August Wrap-Up

It has been a lovely August. Lots of visits with family, and time spent outside. I did get a few crafty things done.

This quilt I don't really know too much about. I finished it for a family friend, who was finishing it for her friend (before our friend was no longer able to sew). The top was all finished (I believe our friend re-did a few seams for her friend), so I layered it, machine quilted it and sewed on the binding.

The quilt is really lovely. I think it might be a layer cake quilt. The blocks are 9", made up of 2 wide pieces and one narrow. The quilt is 45" x 60" (3" borders and 1.5" sashing).

For the machine quilting I used gingko leaves and loops for the body of the quilt, swirls and gingko leaves for the border, and swirls in the sashing. I used cotton batting (Hobbs Heirloom). The threads were a green CT Essential Pro for the body, and black Aurifil for the border and sashing (same top and bottom).

I recently purchased a bobbin case for my sewing machine specifically for free motion quilting (the blue dot bobbin case for the Janome 9450), and this was the first time I used it - it worked great and really made a difference. 

Luckily I had a long enough piece of leftover binding from a quilt I made years ago that matched this quilt perfectly (it is a bias piece for a quilt with curves and I can never judge exactly how much I will need).

 I really hope the owner of the quilt will be happy with it.

I have still been sewing clothes - another Blackwood Cardigan (Helen's Closet pattern) and a sleeveless summer dress (Lutterloh pattern #30 from supplement 325 - without the sleeves).

I finished a weaving that had been on the loom for a few months. A buffet runner made from handspun natural linen, and handspun wool that I had dyed (more details here).

And a quicker weaving project - a set of tea towels from 2/8 cotton (more details here).

Photos from Around -

Molly chewing on some giant wild asparagus we discovered in the yard.

The start of harvesting the surrounding field of oats.

The vegetable garden did well this summer.

It's always interesting how certain things do better than others one year to the next - this year it was celery and carrots (no so good for tomatoes and peppers).

Miss Maggie feels safer (and doesn't cry) when she is buried in her quilt for a trip to the vet - this time to see an ophthalmologist. Her once yellow eyes are now brown, along with a couple other eye issues - the vet said that we are very lucky and she is fine, and there should be no problems (please don't message me otherwise).

Miss Molly leaping at something in the long grass - probably a frog, there are so many this year.

 All the best!♥︎

Into the Swing

I always find it hard to get back into the swing of blogging after a big break, but here goes!

I do have another blog that I post a photo a day for 2023 that can be found here.

I am still been having fun sewing clothes-

Another self drafted skirt from a Craftsy class. This one with a waistband (and pockets).

The next ones are from Lutterloh patterns.

A sundress (#87 from supplement 321, with the bodice modified from #129 from supplement 322).

Knit wrap top (variation of #74 supplement 320).

Summer home dress (#50 supplement 320) using fabric from a friend. I added pockets to this too.

Knit wrap dress (#12 supplement 325) for my Mom.

I am really enjoying sewing with Lutterloh (The Golden Rule) patterns. Since they are just patterns and no sewing instructions, it is fun to work out how to sew the garments together. It is so easy to modify and meld patterns together to create the garments I think I would like.

I finished a couple of knitted items-

This pattern is the Haiku Cardi by Svetlana Volkova. I knit it with handspun held with a strand of mohair/silk, it is soft and lightweight. This was my knitting on a road trip we took last month.

A pair of (Christmas) socks, knit with commercial yarn that I had dyed (I started these a few years ago), This was a car knitting project too.

Photos from Around-

As I mentioned we went on a road trip in June - we took my 88 years young Dad to visit his three sisters in Ontario. The trip was absolutely lovely.

It did start out with a couple of tow truck trips (a new adventure!). It was heartwarming how people went out of their way to help us, pushing the car off the road when everything stopped working on it, offering us rides... But after a few days we were on the road again and the rest of the trip was great, well except for the broken spring on the second last day, but we made it home safe and sound (and now we have a new car!).

It was wonderful to see family we hadn't seen for a while. We went the northern route on the way there, came back through the U.S. on the way back, and saw different attractions just for fun.

