And back to my own work

In between work this week I've managed to get quite a bit done so far


I completed my japanese folded patchwork blocks, put them all together and added an outer border.


It's just awaiting binding in the light blue snowflake fabric and then I can really have fun embellishing it with a selection of icy coloured beads and sequins I picked up in town on Monday. It will be a Christmas wallhanging, although it's one which could stay up all winter as there's nothing too Christmas specific on it.


For any of you readers in the UK who have a branch of Lakeland nearby (used to be Lakeland Plastics) they are currently selling off all their craft goods and returning to concentrating on kitchenware - I picked up all sorts of embellishment goodies - beads, brads etc - it might be worth a look if you're near one.

I've mentioned before that it's both sets of parents' Golden Weddings soon. Nigel's parents this weekend - Golden Wedding rose bush bought and ready for that. Then my parents four weeks later.

I've toyed with the idea of making a cushion or wallhanging of a design I've done before about 7 or 8 years ago of a yellow iris in the stained glass technique using gold bias for the leading. However I've kept procrastinating about buying the bias and then the other day when I was finishing Kate's mud and sand heart quilt I looked across at the black and citrus one I also had ready for quilting.

So I decided that as the hearts are golden coloured I would complete that for them instead.

I got the golden one and its teal buddy quilted yesterday. I've actually quilted hearts in the borders of the golden one - the light was too poor to show them last night but I'll get a macro shot of them when I've done the border. I counted up the other day and these are the last two of 25 of these heart quilts I've made which brings the total hearts stitched to 310! How anal is that? (One had 9, one had 25 and the rest had 12 each).

Still not quite hearted out though - Karol-Ann and I are hatching a cunning plan with 9 more teeny-weeny hearts but I won't steal her thunder, it's her design so watch her space on that one

Once on a quilting roll I changed to cream thread and got to work on the little mini nine patch design I'd copied from Lucy.

And voila! Here it is completed, binding and all. I think Patch, my patchwork teddy might have hijacked it actually - that's a very possessive paw he's holding onto it with.

I had a bit of a go at a completely freehand feather garland in the border which turned out not too bad either although don't look too close because the stitches in the feather spine are a bit on the long side in places - I'd never win a show with it, my stitches are nothing like uniform enough. But hey! who cares? I made it for my own pleasure and enjoyed every minute of it.

Now what shall I do today - think I ought to return to the rose stitchery for my Four Seasons summer quilt and I've a pincushion completed for that swap which I've yet to get a picture of so I'll save that for my next post which will be my 400th!!!!!