Thank You to my dear family and friends who helped me celebrate my birthday

I had a wonderful birthday on Saturday with lots of good things happening.  

I’d like to share with you some of the gifts that I have received from family and friends.  So here goes, in no particular order:

While I was away on holiday way back in May a parcel arrived from Rosa my dear friend who lives in Canada.  Eager to see what it was I asked my daughter to opened it for me and take pictures to email me.  Rosa had made for me a most gorgeous table topper.  Here is a picture I took on Saturday of it in my garden:

It has wool appliqué on the baskets.   She and her hubby run a long arm quilting business called “The 3A Quilting “ and her hubby had done some beautiful machine quilting on the table topper and in the middle there is even some trapunto.  Here is a close up:

My dear friend Frummie from Florida sent me some Inklingo! 

It is the gorgeous 12” Rose Star Collection. I haven’t yet sewn a block but you can see one that Cathi has made up in the larger 18” size on her blog here.

You can also click the button to the right if you wish to read more about this great collection.

 

My dear friend Cyn from California sent me an Amazon.co.uk gift certificate!!  Don’t you just love those!  Needless to say I didn’t waste any time spending it and bought the book “Reversible Quilts” by Sharon Pederson.  I still had some certificate left and added it to the gift certificate which my DS Lewis sent me and ordered another 3 books… slightly going over but who was counting… LOL.. The 3 books I hope will be here today.  They are all Jelly Roll books by the authors Pam & Nicky Lintott of the Quilt Room in Dorking England.

Here’s a group shot of some of my gifts.  I have photographed them on the reverse side of Rosa’s table topper… isn’t the backing pretty!

Also, in the shot from my friend Lyn, are some jars to put my scraps into, 3 plain art boards to put quilts onto and a book by Lynette Anderson “Stitch It For Christmas”  Lots of lovely projects in this book.

From my DD I received a while back a BJ doll which I blogged about I forgot to blog about so here is a picture of her.  She’s the blonde little one:

Once I’ve made a little quilt for her I’ll get some photos of her on her own.  Anyhow, DD also bought me the bunny and poop which I blogged about in my previous post.

On Saturday I also had lunch out with a friend at a new cafe down in Scrabster Harbour called  Cups.  It was oh so cute.  It was so nice a day that we had our soup and coffee on the outside tables… a rare thing to be able to do in Caithness…. it was a little too hot.   Anyway, we finished and paid up and both went off to our cars to go on our way when the heavens opened up and there was a huge downpour!  Talk about good timing, LOL…

A lastly, one little ego boost I got this weekend… the little quilt I made for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) sold very quickly.  You can see it here.

Okay, now I’m off to finish making my pineapple jam and open the package from Amazon with the 3 Jelly Roll books that arrived as I was writing this post ;))  more another day.

Have a good week stitching!

hugs

Ellyx

Rainbow Scrappy Saturday

This is the last Saturday in June for the colour purple and I’ve only just managed to squeeze in my challenges for the month.

Firstly, my D4P in purple:

Here is how the project is progressing so far up  on my large design wall:

I managed to make a purple house too:

I also made good progress on the neutral and yellow houses but they aren’t finished just yet…soon ;) There are some old favourites in these.

Finally, I have completed two hexagons for Kathleen Tracy’s  Quilt a Month challenge, ready for October’s quilt. Here they are:

A blue and a purple.  I have adjusted the size of the hexagon a tad to .5 instead of the pattern size of .6, so that I could print them out using Inklingo .5 Hexagon collection and hand piece them rather than doing them the English Paper Piecing method.

I wonder what the new colour will be for the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge in July :)) 

If you’d like to see what everyone else has done this past month for this challenge, hop on over to Soscrappy’s blog here.   

Have a good weekend!

Ellyx

Rainbow Scrappy sort of and a day late

We’ve been back from holiday/vacation for a week now and I’ve still got a lot of catching up to do.

This month’s Rainbow Scrappy colour is purple.  Yummy :)  yet I’ve still to play with my purples and I still have a yellow house block to make from last month, not to mention several BOMs to catch up on, LOL…   Anyway, here are a few finishes I managed before I went off.

