rubykittyruby

    It's been a funny old day.  The morning was really productive.  I've now made enough blocks to make a decent sized scrappy quilt, and sewed all the squares together.  It's not bed-sized, but a generous lap sized quilt, and it certainly doesn't lack colour!  It'll join the queue to have wadding, backing material and binding added.  I've got scrappy blocks to spare, so might either make up a cushion cover with them, or maybe in the long run another quilt?   I've also been making a quilt for a last-minute birthday present, and decided to use of some of the Terry Rowland style Colourwash blocks I'd been amassing.  Mainly blues.  It's easy to assemble, but involves an awful lot of pins to ensure the seams of the blocks line up neatly.   I like the pops of colour from the plain centres.   This quilt will probably have to take priority if I'm to complete it in time for the birthday surprise it's meant to be. ...

 Well, it's been a frustrating couple of days.  My charger gave up the ghost, meaning I can't charge my phone or laptop until Amazon delivers a new one.  Of course, like 90% of the population I've got a whole heap of chargers from devices long gone. There's a box of tangled cables on top of the wardrobe.   And of course, not a single **!??** one of 'em fits my current phone or laptop.  There really ought to be a universal charger that fits all electronic devices, but I suppose that's too sensible an idea, eh?   Anyway, I ventured on to the allotment today, and rapidly decided that was not a good move, seen as it's been flipping freezing today.  I made a feeble effort to pull up a few weeks, but my heart wasn't in it.  Instead I lay on the sofa like a beached whale, ate far too many snacks and finished the sublime 'Demon Copperhead' by Barbara Kingsolver.   I'd given on on my last book - can't even recall the title of that, it s...

  I've been cracking on today with my latest project, based on an illustration from this wonderful book.  I decided to do a patchwork version of this page (top photo) with its vivid red background, the splash of white and flowers on the right side of the picture.  A lot of cutting, sewing, slicing into and rearranging later, here's my pieced fabric.  It was all trial and error, making shapes fit together, just finding something that was pleasing to my eye.   I think it'll end up being a wall hanging of some sort.   Now, you're thinking 'hang on, where's the hare?'.  Well, I'm imagining embroidering several little hares running friskily across this panel.  Maybe using a gold metallic thread.  I'd like to embroider flowers and leaves too, though my stitchery isn't advanced much beyond beginner level.  I can do a running stitch and chain stitch, but need to learn some other fancier techniques.  But I like the thought of lots ...

Okay, before I explain the above image, I'll witter on for a while about what I've been up to.  Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, so I headed to the allotment.  The wallflowers and spring bulbs are blooming, and the plum tree has plenty of blossom on it.  Last year a late frost meant sudden death for the blossom and consequently not a single plum to be harvested.  Fingers crossed this year will be better.  I took a couple of photos of the quilt I mentioned yesterday, the grid pattern improv quilt that's still awaiting its binding.   On to today, I had a walk into town to buy groceries, and decided I'd nip into a couple of charity shops too.  Now, this is where the image of the Brian Wildsmith book comes in.  I absolutely love the illustrations.  They're so vibrant, and cry out to be interpreted in fabric, wool or embroidery.   Ages ago I'd had a try at capturing the hare in a small piece of needlepoint.   I stitch...

It began with a book .  Okay, it really began decades ago when a girl at school turned up with a bag of patchwork pieces, and I was envious and thought ‘I want to try that.’  Which led on to years of me patiently sewing together hexagons.  You see, it was English Paper Piecing that grabbed me, and hour after hour of slow stitching followed.     I’ve always liked making things, but was hopeless at dressmaking, and failed miserably to impress during school needlework lessons, not helped by my inability to use a sewing machine.  Later, I did try buying a machine of my own, but couldn’t   master it, or even become vaguely competent.  I kept trying and failing to get the tension right and my clumsy fingers struggled with bobbins and threading it.  This meant I never strayed far from hand piecing and hand quilting, and the machine was relegated to a dusty corner, and never used.     But it always niggled me that I couldn’...