A present for Molly

Another finish! And this one has been a looong time coming! I started a piece of cross stitch for Molly, ooh, 2 1/2 years ago! It became clear, not long after I started it, that I didn't like it very much. The chart was one of those ones without very clear symbols, one colour was 6 and another was 6 on it's side - bleurgh!! Even enlarged on the photocopier it was hard work to follow.

So, I would pick it up and stitch half a sheep, and then stuff it back behind the sofa for a few months. I kept putting it on my things-I-must-finish lists, but that didn't seem to motivate me!! And then, as so often happens, I just decided, just felt like stitching it, just got on with it. And in no time at all, it was finished! Phew!!

It was originally going to go on her bedroom door, but in that last round of stitching we talked about turning it into a cushion instead. Molly loves cushions and been asking me to make some for her room, so this seemed like a good solution.

I picked out some pretty fabrics to go with the colours of the stitching and whizzed up a cushion front.                                                                                                                             

And a very simple cushion back, look - more sheep!!

And check out my hidden zip!!!! Pretty pleased with that I have to say!!

It was beautifully pressed and looked much neater than this. But I gave it to Molly when the light was bad and I didn't get to take photos straight away. So this is it now, having been slept on for a few nights! At least it shows that she loves it!

Her yellow hexie quilt is looking pretty well loved too - that girl does love a quilt!!

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Mother's Day gifts

Phew! Lots of projects getting finished around here! A couple of them have been secrets, so I've not shared them here on the blog, they may have sneaked their way into Instagram though!

So today is all about place mats. But you'll need a little catch up first.

Waaaay back in April last year, I made a table runner for my mum. She bought all the fabrics, told me what she wanted, I just provided the stitches. It was massive, 2.5m long - she has a big table! I blogged about it here. At the time there was some talk of matching place mats, but, you know how it is. Time slips by, other projects come along, so many other projects.

But then with the hand-made-gift-giving of 2014 I decided that the matching place mats would be a good Mother's Day present. So I dug out the fabrics I had left, took a little trip out to poppy patch where we had bought the fabrics a whole year ago. 

I held my breath a little bit. What if they didn't still have any of the fabrics? What would I do? I understand that, in reality, this is not a MAJOR PROBLEM. But at the time, in my little fabric blur it was AN ISSUE. Fortunately, there was no crying in the fabric shop, they had the exact same backing, the exact same binding and even my choice of extra fabrics for the middle of the mats - PHEW!!!

I set to work using this great tutorial and in next to no time I had 8 place mats :)

I went for easy-peasy straight line quilting, not too close together (I was starting to run out of time!)

I stitched down the fronts of all 8 binding strips, and then began the glorious task of hand-stitching the back of the binding. Just in case anyone thinks I'm being sarcastic here, I'm not. I love this bit. Tiny, neat, hidden stitches all around the back - heaven! 8 times - bliss!!!

Of course, Henry helped A LOT. With every stage, including photographing.

So that's it, 8 place mats all finished. I bundled them into some wrapping paper and took them to my mum's on Sunday. I'm pretty sure she liked them, I left her planning a dinner party.....

Mini Swoon

At last! I have a finished project to share!

This project began after a Saturday morning stitchy get-together with some lovely ladies. Julie (from button-button) had a huge bag of fabric scraps (sorry Julie, I don't remember where they came from!) They were very small scraps, only really useful for small EPP projects. Julie spread them all out on the table and told us to help ourselves - Oh! What fun!! We each came away with a lovely selection of fabrics and a promise to make a mug rug.

My first though was to try and EPP a tiny swoon block. And I was so silly and excited about it that I didn't tell, I kept it quiet! Later I drew out a tiny swoon pattern just 8" square. Over the next few weeks I wrapped each of the 100 tiny squares and triangles in little scraps of fabric and then stitched them all back together.

I really wanted to hand quilt my little swoon, but it kept getting put aside to work on other things. Then a few weeks ago I pulled it out to take with me to 'Patchwork People' - I needed a little hand sewing project to work on during the day. I bought some beautiful threads when I arrived and then set to work.

It was sooooo much fun to quilt!! It was finished all too soon. 

All I had left to do was stitch down the binding and it was finished! My mini swoon mug rug.

Except, now I really don't think it can be a mug rug. What if I spill tea on it? It's far too beautiful to be ruined by tea stains! 

So now it is a finished mini swoon with no purpose. I may hang it above my sewing machine, start a little collection of pretties to look at while I sew.

Oh, and then this happened when I was taking photos!

Hi Henry! :) 

At the moment.

At the moment I am struggling with WIPs. My 'finish loads of stuff in 2014' mission started pretty well. I finished my Saturday Sampler quilt, stars mini-quilt, a pin cushion and that cardigan. 4 finishes by February, pretty good. But now it feels like ages since I finished anything, I'm starting to worry. Will 'that pile' in the corner ever get any smaller? Can I win this battle?!?!

I've got a few projects 'active' at the moment - and I really hope at least one of them will be finished soon!

This one has been a WIP for, ooh, about 18 months! I don't like working on it, too many pale colours on a pale background, blahh. But I'm nearly done! I've really stuck at it this time and now I'm on the LAST LETTER!! Sorry, this makes me very happy!!

