Nearly up to date

I have been working steadily on my Sarah Fielke BOM, and am catching up gradually.  I have now finished the sunflowers and leaves, and I'm happy with them.  I used some gorgeous fabric I bought in Australia for parts of the sunflowers, and fussy cut them.  It's amazing how much fabric this uses, but I'm quite satisfied that I didn't have enough matches to make all the flowers the same.  Nature doesn't make all the flowers the same, so why should I?

It's getting very big!  I think the next border needs to be blue, but I'm having a brief rest before that. 

One of the things I'm using for a bit of mindless sewing is this jars quilt which was started by some U3A Craft ladies who meet in Breaston. It just needs a border then it'll be done. 

A sort of Victorian bonnet

I am doing the costumes for our local production of 'Frankenstein' and needed a Victorian bonnet.  The only ones to buy that I could find were actual ones, and consequently out of our budget.  So I decided to have a go at making one.

I got a straw hat and chopped a piece off.

Then I bound the edge with fabric.  I could have used ribbon, but I used fabric and my trusty Clover 0.5" bias tape maker instead.  I started and finished at the side of the bonnet so the ribbon ties would hide the join.

Next I put the ties.  It's one long piece of ribbon sewn onto the bonnet - makes it secure that way.

Then some decoration I found in my ribbon box.  I think theyve been saved from boxes of chocolate, but they do the job pretty well!

Here is the finished item modelled by my good self.  Not the most authentic bonnet,but certainly passable, quick and cheap!

Experiment

HI don't like quilt as you go.  It's a great method for making big quilts without all the hassle of heaving them about under the machine, but personally I find all the fiddling about with covering the seams on the back outweighs the heaving.  That's just my view of course: I know others love it.  Well, they say a lady has the prerogative to change her mind, and I'm making a reasonably big quilt, and I thought, 'What about making it in two halves?'  

It's a mile a Minute with hearts, and I thought if I made it in two halves, then I could join it down the middle and it would save both the heaving and the fiddling!  Plus, I'm using large pieces from my stash as backing, but only making them half as big as I would have had to do! The first half is ready for quilting, and I'll report back. 

In other news, my pineapple blocks are ready to layer up.  I'm really pleased at how well the scrap box went down, and am waiting to show Carole, as it was her scraps in the box!  Just shows what you can make from what was ready to be thrown away! 

And here is my Sarah Fielke BOM so far.  I've been a bit slow on the corner sunflowers, but that's fine, because it isn't a race!  I'm pleased at how they're going, and will just take it steady till they're finished.