Final red stitching and Happy BIrthday

 Each month for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) I've been stitching up oven mitts in a bid to finally  use up my decreasing selvedge collection. The RSC colour this month is red, and I had a small group of red and mostly burgundy selvedge strips to work with.  There were just enough of these to make the two outside pockets on my double handed oven mitt.  There is quite a bit of stitching in these, but at last I was up to stitching the binding down.  I started this job last night, and finished it outside under the Archgola this morning.  Today the weather is nice and warm, hard to believe that sub tropical  storm Tam had been lashing Northland and causing a lot of damage.

All clipped and ready for stitching

It was pleasant sitting outside, working away, with a cuppa to hand.  Gemma was outside keeping me company too.  And here it is, all finished.  This is the fourth one so far, I've made one in pink, dark blue, yellow and now this last one.  These will probably be gifts later in the year.

Burgundy/red this month

Yesterday Gemma celebrated her 7th birthday.  Goodness, time goes fast.  I can remember when we collected her as a kitten, all those years ago.  Birman kittens are born white, and their colour points come in as they are growing.  Gemma is a Seal Point Birman.  She spent part of her birthday in her tower, laying on the pretty pink blanket I had recently knitted for her.

This is the life

Cats really have the best lives, don't they.  Gemma lounged about all day, then decided to tell me it was close enough to 5.00pm so it was her mealtime.   Of course I gave her some of her favourite food for her birthday dinner, a nice helping of Jimbos.  Then more snoozing after she had eaten her fill, cuddled up to the opossum fur cushion on the sofa.

My tummy is full and I'm sleeping

And another one, just because.  I changed the quilt on the bed today.

RSC Yellow

 I've been working on the final yellow challenge for the month, making another double handed oven mitt.  The quest is to use up all my selvedges in the small bag this year, making these mitts as the colours are called for.  This is my third, I've done one in so far in dark blue, one pink, and now one in yellow.  As usual my layers are hessian, insulbrite and a layer of old toweling, and I had enough yellow selvedges to use on the whole project.

This oven mitt was completed up to the binding last week, and I took it along to my quilt club's Social Sewing day today.  It's too difficult for me to take my sewing machine along to these get-togethers, so stitching binding down is the ideal activity for me.

Stitching away

There were seven ladies there today, so as you can imagine there was plenty of chatter going on . Four of them were working on projects with their sewing machines and three of us were doing hand stitching.  As well as my binding being stitched, one was working on hexagons, and another was doing hand applique.  We meet in the Vintage Car Club rooms and take our lunches so it is a nice pleasant day, spent with like minded ladies.  There are plenty of tables and chairs, power points for the machines and iron, and kitchen facilities to make ourselves a cuppa.

In the Vintage Car Club rooms

The binding was finished and after lunch I started working on the binding on a donation quilt - more about that one later.

Yellow oven mitt done for March

A little more Blue

 I've finished the last of the blue sewing for RSC this month.    I'm on a quest to use up the last remaining few selvedge strips this year and found a small handful of blue ones.  So, another double handed oven mitt was created.   Just like the pink  ones I stitched last month, there were just enough strips to use on the top of the pockets, and I used dark blue fabric for the rest.  Insulbrite and toweling in the middle, and hessian (sacking) on the back.

Blue for February

So that is two oven mitts I've made so far, and I have selvedges in several colours to use up during the year.  I'm quite pleased with how these are turning out, and will probably keep them for gifts, my daughter and two granddaughters are all keen cooks.

What else have I been doing?  I met up with a friend for lunch during the week, and sad to say I got a little lost finding the place.  As I tell people, I'm sometimes navigationally challenged, even when I've been somewhere before.  Robin used to do all the driving, and I just sat back and did some knitting, not really taking too much notice of where we were.  Luckily, I found the cafe at the end, parked up, and look, there is Trish in the car beside me!  She had only just arrived too, so that was good timing.

Harrisons Garden-world

Harrisons has a cafe attached and we debated where to sit, deciding on the indoor area.  There was plenty of space outside under sun umbrellas, but the morning had been rather drizzly, so we decided not to risk it and stayed indoors.  We had a nice lunch, and a good catch up.  Then we had a look around the shop.  Look what I spotted, the resident cat, tucked up nice and comfy in his basket.  Trish couldn't resist giving him a pat.

Hello, puss

I purchased some candles, as I'm lighting one each night for Robin, and wanted to have a few extra.  These sounded very nice, lavender and vanilla scented.  

After a pleasant time out, we said our goodbyes, and went on our way.  I was heading north, and Trish was driving south.  That pesky drizzle had stopped, and the sun had come out, so it was a pleasant drive home.

