Finished a Sew Along and Started a Knit Along

I am so thrilled that we did make a Burgoyne Surround quilt for the mystery Secret Santa Sew Along from the Temecula Quilt Company!

Here it is as a flimsy,

and all quilted. It is about 45"x57".

The perfect size for the back of the couch. It would be a great baby quilt too. I would recommend copying the pattern if you think you might ever want to make one of these quilts because the free sew along patterns don't usually stay too long on the Temecula Quilt Company blog - here is a link for all the Secret Santa Sew Along blocks  (sorry if the link doesn't work, they have probably taken the patterns down).

I used silk batting (Hobbs Tuscany), Minky for the backing and Bottom Line 60wt thread in the top and bobbin for the free motion quilting. I used a simple meander quilting pattern, because that is my favourite to stitch. The Minky backing is a pale green.

It seems like it have been ages since I have made a 'proper' quilt, and I couldn't be happier with this one!

Now I have started a mystery knit along - a Julenatt mitten from Skeindeer Knits. I spun the yarn for it last week (all fingering weight yarn from more of the local raw fleece I was given), but after a few different tries I ended up using only one of the above colours (I knit the first clue 4 times with different pattern choices, colours and needles!).

This is what I have at the moment, but it still might not be in the final mitten. Still all hand spun yarn.

Grey Partridges

Snow drifts by the other pond.

All the best!♥︎

Little Blocks into Big Blocks

All the little blocks for the Secret Santa Sew Along from the Temecula Quilt Company blog are getting sewn together -

Four blocks so far, and eight left to sew. There is still one clue left, so I hope I don't spoil anything, but it is starting to look a lot like a Burgoyne Surrounded quilt - one of my favourites!!

I spun a skein of yarn this week. This is wool from a raw fleece that I was given.

The fleece was so fine, but full of plant bits, so I only managed to comb a small amount. There is still lots of vegetable matter in it, but it is so soft (unusually compared to the other raw fleeces I was given). I plan to dye this and knit a cowl. It is 121g and 427m of fingering weight yarn.

Now for some snapshots of home -

Christmas lights are up.

We have been having so much fun skating!

Grey Partridges running around.

The mink posed for the camera.

All the best!♥︎

Lots of Little Blocks

It is nice to be keeping up with a quilt along! This one is Secret Santa Sew Along from the Temecula Quilt Company blog.

These are Step Three blocks. 48 - 1+1/2"x3+3/4" units.

And these are Step Four blocks. 48 - 1+1/2" Four Patches.

These have been really enjoyable blocks to make - lots of cutting but the sewing is so quick because the blocks are so small. It is also time saving not having to decide which fabrics to use for a block, just cut strips and sew them together.
I am really looking forward to seeing how they are all going to come together - the fun of a mystery sew along!

I finished knitting a hat. The pattern is Langfield by Martina Behm. This one is made from some hand spun BFL wool I spun last year. It is the third one of these hats I have knit (this one for my youngest son). The squishy garter stitch makes such a cozy, warm hat. The pattern can be knit out of any size yarn, for any size of head and is perfect for hand spun yarn.

I also finished spinning a skein of sock yarn (this is a BFL wool/Nylon blend).

This picture was taken on the trail cam last night - we think it is a mink(?).

The picture was taken outside this hole on the edge of the (now frozen) pond.

Speaking of frozen pond, today we cleared off all the snow.

We still don't think the ice is quite thick enough to walk on so we used some boards, a heavy piece of concrete, a long rope and the help of the tractor to clear it. The snow acts as an insulating blanket, clearing it should help with freezing. Tonight the temperature is supposed to go down to near -20ºC (-4ºF) - hopefully we will be skating soon!

The ice is thick near the edge, and so clear (the off white 'bubble' on the left is a golf ball)

All the best!♥︎

Finished Fabric

I finished weaving the piece of fabric I started last week.

It ended up being about 3m (over 3 yds) of 58cm (22.5") of fabric. I am so happy with it!

There are lots more photos and information on my Ravelry project page (here) if you are interested in all the details. I am planning on sewing some type of garment with it, but I haven't quite decided on what yet (although it would make a really nice blanket if I cut it in half and sewed the two pieces together...).

It all started as this raw fleece.

I also finished sewing the 68 Nine Patches from Step Two of the Secret Santa Sew Along from the Temecula Quilt Company - these are 2.25"! All the blocks were made much quicker than I thought they would be.

Here are all the blocks I have made so far.

We are still seeing lots of wildlife around here -

A Bald Eagle landed on one of the trees today, we tried to get a close up look, but scared it away (right in the centre of the photo).

Caught a glimpse of it flying away.

The large flock of Grey Partridges is still around - they are so funny to watch - there seems to be lots of squabbles and chases.

There are also lots of tracks around the pond (the trail cam has been moved and hopefully there will be pictures of the animal next time) - we think it might be a raccoon.

We were surprised how many shells there were there too.

More tracks at the other pond.

Couldn't resist some photos of a beautiful sunrise -

All the best!♥︎