Quilting and finishing things

I got the latest page of the Pinfold Book Challenge finished in good time for the Fabric Sale in Nantwich yesterday. I will show you some photos of the Pinfold stand at this show a little later in this post. This page was for Rosemary's book "By the Silver Stream". The bulrushes are free machine embroidery over a fine soft tulle. This is then hand stitched in place over a background made from various colours of dye catchers. The frog on the left is a line drawing in permanent marker onto a further piece of dyecatcher. This one had turned a lovely patchy green - a really useful colour.

The NWCQ quilt is now almost finished. I just need to add borders. Sorry about the dull photo, I shall try again in the morning to see if I can get a lighter picture. There are FME trees added, stitched over fine tulle this has been handstitched in place with a few sequins colouring one of the trees. A little train button has been added beside the tunnel, just as a bit of fun.

One item which has been finished is my Scania shawl. As you can see the fringe has yet to be trimmed and the whole thing could do with blocking. It should be really cosy to wear. Aggie is wearing it at the moment.

I did mention the annual Fabric sale in Nantwich. The Pinfold members provided such a variety of items to show on the stand that it proved very popular with visitors who really enjoyed looking at what we had made. You can see more photos of the show here. If you are on Facebook, the show has it's own Facebook page here.

Getting back into the flow

The elements for my Scania Shawl arrived on Saturday. The yarn is Cloudborn Fibers Highland Superwash Sock Twist. I wasn't sure what to expect from the yarn since I had never seen it anywhere before ordering this kit. It is rather nice, 80% Superwash "Fine Highland wool" and 20% Polyamide from Peru (via Craftsy in the USA). It has travelled rather a long way.........

The colours are: Black, Charcoal Heather, Grey Heather, Oatmeal Heather and Ecru. The pattern asks for two colours to be knitted together for each section making a marled appearance. Yes, I haven't knitted much. I started late on Saturday night after a very lengthy time trying to work out what the pattern meant. It is written more like a recipe than a traditional knitting pattern. It certainly challenged my "little grey cells". Yes, I do rather enjoy watching Poirot / Miss Marple or Agatha Christie stories on the TV. So relaxing since I know the stories relatively well and they do not interrupt the thinking behind working out a technical section of pattern.

I've rather given up on the cardigan for now, but can pick this up at any stage to carry on. The back and left front are complete and the ribbing for the right front is well under way.

The NWCQ quilt is coming together. The background has now been quilted and the bits and pieces for the applique are being auditioned ready for the next stage.

At Pinfold this week, I picked up these two silk shawls from the sales table. Not sure what I shall do with these.The one below the floral patterned shawl is actually to printed shawls side by side. They have never been cut apart and hemmed. I need to think about whether to use this for nuno felt or to make these up as gifts. The one on top I shall keep for myself and wear. It is rather a pretty shawl and I can always use it for nuno at some future date. For now it will be washed and then put aside to be worn.

I took my husband out for lunch during the week and we explored Blakemere. After looking round the antiques, we visited Peepultree where I picked up these lovely blocks to add to my collection.

Finishing projects - or trying to.

Cushion cover - reverse to show the construction

It has been another busy week here. Not a lot to show for it, since some items cannot be shown since they are gifts to be given on Wednesday. However, a lot of work has been put into this cushion cover. 

It all started some months ago as a challenge to myself and then got left as other projects took over. You can see my original post about this project here. I find it quite a shock to realise that this has been under way for some seven months now. Hopefully it will not take too much longer, although I do plan to knit a back. The back is going to be striped rather than anything else so that I can use up the remains of the yarn left over.

Cushion cover - the front under way

As you will have noticed there still rather a lot of ends to be sewn in, as well as patches for those holes between the sections.

Needlecase under construction

One of the projects completed is this needlecase. I can't yet show the completed item since this will be handed over on Wednesday. There are also some handmade cards. Like an idiot, I forgot to take photos of these before sealing up the handmade envelopes. Never mind, I shall take my camera with me to the Pinfold meeting. There will be a collection of handmade needlecases which will be handed out randomly as well as cards. It will be interesting to see what others have made.

Adding piping

Another completed project is the "Trees" page for the Pinfold book challenge. This will be shown to the owner before being handed over to the next person to complete their page. I will come home with another book and will have another page to complete before our January meeting. I must be mad, but I do enjoy these challenges.

Almost completed Pinfold book challenge - Trees

Another challenge project is now under way. This is for NWCQ. I mentioned the project at the end of this post about a month ago. Nothing is sewn at the moment with pins holding all my bits and pieces together. It is nice to be able to get under way with this one.

NWCQ challenge under way