The Last Post..

This indeed will be my last Post..

I am sorry to all my friends who have followed Elfin Patch Blog over the years..

Try as I have with not much help from Blogger. I have been unable to stop certain unsavoury people coming through my blog. Why they are using a sewing, knitting and gardening blog...words fail me.

So keep safe my friends and keep stitching..................Doti...

Blocks for ST2 are home..

Where does the time go? November has gone and lots of blocks have come in for this months 

Siblings Together 2 Quilt.

It is not sewn together as yet, just laid on the guest-room bed and every time I go in there I change them around. Looking at this picture that blue one with the bulls eye will have to move.. :0)

Christmas is just around the corner, so I have been having a little play at making just a few homemade cards.

Fabric ironed on card with Bondaweb and a few buttons stuck on. Fun to make.

My good friends Maggie, Ann and I did a lovely course at my favourite fabric shop,

Sew and So's of Bungay, with our favourite teacher Lynne Edwards OBE.

What a fun day !!!

This is what Lynne was teaching us. It was the most beautiful quilt that she was in the process of making.

I did manage two blocks and finished off another at home, mine will be made into a table runner hopefully. So watch this space..

I did enjoy my holiday but now I have to catch up on my Winter Dresden plate block for the Frolic group.. We dyed all the fabrics before I went away so now it's"thinking cap" time for all things winter..

Any ideas for other segments would be gratefully received, 'cos only 9 more to think of and do !!

The next job of the day it to decorate the tree.

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

ST2 Tutorial for November Blocks.

As the title says this is a tutorial for the 

Siblings Together 2 group.

As I am the Mama for the month of November, I thought I would keep it very simple. 

I would like to make this quilt for a an older boy, so no pretty flowers or pastel pinks etc please.

Grey, taupe, and all shades of Blue. Centre square any shade of Red.

I have made 2 different blocks, the first.

Centre square is 2 1/2 inches and the strips are all cut 1 1/2 inches wide.

Finished block should measure 12 1/2 inches.. 

The second block the off centre square is cut 2 1/2 inches X 4 1/2 inches and the strips again 1 1/2 inches wide.

 And the finished block is  12 1/2 inches square.

Now I do hope this is all as clear as mud :0).. Please could you make me 2 blocks. It could be either one of each design or two the same.. But please think older Child when choosing your fabrics..

I am so looking forward to receiving your blocks..

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

Scraps, Scraps and more Scraps...

Scraps indeed and that is how things are going at the moment. First it was a scrappy bag. 

I have never worked this way before. 

Iron your scrap pieces onto the sticky side of Stabiliser, and then sew them down. It worked but I am not sure how well it will wear..

Fronton Bag

Back of Bag.

 Then it was time to make this months blocks for Siblings Together, so it was more scraps.

They have been posted off to Ireland today, I hope Jude likes them.

Now for the next scrappy episode. My friend Allison was throwing out these lovely scrap strips. and as another friend Liz and I had been discussing what I should choose for my block for the girls to make when I am the Mama for the month.

We had seen a lovely Quilt draped over a sofa in this months Quilt Mania. Although this block is not quite the same, as there was not enough of each fabric to go all-around the centre the essence is there .

So it might be my choice for November.

I need to make it again in some more scraps and then make a decision, so watch this space...

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

New Take on the Churn Dash Block.

I have had a break from writing this little Blog. 

As you may know, if you live in England, opportunities have to be taken when the sun shines.

On the few wet days we have had, I have however been doing a little sewing.

I found this tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company

Its a new slant on the Churn dash Block, which is one of my favourite blocks to make.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Gkpvl6oB4&sns=em

I do not often make quilts using the same fabric as the pattern suggests, but this one looked so fresh that I went with it..:0)

Block no. 1 made, and so simple that the quilt top was done in no time.

Have since pinned it into a quilt sandwich ready for quilting, but as yet its been too nice weatherwise to stay indoors to quilt it...

My quilt Buddy on the Just sew site has sent me two lovely mug rugs all the way from Arizona, 

they are great fun and I am sure they will cheer me up at coffee time in the winter. Thank you Amber..

This lovely apron was the only other sewing I have done. The pattern was bought from my favourite quilt shop Sew & So's of Bungay Designed by Janet Clare and is called the Artisan Apron.

I need to add some embroidery to it and that will be finished..

I love the way this apron wraps all-around you, very useful for me as I am such a messy pup in the kitchen..

On that note...

Stay safe and keep stitching.............................Doti...

A Little Knitting Done..

Other than another knitted Hap that is to be a put away till Christmas, no sewing has been done what so ever..

It is just too nice to be shut up indoors.

This latest Hap is made with 2ply Baby Alpaca and is the softest one I have made. I am not sure if I really want to give it away. It was so fine that I  had to knit two balls together.

If you want to knit this Hap the pattern is on Ravery and it is called A Hap for Harriet by Kate Davis.. It looks complicated but it really isn't, and I should know I am on my 5th one..

Most of the soft fruit has been picked from the garden, made into crumbles and frozen.

This is our first white burpless cucumber, from the green house. It was only 4 inches long and we have just eaten it as part of our lunch.Yum..

The weather is overcast today and  we had a fair amount of rain last night. I might start by at least tidying up the sewing room, and you never know, get some sewing done Ha Ha.. We shall see..

Stay safe and keep stitching.................................Doti....

     

Mug Rugs.

I joined an on-line sewing group called Just Sew.. and this months swap was Mug Rugs. So here are mine and today I have posted them off to the USA to my swap partner. I do hope she likes them.

