The Treehouse

Hexagon Cushion and February Owl

I have managed to finish both my scrappy cushion and my February owl. The cushion was made with scraps from my kit for In Full Bloom plus a couple of pieces from some yardage that I have for another project. I played around with the embroidery stitches on my sewing machine while quilting around the hexagons and the rectangles in the borders. The background of the hexagons I just quilted with straight lines.

I'm really pleased with the results. I have a few more scraps to play with at some point but not sure what I will do with those yet - they're quite small.

February's owl was a delight to stitch. The backstitch really makes these little birds come to life...

I had forgotten what a fun stitch this is. I'm looking forward to the March owl now. The chart is Outrageous Owls by Glendon Place.

Planning to do some more quilting this month - Catherine keeps drawing my attention to her unquilted 'blanket' so I think that may skip to the top of the pile!

 

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!

Christmas Story

I finished the stitchery on these blocks during the summer holidays - I thoroughly enjoyed stitching them. Apart from the lovely designs themselves, I enjoyed the variety of stitches that Jenny used - the stitches used are blanket stitch, stem stitch, backstitch, chain stitch - it was very refreshing not to be using the same stitch all of the time. The fabrics for this quilt all came from my stash :gasp: I'm quite pleased with that little achievement! Although I may have to purchase something for the binding, I'm not sure yet. I saved the sewing machine work until the children were back at school and last night I stitched the last border on.

   

Taking a photograph of it this morning has been something of a challenge. It's pouring with rain and the light is terrible...and I have nobody to hold it up for me either, lol! This gives a little bit of an idea of the finished quilt top though.

Just needs quilting now!

 

My Garden Block 2

I've had this block finished for a while now and should have posted its picture yesterday so I'm a little behind - in my defence, we had a busy day of bowling, football and kayaking yesterday and I just forgot about this picture altogether.

Love the birdhouses on this one. I've got all the bits ready for the next one which I collected from Fobbles last week - the button is a very cute snail.

 

I wasn't well at all last week so I got very little sewing done indeed. I'm on a mission this week to finish some things off - there's a list of course. It's a list that I'm going to plug away at and not allow any new starts until these tops are finished (note :  I didn't say quilted!). The only exception to my 'no new start' rule is the quilt that I'm starting on Friday at Patchwork Chicks :blush: 

 

Friday Finishes...

I'm good at starting new things...and bad at finishing things! Sometimes the pile of things needing finishing nags at my conscience and today and this last week it was shouting! Matthew's poor quilt - almost reached an anniversary in the making so last Saturday I took it to the crop with me and did the hand stitching on the binding. I do enjoy doing that but my fingertips were quite sore when I'd finished. No sooner had I put the last stitch in it (finished it off after I got home from the crop) than it was on his bed and being snuggled under - he loves it :D and is waiting for a matching pillowcase :o To be fair, this wasn't a Friday finish but it's been lingering about for so long it wouldn't have been right not to celebrate its completion. He's sleeping with it on top of his duvet at the moment, I think he must be sweating pounds away during the night, lol! It will be great in the summer though...without the duvet!

 

I've been enjoying making the Blackbird Designs stockings and the first 5 of them are now completely finished. They are unbelievably cute and small when they're finished off. I'm a bit behind with the actual cross stitch on this project (keep getting sidetracked by other loveliness) but now that I see how lovely they are when finished off I shall aim to catch up after Easter.

 

I thought I'd give them a trial run on a tree in the garden! It wasn't easy to photograph actually, the wind kept blowing them about, lol!

I had my Baesco bag finished by last weekend as well - I was just lacking some twill tape to catch the corners. I did take it out on Saturday and it fits a lot of stuff inside it - this morning, I've sewn the tape on and it really is a nice finishing touch and makes the bag hold a lovely shape. Had to photograph this one indoors as it was raining by the time this was finished.

 

I love it - and of course, it's made from Rouenneries. I went on a little trip to my LQS yesterday...lots of lovely new fabric and bits and bobs since my last visit. I found the chunky wide rikrak that I've searched every corner of the globe for and quite a few colours...I restricted myself to two colours and I also bought a new bag pattern!

Last night I finally finished Anne Rices 'The Witching Hour' - what a marathon read that was! Good story but it's a bit strung out and no happy ending! Luckily for me, Sue has promised me the load of books two and three so I can find out what happens. I was all set to read Carole's Black Dahlia when I finished this but another bookring arrived yesterday morning and I've been looking forward to reading it - The Secret Scripture. Read a few pages last night but my eyes were drooping so I'm not very far into it yet.

I found a copy of Just Cross Stitch with the LHN 'He is Risen' pattern in it early this week and I'm stitching on that at the moment and hopefully will finish it in time for Easter...well, I'm hoping very soon really as I spotted Danybrod's lovely Easter bunny and egg yesterday and I would really like to make those before Easter as well! 

 

 

Baesco Fund Raising Bag by Dawn Hay

Dawn Hay designed a lovely bag pattern in order to raise funds for the people of Baesco who live in dreadful conditions. All of the money raised from the sale of the bag pattern (after Etsy fees) is being donated in order to help make a difference. It's a lovely pattern and a very deserving cause. You can read more about it here. I bought the pattern yesterday and am this morning debating over which fabric to use - will I cut into my long-saved Blackbird Designs Harvest Home jellyroll is will I play with a Rouenneries charm pack. The charm pack may win because I just clicked onto Dawn's blog this morning and there is an example all made up in Rouenneries - delish! You can read more and buy the pattern here

 

it's not a proper post without a picture!
 

Another abandoned project...

is getting a lease of new life. You might ask why this project was abandoned. Well, it was the second Old Red Barn quilt along from last year. I loved the fabric...love it. I'm not a modern fabric kind of girl but this particular modern fabric has that beautiful shade of green in it. So, I started out very enthusiastically with this quilt top, I was excited. I made all of the half square triangles. They looked lovely. I laid them out in the zigzag pattern. I hated it :o

What to do? I had told Catherine that I was making her a zigzag quilt. It was all too much. I put the blocks into a plastic box. I made sure I didn't have to worry about them again because I covered them up with something else. But you know, I knew they were there and every now and again I would get a little flash picture in my mind of these sad, neglected 1/2 square triangles. 

Yesterday, I put the binding onto Matthew's quilt. I've the hand sewing to do yet but I love doing that bit. Today, I vowed to get the 1/2 square triangles out and at least look at them. I just can't bring myself to do zigzags - it's never going to happen. I do LOVE pinwheels though. So...here's the new plan...pinwheels and lots of 'em maybe with some black sashing but I'll decide on that when I've made them all and laid them out.

For now...I've made a start on completing another abandoned project. That's 3 in one week. Surely there must be a prize available for this, lol! It'll look very good in my list of completed projects :D

 

p.s I remembered how to feather edges on my blur today...progress, it's all progress!

I caught up with a little tv yesterday...almost fainted on the floor to see the delicious Fritz from 'The Closer' show up in Brothers and Sisters :o Nora is dating him...lucky, luck Nora!