A Picture for Sunday - Miniature Garden

With the ivy in the background giving a sense of scale, this inch high garden is a seasonal treat.  I have photographed this moss before in February.  With the low winter sun shining through it it is a bright lime green.  This little clump, with the tiny tussock at its foot, was so pretty I didn't dare touch it.

Palm Beach Twiddle Blanket

Yellow for the sand, blue for the sky and sea, cream because I still have loads of it to finish off...  This is the second coconut palms twiddle blanket that I have knitted.  I prefer the colours in the first one, but being much brighter this one may better fit the bill for a dementia patient.

The way the knitted palm fronds curl give the trees a windswept look.

Yellow buttons stand out against the blues...

... and blue ones against the yellows and cream.

Now that spring is on the way I am not sure whether I shall be knitting at quite the same pace.  I have already consumer tested these lap blankets for warmth while in the process of knitting them.  They are guaranteed cosy.

Linking up with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 171 - Making Sandwiches

High time, too.  It is over a fortnight since I made this little quilt top, and I am only just getting round to making the sandwich.  We have been having the occasional day of blue skies.  It makes such a welcome change.  Suddenly colours have come back to life and I am getting the urge to start serious quilting again.  Perhaps the knitting season is finally drawing to a close.

Here goes for Week 171.

The project in week 170 that caught my eye was Margarita's Star Wars quilt, made for her son.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Twiddle Blanket With Working Buttons

This twiddle blanket is something of a departure.  After making several blankets so far decorated with flowers and buttons, I decided that this one should have just buttons.

The cream panel in the centre has real functioning buttons with a button band and buttonholes.

The blingiest button of them all is right in the middle of the blanket.

This cream button has a bit of twinkle to it too.

Apart from the aran weight cream yarn in the centre, I used  two strands of yarn throughout and played with colour.  The bright multicolour yarn was from a small ball of 4 ply that I found in a charity shop.

The little splashes of deep pink and of olive green are from the same basket of oddments. 

The overall effect remind me of men's jumpers in flecked wool, with the emphasis on blue and dark colours.

It isn't all totally grown up, though.  The pale blue with yellow and pinkish flecks is bit left over from a cardigan I made for my son when he was a baby.  I expect I will come across the cardy stuffed in a cupboard sooner or later and wallow in a good half hour's attack of nostalgia.  He was a hilarious baby.

Linking up with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 170 - The Perfect Match

For once in my life I am getting enthusiastic about spring cleaning.  I am always ready to confess that I am not the tidiest person on earth.  But every eight and a half years or so, or possibly more, I have a bit of a blitz.  My sewing room is still in a total state; however, the kitchen is beginning to look reasonably presentable.  As a result I have done zero sewing this week.

Nevertheless, I am feeling triumphant.  I made this tea cosy just over two years ago, and photographed it in very dull daylight.  The colours in this photo are far more accurate - ridiculously bright.  Last week I was in town and popped into Whittards because I have been on the lookout for a tea for one pot.  I struck lucky and found this cheerful little stripy number.

It wasn't until I got home I realised that I had the perfect match for this tea cosy.  I couldn't have found better colours for this cosy if I had tried.  Suddenly a solo pot of tea is ten times more enjoyable.

Here goes for Week 170.

The project in week 169 that caught my eye was Deana's Grand Illusion quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

The Osborne Bull

One of the sights that I remember from my first visits to Spain when I was a child - a great big black bull looming over the landscape.  I was young enough to think it was real, just for a second or two.

This delightful quilt was hanging next to my stitched field at the Where in the World exhibition.  I roared with laughter when I saw it.  Unmistakeably Spain, in fabric.

The black silhouette of the Osborne Bull stands proudly at the top of a distant hill.

In the best naïve tradition it dwarfs the turbines of the wind farm on the hill in front of it.

It is a dry landscape, so the hills are bare, with just a few scrubby bushes...

... a tangle of weedy plants with some yellow flowers at the roadside...

...and also some tall grasses.

This is such a life-like scene of a Spanish road that I almost expect to see a few smashed hub caps in the verge.

Instead we see stones and a signature - M. Capper.

This quilt was up for auction, I put in a bid, and was thrilled when I heard that I had won.  Soon it will be hanging on the wall here at home.

Thank you Marion!

A Tale of Two Hats

The winter cardigan that I made was screaming out for a hat.  I had plenty of wool left over and the time and energy, so I cast on and started ribbing.

All seemed to be going well.  I knitted the brim, then worked a band of purple inside the brim as a way of saving on the random grey yarn. 

Because I was using a circular needle I was able to stretch the knitting to check for fit.  Every now and then I would have a few minutes in front of the mirror, with balls of wool trailing and the knitting needle waving around like a pair of antennae, wrapping the knitting around my head.

Then I made an interesting discovery.  Not being a fan of patterns, I thought I had made a fair estimate of how many stitches I needed.  I was woefully adrift.

The solution, I thought, was easy.  I picked up stitches at the edge of the rib and started knitting in the other direction until I thought it was wide enough, and then cast off.  It still wasn't right, so then I had to do the same thing all over again, picking up stitches from the other side of the rib.  

This meant that for the top, I had to pick up yet more stitches from the edge of the additional stitching before decreasing for the crown.

After all the improvisation, the hat turned out pretty well, so it deserved a flower.

Then I tried it on.  My husband, ever the diplomat, didn't say much.  My daughter was more forthcoming and said it looked like a tea cosy, especially with the flower, it was just too barmy.  My answer was I don't care how nuts I looked, I want a warm head.  

I had to admit defeat.  It was too small, the brim didn't cover my ears properly, and it kept slipping up to the top of my head.

Nice hat, wrong head.  I needed to find the right head. 

At New Year I took it with me when we went to visit my brother.  I insisted my sister in law, Mary Ann, who has a dainty little head, try it on.  Suddenly the hat looked a proper jaunty number on her, 1930s home made chic.  She chose a button from her mother's button box, and now the hat is hers. 

Meanwhile, I had already cast on a frighteningly large number of stitches and was working on hat 2.  Here it is, complete with deeper brim...

... no extra sections to pad out the rib, a satisfying halo effect at the crown...

... and just to wind my daughter up, two flowers.

This is the hat that keeps my ears warm.  I love it.

Linking up to Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.