Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus

Happy Saint David's Day to you all!  It's a special day for all us Welsh people.  My Big Girl has gone to school dressed in traditional costume for a day of Welsh festivities.  I am still installed at home with a poorly little boy , but preparing traditional fayre for tonight - Cawl and Welsh cakes!

Dropping in!

Hello there!  Just quickly dropping into the blogosphere with last week's two Farmer's Wife blocks.  Last week was a productive one on the block front - both made at the very beginning of the week - but updating and uploading here has been hampered by illness :-(.  Dr Husband is on annual leave this week but this has been marred by a pulled back, brought on by a combination of golfing and putting on of shoes.  My little boy has a nasty cold which last night culminated in croup and a 40 degree fever.  Sewing has been slow as a result!

Here are last week's two anyway:

 (Whirlwind - block 103)

 

(Railroad - block 72)

Best get back to my patients now!

Half Term Blocks

It was half term here last week so a whole lot of craft did not get done.  We visited family, coo-ed over pictures of my new niece and nephew and had a day out in Cardiff, surviving both the rain and a Dalek attack at the most excellent Doctor Who Experience.  Highly recommended for all fans!

Nevertheless, I did get two quilting blocks made but I've been a bit lax about uploading my pictures.  I've also been cutting out fabric for my twin quilts and knitting - I guess I did accomplish more than I originally thought!

Here are my half-term blocks:

(Block 9 - Box)

This one didn't look right to me for a while - the arrangement of the blue fabric looked a bit staggered at the bottom of each 'arm'.  Then I realised that when I come to sew the blocks together at the end of the project, a quarter inch seam all around the block will solve my problem!

(Block 58 - Mother's Dream)

LOVE this block and love everything about it - the fabric selection, the design, the colours, the cherry print background.  Definitely one of my favourites thus far.

It's Tuesday today and traditionally Tuesday afternoons have been my sewing afternoons.  I'm going to knuckle down and get on with a couple of blocks this afternoon.  I've got a bedroom to paint this week and I don't see any other opportunity for sewing time otherwise!

Happy Valentine's

We're a bit 'bah humbug' in our house with regards to Valentine's Day.  Never-the-less, being that it is half term and there is always a need for cake during school holidays, we baked some heart shaped cakes.  I particularly like the one with the heart shaped eyes and smiley face ;-).

Busy and Eventful

It has been a busy and eventful week for me craft-wise as well as otherwise.  I've managed to make two Farmer's Wife blocks and complete a baby quilt for a friend.  In other, very exciting, news I have become an aunt this week - my brother's wife Charlotte had twins on Thursday morning!!  I have a little niece named Bronwyn Nell and a little nephew named Fox Rhys.  This means I can start the Very Important Projects i have previously alluded to!

My blocks for this week are called Economy and Buzzard's Roost.

(Economy - block 29)

This one meant I could be very economical with my time working on it - straightforward and simple yet very effective.

(Buzzard's Roost - block 15)

This one was a bit more challenging and needs a bit more pressing!  I'm not sure if it has turned out a bit bland if I'm honest.  I'm debating whether a white background would have worked better with the grey fabric, but for now it's in.

This week's other accomplishment was finishing my 'Wheelie Quilt' :-).  I have a friend called Lora who I've known for donkey's years - we grew up in the same church and went to the same secondary school although I am a bit older.  Lora's husband Jaime is bike mad and works in a bike shop called 'Wheelies' at the bottom of my hill.  When their baby boy Daniel was born in November I just had to make a bicycle themed quilt for him!

Here it is:

How I love it!  It is made from a charm pack and yardage from Sweetwater's range 'Lucy's Crab Shack'.  I've had the fabric range pinned to my 'fabric love' board on Pinterest for absolutely ages, trying to find an excuse to buy some.  It is a simple design but I love the plain fabric between the framed four-patch blocks and then the borders.

For the backing fabric I used a print from Moda's 'Summerville' range:

Isn't it just darling?!!

I've got some leftovers so I'm thinking of a little Half Term Holiday project with my Big Girl possibly involving some fabric pens or embroidery.  The possibilities are so many!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday to you!

It has been a busy weekend here, but a very good one none the less!  This week is largely going to follow the same pattern and the house is going to be chaotic!  I have workmen descending this week to do some work in my Big Girl's bedroom before a decorating marathon begins.  I'm sure it will be fine but I don't fare well with chaos and clutter and with the contents of a 7 year old's room arranged on the landing I am not calm of mind!

Anyway I made two Farmer's Wife blocks last week AND I made a baby quilt.  Pictures of the latter will feature later in the week - I still need to wash and dry the quilt but here are the completed Farmer's Wife Blocks:

Evening Star:

I love the fussy-cut square in the middle of this block!  The whole block is so fresh and happy - very 'February'  as reminiscent of all those spring flowers popping up!

Prairie Queen:

I've wanted to make this block for ages but skipped over it several times.  I thought it would turn out quite a busy block so needed some time to think about it.  It is still a bit of a busy one but I think the central white square helps counteract this a bit!

It's funny how the seasons seem to be affecting my colour choices - red in the run up to the festive season and now blues and yellows as we head towards Spring!

Spring Blocks

The blocks I made last week make me think about spring time - blues and yellows remind me of hyacinths and daffodils.  A bit of brightness amidst the winter weather!

(Broken Dishes - block 11)

(Honeycomb - block 49)

I found Honeycomb much harder to pull off than the Broken Dishes block, despite the larger pieces.  I used the half square triangle method for the first block which meant I had less of a margin for error when putting it all together, so I am happy with Broken Dishes.

The Honeycomb block above is my second attempt to be perfectly honest.  The first one was a big mess - firstly I wasn't happy with the background fabric (pink and spotty with some cherries) which made the block too busy and too fruity and secondly, pretty much none of the seams came together.  Even with remedial work I could not make it look better, and when your pink loving 7 year old tells you it looks bad, it's time to cut the losses and scrap it.  Last night I cut out new templates and and fabric and took my time piecing it together.  The strawberry Cath Kidston print stands out much better against the white background and the the whole thing is constructed a whole lot better.

I've started cutting out this week's two blocks already but I am itching to finish a baby quilt as well as start two Very Important Projects!!!  I am trying so hard to be disciplined.