Playing

And learning!

My mom and I have been playing with food colouring, KoolAid and yarn for a couple of days (and a new batch of yarn is soaking in vinegar water as we speak). 

For mom, it was doing more fun stuff - for me it was learning, it being my first time dying yarn. 

 

The KoolAid is prepared and ready. 

Fixating the colours from food colouring. 

The finished yarn hung on our old play house. 

On the lawn.  

Looking good!

These three are mine. I have a couple of ideas for two of these. 

My second batch is for a jacket/sweater for A. I'm thinking red on white, perhaps with a little blue - we'll see tomorrow when the yarn is done soaking. 

A few days alone

Due to Summer, holidays and such I had the rare opportunity to spend a week alone, home alone, while Hubby and the kids visited the in-laws. I can't really say that I did many exciting things, but I did spend some time on the third floor, playing with fabric and my sewing machine.

I started out with a pack of mini charms (a mini charm pack) and some leftovers in shades of grey and black, and decided to try to make a table runner from a picture I saw online a couple of months ago. 

I cut the greys and blacks into strips of 1.5" and basically started from the top of the charm pack, and carried on until I ran out of squares. After sewing the other side of the stripes to the squares, I started to lay out the blocks in some kind of a pattern. 

The first night, I had a flimsy, all the blocks were sewn together, but I thought it looked a little small..

The next day - after work - I went back upstairs and found another grey fabric that I thought went pretty well with the blocks, and I ended up adding strips of 1.5" to the long sides of the blocks, and wider strips to the short ends (about 2.5-3" I think). Finished it off with a black edge - and it fits our living room table pretty good. Very nice with a touch of colour to go with our new grey couch.

Of course I had to try again, this time using another mini charm pack and a 30cm piece I had of a grey fabric. 

The blocks were completed the third evening, but I didn't sew them together right away, but laid them out and left them there to see if it was the right "pattern". 

Evening number 4 and the blocks got sewn together. I've added a border to this one too, and it is now quilted (not shown in the picture) but I haven't found the right edge fabric yet, so it's not completely finished yet..

The pattern was easy, and fun to sew - and I have so many charm packs just waiting for a project that I am thinking of making a couple more of these table runners and keep them 'til Christmas. Which is like 5 months away now.. *iiik*

Off into the big world..

I sent my baby off into the big world, all by it's self yesterday. Wrapped up in bubbles, and (hopefully) clearly labelled, it was sent from the post office and off to Birmingham (or, first, Sussex, and then to Birmingham). I won't be seeing it again until it is hung in the exhibition at The Festival of Quilts around mid-august. 

I hope it arrives safely. I hope it arrives on time - in time ? - and I can't wait to see it again.

*fingers crossed*

Current projects related to needles

Back in April I started to add pictures to this draft, with the intention to post an overview of my current projects related to needles (that being knitting or sewing needles). Well... it's July now.. I have no words. No excuse. But the pictures are still here - and the projects are still nice. So, let's get on with it.

Fist up is this stitchery that I actually started preparing at least three years ago. I think I bought it the last time I was at the julemesse (Christmas fair) in Lillestrøm, which would've been in 2014.

I think I kind of got tired of all the love just drawing the stitchery pattern on the fabric. But! Once I started sewing, it went along quite smoothly. It's something meditative about stitching - following the lines.. and the fewer colours the better. Doesn't demand much attention at all - just follow the lines..

Next up is a knitting project. This is my version of the pattern Leftie - but Hubby's comment ("It looks like a peacock's tail feathers) got stuck, and now it's simply known as "tail feathers". 

Both yarns were bought at The Knitting and Stitching Show in London last October. My mom and I have talked about what a great time we had, and we've more or less decided to go next year (2018) - including staying in the same hotel!

This year, however, we will return to the UK - but we'll be going to Birmingham in August instead. My first visit to The Festival of Quilts and I can hardly wait!

I wonder if anybody I know will be going there.. Will you? Perhaps we could meet up for a coffee or a cup of tea - I'd love to meet other bloggers and quilters and make new friends!

***
I'll have to do a post to update these project, seeing as they are no longer in the same state as shown in these pictures.

I'll be back!