Emily Dickinson sampler

Emily Dickinson sampler
Originally uploaded by crafty mathea.

It's Friday again, and I have not posted anything at all since last Friday. To busy stitching I suppose... Well, actually I think it's the heat getting to me - I haven't been up to doing much of anything except stitching.
I thought I'd show another WIP this time - one of the cross-stitch projects I'm currently working on. This one is from Stitcher's World and features a lovely Emily Dickinson poem. I had finished the beehive and the vases of flowers some time ago and then put it away for a while, as I couldn't quite face stitching all the letters. When I finally got around to it, it only took a few days. Typical! What was I waiting for?
I'm sorry the picture is a little blurry. That comes mainly from having a cheap ancient digital camera, and partly from the skill of the photographer... It does not have a zoom feature and doesn't take good close-ups. This is particularly obvious when I try to photograph cross-stitch - something about those little pixel-like stitches being converted to digital pixels seems to make the pictures extra blurry. Well, at least I know what to wish for for my birthday. Any suggestions about what type of camera to get? About the sampler: a floral border outside the one I've started and then some bees here and there, and it's done. It shouldn't take too long, if I don't put it away again, that is! At least now I have blogged about it, and that should keep me motivated to finish it. Feel free to ask about my progress ;-) !
As for the other WIP, my kite quilt, I have actually finished the top! I found a great Jan Mullen fabric for the backing and I'll just give it a quick wash and then I'm ready to layer and quilt. All the kites will get tails, but I haven't quite decided whether I'll just use a contrasting rayon thread and ordinary stitches, the triple stitch on my sewing machine or some cording to make the tails stand out more. I think the latter option would look great, but that might prove too much of a temptation for inquisitive little fingers - I'm not too sure ... ??

On the balcony

It just occured to me that I have forgotten to show pictures of this quilt which I finished just over a week ago. It started out as a summer project and was originaly meant to be a table cloth. However, I soon decided that it was a bit too busy and bright for my table, so I decided to back it with polar fleece and use it as a throw instead. And here it is, ready for an evening on the balcony watching the sun go down.

The pattern is inspired by Kaffe Fasset's Pennants-quilt from his first patchwork book, and is made using one of the Tri-rec rulers. I had never tried those before, but I was impressed with the speed and ease with which the whole thing went together without using templates. I used a store-bought fleece blanket with rounded corners, hence the rounded edges on the quilt. I was quite impressed with the way I managed to keep track of all the blocks and which way they were to go, what with having to transport the pieces back and forth between home and quilt shop, but after quilting I realized that I had got one of the blocks in the wrong way after all. Never mind, it's there to stay now and I suppose most people won't notice it! And I have stopped being coy about the things I make - "no, this is nothing, and look at the mistakes I've made..." was what I used to respond with if people complemented my work. Now I prefer to smile and thank them for noticing, and try not to blush for being so self-congratulatory. As adults we tend to put ourselves down a bit. I think I have something to learn from my youngest nephew: when someone tells him that he is clever he simply says "yes I know"! A bit too much coming from a forty-something, I suppose, but a slightly modified version accompanied by lowered lashes and a bashful smile might be all right...
Talking of my youngest nephew: here is a glimpse of my WIP, the kite quilt that he will get for his birthday. I have joined the kites and background pieces in strips now and here they all are ready to be joined together. The picture shows an example of my summer laziness, I have taken to using my embroidery frame (hiding an unfinished tapestry) to hang the strips from so I just have to swivel around on my chair by the sewing machine to grab the next trip when stitching them together.
And now, back to the balcony...

I think I'll hang on to that day job...

Isn't this lovely? It is not one of my creations, but a free pattern found here. There is one dress for each month of the year (this is the March dress) all in 50s style. A friend of mine sent me the link yesterday, and I've been thinking about them ever since. These dresses are from a time when my mother was a young girl. She's about to retire from work this autumn, and I was thinking that a quilt, wallhanging or something with these dresses might be a fittingly nostalgic present for her. Or maybe I'll just stitch them and keep them for myself... Or make one set for me and one for her! They are not too complicated, and shouldn't take too much time to stitch, hm... tempted!

