Family Tree Leaves

My Family Tree needs some embroidered leaves to get me going on this project.  I dipped into my 30's fabric stash (the one I'm supposed to be using for my Dear Jane quilt) and chose some pretties to work with the palette I need.

After choosing a font that meant I could fit the long names of the family on leaves as well as the short ones, I embroidered in several different stitches before unpicking them all and going back to simple backstitch.

The others looked a bit too clumsy and clunky on the little leaves and while it needs to be worth stitching them, I want the names to be quite subtle.  So, hopefully this works without the names getting too lost in the overall picture.  We'll see.

This pic shows 9 of the 12 family name leaves, and the other three are finished too now (just no pic).  Now, I need to get rid of the blue shadow from the erasable pen, but I'm making progress folks!

Come on, Sarah, you can do it!  Might make Christmas finish after all ;-)

Bee Blessed Wonky Log Cabins for December

Bee Blessed are going to work more of their quilty magic with Wonky log cabin blocks in the New Year.

These blocks are so pretty, so easy and heaps of fun to make.  If you'd like to know that your stitching is contributing to bringing a quilty hug to someone who needs it, maybe you'd think of sending them a block or two.  All the details are on their blog post here.  Blocks are requested to arrive by 6 Jan 2017 so there's lots of time between now and then, or maybe after your turkey, to whizz a few scrappy strips together and boost the block donations for this great group!

Cosy Christmas Quilt

Did you think I'd forgotten the Lori Holt Christmas quilt?  It feels like a long time since I posted the first three blocks.  In the interim, I have been choosing fabric and tracing templates here and there and generally getting the remaining nine appliqué sections ready to stitch down.  Aren't they sweet?  Well, Lori Holt projects are, aren't they?

Which is your favourite?  I'm torn between the mug of hot chocolate and those pressies with the big yellow bow.  Maybe because I'd quite like both to be real!!  Now, if that were true what would I like to be in those little packages? ....

Quick fix - needle minders

You know how it is when you see a handy little gizmo and think, "oh, must have one of those"?  Well, that's what I thought when I spotted some needle minders appearing on blogs and IG pics.  Very useful for your hand stitching.

These clever little pretties couldn't be that hard to make, could they?  So, for last weekend's IG #saturdaynightcraftalong I pulled my supplies and started covering buttons and gluing magnets.  It really was that easy (if a little sticky).

All you need is a metal self-cover button, a circle of fabric (and a lining fabric), two magnets and some glue.  

To make:

1.  Cover the metal button as per pack instructions. I used a 29mm button which had a shank. I just removed the shank with a pair of pliers, but I believe you can buy flat backed metal self-cover buttons if you prefer.  I also added a little fine fabric as a lining layer because sometimes the metal shines through with just a single layer of fabric.

2.  Then, glue a small magnet to the back of your button and have a second magnet ready to pair up when the glue dries.

When I posted this on IG I had a few questions from folks who, like me, hadn't really known how to use a needle minder. So here's how it works:

Pics left - right, top - bottom:
1.  The needle minder has two magnets, one glued on and one that separates.
2.  Place the button part on top of your stitching fabric.
3. Secure it in place by popping the other magnet underneath, it will hold the minder on your fabric.
4.  Your needle can rest on the pull of the magnet through your button when you break from working and not get lost or poke you in the arm because you stuck it on the side of the sofa and forgot!

If you only made one it would take all of 5 mins, but I bet if you make any at all, you won't be able to stop at one!

Distraction or prep?

Next week is a big week for us.

Our mischievous, smiling dynamo of a girl will have her open heart surgery in London.  We've known since she was born that this surgery was likely, but it doesn't make it easy to anticipate.  So, amid the planning and packing lists, I did what I least needed to do and stitched something I hadn't really planned to.

Really late one sleepless night, I decided on a whim that I would make some hospital kimono pjs for CT.  They were mentioned by one of the nurses who has been helping us with our arrangements as a good option for post-surgery wear.  Let's just say it wasn't one of my smarter moves.  I'm not a dressmaker, I'm a quilter and I plan to stick to what I'm good at from here on in.  Poor child could have ended up in a right tangle of all those ties if the light hadn't finally dawned and I hadn't fixed my rookie errors!  And those pj bottoms are taking wide leg pants to the extreme!  I was using a pattern but my CT isn't really a standard size - she's just a little 18lb whirling dervish - and my alteration skills are fairly non-existent.  Verdict is, they fit (ish) and are actually quite cute on her, but I won't be making more for Christmas gifts.  I think I just needed to feel like I was doing something for her because this is a funny time when I feel a bit helpless actually.

