Spring Things

Hello!

Well Spring has definitely arrived where I am, but it has been cloaked under grey and mostly rainy skies.  I thought a little crafty update with some colourful things might be the best rememdy at the moment.

 My daughter bought me this lovely transferware jug for my birthday.  I was especially happy to put these sunny daffodils in it:  I think blue and white transferware was made for yellow daffodils, don't you?


On My Hooks

These scarves are thankfully not needed at the moment, but I was happy to complete them and use up some more yarn for my stash reduction challenge:

A simple crochet linen stitch and two chunky 'mystery' yarns went into this one.  It's a bit skinnier than I would have liked, but I used up every bit of both yarns.  I wish I knew the brand name because it is really soft and lovely.

 This is my Ravenclaw-Inspired scarf I made for the Harry Potter CAL/KAL on Ravely through the Victorian Podcast Studio.  I used Red Heart Soft yarn, and the pattern is called the 'Mindless Scarf' by Knotted Nicole on Ravely.  This is probably my favourite scarf pattern as it is so easy to work up.  The scalloped sides happen as you go, so once you reach the length you want you are all done.

Moving to something more Spring-like, I hooked up this crescent shaped shawl from the book,
Poetic Crochet by Sarah Kay Hartman.

The pattern is called 'Avalon'.  I used a yarn called Bamboo Pop, in the colourway 'Soothe'.
The yarn is 50% cotton, 50% bamboo, and is really soft and has a lovely drape.

 I wouldn't say this is my favourite colourway, and it was a bit difficult to find the right pattern for it, but now that it's all done and ready to wear I feel more happy with it.

My last hooked project is another mesh shawl using ribbon yarn.  I had this left over from the crochet mat in one of my last posts.  While these are very quick to work up, I have to say I am done with ribbon yarn shawls!  This is my fourth, and this is the last!

While I have been working on lots of different crochet projects, I have been trying to be more disciplined with my cross stitch.  Since January I have been trying to work on one or two projects only, just to to get some of these WIP's completed.

 I was happy to get this one finished, just because I was tired of working with all that DMC 310!  I stitched this on a light pink evenweave fabric I dyed myself, and made a few colour and design changes to the chart.  While it did seem I was just slogging it out for a long while, I am really happy with the finish.  The chart is from the May 2012 issue of Cross Stitcher Magazine.

This project is a gift for my son, who turns into a teenager in July.  I bought the pattern from Holly's Hobbies on Etsy, and changed up the floss colours to some that were a bit brighter.  I don't know which I'm happier about:  the fact that I completed another WIP, or the fact that I have it ready three months before his birthday!

As a little reward for finishing two projects, I did start something new!  This is 'Spring Bird' by Jeanette Douglas.  I bought this chart while on vacation in March.

 The whole time I thought I was stitching on 40 count linen and was feeling very impressed with my advancement as a stitcher.  Well, pride does come before the fall, and it was only when I could not find a frame that I realized I could not have been stitching on 40 count linen:  I was stitching on 28 or 30 count!  Thank goodness there were enough silks in the embellishment pack to finish the design.  Now that I won't be able to display it in a pretty, vintage looking frame, I will have to turn it into a flat-fold or something.

Keeping with the Spring theme, I then stitched this Sheep Sampler from Elizabeth's Designs:

 There is a companion piece to this, but after all those specialty stitches from this design and Spring Bird, I think I will leave it until next year!

Every once in a while I like to do just plain embroidery.  I guess it's not really plain, because some of the stitches can be quite complicated, but all I wanted to do was make a few straight lines with thread on fabric.  I found this embroidery in a past issue of Bustle and Sew magazine:  I think maybe 2015.

 Originally I was planning on painting the hoop white, but I found some white seam binding that belonged to my grandmother and thought I would try wrapping the hoop instead.

Just for the record, here is another picture without that piece of fuzz between the 'P' and 'R' that I only just noticed!

Moving on to sewing, I wanted to make some things with some of the pretty fabrics I also brought home from my March trip.

First up is a small, quilted patchwork table topper using two packages of mini charm squares:

There is no batting between the layers:  just some white flannel on the back so it lays nice and flat.

 I couldn't resist this photo:  the colours just went together so well!

And lastly, (phew!) another project from Bustle and Sew using some of  my new fabrics:

I have a hard cover for my sewing machine but it's so bulky to have hanging around.  This is much prettier, and gave me another opportunity to play around with free motion embroidery.

I started off with a birthday picture so I'll end with another.  We had Afternoon Tea at home and it was just perfect.  The treats came from the local bakery; sandwiches were made by me, and a good time was had by all. The kids even dressed up so that was a gift in itself!

 The floral tablecloth was definitely overkill, but it was my birthday party!

Well once again that was an extremely long post, so thank you for making it this far.  I hope warmer  weather is at your doorstep (or cooler, depending what hemisphere you're in) and your flowers are blooming.

 Until probably next month,  Happy Days to you and thanks for stopping in!

xo  Jenn

Quilty Day

Bear with me, I'm feeling a little bit proud at the moment!

Thank-you, Snowstorm, for making me stay at home today.  I am finished the quilt.  Finished.  Fin.  Finito.  Wow, this one has been a long time in the works.  I think at least five years.  Not because it was hard, but because I get bored easily;  and I learned how to crochet; and I got a paid job; then I left paid job.  It's just one of those things - I know I'm not alone out there.

Part of the reason it took so long to do was that I did not want to quilt it on my machine with a regular presser foot.  I coughed up to buy real cotton batting (love!), so I did not want all those nasty puckers at the back that even shrunken cotton batting could not hide.  Last fall I finally broke down and ordered a walking foot, and I have to say it was well worth the investment.  I am a walking foot convert.

I said in my last post that I was getting tired of this and did not like it anymore.  Well, I changed my mind.  I love it.  The colours have been a real treat to work with these past few days when I look outside and know that Spring is a long, long way off yet.  Throughout all the quilting I imagined this in our someday lake cottage.  Lots of good energy went into this for sure.

It is almost the right size for a twin sized bed; a single would be just perfect.  I photographed it on a double bed just to be able to see everything.  The backing is a pretty pink I bought a whole year or more after I bought the other fabric.  I think I was very lucky to find such a good match.

I was originally going to make binding out of the pink floral; but when I finished quilting the top everything was so flat I could just fold the backing fabric over and sew it to the front.  Easy, peasy.

Someone else likes it too; or perhaps she's just trying to get my attention because I have been devoting my time to this and not her.

Here are all of my quilts together. Stacked so neatly I feel more proud of my efforts than ready to point out all their flaws.  I thought this would be my last bigger quilt, but I have a feeling there are more to come.  Just not too soon:)