Blankets

It all started with one shell stitch blanket to use up some yarn. It was made years ago while I was in BC visiting my eldest daughter and her family. It ended up in Toronto and is now used by my middle daughter's children in the stroller.

Then, I made another - this time in the UK while I was visiting my youngest daughter and it is a smaller stroller blanket for a grandson. Once again, to use up some yarn.

I bought this yarn in England when I was visiting my youngest daughter and her family. The yarn was a package of three or four big balls on sale and I figured I could do something with it so I crocheted a lap blanket for stroller walks for one of my granddaughters.

After making that blanket, my granddaughter liked it so much that she now takes it to bed with her every night. Her sister then wanted a blanket and this pink striped one is the one I made for her. 

Here's her cousin who wanted a blanket too. I used up that middle yarn that I had purchased in England and a few other pinky yarns that I had. 

And then her twin sister wanted one.

This time, a blue blanket. All the yarns are worsted weight but they seem to be different. Some are softer than others. I actually bought the lighter blue variegated yarn which was a big ball. I just finished this one and have to weave in the ends. These last two blankets are about 38 inches long and they do stretch over time. The twins want them to cover their legs when they watch TV which is housed in the basement. 

I think I will now take a break from crocheting blankets. 

Stay tuned...

I have so much more yarn to use up.

Something new

It's Row by Row time again. There aren't many quilt shops participating. In Canada there are only four provinces that are offering patterns and kits. I liked some of the patterns and decided I would purchase some kits. Here's the beginning.

Please excuse the photo. I took it outside while there was still a bit of light. I'll take better photos as I continue with the rows. Here's three rows. All machine applique. The theme this year is summertime. I have two more rows that are pieced. One is complete and the other is almost finished. The flowers and butterflies in the top row were all pre-cut so it went together quickly. That row is not fused but just sewn around all the applique pieces. The kit came with yellow buttons that are for the centre of the flowers. I will sew them on at some point. I have two butterflies that I will sew somewhere on the whole quilt but I didn't want to add them to that row. I thought it would look too busy. I am planning on quilting a butterfly or two in the empty spaces.

Canada Day

 Happy Canada Day!!!

Some 'little' sewing

One of my granddaughters turned 4 about a week ago. Her mom and dad bought her a Corolle doll and asked if I would make some clothes for the doll. I gathered up some fabric but it was a bit hard to find patterns to fit. Luckily, I had a Cabbage Patch doll clothes pattern that seemed to be the correct size for a 14 inch doll. I sewed up a couple of extra outfits so that her sister, who also had the same make of doll, could have different clothing.

I like the dresses and the matching bloomers.

I found this little piece of coral print and thought it would make a nice dress.

This is her sister's little doll outfit.

I never ended up showing these 10 little treat bags that I made for Easter. 

Each one had pompom tails but no faces.

They didn't take long to sew up. I found the pattern on the internet.

Having these little bags saved me from hiding the treats in the backyard.

Here's a few of the recipients with their bags.

They were filled with a variety of goodies.

I will now be concentrating on crocheting a blanket and sewing up some quilt blocks.

UFOs done

 Finally.

This quilt was a pattern in a McCall's magazine sometime in the 1980s. It was a top for decades that was sandwiched and basted. I did start to hand quilt it in the middle but that was it. I wasn't sure how I wanted it quilted and so it sat, waiting. I think it was a case of not coming with a good idea as to how to quilt it and also what colours to quilt it in. Finally, in 2017, I put it in my frame and quilted it. And then it sat - again. There is a quilt show coming up in September with one of my quilt guilds and so I decided that once and for all, it will be finished. I self bound it and it was completed yesterday. All it needs now is a hanging sleeve and a label. I still love it and it will hang in my hall soon.

This shows how I finally decided to quilt it.

I took these photos off my blog - March 2017.

Here's the other UFO that I'm working on. It's a 3D bowtie quilt. All of the bowties are made with floral fabrics and they are all different. I am having a longarm quilter do the quilting on it. Once it's finished, I shall take another photo showing the quilting. It has no border.

I'm currently working on testing a paper pieced pattern and putting together a Minecraft quilt for one of my granddaughters.