rabbit lap quilt

Have some sad news   my brother is on life support following a heart attack and then a stroke plus a fractured skull from falling when it all happened.  This all happened a week ago and still not awake or breathing for himself,  I saw him yesterday,  his eyes were open but not focusing    we are praying fo his return to us     fear it will be a slow process but whist there  life there is still hope,  his heart stopped for 13 minutes so we are very concerned and feelng so helpless,  he has his wife and 3 sons with him,  the youngest lives in the Dominican Republic,  he arrived back on monday.  I will go on sunday but when we are there only 2 allowed at his bed side and more often than not they send us out whilst they are doing things to him


This is a quilt I started a while ago and today have got it to flimsy stage   so another one to go on the quilting pile.

I do not understand why this fabric will not photo    this is the best I can do and these are the various fabrics I used along with the green for background.

Maggie`s first dance, Secret garden and 4 baby quilts

I seem to have been on a roll this week and have completed so much.  Jacquelynne Steves BOM Maggie`s first dance is now a flimsy,   so enjoyed making this but have done a different setting for the borders.  When quilted it will have red binding.  The colours not showing too well  the light one is lemon but could not photo outside due to it snowng     far too early for snow.  Would have quite liked to use the purple for the binding but did not have enough left. Unfortunately you cannot see the embroidery very well that is in 4 of the blocks  probably why I enjoyed this so much as it uses my love of embroidery with the quilting.

The second flimsy completed yesterday was Pat Sloan`s Secret garden quilt,  this is so big and the only place I could photo it was on the bed and you still cannot see it all.    The blocks are 16",   trouble finding a border fabric   not sure this one works but it is done now and the colours in it are in the blocks too,  binding will be done with the dark green that I used for the cornerstones and there is 6" green block on each corner of the 6" border fabric.

Also completed the other 4 baby quilts   all strip pieced but these 4 machine quilted   2 with diagional lines and 2 with random FMQ.   2 more babies born last week, one still not due and the 5th is now 9 months old.   Sorry cannot seem to find the photos for these.

Ebony Grace that I did the first quilt for now has a bag and cushion for her room,  Mum has decorated it with elephants so ran these up last week

Just one block done for the Blossom Hearts BOM,  block 21 is a diamond twirl  3 more and then they are all made,  not sure if I will make one big quilt or a quilt and a runner or even leave the blocks for now and add them to the 40 12" blocks I have alreday made over the last year

Today Alfie is coming to stay till tuesday as Helen is off to Ireland for  a few days with friends,  packing 24 bottles of supplementary shakes has had to get clearance from the aitrline but all is well and she can fly with them,  she is eating a little now and feeling a lot better,  has returned to work on less hours and sees the specialist on 28 nov re the surgery.

Ebony-Grace baby quilt

Here is the first of the 5 baby quilts completed.  Not sure why I did this one first as Ebony is not due for 5 weeks but she made here entrance on 26th weighing 5lbs,  a very special IVF baby.  Must now get the next one done as he/she is due around 4th november.  The backing is a soft needlecord  perfect for a baby.   I hand quilted assorted sized circles on this as requested.  Now I have not a clue how to quilt the next but want to machine quilt it.  Suggestions would be appreciated.

Also done block 20 confetti in the Blossom Hearts BOM,  colours not worked too well but using scraps for these blocks. Running out off floor to photo them on!   4 more to be released   I have enjoyed this challenge.

I have bought a trolley which means I can take my featherwieght to group meetings so much easier., Olsens are closing down in Leeds and they had a 40% off everything sale,  by the time I got there they only had one left and it was missing a wheel.,  I rang customer services and they said they would send a whole set of wheels so bought the trolley and the wheels have now arrived.  A handy trolley as the top section lifts off and my machine fits in this then will put everything else I need in the bottom section,  will be heavy to lift on and off the bus but I m sure will work well. A very good purchase for £15.

Alfie in quilt heaven, baby quilt

Not much to share this week but must show you how Alfie loves his quilt. The butterfly quilt I made for Helen is on the back of the couch,  I did point out to her it as upside down!

