Dragon Rambles

Unless you’re a new visitor to my blog, you know of Macros.

The loveable, if sometimes annoying, 17 year old bundle of fur that lives with me.

Well Macros loves cushions and pillows. Stick a spare one under the bed and you’ll never want to use it again. Yuck!

Knock one on the floor and you’ll find him on it. Use one to support your lower back while sewing on the couch, and every time you get up you’ll come back to find he’s curled himself up small enough to fit on the bottom part of it. Or at least try to.

Last Sunday I decided to use the spare cushion insert I have had for several years, and make him his own. So I picked out some fabric.

Then went flicking through my favourite quilting book

And picked a block

To make into a cushion for my little boy.

Was it because I love him, or because I was feeling guilty about the three vet visits in less than a week? Could be either or both. You decide

And the verdict? “Hmm, is this for me?”

“But you know I like taking your seat”

“On second thoughts, this is comfy. Thanks mum!”

There’s a new linky party in blogland: The handmade parade

All things hand sewn. Why don’t you pop over and check out what else has been made. Or maybe even join in. If you miss this week, I think this is going to be a weekly event, so why not join in next time.

Regular visitors to my blog know that I prefer to sew by hand. Anything you find posted here, was probably done by hand. Even if is really should’ve been done by machine. I do own a sewing machine, but sitting down to it feels too much like work, so I’d rather get comfortable on the sofa with needle and thread.

There’s been more knitting than sewing happening here lately, but I did start a new sewing project on Sunday. I was hoping to have it finished by now but several things have gotten in the way. Including going to see Avengers. So for now here’s a preview.

Hopefully, if you come back on Sunday, you’ll see the finished item.

I bought the yarn in Nov/Dec last year. This was supposed to be my winter knitting project – keeping myself warm while I knit it and after it was finished. I got distracted.

But in April I picked up and finished 3 knitting WIPs and frogged one as I just wasn’t happy with the yarn match. I had my Spring shawl to start the border on, but haven’t yet bought a longer circular needle that I need to continue. And I wasn’t wanting to wait until I’d blocked the pieces of the jacket, coat and cardi I have in pieces waiting to sew up.

Wanting to have a knitting project on the go, yet unable to work on the WIPs I had left, I thought it was the perfect time to start Hourglass. I had the yarn, the pattern, the needles. I didn’t need to spend a thing, except time winding the first skein into a ball. So I did. And I’ve since wound more skeins. Soon I’ll start knitting with the 4th (from 6), so I’m definitely past the half way mark

Cathi posted today about her quilts in boxes. Everything packaged away nice and tidy and easy to find for the projects she is working on.

I only have two quilts in progress so it’s a lot easier for me to stay organised than your average quilter. Helped by me having a couple of boxes to keep each WIP in…

Moonglow in a box

FWQ in a box

I have the fabric, cut pieces, finished blocks, pattern/book, thread and needles, scissors etc, all kept in each box. Well, usually. Some of those items were raided from my boxes yesterday to make a cushion for Macros. They are now scattered across the couch. Told you I was organised, I know where everything is

And the best thing about a quilt in a box? You can have it sitting in the middle of the living room and tell yourself it’s ok cause it’s all packed away tidy

As I mentioned in my last post, there’s an upside to going dark… Lots of time for knitting and sewing. We finally had some fine weather this weekend, so I blocked the two pieces I worked on in April.

First is my Oktober Zest scarf. There are to be matching mitts and hat butbI don’t have the right size needles yet. I’d had the scarf about halfway done but hadn’t picked it up for a while. So it was the first item to be finished off.

It’s made from 50/50 wool/silk that I got for half price since it’s been discontinued. This next pic shows the colour so much better. I love this dark, midnight blue.

Finishing the scarf freed up a cable I could use to hold the stitches on my Spring shawl so I could pinch the needles for the body of my Squall shawl.

