Catching up more

I am having such a great time with mum here!  She turned up with a mission - help me clear as many of my WIPs as possible.  Slowly but surely we are getting there, and even more importantly, we're really enjoying it.  It is such a wonderful feeling to be getting things done for once!  I couldn't be doing it at all without mum here to encourage me, tell me to nap, supply cups of tea, do the dishes, help with all the meals, help me keep my mind on what I'm meant to be doing....

One of this weeks projects was a commission I got a wee while ago to make a teeny wee quilt to be a  gift for a newborn.  They don't know yet whether it's a girl or boy, so I had to keep it neutral.  Actually as commissions go I was given a fantastically free reign.  Neutral colours, a small square size,  and the tip that daddy is a fisherman and they live by the sea.

I thought right away of the lovely organic Beyond the Sea prints from Cloud 9 and I found a pattern by Kate Conklin which actually used Beyond the Sea.  I didn't follow the pattern as such, but I did buy the pattern, have a good look at what was done, then I pretty much did the same.  In doing a nine block layout I wanted the centre different, and I liked the flow of the blocks so I decided on a nice drunkards path four-patch, with the quarter circles creating a bit of a curvy pin-wheel.     Although I should point out that mum put that block together when I was napping!
It has been given the nod of approval from the recipient-to-be, so I'm pleased with that.

Quilt detail  -  top, Beyond the sea by Michelle Engel  Bencsko (with a couple of stripes from her Simpatico line and a dotty blue from her My Happy Nursery fabrics) all from Cloud 9 100% organic cotton, sashing 100% cotton, back is 100% cotton flannel, and batting 100% cotton also.  Design based around Kate Conklin's Sea Views.  Machine quilted in wavy lines.  31" square, now 29" square post wash!

Another project I've been pottering about with which mum helped encourage me to complete is this cushion, to be a pressie for a bloggy bloke.  The front is English Paper Pieced hexies in Curious Nature, with a bit of hand quilting in perle. 

The best bit is that I finally got up the nerve to do a concealed zipper closure on the back!  

Mum helped out here by insisting on putting a binding on it.  Its not something I've done before, binding a cushion, and frankly by the time I'd sorted the front and the back with the fancy zipper and all that, I was shattered so when mum said it would look even nicer with a binding I let her get on with it!  She's so right though.... much much nicer.  And now that I've seen it done so quickly and easily... well no excuse not to do it again!

There has  been other work done; we have two quilts basted, one ready to baste, 2 cushion tops cut, 2 bags cut... And there's been some boring but essential home re-organising too.  We've filled a nice big box for the dump, shifted some small furniture, re assigned some storage, (nothing to do with rapidly expanding stash...) (fingers crossed? me?  you think?)  and today mum helped me replace the old dressing gown I had pinned to the window frame with a proper curtain!  

An even more impressive home improvement was my purchase of an Ikea coffee table for £20.  No building required - the chunky top makes for an ideal speedy workspace when put on the spare bed, and the shelf makes a great board for the cutting mat.  Also, I chose the white, so hopefully they will come in handy for taking photos too!  And when not in use they slip neatly behind the chest of drawers.  Perfect!  

So, that's our first week.  Fingers crossed I'll have even more to show this time next week!