Continued progress - and other things as well

A latest photo shoot of the commission. Am loving working with these colours. Its the great thing about making things for other people - you get to try out loads of different colourways for things, that you may not have thought to put together yourself. Very stimulating! All pics can be embiggened by clicking on them :)

 

The pic above is the almost finalised layout, depending on instruction from the customer. It'll finish at approx 63" x 77" which is an ideal size for a single bed, or twin as you say over the pond. Blocks are 7" finished. Border round each square is 1" finished.

 

This one is a detail of some of the fabrics used. As usual, the photos don't capture the movement of the fabric in reality and the richness of the browns and golds. 

I've also been busy with some crochet. The cream borders round my crochet granny squares are coming along, although its a bit ... boring ... so I have been tempted by other things....

A wee bit of this:

In a Noro Cash Island yarn - sooooo lovely to work with!

And I was tempted by this cheeky little number when I saw it on the Woolly Brew website:

Its the lovely and deceptively simple Imagine When from Ravelry. I decided to go with the Louisa Harding yarn that Woolly Brew used for the colour changes: Amitola, shade 109 Salsa, which is quite bright, but I think the Scottish winter can take a bit of cheering up :)

Well, I'd better get on with something crafty.... X

Swoon blocks - surfing the Zeitgeist...

I know, everyone in the WORLD has made these, and I am just getting to grips with my first few blocks. 

But that's ok. I like taking time over something, getting my head around it, deciding what I like and what I dont like. 

So here are some Swoon blocks, making me almost half way through the top:

I'm using a dark teal for the background, a fabric I bought a few yards of ages ago and this is finally the right project for it. A few FQ of rich reds, ambers, forest greens, browns and navy. 
Its a surprise for my folks, I know my stepmum really likes these autumnal colours so I hope they like it when I eventually finish it. Its their anniversary in June, but if its not finished then, I'll definitely have it done by Christmas.

4 down, 5 to go then!

Crochet Away!

Hallo peeps. I've been busy crocheting over the past wee while, something to pick up and put down while sitting by the fire - for some reason I don't feel like going upstairs to my sewing room when there's a roaring fire in the living room - can't think why...

This was my pile earlier on:

Its been sitting under the light, above my basket of yarns so I can pick up and put down when I feel like it. I started with a circle, and went from there into a granny square, trial and error really, and I liked the first one so much I stuck with it for another 29 squares :) I'm sashing them with cream by crocheting another 5 rounds around each square, so the finished size will be 10" across. (Inspiration here)
Here's most of the squares:

 

 

I loved making them all, and every one I finished was my favourite :) I decided to stick at 30 squares and see how the sashing went. I'm currently on my 4th sashing so once I've made a few more I'll post them up, see how they're going.

Attic24, you have a lot to answer for! :)

Return of the Native

Been a quiet holiday for the blog, but I have been beavering away between family outings and driving miles around Scotland for holiday purposes.

M.M.B.A... AHEM, I mean, scenery...

I decided to take a couple of sock wool projects away with me. One was a Christmas present for a friend, so am not putting a pic up on the blog (just in case) but the other is a mitre blanket, and it goes something like this:

Various 4 ply (well, 3-4 ply really) sock yarn oddments, 3mm needles (yup, thats a tiny UK size 11 right there) and a basic mitre pattern which knits each square on as you go along. Totally addictive and great holiday knitting :)

Every other row is decreased by two, so as you get nearer to the finish, the rows are shorter and quicker - its like a race with yourself! And then you have to start another one, and then just do a couple of rows, and then another couple to see what the next stripe is, and then, and then...its 2 in the morning....

Let me know if you want the pattern, and I can rough out a copy :) I have done one already, but I cant seem to find a pic on the laptop - remind me to take a pic of that tomorrow and post it up!

When we came back home on Saturday from our holiday, I flew upstairs to my sewing room, possibly even barricading the door behind me, in case small whiny children appeared. Managed to crank out a couple of cushion fronts which are in the process of being quilted.

