Archie The Wonder Dog

  Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something I’ve finished two things this month, which was a considerable shock, albeit a very pleasant one. First finished was this little clock: Read about it here And then I glued more fabric onto a background, this time rectangular: Read about it here I’ve also finished knitting the sock I started in June but haven’t yet darned in the ends, hopefully I’ll have that done and the second sock cast on by the next Furtle. I love the way a contrast cuff, heel and toe look on socks but it quadruples the number of ends to deal with (from two (very manageable) to eight (feels like a mountain to climb at times!)) so I’ll need to make a large pot of tea and then force myself to tackle them. (My rule is that I can’t start the second sock until the first is finished and that includes the ends, unfortunately!) Yarn is from Yarn Unique Mini Archie is keen to get the next sock cast on: Chip chop, let’s get these ends sorted *chivvying...

One morning last week, I went into the workroom to open the blind and realised that the little clock which has been sitting on my Fettling List for far too long awaiting a makeover for its sun-faded face had stopped several hours before. I decided that I wouldn’t put a new battery in until it was off the Fettling List, put it in The Cupboard Of Possibilities and left the room. A few minutes later, I wandered back in and started looking at anything which could become its new face: I didn’t know whether I wanted paper or fabric which is partly what has held me up but that decision was made for me as I didn’t have any suitable paper. I did toy with the idea of using this really cute panda sticker but decided against it because it looked odd when the hands were over his face and given that that’s quite a few hours in the day, it felt like he’d spend more time looking odd than looking like the panda version of Hercule Poirot with his enormous (and magnificent) moustaches. Admittedly very c...

I feel I've done quite well this quarter, particularly when you take into account that I've probably spent more time asleep than awake in the last three months.  And that my machine was out of action from just after putting the binding on the Dresden mini (end of January) until about a week ago - that's why most of my finishes only required hand sewing (or no sewing at all, in one case!).   My list is here , in case you fancy seeing what I didn't finish! My first finish was this mini for Yvonne : Sorry about the dreadful photo but that's the middle of a dreary day for you! This was machine pieced, hand appliquéd, embroidered and hand quilted.  It measures about 14" square (I think, I can't quite remember now!) and has a couple of extra layers of wadding behind the centre to give a bit more texture.  You can find out more about it in this post . My next finish was my clock: This is 12" square and the gubbins to make it (canvas b...

In August last year, Nicky  had a project published in the Fat Quarterly zakka issue (issue 18) - she made a clock (I've looked for a photo of it/blog post about it but can't seem to find one, sorry!).  She kindly sent me the canvas and clock gubbins to make my own and I've finally got round to it! I decided to (hand) piece a hexagon block which had twelve segments so that it would be easy to tell the time.  Choosing this block also meant that I didn't need to cut a hole in the middle for the spindle - I simply stopped stitching an eighth of an inch before the centre of the block (to create a hole approximately a quarter of an inch in diameter) and, obviously, didn't do my usual circling of the intersection.  I used three 10" 'Miss Kate' squares (by Bonnie and Camille, for Moda - these were a present from a fabric fairy) and have a few small scraps left for future projects: You can't see the central hole in this photo but it is there, jus...