Two Cardigans

I LOVE Georgie Hallam (Tikki)'s patterns and have slowly been knitting up many of them.  I enjoy how each one has extended my knitting skills and produced a range of beautiful garments - all of which have been for either my daughter or one of her dolls!  (See here and here and of course a Milo or two).  Here are two more...

Last spring I knitted up a 'Girls Best Cardigan' in some gorgeous Shepherd merino 8ply in the most delicious pink.  A divine wool to knit with, and a jersey that the kiddo really loves!

These photos taken December 2014

The dress that K is wearing is Oliver + S's 'Family Reunion' dress in a gorgeous floral from the 'Good Life' range by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake.  This has been her go-to 'party' dress and has been well admired, with K automatically replying that 'mum made it'.

And some photos from today...

Over summer I made an 'Elizabeth' cardigan in some Moda Vera 'Sombre' organic cotton that I think was about 5ply (sport) weight.  After adjusting the needle size it made an awesome light cardigan that my girl has just started wearing!

This blue cardigan was on my 'Q1 Finish-Along' list as well... so a second finish... yippee!

Oh yes... I have a 10ply 'Bloom' that only needs blocking and tidying, as well as a series of dolls' clothes... will share those soon!

I'm linking up again to Crazy Mom Quilts for 'Finish It Up Friday'.

Scrumptious Squares

I finally finished something on my 'Q1 Finish-along' list!

This quilt was made using a layer cake of Bonnie and Camille's 'Scrumptious' and some Kona snow.  

I adapted the pattern 'Square One' from Camille Roskelley's book 'Simplify' which is made using charm squares and Honey Bun strips.  I worked out how to get the proportions the same and used almost every piece of my layer cake.  There was some nervous cutting... but I do love the result!

It finished at approximately 64" by 76" so it's a very good size for one layer cake.  I did swap out some of the white squares for some extra yardage, but the other plain colours that were in the mix really make the blocks work.

I quilted this using a design called 'Cherish' from Christina Cameli's new book 'Step by Step Free Motion Quilting' which I really recommend!  I had originally planned to stencil on another design by now know that the free-motion way is so much more 'me'.  I even made the quilting a lot more dense than originally intended because I was having so much fun.

The quilt is bound in the multi-coloured print of orange flower discs - seen in the centre of the above two picture.  The backing is a co-ordinating Bella solid I had purchased for another project, and turned out to be almost the exact amount needed!

I am absolutely thrilled with this quilt and it must be one of my all-time favourites!

I'm linking up again to Crazy Mom Quilts for 'Finish It Up Friday'.

A Marmalade Garden

Today I finished a wall hanging/quilt that wasn't on my list of 'must finishes' but I am very pleased to have it completed as I had started it back in March last year.

I have Lori Holt's fantastic book 'Quilty Fun' and was keen to have a go piecing some of her blocks.  I worked out that both the butterfly and flower (head) block could be made from a charm square, so I got out my hoarded 'Marmalade' charm pack.

I purchased some extra yardage of the Bonnie and Camille range to add more leaves, as well as some Kona 'peapod' for the stems and Kona 'snow' for the background.

Then I used my new design wall - made from a piece of flannel hung by map pins - to organise the pieces into a pleasing design.  I made 14 butterflies and 14 flowers (three of which had longer stems).

I did the quilting in a freehand stipple and love the effect of it!  I'm also super pleased with the red border and love how it works with the floral outer border.

Finished size: 52" (wide) by 48" (high) - 133cm x 122cm

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for 'Finish It Up Friday'.

To finish!

Although it's been ages since I've blogged I have been busy sewing and crafting.  Christmas and birthday gifts have kept me busy - as well as a garden that is needing a LOT of attention. 

So I thought I'd better share some of my current projects and while I'm at it link them up to a goal setting group.

Firstly here are my goals for the Q1 Finish-a-long at 'On the Windy Side'.  I haven't done this before, so I'm being cautiously optimistic about how much will be completed:

1.  My Double Wedding Ring Quilt in blues for our master bed.
I've made 100 of the arcs, but think I'll need 168.  I have foundation paper pieced them but am using the Creative Grids template to help with the cutting.  I still haven't made a decision about the background fabric but am tending towards 'pure' kona white (top centre) as our duvet is the same white (see in background).  I would have liked it to match the pillow (here) seen right at the top - but I don't really fancy working with that much linen.  There are four other alternatives across the bottom - as well as the Kona 'snow' at the top right.  What do you think?
My goal is to get the top pieced in Q1 - I'm not sure whether I'll quilt it myself, so will leave that to later in the year.

Across bottom: Kona tan; Bella linen; Quilter's Linen; Essex linen in flax

2.  Scrumptious Layer Cake quilt.
Just two seams on the top, then I need to sew the backing together (purchased) and then quilt and bind.  I think I'll do a floral FMQ design using a template I'm keen to try.

3.  Flats' Pluses
This one has been hanging around for far too long!  I need to piece the scraps into a design for the back, then quilt and bind.

