Baby Boy's Cardigan with Cables

Perhaps this little cardigan is a slightly odd shape, so I am hoping that its new owner will mould it to his own fit.  This was knitted for my latest great-nephew, who was born in late May, and my husband and I were his godparents at his christening last Saturday.

This turned out to be a project with elements I love and others that I hate.  I shall start with the minuses.  The decreasing method that I used for the raglan shoulders doesn't go particularly well with the cables and rib stitch.  I must remember not to use it again except with a plain stocking stitch.  Also the rib makes the whole cardigan seem narrower than it actually is.  Rib might be the perfect stitch for a slender young lady with a pleasing figure, but I'm not so sure it works particularly brilliantly on babies.  The sleeves look the ideal length for an outfit for a baby gibbon.

However, with the cuffs turned up they don't look too bad.  Now the cardigan has the look I was aiming for, a miniature version of an elderly gentleman's cardigan, ideal for an evening relaxing in an armchair with pipe and tartan slippers.

I love the colour of the buttons, a nice deep red to go with the edging.

As for the edging yarn itself, I absolutely love it.  There are shades of red, deep purplish pink, grey and turquoise.  I had slight misgivings at first, thinking it might look too girly with the pinks and reds...

… but there is enough blue and grey to tone it down into a more boyish mix.

Now I am wishing my husband could be persuaded to wear cardigans, but he's always been a jumper man.  Shame.  I would enjoy seeing an adult version in a grey-green tweedy fleck, complete with pockets for cough sweets.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 191 - Following the Lines

You can't really tell from the photo, but despite the heat, I have done a fair amount of quilting this week.  Treadling can be hot work in the summer, and suddenly we are in the midst of a scorcher.

A quick look at the back shows where I have been.  The curves and symmetry of this pattern are so beautiful.  This is going to be a square cushion.  There is enough fabric left over to make an oblong cushion afterwards.  It could be slow work.  This heat is set to last for while.

Here goes for Week 191

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up last week with her wholecloth 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.

A Picture for Sunday - Seed Head

Ready to fly on the next breeze... shame I don't know what the flower is.

PS.  Many thanks to Kerry, who hit the nail on the head with goat's beard, otherwise known as Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon.

Autumn Cardigan

Autumn will be here before we know it, and I have amazed myself by having a cardigan finished already for when the cooler weather comes.  It is version 2 of the winter cardigan I made a few months ago, and which turned out to be an absolute godsend when the blizzards came in March.

The mixture of yarns includes a pink flecked cotton and wool mix in place of the grey mohair that I used in the winter cardigan, so it should be just right for cool weather before winter sets in.

This time I thought ahead about the decreasing for the raglan shoulders and ended up with a much neater finish.  For the winter cardigan I made the pattern up as I went along, and the stitch didn't match when I had all the pieces on a circular needle.

The buttons are the same as on the last cardigan.  I liked them so much when I bought them that I came away with ten rather than just the five I needed at the time.

There is loads of the pink flecked yarn left over.  I am itching to make a summer cardigan for next year, but can't decide what colour to use with it.  I'm a bit bored of grey now.  Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 190 - Fabric and Faceplate Twins

Morris Bluebell is such a beautiful fabric.  I have been looking forward to starting this latest cushion, and today I got cracking with the quilting.  I was half dreading it, thinking I might get lost, as I did with the snakeskin design, but this pattern was far easier to follow.  There are only two colours, as opposed to four or five in the snakeskin fabric.

When I was taking the photos I noticed how similar the fabric design was to the faceplate on my sewing machine.  I wondered why the swirling leaves and flowers all felt so familiar.

Here goes for Week 190

Many thanks to Yanicka for linking up last week with her red, black and white 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.

A Picture for Sunday - Rosemary Beetle

New species pop up in this country from time.  This beetle was on a sage plant, and when I looked closely I saw it had beautiful blue-green and red-yellow iridescent stripes.  I would love to know which wag christened it the Fresh Prince of Bel Ladybirds.

Weaving In Tails

It has to be one of the most boring jobs ever, but at least it means I will have a brand new cardigan in a few days.  Most of the tails are already woven in and ready to snip off, but I like to leave that until the very end and snip them all off at once so it feels like a quick finish, which of course knitting never is.  I started this cardigan in early May, and it was the ideal project to keep me sane while we turned the house upside down for decorating.  It has been tricky getting sewing done, but knitting is an absolute tonic.  It grows every evening when you sit down and relax after a busy day.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 189 - Snakeshead Cushion

Grey and neutrals are terribly chic at the moment.  For the first time in my life I could be on trend.

So here it is at last, the cushion that has taken me just over a month to make, and the second cushion finished using a collection of short lengths and remnants that I bought for the new colour scheme for our front room.

Quilting the printed fabric wasn't a huge amount of fun, but now that the cushion is finished it gives a certain amount of body and texture and I'm pleased with the overall effect.  Most of all I am ridiculously chuffed with the seam across the middle giving the mirror image to the pattern.

On the back I used a tartan weave, with more of the snakeshead print for the buttonhole band.  I'm not convinced a meander was the best quilting design for the tartan, but had I tried quilting straight lines I would have made them wavy, and I was so keen to get this project finished that I didn't want to spend time agonising over a pattern.  Once this cushion has been well and truly sat on I really won't fret about the quilting.

Now I have to decide on which fabric to use for the next cushion and try to take less than a month to complete it.

Here goes for Week 189

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.

A Picture for Sunday - Large Skipper

Rusty orange with beady black eyes and basking in the sun on a sage leaf.  This little butterfly stayed still for just long enough for me to take his photo.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 188 - Slow Work

It hasn't been the most enjoyable piece of quilting that I have ever done, but it's finished at last.  I threw it across the back of a chair next to a window, and the texture is just about visible.

Here is a view of the back, which shows what a fiddly piece of work this has been.  There are a couple of pleats in the backing, and plenty of wrong turns in the stitching, but this is a project where I can happily say that once it is finished the errors won't be visible.  This time next week I might even have a cushion cover to show you... and we might have decided on the colour for the new carpet, there will only be a fortnight to go until the curtains are ready, and a week or so before the upholsterer starts work...   It's slow work, completely transforming a room.

Here goes for Week 188

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up last week with her cuddle quilts.  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.

A Picture for Sunday - Nigella

Very intricate and dainty - I love nigellas, otherwise known as love-in-a-mist if you're feeling romantic.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 187 - More Symmetry

This mirror image is version 2 of Snakeshead remnants cushions which I am making.   I think I prefer version 1, but this one should prove quicker to quilt with the bold repeated shapes in the centre.

Meanwhile, I have made a start on the quilting of this one.  From this photo it is impossible to see the quilting, and in real life it isn't much easier.  In fact, at one point I wondered why I was even bothering, but knowing that the cushion cover will end up stronger and firmer I just kept going.

Here is the back.  It's fiddly.  Following the outline sounds straightforward enough, but when there are hundreds of them you are bound to go astray.

On the decorating front, we are seeing real progress now.  The decorator finished on Wednesday, and by yesterday the paint was dry, so we are able to use our front room again.  We can admire all the fresh paint and look forward to new curtains, upholstery and carpet.  There is still a way to go.

Here goes for Week 187

The project in week 186 that caught my eye was Andrée's Morning Has Broken 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.