This log cabin came about from the centre square - couldnt find a place for a wee charm square and thought it would make a perfect centre. Looks like eyes peering out to me :) Photography shocking, colours bright and orange-yellow in real life.

this was taken in good light. Camera phone not liking, it must be a summer palette :)

Colours even more washed out in this one, but it looks fab really. Or at least it did until l tried grid quilting it. It seems that the walking foot is pressing down too heavily on the fabrics so they bunch up and pucker as you stitch towards the end of the squares where they join the next square. Short of getting a new machine, any hints or ideas as to how to stop this happening? Any and every comment gratefully received!

Hope you are all having a lovely crafty summer - and in fact you are, blogland is, as usual, filled with lovely things :D

XXX

Work In Progress

Friday Finish - only 2 days late! :D

I know, I know, bit of a cheek really :D but I have been looking after a sick almost 6-year old, so couldn't really get anything done before now. She's a lot better, started arguing back today after a day of being sick (Friday) and a day of lying on the couch shattered (Saturday). Poor wee soul. Kids are at their most forlorn when they're ill.

Anyway.

I've been a busy bee today - the long weekend has been a fantastic aid to sewing. And the sun has meant a request for a sun hat for said almost 6 year old.
Thanks to Riley Blake and April Cobb, I have a fantastic pattern to work from. Kt chose the colours, and off I went...

First I fused interfacing to the fabric, and then cut out some shapes:

Two fabrics, as the hat is reversible. Three pieces for the brim, three for the sides and one piece for the crown from each fabric, and interfacing ironed behind each bit.

Quarter inch seams used to sew the pieces together, then topsewn with an eighth seam to secure. You can see that on the back of the red spot. Then comes the hard part - sewing the round shapes together. Not v good at this, but got better with practice - black one is better than the red one I did first :)

Spot the deliberate mistake? Yes, I had to unpin this one ... Just as well my hubby spotted this!

I put the two hat pieces together WS out and sewed them round the brim. All the curved seams and the brim were 1/2 inch, cut down to 1/4 to reduce bulk with notches cut into them to ease the curves.
Leave a 3" gap, turn right sides out, and topstitch around the edge. Et Voila!

One reversible hat. It's a teeny bit big, but better that than the alternative! Took me a few hours over the day but I am really pleased with how it turned out. I love the colours she chose too, they look amazing together. I'd like to say she gets it from me, but I reckon the wee smasher has her own style. I'd love to show you her modelling prowess but she was in a foul mood by the time I'd finished so this is the best shot I have:

 Hehehe :D

Finish-it Friday and a First for me

Very alliterative :)

I made a cushion today! Well, finished one really. I'd made most of the top up before with some tweeds that my folks had sent me, and needed to finish it off. My cousin is looking for autumn-coloured cushions to go with her living room, and I thought this one would fit the bill perfectly.

And I got to do something new on my sewing machine today - Buttonholes!
I know, I know, I should have practiced them before, but somehow never got around to it. Today was the day :) I had a couple of practice runs and launched myself onto the main back. And it worked! Yay me!

Have some photos:

 The finished size is 20" square. The front is pieced with 1/2 " seams because the wool tweed frays like mad, and it is quite bulky. The green is less in your face in real life :)

 I made the back from two pieces of corduroy fabric I found on ebay. Love it! Love the seams too, look at that baby. Nothing showing, nothing squint! Excellent to cut too, you just go along the lines :)

Because the wool was a bit frayish and a looser weave than I'm used to, I hand-quilted the seam again, sewing parallel to the machine-sewed lines, just to catch it at the back and make a feature. I also cut the corners where the seams meet, to reduce bulk on the inside. To finish the front, I ironed on interfacing to the back and cut it to the shape of the top. All three layers (front, interfacing and corduroy back) were sewn together on my wee Brother (which sounds funny when you read it out loud!) XL5700.

Luckily I found three matching buttons in my stash. You can see that the middle buttonhole is slightly lower, but for a first attempt I am pretty chuffed. Have a close up :)

 I used hemming web in the fold to give it a bit more stability and because I'd never tried it before. It held pretty well, but it might have been ok anyway. It's a sturdy fabric and nice to use. How clever are sewing machines to make a buttonhole in one go!

I filled it with two IKEA pillow forms, cos one looked a bit weedy.
And voila! If I can tell you anything else, please ask!
Linking to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom x

Blankets seem appropriate...

