Time for something new?

I almost feel justified in starting a new project!

Many of my work-in-progress projects are completed or on hold till I get more supplies.

The knitted poncho is finished.  I actually finished it a few weeks ago but I never seemed to get around to getting the photos off the camera.

 The fringe was still a bit crinkly when I took the photo as the wool had just come out of the ball, but it has relaxed a bit now and looks better.  It sits nicely over my big tummy and will be useful for when I can't wear my jumpers any more and want to look a little bit nicer.

I've done the straight machine quilting on the baby elephants.  I now want to do some hand quilting in patterns and around the elephants but I'm not sure what thread to use.  Will be looking for advice and inspiration next week at the Craft and Quilt fair.  There is also a book on hand quilting I'd like to buy before I dive straight into it.

I've just done quilting around each white square and then in between each block.  You can't see it in the photo but I think I really need to practice my machine quilting!  I also need to experiment a bit with thread.  But every quilt I do is a learning experience and I'm sure I'll just perfect the art as I get sick of making them ;)

The quilt top for the coffee quilt is complete.  Now I have to get some wadding for it.  Will also be looking out for this at the craft fair but I suspect I'll be at Spotlight later to get it.  Can't do much for a week or two anyway because I'll need a weekend to lay it out on the floor and baste it with help from hubby, and we don't have a free weekend for a couple of weeks.

As you can see, I even took progress photos as I was going along.  It's just posting them that's the problem.

Despite all the care I took, I obviously still need to work on matching my seams when joining blocks.  I thought I was doing so well but when it was finished I could see all the errors.  Oh, well.  You wont notice them once it's spent a week being used on the couch!

I'm rather pleased with the finish look so far.  It's the first time that I've actually bought the specific fabric that was used in the design (namely the border print in this instance).  It really does give it quite a distinct finish, rather than just a quilt with a common colour theme.   I should remember this next time I'm trying to be frugal with my fabric costs.  Sometimes it is just worth it to spend the money and get something nice than worry about the cost.


And the little lion cross stitch is basically finished, but I wont be doing anything about framing it till I've done the rest of the animals.  I want to frame them all together.  Not sure how long that will take me to do because I've sort of lost interest now.  Maybe when we get the nursery set up properly I'll see the need for more decoration! (and just realised I forgot to take a photo of that one)

I've just sorted through my unfinished projects box and have two more things I can work on for now.  There is the fern bag that I started oh so long ago.

There is also a knitted monkey which I started a year or two ago.

I think this will become my loungeroom project until I get the hand quilting on the elephants sorted.  The poncho has proved to me that having knitting in the loungeroom while we're watching TV is a really good way to get through it quickly!

I'm finishing up work next week so hopefully then I'll be able to update more frequently, and also do more things, like actually participate in the Montly Design Challenge!

Sweatshop

Once again it has been longer than intended between posts.  I've had the urge to write but not the motivation to photograph.  I think I should keep the camera a bit more handy so I take photos as I go rather than having a 'session' every so often.

I've spent a lot of time making clothes recently, mainly due to the expanding belly, but I think I might give it a rest for a while now.  I should have enough clothes suitable for work to get me through the next month, and once I'm at home I don't mind so much if I only have tracksuits etc to wear.

I've made a pair of black stretch pants, a stretchy circular skirt, two jumpers for my hubby and a 70's outfit for a party last night

 (I also had to let out and hem the vintage trousers hubby is wearing).  Whilst the top is very bright and 70's, it still should come in usefull over the next few months. Being made of panne it's a bit warmer than most things I have right now.  The flares are actually just leg tents I wore over some leggings so they'll just get tossed in the costume wardrobe for next time I need them ;)

On the craft front I'm making good progress with the knitted poncho.  I only have about 5 more pattern repeats and I'm finished the knitting.  Then I just have to sew it together and do the fringe.

I have also now cut out all the coffee cups for the coffee quilt. 

Got the extra fabric I needed at the Quilt Show.  Found fabric I liked for the binding but they were only selling fat quarters so at some point need to make my way over to Patchwork with Gail B in Bayswater to buy the fabric off the bolt.  This could be as late as August as I'm going that way then, but we might get around to making a special trip before then if hubby wants his quilt finished ;)  Just looking at her website, I think I might have to save up some money before we go so I can have a little shopping spree!


Last year I made a baby quilt for some friends and their new arrival.  This month that new arrival turned 1, so as a follow up I made a matching doll.

