Frambooske.quilty.things

Halfway through the summer, already! Slow down! Also, halfway through the 'table runner' project.  That should say table runner s though as there were just enough half square triangles to make two.  They'll go across the table rather than lengthwise.  I can't wait to have them finished and dress the table :) That leaves choosing a backing fabric, buying some wadding and pondering about binding colours.  It means a little pause this week whilst that gets sorted. 

I can't wait to have the Summer table run ready for a lovely meal with friends.  I have started the coasters, only four squares this time.  They need wadding and binding and... but here is a picture of them.  They're not perfect, but I don't mind.  For quarter square triangles with exposed biases I think they've done very well.  They are going to hold long tall glasses of chilled white wine or fruity sparkling water - gently sipped on a late lunch or during a chatty evening.  Perfect :). I have finished making the half square triangles for the runner.  I found out about this little hack and it must have saved me a couple of hours.  No need to draw on lines, just a little bit of masking tape and off you go! Then just cut in the middle with the rotary cutter and there you go, two *no fuss with drawing lines* half square triangles.  Also no problems with the biases. Now, there are a lot of seams to press ope...

I love the summer holidays.  There is enough time to ponder about a project.  I chose these prints several months ago and had good intentions of making a hexagon quilt.  What I really wanted to make was something a bit more dynamic like triangles .  Needless to say the hexagon flurry passed quickly and the fabric, a lovely layer cake - yes, I had treated myself! - remained on the side as a quiet reminder of an unfinished project. So a few weeks of holiday and you realise what has happened.  Out with the hexagons, in with the triangles!  I should learn it's no good fighting these things.  Here are a few photos of what I did today.  I had a play making quarter square triangles.  I read about this little hack and just had to try it.  Be careful though, you end up with exposed biases.  My little tester coaster worked out ok.  It's ever so slightly squify; if you work with starch, then that probably wo...

We've had fun making this flapping bird :) Thank you for the lovely idea and template Made by Joel --> Check out his blog for lots of craft and making ideas for little ones.  I love his drawing style and we'll be making more of his things, like the nativity set.  I know... it's only August :). The boy had fun colouring in the bird and stayed foussed cutting out the body. I helped cutting out the wings and put the bit of thread on.    Yes, he really wanted to wear welly boots in the middle of summer.   Or better even, his all in one bear suit! Blackberry ice pop! Mmmm.  Can you tell we're a bit addicted to making these. Blackberries Mix with framage frais for a pastel coloured layer Honey * Freeze * Enjoy!

Enjoying the sun, glorious sun :).  Long may it last, this warm English summer. Mango and strawberry fruit pop!   Strawberries Mango Fromage frais Honey * Freeze * Enjoy!

The sun has been shining the last few days.  It feels like spring is finally here!  We've been busy in the garden, it's so overgrown.  There has been plenty of rain and mild weather from autumn through winter and it shows.  Springy, green branches are reaching high, seeking the warmth of the sun.  We've been cutting back, digging and planting.  It's only a small garden, but there's so much to do!  I call it my little 'pizza slice', because of its shape.  Yesterday I finally put some mangetout and beans in the ground.  Boy helped me and we built a new defence against the slugs.  A few years ago we built an  elaborate slug defence system , but they still grated our seedlings down to the ground within days.  So there was great excitement this morning that the beans were still there, no holes in the leaves!  This time we scattered dried cypress needles all around the little plants, fingers crossed.  The rhubarb however...

Here it is! All fluffy and finished, ready to go in Bobby's new bedroom. This morning her little cousin was happy to model.  He has been watching this quilt grow slowly.   'It has been taking a very long time.'  Yes, I know.  I like that making a quilt takes a long time.  It's not something I can throw together in a weekend.  It takes time, it grows and changes.  Life is busy, having a long project like this brings calm.  I promised myself to finish 'Clarabel' before starting a new project.  It still took months and months, even though it's not the most complicated quilt.  If anything, it's probably the most straight forward design out there, with a minimum amount of hand stitching - apart from the binding and the blocks my niece did.   Her first quilt blocks, her first quilt!  The first quilt I made way was for Owen.  I called it his big boy quilt when he moved from the cot to his 'big bed'.  That was two yea...

Bobby's Clarabel quilt has been a long time in the making! Bobby chose the colours to match her newly  painted room.  My niece hand stitched the top row and bottom row of nine patches herself  - woop! The rest was put together the Rosie gets cozy way :).  No special foot on my machine, the walking foot I've got seems to cause me more trouble than it's worth.  This is going to be an extra cosy quilt with soft, brushed flannel backing.  It's been lovely and warm sewing the binding on.  So the last stitch in the binding is done - hooray! And immediately, at 9 pm, the whole thing went in the washing machine and is now in the tumble dryer (gasp) ... Another thing worth mentioning is that I'm really pleased with this little pen I used for the label.  It has a lovely thin point, allowing you to handwrite with ease and no fading what so ever :). On writing and dating labels... It says it was finished in February, but it's April.  So ne...

It's not all quilting and sewing in this house.  I've been distracted by some knitting lately.  Before the holiday season I found out about circular needles, kind of by accident really.  I'd shunned away from them before as they just seemed so... complicated.  Circular needles look like they have a magical, mysterious power,... only to be enjoyed and tamed by advanced knitters. I felt the same about using more than two needles at a time. Well, I'm a total convert! I officially love circular needles.  Please try them if you have been thinking about circular!  I can tell you now that circular needles are not just for advanced knitters, they might even be easier than a normal pair of needles.  I also discovered their true superior power.  How I didn't know about this little secret I don't know, but I'm going to share it in case you don't know about this either.  The true advantage of circular needles is that if you kni...

