Mini Archie's April Furtle Around The Blogosphere

 

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something

Hello! I started the month by casting on a new sock:

but quickly ended up knitting a split/hole in my left index finger (I push the needle back through with the tip of my finger and those needles are sharp so repeatedly doing it ends up being quite painful) so I put down the knitting and picked up the hand piecing.  I joined four blocks together into one big block: 

Then another one, doubling my hand piecing from last month:

And another:

And another:

And another, until all the single blocks were combined into big blocks:

Did I stop there? I did not, I carried on until all the big blocks were joined into one massive piece, which is the lower half of the top:

And then this happened:

Yes, a finished top! I can't quite believe it, I must admit.

I gave the final seam (across the middle) a press before taking this picture but couldn't face pressing the whole quilt again (each block was starched and pressed as it was finished, then again each time it was joined into a bigger block) when it's going to be folded away in a cupboard until I get the backing and wadding sorted. As you can see, there are lots of creases across it and they're from the way I organised the two halves to make them easier to manage when sewing that final seam. I folded each half up, wrong sides in (to protect the raw edges from further fraying), and then clipped them to keep them in place. I then pinned the intersections (and halfway between) on each block as I came to it (pinning the whole seam before starting is unnecessary and increases the risk of being attacked by pins): 

And then for one final hurrah, I traced all the Gnoma Clauses I have left over from making the front of my Winterkist quilt, so that I can attempt to work out what to do with them on the back. I was just going to trace the outline, but they looked a little odd (and were offended that I didn't want to take their whole portrait) so they ended up looking like ghost Gnomas instead:

I have a few more, but they're all repeats of Gnomas I have here (and are all grey) so I'm thinking of just having unique
Gnomas on the back. I'll see what I think when I lay them out, which will happen once I've flattened them all.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a lie down while I recover from the shock of all that hand piecing - I ended up sewing a hole in my other index finger, at least I have a matching pair now!

A lie down?  I doesn't fink so, you has loads of fings which still need doing. 

Linking up to the April Furtle 

If you're linking up, please add a link (one per person, please) to your blog post, which could contain: a mosaic of all you've made in the month, something you've made/started/worked on, a goal which you'd like to achieve in the next month (and then in next month's post you can reflect on that goal and set yourself another one - I find this particularly handy if I'm in the midst of a big project and finding the making of hundreds of blocks to be interminable), anything crafty you'd like to share. This isn't just for sewing or quilting, but is for all crafts so if you knit, make lace, make clothes, do anything which could come under the heading of 'craft', then please link up. Please visit the link immediately before and after you and leave an encouraging comment, and more if you can manage it - we all know that comments create joy, so let's spread some around. Also, please treat all the linked posts and their authors with respect - I want this to be an inclusive space for all crafters and crafts and all are welcome. If you're not sure if you're welcome or you belong, you do - this is by no means a closed space and if you want to join, then you are most welcome. If you need help linking up, please leave a comment and I will do my best to help. Please add the Furtling button to your blog post: copy the code below and paste it into your blog post - it 

should then magically appear when you publish your blog post (I'll do my best to help if you have any problems) and it will help people find the Furtling page with all the details of the link up.

<p style="text-align:center"><a href="https://archiethewonderdog.blogspot.com/p/furtling.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXDD7-BYr5nXJtGn7HIFUcDUZfLGBTpazWKP8TCUWdkA6zd2285lbJX4aoMug6QyKDdxtxA-njWnhvf0GugU-An4z5lTFcqmYnae0Gb68FR0ZmydWYETGSa2oF1NeQDMVNwZBnUHTpsD7/s200/textgram_1548790799.png" alt="Archie The Wonder Dog" /></a></p>

To link up, go to the link at the bottom of this page and click on 'link up' (it's a blue button) and then add your link (website URL), a title (this could be your blog name but could also be something interesting to draw people to it (keep it clean!) if you prefer), and your email. This last one doesn't appear on the link (I will have access to it - I won't use it unless there's a problem and I need to contact you) so don't worry that you're about to share your email address with the world (or the handful of people who find this link), you're not! The link will remain open until 17th May; if you're seeing this post after this date, I'm afraid you can't link up to the April Furtle, but you can link next month if you like.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter