Archie The Wonder Dog

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something This month has been a bit of a rollercoaster for my new quilt project so this might be a long post. Or a short one, depending on what my fingers decide to type and whether the brain fog rolls out a bit. Let’s see, shall we?  First, some terrific news: there’s a UK shop selling (and making!) quilt stamps! Head to  ZiggyWigglesStamps  to see their stock - they even do custom stamps so if you don’t see what you need, maybe send a message and see if they can help? I’ve ordered some hexagons and am thrilled to say that they’re excellent quality and will definitely be ordering more stamps at some point. (Some have 3/8 “ seam allowance and some 1/4” so be sure to notice that if it will affect your plans.) Last month the project looked like this: And I was merrily going along and enjoying both the process and the progress when I got this far: Can you spot the bit which made me stop? It’s those two side-by-side ...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something After a complete washout in July (and, let’s be honest, most of the year this far), August held quite a lot of progress (thanks to two courses of insomnia-inducing medication).  I knitted two pairs of socks: Yarn is Monster Mash Neon by  Botanical Yarn Yarn is Roseus by  Pixie Yarn And not only started stamping squares for my new quilt, as per my August (and July) mini objective:  But carried on stamping: And made a start with the piecing: This is how it looks today: Now my new ironing board cover has arrived, I can press the seams. Well, once I’ve decided which way they’re going, that is.  I’m keeping track of where I am on a map and this is where I’m up to: Mini objective for September:  Add more squares to the top Stamp and cut out more squares Maybe sort out remaining destash stuff and see how much I can send to new homes Someone is thrilled the project tin is now in use: You is goi...

Long, long (long) ago, I started a hand piecing project that I knew would be a long-term project. I had no idea just how long it would actually take. It started when I saw a blog post by Lynne of Lily’s Quilts of her new block and I fell in love with it. Her blog is undergoing some renovation, so this follow up post to the initial one is only post I can find . And on that post, I left this comment: Notice the date - such optimism! I started (not long after Lynne’s post) by making a test block (It was made into a  mini quilt in June 2015 ) I bought background fabric and furtled through my fabric boxes to find suitable prints and plains (and a lovely friend  bought me some bright tone on tone fabrics at FOQ (or maybe the first Fat Quarterly retreat?) to supplement what I had) and by April 2013, I had this: And by the start of June, I had my first block: It took me eighteen months to finish the next block (isn’t it amazing how long things take to make when you’re not working on t...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! This month I’ve made what feels like a giant leap towards finishing ET: I’ve finished the quilting! (Turns out that actually picking it up and doing some quilting makes quite the difference to how quickly you can hand quilt. See also: not allowing yourself to do any other sewing/knitting until said quilting is complete. Who knew?!) Not only that, but I’ve trimmed it, cut and joined the binding strips and there’s just a short pressing session and then a longer machine sewing session standing between me and watching a film while sewing the binding to the back. And as well as all that quilting, writing my Fettling List  and sorting out the link up in case anyone else wants to join in , I’ve knitted a sock. Which I was absolutely allowed to start because I was between stages in the ET finishing (and none of those stages were sitting on the settee watching telly stages), I just won’t be allowed to touch it on...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! It’s been a busy month and, for once, the busy hasn’t all been knitting. There has been some knitting, though. I finished the socks I’d started last month: Yarn is one of the gobstopper range by  Easy Knits  which I bought in a destash I knitted a pair for a friend: Yarn is  Purple Nimbus by Made By Penguins  and the pattern is the  soon-to-be released Chestnut Bark Socks by  Mrs Moog And started another pair for a different friend: Yarn is an alpaca, silk and cashmere mix from  Coastal Colours And I quilted (and quilted and quilted) ET, under the watchful eye of Mini Archie (who soon moved once I pressed the foot pedal!) But, although it looks fine on the front (just how I hoped, actually), I’m not happy with how the corners look on the back. I quilted three of them using the quilting bar on my walking foot and the third one had nineteen lines rather than eighteen so a tiny ...