12 Christmas tree mug rugs, made with love. The tutorial I based my little trees on can be found here .

I've enjoyed making this block!  Loving the colours and the 3D effect. Even though that meant I had to make two extra blocks as I'd orientated the diamonds the wrong way, ruining any 3D illusion!! I considered ignoring it, walked away from it and made the two extra ones the next day... Live and learn :)  The red, flowery fabric in the background will go on the back of the quilt. I wanted my white/grey fabric to sew my tumbling blocks onto, but didn't have enough material.  I ended up choosing this one instead. It works ok I think.  This is the 'finished' (kind of) result, the picture isn't orientated the right way, the darkest side of the cubes will by at the top in the finished quilt. I've got one more block to make:   (drum-roll...) the Tangled Star...

The design choices with Drunkard's path are nearly endless!  In the end I kept it really simple, it hardly looks like a Drunkard's path! There happen to be 17 different fabrics in this quilt.  They are all in this block :)!

Block three, my Card trick block, is all finished. Well, not quite 'all finished', I'm ignoring the little matter of ironing, squaring, sashing and quilting.  None of them have had that fabulous, finishing off treatment yet.  For now my mind is drawn to block four.  I'm enjoying this Grandmother's fan!  It's so different from the last three blocks.  This time I'm re-using the orange batik again, the yellow spotty fabric I've had around for long time too.  The two fabrics for the blades are new and just gorgeous, I love a bit of Scandi! I can't wait to get sewing! Now another important part of the quilt came together last week.  I finally made my mind up and chose the fabric for the sashing and backing, woop!!  I'll show you a picture next time.  There was a lot of going back and forward with rolls of lovely, tempting fabrics, spreading out the blocks and taking pictures.  Lots of cups of tea and biscuits too.  I lost so...

I've started on my third block and wow there are lots of pieces in this!  I've pinned it all together so you can see what it looks like so far and to stop me sewing the wrong squares together :).  The cutting out took quite long compared with the Churn Dash (block 2), but it's totally worth it for the 3D effect! This one is called 'Card Trick'.  I'm reusing my orange batik and love the contrast with the (new, oops ) blue batik.  The background fabric picks up the orange and blue.  I'm a sucker for trying to pick out and repeat colours, it just feels more 'whole' that way to me. And... I'm so proud, I remembered to be a bit more careful with the patterned fabric.  Fingers crossed there shouldn't be any issues with the pattern this time as the background pieces don't 'touch' each other. So guess what I'm busy doing this weekend? Finishing my homework ten, twenty minutes at a time!  If you haven't done any quil...

I've joined a new class and must say I loooooove hand quilting !  I never thought I'd say that.  It's just so much more sociable than machine sewing.  I can sit in the lounge or outside in the sunshine, no loud noise or keeping little fingers away from buttons and cables. These are the first two blocks from the nine block sampler I'm making.  Each block will be a different design. Block one.  I was tempted by a Japanese print and a batik.  I'm happy with how the red and orange from the print are picked up by the other squares. Block two - Churn Dash .  Being a bit more careful with the pennies here and recycling some fabrics I already had.  The colours looked best this way round, but next time I'd be more careful about how the print joins. Still, pretty please with this :)

Happy Easter! A quick post as we still haven't got broadband back. We had a super family day. Eggs were hunted and found, the sun was shining, we had a lovely walk through the woods, a belly bursting Easter lunch with family and... here's proof that the scarf is all finished! Yay :).

Lingering Winter, we've all had enough of you. You have overstayed your welcome, you have been an unwelcome guest for a while. You are not taking the hints or even pretending to be going. You like it here and are oblivious of the growing annoyance your hosts are feeling. Your skies still grey, the wind still whirling over the hills and through the streets, chilling every bone it meets and the world around us still colourless and quiet. You like your stone-cold days and wintery ways. With your freezing temperatures you are keeping Spring paralysed and the world around us strangely transparent. I have almost forgotten what the sun feels like, don't let it be too much longer ~ please. I'll be wear this scarf for Easter, all it needs is a border and the ends sewing in.

Just a quick update from my mobile phone.  We lost the internet in our house on Thursday... It is so strange without it, you really don't realise how much you rely on it until it stops working.  I've wanted to look up a recipe, order left handed toddler scissors, check prices for a new internet connection (ha).  Thank god for my smart phone keeping the internet addiction sweet with a little drip feed! The good news is that the internet has moved out together with my lovely husband.  Well, he's kind of moved out :).  He has moved his work from our garage into his own office.  Things are still a bit up in the air, but what a milestone! Once everything is out I get to reorganise the garage - yay.  For the last three years there hasn't been a welly boot, gardening glove or outdoor toy in it. *rubbing hands* I can't wait !! One other change is that I now get to walk home from work. 2 miles, or just over 3 km.  No big deal right.  Shame that ha...

A few weeks ago I popped in to the lovely haberdashery where I take my sewing classes (off and on - and soon on again, more about that later!).  A happy place where I get to chat and mostly drink cups of tea.  Walking through the aisles bursting with crafting treasures my eyes were drawn to the most vibrant, multicoloured wool - pink, blue, purple, green...  Resistance melted away fast... I'd been thinking about learning how to crochet granny squares and had seen a pattern in Mollie Makes (Feb'13 edition) using this kind of wool (thought the picture in the magazine showed pastel colours).  I made a quick estimation and worked out I'd need quite a few skeins - maybe 10-15?  I had no idea really. Then, luckily for me - saving me an embarrassing moment / dented bank account - I enquired about the price of one of these gorgeous, sweets-coloured, woolly gems.  £3.5 per skein.  Ouch.  Right now there's no way I can justif...

 Where have those three years gone?  You've grown and changed so much.  *muah*