Red and White Yo-Yo Quilt

A couple of years ago I saw a picture of a quilt similar to this at  Gooseberry Patch and fell in love with it! I simply felt I had to have one and then, typical me, put it to the back of my mind.

The Clover yo-yo maker craze was becoming big news here in England and so I gave it a try - it was so much quicker and easier than the "old fashioned" way which I found tedious.

I love red and white fabric - I "just"  happen to have a huge stash of it that gets replenished at every opportunity.  And so began my days of yo-yo making.

I decided my quilt would need 400 of theses round beauties  and divided my quilt into quarters - 100 yo-yo's in each.
It took quit some time and 800 pins to get the balance of colour and pattern right - but I have to say it was such a pleasure to see it spread out on the table!

Then came the hours of happily watching Poirot and appliqueing the yo-yo's by hand onto the white fabric.

For the backing, I knew I wanted red and white ticking. I was fortunate enough to find the "real thing" at my local fabric shop - and, as luck would have it, it was soft rather than stiff!

Next, I tie quilted alternate yo-yo's into place with red pearl cotton, the ties showing on the back.

My biggest worry in making the quilt was marking the white fabric ready for quilting!

I used a Hera Marker, another fab product from Clover. "Easy to handle tracing spatula allows you to place pressure when marking on fabric. Perfect for quilting and sewing". Truer words have never been written!

Again, using pearl cotton, I quilted the border in simple straight lines and got the "look" that I wanted!

Rather than traditional binding, I used my favourite method of folding in the edges to finish the quilt .

My labour of love took 400 yo-yo's and two years to complete! I enjoyed EVERY minute of it - it was so much fun that I even made several cushions!

Domino Knitting

This is my first attempt at Domino Knitting, very simple to do, but doesn't look it! My friend Joan heard about it first, and showed me how it was done, then lent me a little book by Vivian Hoxbro. My sample piece would look a lot better if I had pressed it, but I think I might felt it before possibly making it into a cushion cover.

I had to get my own copy of the book of course, it is very well written, and contains instructions for several projects.

Clever Girl

I was doing a bit of half-hearted tidying up a couple of days ago and came across a scrapbook of photos of past projects.

This one of a rather reluctant Sharon was taken by me in 1994, because she had just finished knitting this doll for her young son, who desperately wanted one. They were all the rage at the time and I think there were several different characters.

But what was truly amazing was that Sharon had never knitted before, and still says she can't knit. All for love, says Sharon, her child wanted one and that was the only way of getting it for him.

Below are a couple of cupcake pins, which I am lucky enough to have, one for me and one for my granddaughter, also made by Sharon. Utterly delicious. If you want one for yourself she has a contact e-mail address on her embryonic web site www.faeriegodmothers.co.uk

The Sling Bag

Browsing around on the web a few days ago I found a picture of a sling bag, made from an Amy Butler pattern. I couldn't find a local stockist of this particular pattern, ( not even at Get Knitted, who stock a range of Amy Butler products) evidently it has been out for a while, so I made a sort of look-alike for myself. Not quite the same, I may have another attempt, but I am still pleased with it.

Because of the regular snowfalls we are getting I have spent a lot of time sewing, as well as baking and eating!! A couple of UFOs have even been completed.

Celebrating the Season

Our niece Jo calls this her credit crunch Christmas tree. She spotted it on the shoreline of her local beach a few weeks ago, part of a tree that had been tossed about by the sea. Although interested in its possibilities she was on foot and left it on the beach. Days later she drove to the beach, not expecting to find it again, but it had been tossed far enough by the waves to keep it dry and shore bound. Here it is, dressed for Christmas in her sitting room. Fantastic!

Our granddaughter has been designing her own Christmas cards since a few months before her fifth birthday. The one above was her first and below is this years card. She creates them while staying over the October half-term holiday, and it is my great pleasure to print them.

And here is one of several quilted Christmas hangings I have made over the years. Each of the trees is decorated with beads and sequins. Happy Christmas, everyone.

Flowery Scissors and Dotty Cards

I bought these dotty cards last December at a Private View that Sharon generously gave for our friend Caroline.

Becky, another of Sharon's friends had a selection of cards for sale, and they really appealed to me. Now I find she has some absolutely delightful designs on her new website dots and spots.

As well as Caroline's Christmas Goodies, (I can never resist the small, decorated bags she makes, which I use for gift bags) Sharon had made some little gingerbread men tree ornaments, made of cloth, not gingerbread. I am glad I quickly bagged one as they sold out so quickly.

Sharon brought these flowery scissors and rotary cutter back from her recent trip to the USA to see her family, aren't they fantastic, as well as the muffin cases which I wrote about in the recipe blog. I've not seen anything like them over here, but have to admit that I am trying to be fairly blinkered when I go shopping these days, being now a 'retired person'.

Guide to a Grumpy Quilter

This is Caroline's Post

For the last 2 weeks I have been tearing my hair out! The weather has been terrible and has put me in Dark Cloud Mood!

I have been trying to finish off my Basket Quilt, joining together the blocks with Chevron patchwork. That done, next I hope I have enough one and a half inch strips to join into blocks.

Oh Heck! Why is it you never have enough? Ah, I've found some left over from another project.

Now then, just need to turn everything out for 'joining it all together' material.

Oh Cripes, what a mess I've made!

Before

Just said no to Jane for a look around Midsummer Quilters. I'm flat broke and my yearning for new material beckons. I must be strong! groan.....

I've just found half a metre of material I was going to throw out, I knew it would come in handy! Move cat off cutting mat to use rotary cutting board or wait until he goes out to annoy the female cats of the neighbourhood.

I phoned Trish to see if she had my yo-yo maker, nope, no joy there, turned everything out again, with the most foul language! Ah, found it!

After

I am so looking forward to Malvern as I have not been for four years, and that is an achievement for me. I won't feel guilty about spending loads of money, husband No 2 is going to Glastonbury for 3 days!!

Funny, I seem to turn out really good work when I am miserable. I suppose it's because I put all my ideas into my work and that seems to help me focus.

Norman Wisdom, eat your heart out!

Recovering Addict

This is very hard for me to admit, but, I am addicted to the cult of All Things Martha.
I struggle each month NOT to buy her magazine, only to give in and make the purchase. Well, today is the 9th of February and I have NOT given in yet! Don't get me wrong - I HAVE been to the news agent, I HAVE flipped through a copy (more than once), I HAVE coveted this month's issue with the lovely Valentine themed cover, and so far I HAVE been strong!!! I must be strong, I can feel it calling out to me!
I began collecting Martha almost as soon as it became available in England - not easy at first due to the fact that my "local" had only two or so available copies. It became a competition to me - who would get there first? Me or my unknown rivals? I just had to win! The lady in the shop asked me if I would like to take out a subscription to ensure my monthly fix. Oh no, no easy ride for me - I needed to feel like a winner on a monthly basis! I nearly always succeeded - YES INDEED!
As my collection grew, I went out and bought Laura Ashley magazine holders so that my collection could be stored stylishly - grouped by months rather than in purchase order.
So, needless to say, I am having withdrawal symptoms - I haven't even looked at the website yet http://www.marthastewart.com/ - well that's a lie, because how would the link have appeared here?!

I won't bore you with stories of how I watch hours of Martha videos from her web, or how I bring photos of her with me when I have my hair cut, or how my husband sarcastically refers to me as Martha when I'm baking or sewing - no! I must try and stop this now!
So wish me luck. I've got a new addiction now - collecting sewing blogs! I barely even read them, it's just that the pictures are so lovely - more on that another time!
LOL