The Colour Purple

I finally made a decision!

But it wasn't a scrapper. LOL

As I was looking through my pattern files and books yesterday I came across a Turning Twenty pattern. That got the old grey matter working. For those who don't know, Turning Twenty patterns, turn twenty Fat Quarters into fast and fun quilts.

I knew I had two bundles of Purple batik Fat Quarters, but did I have twenty and would they play nicely together? 

As we were on our way out to Debbie's for a pot luck dinner, I ran out of time to investigate.

It had to wait until this morning, after I had put the roast into the slow cooker.

(Sigh) Sorry about the sideways pic!  I'll get the hang of it eventually!

Here you have them, twenty FQs.

So the top bundle Tony bought for me some years ago as a Christmas gift.

The lower bundle came from Mum, I was supposed to make her 'something'.......

No other hints or clues were given and 'something' never eventuated.

Until today.

After some switching and swapping to ensure they would indeed all play nicely, I set about cutting.

Then played the switching and swapping game again on the sitting room floor.

Lunch was served toward the end of the cutting.

The sewing up was fun and fast.

BIG pieces mean BIG blocks and BIG blocks means BIG progress and here we are, before dinner time with a finished top.

And of course one block which managed to turn itself around!!

Well its staying that way now.

And I'm sure Mum would approve of the inclusion of her fabrics here, especially as this will be gifted to a little girl, she did love little girls. 

I'll need to shop for binding fabric as I don't have enough purple left, for even a scrappy binding and while I'm at it, I'll get some quilting thread.

This one is going on to the frame. 

What a nice way to spend a Sunday.

Pot roast has been in the slow cooker since 9.30 this morning, so I don't even have to think about dinner. I can relax, plan the quilting, think about what to sew next and do a little crochet. 

How did your Sunday go?

Two finishes!

Kaffetastic is at last, fully finished. Bound and hanging in our hallway.

This is the very colourful sight that greets you as you enter our home.

As you can see, it is a bit too wide to hang where it is, because of a combination of the placement for the pole supports and they way I have attached the hanging sleeve, but if I have a little rearrange of the sleeve, I should be able to get rd of the overhang on the left side. Problem then is, it will be off centre in the hallway. LOL  So maybe I'll just leave things as they are. 

The binding is more of the black with white spot fabric and looks really good.

I have to say I'm very pleased with this one.

And my second finish is just as colourful. The little crochet blanket is just as colourful as my quilt.

It has turned out rather nicely, even if it did make me swear. 

You see the hook still on the bottom corner as when I took this photo I was still debating adding a pretty border. I opted not to do so and what you see here is the finished thing.

'l just need to block it and add a Loulee label.

I'm busy with more colourful wee squares, making up another wee blanket. Both will go to Grand child #5 when he arrives later this year.

Grand child #4 is keeping her daddy waiting. She is 8 days overdue now. The midwife has knocked on the door twice, but she just isn't coming out.

This caveman is the Daddy waiting. My son 'Jiffy' Jonathan. 

He sent me this picture recently as he skippered the boat out to the fishing grounds around the Isle of Man.

On the scrappy quilt front......

I didn't make a decision yet.

LOL

I'm still spending a LOT of time, too much time on Pinterest researching.

LOL

It's Quilted

Kaffetastic is quilted.

It took me two days, thanks to many interruptions and an evening out.

It might have gone faster if the supervisor had stayed with me, but she went off bird watching!

In all reality it didn't actually take that long to sew the simple cross hatching lines.

Sometimes simple is best.

The binding is on and just needs me to have time to stitch it down.

maybe this evening.

 It would keep me warm, being tucked up under a lovely quilt while we watch a little TV this evening. 

How did your weekend go?

Kaffetastic Quilting.

So yesterday I decided it was the day to get on with layering and quilting kaffetastic.

I spread everything out on the floor and did a little trimming first. Belle was itching to help, can you see her?

Just moments after I put the camera down, she got stuck in and tried to burrow into the layers.

Once I had everything trimmed I had to move it to a table, as I have yet to discover the knack of pinning on the floor, without pinning the carpet too!

Then the cross hatching commenced.

I got about halfway through before the doorbell rang.

I didn't get back to it, but hopefully today I'll get the quilting finished and maybe even get the binding on. But not if I stay here on the couch!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend, I'm off to continue enjoying mine.

Slow progress

Not much to report at my place. I'm making very slow progress on my crochet project.

