February round up 3

OK, last round up post.  This one covers a number of challenges, most of which I've already bored you with so won't repeat!

I was a late-comer to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, missing January's blue, though I did actually catch up with that one.  This month was pink.  I made the following blocks as leaders and enders as I was piecing Jacob's quilt so I'm really chuffed!  All the patterns are tutorials by So Scrappy who is hosting the challenge.

I'm planning on using this challenge each month to make more scrap buckets.  January's was blue, and I made a QAYG panel.  The pink bucket will be the same dimensions, incorporating these 5 blocks (the last one isn't finished yet).  For future months I may make giant blocks, more small ones or make an improv panel, I'll see how I feel each month.

I'm hoping Orange isn't until December as I have very few orange scraps.  The block above started off as a bowtie block, but following some wrong sewing and trimming, I realised I'd messed up and didn't have the scraps to redo it, so I improvised this block.

One thing I noticed as I was putting these blocks together is how much my accuracy is improving.  OK, some of you will look at my points (and the dodgy fabric combo above!) and wince, but I have come a long way.  Practice seems to work so I should keep improving.

I'm now just waiting for March's colour to be announced so I can get going... oh, I should probably turn this one into a scrap bucket first!
I succeeded in joining in with the Craft Book Sew Along.  I submitted my  "Wild" Tiles necklace...



And my Peyote stitch sampler bracelet.



Each person is only allowed two entries or I would have also submitted my project from Mini Eco.



The Smalls Sew Along was conquered early on in the month in a rare fit of being organised.



I made this cross stitch on wood hanging thing from a cover kit.

I did try something New to Me in 2014, but I haven't posted about it yet, so I'm going to save it for March.  I can't really count it here, so that was a failure.

Another failure was the Sew Kitschy BOM, not the pattern, but me making it, as in, I didn't.  Ah well, next month!

February round up 2

I put Jacob's quilt/quilt top on my list for a number of challenges this month, so I've lumped them together.

Finishing the top was my "old" for Something Old, Something New.  Once again the "new" didn't get done, but I am pleased to report a success for the "old".  It was also my goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes, so a double success this month!

I finished piecing the top and was hoping to get the back pieced in time for the EMMQG meeting on the 22nd February.  That didn't happen.

Here it is in all its glory, held up by my lovely assistant Moira.  She did point out that I'd chosen the shortest member of the group to hold up a quilt top, but she's wrong, that distinction goes to me!  I got the back pieced during the meeting, improv style apparently (I discovered this whilst telling them all how I don't really get improv and it scares me).

The reason for the pieced back is that when I bought the fabrics for this quilt, I bought a metre for backing.  Yes, I thought that would be enough.  I'd also bought a half metre for binding which is the top right piece of fabric!  Pieced back it was...

I bought Kristy's Just The Type paper piecing pattern (flawless as ever!) and pieced his name for the back.  I had the J and A done before the meeting, so just did the C, O and B.  I actually got loads done at the meeting, besides stuffing my face with tons of biscuits, cake, cheesecake and homemade soup... oh, and cheese muffins!  Not only did I get all this piecing done, I also got the quilt basted under the supervision of Kerry.  No wonder I had a migraine by the time I got home after all that work (and food), though I still suspect it's an allergy to a group member (most likely Ange).

So there we go, ta-dah!  This quilt also featured on my 2014 FAL list.  Let's have a look how I faired on that one:

2014 Finish A Long

1. Restart and finish Crewel Flowers - partly there, had a bit of a blip with my "flat" leaves 2. Finish hooking my rug - erm, not so far 3.  Finish Jacob's quilt - just needs quilting and binding.  Just.  4. Sew chair cushions for my dining room.  - no...  5. Handquilt/machine quilt my And Sew On quilt - I'm considering leaving this until I've had an FMQ lesson with Trudi as I don't want to mess it up 6. Finish the wrist warmers I'm crocheting - I can't bring myself to do this, though I curse myself every cold morning when I have to hold onto the freezing steering wheel. 7. Cross stitch the last Silhouettes picture for my dad. - Well I took it downstairs, does that count?

February Round Up 1

Before I begin, I asked a couple of posts ago if you ever go back to a blog post you've commented on to see if the blogger has replied to you in the comments.  The overwhelming response was "no, never".  Ladies who do reply to comments in their own comments - maybe you could consider replying by email instead as I fear no-one is ever seeing your replies and people think they're just being ignored.

I've have entered myself in so many challenges that a round up post would be very long and rambling.  I've split my challenges up into related groups instead.  First up is Needlequest and Year of Samplers

The quest for the month was the design focus of Japan.  I chose to try my hand at some more Sashiko.  To be honest, I wasn't going to join in this month as I didn't have any inspiration, then the Year of Samplers was announced - March was to be Sashiko, perfect!  I invested in some Sashiko cloth, threads and needles, downloaded some patterns from about.com and got to work...