I was in dire need of a new peg bag, so with some of the scraps left here is my new one. I forgot to take a photo of it before I filled it with pegs so it looks a little misshapen .

That is the sum total of the sewing I have done since my last blog post. I have a pile of mending and alterations to do but the garden has taken over at the moment.

The little arbor where we sit for coffer and afternoon tea is now due a severe hair cut and a tidy up, now that Mrs Pigeon has raised her two babies and they have all left.

This is the third year she has built her nest in the roses above, as much as we try to dissuade her, she is sitting on an egg before we have turned our backs (this year two).

The little bench Mr M made has moved again, this time I hope for good. There was an awkward little triangle between the green house and the fence, where all sorts of junk used to get dumped.Its now another little seating area.. Though where to put the wheelbarrow now..Ha! Ha!..

The mosaic floor is an old table top, the metal legs rotted and fell off..

I love up-cycling and it is looking good. The black pot at the front now has a lovely lavender planted in it..

Well Mr M has just come in with a second large bowl of gooseberries and tells me he is about to pick some blackcurrants so I know what I shall be doing later..

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

Just Sew "Bag Swap.".

Things are a little quiet about here on the blog front, I do not know where the time goes too.

If the weather is good Mr M and I can be found  in the garden  as large portion of fence has blown down and has had to be replaced. So many trips to the dump with all the vegetation that came down with it.

When the weather is not so nice, a little sewing has been done. I joined an on- line group called

Just Sew and joined in their Bag Swap.

It was really strange sewing something for someone you do not know. All I was given was the name and address of the person I had to send my bag to.

The bag had to be made using just two fabrics so this is what I made, for a lady called Janet who lives in Gretna.

As you know, I knit lots of socks and I find this bag very handy for carring my knitting about.

Rough idea of how it was made

Janet put up on Facebooks  Just Sew site that she loved it, so I am well pleased.

Now, I am waiting to receive my bag from whom I do not know..Ha Ha !..

The Frolic sewing group to which I belong have now finished the quilt, "The Battle of Sole Bay".. and it is going to the NEC in Birmingham in the group quilt category.

So keep your fingers crossed for us..

 Their were just 6 of us this time, and it was fun to make though a bit daunting at first..

Desperately trying to make some summer tops, before the summer is over, but I think I have made this one a little short for me.. So it will be my usual trick to lengthen it so watch this space.:0)

So I am leaving you with a couple of views from my back door..

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

Wilfred Rabbit..

Not a great deal accomplished since my last post. The garden is having it's tidy up as the spring blooms are almost over, and now the roses are beginning to bloom. I found a nice space for the the little garden bench, it is looking good against the yellow rose Canary Bird.

Though I used it as a prop for the finished baby quilt, for our very first Gt Grandchild.

 Also finished is a little cuddle blanket which took me longer to sew him up than it did to knit him.

Wilfred Rabbit..

Both have gone off to Devon to await the arrival.

The knitted cot blanket was not finished so could not be in the parcel, but at long last is getting there, one more round and then the boarder.

The only bit of sewing done is a few more rows on the triangle quilt, although they are not joined on as yet. Just another 13 rows to make. I have not made a large quilt in a long time and I keep thinking shall I make it smaller ? :0) Well watch this space...

I guess another row is on the cards now so ..

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

Fine weather..

The weather has been great, so readers of this blog will know where I have been. Yep, in the garden!

Now, you can guess what is coming next. Yep, it's peeing with rain today so I am back in the sewing room.

I had done my May blocks for ST2 before I decamped to the garden..Charlotte is the mama of the month for May, and as our daughter has moved in next door and is also a sewer, I got her to make up a couple of blocks too..
They are 1/4 log cabin blocks and rather fun to make. I am very interested to see how Charlotte puts them together..
Next job is to get them in the post to her.

Mine and my daughters blocks for Charlotte.

This is a newish quilt magazine and I liked the quilt on the cover of last months.

I was thinking, as I have rather a lot of taupes and blues in my stash, this might be the quilt for me.

Some triangles had also been cut out before the nice weather, so today I have started to put them together. All a bit scrappy at the moment but they are looking good.

More triangles to cut out as I need 390 taupes and 390 blues. This hopefully will make a dent in the stash. :0))

Now, I thought I should tell you what Mr M has been up too while I have been slaving away in the garden.

When we emptied the furniture out of our holiday cottage, we could not even give the two little single beds away, so they ended up in our wood pile.

Every time I passed them, I thought they looked too good to chop up for fire wood.

2 bed ends from one bed.

added sides.

Now a seat

So having trawled the internet, this is what we came up with. 

As yet unfinished, (rain has stopped play) and then a nice new coat of chalk paint and possibly a polished seat. I know a nice spot in the garden where I think it will look great.

Watch this space.:0)

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

A Privy for my Birthday...

Its my Birthday this week and here is my early Birthday present. It looks a lot like an old fashioned Privy, which is why I like it so much. Now, I can keep all my gardening things together. 

It came flat packed and Mr M put it together and believe it or not he was one screw short

(he is always one screw short).

 He has some repair work to do on my cold frames, then this little corner of the garden will be sorted.

The view out of the back door is changing as the narcissi are beginning to open.

Mr M does not like gardening but he is quite happy to do all the woodworking, and landscaping as and when we need it.

Every time the sun shines I am in the garden, so there has not been a lot of sewing done, though I did do some quilting on my Battle of Sole Bay Block.

Some rather large big stitch quilting in the sky and machine quilting on the sea.

The Sun is shining so you know where I am off too :0))

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