The Treehouse

Lincoln's Platform and a Bunch of Blooms

I've been working on my Vignette In Stitches quilt since finishing My Garden the other day - I should have had the first part completed before now really but I'm almost there now. I'm hoping to be able to go and collect Issue 2 soon, I know it's en route to Patchwork Chicks so hopefully not long before it lands...the sneak peaks all over blog land are wetting my appetite! No pic of my Vignette yet I'm afraid I forgot :o

Today I made last week's Civil War block - Lincoln's Platform. I enjoy making these on a Friday morning just in time for the next one to appear!

 

I think a plain red would have been better in hindsight...but that's always such a wonderful thing!

I've been making a flower a day this month as well, here's the most recent bunch of blooms...

The purple and green are my favourite colours in this line of fabric.

I managed to slice the top of my thumb while making coleslaw this evening - I'm hoping it's not going to slow down my stitching too much!

 

Next Friday is the March Friday Night Sew In - not sure what I'll be sewing yet but I've a few things on my list! It's not too late to sign yourself up for a night of lovely sewing :)

 

My Garden...in the garden!

It's a beautiful sunny day here today. After getting the necessary jobs done quickly this morning I got down to stitching together the blocks and borders of Lynette Anderson's My Garden quilt. I've thoroughly enjoyed receiving the little package with the button and pattern each month - the blocks are so pretty and don't take a huge amount of time to stitch and applique. My favourite blocks are the beehive and the tree but I like all of them. I took my completed block out into the sunshine to photograph...quite tricky as there's a little breeze. I'm glad I signed up for this BOM and hope that the next one is just as enjoyable because yes I did - I filled in the form and posted it off on Saturday to reserve my place for the next Button Club quilt!

Now to contemplate the quilting...something simple is all I'm capable of and I've saved the buttons to stitch on once the I've done the sandwich so that they hold at least a part of the stitchery blocks to the back (I won't be quilting into those).

My Garden block 9 - Crow Cottage

the final block! It arrived on Saturday morning and I've managed to snatch a few stitches in between birthday parties and football etc. and just finished it off this afternoon. Can't wait to stitch the quilt top together now.

Back on Track

well, almost! I've still the book reviews to write. I wanted to get last week's Civil War block made before the next one is posted so I sat down this morning and made 

Birds in the Air

I enjoyed myself so much that I made a Pennsylvania Dutch block...

The Road Home

and that one went so quickly that I thought I could fit another one in and I did...

At A Crossroads

Only two of these left to make now and then the borders to put on - I feel as though I could head towards a finish of it this month perhaps...maybe!

Last night I completed the first part of the brickwork on the Library as well - I want to get the first part of the words done and the first few leaves and then I can take a break from it...I've some secret stitching to do :)

Consider the Lilies part 1 and My Garden block 8

After I had sworn not to begin anymore BOMs until something was completed, I happened across Val Laird's lovely BOM called Consider the Lilies and was instantly smitten! I could have used stash but...I'd been looking for a reason to buy some of the lovely Robin Pandolph fabric! It took a while to arrive and I was in the middle of making the birthday pillow when it finally landed so it had to patiently await some attention. This is the first part of block 1, the 2nd part was released on 15th February so I have time to get on track with this one before part 3 is available.

I also managed to get the stitching and borders done on the 8th My Garden block - definitely one of my favourites. Only one block left of this quilt to arrive now - I don't think it will be too long before it's here. The new button club begins in April I think - with a Christmas theme! I'll be getting mine from Bev at Fobbles again, hopefully with some fabric.

We've two discs left to watch in our week long marathon of 24 -season two viewing...no wonder I got so much stitching done this week! I took a break last night and did some sock knitting for a change.

It's another self patterning yarn, this time in my favourite colour :D there is nothing quite like the feel of hand knitted socks - shop socks although a fraction of the price and far less time consuming just don't come anywhere near this level of comfort!

Henrietta Whiskers block 2

I finished off block 2 of Bunny Hill Designs Henrietta Whiskers BOM last night - this is Henrietta's friend Sophie. I had planned on a woollen pumpkin buy my piece of orange felt wasn't big enough so I used some Moda orange crackle and I like the result with the subtle tone on tone pattern. I see a lot of patterned wool around on the web, it's lovely but sadly none of it seems to have made its way to these shores yet.

