The Treehouse

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!

Merry Christmas

Poor neglected blog! Some serious family illness and Christmas preparations have meant that my blog and blog reading has taken a back seat lately. I have a couple of finishes to show off though so made the effort to take some pictures while it was light enough the other day. I was determined to have these two quilts hanging on the wall this year as I thoroughly enjoyed making both of them.

This first one is from a pattern by Jennifer Reynolds  and is called Christmas Story. I have shown the finished top before but now it's all quilted and bound and has been hanging up for the last week or so.

I love it and was rather pleased that I managed to use all stash fabric to make it!

The second quilt is Frosty Flakes, a design by Dawn Hays Dawn offered the blocks and finishing instructions for no cost - what a wonderful treat. It was a pleasure to make and I thoroughly enjoyed every single stitch. The snowflakes I made from my scrap basket, the red border fabric had been languishing in my stash for several years and the squares are from a Basic Grey Fruitcake charm pack that I bought recently.

I have almost finished making my Tail Feathers quilt - it's been a long time in the making but I am determined to finish it off very soon as I have a couple of Leanne Beasley's quilts that I would like to start making...I have the fabric to get going too so plenty of incentive for me to finish up the birdies!

Wishing everyone who stops by here a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year. We're looking forward to our Christmas celebrations which will be a little quieter than usual but hopefully still enjoyable.

 

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 :)

Beehive Sewing Book

This turned out beautifully, I love it! Would it be considered a new project altogether if I were to make the scissor holder this week? Hmm, lol!

 

Here's the finished cover - I didn't have the bird button on before. I used the same fabric that I used for the door to bind it in - I wasn't sure about it at first but now I think it's just right!

 

Here's the inside - filled up with a little Blackbird Designs cross stitch that I've got underway.

I may be forced to stitch again today as the rain has put paid to all of our outdoor activities. I'm so very tempted to join in with Jenny's bird cage weekend

 

  

but that would be a new project wouldnt it? I may need to make a little adjustment to this no new projects rule, lol!

 

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: 

 

Exciting Times

There was something of a stitching hiatus while we were on holiday - not because I had been disorganised and forgotten to take my stitching along with me but because the light in the lovely cottage we stayed in wasn't good enough to stitch by in the evenings. I think I'll have to get invest in one of those portable OTT lites for next year as we're planning to go back there. I did do a little stitching and almost finished this month's My Garden block, I think there is a daisy or two left to do.

We were only back one day from our holiday before it was time for me to jet off up to the Lake District with Jen to take a couple of classes with Lynette Anderson. We spent a lovely couple of days at Fobbles, stitching away and getting to know Lynette who is a very talented and lovely person indeed. It was such a pleasure to see her wonderful creations in real life...we were allowed to touch and stroke too! I did take some photos but probably not as many as I ought to have done. We had two beautiful projects to work on - the first being a book cover and a pencil case featuring Badger Cottage and the second project was a lovely Christmas table runner featuring Santa, his sleigh and some reindeer. 

 Tomorrow night is the Friday Night Sew In and I've fancied joining in a for a little while now so this month I've taken the plunge and decided that I'll finish off one of the Badger Cottage projects - would be nice to get the stitchery completed and made up into a pillow (I've decided not to go with a book cover) and maybe the pencil case started...we'll see how it goes!

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Oops, I promised photos didn't I? Here you go...

I'm ashamed to say that I can't recall the name of this one - just the fact that I fell in love with it, wanted to buy the pattern and wasn't quick enough before it sold out! It's going on my wish list, it's gorgeous. Muddy Flowers may be the name. (that's Lynette's arm in the corner there!)

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Now this cute little number was Jen's favourite...must admit, those snowmen were super cute.

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Oh now look at this - a whole dresser full of scrumptiousness here. Second shelf - first two items...those were the projects for our first day featuring Badger Cottage. I fell in love with the tree on it, it's beautiful. Now, I wanted to buy the pattern for just about everything on display but after I'd given myself a good talking to and Bev had assured me that she would be keeping a fine stock of Lynette's patterns I bought the pattern and buttons for the beehive sewing book and scissor case (okay, I didn't stop there, I'll point out the rest as i get to the photos!)