The big blanket. I had a major, massive push on this project and got quite a bit more done. Also really hurt my hands. Urgh - no crochet for me for a little while :( 

EPP. 

Lots of EPP. 

I have so many EPP projects going on, big ones, little ones, quick ones, long term ones.

 Some look almost finished, I am hopeful!! 

Swoon!

This one lonely swoon block has been finished for ages. All the fabric is cut for the other 3 (I'm only making 4 blocks for a wall hanging). The half square triangles are ready. The flying geese are ready. I just need some time...

I love swoon. 
There might have to be a whole swoon quilt one day. Not yet though - too many projects to finish!

There is another problem though. 
Along with 'finish loads of stuff in 2014' I foolishly resolved to 'give more hand made gifts in 2014'. Which means I have to start more projects. 
Oh.

Another Big Blanket

Quite some time ago my in-laws asked if I would crochet them a blanket to go on their bed in their new house. Not just any new house either, their new house in Corfu - holidays here we come!! Of course I agreed, we talked about different designs and colours, and I left them to make their choices. Some time passed, and I think it was about October when I started the blanket.

Hmmm, the colours are not quite right in this photo!!

I admit, I failed to see the need to rush. Oops. They left for Corfu last week. Without a blanket. It's only about half finished, naughty me.

So now I really must get it finished. The cardigan from hell has been finished and gifted, and I don't have any more projects-with-deadlines on the go. So crochet it is. Lots and lots of crochet.

Linnea. Or the cardigan from hell.

I like hand made presents. I like the process of choosing and making something with a person in mind, I like that it says more than "I popped out to the shops and bought you this." I admit, it's not always easy, some people are really hard to make for, some people don't appreciate hand made, sometimes there just isn't the time. But I really wanted to make/give more hand made last Christmas. It didn't happen. There were a few home made gifts, but not as many as I had hoped for.

This year, there will be more. I will be better prepared. I will plan. I have already started to write lists of ideas. And, of course, there are lots of birthdays between now and Christmas!

Following this decision I decided at the beginning of January that I would knit a cardigan for a very special little girl I know who will turn 3 on the 1st February. I spent quite a long time looking through Ravelry for the perfect pattern. I finally decided on Linnea, I love the pretty shape, and it has mock cables so I thought it would be super quick and easy. No problem to knit in less than a month.

Oh, how wrong I was! The pattern was flawed from beginning to end. I had to rip back at least 3 times. I spent ages looking up terms I had never heard of (Google hadn't heard of them either), I had to change bits of the pattern, make up a few bits, ask for help on Instagram. Not what I expect when I have bought a (not cheap) pattern.

But, because I wanted it finished so badly I kept on going! Once I got past the division for the sleeves it went pretty quickly. There are a few mistakes. Little ones. They annoy me. I will have to try REALLY hard not to point them out when I gift it, because, chances are, her mum won't even notice, it's just because I know they're there!!

I was worried that it didn't look like it was going to be big enough, thought for a while that all my perseverance would be for nothing! But blocking worked like magic and I'm thrilled with how it has turned out. Love the buttons too, they are just perfect.

I have enough yarn left to make another one. Will I? No #$&@ing way!!! I will find another pattern to use it with!

Now all that's left to do is wrap it up and give it to the birthday girl!

Unsure

I am feeling unsure. Where to begin? Do I write a post about a project and pretend I didn't just have 3 whole months without a post? Do I write a post about why I haven't blogged for 3 months? Should I show you everything I have made in those 3 months? I may not have blogged, but I have certainly not stopped crafting!

Just a little peek at what I have been up to! Can't write a blog post without some pictures!!

Blogging is something that really appeals to me, I love to read other peoples blogs, I love the online community that they create. But I don't feel that I really found my feet with my blog before. It never looked the way I imagined it would, and I was never able to write on it the way I thought I would. I don't feel that I was able to express my enthusiasm about what I'm doing, I felt pressured to blog and then didn't enjoy it. And that's not what blogging should be like! It's about a shared interest, a shared passion. And I certainly have a lot of interests and passions to share!

I wasn't really happy with my style. I read a lot of blogs, and I have definite favourites, and I think that it mostly driven by the writing style, not the crafty content. I'm happy to look at and read about most crafts, but it's the warm welcoming feeling that some special blogs provide that appeals to me. My lovely friend Julie is a good example. I was lucky (very lucky!) to find an amazing knitting group in my local area, and Julie was/is one of the members. So I knew her before I read her blog, button-button. It is the style of her blog that I love. She chats. I can hear her voice as I read her blog, she writes like we are having a chat in the pub, easy, comfortable, full of enthusiasm for her crafts. Yarn Harlot makes me feel this way too, and I've never met her! So this is me trying to be more relaxed, to not worry what you might think of my writing. This is me trying to find my style, me, not what I think you want me to be but what I am.

The blog is going to need an overhaul. Some maintenance. And that worries me. It took bloody ages to get it set up in a way I'm not happy with, how long will it take me to get it right? Will this be another false start? I'm hoping that my photo issue (which, let's be honest is just a laziness issue) will be solved by the addition of an iPad in my life. Camera and internet all in the same place, no more plugging the camera in and downloading photos! I've got on really well with Instagram, perfect quick sharing for lazy me!

So watch this space. I'll be back. Probably with a quilt. Or some knitting.