finish the pair of socks I am making for ME... 

February starts tomorrow.Ha!

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

A little secret.

I do indeed want to let you into a little secret.

When I started the Mystery BOM off I used my trusty Bernina. Half way through, about block six I think, I bought my self a new machine (a Janome) and the rest of the blocks were done on my new machine. On the 9th block I could not make out WHY my oblong blocks did not fit as in block 5. It was altogether smaller, yes indeed a lot smaller, so that is why I am having to make my wall hanging into two separate little wall hangings.

This is it all together as one long Wall hanging.

As our ceilings are very low in our little cottage, two smaller hangings are better for us. Now it is time to start the quilting. I have chosen to hand quilt mine. I started yesterday, it was such a grotty day(weatherwise) but just the kind of day to sit in front of the fire and hand quilt.

Hand quilting in progress.

Having told you my little secret, you might want to do yours as two separate little wall hangings...

The Elfin Way Quilt is now finished, though it does still need a label. So here are the next two stitchery blocks as promised.

and last but not least the finished quilt, with strange sun light shining through.

Back to the quilting..

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

A Day at the Bee

Things have all changed this year. Wednesday Club is no longer, sad but things move on.

We are now at the Bee Hive every Wednesday which is fun. This is a little round up of what some of the girls were doing yesterday.

Alison was putting the binding on this quilt of Sue's, who was going to bin it as she did not want to finish it. 

 After it was finished,  Sue decided she liked it after all and gave some money to charity to have it back.

"much merriment."

Sandra's UFO

Sandra had resurrected an old UFO and was hand embroidering around the elements.

Ann was doing similar quilting around her Chinese lanterns.

Ann's UFO.

 And Sue (who had bought her own quilt back from Alison) was embroidering her fairy quilt blocks.Much more fun than her old UFO... 

Sue's fairy blocks

I was putting the binding on my Elfin Way quilt, which reminded me I had forgotten to put up any drawings on my last blog as promised .

So here are the next two.

 

Several of the others were knitting or sewing things up like Liz who was sewing up a knitted Dog.

I wanted to take a photo of my finished quilt, but the weather was not very kind today so it will have to wait for another day.

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

I might just need that sometime !

Now how many times have we said that?

As quilters, we are all hoarders. Fabric scraps, orphan blocks, the list is endless and I am probably one of the worst. 

Well today it paid off. Quite a long time ago I was in a half square triangle swap with The Quilt Show, where you swapped HST's with other quilters all over the world. It was great fun and I made a lovely quilt with all the HST's I received.

"

 The pattern was by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts and I think it was called Tree of Life, which I thought very appropriate. 

This is the back(designed by me) two little birds bringing all the HST's from all over the world.

Well I digress as usual, I was on a HST's roll and was going to make another quilt so I made a ton more, and then put them away in a tub, as you do,where they stayed till yesterday.

The February block for the Siblings Together 2 was put up, and yes you guessed it HST's were needed, 24 for each block, and two blocks were required.!!!! (Happy Dance) not only that but I have a tub full of 

2 1/2" squares as well.

All sorted and done in no time at all.

This is actually to fess up to the other girls in my siblings group as to how I did them so quickly..

so keep hoarding girls, it's true you never know when you might need just that scrap etc..

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