It's not looking good is it?  I think the main problem was the size, I printed the patterns off with 8 to a sheet, so this is only about 8cm high.

It was definitely too small.  I printed off the patterns again, 2 to a page this time... much better!

This was the next pattern I attempted.  It's not perfect, not by a long shot, but I started to get into a rhythm and my stitches became more regular as I worked.

Here is the first pattern next to the second.  See the difference!  No wonder I was struggling.  I mentioned that I'd bought some specific Sashiko supplies, they weren't expensive so I thought I should give them a go.

The top needle is a normal, regular embroidery needle.  I know they have names and sizes, but I'm not great with all that, it's just a normal size needle!  The other two are Sashiko needles.  They are so long so you can load up the stitches.  Sashiko isn't worked in a hoop, but in hand which was tricky at first for this frame-loving embroiderer.  The needles are also much thicker which frustrated me at first, but I soon got used to it.  I used the shorter one for the tiny piece and swapped to the longer one for the rest.

This is Sashiko thread, it's called Olympus and appears to actually come from Japan.  Under that label, the two ends are knotted together, you have to undo them, but then can't get the skein back in the wrapper, hence the massive tangled mess!

Here's a quick comparison.  The far left is 1 strand of embroidery floss.  next is all 6 strands, the Sashiko is the middle thread then there's Perle 5 and Perle 8.  It seems to be made of cotton and is very soft, but pretty strong.  It's non-divisible.

I enjoyed stitching so much, I completed 6 squares.  I'm not sure what this will be, perhaps a cushion cover, unless I can think of something else.

I was trying to stitch logically and work in long areas to maximise the loading of the needle.  It was quite a challenge at times and I'd find I'd missed a couple of stitches in the middle of a stitched area.

The dark blue was the first one of this set I stitched, followed by this red one.  I perhaps should have practiced more with straight patterns before moving onto one with curves, but I actually enjoyed stitching the red one above most.

These were the last two I stitched and the best examples of how my stitching became more regular.  I'm certainly no pro, but they do look better than my first attempts.  This photo is upside down!

I was trying to keep the back as neat as possible so there were no shadows from trailing threads on the front.  This is probably the neatest back of a piece of embroidery I've ever done.]

I am pleased I got this finished (though not made up) by the end of the month as I still haven't finished January's Needlequest piece and I suspect March's theme (goldwork) won't neatly tie up with the Year of Samplers (don't know what it is yet) and I don't want too many new WIPs!

Craft book review - Craftydermy

Today I have another craft book review for you, another book from Cicada.  Again I made a project from the book, I'll show you the book first. 

The book was provided to me free of charge so that I'd share a review with you, but I was not told what to say, all opinions are 100% my own.  The links are affiliate links, so if you click on them and then buy, I will get a few pence towards an Amazon voucher.

Today's book is Craftydermy, as with MiniEco: A Craft Book which I reviewed last week, I was a bit nervous on seeing the cover, would I like this book?  YES!  It's not, as I'd thought, full of stuffed animal heads!

OK, so there are one or two stuffed animal heads, but this one is so cute!

Image: Ian Tillotson 

The rest of the book is packed with projects using all kinds of different techniques.  There's a knitted fox scarf which, if I had the patience, I would love to make.  Mind you, I shouldn't like foxes as foxes eat bunnies, so maybe I'd adapt it to a bunny scarf.  I don't like knitting though so it's not going to happen so I'm not quite sure why I'm arguing with myself about it.

Image: Ian Tillotson 

Next on my project list is a set of appliqued flying ducks - think Vera Duckworth on Coronation street, and one of these cute brooches (again, I'm thinking bunny...)

Image: Ian Tillotson 

See what a variety of projects there are?  There are also tiger rugs, bearfeet slippers, a wolf headdress, birdcage lampshades and plenty more.  The first thing that caught my eye was this wire bird.

Image: Ian Tillotson 

Wire I have, wire I can do.  The book calls for 1.2mm which I didn't have, so I used 1mm, but hammered it afterwards to give it strength.

Doesn't he look sad?  Oh poor birdy.  What's wrong?  Is it your strange tail or your backwards pointing wing?  Or perhaps your mismatched legs?  Or do you need a friend?

How about a strangely shaped, front-pawless bunny with no eyes?  (This is my own design, in case you can't tell!)

"Hello eyeless bunny", "hello sad birdy".  Ahhh, friends.  BFFs even.