First up, I finished the crochet edging on DD’s doll’s quilt.  I learned quite a lot during this process and if I try it again I will certainly know better.  If anyone would like to have a go at this, Heidi of Speckless blog shows you here. (part 1, 2 follows on from that)

While visiting mum, I finished off her crochet cover for her foot stool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a “make it up as you go along” project.  First I did a granny square for the top and then using SC (DC UK) I proceeded to turn it into a cube shape.   However, I got a bit fed up with the SC so near the bottom I changed the pattern and did what I thought I remembered from the lacy pattern on the doll quilt. The yarn from this was from a very old poncho that had seen better days.  It was at least 40years old ;)

Another project that bites the dust is an apron made from an old dress which belonged to mum.  Here is a picture of the old dress and the new apron.   Another “make it up as you go along” project for me as I am not a dress maker and hadn’t much of a clue of how to do most of this.  There was a lot of frog stitching in this apron, but, I learned a lot during the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is more of this dress left to use but I don’t think I’ll be doing anything just yet.

Okay, so I’m behind on a number of BOMs and in particular on Kathleen Tracy’s Quilt a Month challenges.  I still have to finish March’s baskets and to start April’s and May’s challenges.   And yet, I’ve made a start on October’s challenge which hasn’t yet begun.   Can you make any sense of that?  But I am enjoying the process.   The challenge for October will be the little hexagon flower quilt in Kathy’s book “The Civil War Sewing Circle”.  The size of the hexagon is .6 of an inch and I did start to make the templates from card stock with the aid of a hexagonal graph paper pdf generator from Incompetech.com  here.   However, as I was cutting out the templates I got to thinking about the fabric and how I was going to cut those.  I thought about printing out the Inklingo .5 hexagon shape onto the fabric and perhaps using those to squeeze around the template.   Then I wondered what on earth I was thinking!

To cut a long story short, I’ve printed out a heap of .5 hexagons with the Inklingo collection and will be hand piecing those, minus the card templates and making the blocks to fit them.  After all what’s in 1/8th of an inch?  Not a lot at the end of the day.  My quilt will be a tad smaller that’s all and the prep time cut in more than half.

Anyway, here is a mock up of the pieces I’ve printed and cut so far, placed over the background fabric I plan to use… unless DD manages to change my mind since she doesn’t like the brown background.  But the quilt is not for her.  There won’t be as much background as it appears here.  Oh and the picture doesn’t show the true colours on my screen but there are a few purples in this ;)

To end my post, here is a picture of Biscuit cuddling up to Penny.  They finally bonded!  I missed the moment Penny gave Biscuit a thorough grooming of his back end (which he can’t manage for himself because of his lameness).

He’s becoming quite frail now but still has a lot of spirit in him and can some how manage to get down 3 steps and up another to go onto the lawn to munch the grass and weeds very quickly.  He’s on pain meds for arthritis.

I hope you are all having a great weekend.  If you’d like to see what all the other Rainbow Scrappers have been up to, go take a look here on Angela of Soscrappy’s blog.

Happy Stitching!

Hugs

Ellyx

Rainbow Scrappy Saturday, yarn and a bunny

Good afternoon from sunny north Scotland.   Unusual weather for this time of year but I’m not complaining. 

I’ve not done a lot of stitching this past week as I’ve been called by fabric’s rival yarn to join in with  Sucrette’s Granny Poncho CAL.

It’s taken me all week to figure out colours and positions of them and I’ve had a couple of false starts and pull outs…

Anyhoo!  Here is the one pink thing I sewed up this week… a pink Dear Jane block.

G-3 Four Leaf Clover

BUT!  I do have one pink finished quilt which hasn’t yet been shown as finished.   I finished her way back in January but forgot to post a picture to my blog. 

  Chawton Cottage design by Tilde 

I love this little quilt and she sits on my coffee table so I can see her every day.   Thank you Tilde for the great pattern and the charm pack to make her using Jane Austen collection of Inklingo.  I hand stitched the pieced diamonds while at my mum’s so there is a memory of that time in this quilt.

Now I wonder if you’re wondering about the diversion to yarn?  I have pictures.  Do you want to see?  Well if you do then here they are ;)

My yarn.  King Cole Merino Blend DK 100% wool…. anti tickle ;)

My DD helped me sort out the colour order and I think I’m now happy with it.  Here is a picture of the first few rows:

That’s all for now, however, I can’t leave this post without a picture of Biscuit my oldest bunny who is nearly 11 years old (this July) but has been a little off his food.  He was at the vet yesterday and has medication to hopefully get him eating properly again. However, if this doesn’t work then I’ll have to take him back.  He may need a dental but the vet is reluctant because of his age.  He did look at his teeth but couldn’t see too much that may be bothering bunny though there were a couple of small spurs.  Fingers crossed he’ll start eating.

