A Picture for Sunday - Green November

How can I complain about rain, when it gives us landscapes like this?

This is just a short walk from our house, and when seen in misty winter sunshine, the green just glows.  My son and his wife (who is Irish) have frequent banter as the which country is greener, England or Ireland.  I'll always put in a shout for England's green and pleasant land.  There's a tune that goes with that.

Tiny Size Baby Cardigan

This is the tiny version of the baby cardigan that I have made in several sizes.  This should fit a newborn.

This isn't exactly my favourite shade of blue, probably because it is the colour of my primary school uniform.  It's not that I didn't like school, but seeing royal blue day in day out from the ages of five to eleven was enough to last me a lifetime.  This blue yarn was in with a reduced pack that included some rather more interesting colours that I have already used up.

The random orange was a tiny oddment left over from the orange and green cardy I finished in the summer.  It was just enough for four stripes across the chest and over the shoulders.

As for the buttons, I already had these orange and blue butterflies, which I had put aside waiting for the right project.  They liven up the plain blue button band, and look really sweet.

I had a real doughnut moment making this one.  It wasn't until finishing the raglan shaping that I realised that the sleeves have a different number of stitches to each other.  Also, the back of the neck dips a little too far down for my liking.  I shall have to rethink the pattern for this size, and perhaps I should force myself to plan ahead on paper once in a while.  Not that the future owner of this little cardy will care, nor his mum. 

Talking of owners, my niece has sent me a picture of her little baby girl in the Little Miss Marple cardigan.  It was lovely to see such a snug and happy baby!

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 255 - Fat Needles

New needles, and I'm back in action.  After making short work of two needles within 20 minutes last time I tried to make headway on this project, I ordered some needles online.  They are size 120/19, the thickest I could get, and so far the first needle is still in one piece.  I can't believe I have never tried this size needle before.  After a very hesitant start today, I think I can finally get to grips with this project, which has been the biggest creative headache I have ever given myself.

Talking of headaches... the virus I had last month, which left me feeling like a lump of rubbish for weeks after the main symptoms cleared up, finally seems to have left me.  After a five day stay in Spain, in a warm dry climate, all the cobwebs have been blown away, and coming home to damp, rainy, muddy, windy England hasn't knocked me backwards.  Hooray!

Here goes for week 255:-

Many thanks to Vasudha for linking up with her Diwali 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 five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

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 - Autumn Sunset

Autumn this years is nothing but rain and mud, so when we have a beautiful sunset they can come as a welcome relief after a dreary day.  When the weather is particularly lively the windswept clouds can give marvellous effects.  

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 253 - Flat Batteries and Bent Needles

The flat batteries refer to me.  I seem to be functioning at about 70% maximum for the past couple of months.  Now that the sun is setting before 5pm I shall have to start fighting the urge to hibernate.  All in all, not good for my creative energies.

As for the bent needles, well the picture speaks for itself.  After solemnly reserving this afternoon for a serious sewing session, I didn't get very far.  This project is calling out for stronger needles, so the most constructive thing I have done today is to have gone online and ordered some.

Next week I am going away for a few days with my brother.  Let's hope that I come home recharged, because the new needles will certainly have arrived by then.

Here goes for week 253:-

Many thanks to Andrée for posting her latest collection of hexies.  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 five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

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.