We have borrowed the dvd set of 24 season 2 from the library...need to view it all quickly as somebody else is waiting in line for it so I can't renew it after a week. Not sure how we never got into watching 24 when it was on the television but we're enjoying it now...just need to do a lot of viewing in a short space of time - perfect for some hand sewing :D I've almost finished the first part of the Consider the Lilies BOM and it's turning out beautifully - I went with the same fabric as the original design because I really like the fabric and had been looking for a good excuse to buy some of it! Hopefully I'll finish it tonight with a few more episodes of 24 to watch. 

The Library and Friday Night Sew In

On Monday the guilt finally got to me!

Last year I bought the pattern and supplies to stitch The Library by Little House Needleworks...I thought this to be the perfect stitch for me and was so excited to get stitching, I even signed up for a SAL on the LHN group. Everybody else has long since finished stitching their Library and probably had it framed by now. Where was mine? Sitting in the corner glaring at me. What went wrong? Well, it's a wide design so I thought it best to put it on a frame - huge mistake for me. Once seated behind the frame in my regular stitching spot I was trapped...couldn't exit without assistance :o I found it cumbersome to have to take my arm so far round the back of the frame to stitch. It took me ages to get everything in position and the stitching was going so slowly and the result was - abandonment! The poor Library was banished to the corner where it would every once in a while attract my attention and cause me feelings of great guilt. 

Meanwhile, I was busily accumulating more exciting charts to stitch. Was I stitching them? No! The Library was there glaring at me and I was telling myself no more new starts until you've done something on that Library (with the exception of that Thistle that I began which doesn't count as it's not 'just' cross stitches so therefore not a cross stitch project iyswim!). 

Finally on Monday I could stand it no longer and decided to pay some attention to it. I pulled the frame and stand out of the corner and tried for over an hour. Progress was slow, very slow. In the end I decided the situation was ridiculous and removed the fabric from the frame and got out my trusty hoop. I was happy as anything all of a sudden and many stitches were made. Here's the progress so far - it's a big project, I expect I'll be a while stitching it but at least things are on the move now...

Just the grass to finish and some little blue flowers (and a leaf that I noticed I've missed off the right hand tree) and this little section is complete.

Tonight is Friday Night Sew In night, to join in the fun you can sign up here and craft away to your heart's content. I'm going to finish off the last few crosses on this Library section and then set to work on this month's My Garden block - can't wait to see this finished, I'm aiming for it to be my March finish.

Friendship Birthday Pillow

I finished the secret stitching project yesterday just in time for Wez's 40th birthday celebration crop. I hope she likes it :) The stitchery design is taken from a friendship project by Helen Stubbings The original idea was that you stitched the centre design yourself and then 3 friends would stitch and add the borders. When I was thinking of what to make for Wez's birthday gift I wanted something special that celebrated friendship and this design came to mind. Instead of making a wallhanging, I've made the finished stitchery (minus the final border) into a pillow. I picked the thread colours from the fabrics that I chose for the little hexagons - I think they really add to the design, I'm always happy to be including hexies in something.

*Happy Birthday Wez*

Happy New Year

We had a nice quiet New Year with just the 4 of us - we had a chinese meal out early in the evening and then came home and relaxed until Big Ben did its thing at midnight. Christmas holidays always seem to speed by so quickly and tomorrow Twelfth Night arrives! 

I have a couple of things that I finished last year that I've not shown yet. This is the wrap that I finished at the ver last moment on Christmas Eve...well actually by the time I finished it was actually Christmas Day! I had to beg for this photo! I long to make things in pink but the preferred colours is blue so I used Sweetwater jellyroll of Pure (same as in the tutorial on the Moda bakeshop as it happens) and for the back I found some rather wonderful snuggles fabric with quite a deep pile on it - it's very luxurious indeed although I think I inhaled a good deal of it when cutting it as it shed like mad! I was glad to find the snuggles in the UK at Minkyland as otherwise I think shipping would have been prohibitive...very good service too.

I've one more finish from 2010 to take a picture of and that is My Little Heart - I'm amazed that I kept up to date with it and finished it on time. 

