The Treehouse

Saturday Klosjes

I can't resist this pretty fabric - it's Garden Song by Nancy Halvorsen. I first came across when I was looking for fabric for Karen's birthday bag and couldn't resist getting some for myself with the intention of using my Inklingo Dresden Plate shapes on it - I'm still going to do that but am using the scraps for Klosjes. I cut out lots of shapes today that I had printed off using Inklingo yesterday and managed to get two sewn up as well. Here they are posing with the 'just about to bloom' lilac in the garden.

 

We cropped today, well - I sewed...everybody else cropped! and I had drawn Karen in our birthday swap. I made this bag for her in the blues from Garden Song.

   

It almost didn't make it to the wrapping stage...I rather fell in love with it and I think Karen likes it too :) Happy Birthday Karen!

 
 

 

Decisions, decisions...

  I mulled it over and decided that now was the time to cut into my lovely Blackbird Designs Harvest Home jellyroll. At 2.5" wide, I think the strips are a good size for some 1" hexagons. I'm itching to start printing them off ready for next week but I have a few other things to finish off first of all.

I've been trying to decide which fabric to use for the Klosjes this morning. I have a Rouenneries charm pack that I could make use of but might go with an assortment of pinks/browns that currently live in a wicker basket on my shelf - they look very pretty there but I'm sure they'd look even better made into a quilt!

I have a few more flowers ready to sew in the same colours as yesterday and intend those to become a little table runner for Catherine's dressing table so I will continue stitching those as well.

Somebody decided that I needed a little help this morning while I was away making a cup of tea!

 

Actually, I'm not so sure about the help - looks more like she's having a snooze to me!

 

One Flower Wednesday

 I love hand sewing and I've been trying to resist but...resistance is futile! I kept happening across little Gardens growing on blogs and the need to grow my own Garden was irresistable. I had promised myself to finish off my Tail Feathers quilt before starting a new quilt...these are only tiny though and they're super quick to make with a cup of coffee so I think they can almost be overlooked as an altogether new project :) Here's my one flower for this Wednesday - would have been more but my preparation time went out of the window yesterday when school phoned to tell me that Matthew was poorly...one nasty 24 hour tummy bug later and he's back running around again I'm glad to say.

 

1/2" hexagons made the Inklingo way

Now to figure out my get out clause for starting on some Klosjes...I've been eyeing those up for ages. I think the reasoning is the same as for the Garden...they're small, they're a cup of coffee's worth of stitching and they're fun!

p.s I went out into the sunny garden to take a photo of my flower only to find my camera battery was flat...hence the rather uninteresting scanned pic for this week!

 

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!
 

Crosstitch WIPs

Well, we are still only able to get one car up to the main road! We have banded together with neighbours in order to get a private contractor to come around and clear and grit the roads and a big JCB is just now clearing away all the snow and ice :D! Of course...it's trying its best to snow while he's doing it but hopefully the grit that he's going to put down afterwards should ensure an escape tomorrow, lol!  Catherine's school is still closed and won't open until Wednesday at the earliest - some villain broke in over the Christmas holidays and stole their supply of grit. The school is impossible to get to in this weather, it sits at the top of a very steep hill...Matthew can go to school tomorrow if I can get him there, lol!

I finally started stitching on The Library yesterday and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's slow going but looks lovely...only a tiny bit to show but at least it's underway :D

 

I did do some stitching on my Blackbird stocking earlier in the week...before I got carried away with a certain snowman! The flash hasn't done the colours any justice at all unfortunately.

 

Finally, I dug out Geranium House this morning. I had intended to restart this on lighter fabric but having viewed it in daylight in a brighter room than this one I think it might be okay so I sewed it onto my frame and it's ready for some attention again.

 

Some more work to be done on Tail Feathers this week - I'd like to finish off those log cabin squares this week.
 

Snowbound

We still have one car that we just cannot get off the drive! My super, little green snowmobile is managing the trip up to the main road and back now. It was commandeered yesterday and the day before for work transport as John thought that 2 days off for snow was more than over the top! I was quite happy being Snowbound with the chicks, the dvds and the sewing though! Yesterday we took the bus to the library in search of new things to read - that was no cheap journey, thank goodness we don't need to use the bus often, the price is atrocious :o

 

This is the view in one direction from my back door. That's the golf course in the far distance...no shouts of 'four' happening at the moment, lol!

I finished off the first Snowbound block last night. Thoroughly enjoyed the applique...did make a slight boo boo on the cupcake and wasn't prepared to do huge amounts of unpicking so that pink rikrak is doing cover up duty. A shame because I'd done a jolly nice job of the scalloped bit of the cake...never mind, still looks pretty and now it's unique, lol!

 Colours are a bit rubbish as I had to take the pic using flash.

My Jinny Beyer book arrived yesterday - poor snowman struggled down the hill with it, it weighs a tonne! Lots of lovely reading there for me. On a quick flip through there are enough gorgeous blocks in there to keep me sewing for the next 600 years!!!
 