4.  Hoo's in the Forest
This one is even older!  I have the main pieced, but need to add final borders, then piece the background, quilt and bind.  I'm being optimistic here.  I do love the colours and hope I'll have some scraps left.
I made my daughter's plywood tree to match this quilt, so better get this finished before she is too old for both.

5.  A jersey for myself
I'm using 8ply Skeinz Vintage in 'Carmine' (not available in that colour any more) and knitting a Customfit 'Ayana' by Amy Herzog.  I'm super excited about having a jersey that fits me well but just a bit nervous about how careful I was with the measuring. I just have some finishing, blocking, then neckline and seaming!  It's high summer here so this won't be a priority.
It's been very quick to knit and I'm keen to try another one for myself when this is finished.

6. An 'Elizabeth' cardigan for my girl.
I'm using up some moda vera cotton and knitting a Tikki pattern.  A fun knit - but VERY lacy so may take longer than I originally had thought.  At least I should have plenty of yarn as I have 5 balls and had only used one at the point I took this photo.

Then just to show you that I do finish things....

A 'Mini Spools' quilt by Camille Roskelley (Thimbleblossoms) using some 'Color Theory' fabric by Vanessa Christenson.

I quilted this quite intensively - it was the first time I have used pebbles - which definitely take time!  A great pattern - I can't wait to make some more of Camille's minis.  :-)

But here's a super-quick project...

I had this plate from my late nana's collection and it had a hole in the centre as the handle was missing - you know those plates that are used for high tea with a central handle to hold them by?  I used the hole (it was the perfect size) to put a clock mechanism through, and viola!  I had a new clock!  The mechanism has a hook on the back and a tight screw, so the clock can hang by itself, perfectly safely.

I'm linking this up to Adrienne's blog for the 'Finish-Along' and will also link up to Crazy Mom Quilts because I have actually finished something!

I'd better get back to the garden ...

Florence

I've had another busy week - and finished a quilt!

This is made using a Denyse Schmidt 'Florence' jelly roll.  I read somewhere that her colours are great for blending together because they contain so many different shades.  I can see why - this quilt has a lovely whole-ness to it that is greater than all the fabrics as individuals.  Although the white is Kona 'snow' it still looks far from plain.

The pattern is 'All in the Family' by Camille Roskelley from her first book 'Simplify with Camille Roskelley' with one less row and no border.

I made a giant bow-tie block from a larger piece of one cut and it really makes the back stand out.

Although the fabrics are lovely I wasn't impressed with the FreeSpirit cutting - the strips really struggled to be 2.5" wide.  The pinked edges were extra wide and I ended up cutting each 2x2 block down by 1/4" just to get some consistency.  The quilt finished at 112cm x 112cm (44" x 44").

I quilted this completely free motion - more than I have ever done before!  No markings were made so I just went for it.

It's Spring here - loving it!

 

Here's my helper - Gypsy the cat.  I love how she's always close by, even when I'm sewing.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for 'Finish it Up Friday' again.  Thanks Amanda Jean - you're an amazing quilter and I really appreciate how you support other bloggers.  :-)

I'll be back soon with some more projects to share... less blogging means more crafting!

Country Girl

Spring is appearing and my daughter K and I have started spending more time outside with the animals and garden.

K has two pet lambs this year - a ewe (female) lamb called Blinky (above) and a wether (boy) lamb called Ned (below).  She is busy training Blinky up to take to the local show/school pet day - but both lamb and child are not having as much fun as hoped!

I had task to finish indoors - another 'Sew Together Bag'.  I started this one a couple of months ago and used a linen mixed with fabric from Tasha Noel's 'Country Girls' range.

The inside is simple, with no extra bits.  But I got a bit excited with the outside!

The quilting was done by hand using perle cotton after I had lots of fun fussy cutting the shapes.

The linen was difficult to work with and I'm not completely happy with my workmanship, but it's finished and can now be enjoyed.

While out taking photos I had some helpers...

Here's our lovely cat, "Gypsy" who turned up at our doorstop on 'Gypsy Day' in late May.  A local dairy worker was shifting and left their kitten behind.  When don't know where she came from but she's a treasure!

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts 'Finish it Up Friday'.

Honeysweet Swirls

Life has been very busy as of recent - we've had renovations done to our house.  Over the last nine weeks we have stayed nearby with my parents-in-law who have been FANTASTIC!

I haven't done a lot of sewing, but enough to finish off some projects, including this...

I made it from a jelly roll of Fig Tree Quilts' 'Honeysweet' collection, with Kona cappuccino as the contrast.

The swirls were made with two jelly roll strips and then cut into 90 degree triangles using my Jaybird Quilts' Hex'n'more ruler.

I added a small amount of similar fabrics to get the half-hexagons - but am super pleased with the result.

I quilted it using segments, an idea I got from Angela Walters new book 'Shape By Shape', and the border's arches idea came from a lovely friend at my patchwork group.

The backing is from Fig Tree Quilts' earlier line 'Avalon'.  The binding is a red from the 'Honeysweet' range

Love this quilt!  And my mother-in-laws' garden where I shot these photos on a beautiful spring day last week!

Finished size: 65" x 64"

Many more finishes needed...  better get unpacking!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts' 'Finish it up Friday'.  See you there!