Adventures with Wool

I started knitting at the end of last year when I was pregnant and last blogged my adventures with wool here

Since then I've finished the matinee jacket (and made James wear it at least 3 times before our heatwave!)

I've also started a new hat for James

and almost finished my crochet ripple blanket

But my biggest challenge was this little jumper

I spent most of a week's holiday at my parents working on it when I had lots of babysitters (and so my Mum could help me with the neckband).  I proudly cast it off and with just the last few side seams to sew up, held it up to said cherub and very quickly realised there was no way it would go over his head.  It was thrown down in disgust and left behind with my Mum to wave some magic.  

Which she most certainly did with the addition of these clever buttons.  And I couldn't resist a picture of the little man himself modelling it!

Ben's Quilt

Remember this little stack of fabric?

Well I finally made it into a quilt hurrah! In fact I made it a month or so ago for friends who live nearby and had a little boy 3 months after James was born. The very first quilt I gave away was a little playmat I made for Ben's older brother Adam. (I'm rather embarrassed looking at it now but it's nice to see how far I've come with my quilting.

 

Simple tumbers (cut using a template - I really need a Sissex!), backed in Ikea hippo print, quilted 1/4" in from the seams and a Bonnie & Camille spotty binding.

 

This one was hard to give away - so just as well I have enough Tumblers left to make a little pram quilt for James.

Linking up with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts 

and 


which this week is at MissyMacCreations

Hello!

Erm now where was I?  Is there anyone still here?  It's been ages since I blogged anything but I have been doing a tiny bit of sewing over the past couple of months.  Now that I don't have a sewing room I find it easier to work on one main project at a time (with a little bit of cheating with different things at the weekend!)

My current Work in Progress is this huge quilt as you go quilt for my sister's 30th (she is 31 later this month . . . . . .)  I've got a little system in place where my machine is set up on the kitchen table and I can sew a few strips at a time when the baby boy naps.  I now have 21 out of 36 done and I've run out of wadding so can fully justify working on something else until I create some more wadding scraps!

Linking up for the first time in ages with 

A lovely gift

Hello! I should say straight off that the lovely quilt below wasn't made by me - it was made by the lovely Reene who blogs at Nellie's Niceties.

The fabric is gorgeous and it's the perfect size for a lovely play mat for James.

Reene designed this quilt herself - isn't it fabulous. The pattern will be released together with kits for making it through Simply Solids in time for Festival of Quilts.  You can read all about it and see other versions of the quilts on Reene's post here.

In other news things have been a little quiet on this blog recently - it's been a challenging few months and I haven't been doing a lot of sewing.  You can't have missed the blog posts from everyone introducing themselves before the Fat Quarterly Retreat.  I made the difficult decision a few weeks ago not to go this year - the timing just isn't right for me.  I will be sorry to miss it and especially not to catch up with everyone but there will be other years! 

My new favourite quilt!

This is my entry into the Scrap Quilt category of Blogger's Quilt Festival

I have been making this quilt for a very long time.  It is from Crazy Mom Quilts 9 patch a day quilt. Every time I made a quilt I used the scraps to make 9 patches.  I love it because it reminds me of lots of quilts I have made and given away like this one and this one and this one.

I decided that being 8 and a half months pregnant was the perfect time to sash, baste and quilt a 66" x 90"quilt!  In fact I finished machine sewing the binding on to the front half an hour before I went into labour.

I've been hand sewing the binding on in 10 minute gaps between baby feeding and cuddling and a trip to the mother in law's garden at the weekend provided the perfect photo backdrop.

Lovely handmade gifts

My favourite thing about blogging and social media is all the lovely people I have met online (& some in real life too).  I am lucky enough that some of these people have become friends.  And James and I have been sent some lovely gifts by some of them too.

Engraved wooden heart from Justine

Appliqued burp cloth from Catherine

Burp cloths from Kerry

I can't wait to meet/catch up with these lovely ladies at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July.

You may remember the progress on my crochet blanket:

Well my Mum decided to make one too and luckily for James and I she is a lot quicker than me so he has a finished blanket!

March in Review

Well March was a very different month for me!  There wasn't a lot of blogging and having a baby also limits your fabric buying somewhat!  (This month I used up 8.75 yards and only added 2.5 yards to my stash giving me a net use of 6.25 yards).

I finished my Summersville cushions for the nursery.

I also decided that being 8 and a half months pregnant was the perfect time to finish a very old UFO.  

I sashed all the blocks on my scrappy 9 patch, pieced a back, basted and quilted this when I started my maternity leave at the beginning of March.  I finished attaching the binding by machine half an hour before I went into labour!!!

I absolutely love this quilt but my favourite finish from this month and without a doubt the best thing I have ever made is my little boy, James Ronan who arrived on 13th March.  

Linking up with: