Ah, this is looking better

Linda has been busy quilting and I have been busy binding and so our happy blocks are looking a whole lot happier.

A very enjoyable project.

Happy Bocks are Happening

A sneaky peek at a project Linda and I have been working on lately.

We are making some community quilts and have revisited an old favourite Happy Blocks.

I did the cutting, Linda did the piecing and then I sewed the rows together.
The pattern suggests 48 blocks and I soon realised that we did not have enough variety in our stash for the I Spy centre pieces for that many blocks.

We put a call out to our Sweet Pea ladies and soon our I Spy stash was looking a whole lot brighter and better thanks to them.

Once we started putting the blocks up on a design board we decided that 30 blocks would probably be sufficient so I cut out enough for another 12 blocks and we now have 2 x 30 block quilt tops ready for machine quilting and binding.

More pictures on completion.

A present for a granddaughter

A wee while ago I spotted this little patchwork bag online.

The little girl and the bag so reminded me of my granddaughter I felt I had to give it a go.

Gingercake.org has a tutorial for this here.

This was my end result.

I then realised my granddaughter had her 4th birthday coming up in May so I sent it to England for that occasion.

Anna-Clara's Dad bought her a pretty pink bike for her birthday and here she is sporting her new patchwork bag - very suitable for this little girl.

A little bit of different stitching

Winter is drawing close and it seems to be the time of year to have a bit of yarn in hand to be a bit creative.

I cannot knit like I used to so I decided to get out a crochet hook instead.

Haven't done any crochet for years but it did not take much to pick up on the tricks of the trade.

I don't really want to make any large items so I have embarked on making items for premature size babies.  This beanie is about 4 inches across and the bootees about 2 inches.

Nice to be able to add a little flower and trim to this little hat.

These seamless bootees were nice to make.  I need a bit more practice on these but they come together quite well.

I have been in touch with a couple of Nursery Intensive Care Units from different hospitals and will be forwarding them from time to time.

I have two bundles batched up and ready to go.

A parliament of owls

At last, my parliament of owls has gathered.  Eight of them in total and they seemed to take a long time about gathering together to overseer with all their collective wisdom.

From the Fancy Forest quilt this is my third set of creatures and by far the most complex to complete.

I was not altogether happy with my colour combinations but I am sure, in the whole scheme of things, that all will be well.

Their eyes seem to give off a bit of a disgruntled look so perhaps I have disturbed their sleep to bring them together for their parliament.

I am now halfway through the blocks, with the firefly, the hedgehog and the thistle to do.