I think this is about as big as this one is going to get, with the addition of borders and a fancy edge.

The method I have chosen to join the squares is tedious and fiddly at best. I could add a more colourful description of the process, but we'll keep it polite. 

That of course means I'll have a whole bunch of extra mini squares all left over. But that's OK as I already came up with a new plan for those. LOL

I'll keep you posted once some progress has been made!

Today after work I took myself off to buy fabric for backing kaffetastic. I found a lovely plain grey 100% cotton flat sheet. That will do just fine. Very happy with that.

So maybe I'll make a start on quilting that this weekend.

No progress has been made on my next scrapper. I thought I had settled on a design, but keep on changing my mind! LOL

I saw some scrappy mile a minute blocks the other day, with a lovely sashing and border fabric...It was done Dancing Nine Patch style....Speaking of dancing nines, that would be a good scrapper too!!

See what I mean? LOL

I think I need to spend a little more time on research and development. LOL

Sadly the new tube for my lamp has not yet arrived, so no cross stitch or I stitch progress to report. I did think about making up the I stitch blocks and stitching the designs later. But that's all I did, the thinking. 

*

My boy back on the Isle of Man was up early the other day to catch the tide.

His Grand dad had beat him to it!

What a lovely picture of Dads boat in the sun rise.

I'm told he could now sail from the island, to the UK. But he hasn't.

The Isle of Man, like NZ is pretty much clear of COVID, with the only new cases being those coming in from elsewhere and hopefully being properly managed and cared for. There was some talk of opening an air corridor with one of the channel islands, so that people could have a bit of a holiday, a sort of we go there they come here thing, but people are nervous, as healthy people who moved to the mainland UK try to get home to the islands, sadly a few of them unknowingly are already ill and everyone departs and arrives through the same airports, so for many a holiday away from their home island is just too risky. The ferry between England and the Isle of Man is operating again, but anyone who leaves the island and returns must spend 14 days in quarantine. Which makes for a long break. May as well stay at home and relax, take some day trips locally or work around the house. My dad was always sailing away to England, Scotland, Ireland, (the Isle of Man is very conveniently situated right in the middle) but right now, he is settling for sailing around the island or cruising up and down the coast. 

We're never going back, but I wish we could all find a new normal.

A Finish.

My Kaffetastic top is complete.

I must confess, I was never inspired by these big bold flowery prints, seeing them on the shelves at the fabric shops, they never spoke to me, never even a whisper of what they could become.

Then when I saw the model for this quilt hanging on the back wall of the Quilting Shed....

It started with a whisper, that became a shout and one day, just before COVID 19 stopped the world I succumbed and bought the kit.

I could have finished the top a lot faster, but procrastinated along the way, working on several projects at the same time. Something quite new for me. But here it is at last. Looking a little pale and washed out in this picture I have to say, it really is Kaffetastic in real life.

Many of those points gave me issues and as a result, many don't meet as nicely as I would like them to, but overall I am pleased with my efforts.

Now to find something to back it with and get it quilted, so it can hang properly in my hallway for a while.

I think I'll keep the quilting simple, with some cross hatching.

I feel that anything more would be lost amid all those incredibly busy fabrics.

*

I have quite a few off cuts of those very bright and pretty colours.

I feel a wee bonus project may come along.

Meet Charmaine

This wee cutie is our adopted Grand daughter.  It was her birthday at the weekend and she came here with her Mum and Daddy Joe for dinner. Look at that lovely smile.

 Then she saw the camera and started pulling silly faces! LOL

She is a lively wee soul and we were exhausted by the time she left.

One person who doesn't stay around to see what she gets up to is Belle.

Belle always used to hide when Charmaine came to visit. She is getting a little better, but doesn't like to be petted and complains loudly to anyone who will listen. She wouldn't even eat the treats Charmaine put down for her. What a fussy madam.

At least she found a warm place to hide!

And just to prove life isn't all about birthday cake and little girls here is Kaffe!

One final set of blocks left to construct.

A little more trimming then I get to put the final section together before finishing the top.

I've been trying to think about the quilting, but coming up blank so far.

I'm off to make some more slow progress on my crochet project.

RSC.

Well I had fun pottering this morning.  This months RSC colour selection is Dark Blue.

I have a few of those. LOL

So it didn't take me long to find more than enough to make my three butterflies.

