IHSW- A little bit of everything weekend

This is my first entry into IHSW and yes I feel like a Hermit, I've been so busy trying to finish items for Christmas and preparing new projects for the New Year, I realised I hadn't stepped foot outside the house all weekend.                                                                                                                                           Firstly I managed to complete the following Candlewick cushion top.  One of the many designs by Sandi Lush, there was only a small amount of quilting left to do, only the piping and back to sort out.  I really love working colonial knots  I find working them so relaxing.

 
My second project was to do more on the Town Mandala but only managed a few of the gold back stitches, I don''t think I will see this complete for a looooong time. I have so much rattling around my head I can't give it the concentration it needs.

 

I managed to complete the following Christmas tree decoration which is for my sisters tree.

 

 

I bought the Mountmellick embroidery book a few weeks ago, something I really want to learn, I didn't get time to start sewing but I did manage to prepare the fabric and trace the leaves which are practise leaves for some of the stitches.  Hope to make a start on this in the New Year.

 

 

And last but not least a little bit of leather tooling work.  This is a joint project which Mr C and myself completed today.  The belt is a Christmas gift and a new dog collar of Oscar our granddaughters puppy.

 

 

 

Well that only leaves the housework but that's another day

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Kathleen

 

WIP - Scrappy Quilts

Why is there no warning!!!.....Patchwork and quilting are addictive and yes over the years I've bought the odd fat quarter, who can resist but and it's a big but I'm not a quilter.  I've never had the patience and would get so frustrated at not being able to piece perfectly Ohhh yes I'm a perfectionist......So why did I foolishly start making a quilt???  Mainly because I felt guilty at a tub full to bursting with fabric and searching through the said tub I have to question my taste in fabric, yep some some of it is pretty gross.....So it was time to create but what?  I searched the web for scrappy quilts and was taken with Arkansas Crossroads block instructions can be found here at BellaOnline  I adapted my block to 8" rather than the 12" and the result is below.

Don't get too close you might see imperfect piecing.....I still have quilting to do but that'll be another story,  despite having a walking and free motion foot for my machine I've never machine quilted anything, but help is at hand, on my Christmas wish list is a book on machine quilting.....OK walk before you run I'll practise  first.

Now we get on to the addiction not only did I finish the above quilt top, being a glutton for punishment I also started the BIG ONE...The Country Medallion Quilt. Pattern from White Cottage Country Crafts  On reflection maybe this project was not for the novice or faint hearted but once started I ploughed on regardless, the saying 'Ignorance is bliss' comes to mind.

I'm waiting for additional fabric for the border and binding which is on order with a promise of being delivered within the week, hmmm still waiting after a month. So there you have it two quilt tops and I'm already planning the next I just can't stop Heeeeelp.

In between the quilts I also made this cute padded Christmas Tree plus one other for my daughter, I bought the pattern from Zigzags at a quilt show in Shrewsbury, plus a lap quilt which is a Christmas present for my mum, I got around the quilting by trying out the knot or tying technique which seemed to work quite well.   I cant show this as I've already wrapped it :-)

If like seeing other works in progress bob over to Freshly Pieced to see what others are doing.

Hope you like
Kathleen

Summer Quilt

 

I started this quilt 4 years ago, everything was complete except for a bit of quilting and the binding, not the best quilting in the world, as at the time I did'nt have a walking foot.  I kept the quilt in the spare room which hubby uses when working occasional night shifts ...I did'nt realise he had been using the quilt until he told me what a relief it was not to have safty pins catching his face!!!  Glad I had the forethought to wash it before starting the binding. 

Chatelaine Medieval Town WIP

At last I've made a start on the Medieval Town Mandala.

As this is my first Chatelaine design I decided to buy the Needlepoint Inc Silks rather than using the DMC equivalent and to be honest I found them disappointing, I would go as far as saying they are lack lustre compared to Pearsall's silks, other than that I love the design and the challenge of discovering and working new stitches, I did however break out in a rash when I discovered half stitches in the chart, I have a real aversion to the little blighters. 

Kathleen x

Chatelaine - Medieval Town Mandala

This is my first post on what I hope will be a journal of my sewing, which I've returned to after many years. 
My interest was rekindled after seeing the beautiful Chatelaine designs by Martina Weber, it was one of the those moments of 'must have' and today after much' humming and arrring' over which design to buy I decided to start with 'The Medieval Town Mandala chart which arrived this morning.

With a cup of tea, pencil and paper in hand I started my shopping list and decided to buy the threads etc to complete the centre design area, this took a bit of sorting out as the threads were being ordered from one company whilst the Swarvoski and Delica's were ordered from two other companies.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll have delivery tomorrow.  There was one thread which my supplier did not stock,  the Thread Gatherer Silken Pearl 30/3 so I had to order the DMC instead, I'm not sure how this will effect the final finish of the design, Thread Gatherer silk n Colours 055 Camouflage was also out of stock with no date given for restocking, so here again I had to resort to the DMC.

I'm feeling quite excited and can't wait to see the delicious threads and start sewing, it does help knowing I've had my eye test this week and my new glasses will be ready for pick up this week so cross fingers I'll be seeing things with more clarity. 

Kathleen x