Bloggers' Quilt Festival 2011 - Baby Quilt

I've just finished a quilt in time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival 2011.

Our lovely friends Richard and Emily are expecting their first baby in August. I wanted to give them something handmade that could be used for a long time. Baby knits are lovely but babies grow too fast! I figured a quilt/playmat would fit the bill.

As usual I gave myself a headache with this project by buying the fabric before planning the quilt. One of these days I'll actually plan the quilt before the purchase (actually I probably won't!). I spent a couple of evenings mulling over how I was going to fashion my fabric into a usable item but I got there in the end. I think I prefer 'winging it' projects rather than following someone elses design really. I must do otherwise I wouldn't keep on doing it!


I took photos and made notes along the way so as and when I find the notes I'll blog the process. The fabric is 100% cotton with sashing made from 100% cotton sheeting (bought in Primark for a fraction of the cost of yardage in a fabric shop). The back is also plain white cotton sheeting. The batting is a cotton/bamboo mix with an eigth of an inch loft. The design is 'Farmyard Corne'r by Makower and I can't remember where I bought it (but it would have been an online, UK based, fabric supplier).

I can't get a walking foot for my machine so quilting is a bit tricky. For this quilt I just stiched 'squares' around the animal pictures. I'm not explaining that very well but you can see what I mean if you look closely at the photo. This way I didn't get any puckering.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's not perfect but, to me, that's the beauty of handmade. I know it'll be loved as much as I loved making it.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival 2011 - Baby Quilt

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2010 - Grandma's Lap Quilt

Having made my first ever quilt this year I thought I'd enter the Bloggers Quilt Festival 2010 over at Amy's Creative Side.

My 'entry' is 'Grandma's Lap Quilt' which I made for Mr Earplug's Grandma's 91st birthday back in January 2010.(I blogged about it here).

It was the first time I'd attempted quilting and I really should have bought a kit as I gave myself a bit of a headache trying to work out how much fabric to buy for the squares, the backing, and the binding. Not to mention working out how to cut it and how to use a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, etc. But I managed in the end!

I had a nice design worked out but unfortunately forgot to mark the orientation of my '9 patches' and so made a mess of it in the sewing together. You can only really tell though when it's held up at a distance away. Close-up it looks just fine. (Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the finished quilt so this photo is of it at the basting stage).

Grandma was really pleased to receive it and I really enjoyed making it for her. She keeps our boys supplied with the most beautiful hand knits and so it was so nice to be able to give her a hand-made gift.

Pop over and check out all the other fabulous quilts:

Click here to go to Blogger's Quilt Festival

There are so many to see. And if you've ever made a quilt yourself then why not enter the Festival. And there are prizes to be won!

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2010 - Grandma's Lap Quilt

Catch Up Before Holiday Time

I don't know where the time goes! I've been meaning to do a post for I don't know how long but never get to it! So here is a quick catch up.

All three kiddies have had birthdays recently. Tiddler turned one:





He had a little family party at home which was slightly scuppered by my S-I-L's cat having an accident and everyone having to rally around to get it sorted out. Nevertheless he enjoyed the day and his cake! I managed to finish his quilt much to my surprise. It turned out really well (considering I can't get a walking foot for my machine) and I love it.





Nipper turned four:



He had a party for his nursery friends at a local leisure centre where you could hire the bouncy castle and soft play equipment. A fab time was had by all though the service from centre staff left a lot to be desired, the worst of which was when one of the kids was sick and the reception staff handed my daughter one wet jaycloth to deal with it. How can you clean up sick with one jaycloth?! No paper towels available anywhere - not even in the toilets, no disinfectant provided - yuck! Won't be going there again, nor recommending it - lol! Unfortunately I didn't finish his quilt - it's still a work in progress and he doesn't seem to mind. I bought him some Thomas trains and tracks off Ebay and he was over the moon with them.

I'm not doing too well on the crafty front generally. I eventually frogged Miss Muffett's poncho and I'm now attempting it again on smaller needles. It just wasnt working out - the Debbie Bliss cotton did not like being knitted up on a 10mm needle. We'll see how we get on with the new version.

Miss Muffett turned fourteen. Here she is with Tiddler's present - the cat thingy from Waybuloo (she has a thing about cats!)



She was easy to please - an LG Pop phone from me, some arty supples from Nipper, and a trip to the cinema and Pizza Hut with her best buddies. She even came home with some change from the cash I'd given her. I was impressed.

We were also impressed and very proud of her achievements at Junior Prizegiving. She has received prizes each year that she's been at secondary school but I've not been able to attend the ceremony before as they don't allow you to take young children (wonder if they'd have turned me away if I'd turned up with Tiddler anyway??) She received the lower school award for Drama, and also the Academic Achievement award for her year group. To top it off she came first in the 100m at sports day and was only beaten in the relay by the team who run for the school. Apparently her teachers are urging her to stand for head girl so Year 10 could be a very interesting year.

