December furtle

 Last furtle of the year!

So what did we do this month? Well there was the sticky prod along ..... not that I needed any proding 😇😇

I aimed to get the temperature embroideries done ✔️ if proof were needed here is the final piece the label😊 main blog post about that is here

the solstice sampler done ✔️

 and keep up to date with the sewcialites sew along ✔️ 

Here are the first 8 blocks, we dont get any more until January I think, I am doing the 6.5 inch version, with a scrappy grey background

Along with that I also got this chap done 😊😊 this was a panel from a sew hot scrap bag, I really wanted to make it up for linus so whipped it up pretty quick, its so sweet!

plus my wheel of the year, retirement is working out well for me!

Oh yes also this quilt for the guild challenge

Uneven log cabin, main blog post about that here

I did another floral big cat, the cheetah, love this chap

So thats three cats down, six to go, I am adoring making these.

Oh yes and this might be my last quilt of the year, again another last minute one .... I havent posted anywhere else about it, i dont really feel it is my story to tell. One of my chums (non quilty) was really ill this year, he is a lovely chap, really into heavy metal, cartoons etc and just one of the nicest persons you could meet.

He was in hospital for 6 months and only heard a few weeks back he might get out for christmas, and he did! He is having to learn to walk again so I thought "quilt to keep his legs warm!"

this was a very hasty photoshoot before scoobs went back to folks for christmas, so here it is! Mikeys quilt:

I dont know if you can see but it is all squares of Helen Steele fabric, I used lots of day of the dead skulls, octopi, hedgehogs, turtles etc. Mikey got it today and just loves it, I am so happy.

Oh yes and I started on a new quilt top 😂

Seriously been cooped up inside with either rain or snow, it has really helped increase productivity!

This was from a momo Layer cake - Oh deer which was kindly gifted by a chum to make a charity quilt, its taken a few years but i think it may be the first finish of 2023!

Goodness me, December does seem to have been very productive! The weather has kept me indoors a lot so I suppose a surge of productivity was inevitable!

Oh well! I did actually manage to get it done !!!!! So last ever quilt of 2022 ta dah!

Thank you so much Mini Archie for another year or furtling, its a great way to connect and to keep a track of what is being and has been done. Looking forward to furtling in 2023!

Furtling November 2022

 Oh my goodness November has been a busy busy month! Where to start? OK this is my progress on the solstice sampler from Alderwood studio. Some deceptively simple looking blocks have bee quite challenging but I'm loving it. Using up quite a lot of meter age of tilda for the background.

Omg!!!! This got done 😊😊 this was on a fettle list a sticky prod along list so *phew* for this finish 😆😆 it's my temperature embroideries from 2021, mixes up with mandalas from the series Carina ran that year plus some other embroideries I made that year including some sashiko panels. I used the booklet pouch pattern from Aneela Hoey as a base for the book, also used up some left over indigo fabric I had. To say I love this is an understatement.

Oh this happened, I wrote more.about this but it was such a special day. Got to meet my old boss and get his book signed. 

I  am back on the dear Jane wagon! I found a new sewing group which meets throughout the week. I decided blossom Jane would be the project I take there. So steady progress from now on.

We miss our dear chum Jo who moved back to England last year but she is only a car drive away so we go visit!

Her modern quilt guild meet in an art gallery!

I started and finished the.mini series! Loved making these all in Lucy engels fabric.  Going to make them into a tub I think.

Another of the solstice sampler blocks.

Oooohhhh now then, this is my fabric pull for this years sewcialities sew along. I vividly remember last year looking at it and wishing I could take part but was too caught up in work. This year I can do it so let's get a wiggle on!

Close up of a solstice block.

The last two dear Jane blocks I made!

I.made a Xmas wreath! I also now have a new Xmas tradition 😊 wreath making with lovely Kim! It was a fab class must write it up. Love it !

Oh now I am so hopeful that this is a finish in the final further of the year!!! My celtic wheel of the year sampler by Carina craft blog. I have adored making this one. It has seen me.through some troubling times this past year and kept on giving me hope.

And thats it for November I think its safe to say I am really settling into retirement now 😊

October 2022 furtle- all about the sew alongs!

