It's been a while....

 Many projects have been worked on since my last post, some have been finished😇, most not. 

You can catch up with me on https://www.instagram.com/sussex_gansey/

I have been taking stock of my crafting tasks in the last month or so......things have got out of hand!  It has been a useful exercxise whist recovering from back injury. I am trying to get as many of the quilt tops together and finnished as I can, to eliminate all the boxes and baskets of bits. I'm counting plastic storage donation  as a win! 

I have  way too many four  patches from   2" and 1 1/2" strips, made as leaders and enders.  These four patches and pinwheels which I sewed up this week from pre-made scrappy four patches  and red  pre-cut triangles  will be pieced into Patches and Pinwheels, a free pattern  on Bonnie Hunters blog page. They need pressing first, along with a lot of other stuff!  This project hasn't  scratched the surface of the four patches. It will probably be a gift. There are enough scrappy four patches for two quilts and I have more precut triangles......slow and steady😏

I have lots of small four patches and 1 1/2" strips from another project.   I had tried out scrappy houses a while ago, so I have made 15 six  patch strips like this with  what I had. Thats another small pile out of the way. 

I will add to these as I cut more strips. More on the pressing pile.

I have also worked on the scrappy strip block pile, making up the strips, pressing cutting, making up the blocks for trimming to 10" square.  So much to cut and press! 

Old clothing, edge strips, uglies, orphan blocks, wonky blocks, crumbs and chunks, selvedges, ribbon from christmas gifts, it all goes in. 

Linked to Quilting is more fun than Housework...: Oh Scrap! : Strings

These are the leader-ender  broken dishes I have been working on for a couple of years, cut from 2" strips, now being pieced into blocks. I think I have enough for a top. I'm not sure how to set them, side by side, or borders? 

I have been grateful for the things I have finished this winter. This picture is titled Unmade Bed- a puzzle quilt, a ten stitch blanket and a 16 patch leader ender quilt, along with the duvet. Cozy!

Archie the grandpup approves when I sit him

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These are some of the projects I have worked on in the last few months.....

there is much more going on.....

I put these completed  blocks togeather last week. I really like this one, it will be a gift. 

This winter, I put togeather two of these blankets with crochet, made from scrap yarn. the squares are double sided, nice warm pockets , it's very heavy. These took 16 years: I remember when I tried the first square.  As you can tell, I don't do sittting still really. 

I have made and yarn bombed  many jellyfish from scap yarn and buttons.

Much more to come! 

Thanks for dropping by.

💕

Decluttering and mending

I started another ten stitch blanket this week for Project Linus UK (well, 20 really-it grows quicker!)

I have a lot of random green yarn scraps, they may as well go to make someone warm rather than be binned. It will be my YouTube  watching project for cold winter nights. 

Sewing this week has been clothing repairs and a few 3" finished leader-ender broken dishes blocks...

...and a LOT of draw cleaning and reorganisation! I have five empty drawers now that I must not fill up with NEW projects! 

I found lots of  half made four patches left over from Perkiomen Daydreams-this was intended to be a large quilt, however I wasn't happy with the accuracy, so it ended up as a cot size flimsy. 

I need to find something to do with several hundred navy four patches that finish at 2". 

Busy year, but still sewing!

Thank goodness for sewing, its got me through a tough year! 

 I have logged my finishes on the 'finish' tab.

This is a little of what's been happening in the last couple of weeks: 

I have so much scrap yarn-this is my busy bag project, blanket squares for Project Linus

There are about 200 done, clipped into sets of 10, not enough to start making blankets yet as the colours are too varied. 

The next batch  of scraps  is ready for use. I have my mums yarn stash that was used for Linus blankets now, I have to use it somehow. It is impossible for me to sit and watch TV with nothing in my hands so it will be knitted up eventually. I even took my bag to an open air theatre event: there were some strange looks, mostly as I was watching the play, not my knitting!  I would have been too self conscious to knit in public a few years ago, now it has to be done. Idle hands and all that...…... 

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I made 64 railroad tracks blocks from my 2 1/2" strip stash. I had lots of muddy neutrals that were not moving from the stash, which I paired with darker shades. the blocks came out really well,, I will be keeping this one for me! 

There are lots of other blocks made with the leftover cuts from this project, more of that in the next post. 

