On the Twelth Day Of Christmas

It’s good news………

this year the base of my Christmas Tree WILL be surrounded with a sequined Christmas Tree Skirt, as I’ve just finished backing it.

All that remains to do is give it an iron and we’re good to go!

 

                                                Happy Stitching

                                                           Sue

                                                              x

Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum.

15^th October 2016

 At last I’m almost up to date, with just one final finished project to tell you about and this time it’s knitting.

When my Goddaughter told me that she was taking her daughter Ave(3) to see her first pantomime this Christmas, I knew straight away that would need to get my Fairy Tale knitting book out again.

So, at the end of September I began working on the characters from Jack and the Beanstalk, starting with Jack and his Mum.

 
Next was Daisy the Cow and the funny little man with his bag of Beans.

 

A Beanstalk.

And finally the Giant that lived as the top of the Beanstalk, together with his Golden Harp and the Chicken that laid Golden Eggs.

 

Happy Knitting!

Sue

x

Am I Really a Quilter?

11^th October 2016

Back in August I had a go at my first 12 inch quilt block and then I made another one with a cross stitch centre panel as part of a project that someone from the  Helping Hands   group was doing.

 

Now, with lots of encouragement from my friend Nicki and the lovely ladies in the group, I finally plucked up the courage to attempt to make my first ever lap quilt.

Taking the advice I was given after making my first block, I decided to go with a simple nine patch block, using some ‘Kirsty Allsop’ charms that were on special offer in Hobbycraft and complementing them with some simple ‘ Henley Studio Spot.

 

 

 

With the relatively simple piecing out of the way it was now time for the more daunting quilting.

I layered  the quilt, going for the quicker pinning method rather than tacking and then it was back to my sewing machine for the actual quilting.  But once again my expectation was rather bigger than my ability because I chose to ‘stitch-in-the-ditch’. 
I’ve since been told that even experienced quilters avoid this method……..and now I know why!  It’s really not easy to accurately stitch in the join of the fabrics.

The binding was another first for me but this was the bit I enjoyed doing the most I think.  It was machined on the right side and then hand finished on the back.

At this time I’m not sure which of the Helping Hands projects this will be going to but be assured it will be keeping someone’s knees warm very soon.

Happy Stitching

Sue

x

 

 

12 Drummers Drumming

I’ve finally finished doing all the appliqué and beading on my 12 Days of Christmas Tree Skirt. 

Now all that’s left is to attach the Gold rickrack around the edge at which point it should officially be finished,  but I’ve decided to made a small alteration to mine.

This particular tree skirt is intended for the tree to sit on top of it but I want mine to hide the feet, so I’m going to cut it up to the centre and make a hole for it fit through, adding some Velcro to fasten it.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

x

Lavender's Blue, dilly, dilly, Lavender's Green…………

 7^th October  2016

When I am King, dilly, dilly, You shall be Queen.

 

And Lavender just happens to be the theme of my latest set of cross stitch squares for the   Helping Hands Facebook Group

 These have now been sent out to Nicki so she can perform her magic and make them into a beautiful quilt for one of the on-going projects.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

x

Broomfield Heart Cushion Project

5^th September 2016

While my sewing machine was out I quickly run up another eleven cushions for the Breast Cancer Unit at Broomfield Hospital

 

Happy Stitching!

Sue

x

Another String to my ‘Crafty’ Bow’……..well sort of.

29^th August 2016

  There are so many ladies, including my wonderful friend Nicki,  on the Helping Hands Facebook Group   making beautiful patchwork quilts  for various charity projects and I’ve sat back in awe of their amazing work, believing that I would never be able to make anything like that because it’s way out of my skill set.    But when one of the ladies made a request for a quilt for herself, it was the perfect opportunity for me to attempt my first ever quilt block. 

Her idea was to ask people in the group to each make a 12” block, with the theme of ‘Loving Life’ and then she planned to piece the quilt herself.

 I set about finding a block template with a square in the centre so that I could include one of my cross stitched square,…………. because cross stitch is my thing!

The block I found is called ‘Garden Path’ and it fits the bill exactly, so armed with four fat quarters I made my first attempt.

After lots of encouragement from the ladies of the group and one comment that I had chucked myself in at the deep end, having not chosen the simplest of blocks for my first attempt, I was fairly pleased with the results for a first go, although it was far from perfect and not good enough to be sent.

Next I got to thinking about what I would stitch for the centre of my actual block and came across a perfect design from Michael Powell called ‘Peacock Hearts’.   The original had Red hearts but I decided to change the colour to Blue, to match in with the fabric I had chosen.

My second block was a little better than the first.
I managed to match the trees at the bottom on the Blue fabric but failed on the top panels and I also failed to get the pattern straight on the Yellow fabric, making it look wonky even though the panels are in fact straight

 

Anyway, after some more encouragement for Nicki and some of the other ladies, I decided to send it off and am hoping to see it incorporated into the finished quilt.

Happy Stitching
Sue
x

Busy as a Bee

15^th August 2016

There’s nothing better than sitting on the patio on a hot summer day, with a large glass of Pimms, and stitching. 

I had been watching all the Bees visiting my plants and they inspired me to stitch my next set of squares for a  Helping Hands  project, using some of my own stash and some of the donated threads.

I’m not totally sure what these are going to made into, but I sent them to a lady from the Facebook group and wait in anticipation . 

Happy Stitching
Sue
x

You Can Almost Smell the Flowers

17th July  2016

Yet more cross stitch using the donated fabric and threads from the lady on   Helping Hands

 

 

I chose to do these because of the beautiful bright colours and made a start on the set of six, finishing the first four quite quickly.

 

The problem was, I didn’t have enough of the fabric that was donated to finish the last two, but fortunately I found some in my own stash that was not an exact match, but near enough.

 

They were all sent to Switzerland, where Nicki did the hard work and made them into this wonderful quilt for the Silverdale Residential Home project.

 

I also sent another set of four squares, this time with a Chicken theme.

 Just waiting to see what Nicki does with these.

Happy Stitching
Sue
x

My First Cross Stitch of the Year

June 2016

It’s been a while since I’ve done any cross stitch, as I’ve been concentrating on my Christmas Tree Skirt and Knitting and Crocheting for the Facebook group   Helping Hands

It was when a lady from the group was looking for someone that could make use of some embroidery threads and several pieces for Aida fabric and canvas, my name was suggested and this lovely parcel of goodies arrived on my doorstep.

 I immediately set about stitching and made four squares using a combination of cross stitch and Blackwork.

 

They were eventually sent to Nicki , my friend in Switzerland and she made they into this wonderful lap quilt that will be sent to Silverdale Residential Home as part of a project to make 22 quilts and 15  Fiddle Mitts/Muffs.

 

Happy Stitching
Sue
x