Tutorial for ST2 November Blocks.

Hi Girls, 

this is a really simple slab block to make and a great scrap buster. 

Please could you use Rainbow colours as bright as possible, and make two twelve and a half inch blocks.

I started with a pile of scraps, some were 2 1/2 inch squares and some  2 and a 1/2 inch square triangles. and the rest were strips in various widths.

Randomly stitch together until you have a twelve and a half inch block.

 Here are my two blocks.

Have fun and think Rainbow Colours.

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

Projects coming together.

All the lettering blocks of the alphabet quilt are now done with only the borders to do. I have 

downloaded the instructions ( all "36"pages) "help" and I am not even going to look at them until I return from our vacation.

I do like the red and cream colour way I chose, and it has used up loads of my stash, but the borders have loads of appliqué sheep and trees. Red trees and sheep? I hear you say. Oh! Well, we shall see. 

There is one pink sheep in letter J, and I think he looks OK .

This was a BOM from The Quilt Show  Designed by Janet Stone.

Our sew a row Charity quilt is coming along nicely. Each participant sews a row and adds it on to the last one. Jenny is the next one to have it and then I think Liz. It will be sandwiched up with batting/wadding and backing and then each person will quilt their row.

It has been a good group project, fun to see what every one will add, Alison's cats are great :0))

 The hall we hold our  Sewing Bee in, belongs to Wickham Market Church and is aptly named 

"The Bee Hive"

Where it got that name no one seems to know, but it's a great name for us.

 Yesterday Ann was making a bed runner for her daughters bed. This is a flat shot as the 10" squares are not yet put together. This looks like another good stash buster, It's done onto a thin paper, centre strip first, then sew and flip both ways and then the paper is removed.

Got to give this a go..

Now to write up a tutorial for my ST2 block for next month as I am the Mama for Nov and I can go with a clear conscience.    

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

Loose Ends

Loose Ends indeed, or tidying up before our long awaited vacation.

The last of the letters for the Alphabet Quilt are now done and need to be added to the rest of the top, then just the borders to do.

S Y & Z  

Talking of borders, one border is finished on the appliqué quilt and the other three are 3/4 done so the end is in sight for the Floral Impressions quilt. I know that Deborah who designed it will be pleased that I am sill plodding on.

Yesterday we were all at the Bee and our first job was to help Sue sandwich her fairy quilt, she had just finished for her granddaughter, it is really lovely. This is a close up of one of the blocks, this elephant sure has attitude.

It is such a happy quilt and her granddaughter Eva is going to love it..

Ann was putting the finishing touches to her Lunar wall hanging.

Annie was sorting out her 1/2 inch hexes, which reminds me that I have done nothing to mine for ages, perhaps I should take them with me on holiday, sitting by the pool sewing might just be what I need.

Today I have done October's Siblings Together 2 Charity blocks  as I shall not be back till November.

So I can go away all up to date with sewing things. I am the Mama for the Siblings Together group for next month,  so I do have to decide what blocks I would like every one to make.

Then I can go off with a clear conscience.

"Hello" to Liz and Rosie in Guernsey.  

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

Not much Sewing done.

It seems ages since I wrote a post, but really there has been nothing to write about. We have been busy clearing out sheds and the loft as we are going to have work done on the cottage. It's been a little bit like going down memory lane while clearing out, finding lots of pots I made before I retired and  closed the Pottery. 

Quilting and Knitting were my hobbies then, now I would quilt all day and knit all evenings if I had my way but those little things called housework and cooking seem to get in the way a bit.

Some knitting has been done and I only have another 10 squares to do on the grey afghan for Mr M. He looks longingly at the brown and beige one that I made for myself every time I cosy up in it in the evenings. Autumn has definitely arrived.

I think I may have worked through my PINK phase, (thank goodness). The last pink thing is residing on the design wall and yuk! it can stay there as I have no desire to finish it. Well, at least not at the moment. If however, I have to make a quick baby quilt for a little girl..... Who Knows...

I am slowly working down the appliqué borders of the Floral Impressions quilt designed by

 Deborah Kemball , using the lovely Oakshott fabrics , I am getting there but it is very slow progress. 

However Oakshott's had a sale and I did get a lovely half meter bundle.

Now isn't that just beautiful, 6 meters in total, but I can't touch it until I have finished the appliqué quilt.

 Now that thing called cooking is calling me, preparation for our evening meal..

So keep safe and keep stitching..........................Doti...

Off on a tangent again.

Yes indeed, got to work this pink thing out of my system. Perhaps I was denied pink as a child, who knows. I have even bought Pink tulip bulbs to plant. But I love all things pink at the moment, not harsh pink but gentle soft pink.

Remember this from a few days ago, well I was not sure I would have enough of the grey linen shirt for the larger squares.

So it has morphed into this on the design wall at the moment.

More blocks to cut and sew, as yet I am not sure where it is going, though I am liking the  half square triangles down the centre of the 9 patch's.

I an also quite pleased with the little path I have made in the garden leading to the bird feeders, always a muddy patch in bad weather.

I think this little group of sparrows appreciate it too. Photo taken out of the kitchen window at bath time. Love the little Dove, top left hand corner, he looks like a peeping Tom..Ha! 

Mr M is off to Germany to watch his football team, so I hope to get lots of sewing done over the next few days.

Welcome to my new viewers in the Ukraine, so pleased you visit my blog.

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

Back on line again.

Oh! what a week, no internet and it is not until you loose it that you realise how much you depend on it.

We had to rely on the radio and the T V to know what was going on in the world.

I have however been plodding on with appliqué on the floral impressions quilt, all 12 feet of it. I am about halfway there now, and once these borders are done the whole top can be put together.

 I had to have a little break from the hand turned appliqué, so have been playing around with a grey linen shirt of Mr M's that I cut up and that lovely bundle of fat 1/4's  called Flirt by Dear Stella. 

I also completed my Sew a Row for our Bee's charity Quilt, though I forgot to take a photo before I passed it on to Fiona who is going to do the next row.

Two of the girls Alison and Liz at the Bee yesterday, were finishing off their knitted garments for their grandchildren

though as usual they were hiding behind them.

I have no little ones to knit for now, so I was quite envious. Although I am still knitting Mr M's grey afghan, though not as fast as I knitted the brown and beige one.

Got to get back to the appliqué quilt so,

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

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..