Another Dinosaur Cot Quilt

I think I am on a Dinosaur kick with these fabrics. This time I used 10" squares printed in panels. I cut the panels up and put sashing between them. This made a square so I added strips of smaller dinosaurs Then I put a blue 2 1/2" border all around and bound it in orange. I used a border fabric for the backing so it would be reversable.

I mitred the binding and hand sewed the binding on the back. I only lightly quilted it around the squares and sashing using my walking foot. Next time I will have hopefully got the hang of Free Motion sewing and be a bit more adventurous.

It is 42" by 48" and I still have some dinosaurs fabric left............................

A Good Year for Azaleas

Ta Da...........................

This has been flowering on our decking for several weeks now - isnt it a beauty!!!

Quilting and Embroidery

I have not been idle whilst I have been ill. I thought I would try my hand at Surface Embroidery. I alredy have lots of threads from my cross-stitch and smocking endeavours, so I got a piece of pink poly-cotton out of the loft, and bought a copy of The A-Z of Embroidery Stitches, and off I went. The result is 6" square and has become the front of a pincushion (which I havent used yet as I cant bear to stick pins in it)

Next up is a cot quilt for my soon-to-be-born grandson. I quilted round the trees and dinosurs as well as straight round the panel. It is 42" x 53"

Finally, a Cot quilt for my very wriggly and crawling Grand-daughter. I quilted round the caterpillar, butterfly and leaf as well as the borders etc. I also managed to master Mitering the binding, which is much neater, I think. It measures 42" x 52"

Alottment-ing

Here is our sunhouse, built the traditional allotment way with odds and ends from other sheds, and old window frames from an ex-greenhouse. Note the chair in front of it with the orange knitting on. This is my Volcano cardigan in progress whilst I am supervising the workers : )
We have had to take to watering the allotment every 2 days over the last few weeks. Eight weeks with no more than a drip or two of rain - incredible!!!

The cross hatched branches on the bottom right of this phot are DH's hedgelaying skills coming to the fore. Another year and it will look sensational.

We have lots of seedlings waiting for the right conditions to plant out. There are also some hanging baskets maturing in safety, ready to decorate the back of our house.

The fruit bushes seem OK. The tree stump you can see in the middle is the result of the old pear tree shedding a couple of branches and becoming unsafe. The man in the next plot pollared it a bit hard. At least we no longer have it shading our runner beans and attracting the wasps.

Open for Business

We are all well again and back to work. We are taking orders and have some swifts in stock already. More details of our swifts and nostepinnes can be found at:

www.sunflowerswifts.blogspot.com

and our custom-made spindles and niddy-noddys at:

www.sublimespindles.blogspot.com

I hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather. I will hopefully post photos of our allotment on here tomorrow.

Not Going

I am not going to Wonderwool Wales after all as I am still ill. Its day 13 of this cough and cold and I am getting fed up of it. On the plus side, I am gradually getting better, and didnt need antibiotics this time, so my immune system must be picking up. I think some retail therapy is required........................

Spinning and Socks

I've been feeling a bit ill for the past week or so, I turned to my trusty no-fail knitting and made a pair of socks for myself. The yarn is Opal Petticoat I bought years ago, and the pattern is Simple Socks by Sue Morgan. I also managed to ply my first 100g of BFL, custom dyed for me by Freyalyn. It is around sockweight and is 450 yards long. It is a bit underspun but I have had lots of good advice from my fellow spinners on ravelry, and know what to do to make it a firmer twist for the second 100g of this. I think it will be a shawl : )