But first things first, there is a kite quilt to finish. It is coming along nicely, but it is a good thing that I don't do this for a living: with all the frogging I have had to do on this project, I would never have made enough of an income to keep myself in the style I'm accustomed to :-D I have persevered though, and I can safely say that I have got the hang of this foundation piecing thing again, for now... I think it will be a while before I try it again, and by then I will probably have forgotten how to do it and will have to start all over again.

Never mind, I have finished all the blocks now and joined them to the background pieces, so I have five strips of blocks laid out ready to be stitched to the narrow strips that go in between. As long as I manage to get some quality time with my sewing machine tomorrow, I'll manage to get those finished as well and I can start assembling the quilt top. So far I'm confident that I will manage to complete the quilt before August 10th, to present it to the birthday boy.

Oh what joy!

I received my books from Amazon the other day. These three had all been on my wish list for a while, and when I realized they were all available on special offer, the finger on the mouse button only had to make a few rapid up and down motions and the trio was on it's way to my home...

They arrived a couple of days ago and I haven't really had time to study them at length yet, but with this lovely weather and my balcony garden being at the peak of its beauty right now, I'll be enjoying some precious leisure time there poring over these gems this weekend. The one I have been spent most time with so far is Kristin Nicholas' "Colorful Stitchery" - such an inspiration! I have done some embroidery over the years. Although my main focus - before I discovered quilting - was on cross-stitch, I have tried crewel work and after a embroidery class last winter I think I've finally got the hang of stem stitch and feather stitch as well. This book really inspires me to try it on some useful items for the home.

My mother and my grandmother both did various needle crafts, but the person who really inspired me to create was in fact my great grandmother, who died long before I was born. The country cottage where she lived all her married life is full of items she created. Beatifully crocheted curtains, appliqued wallhangings, embroidered tablecloths and chair covers - you name it, she did it all. Sadly my aunt and uncle who inherited the place have no appreciation of "old stuff", so it's not all on display anymore, but at least I have been allowed to "rescue" a lot of her things for safe keeping. Hm, that's subject of a whole blog post of it's own, I think. I really should photograph and catalogue all those tablecloths...

Back to the book. Although it is a fresh take on an old craft, it also reminds me of some of the work of the Bloomsbury set. I remember visiting an exhibition about Dora Carrington's work in the Barbican years back (probably around the release of the film about her life in 1995) and there were whole rooms designed to look like her home, where everything was painted and created especially for the places they were placed. Although the designs in this book are nothing like those, I get the same feeling of objects lovingly created to be displayed in rooms that are creatively put together. Such an inspiration!

The two quilt books, Denyse Scmidt Quilts and the Ringle/Kerr Modern Workshop one are also well known in Blogland, I think, and I will not be the first to draw inspiration from these. Once I have finished my self-appointed task of making quilts for all nieces and nephews I intend to spend more time creating just for the sake of creating and I believe these books will be among the ones that will help me further along this path. I can't wait to begin! But first I have some kite blocks to finish...

Another Friday, same WIP

It has been a hectic week, but I have made some progress on my kite-quilt. Here are some of the kites pinned up on the background sky fabric. I have actually finished all the kite parts of the blocks, and they will all go up on my design wall* tomorrow to decide which ones go where. Once I have decided, I can finish the blocks with sky-, sea- or sand-fabric respectively. I hope to have this done by the end of the weekend.

The Jan Mullen fabrics and some other brights from my stash seem to work quite well for the kites, so my soon to be six year-old nephew will get a bright and cheerful quilt to suit his bright and cheerful personality. He is such a sunny child, always with a glimpse of a dimple in his cheek and a twinkle in his eye as he talks a mile a minute and twists everyone around his little finger. I can't wait for him to see his quilt :-)

Talking of little boys, I was quite impressed by another little one yesterday. A group of us gathered at the local quilt shop for a stitch-and-chat. One of the girls couldn't get a sitter, and had brought along her son who's just turned five. He was put to work by his mum, making headbands for his cousins. His mother cut the fabric (chosen from his very own stash, which he brought in his own little bag) and some polar fleece for the backing. He stitched the pieces together on the sewing machine, his mother clipped the corners before he turned them inside out. His mother ironed them and he did the quilting, on the machine, before his mother added the velcro. He obviously enjoyed the whole process, working with his mother, choosing fabric and thread for each of the cousins and doing most of the work - it was obvious that this wasn't the first time he had used a sewing machine though. But it really goes to show how much a child can manage with a little help (and supervision) from an adult, if we dare to let them have a go. I bet he'll have wonderful memories of crafting with his mum, and who knows, maybe he will become a quilter when he grows up!

*"Design wall" is rather a grand name for it, come to think of it! I haven't got much free wall space available in my small flat, so my design wall consist of a flannel sheet with big metal eyelets in two corners. This is hooked on to the wall whenever I need to use it and is easy to take down again once I'm finished.

Is it better on paper?

I have started a new quilt. This is one I have been planning to make for quite a while. I have made bedquilts for my niece and for four of my five nephews, so it's about time that the youngest one gets his.
The original pattern is from an old copy of Quiltmaker, but I have changed it a bit, and found a fabric collection with sand, sea and sky that I think will work well as background for the colourful kites, some flying in the air and some waiting in the sand before they are launched - the impression I want to give is a fun day at the beach. The kites are supposed to be made with foundation piecing, and I made loads of copies of the paper foundations, got my fabrics out and got started. I have been wondering these past few days, though, if this paper piecing thing really is such a good idea...
I have done some earlier, but I can't remember having had so much trouble with it. The kites have angular pieces of different sizes, and it was quite a challenge remembering to place the fabric pieces in the opposite direction of where they were supposed to go when they were flipped over, and invariably I'd find that the piece of fabric I had used was just short of covering the whole area it was supposed to. It is no coincidence that my seam ripper is in the middle of the picture :-D
To make matters worse the bacground fabrics are directional, and I certainly don't want to have vertical clouds or waves, so there was a challenge... Luckily I remembered that I'd seen an article in an old issue of Quilter's Newsletter about paper piecing with directional fabrics and how to get it right, and I was able to find it and put it to good use. It took some time getting the hang of it, but I'm getting there...
What I find though, is that I have to cut the fabric in larger pieces than I would if I were piecing in the traditional way, and I end up with loads of offcuts that will really swell up my scrap bag. I think my puritan mind is having a slight reaction to all this waste, so I'm not too sure if this is the technique for me. Still, I am getting better at it, and that might serve me well in future projects - if I ever want to paper piece again, that is!

A nine-patch of plans

mosaic1
Originally uploaded by crafty mathea.

I tend to have several projects going at once, and sometimes it is a bit difficult to stay motivated, and remember what I intend to make before the deadline is there. There is also the risk of getting sidetracked and forget about current projects because something new and exciting pops up in my mind. That's the stuff UFOs are made of...

I won't even go there, just yet - I have several UFOs as well, but these are the projects I intend to put in some work on in the near future.

I have blogged about my bright pennant quilt, the Café de Paris quilt and the Home Sweet Home quilt recently, so I won't bore you with details yet again.

Then there is a new quilt about to get started: My youngest nephew is the only member of the family who hasn't got his own bedquilt yet, and his birthday is in August, so it is time to get started. The EQ sketch of kites in the top right corner is what I have in mind for him.

The Madison bag for my middle sister was a success, but there's no time to rest on my laurels. My older sister's birthday is coming up in less than a month, so there's another bag to make. She's not the very girly type, so the Madison bag will not do, but I caught her studying my turquoise Chelsea tote with great interest and I know she loves my green Kaffe Fasset quilt, so she'll get a green tote with foliage, fruit and flowers.

My Amy Butler quilt is still waiting for it's borders, but the good news is that the fabric has arrived, so that project is one step closer to fruition.

I have some quilted postcards lying around, some of which are half finished. They were made for a class and I had left them in different stages to show the whole process. There's really no excuse not to finish them...

A friend showed me a travel document folder she had bought and which I thought was a very good idea to bring along on one's travels - enough room too hold passport, tickets etc. As a "serious" quilter I wouldn't even dream of going out and buying one, though ;-) - I'm going to construct my own quilted version complete with zipper and all. I'd better finish that before my holidays in August.

Just to fill in the whole nine-patch of projects, I'm showing a glimpse of my stitchery quilt. I'm working on a series of garden themed embroideries that will be set with floral fabrics to make a garden quilt sometime in the distant future. For now it is just a nice set of little sewing projects that are quite handy to put in one's purse and do a bit of stitching on when I'm out and about - in waiting rooms, visiting with friends and so on.

Looking at all this I see that I have plenty to keep me occupied in the coming weeks - I'd better get started!

That was quick!

I was holding my breath here to see if I managed to upload a picture. Blogger hasn't been cooperating with me the last few days, but I gather from the help-forum that I was not alone. I had ever so much trouble in getting pictures uploaded to my previous post, but eventually I managed it by creating a new post, uploading the pictures and copying the text into that one before deleting the previous one - what a computer genius! Enough said about that - it's just so frustrating when things don't work the way they should!
It dawned on me yesterday morning that my sister was on way home from her holiday in Cannes, and as she had celebrated her birthday while she was there, she would probably invite the family to a party once she got home. I have known her birthday was coming up, of course, and I have known what I was going to give her ever since my youngest sister's birthday in April, so why hadn't I done anything about it?! Procrastination could have been my middle name...
There was nothing for it though, so I set to work once I got out of bed. Cut the fabrics before I had my breakfast, and then it was off to the sewing machine. Luckily I have made this particular handbag (Amy Butler's Madison bag) so many times, that I could do it without checking the pattern every minute, so it went together during the day, and I actually managed to get a few other things done as well... The flower was hand stitched in the company of a good movie in the evening, and stitched on to the bag with a cone shaped button from an old blouse in the middle. Perfect for a flower, not so perfect on the blouse - dancing partners kept complaining about getting stung ;-)
The previous ones I've made have been made from Amy Butler fabric in bright colours, but that wouldn't do for this sister. I found a linen look-alike in soft colours with matching Jinny Beyer fabrics: green for the lining and dusky pink for the flower. I'm quite pleased with it myself, and I hope sis will be as well, when she gets it this afternoon, for sure enough, she phoned yesterday as I was putting the finishing touches on the bag, to invite us to a garden party today...

It's all about WIPs here...

I have been a lazy blogger this week. I have some excuses, though...

We started a summer project at my favourite quilt shop last week, a summery table cloth. The lovely ladies at the shop had made kits with all the fabric we needed for the top - perhaps not the ones I would have chosen, but the most important thing for me was the social aspect - to me that's one of the most important things about this hobby: like minded people getting together, stitching a little, sharing ideas, knowhow, chocolate and laughter. We spent a whole evening cutting triangles with the TriRec ruler and our homework was to stitch them together to make blocks. "Piece of cake" I thought - "I'll do that in no time at all"... Weeeell, needless to say, things didn't quite turn out that way.

I decided to finish my Café-quilt top first as I'd have plenty of time to do those triangles... Somehow that took a lot more time than I had imagined, and I found myself stitching well into the night to be ready for the next step at the quilt shop on Monday. I did manage to finish all the blocks, although those plaids were a nightmare! Never before have I used fabric that created so much lint and left loose threads flying in and around my sewing area. I actually had to stop twice to clean my sewing machine!
On Monday amid fun and laughter with the girls I managed to stitch the blocks together. We had a great time, but there was still a lot of work to be done. By then I had decided that this was not going to be a tablecloth after all - it was much to bright and colourful, even for me - a lap quilt to use on my balcony during warm(ish) summer evenings would be a better idea, and I remembered that I had a green polar fleece blanket that I might use for backing. Great, I'd just have to add the borders, spray baste the top to the blanket and machine quilt it just enough to keep the two layers together - "I'll do that tomorrow" I mumbled to myself as I drifted off to sleep that evening.