...given that the country has been blanketed with snow for much of the last day or two. Our blanket in Ayrshire has come, gone, come again and is currently hardening under a beautiful clear night sky. At least the stars look breathtaking, so you don't really notice that you're freezing your tits off :)

Anyway. I've made a few blankets over the years, itseems to be something I keep on as low-key background knitting, and I don't mind that they take a while. I can just pick them up, do a few rows, blocks, whatever, and put them down again until it suits me better another time. Some have taken months, and some over a year to do, but I love mindless knitting every so often.

So have some pictures :) There are still a few I've not got photos of so will get round to that soon. I love the crochet one, but they all have a (warm) place in my heart!

This beauty was done on size 3.25mm needles - yes you read right - with Rowan Felted Tweed. I started with the green square block in the centre and carried on out from there. Took well over a year, and just over 23 balls of yarn. Finished size 54" x 72" roughly.

Detail of the ridges - remember every ridge of garter stitch is TWO rows knitted. I must be mad...
Edging was 2 rows of the dark turquoise all the way round:

The crochet one:

This one's about 40" x 65", adore the colours in this.

And my current blanket-in-progress:

Obviously I have had a log cabin love frenzy, but they are very satisfying. This one is Noro Kureyon, shade 161 which reminds me of a Scottish moorland. Love the mix of hues, the brights and the muted, the unexpected interplay of seemingly unrelated shades; unrelated until you look out onto a moor and go 'Oh yeah! I see it now!' This one will finish up at around 4 feet x 6 feet I think.

More soon :D

Getting better every day

I have some sewing going on, despite feeling a bit rubbish - we had complete viral overload in our house for the last fortnight - and there is some sewing progress Yay! Simple stars and contrasting fabrics, am feeling the love on this commission :)

Chain piecing preparation :

There has also been knitting: Chunky wooly beanies and a couple of cowls and snoods, trying out stuff, and there has been selling: been to a couple of craft fairs, and sold a quilt, xmas decorations and wooly beanies. Photos of knitting soon, when I get myself organised...

It's getting better every day! Thanks Mama Cass.

Hmmmmm.

Am quilting the Arrows Quilt. It is going------ well, it's going. I tried a loop stitch, and that was silly. 3 hours of unpicking ensued. I started outlining the arrows on the white, which went well except for my tension issues, which meant another hour of unpicking. So third time lucky - have outlined all the arrows in white.

Now I'm wondering what to do next.

1) Should I quilt inside the arrows with colour?

2) Should I do another smaller design in the white areas?

3) Should I fill in the gaps with stippling or other patterns?

4) Should I just leave well alone and bind it?

All help appreciated! Linking to Crazy Mom's Finish it Friday for some help!


PS My hubby has a vomiting bug. Oh yay. We're all treating him like a leper. Yay for another bathroom. Not yay for him feeling even more ill than he has been already :(

Game of Thrones...One of these days I'll get that typed right first time...

Here's the latest on Game Of Thrones - all blocks completed! Am chuffed to bits; even though it took 3 goes to get Baratheon right, it was worth it in the end. Of course, the work begins here - still have sashing, picking out wee teeny bits of paper, basting, quilting (aaargh!) and binding to do. Eh, that'll take no time at all :)


From top left:
Tully - Tyrell - Baratheon
Targaryen - Stark - Lannister
Arryn - Martell - Greyjoy

If you want to see the blocks individually, head over to my facebook page Fankle Quilting and Knitting

Now I've looked out the fabric for commission quilts #2, a pair of matching single bed quilts - twins? hehe - for a friend's parents. Using grey/green/blues and yellowish lights. Simple stars, but v effective. Pictures will follow, once I realise I have to add on a seam allowance BEFORE cutting out the shapes. Doh.

Someday I will learn :) Until then, we add a stupidity tax to everything we do...

First Block of Game of Thrones !!

Here's the first one, Martell House, the easiest to practice on, and still with wee bits of paper hanging into the stitches at the back. I will be spending some time picking them out. No hardship next to the fire!

Block size 24 and a half inches.

Game of Thrones, Martell House, Applique

Notes:

• I used spray glue to stick the back of the motifs to the backing fabric, and did the circle first, then the flames 5 at a time. 