Yesterday while I was flickering through magazines looking for a good scrappy project I came across this lovely quilt. Not the sort of scrapper I was particularly looking for, but inspiration struck.

I thought it might make a good RSC block.

I was going to bookmark it for next year, then had a sensible moment and realised that if I did that it would probably never see the light of day again. So I kept the magazine out and after making butterflies this morning I made up a single block.

All dark blue was going to be too dark.

But this works. I've stayed with the blue theme but used a contrasting fabric.

Much better.

I've only made one. I'll make a few more in different colours as the months go by and we'll see what happens.

 And because I know some people like to know, here are the details of the magazine I found the pattern in.

Look, there it is on the cover.

I think it is quite an old magazine.

My next find, while still flickering through back issues was this one.

Now this is what I was looking for.

I can see me making this lovely.

I didn't make a start yet, but while I was digging for dark blues I did put one or two other fabrics to one side, you know pieces just the right size for some of those hearts.

And once again, because I know details might be important.

 Another cover quilt off good old country threads.

I mentioned last time that I was taking a leaf out of Janice's book and trying out some new recipes.

We have made a few new to us dishes recently, but I forget to take photos!!

Last night I didn't forget.

Babotie is a South African Curry.

It has a sort of Egg Custard topping.

(Forgive my not so good presentation)

It was a very sweet dish. I was expecting that, given that as well as  minced beef, curry powder and stale bread it also had an apple, dried fruit and honey in it!

Not a dish that we will be repeating.

Back on safe ground tonight with Chicken and leek casserole. 

Didn't Quite Go According To Plan.

Remember my Flip Flop Scraps quilt?

I finished quilting and binding it way back here in Mid May!

With a little help from my lovely Tony.

I kept teasing that I wanted to add some finishing touches.

Well you see, I noticed as I was quilting it, that a seam had not quite caught as nicely as it should, and was opening up! Of course, by the time it is on the frame and quilting has started, it's too late for a quick fix! I know I thought, I can fix this with some applique.

At first I thought flowers, but they may have gotten lost in the riot of different scraps, then I thought cats. 

You know those quilts with the lovely silhouettes of cats on them? I'd love to try that.

I even cut out a couple of kitty cats and gave it a go. 

The frame wasn't the place to do it, that just didn't work. So later I tried on my tabletop machine, but pushing and pulling the huge bulk of the quilt through the free arm... I had no end of issues and even visibly bent a needle!

I huffed and swore and cussed then I unpicked and settled for Kitty Cat fabric. Just a patch with nice straight sides and some stabiliser pressed onto the back and appliqued on in a not so very tidy blanket stitch.  

My efforts to hide one opening seam, had caused another issue,

the foot, or the needle or something got caught and there was a tearing sound!!

 I decided on dogs this time.

Not at all what I had envisaged, but in the grand scheme of things, barely noticeable really!

This quilt was never going to be an exhibition piece, it was always intended as just a scrapper, for our bed, to keep us warm. And it will do that just fine, without the artistic patches of silhouetted kitty cats.

So now it is finished and on our bed and tonight we will sleep under it for the fist time.

It may not have gone according to plan A, or plan B, Or C or even D for that matter, but I'm happy and satisfied with it, it's a finish.

Sew, what else has been happening?

I didn't join in with Friday night sew along last night, nor have I been achieving my 15 minutes per day. Oh dear, I really have slipped.

I have been reading a lot and have made my way through 5 books in the last week! Not huge voluminous tomes obviously, but very enjoyable all the same. I have a few more to go.

Sewing wise, the final part of Kaffe is still sitting uncut awaiting my attention.

I still have another quilt top to quilt and bind and have still yet to find another scrappy pattern to start on once kaffe is finished. 

Yes, yes, I know many of you have suggested a Trail Mix quilt. I have looked at them on Pinterest,  but it just doesn't appeal to me. Even when I see it in different fabrics and colourways, it doesn't reach out to me the way Flip flops did, or Kaffe. 

Maybe this afternoon I'll pull out some books and magazines. I want to get something started, I sort of said that I might make our adopted Grand daughter a quilt for Christmas.....

But first it's time to go put the slow cooker on.

Taking a leaf from Janices recipe book, I have been trying out some new to us recipes.

Today will be slow cooked babotie. A South African take on curry. 

I'll let you know how that goes.

Oh!! And this months RSC colour is Dark Blue, so I'll need to have a dig about in the scraps drawer.

Maybe something will inspire me.