A little more Pink

Call me crazy but I've decided on another  RSC project - it's not as if I don't have enough from previous years waiting to be completed.   I had found a small bag of selvedges sitting and looking rather lonely.  "Don't forget about us", they cried.   I used to collect these but over the years had used quite a few up.  So why didn't I just discard the last remaining handful?  Probably because I thought it would be a good idea to stitch up a few double handed oven mitts to make use of them. My daughter and granddaughters are keen cooks so they will make useful gifts. And I'm sure I'll need another new one sooner or later.   There's certainly not all the colours of the rainbow in the bag, and I found a few in pink for January.  

First I stitched the hand pockets and that used up my pink selvedges.  I construct these oven mitts with hessian (sacking) on the back, then a layer of Insulbrite, a layer of toweling, then the top fabric, in this case a very bright pink.   There is quite a bit of heavy stitching through all the layers so of course I use my walking foot.  Here it is with the binding stitched on the front, and folded over to the back, ready to hand stitch down.   I love those little binding clips, just right for this job.

Ready to complete the binding

Our summer weather has been very hot lately so I sat outside at the back of the house in the shade to get the stitching done.  With my needle, cotton, clips and scissors I was all set, plus a glass of lemon water too.  It was much too hot to sit on the patio with the sun streaming down overhead.  

Stitching time outside

All finished, and the pink selvedges are finally used up

The other selvedge colours I've found is a handful of green, yellow, brown, red, blue, and blacks, all sorted and clipped together.  Wonder what group I'll get to work with next?

Hand Stitching

I've been busy doing a little hand stitching lately.   On Saturday I attended a stitch-in day, organized by my quilt club.  The weather was miserable, wet and drizzly, but the hall was nice and toasty with the heat pumps working hard.  Others were machining away, but I don't like to take my sewing machine away from home theses days, it is just so heavy for me to load into the car and take it out at the other end.  So I make sure I have plenty of hand work instead.  Yesterday I starting  hand stitching the binding down on one of the big quilts I had commercially quilted a while ago ago.  I didn't get it all stitched down, but I've made a good start on it.  

Binding time

Eight ladies braved the wet and cold conditions to come and stitch for a while.  We stopped for a mid morning cuppa, and a lunch break.  It's always nice to stitch with company, isn't it.  By 2.00pm we all decided to pack up and head home.

Today, Sunday, I decided to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  I'd found a Jamie Oliver recipe, knew I had some frozen blueberries in the freezer, so whipped them up.  It was a nice simple recipe and I served them with whipped cream, extra blueberries and a drizzle of genuine maple syrup, all the way from Canada.  They didn't turn out perfectly round, but I must say they were absolutely delicious!

Blueberry pancakes for Sunday breakfast

I've been stitching away on a quilt label today, almost there.  I had just written the info with my pigma pen, but decided to stitch over the words.  Then I can attach it to the backing and share a photo of my completed quilt.  

Stitching a quilt label

As for my socks, they have come to a bit of a standstill.  I'm up to the heels, but need to spend a bit of time, sitting quietly on my own, while I read the pattern and mark off each row.  I've knitted heels plenty of times, but really need to concentrate.

Perhaps you remember the oven mitts I completed recently?  I posted them to my granddaughter Megan last week and received a thank you snap chat.

Thank you from Megan

My daughter Nicky has asked if I can make her oven mitts for her birthday, so I'm not finished with them yet.  That's next on my list to do.

This Binding was hard to Stitch

 I had a request from my granddaughter Megan for another oven mitt a while ago.  So I thought I had better get cracking and get on with it.  I like to make double handed oven mitts with hessian backing, insulbrite in the middle for heat resistance, and often another layer too - pieces of an old thin towel work great.  So I chose some strips and got sewing, deciding on one pink and the other one black/grey/teal.  I also like to stitch a double binding on the front, flip it over and hand stitch the back.  It's always a  bit more difficult to stitch through the hessian, just as well I used a nice strong needle.  My binding clips certainly came in handy keeping the binding in place.

Stitching the binding down

And here they are, all finished.  I really can't help myself, although the fabrics are scrappy, I just had to make sure the strips on each were "matching", so to speak.  I blame it on my star sign being Libra, the sign of the scales, even and balanced.  That's my story, anyway,

One blue, one pink

Megan and her  boyfriend own their own home, and Megan is a very keen cook.  I know she will appreciate these new oven mitts.

House Warming Gift

The gift to my granddaughter has been posted and received, so now it’s time to show it.  Megan and her boyfriend have recently bought a home, and we are very proud of their achievement.  Of course she needed a house warming gift – luckily I had already started an embroidered tea towel for Megan and her sister, so I was half way there.  With the embroidery complete, I added fabric borders to finish them off.

Ready for the top and bottom borders

How about a matching double handed oven mitt to go with it, I thought.  I used up the remaining scraps of the cupcake fabric and added another couple of fabrics too.  I like to use sacking on the back of these, to made them hard wearing.  Here I am up to the stitching the binding down stage.

Finishing up the oven cloth

Last week the gift was packaged up and put in the post, and arrived safely a few days later.  The tea towel was embroidered using the wonderful Stitcher’s Revolution transfers, from the Cute Kitchen Sayings series.

Happy House Warming, Megan and Michael

Polka Dot Apron

It’s always good to have a finish, and this week I’ve completed my polka dot apron plus a matching two handed oven cloth.  So I’m feeling rather pleased about that.  The apron was soon cut out earlier in the week and I started constructing the straps.

Stitching up the straps

Some time ago I had done these little stitcheries from “My Vintage Kitchen”, designed by Jenny of Elefantz.  In fact, I had stitched them especially to add to my apron.  Now was the time to put them all together.

Stitcheries from My Vintage Kitchen

I used a pattern from “More Retro Aprons” by Cindy Oates, version A-1 (on the right)  and added only a single ruffle instead of the four shown.  Not quite so fussy, to suit me better, I decided.

And here is my finished apron, using two of the stitcheries as pockets – it’s quite a simple design really.    I’m one of those people who like to, or perhaps I should I say need to wear an apron in the kitchen.

My new apron

With two extra stitcheries and a little extra fabric, I decided to make a double handed oven cloth.  Which incidentally, took longer to stitch than the apron.  That's UFO number 6 on my list finished.

Matching oven cloth

For those of you who know me well, you may be wondering why I am using lime green fabric for my new apron, when I am usually clothed in blue, or maybe a little pink or lilac?  It is because I had some lime green Perle cotton left after stitching the label for this Anniversary quilt made for my daughter and her husband.

Black and White and  Splash of Lime

As I felt I was unlikely to be stitching anything else in lime green, I used the rest of the thread to stitch the four little Vintage Kitchen stitcheries.  And then I had to find some lime green fabric to go with them.  Perhaps I have enough aprons now?

Camping amongst the Pohutukawa Trees

Finally finished – several projects for our caravan – using up just about all of the remaining camping in New Zealand fabric, featuring cute retro caravans, beach scenes and flowering pohutukawa trees.  With their beautiful crimson flowers tipped in gold, the trees are known as New Zealand Christmas trees.  All that remains of this fabric is just a few tiny pieces, although I have a reasonable amount of the plain grey homespun left.

New Zealand summer scene fabric

My plan over the weekend was this – to complete two placemats, one apron, and a double handed oven cloth.  So a little after lunch time on a wild, wet and windy Sunday the current number 6 has been knocked off my List of Six UFOs.  In between showers I stepped out to get an outdoors photo, hoping that the wind wouldn’t pick everything up off the wooden bench and blow them all over the fence!  I’m so pleased with another finish, and these items will reside in our caravan and get good use, I’m sure.

Sewing for the caravan

More Selvedge Fun

I hardly seem to have made a dent in my selvedge collect.  Even though another couple of selvedge projects have now been completed.  Mind you, I did have a big bag sent to me recently from Roz, just prior to her departure to relocate in Oz.  

Another set of breakfast place mats have been on the go for a wee while.  First I made a whole pile of these.  Nice easy sewing on to calico backing squares.

Selvedge squares

These were soon assembled into rows, backed, and quilted.  Then finished off with a black binding.

Selvedge place mats

And why not make myself a new double handed oven cloth, I decided.  With slip in pockets for my hands, hessian (sacking) on the back, plenty of wadding, this should last me for a while.  I’ve got a couple of others, but a new one won’t go astray.

Selvedge oven mitt

Ever heard of selvedge knitting?  I got the idea from the very talented Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts.  Read all about it here to make a knitted rag rug.  The instructions said to use size 35 needles, but I had no idea what they were – just used the largest ones I had.  The other change I made was to stitch the selvedges together instead of knotting them and leaving tails.  I also decided to use a single string instead of two together as the instructions said.

Knitting and my big ball of selvedges stitched end to end

Just love all the different colours coming through, offset by the various neutrals.  I used up long lengths, and shorter selvedges too, whatever came to hand, but kept the short lengths less than 12 inches for other projects.  Here is the finished rug, it fits in nicely in front of my laundry tub, adding a nice splash of muted colour.  I’m really pleased with it.  Robin did wonder what on earth I was doing in the evenings, wrestling with large needles and a big ball of fabric,  which was regularly replenished.