Biscuit Bun   

Well that’s me for today.  Now should I sew, crochet or go out and do a tiny bit of gardening?  Hmmm…  Maybe I’ll have another coffee while I think about it ;)

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Quilty Hugs

Ellyx

ORCA MYSTERY by Bonnie Hunter

Okay, I know I said (a long while back) that I wasn’t going to do any more mysteries.  Nope, NEVER!   Well guess what, I should never say never because I have yet again succumbed! LOL… (Thanks to my very good friend Frummie ;))

Bonnie Hunter is currently hosting a new mystery.  (See link in side bar of to the OrcaMystery).  You can still join in if I can tempt you ;))

Here is my progress so far.  I have done all of part one’s 224 QSTs using Inklingo QST collection here.   If I didn’t have Inklingo I doubt very much I would have even got started by now, let alone finished.   Here’s on the right is my box full of the little devils  angels…. ;) and on the left a picture of them prepared and ready to stitch.  See those printed sewing and cutting lines ;-D

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also done some string piecing for parts 2 and 4.  Here they are up on my design wall with a few spare QSTs that I had left over.

Now I’m killing two birds with one stone here.  I’ve ‘owed’ my DS a quilt for ages now.  I did have a much more simple pattern in mind, which come to think of it, had I put in as much sewing as I have so far with this mystery it would have been finished, LOL… however, it wouldn’t have been as much fun… would it.

I still have to make a start on part 3… some more little rascals.  1.5 inch finished Half Square Triangles, 350 of them!  And yes, I will be using Inklingo to make these too :-D  I’ll be using collection 2 which is on a discontinued CD; however,  there is a new downloadable collection for HSTs on the Inklingo website should you be interested.

Okay, I think I’ll go grab a cup of tea and chill awhile before making supper ;-D

Have a great day!

hugs Ellyx

Double sided Mug Rug and Honeycomb Stars update

Autumn side.  4 inch Maple leaf and fussy cut pumpkin pincushion from a novelty fabric.

Spring side. 4 inch finished on-point tulip and fussy cut basket of flowers from same novelty fabric.

And here is the progress on my hand pieced Honeycomb Stars made using Inklingo 2” Hexagons and 1” diamonds.

Short and sweet today :)   Enjoy!

Happy Sewing

Ellyx

Rainbow Scrappy Saturday Report

Good Saturday morning to you all :)

A new month and a new colour for our Rainbow Scrappy.  This month’s colour is either red, blue or white, or any combination of those three.  Or to work on something already started.

Well it so happens I’ve already got something in the works :)) in those colours. It is a scrappy blue red and white-ish 10 minute block  project.

But first let me show you my yellow block from June which I completed this last week.I’m not sure if this block has an official name.  It is constructed with 4 Fox and Geese blocks.  2 have been rotated.   I’m going to call it “Elly’s Star”  until I find out if there’s another name out there.

Of course I made it using my Inklingo.  I used the original collection 2 which was on a CD which is no longer available.  However, there are now 2 different downloads for triangles.  The sizes I used are in HST OOB collection.

Now here is a picture of my blue, red and white WIP.

I’m not quite sure where I’m going with this one.  Do I add more blocks for a lap sized quilt, make a table topper or wall hanging.  Or use the piece to make a bag.  It is approx. 24 by 32 at the moment.  Decisions, decisions.

Not sure what the weather is doing today.  If it’s nice I should get out and do some more work in the garden… lots to do there.  But it could rain.

I’ve still to catch that monkey so I can stuff him..

Have a great weekend!

Happy Stitching!

Elly x

How to Sew a GFG.mpg

THE BEST way to sew a Grandmother's Flower Garden. No Templates, No Measuring. Just print, cut and sew.
I hope you enjoy this video by Linda Franz of Inklingo.com

A WIN and a Block!

Last week KarenDianne of LeeHaven blog hosted a give away of Cathi’s (from QuiltObsession) very first pattern “Chintz Circles”  and guess what?  I was one of the LUCKY winners!

Here is my very first block, made with the aid of the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe program by Linda Franz.Now onto the next block :)  But first I must stuff a monkey.

Happy Quilting.

