Shirts

I alluded to a project I'd been busy with at the end of my last post. I am calling it 'Shirts' - this brings a smile to my face as it reminds me of a song by the 'Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band' also entitled 'Shirts'. I blame my husband entirely for this - his father's eclectic taste in music has filtered through, not only to him, but now also myself.

This project is nothing musical but rather another quilt top! It has been made from a 'Washed & Worn' bundle. Basically the bundle consists of reclaimed and recycled fabrics which are washed and worn! The selection in my bundle seemed to be from mainly shirts, and possibly pajamas!

I've sewn them together in strips to from the quilt top which I hope will be for the Baby Boy - I've another bundle to crack open for the Big Girl. My hope, after backing and basting, is to hand quilt the blanket (arrgghh!!). I've not hand quilted for a long time and I've always struggled with maintaining even stitches, but I think it will add to the lovely homespun feel.

Snowball blocks

I am having a lot of fun making my snowball blocks for my 'wintery' quilt. Spring seems to have sprung here and it is no longer winter, but I SHALL complete this quilt before the season changes again!

I love the fact that a simpe technique can look so good and can't wait to see the blocks joined up. You may recall that I'm using a layer cake for this quilt top from the Moda 'Sherbet Pips' range. I've trimmed each 10" square down to 9.5" and the corner triangles are made from 3.5" squares. The little squares are placed in each corner, right sides together, of the big 9.5" square and then sewn on the diagonal to form the corner triangles - the excess fabric is trimmed, leaving a quarter inch seam and the little scraps find a happy home in the scrap basket! The spotty red fabric is from the 'Teatime' range by Makower.

I've managed quite a bit of sewing in the evenings of late so predict good progress with this quilt top this week - I also have been busy with something else which will be unveiled once photographed!

Cake!

I made a wedding cake last week for a dear friend. It was the most wonderful day and I cried lots of happy tears.

My husband informs me that this is the last wedding cake I'm likely to make as he can't cope with how stressed and moody I become - worryingly I think he may be correct! Don't get me wrong, I love the finished product, but it is such a responsibility and hard work. This cake in particular had the added stress of time pressure as it was all madeira cake thus could not be made well in advance. I did gain some time by ensuring the top tier was a dummy one - at least it was iced well in advance and the sugarpaste models the bride requested were then modelled on top at my leisure. The models were great fun - especially making my own sugarpaste tartan.

The pics aren't the greatest as I snapped them quickly, but it gives an idea of the overall effect.

Wet Tuesday

It's a wet Tuesday here :-( . I generally don't mind rain, which is good think living in Wales, but I hate this extremely fine, extremely wet stuff coming from the heavens today. I am glad to be cwtched inside with my baby boy while someone else does the school run on my behalf!

My Baby Boy turned 1 last week - where did the time go? I am overwhelmed somewhat by just how fast he's grown from that tiny little bundle to the busy little man he now is. We had a gathering over the weekend of a few close friends, who are also our neighbours, to celebrate. Everyone brought a curry and we enjoyed a 'Noah's Ark' birthday cake:

I also managed to complete a knitting project the other day - a baby blanket for baby Lydia - my friend Hannah's little girl. Lydia, like myself, is a red-head so the blanket is a lovely green colour - fabulous colour for our kind. It's a Debbie Bliss pattern from her book 'Special Knits' made in the lovely baby cashmerino yarn. I omitted the triangular border described in the pattern, choosing instead to finish it with a simple crochet edge:

The baby boom amongst my friends is keeping me very busy, as is a wedding cake for the 3rd of March! My winter quilt, blogged about recently, is cut out and ready to go - just as soon as I find a free afternoon or evening!

Tulip Love

I adore tulips - in every form and colour. These were yesterday's bargain purchase: 50 red tulips for £10! I capitalised on the post-Valentine's day half price sale and indulged in these lovely blossoms. Dr Hubby and I have never celebrated Valentie's day in the time we have known each other. Every year I have my rant about commercialism, stereotypism etc, etc but in reality neither of us remember or register the date. Being a first language Welsh speaker, I would like to claim that I celebrate 'Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen' (our Welsh equivalent) but I hardly ever remember January the 25 th either!

Insted I will enjoy my lovely bargain flowers and pretend!

It's cold outside

It is sooooo cold here today. Don't get me wrong - I adore this sort of weather: blue sky, frosty, crisp and sunny- but there is no getting away from the fact that it is freezing!

I'm cwtched up inside with the log-burner on so I'm nice and toasty, and I deem it time for a *New Project*!

I've had this 'Sherbet Pips' layer cake since the summer but was yet to use it. Given the current cold weather and the wintery scenes on the fabric, I thought it was perfect for a cold day project. My plan is to make a 'snowball' quilt. The 'snowball' part is entirely coincidental and has nothing to do with the climate - the fabric prints are so lovely I wanted to cut them as little as possible to preserve the pictures. A 'snowball' quilt thus seemed perfect.

So with Radio 4 on in the background and a sleepy little boy napping upstairs, I shall begin cutting :-)

For Down Under

My good friend Wendy had a baby earlier this month so this quilt is on its way to Oz.

*Slight apologies - this first picture shows the quilt upside down - ooooppps!

I bought the jelly roll for this quilt when I was pregnant with my own Baby Boy. You may remember months and months ago on a rainy afternoon, I vowed to cut and sew a quilt in that finite amount of time between lunch and the school run! I did manage to piece the quilt top, but hormones and exhaustion prevailed and the quilt was never finished. One thing is apparent about me if you read this blog - I always bite off more than I can chew!

The quilt top - inspired in part by this one- was placed in a basket for another day. When I found out Wendy was pregnant I knew there was a reason to complete the quilt and pass it on to a very special little boy.

The quilt is simply backed with a check print, stippled and bound with scrappy binding making use of those leftover jelly roll strips.

The fabric is from the Lily and Will range by Moda - it's perfect for baby blankets as it comes in several pastel colourways.

I've not made any real New Year resolutions, but I'm trying to complete one project before I start another!