Knitted selvedge laundry rug

Reflecting Back on the Year that was

What a year it has been, our lives have certainly changed.  Not quite as much P&Q was completed during 2013 but….. After we sold our house in Upper Hutt we spent three months living in our caravan while the builders got busy, and I made the decision not to take my sewing machine along in the caravan too.  With travelling up to Levin several times a week to check on the house building project, there wasn’t much time for stitching, although I had some hand sewing and knitting to do when time allowed.  My one and only finish to show for our 3 months of living in the caravan was a little toddlers jumper.  Knitting this little jumper really brought back memories.  I remember knitting this same pattern in light blue for my little toddler Michael many years ago.  My little boy is now, I can hardly believe it, 49!  The old pattern is Patons 1845, and is knitted in double knit wool. Perhaps we’ll  have another little boy in the family one day?  Then I will prepared for him.

First finish of 2013

We moved into our new home in March 2013 and had curtains to order, furniture to arrange, pictures to be hung, and a million boxes to open!  My sewing room is still not organised exactly as I want it, and I am contemplating buying a bed settee for this room.  Or not – perhaps it will be too big and over powering?  So I’m dithering a bit on this decision.  Sewing took a back seat for a while, and then I felt motivated to make a few things for our new house.  Such as a new bag to store all those plastic grocery bags in.  I made it from a tea towel showing pictures of New Zealand flowers and flowering  native trees,  and it now hangs nice and tidy from a hook in the pantry.

Every kitchen needs one of these

Next on the list was sewing for our lounge:  a pair of green cushions using the left over fabric curtain fabric, and not one, but two table runners for our new coffee table.  Making the cushions was quite straight forward, but the table runners got put aside for a while and took a little time to complete.  The saw tooth stars were made from some of the extra curtain fabric, using a cream patterned fabric for the background, and plain green for the borders.  The second table runner was a bit more challenging to make.  Now I have two for the coffee table, to ring the changes.  I used some of the left over curtain fabric in both, the same green for the borders, but different neutral fabrics and both are made in different styles. 

Muffy on the couch with the new cushions

First runner made with Saw Tooth Stars

Second table runner

Then it was time to make a few gifts.  My old school friend Merilyn loves gardening.  I had been busy doing the stitchery off and on to make her cushion for ages, and luckily completed the project in time for her birthday.  The pattern is “Bless my Knees”, designed by Mulberry Street, USA.  I used No 5 Perle cotton for the stitchery, and added highlights with fabric pens. The body of the cushion is a pale green cotton fabric.  It fits in well with the decor, I was told, and has pride of place on one of the couches.

Made for Merilyn

Another gift was for my friend Dot, a belated 65th birthday present.  Two oven mitts, the green one is for Derek and Dot’s kitchen in their new house, and the lilac one will tone in  nicely with the colours of their motor-home.

Gift for Dot

Dot’s son Brent  has a real affinity with the American Bald Eagle and has quite a collection of eagle related items.   Tucked away in my sewing room was a piece of eagle fabric, eagles soaring against a blue sky.  It didn’t take too long to stitch up a pair of simple cushion covers.

For Brent

More sewing for me was next, my old peg apron was ripped so I stitched myself a new one.  Plus a Givenchy apron (sounds so posh, doesn’t it?)  This was was a panel purchased from an Op Shop for a mere $2!  I always wear aprons in the kitchen as I’m such a messy cook!

Blue Peg Apron

Purple Givenchy Apron

Not forgetting my ever so handy block roll which started life as a “quilting” tea towel, sent to me by my UK pen-friend a while ago. I backed it with calico, added a light wadding, and stipple quilted the layers together, then added the red binding and ties.  I use this to store my stitcheries in, keeps them nice and flat. 

 

Block Roll

We are getting near the end of my stitching year now.  And I have only one finished quilt for the year.  What a mammoth task this has been, machine quilting and unpicking time and again.  You are all probably heartily sick and tired of reading about the trials and tribulations of me and this quilt!  This quilt was a long time in the making,  I was working on the straight line machine quilting about seven years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer and underwent many long tiring weeks of radiation and chemo.  I couldn’t physically cope with it back then and when I finally returned to P&Q, this quilt held too many memories of this scary time.  But here it is, finished at last, over the back of the couch in the lounge looking very Christmassy indeed.

My Christmas quilt

Looking back over the year, although I have only finished one quilt, I’m surprised how many other smaller items I have made.  And it hasn’t really been a quilt free year, I’ve been spending time working on a couple of other UFOs during the year.  It’s just that they are not yet up to that all important finished stage.

Another thing I’ve noticed, is that I’ve done a lot more cooking and baking in my lovely new kitchen, with friends popping in for lunch, and afternoon tea, which is nice.  I’m also pleased with my jam making during the year – I made batches of feijoa and kiwifruit jam, plus marmalade.  And not forgetting making my first ever Christmas Cake, so yummy!  Wonder why it took me so long to finally make one of these?

I'm also so very pleased to have joined the local quilt club, Town and Country Quilters.  And been invited to join the Sew Wot ladies for their fortnighly get togethers in each other's homes.  Yes indeed, this has certainly been a good year!