Ellyx

RAINBOW SATURDAY SCRAPPY REPORT

I’ve been abscent for a few months from this challenge but I’m hoping now to get back on board and catch up.   I just have this month’s yellow block to do then I should be up to date.  Maybe I’ll pick a simple block.

Anyway, without further to do here are the pictures of how far I’ve come.   

The purple Dresden Plate is March’s block.  I made this using Inklingo Appliqué Dresden Plate collection.  There are many choices of Dresden Plate variations to choose from in this collection, however I choose a fairly simple one to try for my first one using Inklingo.

 

Here is May’s Pink block.   Again I made it using Inklingo.  This time I tried out the brand new collection Inklingo Joseph’s Coat

This is really a gentle curve and hand pieced up beautifully.  Even the pressing was easier than it first looked.  I need to square it up for my Rainbow Scrappy so will either appliqué to a background or hand piece some corners on.  Curves are so much easier with Inklingo.  No templates or measuring.  Just print, cut (even with scissors) and sew.  Accurate and simple.  Makes easy work of complicated blocks.  Love it!   This Joseph’s Coat makes a big 12” block so would make up a quilt in no time.

Here is a picture of all the blocks I’ve done so far.  Now to figure out which block to sew for my June Yellow block  ;)

Happy Sewing,

Hugs Ellyx

Rainbow Scrappy Saturday

Can you believe it’s almost the end of March already.  

Here is my March Rainbow Scrappy 12” block in green.  I think I may trim it down and add a log cabin frame.  But I’ll wait until I’ve completed all my blocks before deciding.

It was a good way to try out the Inklingo Pies and Tarts shape collection.   I used the back baste appliqué method for this block after  both hand piecing the pie and machine piecing the tarts.  The placement circles were printed on the back of the background fabrics using this shape collection, as were the cutting and stitching lines for the wedges.   The greens and background came out of my scrap bag.

I also made a couple of Disappearing 4 Patch blocks to try out the technique.   I followed the tutorial on Beth’s blog Love Laugh Quilt  here.

Here is the picture of them so far :-I’m not quite sure what I’ll make with this, it is 10” x 20” at the moment.   I have a couple of ideas floating around in my head, for example, a small table runner or maybe a little block holder case. I could do with one of those for some of my hand piecing projects so that is at the moment the favourite idea.   Unless anyone else has an idea for this pair of blocks ;) ?

I really didn’t make a very big indent into my surprisingly large collection of green scraps but I have learned to see green in a new light.   I don’t dislike it quite so much :)

That’s all for now, have a great weekend.. oh and if you’d like to see other Rainbow Scrappy Saturday reports go see Angela’s blog SoScrappy .

Happy quilting,

Ellyx

Scrap Happy Saturday and March Calendar quilt

Good afternoon from Sunny Scotland.

When I went looking for my green scraps I didn’t expect to find more of them than Blue or Red, however, I found more!!  Green isn’t even a favourite colour of mine but I must use it a bit.  Here is my basket I have collected them together in. Some of these are very old!!

Here is the block I’m in the process of making for my Rainbow Scrappy quilt.I printed out pie and tart shapes using  the Inklingo Pies and Tarts shapes collection.  This is as far as I’ve got with them.  I need to decide on my background fabric and sew the Pie.

Lastly, here is my March Stitchery quilt which I have hanging above my sewing machine.Happy Stitching!!

hugs Elly

CLAMSHELL CLUB SEPTEMBER REPORT

I took this away with me to Spain and sewed a little seam or two most days.   It was very hot and clammy  there (pun intended) so sewing was a little tricky as my fingers were swollen.   Not to mention I was busy with other holiday type things.  ;))  My excuses and I’m sticking to ‘em.  

However, I am not unhappy with my progress this past month, though I had hoped to have got all 4 sashing pieces on but alas it was not to be.  

More pictures and stories to follow later this weekend of my trip to Spain.

Until later  :)

Hugs

Elly

A NEW WAY TO SEW HEXAGONS

Linda has made this FABULOUS video about how to sew Hexagons using Inklingo.    Take a look you'll be AMAZED at just how easy and accurate Inklingo is.   Also, Linda has written a Design book for Hexagons Quilts and this is available to download for FREE!!  It is a FANTASTIC book.  If you'd like to have your copy please go to Linda's web page here.   Scroll down a little and you'll see it first in the list.  You have NOTHING to loose and much to gain :)   I've no affliation I'm just a  huge fan :)

Video shown with permission of Linda Franz

First a Frog

I thought I’d share with you a frog my daughter saw in my front garden the other day and took this photo.  It wasn’t as big as it appears ;)  You can see her deviant art signature in the photo.

