Its been a while.

Hello there, sorry its been rather a while since I last wrote anything on this Blog. Been rather too busy even to sew!
The photos are of a piece of black work started recently, this has turned into a sampler and will have strips of different designs all in autumnal (Fall) colours - brown, red, orange, yellow, etc. I've started it in YLI Jeans Stitch thread, which is rather nice to use for handstitching. The work is being stitched on 28 count fabric.
The little book shows what happened to the sample I made to try out the motif. I couldn't waste it, so I made it into a little notebook. Not sure what I shall use the notebook for.....
The motif comes from a delightful book by Pamela Warner, called "Tudor treasures to embroider" (ISBN 1-86108-249-5).

This is the eighth block I was planning to make the last time I wrote.
Next, I am starting a new bag. This will be another project bag - plenty of pocket space for bits and pieces.



This is being made in the same way as the fabric for my hussif and bagpurse. Lots of fabric scraps from my collection. (Can anyone tell me why it is that the more of these scraps I use up, the more I seem to have?) For this one, the colours are autumnal (Fall) - browns, reds, yellows, with some orange too. I have doodled daisies and leaves all over the surface to tie down the scraps.

These are two blocks, part of a Block-a-month challenge which I have been steadily working on for Knots and Needles P & Q. So far I have completed seven of the twelve. The eighth is ready in my work-box waiting to be constructed.
I decided that half of the blocks would be on a white background whilst the rest are to be on black - the eventual quilt should almost look like a rather bizarre chess board. These are ready to be quilted since I shall be constructing this as a quilt-as-you-go. Typically, I haven't started doing this yet!
The original designs came from a local Quilt Shop called Calico Wagon. They call these designs "Beartown Blocks".



The following photo shows the reverse of each of the above blocks. I had lots of fun cutting up squares for this, just wanting a lively pattern for the reverse of the quilt. I have already made enough to back twelve blocks.

A photograph of one of those UFOs I mentioned last time. This unfinished object is the Round Robin I started with Cranford Quilters. Its now got the stage of having all the bits sewn together. All I need to do now is the quilting. I only hope that I can get it all finished in time for the group's exhibition in early November.



This second photo shows my original block. The centre was the first piece to be done, being sent off to be added to during the run of the Round Robin. The cats faces were taken from photographs taken by my younger daughter of our own two cats.
For this Round Robin, the strips were not sewn together as the work progressed. Instead the pieces were all returned to the original block-maker to be pieced and quilted. I have added the two blocks either side since the pieces were returned to me at the end of July. I have also added sashing with written statements between each of the blocks.
The writing beneath the block reads "Now who's the cats paw?" A cats paw being someone who acts at the bidding of another. I feel myself, like many cat owners, to be the cats paw in this household.
I felt really privileged taking part in this Round Robin since the other members have made such a wonderful job of each of the strips.

I have been rather busy lately catching up with some of my UFOs. Unfortunately this has meant not being able to keep up to date with this Blog. However, I have been able to complete one item - a bag.
It started off as an Origami Pocket Pouch. The design was one I found on this delightful site:

http://mylittlemochi.typepad.com/my_little_mochi/

then add:

2005/05/origami_pocket_.html

Part way through I decided that I couldn't bear to fold up the fabric square I had made and lose sight of some of the fabrics I had used. So a quick design change was made and this bag is the result. It has two small pockets inside a larger opening. I used cat buttons to fasten the handles onto the main body of the bag.

These gorgeous flowers have been gracing my garden this summer. I just had to share them with you. My husband planted them and they really have made a glorious show of colour this year.

The figure is now complete, butI have still not decided on a name for him. He is my Garden Guardian, and sits on his chair in my dining room with a small friend. This is a pottery wren I was given several years ago.

And now, the chair I have made for him to sit in. The base is one of my large cotton reels, emptied recently. The flower was made basically like the "Bowl full of sunshine" article written by Ann Kirk in the current "Stitch" magazine. It is wired to keep in position on top of the cotton reel.

www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch