Oh No!

 


 It was all going so well!  Eleven out of the twelve petal flowers done, I was feeling great about my progress.

Then I got ahead of myself.  I thought that I'd spray a little water to wash out the blue marking pen marks that I'd made so that I could iron a freezer paper template onto the back of the piece for the next stage (getting ready to back-baste another applique section).

This was a mistake, as I found out that I hadn't managed to wash all the loose dye out of the fabrics that I was using for the petal flowers..... oh no!

I'm not sure that this photo really show the full amount of colour bleeding that has actually taken place..... and it looks a bit odd as I was taking the photo against the window, so the damp bits look really pale.  Oh well.  I live and learn (sometimes, other times I just make daft mistakes!). 

I've been given a few ideas about how to deal with it (and how to prevent it another time, if I ever dye fabrics again).  I've ordered some Synthrapol, and look forward to having a play with it soon.

Back on the horse with the applique, just as soon as I get a little more time - the last week of the school hols is looking like a busy one!

Yippee! Something finished!

 My 'completer / finisher' self seems to have been buried for some months now, but I'm pleased to say that I have finished this little quilt (about 20" square) that I started on holiday.  Bound, quilted (the feathers that I quilted don't show up, but most of it is covered in a medium size stipple anyway). 

I'm still pleased with the pattern on this quilt, which I've called 'Flight of Fancy'.

This was this cushion cover made with the left over left overs (!) - most of the parts of the border were already cut to perfect sized blocks for me, so this was easy to extend to 17", quilt and add an envelop back to.

If I could just extend the sense of pleasure at finishing these into finishing a few other small projects, life would be even better!

Still, I have made progress on other things on my 'to do' list (like making lots of different tassels, deciding on a design for the cushion cover I've been asked to make for someone and other small tasks).

Hope that you are enjoying some sewing time over the summer too!

This and That

 A lot of this - seeing my DDs at a distance whilst they play at the splendid Adventure Playground (no adults allowed, so I get to sit and sew outside, yay!).

 A lot of this - my DDs doing a council run drama workshop every morning this week - so a little more stitching time for me (do you see a theme emerging here?).

A little more progress on this (my Love Entwined - zig zag border finished, flowers still not complete).

And occasional time just sat doing nothing more than enjoying a soft drink and some chat with my (by now quite tired) DDs!

Scattergun Approach!

I got as far as (machine) basting my borders onto my Love Entwined top.  A fairly laborious process to get to this point.  I:
Foundation pieced strips of fabric together.
Ironed freezer paper zig zags that I'd traced from the pattern onto the back of the stripy fabric piece that I'd made, lining up the seams with the seam lines that I'd drawn.

Ran a line of sewing along the middle to make sure that the freezer paper wouldn't shift.

Cut out the fabric zig zags.

Pieced the corner blocks over paper.

Joined the corner blocks to the long zig zag strips

Marked the top with the position of the border, pinned and then machine basted it down with a line along the middle.

All I need to do now is to sew it down, turning the seam allowance as I go before removing the freezer paper.  Not a difficult thing to do, but quite a long one!

 It makes adding these cones and daisies look like a quick job in comparison!

I decided to make a slight variation on the pattern.  Instead of appliquing one circle on top of another I put one inside another!  I fussy cut a little dot before making a yo-yo that would let it peep out.  It finished the size of a 5p piece, which is what I used to form my flowers.

I think that I'm just about keeping up with the pattern, but need to add some other flowers as well in the next week....so the border may have to be a 'work in progress' for a while longer!

 Of course, it being the school holidays means that I haven't had quite as much sewing time as usual.

As I've wanted to carry on with some of my C&G course too, my DDs and I have been enjoying 'bead week' - so far beads from fabric, Fimo and foil (also beads from a fabric and wire combination which haven't been photographed yet).  Still to come (two more days of the week left!) beads made from other beads and paper rolled beads.

That should be enough crafting fun for all of us, once you add in stamping ATCs, water colour pencil fun and general 'having a go' at other kits in the cupboard.  My girls might not get a chance to be properly bored this summer but I'm hoping that crafts / daily music mini-lessons and plenty of time with friends in the fresh air will get them properly stimulated and then worn out!

So, as you can see, I'm not really concentrating on one thing at the moment, but at least making some progress, even if it is scattered over more than one project!

Sorry for the slightly odd layout of this blog post.  Blogger and I generally get on fine, but one of us is being slightly awkward this morning!