The Treehouse

February Cottage

I put the last few stitches into the February cottage on Sunday. This is such a pretty design, I really enjoyed stitching it.

Not such a brilliant photo as it's rather dark here the last few days - in fact, this morning it's really rather foggy outside...headache weather :(

Here she is next to January...

I'm really glad that I decided to stitch them all on one piece of fabric - I'm using 32 count, I think the chart calls for 28 but I had a large piece of 32 in my stash so went with that. I started stitching on my February owl when I'd finished and Matthew thought that I was going to stitch his cottage next...his birthday is March so of course, the March cottage belongs to him :) The March cottage is green - my favourite colour. I'll be starting that along with Carole on 1st March. Carole made a few litle changes to her Feb cottage which I think are wonderful - she substituted Rhodes hearts and I think they're smashing...go and take a peek.

I've been fiddling about with cushion making this month. I bought a gorgeous pattern from Chitter Chatter Designs as soon as it was released last year and then put off making it. I thought it was time to make a start and have been enjoying making the Dresden plates for it. I have one stitched down with the other one left to do. I love this cushion and can't wait to have it on our bed along with the rest of the cushion family that live there! I've a plan to make some small quilts for the bedside tables with pointy Dresdens also using Butterscotch and Roses - eventually!

A new project arrived in the mail this month from Bev at Fobbles. I had been eagerly awaiting it and started cutting up the fabric almost immediately. It's Lynette Anderson's new BOM, called In Full Bloom and Bev provided a lovely kit of Lynette's fabrics. I had some nice sized scraps left once everything was cut out and distracted myself from the quilt by making yet another cushion as I couldn't bare to throw them out. It's almost finished and I'm just dithering over whether to add a little embroidery to it before calling it finished.

You can see why I couldn't throw away the scraps can't you? I have the first two blocks traced onto the fabric which is a gorgeous linen type of fabric and I'm itching to get started on the stitching of them. I'll need to keep on top of this project as the new button club - 'Fernhill' is due to arrive anytime soon and it looks adorable.

Speaking of the button club - I haven't yet finished off Christmas Fun and in spite of having kept up with the stitching of My Garden, the first button club, it has sat in my sewing room for almost 12 months waiting to be quilted. Last weekend I decided that it was time to stop fretting over what quilting to do on it and just get it finished. I went with what I know best and stippled the outside borders and stitched in the ditch for the rest of it - didn't take very long at all and I'm thrilled that it's finished and ready to hang on the wall.

It's just as well that there's an extra day this month - I'm hoping to have my 'scrap' cushion completed and also my February owl all stitched up before March makes an appearance :)

 

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.

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!

Friday Night Sew In - February

I had a lovely FNSI and got up to date with the courthouse steps part of the My Garden blocks. I had only put the steps onto two of them...and on one of those I had started on the wrong side! I contemplated leaving it but I knew that once it was on the wall it would stand out (to me) like a sore thumb. So...I cut out all the bits for the other blocks and undid that one. After that was all done I traced the latest block and prepared the applique for it so I'm ready to get that stitched next. Didn't get around to doing any cross stitch - I was ready for a glass of wine and a few chapters of my book. 

I've laid the blocks out here more or less as Lynette has them on her blog - only one block left now and I think it won't be too long before that one arrives. I'm looking forward to seeing this on the wall but need to think about some quilting ideas...not my favourite part of the process! I wasn't going to do the next button club - I may even have said that on here somewhere but...I like getting the little surprise parcel with the button in each month so I signed up again. I'll just have to get John to build more house for all the Christmas things I keep making to display on the walls!

The Beehive - My Garden block 7

I thought the next pattern for My Garden wouldn't be long and it arrived along with a bunch of other goodies on Monday. I stitched most of it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it after spending so much time on the sewing machine this last week. 

 

Now, the birdhouse one was my favourite until this one arrived. I've developed a bit of a fondness for bumble bees. As usual, I'll stitch the button on when the quilt is altogether - it's a little bumble bee this time of course.

I'm not sure how long I'll keep up this level of productivity but I'm making the most of it and enjoying it while I can, lol! I've got my eyes on my Leanne Beasley stash now - which one to start off first though...Down in the Garden or Vignette In Stitches, decisions decisons!

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!

One Flower Wednesday

It's been a while since I worked on my flower garden but I got my hexagons out on Friday last week. While I was stitching away I came up with the idea of stitching one a day throughout November. As it was already the 5th I had a little bit of catching up to do so I decided to concentrate on doing just that over the weekend. It's the 10th today and here are my 10 hexagons

Also at the weekend while I was on a roll I finished stitching the triangles and diamonds around one of the flowers and stitched the outer ring on another flower. I think I've added quite a bit of extra work with the diamond path but I think it's going to be so worthwhile and will look lovely in the purple fabric.

 

I may try and fit in stitching the outer ring on a couple of flowers each weekend as well, I'll have to see how it goes timewise. The more flowers I make, the more excited I get about seeing this quilt completed in these lovely fabrics and I could do with snuggling up beneath it at the moment as our weather has turned icy cold this week, definitely hat, scarf and glove weather - especially when watching a lot of sports outside! I did make a single klos on Saturday night as well but I forgot to photograph the poor little thing!

My Garden blocks 4 & 5

Just a quick post to show these two blocks - I'm a bit ahead of the game here (sorry Simone). I was finishing off the stitching on the block with the bird table when the block with the butterfly arrived and I decided to just keep going. I'm going to spend November trying to get up to speed with Scandinavian Christmas and finishing off the last Tail Feathers block...I hope :)

 

 

I'm hoping to do my books read post early this week - a couple of this month's reads have been rather disappointing so I'm currently engaging in some very pleasant comfort reading with some cozy quilt mysteries :)

My Garden Block 3

Almost missed posting this - we've had a buy day today. Catherine and I bowled in a competition which started at 9.30 this morning. It was a lovely relaxed affair and we really enjoyed it. While that was going on Matthew was playing a football match (they won this week - yeh!) I had another game of bowls left to play when John came to pick Catherine up to go to kayaking - phew! what a busy Sunday. We've just come back from a lovely meal out altogether, it's been a really lovely day and the sun has shone as well :D

I've not stitched the little snail on yet - I'm seriously thinking of giving this quilt a wash once it's complete as there are a few pencil lines that I need to get rid of and it won't be good to wash it with the lovely buttons in place. Now - there is a HUGE mistake on this stitching, quite funny really and I did notice before it was too late but I decided to leave it as it is...what is it though?

 

I think it's not too obvious really and I decided that it didn't matter. When I was tracing the pattern, I was thinking how feint it was showing through the fabric this time...the reason for that was because I had the pattern the wrong side up so my tracing is back to front, lol! I think it makes for a unique quilt! I'll be having some time with the sewing machine tomorrow to put its Courthouse steps on and then this can go into the box with the other 3 blocks.

I spent a lot of time with a Scandinavian Christmas block yesterday - it isn't finished, there is a HUGE amount of stitching in those blocks...maybe sometime this week it'll be completed.