We've been to some lovely Summer fairs, four so far. I love them. Give me a cup of tea, a piece of cake, a book stall to have a rummage and a bouncy castle to entertain Nipper and I'm a happy bunny. We picked up some great books and cd's and some educational stuff for Nipper which looked brand new. But best of all was the visiting Fire Engine which came to Nipper's Nursery Fair. They allowed the kids to sit inside and pretend to drive. The nursery staff had a fireman's helmet and took pictures of the kids and gave them a certificate. Nipper was over the moon:



Some very exciting things have been going on in the garden! I decided to have a go at growing some veg, though left it a little bit late to be growing from seed, so I don't know how things will turn out. Here's a glimpse - the courgettes are doing very well and I'll soon have to start giving them away as we can't eat them fast enough:





The little ridge cucumbers are very sweet tasting:



The tomatoes are just starting to flower:



I never realised that pumpkins would take over the garden though given the size of the fruit it should have been obvious!





And look at this little chap having a whale of a time inside the flower:



The baby squashes are so cute!



What do you think of my lettuces?



Yes, they are nasturtiums. I gave up after 3 seperate plantings were gobbled up by an unknown critter. I'm having better luck with my 4th lot which are sitting on top of the guinea hutch:



I can only assume that the slugs dont like the feel of the roofing felt?

And remember this - the space where the old rotten shed used to be:



Well it's now this:



If only I had time to sit in it! It's become a den for Miss Muffett and her mates! It was a very kind and generous present from Mr Earplug's parents. It took a while to get it up and painted but it's lovely and won't be a teenage den for long!

Oh, and I finally got the remainder of the money that was outstanding following my car being pranged by the lorry driver - only took 16 months and a court case to get it!!

We're off to Devon tomorrow. This time we're having a whole week away and I cant wait!

Catch Up Before Holiday Time

I'd Better Get A Shift On!

I was leafing through the calendar, trying to find a date when we can meet up with a friend so all the kids can play together, when it suddenly struck me that it's nearly Tiddlers birthday. It's not so much that I'd forgotten, just that I hadn't realised we were quite so far through the year!

I'm supposed to be making Tiddler and Nipper a quilt each for their birthdays so I'd better get a shift on as my Mum would say. Mr Earplugs is going to be on serious kiddie watching duty so I can get Tiddlers quilt finished by Saturday. Here's a peek at the fabric:


It shouldn't take too long as the front is a printed panel so no need for patchwork - just quilting and binding.

It'll be good to do some sewing as things are rather stagnant on the knitting front. I'm part way through Miss Muffett's poncho but it's not going too well. The pattern is great and the Debbie Bliss cotton is yummy but the two don't seem to go together somehow. Miss Muffett is quite happy with it so I'll plough on and we'll see how it turns out.

I do have a couple of finished items on the knitting front. Tiddler's First Cardy was finished in April ready for his Grandparent's 40th wedding celebrations but it was very hot on the day and he didn't wear it! I first tried the pattern (Baby Sophisticate) back in November but it soon became clear that Tiddler was growing faster than I could knit so I gave up on it. Luckily I found a modified pattern on Ravelry to fit a 12 - 18 month old and it's perfect.

It was my first attempt at using circular needles and I couldn't get my head around how that would work until I had a go and then it all made sense. It was also the first time I'd used markers and I have to say I hate the split ring markers. They really get in the way and they're ugly too! That was a great 'excuse' to buy some nice beaded stitch markers instead. They were much better.

My second item was my Lost and Found Shawl (Gaia Shoulder Hug) so called because the Royal Mail lost my yarn order and then it mysteriously reappeared 3 weeks later.

I really don't like Noro yarn - well the two I've used so far. But for some reason it's kind of grabbed me. The Kureyon sock yarn was really twisted up and it's very rough. Luckily no knots this time. I don't know if I'll ever wear the shawl but I love it nontheless, and I've got another ball of Kureyon sock yarn and I know I'll be making another shawl with it!

Anyway, off to the sewing machine!

I'd Better Get A Shift On!

Can You Sew Something For Grandma's Birthday Please?

Mr Earplug's is always a bit 'last minute' when it comes to present buying so I wasn't surprised to find that he hadn't organised anything for his Grandma's 91st birthday. She's a lovely lady and keeps us supplied with handknits for the boys so I figured she'd be more than happy with a handmade item herself. I decided to have a go at making a lap quilt. This was my first attempt at patchwork/quilting so I had a good browse on the internet and decided on a Disappearing Nine Patch design.


It was a bit scary cutting into the fabric with a rotary cutter for the first time, but I managed without making a hash of it.


I cut the fabric into 5" squares and stitched them into a nine patch.


I laid everything out on the bed to try and get a random pattern. Unfortunately I forgot to mark the orientation of the patches when I gathered them up - doh! I had to try to re-do the design as I was stitching them together and it didn't entirely work out as I wanted. But never mind, I'll remember next time!


I made too much binding just to be on the safe side - 2.5" wide strips, folded in half and ironed.


And here it is just before binding.


Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the finished quilt - another thing to remember next time! Grandma was really pleased with it.

Can You Sew Something For Grandma's Birthday Please?