Quilted Notice Board

I have been meaning to do this for ages as there was a large expanse of wall in my kitchen and lack of any sort of space to place reminders!

I cut out a piece of 4mm MDF 50x50cm square, and drilled a hole in each corner (so it could be attached to the wall). I then layered batting and owl print material and used a staple gun to attach the material to the back side of the MDF. I carefully placed elastic at equal intervals across the panel, attaching them on the reverse using the staple gun. To prevent the elastic from moving too much I pushed thumb tacks into the MDF where the elastic crossed over. Lastly, I cut holes in the material where I had drilled the MDF earlier and I attached the board to the wall using capped screw washers and screws.

I was really pleased with the result and was delighted that I used a full fat quarter of material with no waste!!

My first quilt

I have always wanted to make a proper quilt but I had never got around to having a go. Thanks to a couple of lessons with a very talented lady, Tricia Vint (thepiedpedlar.blogspot.com), I was able to produce my first patchwork quilt. The fabric is from a moda charm square pack plus a few fat quarters of my favourite designs. I used the quilt fab application on the iPhone to decide on the design and ended up choosing the kings crown and the lemoyne star blocks in alternate configuration. I am really pleased with the pattern and the colours, but my quilting skills still need to be perfected! I was a little lazy at the end with the binding though and used pre-made bias binding, i should really have done it properly but i just could not wait to see the finished product! A really fun make.

Angry Eagle

I made this for my nephew Thomas after I found out how expensive these things are to buy. I made it quite a lot larger than the ones you can buy, I think that made it even more appealing to Thomas! The base measured about a meter from front to back at the base, as it made Thomas look tiny as he is only 4! Anyway it turns out he loved it. However as I did not make a pattern I can't make it again if he decides he wants another one!! I used fleece material and hollow fibre stuffing, lovely and soft! I sketched the shape of the panels onto the reverse side of the material and assembled with quite a lot of adjustment as I went along. Great fun though.

A new Joy!

I have recently purchased a spinning wheel an Ashford joy. I love it! Previously i could not understand how people had the patience to spin their own yarn, but now i have the bug. I have been practicing on some blue wool tops, the result was a little lumpy, but i am sure i am getting the hang of it!

I finished spinning some texel fleece into a two ply Aran weight yarn, see white hank below.

Below is some Jacob yarn that I have been spinning (see before and after carding and spinning images below) a little on the rough side but a good practice yarn as it has a long staple length. I am thinking of using yarn the crochet some baskets as it is quite tough! Love the colour!

Watch this space for less lumpy yarn!