Thursday 22 December 2011

I've Felt all Christmassy!

No patchwork or quilting:-( but I have been making good use of a vintage pure wool cream blanket I bought ages ago on E-Bay. I had a little stash of felt from years ago but pretty limited colours so went to HobbyCraft looking for more  - crikey isn't 'modern' felt skimpy stuff? I was rather disappointed - so only bought a couple of sheets, my favourite being a blue polka dot felt - I should have got more. Still - E-bay to the rescue with some lovely colours and a high wool content from The Felt Fairy - delivery was super fast, just what I like. Shame the Felt Fairy is now away until Jan 2nd (must be giving Father Christmas a hand eh?!) As I would like to order some more colours, guess I'll have to wait a couple of weeks...

Snowmen Christmas ornaments, which should be winging their way to various friends:
Three snowmen for Chic Girls very stylish black Christmas tree:

Felt stars for my Sil, using some of her Mothers vintage buttons:
 On the reverse of the stars, I stitched some circles to add a bit of interest.
A pale blue and MOP button star:

And of course a photo of Miss E on her little tumbler block quilt:


Tuesday 15 November 2011

I know it's not much........

But it's the best I can do at the moment. A couple of named wallhangings for two little girls.







 I also made these four mug rugs using some more of the 'Bliss' jelly roll:




I'm feeling stretched a bit thin, I need to get my act together - Chr!$?*@s is fast approaching and there are so many things I want to make, but time spent with Chic girl and Miss E seems more important for now.


I cannot help but be a proud Granny and add another couple of pics of  Miss E though;-)

Here she is wearing her skeleton suit having momentarily found her thumb:
Snoozing after Sunday dinner with Uncle Lanky Boy!:
She's so cute:

Saturday 22 October 2011

Granny makes Granny squares

Since I am now a Granny, I thought I'd see if I could make some 'Granny 'squares. I have to say doing crochet makes my ring and little fingers ache. Must be because I'm not used to it.
How different the sizes are when you change the crochet hook size. I decided the one on the left with a 5.0 crochet hook was too big and loose. The right hand circle looked better and neater with a 3.5 crochet hook. The yarn is Debbie Bliss baby Cashmerino.
I started the squares with four chains, joined to make a circle and then twelve trebles into the middle hole. Two middles are right side up and one is turned over.
Next round is two trebles into each space
Then Three trebels into each space.
Figuring out the right amount of crochet to turn the rounds into squares was a PITA, I had lots of undoing and re doing on these blocks.
Which I was only really happy with on this 'round' when they finally became square!
I thought I would see if a lacy edge would look nice.....It does, but I cannot get it quite right.
 I tried a couple of rows of 'double' stitch instead - hmmm, much better I think.
Adding to the stack - slowly but surely.
Oooh, starting to look good..... must keep going...
This is the back of the squares when they have been crocheted together.

I tried just stitching the squares together, but I thought the finished effect was rather messy, so I crocheted a double stitch picking up each stitch on each block.  It took blimmin' ages to do this, but I do like the effect.

The finished article - my first crocheted blanket. I hope Chic Girl and  Miss E like it!
and here she is at nine days old looking even more gorgeous.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Granny Kandy has been busy......

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino striped beany hat
It's too big for  Miss E at the moment, so I made a pink version, still using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, loads of wool left over, so I made a tiny pair of mittens too.

High contrast cot quilt:
I thought this binding needed a little something
So I added some yellow cord:

The finished high contrast cot quilt.
White crib sheets:

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Welcome to the world Miss E.

 Miss E just after she was born
 
Chic Girl with  Miss E, who is just twenty hours old here. Aren't they both beautiful?  Miss E was 8lb 6oz but her hat is still too big. I shall have to make another much smaller one for her.
Fast asleep in Grannys arms

Here she is with her eyes open, which are a beautiful shade of violet - we are all wondering if they will stay that colour.
Here she is having a word with Grandpa....

Thursday 25 August 2011

Another quilt start part 2

Thanks for your lovely comments.
Now I've finished piecing the top , I think it looks  fairly OK, so I'll tease you no more.
I used just six 'jelly roll' strips and six white strips to piece the centre.
Here are all the squares all pieced together:

Adding the red and white striped 1/4" finished size border:

 The finished quilt top - before I've done any quilting:

I think I'll quilt a simple 'squiggle' in all the white squares and then something 'fancy' in the white 4" borders, probably my usual freeform feathers......


Another quilt start...

I've started another cot quilt....
It's going to be simple 2" squares:
 The fabrics have very strong colour contrasts:
 Chic Girl tells me babies like this, as when they are first born they can see strong colour contrasts easily. I'm not sure I really like it at the moment, but that might be because I've been sewing such soft and pale colours for ages.

 I think it might look better when I've added this tiny striped border and a big fat white border:
I'll carry on sewing it all together and if I still think it looks vaguely OK, I'll post more pictures later.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

I love finishing a quilt and eating cakes:-)

Hand stitching the binding - urrgghhh, the one bit of quiltmaking I don't enjoy. But it's necessary and it means the quilt is finished, so I can move on to the next thing...... Too many ideas, too little spare time!
Anyway, here is the finished quilt:
Oooh, the edges are not this wavy in reality, so must be because the quilt was laying on the uneven grass.

Himself & I went over to Chic Girl and Whizz kids house, because they wanted a bit of help to make a cupboard over their stairs.  This is Himself putting in the wooden framework in their bedroom:
 
Whizz Kid got a bit covered in brick dust:
 So while the boys knocked a hole in thebedroom wall upstairs, Chic girl wisely stayed out of the way downstairs and iced some fairy cakes......

Just adding a few sprinkles.....  
Would you like one?