 

 

 

 

My first finish for 2011 is block number 6 from Lynette Anderson's mystery button quilt project, I think this one is called Window Box - the button is a ladybird, very sweet but will be sewn on at the end. I've enjoyed this BOM and noticed that Lynette has a sneak peak of what is possibly the next mystery button quilt on her blog today...it looks Christmassy to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've thought about stitching plans for this year and have a very loose 'plan' in mind - as soon as I start being too formally organised about it I'm turned off doing anything at all. My current loose plan involves working on some projects that are already in progress and actually finishing them off as well as a few new starts.

Already working on...

Tail Feathers : I've stitched all of the blocks for this and have the top partially sewn together...as soon as it's completed I going to make a start on either Leanne's Down in the Garden or her Vignette in Stitches quilt. I've arranged to send this quilt out to be long arm quilted - something of an extravagance but I really want a good job making of the quilting on this one.

My Garden : I'm up to date with the stitching on this although I think the next block is due soon, there are only 3 left to stitch, I'm looking forward to seeing what this will be like finished.

Scandinavian Christmas : oh dear, I didn't get very far with this at all in fact, I have yet to finish off one block. I'm going to get that one finished before the end of this month and try and get the applique cut for the rest of the blocks. I've already done the tracing for another two blocks so I just need to give this project a little bit more time and hopefully get it completed in time for this year's Christmas.

Theresa's Garden : love stitching the hexagons and I will be carrying on with this as and when the mood strikes me throughout the year, I'd like to finish it this year. (I'd also like to train myself to cut down on the number of projects on the go at any one time!)

Green/Black Pinwheels : I've formulated a plan for this quilt and bought a bigger ruler to make trimming the blocks easier. I've thought up a quilting design and hope to get it done and dusted this year.

Folk Medallion : another lovely project which once I've finished doing the stitcheries will go together very quickly.

Life is Beautiful : I'm making progress on this one and have worked on the blocks since Christmas. I have all of the fabric cut out for the actual blocks and have them half sewn together. Once I've finished the stitcheries for the Folk Medallion I'll resume stitching the lovely little designs for this quilt.

Pennsylvania Dutch : I love this and should have had it finished last year - the blocks are so easy to make. Definitely on my list of things that I will work on this year and would like to finish.

Bluebird of Hope : progress totally stalled on this quilt. I'm leaving it for now until I feel excited about it again which I know will happen when I've ticked a few other things off my list.

Dear Jane : oh dear, no action on this one for quite a while but I'll get back to it eventually.

Clamshells : no action here either as I still wasn't liking the colours and then I decided that I need some nice creams to go with the blues in this quilt...I think it will look altogether different once there is more cream in there. Won't be working on it just at the moment though.

Kim McClean's Heart quilt : I was going quite well on this but have stalled - I may take it along to the next crop and get going on it again.

I think that's all my WIPs in the quilt department...rather a lot :blush: Of course, I keep stumbling across enticing designs on the web which tempt me no end. The 3 that are currently tempting me the most are...

Birdie Stitches by Little Miss Shabby : I'm waiting for my charm pack to arrive for this - I'm going with the Sweetwater Sunkissed, it's gorgeous and lets face it I won't get to use it for my lovely but pink-hating daughter and I would love to use it for something! I'm going to make it smaller though - I have printed out the first month's picture at 50% of the size so my block will finish at 4.5" instead of the larger 8.5".

Henrietta Whiskers by Bunny Hill Designs : first block made available today - how cute is Henrietta? I'm very tempted and may look for some wool.

Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilt : irresisitible...little 6" quilt blocks plus tales of history every week for all of this year to celebrate the American Civil War Sesquicentennial. 

I am also committed to making Leanne Beasley's Down in the Garden and Vignette In Stitches quilts because a) I love them both and b) have bought the fabric to make them with! I won't start one until Tail Feathers is in the post to the quilter though. I have the pattern for Susan's Garden, a Dresden Plate design as well and Kim McClean's Stars and Sprigs quilt pattern.

Oops - not mentioned any cross stitch :o I have LHN The Bookshelf, a Blackbird stocking and Mary Wigham's wardrobe in progress. Won't be starting anything new until one of these is finished.

That's my sort of plan. No doubt something will leap out at me and demand to be made in addition to all of this. There is no way I'll finish it all this year of course but I'll have fun trying!