 When we came back there was some weeding to catch up on, and I was lucky to have Molly to keep me company.

This year the garden was all planted before the beginning of June (a first for me, the weather was great), and the garden is doing good.

We are eating well.

The flowers are doing well too (we could do with more rain as you can tell in the above photos the grass is not doing so good).

A drone photo from the beginning of June (we now have a pool - after I had water bugs stuck to me I didn't like swimming in the pond, and a dirt bike track, thats' not for me, but it is fun).

The plough we bought at auction last fall has a new home.

Last but definitely not least - Miss Maggie trying her best to ignore Miss Molly.

All the best!♥︎

Making More Clothes

I definitely go on spurts of doing one thing for a while, before I switch to something else. Recently I have been having fun sewing clothes (I am trying to use my fabric stash, and some of these are from deep stash).

Here are some of the things I have made in the past few weeks-

A pair of pyjamas from some flannel from a friend.

A top in rayon (this is the yoke & sleeves of the Sydney Dress by Style Arc, extended to make a top, with elastic on the bottom edge).

Another Blackwood Cardigan by Helen's Closet - this one out of a yard of 30 year old cotton knit (everything was made shorter).

I also made a few tank tops and a t-shirt out of different leftover knits.

I am super happy with this skirt. It is a self drafted pattern from a Craftsy class (Sewing a Perfected Fitted Skirt with Aurora Sisneros). I used fabric leftover from a Sydney dress I made last summer. I definitely want to make another skirt. The class was great, and the skirt easy to make.

I also finished knitting a cowl using the leftover yarn from a hat I made a while ago (it is the Wolkig cowl, a free pattern by Martina Behm)

Photos from Around & Pets-

We have had days of strong winds, so this is a picture from a while ago on a calm morning.

Best friends playing

Miss Maggie happy to roll around in the dirt.

Last week Miss Molly had a run in with a muskrat (she was sniffing at him under a tree in the yard, and he attacked her). She ended up with a large gash on her lip that needed stitches, and has to wear a cone until next week. 

She tends to hide in her dog house when she is scared (there was a air compressor being used that day), and she got stuck in her house.

She figured out it was better to hide behind it.

She also learned to crouch down and scoot backwards to look for her ball (when she was spayed she just had to wear a little inflatable collar, so this is the first time she has worn a cone). She is healing really well.

Her best friend is frightened of the cone - Miss Maggie has been scooped up a few times.

Everyone will be glad when that cone can come off.

All the best!♥︎

Sewing Clothes

I had fun sewing a few pieces of clothes this week-

A Blackwood Cardigan by Helen's Closet. This is about the tenth one I have made (not all for me), it is such a great pattern. I shortened the sleeves and the body, and no pockets. All the sewing is with an overlocker. This one is out of a blue and white, lightweight knit.

I also made the Fernway Culottes by Twig + Tale. This is the first time I have made this pattern. Twig + Tale patterns are so well done - great detail for how to sew, with lots of videos. It went together so well. These are made from a cotton/linen woven blend. The fabric for both pieces is from Blackbird Fabrics in BC.

I was given fabric and sewed a little produce bag - we are trying to be less reliant on single use plastic.

Progress is being made on other projects too-

I finished hand sewing all the hexagon flowers for a quilt, and they have all been appliquéd to 10.5" squares. I just have to work out the layout and sew the blocks together.

I started a new hexagon project because I enjoyed sewing the others so much. For this one I decided to use  plastic templates instead of paper. I used the GO! cutter and the small  (1" sides) hexagon die to cut templates out of some quilting template plastic I was given. No real goal for this one, I am using light neutral fabric.

The cross stitch is coming along, all the green lines are stitched.

Photos - 

The pets seem happy that the weather is warming up and they get to spend time together outside.

Molly's favourite game is to chase rocks - such concentration. I am sure she is happy there is no more snow covering all the rocks in the driveway. She collects them too and puts them in her doghouse.

Miss Maggie is happy to roll around on the driveway.

The frogs are out in full force too - this one is a Wood Frog, but there are lots of Leopard Frogs by the pond - the sound is incredible.

All the best!♥︎