It was not to be. On Tuesday I came home from work and realized that the maid (me) had been off duty for far too long and there were piles of dishes to clean, floors to mop and all (knowing that "dust bunnies are just a sign of people having had too much fun to clean" was no consolation, something had to be done!) And boy, was I glad I did, because the moment I'd finished, the doorbell rang, and there was a friend of mine who was passing by and had impulsively decided to pay me a visit. Several cups of tea and quilting magazines later I waved goodbye to my friend and went to bed. "I'll finish that quilt tomorrow" I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

The next day we had a minor crisis at work, so I was late getting home. I had just finished dinner when the phone rang - another friend who wanted to pay a visit. Another great evening with tea and sympathy and no quilting...
Thursday was the day for our monthly quilting bee, and here I am on Friday, piles of washing up again, and no progress on the quilt. Mind you, I'm not complaining! I feel truly blessed to have so many friends who want to spend time with me, and all those evenings chatting about our lifes and plans and inspiring each other are part of what life really is about, isn't it? But tomorrow I might get some work done on that quilt - or maybe not...

WIP coming together

I have added another photo to the WIP pool. I have been busy this week - I only have the top and bottom border to add and the top is finished! However, my back didn't agree with me about spending more time at the sewing machine, so the rest will have to wait until tomorrow. I had made very little progress on the quilt until last Friday, but joining the WIP group really spurred me on to do something about this project, so thank you Fiona at hop skip jump for creating the group :-) Now, if only I could find out how to make my photos visible for everybody - it seems you have to be logged on and a member of the group to be allowed to view my photos in the group pool, even though I've marked them as public. I must go and explore Flickr some more, I think... Here's a close-up of the floral fabric. As I was photographing it, it occured to me that although in my mind this has been my "Café de Paris-fabric" ever since I bought it, those words are nowhere to be found on the fabric. There are several French-sounding café-names, though, but my mind seems to have played a trick on me - oh well, I could just call it my café-quilt, I suppose...



The blue fabric I have used as a background for the hearts looks very bright in this picture. It is actually more like faded denim and goes well together with the soft florals, I think. I will add the final borders tomorrow and then it's time to get my backing fabrick out of hiding. I only hope it works as well with the rest of the fabrics as I think it will. Or maybe my mind has played another trick on me... ;-)

Little feet

I've come across the sweetest little felt shoes at Martha Stewart Living. Unfortunately there are no babies among my circle of friends at the moment (we might be getting too old...), so there's no one to make them for. Unless I make a new family member myself... No, don't get any ideas! That's not what I meant!


A few years back I made a couple of teddies, and of course, as it is with all new crazes, I started building a stash of fabric, patterns, joints, eyes etc. with every intention of making more of these sweet little things. There is a serious SABLE situation going on here (Stash Aquisition Beyond Life Expectation) - how will I ever get round to making all the things I want to make?!!
In one of my books there are some photos of an adorable little teddy girl in baby shoes and that's the kind of thing I had in mind. Maybe this summer I'll dig out all that stash and make some sweet little stuffies, and then I'll have the perfect excuse to make some little shoes, as well. Hmmm could I have some more time please?

WIP friday

This is one of the projects I'm working on at the moment. I fell in love with (can one fall in love with fabric?) the Café de Paris print in the foreground with flowers and café signs - very romantic! - and bougt several yards of it. I'm making a lap quilt with six blocks with big appliqué hearts set on point, alternating with blocks of the café print and with sashing in between that will give the effect of a trellis lying on top of the blocks - sort of a 3D effect - I hope... I have only one heart left to appliqué and then I'll start stitching the whole thing together.
I have a great fabric lined up for the backing as well - one with French (?) windows and doors that will be great with these florals. I'm very particular about my backing fabrics these days - they should form a harmonious whole with the fabrics on the front, I think. This is especially important with lap quilts where the backing will be on display as often as the front. In my first years of quiltmaking I used whatever I had on hand for backing: old duvet covers and curtains in hideous patterns - anything big or cheap enough - and those quilts really make me cringe when I get a glimpse of the backs now. It just won't do - if I spend a lot of time (and fabric) making a quilt top and quilting it, I owe it to myself to use quality materials that are pleasing to the eye, throughout, I think. Sorry to make such a big song and dance about it, but that's my "humble" opinion, anyway ;-)


