Paper piecing

On Sunday afternoon, after posting bunny pics and feeling quite proud of myself, I had two choices. I could work OR I could work through the Carol Doak paper piecing tutorial and attempt to make my first unsupervised* square.

I opted for the latter.

I have to say, I'm SERIOUSLY impressed with how easy (well by easy I mean there were only about three moments where I burst into swearing fits) this was. Though I think that perhaps the bits in the middle needed to be a neutral pattern and clearly have some work to do in terms of learning to work with colours. But overall I was very happy with how it turned out. I almost (by almost, I mean a fleeting thought that was very quickly disregarded with a resounding inner voice that said "Are you completely insane!!!!") thought I would do a whole bundle of these and turn it into a full quilt. However, I'm sticking with the cushion option for now. Dark green borders and backing yet to be done.

* by unsupervised, I mean my Mother (capital M..currently grey nomading.. not impressed!)

Bunny

Just a quick post to show the finished bunny, She's so cute, I'm not sure I want to hand her over!

Art of Quilting Blocks

Well today was Art of Quilting day.  I finished Blocks 2 and 3.  Despite cutting out ever so carefully I've somehow managed to wind up with short bits! It's tricky, because they really don't give you much material to play with. Too bad if you cut it out incorrectly. Anyway, with a bit of luck it will all work out when I add the borders.

I then did blocks 1 - 3 in pink for the upcoming birth of the grand-godchild (if there is such a thing!). The mother to be loves pink, so pink it is. I'm using some fat squares that I got from Lincraft, as it is just easier for me at this stage. And I had those birthday vouchers to pay for it!  I was much happier with how these turned out. Practice practice practice....

While I'm waiting for week 4 I think I'll work on the paper piecing cushions that I cut out when Mum was giving me lessons. Too bad she's not here to help! ....yes, I'm looking at you mother ;-)

Now back to knitting the bunny which is just about finished. I wish weekends were longer!

July / August

July and August thus far have been a bit of a blur. But on the craft front these are a couple of the things I've been working on.

There's the little pink baby babettte. I've set out a grid in excel to make it easier to fit the pieces together. Still working on it but it isn't taking that long.  And I've been colour coding the Krista - that's for Steph if I ever get it finished! Not far now but work seems to have taken over so projects are verrryyyyyyy slow going!
And of course my next project for which wool is sitting in waiting in the cupboard!

Then there's the dreaded thesis! Can you make sense out of this????? Unfortunately I'm not sure I can either, but it made sense when I drew it all up. Hrrmmm............maybe I need some butcher paper! And more coloured pens!

 

My favourite, though,  is the bunny. Sorry, she's topless! But you get the overall idea. I got the pattern from Mary Jane's Tearoom - excellent Etsy seller if you're keen! The pattern, however, called for a pompom tail which I wasn't keen on since this will be with a small child. So I just crocheted a ball for the tail. Seems to work ok.

 The challenge for me was the fair isle. I have to get around that for Pingu's dude jumper, and I think I'm getting better at it. I did the one hand, but holding over two fingers technique. I've tried the two handed technique but honestly cannot knit Continental style to save my life. My left hand just cannot coordinate, which is odd given how much I crochet. Or is it because I crochet so much? Anyway, I'm reasonably happy with how this turned out. Won't take me long to finish the jumper, then a small flower for her head and she's done!

A good day

Today was a good day. I feel it is necessary to share this since I shared the ... oh not so good day! One of those rare, rare days when successes outweigh the disasters. I've always had this approach to life that if, on a daily basis, the crosses outnumber the ticks then it is time to move on. Probably explains why I have never been in a job longer than about 3.5 yrs! I think increasingly the workplace - in any environment - is just not a happy place to be. BUT with my current employment I want to stay despite daily threats to quit.   There are a few reasons for that.  I do fundamentally like people I work with (oh ok, yes that includes you PB). I also, every now and then, feel like I've been part of a person's education experience and that it has mattered. And I think if it matters to them, it matters to me. Of course, I'm also just too damn old to keep changing jobs! But this is a positive blog entry so we won't go there.

So, after having what I would have to say was a pretty fine work day, I came home to an Art of Knitting bundle (yes I do have a problem!). The gods are smiling upon me! And so,I must now go knit.  But thanks for reading!

Outburst over

Well now that I've managed to get over my momentary vent at cyberland, I'll share the more pleasant aspects of my week :)  Well actually the week was really ordinary, as has been the last month or so. But yesterday I simply refused to acknowledge the ever-mounting pile of work (which I have to say I'm not enjoying one little bit!) and took the day off. I had the most luxurious sleep in that I've had in .. oh forever!! Then set about cleaning the craft projects up so that I could tackle my first Art of Quilting block.  I subscribed to the magazine because I really would like to learn how to quilt. I've managed a cushion so far with much learned assistance of my mother (see my much earlier post) but hadn't got back to it. I feel quite inspired now and the block by block approach works well for me. So here's the first block!

It's not perfect (and yes, I have managed to get some of those pattern fabric pieces upside down) but I'm really happy with the result. And most importantly, I had so much fun! I have some lovely pink bits of material to make a baby cot cover quilt and think that I'll use this pattern. It's simple and effective. And most importantly It's a pattern I can manage! I think I'm going to enjoy learning how to quilt.

World.. I hate you!

And I can say this because no-one reads this blog.  I am all messed up. My husband says so. He wants to leave the room rather than read this but pfft he can just take it on the chin!!

Anyway. That's the end of this post!