Thursday Progress

A bit delayed with this month's progress report but at least progress has been made!

I've got as far as the heel flap on the sock

Considering the first one took me over a year and at least two false starts this is extremely rapid progress. Joking apart there is a slim chance that I might have it finished this weekend.

A bit of effort has also been dedicated to the blanket resulting in an almost completed square. 

This is actually quite a quick one but I find using the cable needle I currently have a little tricky.

Onward and upwards!

Friday Night Sew In ...the results

A late start to this FNSI but I managed to get what I planned done and for once it was wholly sewing.

My workspace all set up

Work in progress

I concentrated on nesting the seams so that everything would line up.  I was mostly successful and at least not noticeably unsuccessful!

Two complete tops

I'm really pleased with them and quite amazed at how bright they are. I still don't think I strongly prefer one layout over another, which is a good think as it means I want to finish both.  I have a wildly optimistic idea I could have them layered and quilted by the end of this weekend, judging by what else we've got planned this weekend I think that might be too optimistic!

How did everyone else's FNSI go?

Friday Night Sew In

For the first time in ages (possibly the first time this year) I will be taking part in Friday Night Sew In. For those of you who haven't come across it yet its a virtual get together of quilters around the world via their blogs.  On the designated Friday evening we all see together and then share our results on our blogs.

If you want to know more or to join in visit the sign in page on Wendy's blog ...HERE

See you Friday!

My Ultimate Gadget

After a trip to IKEA last week to pick up some necessary parts I finally got my new 'gadget' set up over the last few days.

This...

Plus this...

Becomes this...

Throw in my own sewing machine and a test piece of fabric and ... wallah...

...a freestyle quilting frame from Cotton Orchard Quilts, who are conveniently located about an hour from my home (and IKEA trestle legs supporting it).  

We first came across these at the Great British Sewing Bee Live.  I'd always dreamed of having a long arm quilter but space and finances prevented it, so I was in love when we saw these.  I've gone for a 2.5m frame which can hold quilts up to 2.1m wide ish.  I am going to try and squeeze the wedding quilt onto it, but in future if I want to larger quilts I'm going to have to probably quilt as I go.

Had my first play on it this evening...

(Underneath view - no eyelashes in this bit)

(It was suggested that initial practice was carried out on a cheap bedsheet without wadding to practice technique)

Lots more practice required and I'm going to have to re-read my FMQ books for inspiration.

Sunday Progress - Feels like déjà vu

Still going...

Halfway down the leg of the second sock. It's been a busy and tiring week at work so not a whole lot of progress has been made on the UFO's, but a little is better than nothing!

Fridays - Fruit and Gadgets

I'm in the lucky situation that I now often get Friday evenings to dedicate to crafting and I try to make the most of it (post working week tiredness permitting). 
This Friday I started to sew together my fruit squares.  They are destined to be a table runner, but I couldn't decide on the best layout even after drawing the options...



 So I decided to sew both seeing as I had plenty of squares.  (It has just occurred to me that I could have just laid the squares out and chosen my preferred layout but nevermind).  So far all the rows are sewn together and pressed.  Still waiting on so heat resistant wadding to be delivered, but hopefully it won't take too long.

This Friday was a very good craft day as I spent the afternoon purchasing a quilting "gadget" I'd never thought I'd own.

At the moment it looks like this...

And this...

 But hopefully after a quick-ish trip to IKEA I'll have something much more exciting to show.

Sunday Progress...Avoiding second sock syndrome

With minimal time dedicated to craft this week I have actually managed to finish my first magic loop sock.

And I have even started the second sock...

It's the sensible thing to do!

Being optimistic I have decided on my next UFO list:

1. Xmas stocking.
2. Little Xmas knits.
3. Sparkle punch quilt.
4. Cushion cover.

Again a couple of relatively quick ones and some more long term projects.  Of course nothing, well at least the Xmas stocking, can't be worked on until the mystery blanket is finished.  Good thing I don't want the stocking for this year!

Sunday Progress - Turning a corner

To a certain extent, work and work related socialising has impeded my crafty progress this week. Although saying that an overnight shift did allow me to focus on my sock knitting (and sort some random 2.5 inch squares that I have for some reason that I don't remember...more about them another time).

The outcome of this sock dedication is that I have finally turned the heel on my first magic loop sock.

I realised I'm a bit out of practice with any method of sock knitting but I got there with a bit of googling.

The magic loop technique definitely makes for an easily portable project (no chance of runaway needles) 
but it feels a little slower than using dpns with all the adjusting for front and back. Maybe I'll have to start another pair using dpns once I've finished this as a sort of experiment!?

Oh and this is how I port my portable knitting projects...

