Distracting flowers finished...

….so this is what I ended up with having sewn all the hexis together.

Three single hexis in floral print, (top right) six Floral flowers (also on the right), one green centred flower, top left and three floral centred flowers.

The pink petaled flowers went together easily enough, the floral petaled ones were a bit more tricky.  It was a bit of a puzzle getting them to fit, I would try each of the hexis I had, get the closest fit and then ease the seams out till they fit. 

That should be OK going forward as I don't intend to try and sew any of the finished flowers to each other just to backing fabric.

Not sure when that might be I think the impetus for this  distraction has passed for now.

Easily distracted

as the sampler quilt is at the point the individual blocks need sizing (mostly up) this is my last chance to choose the  fabric to help make it more cohesive.  I figured that as I currently (things may change) intend to sash I better choose the sashing material as that would need to be considered.

I did have a very bright, bold in your face pink in mind that I bought in the early stages of the sampler, but I was less sure of that now.

So off up into the loft and the storage bag to pull out other candidates, other shades of pink and blue and even a grey. 

Now this is where the distraction comes in, that storage bag is full of various bits, from lots of places such as the now closed or relocated Northern textiles or material left over from past projects but still too large in my mind to be classed as scraps and of course bags of "do you want".

And I just have to look at it all, remind myself what is there, contemplate what I had considered making and when it comes to the bags well they may need a little reorganising, re assessing or even pulling out and doing something with.

In this instance two of the "do you want" bags came out of the loft, this first has already been the origin of two quilts finished and shared on my blog, Postage Stamp and Flower Quilt which were both gifted to ladies at Church. I vaguely recalled that there was some of the material used in both those quilts left and anticipated just gauging how much and what possibilities they held.

However, once I looked in the bag there was in addition to the expected material some finished hexis that I had forgotten about.  Made at the same time as those used for Flower Quilt they are in totally different material and colours so had not made it into that earlier quilt. There are less of theses hexis and I guess at the time they did not appeal, nor did doing anything more with that shape.

Now, well now they do, I can sit and stitch them together whilst watching TV with my mother, or chatting with my Mother is very appealing.

There wont be enough, not any where near enough to make a fully hexi quilt but a variation on the appliqué to a background I used for the previous hexis should work and I will decided on backing fabric and lay out once I have sewn together as many flowers as I can.

Oh fabric to go with a quilt, that's what I was originally looking for wasn't it! Well I was not so distracted that I did not get the sashing tentatively chosen, I went for one of the blues and am thinking the bright pink might well be the backing.  The book wants each block done separately as a quilt as you go, not so sure about that but no need to firm that up just yet as, sewing hexis for a bit first!

I was too distracted to take pictures of my options and final  choice so sharing what I picked will just have to wait till I have finished stitching hexis..well unless I get distracted.

Lockdown stitch along

My BFF and I like to craft together, quilting or cross stitch we try and get together once a week  to stitch and natter and unwind. That is not always something we can get co-ordinated with our other commitments but we mostly manage.

Covid 19 had put a bit of a dampener on that, no visits allowed, but at a time the nattering and unwinding is more important than ever..

A free pattern shared by Durene Jones on her Facebook page sparked a thought, we could have a stitch along via Skype.  Something bright and cheerful, with enough to keep us interested without being overly big or complicated and with the added bonus of a finish neither of us had tried before.

E-mailed the pattern over to my friend so we both had it ready to start and see if this would work.

Our first try was last week, some of the time was taken getting Skype set up, sorting threads and deciding which half of the pattern to start on.

I had picked the full pattern so the choice of starting point was my friends we talked we laughed and we even sewed.

We enjoyed it so much we did it again, funnily although we are using the same pattern and colours our approach is different.

So this time we agreed we would blog our stich along, my progress here and she will show hers on her blog, that will be in part a bit of a divergence to the normal theme for her yet also due to the way we are interacting it is also very her.  Anyway I have added a link to her blog so you can visit and compare our progress and out take on it. LINK to her post LOL. Or you can use the link on my blog list on the right, Life outside the Washing Basket.

This is my progress so far

If you look at it sideways it looks a bit like a TIE fighter from Star Wars.

Mind, we have rules, there always have to be rules, they are nice easy rules, no stitching on the stich-a long except at out Skype stitching nights.  And a sharing of progress via blog, but each sharing on our own. And most important of all, to keep it light and have some fun.

If you would like to stitch it too, it is Tulip Biscornu by Durene Jones and the chart is as previously mentioned available for free.

So far we have been Wednesday crafters but from next week we are changing to Thursday so we can watch the Great British Sewing Bee and add that to our topics for nattering.

I do hope you can join us either, with the project or with our progress.

Sampler Quilt, final blocks

So for the last two blocks there is the Mooney Block.  I had issues with the stripes ending up the correct width.  I have mentioned before I have issues with straight lines and measuring, quilting is an odd craft to chose therefore.  

So the block is not perfect but it was interesting and the part sewn seam method was the easiest bit of it.

It will need sizing up for the final top, but then quite a few do.

Mooney block

And the last one.

Snail Trail

I expected this to be easier going as I have in the past used this block for a full quilt. I thought wrong and I had issues, a bit of uniquifying and it is saved enough to use.

I think the question of layout for the blocks and what material to be used on those that need enlarging will be something to do in combination. 

I am half enthused at the thought and a little daunted too.   

Oh and I have been soaking the squares from the Chorley pattern books to get the paper labels off and finally make some use of them.

This is the second batch drying.

I have started on a postage stamp quilt with the first batch and will post about that separately at a later date.