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Leader~ender blocks are coming along, broken dishes made from the 2" string bin.

I cut  up a lot of fabric that would never go into a design of mine normally, use it or bin it! 

Also some four patches from 2" strings. I have enough of these for a queen sized quilt now.

I need to browse some designs that include random four patches for inspiration.

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This is the second sandwich I have quilted this week.  The pattern is Bonnies Garlic Knots, from 2" strips. I loved the pattern, but using the white sheeting for a background was too stark for my taste with the dark 'knots', so this is one for Project Linus, boy themed with rhinos. I find that many of the Linus quilts I make end up a bit girly, so I went with these little grey tough guys for a border. 

The binding wont be sewn down for a bit, I like to do that in batches in the cooler weather. 

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This little darling came into the family on Valentines Day

I am going to be looking after Ellen one or two days a week. 

She already has too may blankets! 

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Roundup

 

I made a big push to complete the 1" square king size. 

I decided to border it in black and white.

When your  1 1/2" finished leader ender triangles look enormous........................!

I only have ONE border to sew on and the top is done. 

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I ironed a bit more of the stash of strings, but got bored before I trimmed them, it can wait for a wet winter afternoon

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I put together a few blocks for ocean waves, as the dump draw for sewn hsts was full

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I had a week sitting two dogs and two cats. I didn't get many hexies done, as you can see, all four thought I was there to provide a lap!   Love those four though! 

Progress is good, just have the edges to square off now.  

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Not much progress on the gansey inspired jacket, though I have started on a sleeve

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I finished a seaweed scarf for a gift

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I finished grandpuppy Archie's blankie made from shirt parts and batting scraps, double thick, quickly quilted. 

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 Two more placemats bound and borders sewn to two garlic knots Linus quilts

Thats it!

Use it or bin it 2

 I have been knitting. This will be a long jacket, made in one piece: I have borrowed the construction method from gansey knitting. No pattern! I have put it away until it's colder as sitting with this on my lap is like a double knitted blanket! 

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 I have about 250 scrappy nine patches sewn up, I used half of them to make this 'I Spy' dancing nine patch, perfect border fabric bought at a bargain price! Yet to be quilted.....

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Leftover blocks from 'Sisters Square dance': a table runner, twelve table mats and an occasional table cover/mugrug.  Just four finished and bound so far. 

 The original: 

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Still chugging away at the random leader ender 1 1/2" finished triangles.

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Twelve Linus quilts and 10 blankets are ready to go. Mum knitted the blanket strips and  my daughter in law and I crocheted them up.

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 I sewed up hundreds more pairs of 3" finished triangles, ready for .....something! All that pressing, all those dog ears to clip! 

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Some more quilters tinsel made with stitch and flip clippings!

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Garlic Knots: I just could not like this pattern, I would have thought this regular chain piecing project would be fun.  Nope. Tried several variations: I may come back to it in brighter colours someday; meanwhile, the blocks will be put to use, two Linus flimsies. I like the stitch and flip corners for sure and I think I like it better set on point. The contrast between the dark knots and white background it too much.

An ugly, to be put down to experience!

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 Mum gave me her 201k, bought at a boot sale 20 years ago for £16, model from 1950s. 

Oiled, up and running: very clean inside, unmarked paintwork, outside needs some attention. 

The 2 x 3 1/2" brick bin wasn't getting touched, so I sewed them all together to see how she runs: VERY fast and very quiet! I have a Bonnie pattern in mind for these. 

 I also raided the 2" and 3 1/2" squares to make these blocks, very scrappy. Love how they turned out! 

 I had an incident with this little blighter, chasing it round for 5 minutes! 

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Then I tackled the crumb bin, making  strips for the next crumb quilt, mostly from mis-shaped triangles. Must get a bulb!

Then the strip bin: these will be cut down to 10" inches  after pressing. I made a serious mess! 

I also started on the 1" strip bin, use it or bin it! This is work in progress. 

This is the quilt I made with crumbs and strips last time: Eclipse 1. I gifted it as a surprise to a sick colleague and his wife a few weeks ago, with instructions to spread it in the garden and stay until he recovered!

Some serious mindless sewing done in the last two weeks to take my mind of real life for a bit, I am so grateful for this hobby! 

By the way, I have a rotten camera on my phone!