• Paper backing to stabilise the sewing. 

• The spear shaft was a bugger, had to unpick the whole thing once but the second time worked once I had swapped the applique foot for a walking foot to cope with the extra layer of fabric. Phew!

• Stitch length almost non existent, stitch width varied from 2 to 1 (my machine goes from 0-5, its a Brother XL5700) 

• Stitch used was a blanket stitch, used both directions of it (nos. 4 and 5 on my machine)

•  See Applique notes for more info

Roll on the next one! 

Finish it up Friday - the Sock Version

Hallo you lovely crafters!

Have been doing flip all* quilting myself here this last few days (and I cannot believe it is Friday already) but I have been doing some sock knitting. Because sock knitting is Very Portable. And when the place has been heaving with nieces and nephews and all manner of children needing to be entertained in the holidays, portability (is this a word?) has been essential.

In fact, these socks have been to: Heads of Ayr Farm Park, Troon Beach Park, Fullarton Woods, Craft Daft, Adventure Planet, and any number of stops inbetween. And socks are for niece who has been entertaining us, and esp her cousin, with her presence for a few days.

So as my finish it Friday, I present one Finished (WOOHOO) sock and one ALMOST and as good as finished sock. Used 3.25mm needles and James C Brett's Moonlight Sonata. I am usually a bit snobby about non-natural fibres, but I have to say I am pleasantly surprised by this one, It doesnt feel plastic, and knits up really nicely. I'm not sure how it will wear as a sock, but it has 10% mohair, 10% wool, 75% acrylic and 5% metallic for that extra glamour. This is my favourite colourway out of the lot.

I will be quilting as soon as normal service resumes, which will be from Tuesday because the schools go back. To say I am looking forward to this is quite an understatement.

Any return to normality will be welcome because my hubby, who is already ill suffering from post-viral fatigue (90 weeks and counting), has been struck down with a heavy cold, and has been unable to leave the house even more than usual, leaving us all slightly cabin-fevered. Yay for school and immune system recovery! Yay for me getting some free daytime hours!

* means none, nothing happening, to all you non-Scots out there :)

Time Warp

I have a deadline looming; the Ayr Town Hall Craft Show is on 7th October, 1-4 pm and I have a table. All of a sudden it's next week! I don't know where this month has gone.

People say it's a side effect of ageing, this accelerated time passing, but I reckon it may be a craft thing. Something about working with your hands and making stuff is a huge time suck. You can lose yourself in the sheer colour and creativity of it all and suddenly its teatime, and the cat's battering the door trying to get in, and you were supposed to pick up the wee one from school (no, its ok, haven't done that. Yet)

Like anything to do with computers is a time suck, but at least you have something to show for it when you finish crafting. Words with Friends, Not so much...

Anyway. Aside from straightening the edges of the Arrows Quilt, I have been designing cushions and making decorations. Really good fun, and partly out of necessity. My tennis elbow is playing up, so no knitting for me just now, so have been crocheting and sewing, and draping ribbons artfully hither and thither, excellent stuff. All I have to do now is unpick side seams on cushions, sew the ribbons and brooches on, and sew the seams all up again. That won't take hours at all, will it? Eh?

Will have some photos tomorrow. Every one I do is my new favourite. Hope other folk like them too!

Pointing the way

Yay! Work is going well on the Arrows quilt, after a zillion hours of sewing squares together (possible slight exaggeration) and half a gabillion hours at the ironing board (hyperbole merely for effect), I have an almost finished quilt top!

Arrows Quilt top

 I love that it looks like there are slight furrows in the bed, even though it is absolutely flat - that's the design kicking in. Cool!

Detail of patchwork

Detail of the patchwork -  the piecing is pretty accurate for me, which is essential on this project, as the HST have to align to get the effect. I haven't decided on quilting yet, but have picked out a scrappy binding, unless I see something amazing instead. It looks like it'll be a double bed size too, which is handy. I'll be adding a small border round the edges, which might include arrow points too depending on what I can manage.

I will work out a pattern for this if anyone is interested, and will be selling the completed item at one of the Craft Fairs this autumn, or in my Etsy shop. Keep an eye out!