News from the couch

This has been my view this week and will be for a while more. I finally had a long term ankle problem fixed so I am stuck here. It is driving me a little bit crazy and probably driving my family competely crazy but I have had time to knit.

 And time to try out some needleturn applique. I thought I would try the cute flowers in Poppy Lane by Gail Pan.

I pulled out some low volume backgrounds and bright scraps for the flowers

 I've surprised myself by really enjoying the hand sewing (even if the points on the leaves are driving me a little crazy)

 I have plans for these three, but its going to have to wait until I am a little more mobile.

Jennie at Porch Swing Quilts has made a huge version of my Wagon Wheels quilt. Head over to have a look and for a chance to win a couple of patterns!!

McCalls 6044



I am so glad Chris and I stocked up on good cotton shirting while in New York, it really is so hard to find good shirt fabrics here. He is really happy to try different colours and prints which makes sewing a lot more fun and interesting. I can't imagine myself sewing plain white business shirts.

I made a short sleeved McCalls 6044 in summer and was happy with the fit so I thought I would make a long sleeved version.

 I made a few modifications to the pattern (as I did with the short sleeved version). I added a yolk to the back.

 I used the tutorial from Four Square Walls to add the collar. It worked perfectly. I will use it for the cuffs next time too. I have no idea why I didn't think to use it for the cuffs this time.

The sleeves were meant to be cut in two pieces, instead I overlapped the seams and cut them as one. I used the placket from the Negroni shirt and followed the instructions to attach it.

I used whisper weft to interface. I had not used it before, but I think I am a convert, at least for shirts.

 I really enjoyed sewing this one now I kind of know what I am doing. I think the next one will be even faster and more fun now I am not so anxious about the collar, plackets and cuffs.

Knitting Ninja's

Thanks to a knitting lesson from my friend Vicki (funny how when it's not their own Mum trying to teach them something they get it in no time) and the book How to be a Knitting Ninja this is how my girls have spent their morning.

Burda 9480, a Slouchy Cardigan and a Tee

As the girls get older there they are having a lot more involvement in what I sew for them. We go through patterns together and they go through my fabric stash. It was Grace's turn to get some new clothes this weekend and this is what she chose.

The Tee for Two is a staple and they girls love it. I have this pattern traced in so many sizes now.

 

 I made a Slouchy Cardigan to go over the top. She is still not sure how much she will wear this, she thinks the sleeves are a bit too puffy for her. I might have to take the cuffs off and take in the arms a bit then reattach them. If I make this again I will definitely alter the arms and maybe shorten the cuff a little. Otherwise this is a good pattern with clear instructions. I cut the band 5 1/2" wide which was perfect. 

 

The twins haven't been big fans of skirts recently, but I showed them Burda 9480 and she chose some black corduroy and was really happy to wear it today. Her sister has requested one exactly the same so I think we have found a winning skirt pattern. I cut a 10 which turned out a little large around the waist so I added some elastic into the back waistband. I top stitched everything in yellow, used silver snaps on the front and left off the belt loops.

 Now to sew up the pile of fabrics that Milly has chosen.

Zumthor and a Frogged Jumper

 A Zumthor for Chris, just in time for a trip to Albany and some ridiculously cold and stormy weather. I love this pattern, is has such a great shape and the instructions are perfect. I used a skein of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter I bought in New York in the most beautiful blue colour called almanac.

 

From one fantastic project to a bit of a disaster. I thought my Camilla Babe Jumper for Olive was going ok until I held it up next to her. It was huge. And very short. And was going to need way too many changes and I wasn't even sure that would fix it. So off to the frog pond it went and I'll have to think of something else to make with the beautiful yarn.

Butterfly Blocks

I've made a few butterfly blocks in different colourways this year just for fun and while I was sewing them I thought it might be fun to make a few mini quilts based on quilts from Strip Savvy.
My butterfly quilt used a white background in the book so I thought I would use some Sketch by Timeless Treasures (currently my favourite background fabric) in bright colours for the background in my mini quilt.
Now to sew these together with the other ones I've made and choose the next quilt pattern to make a mini quilt from.

Quilty Magazine

The latest Quilty Magazine was in my mail box on Friday (I'm loving those leaves on the cover).

 And inside is my Nebula quilt! There are lots of great scrap quilts in this issue and I made Nebula with lots of scraps cut into 2 1/2" strips.

No not even close to being tired of sewing with 2 1/2" strips. I've just unrolled a new jelly roll and I am planning what to do with it.

Flowering Snowball Block.

I have long admired Mary's Flowering Snowball blocks on her blog Molly Flanders Makerie, so when she announced a Flowering Snowball Along I thought I would join in.

I knew it would never happen if I had to make my own templates so I hunted around for some online and discovered Jenna Appleton's custom templates. She managed to fit everything I wanted on to the sheet, including three different sizes of flowering snowball templates. They arrived today and I am very very happy with them!

Here they are before I took all the protective sticky stuff of them. I got them in green as I find them easier to work with than clear templates, especially at night.



 I tested them this afternoon and made a 12" flowering snowball block. I think I will play around with the other sizes before I decide which one I will use for my quilt.

Tower of giraffes

Apparently a group of giraffes is a tower. I like that, it makes sense.

If you would like to make your own tower of giraffes you can find my pattern here, here or here.