It's actually a large climbing chalk bag, but ideal for a single ball of wool and short needles or a crochet hook.  Ive recently noticed the loop on the front which can hold scissors or such like if needed.

Sunday Progress - a little late but (almost) worth the wait

The less exciting news first. I have finished another patch on my knitted blanket.

This one seemed really quick as it was pretty much just 2 rows repeated 25 times. 

Only three more squares to go (unless I've managed to miss another patch somewhere along the line).

And now onto the star of the show...

The Xmas quilt is finished ... binding on, ends sewn in and tacks removed. Started over Xmas 2011 it's finally done for Xmas 2017!

With the finishes slowly building up I'm considering what other UFOs and unstarted projects to focus on next.

Feeling Fruity

My crafting this week seems to have developed a fruit theme (assuming you can call baking crafting). 

I have finally started a project using the RJR Farmer's Market fabric, which I've probably had longer than this blog.

I'd always intended on making something for a dining table for the but wasn't entirely sure about a design. I bit the bullet and cut them into 3.5inch squares which I will use to make a simple table runner (maybe two if I have enough squares).

I love the almost photographic nature of the print.

The other fruit I have been working with is the fruit for a Christmas cake, once again I'm using the Pink Which recipe ... HERE ...tried and tested and all that.

Ideally the fruit has to soak in brandy and sweetened orange juice for six weeks, being stirred daily for the first week - smells amazing! Last year I made my cake very last minute and only soaked the fruit for a couple of days, still tasted good though.

Sunday Progress

Having been away for a week I wasn't expecting to have much progress to report but an unexpected sewing night on Friday has significantly helped matters.

For the first time I used the sewing table set up in our new house.

The room is yet to be decorated and the furniture is likely to be changed but, with the addition of a lamp behind machine, I think this will be fine. And I can always go and use the dining room table!

So what got progressed? Well from my UFO list I actually finished the Kindle case...

I think this one is definitely the best yet, although there is a little bit of bulkiness inside which may be due to missing a pressing step or being too nervous when trimming the seams.  The only thing which is slightly irritating is the upside down hedgehogs on the flap. Ah well!

I also started my 47th ish block on the knitted blanket.

Not on my UFO to-do list, yet, is the 365 quilt blocks...

8 and 9 Jan completed, I think I will be joining the 2018 challenge too!

I'm now going to curl up with my binding sewing and see if I can achieve another finish this week.

The Woollen Mill...or what we did on our holidays!

I'd originally intended this post to be about the week away we've just had, until we visited Trefriw Wool Mill and I realised that deserved a post all of its own.

We decided to go to the mill because of the lovely bed throw in our hotel room. When we first arrived the scene in the shop was less than inspiring, as they were moving all the stock up to one end of the shop and covering over any stock they couldn't move due to their turbine being serviced that day. 

Whilst umming and ahing about whether to buy ourselves a throw we thought we might as well have a quick look at the mill workings which were open to the public (at least until the turbine servicing began).

I didn't really expect much from the loom we saw on the way up to the mill, but when we got up to the spinning floor...wow! I was fascinated.

This machine stretches the wool rovings into thread as it moves across the floor and the winds the thread onto bobbins as it moves back, just like a woman with a spinning wheel but on an industrial scale.

The thread is then wound onto cones and the cones of thread and twisted together to increase strength.

This machine winds the thread into hanks ready for dying.

A few other steps occur, including winding the warp threads from many cones onto a beam, before the weaving happens...

This is just one of several looms and is dedicated to weaving the bed throws. You can see some of the mills historic bed throws in the background.

The mill was a water mill using the mill wheel to drive all the machines constantly. Nowadays the machines are powered by electricity but not from the national grid. The previously mentioned turbine generates the electricity required using the flow of the mill stream. So this historic mill is still water powered...

And after wandering around all this industrial machinery we managed to decide on a bed throw...

Progress Update

So around a week off work spent decorating a large bedroom I have managed to make some progress on my UFOs, or at least some of them. I haven't done anything on the Kindle cover or the socks.

I am pleased with progress on the Xmas quilt, I'm over half way with the binding. I was a bit impatient to get this one finished so I bought some fabric called craft cotton for the binding. Regretting that a little now as I don't know why but it's stiffer than normal cotton so a bit awkward to manipulate but it seems to look okay sewn on so I'm persevering.

The knitted blanket is going well...

This should be the 46th square of 49, with the remaining ones being duplicates of the ones below it, nothing too tricky or time consuming there.
You may have noticed I said should be...while searching for this final strip I noticed that one strip is missing it's top square. Not too sure how this happened as I've been working through the books in order. Luckily it's a simple one so quickly sorted, just taking the shineout of finishing the above strip a little. Oh well!