I think this shows his contentment

   Now it is bedtime so rather than disturb him Helen has made an envelope of the quilt and she carried him up to bed,   he just loves this pampering and when I called the next day he was still on his quilt

I have been making 5 baby quilts from strips I cut from child friendly fabrcis, I got in a bit of a muddle as I took my featherweight to the Leeds quilting group and  I  sewed the strips together there   they got rather tangled but all was well in the end. I use the jelly roll technique joining the narrow ends together of all the strips and then doubling over 4 times, this gave me 4 quilts but they were a bit wide so was able to make a 5th by cutting off 2 fabrics from each quilt.  They are now all prepared for quilting and have started on the first one,  it is for a friend of Helen`s and she asked for assorted sized circles scattered about and these I am hand quilting,  fingers crossed the pencils circles will wash out okay on completion.

6 completed mini quilts

I have had 6 sweet mini quilts that I did as a BOM with Jacquelynne Steeves waiting to be quilted for  a while,  now completed   3 by hand and 3 by machine.  This BOM was done with applique blocks but I have done embroidered ones   well outlined the designs not filled them in in a red work style but used colours to compliment the fabric used.,  I have also changed some as the designs given  did not appeal to me.   I will one day learn to do needle turned applique    one day.   Not sure what I can do with these   they are a great size for learning to quilt but do not see much use for them,  they are about 24" square.   I am thinking I will do more hand quilting as I can see an improvement and do enjoy doing it,  have bought an Aunt Becky`s finger protector annd I am sure,  that is when I get the hang of it it will be a God send as I will have protection for the fingers on my left hand that get pricked too often.

I have also done the latest block in th BlossomHearts BOM  this is block 19 perspective   there are 5 more to do.

I have been busy     mad block 5in the Maggies fist dance BOM this block is made 5 times and I have made all 5  now  sorry can not find the photo of the block  I have to put all 9 together.It is meant to have 2 borders   struggling on those  I will use the lemon for one but really need to use the floral fabric from the centre of the 5 blocks but it is a tilda fabric and though ||I bought a fat quarter for the centres cannot justify the cost for a wide border,   thinking maybe I will use the red.

One more block has been completed for the secret garden BOM  block 10.  2 more blocks to make and they are a repeat of 1 & 2 but might make different ones

Just a quick update on Helen and to thank those of you who are holding her in your prayers.  She saw the spcialist on friday and has now been referred to the surgeon as she needs an op to remove part of her bowel.  It is good that she is now allowed to eat a few things,   yogurt, custard, soup without bits in it and scrambled egg,   they have also changed the supplement shakes to ones with even more calories in as she is still very weak and wants to go back to work till she has the surgery. We so appreciate your prayers and I am sure they have helped greatly  please continue to remember her,   thankyou

my secret garden, Maggie`s first dance, Blossom Heart BOM

At last I am back to write a blog,  I did not realise that it is almost 3 months!  My how time flies.

I have been absent from following blogs, doing my blog and stitching  for about 7 weeks but finally the mojo has awoken and I am making an effort both to  read blogs and to do this one, though I do not think I can read all the posts I have missed .

Life has been tough but now feeling better.

I  did have a lovely week with my sister and BIL who came from Australia but the time flew too quickly,   so good to see them . Alison had not been back since 1991 but I was out there for Christmas in 2001.  We met up in York with my 3 brothers    the first time we have all been together since 1984 when my Dad passed away.   The sad thing is we will probably never see Ali again as we are all getting rather old,   and the flight is very expensive and takes a long time.

My younger daughter Helen is very poorly at the moment due to a flare up of chrons,   she is on a liquid only diet for at least 6 weeks,  had a MRI scan yesterday and the Dr will decide when he gets the report whether she needs more surgery,  I pray she does not but he thinks it is unlikely she will get well without it.   Today I have spent 4.5 hours going to Waitrose and back for comsumme soup that they say she can have, apart from that she just has 8 bottles of a special liquid substitute  and 4 cups of decaffinated tea or coffee without milk and as much water as she can drink   unfortunately she does not like water!  Got enough soup for a week but will get 2 weeks supply next time if I can manage it.

Sal my grandaughter started uni this week,   we are all so proud of her   she is doing business studies with fashion a 4 year course and I hope to see more of her as she is coming to Leeds uni and sometimes will not travel home to Halifax but stay her for the night if he has a late lecture or a social night out,  she did not want to go into halls but wanted to stay at home,

I do not usually share personal things but I am asking for prayers for Helen from practising Christians etc  please.