I have other projects lined up as well. Here are most of the fabrics for my house quilt. It also needs some brown and golden bits and pieces, but I trust my huge scrap bag - I will find what I need there, I'm sure! This is going to be my summer project starting tomorrow. There, I've said it - no excuses now, tomorrow it is!

These gems arrived last week. Isn't it funny that mere fabrics can give you a happy feeling and make you want to sing? I can hardly wait to do something with these beauties. Something autumnal (is that a word?) I think, with maybe a dash of turquoise for contrast. I'm thinking maple leaves here, but that seems rather obvious, so maybe not. Something more abstract, perhaps, something with big pieces so the beauty of the fabrics will play the main part. No doubt I'll spend some time playing with the colours and different patterns in EQ during the next few weeks to try to decide...

These are some glimpses of what I'm planning at the moment, but only some of them. What a good idea to use Fridays to show off our plans! It will give a good incentive to get something done so one can show off one's progress a week later, I think :-)

The solution

I told you I would come up with something ;-) This is how I ended up finishing the cross-stitch piece. It is to go in an album, so a frame wouldn't do, and if I were to mount it in a card it would be too big. So I ended up making it into a postcard by ironing it on to a piece of Fast2Fuse, adding a muslin backing and satin stitch around the edge. Not perfect, but finished! To show off the stitching properly I put it in my scanner, which makes it look a bit paler than it really is. And if the background looks a bit blotchy it is actually because it is stitched on a piece of hand dyed evenweave from Jayne's Attic. Lovely fabric, you'll just have to take my word for it ;-) Enough excuses for now - I'm quite pleased with it, and there's no turning back, as it is already on it's way to London... This means I can get back to my quilting. I have been out and about so much lately that my sewing machine is gathering dust where it sits neglected and sulking in the corner. Poor thing, it needs some company! It's not for lack of fabric either - I got some lovely loot from my latest trip and I have gathered all the colours I need for my house quilt, so I' ll start making small kits for myself to bring along wherever I'm going this summer. There is quite a lot of applique on this one, but one block at a time, and I'll be there eventually... I also bought some beautiful fabric in autumn colours that I can't wait to start using, but I'll have to come up with a pattern first. Something simple to show off the fabrics I think, hmm... must go and browse through some magazines and books .......

On a lighter note

Not such a cross stitcher today - I think I have worked out a solution for my cross-stitch, but more about that later. I have made a new bag. These fabrics have been lying around for a while waiting for me to get around to it. I bought some rick-rack recently and realized that the colours were perfect to go with the fabrics, so they were included in the design. The result is a summery bag that will go well with my new jacket, if I decide to keep this one for myself. I really need to clean out my hallway closet to make space for all my handbags - or I might give this one away - that might be easier... ;-)

A cross stitcher

I mentioned earlier that I was working on a cross-stitched piece as a present for a friend. A whole group of us are making pieces to be put in a photoalbum where the pockets are 5 x 7 ". I measured and calculated ever so carefully before I started, created a layout based on some free patterns from about cross-stitch.com, and stitched happily away. Yesterday I finally finished this piece and started to mount it, only to find out that I have miscalculated! I had decided to make a card to mount it in but realized that the d*** thing is too big. If I am to end up with a 5 x 7 card I'll only get about 3/8 of an inch frame around the whole thing, making it look cramped and akward. So the question now is what to do?

1. Forge ahead and decide that it is what it is,
2. come up with another clever way of finishing it or
3. stitch something else before mid-June?

Sigh! I'll have to sleep on it, and might yet come up with a solution, but it just makes me so irritated with myself. Why didn't I check my measurements better? Arrgh!!!

