Free Motion Mavericks - Week 202 - More of the Same

On a roll or in a rut?  I'm not sure.  

The trouble with making these strips of squares is that I always end up with a batch of eight, and I only need five to make a cradle quilt.  So I make another set of eight, which added to the three left over, gives me enough strips for two more quilt tops, and I have one left over... and so it goes on...

So here is the third top, and the fourth won't take me long.  One of these days I will get round to quilting them.  I'm just not sure how soon, because we have just started an Indian summer, which is infinitely more pleasant than the actual summer, which quite frankly I was glad to see the end of.  I am finally getting the gardening done, and am inclined to leave sewing until the next time it rains.

Which leads to my next quandary.  Doing all this easy piecing has kick-started my imagination.  The annual 12 x 12 exhibition at Midsomer Quilting is fast approaching, and I haven't started anything yet because I couldn't think up a project for this year's challenge, which is "Think of a Number."  I have had since last December to come up with an idea, and didn't have anything approaching a brainwave until last week while waiting for a bus.  Then this morning the brain decided to overburden me with a second flash of inspiration.  Serves me right for mulling it over at a bus stop and letting the idea think it was a bus.  Nothing for months, then two in a matter of days.

Can I finish two mini quilts in six weeks?  Or shall I be an adolescent about it and not even bother?  It all depends on the weather.

Here goes for week 202:-

Many thanks to Yanicka for linking up last week with her kitty quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more:-

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

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 - Grey Wagtail

Grey wagtails  are usually fairly timid, and fly off before I manage to get the camera out.  This one, however, was plainly used to people.  I snapped him last month dabbling in the river at Glendalough, where we took a day trip while we were staying with our son and daughter in law in County Wicklow.

Little Boy Blue Cardigan

For Sunday best or visits only - this little cardigan will fit a baby boy once he is crawling and toddling.  In other words he will get it grubby in no time.  Navy blue would have been far more practical, but this is what I had in the wool stash, so pale blue it is.

I don't think I will ever stop loving random yarn.  It keeps you knitting until way past bedtime.

For the raglan shoulder shaping I tried a different method of decreasing from previous cardigans knitted in the same stitch.  Sooner or later I shall decide which method I like best and stick to it.  This is one of the reasons that I knit so many little cardies, so I can try out different stitches and keep ideas in reserve for bigger projects.
   

Of course, there is the element of fun.  I couldn't resist these spotty buttons.  

Linking up with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 201 - Production Line Piecing

Oh the joy of piecing!  I have been playing with all the pretty floral prints that I pulled out last week and so far I have made tops for two cradle quilts.  Once I have made three, or even four, then I shall have a quilting blitz.  It adds to the excitement if you can finish several items in quick succession.

This top has a blue border, and the plan is to bind the finished quilt with pink... 

… and this one has a pink border and will be bound with blue.  The pink quilt will have a roses theme.  I have been intending to make a girly pink roses quilt for ages.  There is a very real risk that I shall be reduced to a heap of mush over my sewing machine while working on it.

Here goes for week 201:-

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up last time with her house quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more:-

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

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 - Hops in Hawthorn

Red is everywhere in the hedges at the moment now that the hawthorns are covered in berries.  Seeing the beautiful green hops took me by surprise.  Shame my husband doesn't make beer any more.

Another Autumn Cardigan

Every time it is quicker and easier... this is the third cardigan I have made for myself using the same basic shape - first the fluffy winter cardy, next the autumn cardy, and now another autumn number.   

I thought that because the main yarn is a wool cotton mix that the finished feel would be cooler than the last one, especially as I have used a stitch that incorporates a band of lacy holes every few inches.  How wrong I was!  It is wonderfully snug, no doubt because the main stitch is essentially a spaced rib.  

I am extremely grateful to Patricia, who left a comment back in June suggesting creamy yellow would go well with the flecked pink.  As a result I spent an entertaining time in the wool shop choosing the yellow contrast and the random coloured yarn.  The yellow was ideal for a single row stripe, whilst the random yarn worked well for the ribbing and the bands of holes.  The dark pink fleck didn't have the strength needed for the strain that is on these parts of the knitting, whereas the random yarn is 100% acrylic and can take it.

Finding buttons in exactly the right shade of yellow was a great bonus.

It was strange putting this cardigan on for the first time.  Somehow it looked as though it had dropped straight out of the 1930s, which wasn't a look I had been aiming for.  Also, I had the feeling that my husband wasn't going to like this one.  On the contrary, he loves it!

Now I shall have to make myself a summer version.  Absolutely no rush...

Linking up with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 200 - Florals

Home again, after a stay in Ireland to visit our son and daughter in law, and after a few days' rest I am just starting to get into the frame of mind to start sewing again.  Rather than do anything too adventurous, I have decided to make a cradle quilt so I can play with some pretty florals.  I have had the roses fabric on the right set aside for a while as backing, and now I'm itching to use it. 

Let's see if this colour scheme gives me the kick start I need.  Doing all the redecoration work earlier this year has thrown me slightly with sewing.  I have been diverting all the excess creative energy into knitting, which has the distinct advantage of causing far less disruption.  Instead of taking over the dining room table and setting up the ironing board in the kitchen, all I have to do is slob around on the settee surrounded by balls of wool.  Now I need to redress the balance.


Well, would you believe, it is the 200th linky today!  Doesn't time fly as you get older.  And now that I am mellowing with age, the rules are there to be ignored if you want to link up regardless.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

Here goes for week 200:-

Many thanks to Olena for linking up last time with her ballerina hanging.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more:-

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.

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.