I’ve completed Lynette Anderson’s “My Garden” block 2 and here it is:-

Now to re-do the first block which I ruined with over enthusiastic pressing!!

Here are some Dear Jane blocks I’ve completed since I last wrote :-

TR1 – triangle, paper pieced and   E-4 Buffalo Tree Hopper, hand pieced.

Finally I’ll like to show you the status of my Clamshells…  Or should that be the state of them? ;)

It is not stitched – well unless you count un-stitching.  I unstitched both previous blocks and re-arranged them to make the whole think… minus borders.   Yes it will be not much bigger than in the photo here.  Then I plan to make a better fabric choice – one to my liking and make a little quilt using the Inklingo Clamshell Sashing Collection  -THANK YOU DEAREST FRUMMIE!! -  There is a really cute design using them on Linda’s blog here: http://www.lindafranz.com/blog/    The Clamshells in the above photo were also printed using Inklingo.         

Finally, for now, here is a picture of the rose Pink Bells that was blooming in my garden a couple of weeks ago. 

The bush was full of blooms like this but sadly it went over pretty quick and will only get the odd bloom from now ‘til winter. 

Until laters,  Happy Stitching

Ellyx

Books, Wips and Learning

If you are just wanting quilty stuff please scroll down a bit ;))

I was visiting Heather’s blog and saw that she had read an incredible amount of books over the past year and I was in awe. The total sum of books I’ve completely read in the last year is one :- Alan Titchmarsh’s “Mr MacGregor”.   I love Alan’s wit and this was a romance book with the usual route of romance books but a bit of horticulture thrown in and lots of humour.  I’m just a slow reader.  It had me ‘LOL –ing’ on quite a few occasions.  Having listened and watched Alan on many occasions on TV in Gardeners World, etc., I could ‘hear’ his voice, a lovely soft Yorkshire accented voice, in my head, sort of reading it to me.

Here is the book I am currently wading through.  It is written by Lori Smith “A Walk With Jane Austen”  “A modern woman’s search for happiness, fulfilment and her very own Mr Darcy”

It’s classified as a ‘Memoir/Biography’  and is a very interesting read even if I only pick it up once in a while.

Now I am also listening to an audio book.  Diana Gabaldon’s Drums of Autumn.   It is the 4th in the series.  I have actually read the first 3!   

Now when I bought the first book “Cross Stitch” my DH scoffed and remarked that I would never read it all.   Well I proved him wrong.  Not only did I read it but also the next two in the series. I have the Drums of Autumn book but decided it would be a good one to listen to so bought the audio version.  The book itself has 1185 pages.   Audio is not such an easy option as it takes some practice to ‘listen’.  I have frequently lost the plot (no funny remarks please, ;))  and had to go back to the beginning of a chapter to listen over again because the MP3 I have doesn’t let you go back a page or two.  (DD keeps reminding me I should have bought an Ipod)  Anyway, I find I can now ‘get lost’ in this audio book while doing the ironing or sitting hand sewing.

So there you go ;) my reading experiences.  Sorry didn’t mean to write a book about it ;))

Now for some quilty stuff..  Here is what I have up on my little cork board design wall.

The Honeycomb Stars… a pattern in the June 2010 American Patchwork & Quilting.  It is being made with Inklingo printed diamonds and hexagons and I’m hand piecing it.

The ‘thing’ in the top left hand corner which looks like a spider with one less leg..is my attempt at crocheting a flower ;)) 

The Canada sticker came on a pouffie from a buddette…;))

Below is another of my attempts.  A try out of making and working with yarn from old      t-shirts:- 

  It would make a good hotpad…. or if I felt inclined I could keep adding to it and eventually end up with a durable floor rug.. 

If you would like to try making t-shirt yarn go over to Lettie’s blog   where she has made a tutorial for it.   I love her blog you will be drooling..

Tutorials for doing the crocheting part you can find on YouTube.  This is the one I watched  by Bethintx1:-

She does some great tutorials for beginners if you are interested.

Well friends if you have made it thus far bravo!  That’s it for now, speak to you again soon ;)

Happy Stitching… Elly