 

 

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Poor, poor Edna - I went and asked her about 50 times if she had put the pattern for this beauty in my bag - there was NO WAY I was going home without it! Somehow, I've managed to never see it before :shock: there are birds a plenty on there and look look look at all of that gorgeous Rouenneries. I have the stash to start on this quilt right now...how often does that happen? It was meant to be! 

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 Your Home or Mine this one is called. It's a block of the month. It's irresistable. I didn't come home with it. Only because Bev is contemplating doing it as a BOM next year though :grin: (it's got a windmill on it, that's my favourite block of all but they're all super cute).

 

 

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Here's Lynette (look at her fabulous trousers), she's opening up a present that Bev made for her - it was a beaded scissor fob. Now behind Lynette is the table that held all of the goodies from Lynette's brand spanking new book (yes, I got a signed copy whoop whoop!) The book is called It's Quilting Cats and Dogs and is a must buy item. There are also some pieces from Rainbow Cottage on that table - I loved those, such beautiful soft colours and pretty designs. I came home without but it will find a home here one day in the future :)

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A Kitten's Tale.

What can I say?

Stunning, just stunning. I spent two whole days sitting right next to it.

It has pinwheels and kittens and suffolk puffs. I will make it. One day!  

We're in a bowling competition on Sunday so I need to polish up my bowls and go and get some practice in and hope that the weather keeps fine, bowling in the rain isn't nice! I've a little video to post soon of some kayak action that took place while I was off sewing.

My Little Heart - July

Just back from the chiropractor and having a nice cup of relaxing tea so I thought I would quickly post last night's stitching. I felt in need of a finish last night having slogged away all week on Tail Feathers and just in time, the next part of the My Little Heart SAL was there waiting for me. So, without further ado - and no sporting to attend/arrange last night I decided to sit myself upon the sofa and stitch away. To my surprise I got it all finished just before bedtime :D

 

Yesterday the postman brought beautiful post. I am signed up to stitch Lynette Anderson's My Garden BOM and the parcel with month 1 and the fabric was lying on the doormat when I got in from Thursday Threads. I am stitching along with Simone whose kit arrived last week...we seem to like a lot of the same sorts of thing, we're going to work on Scandinavian Christmas together as well and we're already both working on the Fat Quarter Shop Pennsylvania Dutch BOM! Here's a little picture of the beautiful kit that arrived this morning from Bev at Fobbles

 

The photo really doesn't do justice to the fabric at all. It's called Evening Mist and the colours are beautiful soft pinks/lilacs/greys/browns and a very soft black. It doesn't show the block very well in the photo - this month's block is a little wheelbarrow with a bird sitting on it and the little daisy you see stuck to the front of the pattern is in fact a hand painted wooden button.

Anyway, I must away to my jobs so that I can get started making this block later on. I'm still busily making my way around hexagon flower gardens as well, I got a little behind on that this week as I spent most of Wednesday alternately fiddling with Tail Feathers and trying to find some extra cricketers for Wednesday night's match!

oh p.s. I was reading Mary Kathryn's blog with my early morning cup of tea and she has posted about the Everything Austen Challenge II and I think I may just have to join in with that it sounds like such fun. 

*Carole, if you're reading - you need to go and read this challenge it would fit in with so many other challenges...and one could also include a little Austen inspired cross stitch as well :D *

 

Ready for the weekend...

 I like having a specific project to do on a particular day of the week and tomorrow it's time for Klosjes. I've got my shapes all printed up and ready to go. I also dug out a Bluebird block which has been sitting unfinished for ages. I began making it before I learned to applique the Piece O' Cake way and I'm not happy with how it looks so I abandoned it! This weekend I'm going to fix it and finish - well, that's the intention anyway. The children have a bowling match tomorrow so I can sit and stitch my Klosjes in the sunshine (fingers crossed) while watching them and perhaps on Sunday I can set too and get something done with the pretty Bluebird block.

There's another good reason for getting this block finished - the new Quilt Aid blocks are on Helen Stubbings' blog and in spite of having decided not to do the project this year because I've got enough things going on they're so pretty that I'm extremely tempted and I suspect that I will succumb! Maybe if I finish another couple of last year's blocks I'll allow myself to indulge :grin:

Catherine's birthday is today - she has become a teenager :o Sources have told her that with teenager-dom come bad moods, grumpiness and sarcasm. I've told her there's no need for any of that and to carry on as her usual lovely self :)