So what did I think of the book?  There were several projects in it I'd like to make (when I get a chance of course!), it's definitely not all stuffed heads!  I think it'd be great for any skill-level of crafter, and pretty much any discipline.  There are a couple of projects which require a skill - knitting or crochet - but the rest of the projects could be tackled by anyone.  This is a book I'm glad I was sent and will be revisiting.



Related Posts

Craft book review - Mini Eco
Craft book review - Me and My Sewing Adventure

smalls SAL February

I finished my small for the Smalls SAL back at the beginning of the month!  Yay, look at me being organised!   I will succeed in all my challenges...*

The small for this month was another cover kit, this time from CrossStitcher sometime early in 2013.  It's a rose stitched on a wooden blank.  

This was my first time stitching on a wooden blank and it was pretty easy.  The only thing is when you're putting the thread through a hole for the first time, going from back to front, quite often the needle drops back out again before I had a chance to catch it!

There was enough of the threads, though I was right up to the last few inches of the aqua and was relieved I had just enough.

It's supposed to be a keyring and came with a keyring and lobster clasp.  I don't see how it could be though as this is the back!  OK, it's not the neatest back in the world, but after a few rows I realised I couldn't use it as a keyring and so stopped caring about being neat.  Instead, it will be a hanging thing.  Yes, that's right, a hanging thing.

* or perhaps not...  I seem to have accidentally started working on the Quilty Stitches Sampler at Little Miss Shabby, not quite sure how that happened, but this is my Swoon block.

Now I need your help.  All of you.  I've finally visited every blog on the GYB hop and wanted to start on my new followers, but Google displays them randomly for me.  I don't recognise some of the names, so not sure if you've just never commented, but, I want to visit you back!  If you read my blog and I've never visited you, or haven't visited you for a while, will you please leave me a comment so I can come and visit you back?  Thanks!

vroom vroom

Hopping around the GYB hop, I'm surprised at so many bloggers answering comments in their own comments section!  I get it when someone's asked a question and perhaps others would benefit from the answer, but "thanks for the comment"!  I don't get it.  So, quick question to you all - do you go back to every blog you've commented on a day or two later to see if they've replied?  Honestly, I'd be really interested to know if I'm just being a grumpball getting annoyed with this...

oh and a quick, public service announcement: you don't need an apostrophe in the word "photos" when you're just talking about more than one photo.

Enough with that.  I have been making a quilt.  Yep, a quilt!  Want to see how it's going?

It started off like this, which I confidently exclaimed on Instagram was a whole quilt.  It wasn't.  Well not big enough for me.  This pattern makes a 4 x 4 layout but some quick calculations revealed I'd need a 4 x 6 layout for this to be big enough for Jacob's "big boy bed".

The fabric is Scoot, possibly a Robert Kaufmann line?  Now I've written that, I'm not sure I've even got his name right, is it Robert?  

The pattern calls for a charm pack and a jelly roll, but I'd bought a bundle of fat quarters before deciding on a pattern, so I'm using that.  I also bought some backing fabric which I haven't dared unfold and measure yet!  Ladies of the EMQG, you'll be seeing this quilt on Saturday when I'm hoping I'll be at the quilting stage!


p.s. I went over to my Pinterest board Quilts - Pieced to get the link for the pattern and now I want to make 20 quilts!

Wild Tiles

Disclaimer: I love these little tiles, but I can't guarantee that they're going to be wild...

I received a craft book for my birthday last year - nothing new there then - but this one captivated me.  It was a real "aha!" moment.  I'd been thinking of beadweaving as a method of making a bracelet or necklace entirely out of seed beads, this book shows that you can make components, then use metalwork or wire work to join them into a piece of jewellery.

I hit the stash, then bought a few top ups and off I went.  I finished these components back in November (along with some more for other pieces!) and there they've sat ever since.  It was time to tackle them.

Oh, I haven't told you what the book was!  It was Creative Seed Bead Connections - that's an affiliate link, if you click on it and buy the book, I will receive a few pence towards to an Amazon voucher, but if you are a bead weaver (or would like to be) I'd highly recommend it!

I completely failed to get a photo of the other side - these are two-sided components, but you can see that below.  I used a variety of combinations of gold, light blue and dark blue 11/0 seed beads with white 8/0 seed beads. 

The making up of the necklace was one of the simpler ones in the book.  I changed the layout to one I preferred, but used the joining method which was jump rings.

You can see the two different sides here.  One side (like the gold ones) is a double ring, the other side (the light blue) is a four-pointed star on top of a ring.

I added a bit of chain (it takes me AGES to get a necklace to the right length), then a simple toggle clasp, my preferred closure.

I really love this necklace.  It's for me.

So now I just have to tackle the other set of components I made!