Whoops times two!

One the few evenings we have been relaxed in front of the to I have been doing some appliqué to keep me sane at this time of year.  A new baby, called Ivy Winter, has arrived in the family, so I searched in my stash for quilt inspiration.  I found a Baltimore panel of eight squares which was dated 2003, and seemed just right if I could make another block to make up into a 9 - patch. 

I used ivy as my theme, and was quite pleased with it until I assembled the blocks on my design wall, to find that the new block stuck out like a sore thumb as it was white!  Whoops! 

Never mind, I decided to tea dye it, to tone it down a bit. 

Oh no!  Too much tea and the block still stands out like a sore thumb because it's too beige!  Whoops again!  I quickly dunked it in some biological washing powder, hoping that would take some of the tea away. 

Result!  Not quite the right colour, but pale enough now not to poke you in the eye! Phew!  Now to decide where to go from here.  To sash or not to sash, that is the question! 

New stuff

I knew I wouldn't be able to keep finishing UFOs, but have done very well so far. 

Here is the Snoopy quilt finally bound and done.  That makes 306 quilts donated to Project Linus Leicestershire this year!  Great total, and many thanks to all the people who sewed, donated fabric or bought from the rummage box to fund wadding etc.  The U.K. total for the year is over 30,000 quilts, so that's lots of love! 

Once that was done, I had the urge to start something new.  I started by looking in the strip boxes, as the 2.5" box is very full.  However, I found that it had a lot of ugly fabrics in there, especially quite a bit of brown and taupe.  Ugh!  But then I remembered the old dancing gingerbread men pattern, and got going. 

There are a few, with eyes, mouths and buttons embroidered on.  I've actually cut more components and made them into a kit for Knit and Stitch in January.  They are quick and fun to make, so should hopefully take someone's fancy! 

It's a top!

LI have thoroughly enjoyed working on the Sarah Fielke design 'Happy Days' but was unsure about which border options to choose.  Sarah suggests either a one fabric border, a border made of large equilateral triangles or one with embellished equilateral triangles.  I wasn't sure that such a busy quilt needed more busyness, or at least, I should say, l wasn't sure that my busy quilt needed more busyness - other people have to decide what is right for their quilt.  So I started at my local quilt shop, Sew Charming.  The owner of the shop is used to me bringing tops in and spreading them out to choose border fabric - the only way I can see if it's right is by auditioning fabrics. 

So here is my choice!  A narrow turquoise border and then a wide Kaffe Fassett magenta fabric with orange spots.  This isn't a perfect photo, but was the best I could manage, and it gives a good idea of the result.  I'm delighted with it, but not looking forward to the layering up and quilting! 

Slow progress

This month has so far had lots of treats which have lured me away from my machine.  A day with daughter and son in law in Cambridge, several Christmas meals, a day in London (it was heaving!), shopping for presents, concerts, meeting up with friends and family etc.  It's the same for everyone.  But I have sneaked a little sewing - it's my therapy! 

I'm up to date with the Bonnie Hunter mystery, En Provence.  Neutral fourpatches done, magenta tri recs done and purple and lilac four patches done too.  I've done half the number she suggests, as usual.  

I've also got this top quilted for Linus.  The Snoopy fabric was too good to cut up, although I had to do a bit of bodging to get it into a decent shape.  Can you see the miss match? 

This bottom corner is a bit of a mess, but the fabric's so busy, I think I just about get away with it! I'll bind it and then it'll be another finish. 

And I always like some mindless sewing, so I've been using my 1.5" strips in another scrappy log cabin.  I love dark and light designs and how your eye makes meaning from randomness.  At the top of this arrangement, on the top row, there are two very similar blue fabrics, one vertically on the third from the left and one horizontally on the very right hand block.  It's amazing that despite their similarity, your eye accepts one as light and one as dark, just because they're in the light or dark position.  Fascinating.