There, that felt good - I've got it out of my system and no doubt, by tomorrow I'll know what to do - I think...

Cake in a tie

This is a first. I haven't blogged about any kind of food I've made before, but I'm quite pleased with the cake I made today, so I felt like showing off :-). The occasion is my nephew's confirmation party tomorrow and I wanted to make something suitable for a young man. After several hours of googling cake decoration sites and noticing some nice formal cakes made to look like suits, I decided to do something similar, but more informal.
The theme colours for the party are a soft green and turquoise (remember "the old days" when we just used whatever party decorations we had?) so that was my starting point. A formal suit didn't seem right for our happy-go-lucky young man, so I decided that a shirt and tie would be better. As I was working it occured to me that forced to wear a tie it wouldn't be long until he had loosened it and opened the top button on his shirt, so I decided to do it that way, and to pull the tie to one side. This gave me a chance to make litle marzipan buttons as well. The pocket has a line of "stitching" all around and there is a small label with his name on. I hope he'll like it!
The cake itself is actually just an ordinary sponge cake split in three layers and filled with thin layers of strawberries blended with a little sugar and a generous amount of whipped cream mixed with caramel mousse. The shirt, tie and details are all made from marzipan. Not all that professional looking, I know, but still, I'm quite pleased with it!

Things beginning with "p"

I have made a few new postcards. These are phototransferred images that were printed on the wrong setting so they came out a little faded, and I tried enhancing the images by adding some machine quilting. The scanned images of the finished postcards also became a bit faded. I tried adjusting the colours a bit on the computer, but they do look better in real life!

This is a pincushion I made for an exchange. The pattern is from Martha Stewart. I loved the look of them in different shades, colours and sizes, so I might have to make some more, even though the others in my quilt group teased me about it. Apparently you can buy tomato pincushions for next to nothing at the quilt shop, but they are of the mass produced variety and not half as nice as these homegrown ones, I think! I bet they are just jealous ;-) The picture at Martha's reminded me of long summer days in the country with my grandparents when I was a child. On Saturdays we kids used to walk to the nearest farm and use our allowance to buy left over tomatoes from the weeks pickings. Our fistful of brown coins would be exchanged for a big brown paper bag filled to the limit with these lovely juicy "sweets" in all sorts of odd shapes and shades. I can still remember the taste when biting into a tomato still warm from the sun: like liquid sunshine. We'd start eating them on our way home (in spite of gran's instructions to wait until after dinner) and by the time we got back we'd have little room left for dinner. We'd have tomatoes with our lunch for the rest of the week, but nothing could rival that first bite on the way home. Forbidden fruit, mmm ;-) But I digress - I was talking about pincushions. I also recieved one from the same exchange. A lovely star-shaped one with lots of machine embroidered details:The yellow and green fabrics are bali fabrics with a gold scroll print on top on one side, which really gives you two different fabrics to play with (I have the same one in pink and turqoise, that's why I know!) and here it is used to great effect with the gold side out on one side of the pincushion and the "plain" side (which really is the most beautiful one) on the other side. What a lucky girl I am - thank you Camilla!

House plans

It's official: I'm about to start a new project. As I mentioned earlier, I fell head over heels in love with the quilt from Barb Adams and Alma Allen's book "Home Sweet Home". I had some problems with the size, though. It is supposed to be 76 1/2" square (190x190 cm) and in my opinion that's just too big for a wall quilt - for my walls, anyway... It would also be too small for a bed, and I already have my plans ready for another bed quilt, so I didn't really "need" one. I have decided that I'm going to reduce the patterns to 60 % of the original size, as that will make a wall hanging of aprox. 46" square (115x115cm), which will be perfect above my sofa. I have found some great fabrics for the background - one cream coloured one with beige roses and handwriting and another cream one with soft pink flowers. The dark pink fabrics are from my stash and will look good for the houses, I think. I'm going for an old fashioned "faded" look and I'm going to find a dusty turquoise floral for some of the details. That's actually the colour I'm thinking of painting my living room walls in, when I get around to it... But I think this quilt will look good with the present dark blue wall colour anyway! So now I only need to find some greens to go with the rest and I'll have my next hand-stitching project ready to go! I make most of my quilts by machine, but it's nice to have a project to take along to guild meetings and get-togethers at the quilt shop.