Now for some stitching,  I have done some BOM blocks,  Blossom Hearts,  Maggies first dance.  and the Secret Garden,

these are from the Blossom Hearts         15 Windmill

                                                                      16  whirly gig

17  cross angle

                                                                       


                                                                        18 ribbon

                                                      seem to have lost the photo of all 18 blocks but will share it when I find it!  As you can see I am using scraps for these.   It is a lovely BOM   we get 2 a month and they are all using triangles,  using the 2,  4,  and 8 method of making them,  I only used the 4 at once method as it gives 2 bias edges but love doing 8 all together


These are the Maggies first dance BOM  Jacquelynne Steves is the designer,    Jacquelynne gives a choice of applique, embroidery or using a patterened fabric,   as I have still to learn applique I chose to do the embroidery.

                                                                  Blocks 1-4

                                     



and now for my secret garden   a BOM with Pat Sloan

blocks 1-9

pin cushions,, Alfie, Orlando blocks, bag

The sewing machine has been a way the past few days as Alfie has been here,  this is an old photo but thought I would share it with you

and this is him today enjoying a bit of sun.

I have sent my latest pin cushion off for the swap   this is a bit of a cheat as I got the design from Gail Pan`s book Patchwork loves embroidery   one of my favourite books in my rather large collection.

and received a beauty from Turid in Norway   when I saw it on her blog I was all fingers and toes crossed that it was for me so you can imagine how delighted I was when it arrived the other day

.

Here is the little bag I could not find the photo of the other day when I shared the two others made from samples done in the 90`s and finally made into bags.

I have made 3 heart blocks for the Orlando quilt appeal which I will send off tomorrow.

  Not made the ones for the Jo Cox quilt yet as I do not have any more white fabric for the background and the shop has had to order some so will do those ASAP. when the fabric comes

Whilst having Alfie I have caught up on doing the embroidery in the 6 mini quilts I did with Jacquelynne,  they should have had applique in but way beyond me so used some of the designs in embroidery form and drew some for the other quilts,  will share once quilted   do not hold you breath

Ione star 1, baby play mat, more bags

I have now completed my first lone star quilt,  this one went wrong but have decided to finish it anyway,  it will keep the second one company!

I have also made a play mat to go with a baby quilt I made for one of Helen`s nursing friends. This is the first time I have backed with a fleece,  I also used wadding to make sure it was nice and thick for the baby to lie on.Sophie was born last week so they will soon be receiving both this mat and the quilt.

Here are 3 more bags I have made using samples from when I did my C & G embroidery   sorry seem to have misplaced the third photo.  Not sure where I go wrong but save everything to the computer, memory card and also a external hard drive but often when I do that I seem to lose them all.

The holly bush has come in handy to photo them on.

I have made 3  heart blocks for the quilt appeal following the tragedy in Orlando and closer to home the Leeds MQG that I have joined are making quilts for the children of Jo Cox who was the MP so brutally murdered in Birstall which is very near where I live.  We hope to get enough blocks to maybe do a quilt for her sister and Mum too.  So many terrible things happening in this world these days   why oh why cannot people live in peace and harmony with one another?  Will share these on my next blog as still to make the ones for the children

Jennie Rayment twiddly bag,pin cushion swap, Podunk Pretties pieces

Little bags are  being made.  This one is Driven dotty by Jennie Rayment   it is from one of her books Tucked up in bed and there is also a tutorial on   http://www.justhands-on.tv/website that I subscribe to,  some of the videos etc are free not sure if this one is though.  The twiddly fiddly bit is made from a 23" square of calico/muslin depending on where you live,  I decided to add a border and make a little bag once the twiddly bit had been done.  I am one big fan of Jennies  have had a go at lots of her twiddly bits but this is the first one I have made into anything,   watch this space will be making others too as I have all her books so no excuses.

I received these 2 lovely pin cushions from Bea last week   I am spoilt as the swap usually involves one not two.  One with a lovely FPP cat   cats are my favourite animals and another with a Bible quotation on,  Bea knows my faith means a great deal to me and I will be taking it with me to my Bible reflections group today.
Thankyou Bea  I am thrilled with both of these.

This is the one I sent to Bea,  her favourite colour is blue and I used left overs from flying geese to make the pin wheel

One more month to go and I made the swap cushion yesterday so will be posting it in a few days,   will share when I get my swap one .

I have not been doing much on large projects recently but have made the back porch blooms from podunk pretties blog   now lets see if I can add a link   http://podunkpretties.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2016-05-19T18:10:00-04:00&max-results=4&start=4&by-date=false   fingers   crossed this is right,  seems a very long link to me!!also on the blog are the instructions for the flower and butterfly which she has kindly shared with us.

 

I sew enjoyed making these.