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog hop 2020

Welcome to the fun of this years hop hosted by Jo over at serendipitous stitching now the idea is you hop from blog to blog starting from Jo's blog and ending back there collecting letters along the way to answer the puzzle.  So if you have not started with Jo and hopped your way here you might want to start with Jo and find your way here one letter at a time. Just click on the link above and your off.

 Once again I have chosen a rabbit  for my Easter themed stitching.

This is Anchor's Peter Rabbit from Cross Stitch Crazy.

Now as you might have guessed from its name this was designed for Anchor thread, but I mostly use DMC and with the help of an online conversion chart this is completed in DMC. There were French knots on the handkerchief and for the light in his eye, I was not feeling like struggling with them so I just did a tiny white stitch instead. 

And now for your letter, this year I was ahead with my sewing for the blog and took the opportunity to sew a little something for my letter. So this is also from Cross Stitch Crazy issue 212 (Feb 2016) Black work Rabbit (although it looks more like a hare to me) by Lesley Teare.  It has been awhile since I did any blackwork so this was fun.

So now you have your letter from me hop on this link that will take you to the next blog, happy Easter, happy collecting and stay safe. 

craftingramble

One and a bit from three.

On my previous post about the sampler quilt I had cut the pieces for three blocks. The last one I will be doing from the book, one from the internet and one I have done before.

So progress.

Finished the one from the book. Named as grape basket in the book, the piecing order fooled me and a bit of unpicking was required.

It will need a boarder on it to bring it up to size but that was expected in the book. I will tidy it up before doing that but am waiting , as previously mentioned till they are all done to work out the colours and sizes for the block that need adding to.

The one from the internet did have some progress.

I expect some of you will have an idea what this one is going to be.

As for the third well I made a basic mistake on the middle four blocks of cutting them at the finished size instead of plus the seam allowance so I will have to cut those pieces again before I can get on with that one.

Conferance stitching.

So been awhile since the pair of angels had any work done on their project.  As I suspected the set of three have had much more attention. However, I will post a separate update on that project at some point.

As for the cross stitch a touch on the mountains and a little sky, all blended threads..

I found switching to the evenweave easy enough to do after working on 14 count Aida (for the Easter blog hop) the tricky part was the pattern size, I do wish I had enlarges my working copy.  Some of the symbols whilst different close up for a distance can be a little so similar for sewing at speed.

Mind those mountains are starting to appear. 

Sampler quilt...three in one?

Here are all the bits cut, not just for the next block (grape basket) but for the replacement block and the extra one.

Yup, these bits represent the next three block and if successful the final blocks in the sampler quilt.

One from the book, one from Facebook and one, that whilst on the cover of the book and incorporated in several of the example quilts throughout is not actually one of the patterns in it!.

I have used it before to make a full quilt however, it felt right to add it rather than repeat one of the other blocks.  Well presuming it works out, if not I still have four little drunkards path blocks.

If not needed for a block, they might still find their way into the quilt at a later stage of the tops construction. I like the thought of that.

Sunday Stitching..Ohps

So last week before I got started I spotted a mistake and took it out.

This week I started with the pink in the ear and then moved happily on to the hands.

Counting along from the three little brown stitches...it al

l went in so nice I was enjoying it and listening happily to the talks.

On to the white and the ear was done, then to the bottom of the face and it should touch on the pink of the hands.

Oh no it is not matching the white to the pink, re check the white..it is ok.

Ohps! it is those three little brown stitches they are too far across to the right so all of the hands are in the wrong place!

It will all have to come out.

Funny thing is I don't mind, it is almost as if having enjoyed putting them in so much that taking them out to do it again is almost a happy thought!  Odd I know but there it is, that's how it feels.

Oh yes and the embroidery project I did say I would post a little updated bit.

I went back over the gold thread with invisible thread as the couching done with the gold was getting cut by the edge of the needle as the various blues were going in.

It is very odd stitching with that stuff, as being invisible it is hard to see!

Apart from moving the angels about so they all fit this will also be my interpretation of the colours as best I can with the available shades of metallic thread.

Gifted georgesness link up January 2020

Well here we are at the 15th of the month already and I have received a couple of gifts I want to share and joining in with Serendipitous Stitching's gifted-gorgeousness-sal-. feels like a good place to do it.  Even if both are not cross stitch or even sewing related.  But then I do tend to do a variety of things on my blog..and so

The first a Christmas themed Christmas gift from my pen pal

The carrot button for the nose is very cute and this hanging decoration will be coming out every year from now on.

And the second, well it is a fun little item from my BFF.

the tooth pick is to provide scale (LOL as in the size not the other kind associated with dragons)

So it did require an addition...chocolate.

Not a lot of chocolate as it is not very large.

A little pot intended for the melting of a certain brand of wax wrapped cheese came in handy.

I melted just two squares of chocolate, I think half a square would have been enough for this test of my gift, but then I would not have had the excess to eat.

pour it in the mould.

and wait....not a patient person...put it in the fridge and wait....

then

carefully peel it out of the mould.....

the claw on the wing I did manage to fill did not come out, well I had not got chocolate in the other so that evened out.

The tear drop area in the loop of the tail was being stubborn, would it snap?

And

dinky chocolate dragon.

a few air bubbles here and there, perhaps the chocolate needed to be a bit runnier.

So if I wanted to make decorations for a cake or cakes well it works but I would need to keep them chilled as it is so delicate it started to soften and melt just at normal room temperature.

So it briefly decorated my tongue, and then it was gone.

Me being me I am of course wondering what else I might safely use in my mould that might be of a more lasting nature! 

Still it was fun and I got to eat chocolate and it made a jolly accompanying gift to a book, The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burges which formed part of my gift.