Cwtch Cwpan

I had never made a mug hug until last weekend.  If I'm honest I would say that I really didn't want to make one either - I had never really grasped the point, if my coffee gets cold I put it in the microwave.  Last Friday a certain 7 year old came home from school with a request for hand made mug hugs - Cwtch Cwpan in Welsh.  I cannot express how much joy the Welsh translation gave me - it is just lovely :-).  The request came from the school's Eco Council (school has changed a lot since I was a pupil it seems) to sell on their Fair Trade stall for Fair Trade Fortnight. 

Saturday was largely spent trying to decide on a suitable pattern - searching on Ravelry for 'mug hug' or 'mug cozy' results in so many possibilities, both knitting and crochet!  I must say I wasted a lot of valuable time at this first hurdle.  In the end I settled on a pattern from the new magazine 'Simply Crochet' which has some really nice things to make within its pages.

Admittedly, if I had spent less time browsing patterns and more time actually crocheting I could have made more than the 4 mug hugs I donated.  However, after experimenting with the mug hug over the weekend, I would say I am now a convert so I shall be making some more!

Forty Plus

The title is not a reference to my age I hasten to clarify - although I am now closer to forty than thirty!  Scary thought!  In my last post I mentioned that I hoped to make 3 Farmer's Wife blocks last week to bring the grand total to forty blocks.  It seems I had made a miscalculation and I only required two blocks to be made, so here they are:

 This one is block 3 in the book and is called 'Basket' - it is, however, currently sans handle, which I plan to add at a later point.  I made a return to the floral green this week as it has been lacking in use somewhat.

The second is 'Batwing', the fifth block:

 I like this one with the contrast between red and white fabric, and the bambis are quite sweet in my opinion.  When the final quilt is assembled they recommend arranging the block on point - I cannot for the life of my imagine this particular block in that alignment.  I like it's present symmetry to much!

So today , not only can I share last week's work but also this week's!!

This is 'Bouquet' and oh my, it has been a headache!  I cut and pieced as accurately as possible and it still didn't come out a perfect square - I ripped it loose twice and the above is as good as it is going to get.  I think I need to look at my quarter inch foot and asses whether it is a scant quarter inch seam or not.  The green fabric is from a past project (an Unfinished Object) which I found whilst tidying last week - I think it is by Lecien.  Discovering the UFO has made me determined to complete it.

Finally Bowtie, block 10:

 

Simple and straightforward - I think I might make a quilt from this block design at some point :-)

This brings the block count to 42.  It transpires that it is 83 blocks I need for a twin quilt and not the 85 I previously thought - This means I am officially halfway - just!!

This brings the block count to 42!! 

Knitting Away

I've been knitting away for days now - I decided to knit two, very time consuming, scarves.  One for my mother and one for my mother-in-law in honour of Mother's Day. 

One cream:

One Pink:

One is completed, the other not, and neither have made it to the post office yet!  Both are made from a combination of DK yarn and a fine mohair yarn - in this case Rowan Kidsilk Haze.  The finished result, I must say, is beautiful and worth persevering with although I have never ever had quite so many ends to darn in.  The pattern is called Chile by Suzie Johnson of the Wool Sanctuary, available via Ravelry

And now for a bit of fun:

Take the Jane Austen Character Quiz here!

Spring

In my mind Spring is here.  Although cold outside, the weather has been dry and glorious here for the last few days - I have laundry drying in the fresh air today and in my little garden, spring bulbs are poking through.  On days like this all seems very well with the world indeed.

Last week I had an industrious spurt and made three more Farmer's Wife blocks!  I think this brings the grand total to 37 so I'm going to try really, really hard this week to make three more and bring the number up to 40.  This pleases me psychologically as it is nearly halfway to the magic 85 blocks I have in mind to make.

So sunny was the weather on Saturday that all three blocks were photographed on location outside, namely my little postage stamp of a back garden:

(Block 23 - Country Farm)

 (Block 14 - Butterfly at the Crossroads)

(Block 13 - Buckwheat)

The last one is a little out of focus so here it is again but this time as part of a pair:

 

I've gone to town a but on the pink theme this time, but I love the yellow floral and pink spots together.  I think the Lecien cherry print used as the background for block 14 is possibly my favourite fabric in this project.  I never get tired of using it!

Hope the sun is shining with you this Monday afternoon!

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!