New Year/old year roundup

Happy New year to you all!  How are we half way through January already?  My resolutions are the same as ever: will I find greater resolve to stick to them, I wonder?  Hopefully writing this post is a good start!

It is a third of a year since I last posted so I will try and account for that briefly and then press on with more interesting stuff.  Thinking backwards into December and beyond, but leaving out the usual Christmas admin and celebrations:

• I attended two craft fairs and sold some of my many quilts - it felt great to re-home some of them to new families.  I have had the pleasure of making and I hope the new owners will enjoy using them for many years; 
• I gifted a couple of cot quilts to new babies, born to the daughters of friends, and a quilted baby jacket (see below); 
• my dog, now a geriatric at the age of twelve, was unwell at the beginning of December and needed several vet appointments.  He is now on lots of medication but it seems to be helping and his quality of life (and therefore ours too) has improved; 
• my daughter finally completed on her flat purchase and moved, and there have been a few teething problems as well as practical help provided;
• as ever there was a ton of village admin piling up, especially with all the extra Christmas activities; 
• November saw the decorators arrive; they were very welcome and did a great job, but there was, and continues to be, a great deal of moving of furniture and clearing up before and after - we are determined to get our house straight after three decades of accumulated family living.
• I attended a great workshop in October and made a drum lampshade for my younger son's room.  I am so pleased with the result that I now want to re-lampshade all the rooms in the house (though I need to choose new curtain fabric and re-make all the curtains first!).
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• I taught four classes, including how to make the baby jacket referred to above, and also the little scrappy squares mentioned below.  Photos below of the jacket I made and gifted to the daughter of one of our oldest friends who had a baby boy in December.
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• I made dozens of these little jackets years ago when my children were young and my friends were having babies; now it is their children who are producing the next generation.  The jacket is a pleasure to make and to give.
• I went to Scotland with my mum who was 89 years old this week!  It's a long drive from the south of England but so glorious once you are there:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  These photos were taken at Rannoch Moor station.  There was an unexpected bonus in that we happened to be there when a steam train arrived, and as we were leaving this family group of red deer came down beside the road and posed for their pictures.
  
  
  
  

So what of this year?  I have just this week started sewing again and my warm-up piece has been to make more of the Scrappy Squares: Log Cabin Variation which I posted about here (relevant photos are at the end of the post) and here.  

This is such an enjoyable side project to have going on alongside other tasks.  I cut up whatever is left over from other quilt projects and then have fun choosing interesting colour combinations for each little (5") block.  Positively addictive, I find myself looking at existing WIPS and thinking I must hurry up and finish the quilts so I can use the leftover fabric for scrappy squares!

And my first completed make for 2020 is (drumroll of anticipation):

On Sunday I attended a workshop locally run by the excellent Nicki Rowling and made this striped willow basket with an asymmetric border and wooden handle.

I still cannot quite believe that I managed to make it!  I have done basket making in the past but not for a long time, and apart from sore hands (it is quite physical), I am raring to do it again.  

I think if I hadn't been a quiltmaker I would have made baskets or done upholstery - I love the craft of both, and the fact that you don't need to be 'arty' to succeed.  What would you like to have been/done if you had your time over again?

More to report which will have to wait for another post.  For now, I wish you a happy weekend and time to progress your own projects, whatever they may be.

Friday finishes - long overdue

Gosh, Friday again: where has the week (and most of February) gone? I have had a busy week but managed to fit in some sewing, so I can post a couple of finished quilts.

It is not as impressive as it might seem as one of these was quilted in November and has been waiting patiently for me to handstitch down the binding. For proof see this post.

And the other was being quilted when I posted here.

So basically I have stitched down two bindings this week - big deal! But great to have both finished at last.

First of all is the Madras Star and Lattice, a quilt top I pieced many years ago but which I still like, though I would probably use something other than plain old calico (muslin) for the background if I was making it now.

It's always interesting to revisit a quilt from one's past and see how fashions in quilting fabrics and designs have changed, as in so many other things. But given that we all still like to look at quilts from the 19th century, I am holding out for this one being considered quaint and homely - though our great grandmothers would probably have done a bit more quilting....

This is quite a large quilt, measuring 76" x 95".  The blocks are 9 1/2" finished, so the squares from which the blocks are constructed would have been cut 3".  

This makes a big quilt with relatively few blocks (set 7 x 9, there are 32 Star blocks and 31 Lattice blocks) but I think I would be inclined, if I were to make this design again, to scale it down and use 2 1/2" strips and squares for slightly daintier 8" finished blocks.

The second quilt is from a design/pattern by Jo Kramer posted on Moda Bakeshop back in 2011, and I guess I probably pieced the top around then. It is called Chain of Faith, and I made up my top using lots of different neutrals from my stash and a single beautiful Moda red floral. 

There is something about the Moda reds which is so attractive, I am always drawn to the reds in every Moda collection and it's easy on the eye - not so demanding as the Kaffe Fassett reds in my last couple of posts!

Here are some closeups to show the range of neutrals I chose to add interest (and use up some of my stash!).  The great thing about using a large floral for the 'solid' is that it reads the same at a distance but each cut square is subtly different as the large pattern is chopped up randomly.  Plenty to keep the eye travelling across the quilt.

This is another fairly large quilt at 88" square and I chose to quilt a simple cross hatch to keep the quilt soft and drapey and to get it finished. A good quilt for snuggling on the sofa on a grey day.

I am delighted to be able to link to Crazy Mom Quilts today for Finish it up Friday - do go and visit and admire Amanda Jean's latest finished quilt, it's gorgeous!

Have a great weekend!