Clearly...

I have no willpower at all!

  

but what is a girl to do when her friend tells her that she absolutely MUST make the Snowbound quilt eh? Obviously she must go and dig around in her stash to find suitable fabrics with which to make it of course, lol!

I think it's divine retribution of a sort to be honest. I snuck that P.S onto the end of my yesterday's post just especially for Carole...and she spotted it...and paid a visit to Amazon! 

Anyway, here is snowbound block no. 1 all ready and waiting to be stitched down. Better go and update my WIP list I think.

Yesterday I started making some more of the log cabin blocks for the Tail Feathers quilt. I love the look of them but they're tedious to sew I find. 

Off to get stitching and find a way to manage on much less sleep, lol!

Happy New Year

I'm a little late with new year wishes now that we're five days in to the new year! After one day back at school/work we find ourselves to be snowed in again! Schools are closed, salt boxes are empty, dustbins are overflowing and so we're having another day of holiday :D

 

and as you can see - it's still coming down thick and fast. The sleigh is being ridden but I'm staying indoors where it's all warm and snuggly and am going to fire up my sewing machine in a short while in order to work on my Tail Feathers quilt. The end is nearly in sight for this quilt and I'm so excited about that...just worrying now that I'll mess it all up with the quilting :o

Lots of sewing plans for this year and I had just finally convinced myself to take on no more new projects when I checked on Bunny Hill's blog this morning. There is a lovely new applique BOM full of snowmen, called Snowbound (how appropriate) just beginning and of course, I have downloaded the pattern!

 

I think I may squeeze it in somehow, I do happen to have some pretty white fabric that would be just perfect for the snowmen, lol!

I joined a SAL in order to get my Blackbird Designs stockings stitched now that I've found somewhere to supply me with small pieces of the fabrics used and have started the first one from the January set. I think they'll stitch up quite quickly and have enjoyed the sewing on this first one so far. I'm doing the one with the pink flowers on it first...very pretty.

 

I'm also in a SAL for the Little House Needleworks monthly ornaments and am awaiting the arrival of the second one - these are lovely to stitch although they do turn out quite large...good job our tree isn't a small one! Next year's Christmas tree is going to be decked out in a fabulous fashion is the stitching stays on course :D 

 

The last SAL that I'm in is for The Library, also by Little House Needleworks - I had that on my list of things to stitch and when I saw that there was a SAL beginning it was too hard to resist, lol! 

 

I really should make a WIP list I think as I also want to stitch the Beatrix Potter sampler. Reading that list I also need to stop sleeping as I've not even started to list my quilty things yet and that is really quite a long list. Good job I like to have more than one thing on the go at once really :grin:

I bought some Rouenneries fabric during the Christmas holidays - finally. I had been wanting to buy some since I first saw it but when I went to my LQS the lady there had decided not to order it as she wasn't keen on it. The need was too great though and I finally succumbed to a layer cake (it was a bargain price too so even better!) and am going to make Drunkard's Path shapes with it using Inklingo. I've never been keen on the Drunkard's Path pattern until I saw them in a different arrangement on Cathi's blog and then started giving them a little more thought. Originally, I was going to make octagons from the Rouenneries but now I have a whole new design plotted out in my head involving the Drunkard's Path. I'll need some yardage at some point so hopefully it will continue to be available for a while and in the meantime I'll enjoy sewing these little curved pieces together once I've printed them out.

I had been hoping that the postman would come today but that's not looking too likely with all this snow. I'm awaiting delivery of Jinny Beyer's new book, The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns from The Book Depository I had been waiting quite some time for Amazon to have it in stock but it still wasn't there just after Christmas so I went for a mooch on The Book Depository and there it was, just waiting for me to come along and order it up. 

This is quite a long post so it's probably time for me to go and sew now!

p.s. vampire book fans - see my Just Read list for some rather good vampire reads by Jennifer Rardin. Lent to me by my nephew over Christmas and both Catherine and devoured them in the space of 2 or 3 days, lol!

 
 

Stitcher's Angel Gifts Arrived

I was starting to worry a little bit but my parcel has finally arrived safe and sound with Lyn in Australia and she's very happy with them :D I made an matching embroidery folder, needle case and pincushion for Lyn and I also sent her a blue bird as the name of her blog is Bluebird Quilts. I popped in a couple of thimbles that I bought for her when we were on holiday in Scotland and also a stitching pattern that says...this is the home of a needleworker! Here's a picture.

 

The embroidery folder and pincushion were from a pattern that I had by Cheryl Goss of Willowberry Designs and the Needle folder was one of the free Stitcher's Angel designs by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches. The blue bird was made using a Melly and Me Messenger Bird pattern. I thoroughly enjoyed making all of them and taking part in this swap has been a lovely experience. My thanks to Helen of Hugs 'n' Kisses who did all of the organising for the swap.