The colours of this project are quite different from my usual style - I tend to go for brighter colours, but after falling for Amy Butler's "Ginger Bliss" collection, I have found myself becoming more attracted to softer hues, and I have a few projects lined up, among others this quilt top. I really need to finish this one soon... The plan is to make a pieced backing from the same fabrics to make this a totally reversible lap quilt. I just have to find a slightly calmer fabric for the border.
Talking of bright colours, look at my latest purchases, "Fields of Colour"-fabrics from Fun Factory for Moda. These will look great in my stash for the time being...

I also fell for these from the "So you, sew fun" line from RJR - a feel a new tote bag coming on!

Placemats ready

Well, I'm working my way out of this muddle, and at least the placemats are ready. I settled in front of the TV last night to hand stitch the binding, and one exciting movie later it was all done! Today I have finished the top for the birdhouse table runner and I'm about to find some backing fabric for it. I'm off to my mother's for dinner today, and I'm taking the heart runner along to do some stitching on the binding for that one. Although it is a sign that a project is almost done, I can't say I like the process. If only I could find a way to machine stitch the binding on and still have it look good on both front and back, I'd be thrilled. I know I could make a generous binding and machine stitch in the ditch along the edge from the front, but I'm just too fussy about the way it looks on the back to be entirely happy with it, so hand stitching it is...

This is the pattern by Vera Fjellaas that was my starting point. I left out the branches and did it all in "my colours". By the time I had finished the first one I wanted to do something different, so the other one got a proud mother hen adapted from a cross-stitch design by Margaret Sherry. It is from a pattern I have paid for and I'm giving her credit for it and it is only for my own personal use, so I hope I'm not violating any copyright rules here...

Not drowning, just waving!

I seem to have stepped on to a sidetrack recently... I keep fiddling with all sorts of little projects and don't seem to get any "serious" quilting done. I started making some place mats for Easter. I don't really like using patterns, so even though I started off with one, I ended up in a completely different place.

When searching for the right fabrics in my stash I came across this lovely birdhouse fabric that I bought ages ago and have been unable to cut into. Right next to it was some Bali batik that seemed to go well with it, but I decided I needed something brown as a contrast. In my box of brown fabrics I found one with feathers - perfect! And before I knew it I was cutting and stitching and a new project was well under way.

The placemats didn't get finished before the holidays, but I have made an effort today and now I'm ready to put the binding on. Incidentally, I intended to make two identical ones, but that got too boring, so I ended up using a motif from Cross Stitcher Magazine for the other one - I knew I'd never get round to cross stitching this one, but a quick sketch of the picture and voila, a great pattern for appliqué. Is that stealing? Sorry Margaret Sherry! Pictures tomorrow, I think...



I bought these sweet paper napkins for Easter and the more I look at that great hen with her handbag, the more I see it as another wall hanging in applique and freestyle embroidery. But I won't go there, not yet...

And then there are the cross-stitch projects. I am working on the teapot one as a present for a friend, and of course there is my Emily Dickinson sampler that might get a few stitches now and again.

And then there is knitting. I have stitched the two front panels of a black jacket, I have started a red and black scarf and then there is the horribly expensive yarn I bought for a new Clapotis. I haven't even started on that one, although I'm calling that self-restraint ;-) Finish the jacket first, and then we'll see...

Throw in a few pincushions and some snow people and I have enough unfinished projects to last for ages, but I really want to start a new quilt, she wailed! Something a bit more artistic - I have all sorts of ideas, but this backlog of half finished items are pulling me down. I have to finish some of them soon and then my carrot will be that wall quilt for myself using Solvy, yarn, beads and miles of rayon thread. Hmmm, I'd better get that binding on and I'll be one step closer to that exciting project...

Sorry about all the mixed metaphors - I'm in a muddle here :-D