I snuck in a quick hour and a half's stitching on Friday afternoon to make a pretty, scrappy wash bag for taking just the essentials with me when I stay with CT on the ward.  Last year, my gorgeous and generous friend Di made me a beautiful drawstring travel bag for our trip to the op when it should come around, so I thought it would be nice to make a little co-ordinating wash bag.  (Of course, I really hope to be using these for fun travel in the future.)

I used Jeni's pattern from In Color Order which is a really lovely tutorial to work from.  I did adjust the sizes a wee bit just to fit the 2.5" squares I used up from my pre-cut scrap box.  I lined it with a piece of shower curtain, admittedly melting the first one I used, but finding a better quality non-melting curtain to replace it with.  The shower curtain should provide protection from leaky bottles and toothpaste.

My snatched stitching time was during CT's afternoon nap, but she was soon awake again to inspect the end result.  She seems to have approved, and can confirm that the drawstrings taste great ;-)

So, there you go, some random stitching and a rambling post from my wee head that's all everywhere just now.  But, I hope you'll understand.  She's so precious and it's scary and I am not a machine, I'm a mummy.

Stay safe my little one.  We need your smile in our lives. xx


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Family Tree Plans

I'm planning again. 

This will be my last start of 2016, honest Guv! Well it will be, assuming I actually make a start on it now that I have extracted the ideas that have been floating about my head for the past couple of years and found the "design" I'm after.

Once upon a time, I thought it would be a great idea to make a Family Tree quilt but I didn't get much further than that. Then, there were a number of family changes followed by the arrival of two new little "leaves" and, because I wanted this Family Tree to record everybody's names (embroidered) I needed to wait and see what said new little leaves might be called.  So, the idea floated and flittered around in my ever decreasing brain capacity until lack of time and a wee bit of fear meant I kept putting off and off bringing it to reality.  A few weeks back, prompted by a gorgeous autumnal wallhanging of Judith's in Pretty Patches magazine I knew I needed to make my Family Tree happen.  You should take a peek at Judith's beauty here.

My tree is a completely different shape from Judith's and coincidentally, very similar to the Mulberry brand tree as has been pointed out by some lovely IG peeps.  I am a bit ignorant of such things, so please don't be cross Mr Mulberry.  I was actually going for something similar in design to this block I made for Colette in hipBees some time back.

Where Judith's magazine pattern has really helped is giving the construction information which helped me to simplify an idea I was making unnecessarily complicated.  So, embroidering leaves, bondawebbing and quilting a background fabric - here I come!

With any luck it won't take me another two years to choose the fabrics and I can have a wee portable embroidery pack on the go very soon!

Playing with crochet

For scale this is about 20cm/8" in diameter at this point.

Back in the middle of August I shared with you my French Knitting experiment.  That's a rather grand way of saying I was indulging my childhood curiosity about French knitting and trying to work out what I could do with the resulting scrappy "yarn" length.

As the length coming through the knitting dolly grows I wanted to keep it tidy and untangled by working it up as I go.  This will avoid having to join "yarn" if it runs out because this way, I will just keep knitting the yarn I need until I don't need any more - make sense?  So, I scoured my Pinterest board where I've been pinning mandala and rug and daily patterns for ages, found one to use and then I made a start.  It's only a small start, mind you.  This is Round 1 and a few stitches of Round 2 and those trebles are eating my yarn faster than I can knit it up!  

This is really fun though and the chunky stitch texture is perfect for a decorative floor rug perhaps for CT's bedroom where the foot traffic will be minimal.  If only I was faster at the knitting dolly bit just because I'm impatient to see how it will work out ;-)

Finished - Christmas Sew Along Mini Quilt

Yay!  I did it!  I kept up with a sew along!  Admittedly, it's only been a wee one, but I kept up and it's finished.

Isn't it sweet?  This is Pretty Fabric and Trim's A Little Happy Sew-a-long project all stitched bound and on an expectant hanger.

Since my hanger didn't have clips like the one Sarah used, I just made skinny tabs and stitched them on before my binding so I could slide my wires through.  Worked a treat!

This little sew along took place over five Fridays and provided me with a focus for about an hour's sewing each weekend (maybe a tiny bit more on this last week).  These bit size pieces were just perfect for me at this time and I can now appreciate the feeling of having a finish.  Truthfully, I enjoyed every stitchy second of this project!

It's not too late for you to make one of your own.  The blog posts are all up on the Pretty Little Fabric and Trims blog, starting 30 September 2016.

Oh, and not that I want to be an enabler, but I did spot on IG just a day or to ago a little peek of a Christmas BOM that is in the planning.  If you like the look of it make sure you are watching Sarah & Penny's blog and IG for the reveal, whenever that might be. - I have to pretend I never saw this ;-)