I couldn’t get a good pic of the colour. It’s a deep dark teal. The perfect colour to represent a squall at sea. Macros came out to enjoy the sun while I was trying to get a decent photo.

I didn’t get the photo I was after, but Macros enjoyed the sun.

It has finally happened, my blog reader new posts section is empty! Ok, so I only read back a certain number of weeks, but I’m all caught up. This was done by having a stack of files I have had to go through over the last two days. And as every one takes a couple of mins to open, it’s been perfect little slices of time to read blog posts. Please forgive me if I haven’t left a comment. I do love seeing what everyone has been up to even when I stay silent.

I know I’ve been really quiet since I got back from NZ the last time. I’ve been a little depressed for the last few weeks. So I’ve felt the need to withdraw into myself somewhat. And pamper myself. Which means ignoring everything I should be doing and spending most of the time I’m not at work, knitting or sewing. It has made for a productive month and a half though. In additiion to the 12 FWQ blocks I’ve shown you, I’ve also knitted a shawl, finished a scarf and knitted half a throw. I’m hoping to block the shawl and scarf this weekend, so pics soon.

But it’s time to stop letting my mood win and start getting other things done. I now have just three weeks left of work. There’s a lot to finish off in my current job between now and then. I also have a list of work I need to do for my new job before I start. And add in packing up my flat. Then moving day will be the 6th, with the new job set to start on the 11th. Busy, busy.

At least I have a new home to move to. After nine, yes nine!, refusals for renting with a cat, I finally got a landlord to say yes. It’s a small two bedroom terrace house on the outskirts of Saffron Walden, just 5min walk away from the shuttle bus stop to work and 15min away from the public bus stop to work. About 15-20 min away from the town centre and shopping district. A good friend kindly viewed the property for me so I could rent it, and will be helping out on moving day, meeting the cat and movers while I’m still on my way from Cardiff.

Macros has been at the vet twice this week, and will be going back on Mon. He had two claws on each fron paw imbedded in his paw pads. One really deeply leaving a badly infected foot. So the first visit was the painful one to take them out, the next for an antibiotic jab, back again on Mon for another jab and probably some antibiotic tablets. After that hopefully no more visits as that will take it up to £150!

So, I think that’s you all caught up. I’ll be back with pics in a day or two.

Oops, this was supposed to be posted last weekend, when I finished the last of the blocks I had precut. I’m still working sequentially by block number but I’ve missed three out. Blocks 3 and 35 are the ones with the applique basket handle, and I don’t have that template printed yet. I’ll probably save these blocks to the end. I’ve also missed out block 37, flower pot. And I’ve flagged a few more blocks to skip until the end. Not because they’re hard but simply for colour reasons. See, I have this idea that has become stronger as I’ve pieced these blocks. I really love the light and dark background blocks, but I like the other ones too. So my current plan is to do a quilt made predominantly off dark and light background blocks. Imagine a diagonal line dividing the quilt in half. On one half, you have the dark background, one the other, the light. And scattered through both sides are the different colour combo blocks. How many of these “alternate” blocks will be needed to look good, I’m not sure. I know how many I currently have and I’m flagging blocks as possible alternates, then as I pass the 100 blocks made mark, I can finalise colour decisions.

But for now those last 5 blocks I finished sewing last weekend…

And yes, I completely changed the layout of block 33, farmer’s puzzle. I know that historically the swastika was not an evil symbol, and used to appear in quilts all the time. But for the same reason that it disappeard from use in quilts after the Nazis comandeered the symbol, I don’t want it in mine. But I like the way I rearranged the pieces to get an acceptable block.

This puts me at 35 blocks, so just over 30% complete. If you only count the piecing and not sashing the blocks together or quilting the quilt. Which I’m not, so 30% done

I’ll now be taking a break from this. I should give Nicki a chance to pick hers up again. Plus I have to move house in 4 weeks. So I’ll probably stick to knitting for the rest of the month and pick this and moonglow up again in my new home.