 Well cheers! Gosh October has been a busy busy month. When I was working I would longingly look at all the sew alongs going on and dream of the day I could join in, well that day came on August 30th 2022 ! 

 I joined in the Alderwood studio solstice sampler sal,I'm loving it but blimey it shows me that my piecing accuracy is not good ... I've been doing so much paper piecing that I haven't had to think about accuracy for a while this sal is good to get me back in to it. I'm using an old layer cake and some Tilda I picked up cheap. It's got a nice vintage vibe to it I think.

Block 3 of solstice sampler

The first sal I started was the mini series by Alison Glass and Giucy Giuce. These teeny blocks have kept me busy over October,  I'm doing them all in Lucy Engles fabrics, I had a lot of scrap packs of her fabrics which were perfect for this.

The weather here has been shocking so poor scoobs had to do a bumper set of husbands holding quilts shots ! Above is my Siblings bee quilt for 2022, all blocks made by bee mates.

Above is the quiet play in the garden bom, all done in liberty for the Alice Caroline quilt sos. 

Above is my second quilt for Alice Caroline quilt sos,  a simple brick quilt, the fabrics are the stars here.

Above are the first two blocks for the solstice sampler sal, the bottom one the candy wrapper one looks the simplest but was really challenging! Mine is a bit of a mess but I'm fine with it!

We had a lovely brekkie here, this place was one of our go to places when I was shielding,  I'm still getting used to getting out and about,  shielding was necessary but very hard to come out of, I'm getting there though!

Round up of my mini series blocks so far!

One of the very best things about retirement is spending more time with chums, I had two lovely sewing days with chums early in October,  just wonderful. 

I made an Emmeline bag in this lovely Australian Xmas fabrics which the lovely Kim brought back.

I also strapped on my big girl pants and went on a train!

Here is a better picture of my first block for the solstice sampler sal

My lovely present from my beautiful chum Sue, I love having this in the sewing room. One of my dearest wishes for retirement was to spend more time with chums and sewing,  looks like that has come true 😊

Finally a new chum for the sewing room! Wally the wombat all the way from Australia 🇦🇺 

Finally some sewing for a guild challenge it's got to be a log cabin quilt, I'm using quilting jet girls uneven log cabin pattern in some winter metallics, needs to be done for early December so better get a wiggle on!

Septembers furtle

 So September! wow, first full month of retirement .... the first things i had to do were re arrange my rooms, the ones i use the most, so obvs lets start with the sewing room! yes this was the state of it ...

Much tidying and fabric folding later and this is where we are now. It will stay like this for a while while i bed into being a pensioner 😂

And then this happened! Like i need more fabric??? but hey when a store owner advertises a closing down sale with fabric at 5 pounds a meter you dont question it.The sale was in a village hall, the poor owner was quite overwhelmed, she was on her own and when the doors opened she didnt expect the amount of visitors she had. A lovely other shop owner came out of the queue and helped her cutting, otherwise i might still be there, her husband had a tea point for the husbands (good tip!) so I texted scoobs telling him i might be 15-20 mins and he appeared at the door waving a bourbon biscuit and a cup of tea 😂 I got Tilda, Lewis and Irene and Alison Glass, 15 meters in total for 70 pounds. I am so sorry she had to close down but this fabric will go to Linus and Siblings quilts so a happy end for the fabrics.

I was all prepped for the Glasgow quilt guild and was going to do my mini SAL series, but took along everything apart from the templates .... numpty. One of the rest of the guild was selling scrap bags for her church so i bought some of those and will be making a scrap quilt, so i did get to do some sewing!

This is my mini series SAL so far, really enjoying it, using up Lucy Engels scraps, I have found a new quilt group which meets during the week so i am doing these there.

We went to skye!!! first (non annual leave) retirement holiday, how strange but how wonderful! My lovely chum gave me a bottle of 18k prosecco so I had to drink it! Slainte!

I finished Lughansa in the celtic wheel of the year just in time for Mabon to hit my inbox, love making these.

So September you have been a blast! much more crafting for Octobers furtle 😊