I've been working on the pattern for this on and off for a year now, hoping to be able to market it, but it still needs work.  I can't quite get the neck to sit right.  I guess I'll just have to make more of them and experiment a bit.

That's it for now.  I think I'll go and start ironing all those coffee cups together now.  Also taking a trip to Spotlight today to buy a new roller cutter before I have to start cutting up the rest of the squares for the coffee quilt.

What I HAVE been doing

So I haven't done much lately but I have done a few things.  Other than digging out the four year old knitting poncho, and washing/ironing coffee fabrics.

The other weekend I decided to get stuck into my "unfinished projects basket".  This is just the small things which didn't need much work to complete but I just never got around to, as opposed to be box of UFO's in the sewing room.

In 2008 for Christmas I was given the book Amigurumi Animals and all the bits to make one of the toys (although the giver was unable to find mohair at the time so it's just bamboo cotton).  I started crocheting it on the day but then once we returned home from the trip (Christmas was in the 'country' that year) it got put aside for all the other projects that had a specific purpose.  Last month I decided I'd just better get on and finish it, so here it is.

The overlocker real behind him is included for scale as wel as support, so you can see how pathetic it is that he took me over a year to complete!

Years before I'd even learnt to crochet, I was still trying to learn to knit.  My grandmother had taught me how to do the knit and purl stitches but I'd never really done anything great with it other than scarves.  When I was a teenager (and after my grandmother had passed away) I decided it was high time I learnt how to do proper shaping, and sewing things together etc.  I decided to do some dolls clothes, nice small project that wasn't too daunting, but still had all the aspects of a full size garment.  The pattern came from all the books I'd got when my nanna passed away, and the wool was mostly left overs from her stash.  So here is the finished project

It's quite possibly the longest unfinished project I've had since it date back to living in Sydney which makes it at least 10 1/2 years ago I started.  Not will to say it IS the oldest though, because I'm not quite sure what is lurking in the boxes in my sewing room.   It's not designed for the doll who is wearing it but she was the closest size I had.  I think it was originally made to fit a doll back in Sydney, so will be sending them home with my mother next time for my neice to play with.

Then onto a new project, rather than a unfinished project, that I actually finished in early Feb but couldn't post about till I had given it to person I made it for (not that he reads this blog to my knowledge).

When ordering the kit for my NZ Fern Bag I saw the pattern for their Kiwi Bird.  I decided I wanted to  make it for my friend, whom I met shortly after he immigrated about 5 years ago.  He is all goth, and has purple/bluish hair, so I planned to make the bird out of the black Moko fabric, and add a tuft of purple hair to it.  Here is the result

So it's a purple haired kiwi for my purple haired Kiwi ;)  And he loved it, specially the effect given by the purple fabric I chose, which in real life gives it a bit of an effect similar to how his hair actually looks!

I have some other fabrics from Kiwi Quilts as well, so there might be a few projects showing up.... eventually... ;)

A taste of things to come

So here is a run down of what I'm working on at the moment...

Baby Elephant Quilt
I'm using this pattern from Ann Gadsby Designs and here it is so far:

It was a project I started in June last year because my friend wanted to try quilting.  As she had never done one before we decided to both make the same pattern at the same time so I could help her along with it.  So far we've just done all the blocks, next step is the borders.  The main hold up with it is the time for both of us to get together and work on it, but I think we're planning a day in the near future.

Coffee Quilt
I found this pattern by Annalisa of Busy Thimbles in a magazine a while ago and decided to make it for my hubby.  We aren't using all the Moda fabrics, but did get some of them.  Not 100% sure what we're doing with the backing yet but I'll get to that.  We've spent the last 12 months or so collecting the fabrics, and now that we've settled into our house I decided it was time I got started.  So far all I've done is wash and iron the fabrics, but I'm hoping to  make a start on the cutting and applique this weekend.

Knitted Poncho
I started this poncho (by Patons) about four years ago and have been doing it in fits and starts. It's made up of two rectangles sewn together and I'm into the second rectangle now.  I've got it on the couch for when I sit in front of the television and I'm hoping to get it finished for the cooler weather this year when I'll probably be too big in the belly to wear any of my jumpers.

Cross Stitch
I picked up two little cross stitch patterns the other day that I thought would be cute for baby's room and I started working on one at the most recent Stitch 'n' Bitch that I held.  This is it so far:

They've all got a deadline of a few months so I guess I should stop blogging and get on with some sewing...