End of June rolls around

Gosh, the end of another month! I'm pleased to say that I finished the latest block of Foxley Village—

Here's a close up of the leaves; instead of satin stitch, I did something a little different, not sure what stitch it's called but it created a sort of vein on the leaves. 

There's just one more applique part to this instalment of the quilt and then I'll be onto the piecing.

Recently I tested another block for Juliet of Tartankiwi. This is another part of the Flashcat Medallion quilt she is currently designing. I really loved making this block and can imagine it in a lots of different fabrics.

You may remember that this cat is the centre of the quilt. I have since swapped out those cornerstone blocks.

Juliet is running a QAL for this quilt soon - her instagram page is the place to watch if you want to find out more (and to see her finished quilt).
Both of these projects are on my WOOFA list for this year (Working On Or Finishing), hosted by Cheryll of Stitching Cubbyhole. These two projects seem to be the only ones I'm making much progress on this year, everything else on my to-do lists is currently on hold 😕.

Last month the older twins came over and did some sewing. They told me the other day that the snugglies they had made needed mending so came over again to fix them up and adorn them further. They were very confident this time and told me I didn't even need to watch them sew. Hmmmm, after recently reading Lori Kennedy's blogpost about an accident with a needle, I told them I would watch them sewing like a hawk!!

Their snugglies still go to bed with them every night :-)

The only other sewing I've done recently has been to make some beanbag snakes. Wee Odie has a lot of windows in his room, with no pelmets, and too much light is getting in. YD and I are experimenting with 'snakes' to cover the gaps at the top.
The first ones were what we call singles. No good. So we progressed to doubles with a flap.

The doubles with a flap are too wide so the next version will be singles with a flap! Sigh. I know that my patience with these snakes will run out soon so I hope the singles with a flap work. In the meantime rolled up towels work just fine. Watch this space!!!!

An ineffective single.

(Oh, the snake making is a Great Way to use up scraps, so that's a positive.)

'til next time,

safe and happy stitches,

A cat and a goal

I said I'd be back soon with a post about the cat who has been showing the occasional yet elusive appearance on my blog this year.
Flash Cat is the latest brainchild of Juliet of Tartankiwi and I feel honoured to be one of the testers helping her with the pattern.
It is a medallion style quilt which she may even run as a QAL sometime in the future.
The first step was to test the centre of the quilt - the main event, Flash Cat himself.
I love it when the pile of pieced blocks grow and they can be laid out, to see the picture taking shape.
(I've left my toes in the photo so you can get an idea of the size of Mr (or Mrs) Flash Cat.

While there are a lot of pieces, they are all fairly easy to foundation piece because of the size of the pieces. The exception, of course, being the eyes. They do take a while but Wow, they are so worth it!

Juliet has cleverly designed this pattern to create a lot of different looks. You'll notice I have used 2 teals and 2 oranges, after being asked to test the version with two colours for the lightening bolts and two for the fur. It can be made completely scrappy style with up to five different fur colours and four lightening bolt colours.

There are also a variety of noses; I was asked to test the striped nose version.

Below is my completed Flash Cat. I was really happy that I was inspired to use the floral (Tilda) fabric for the nose and ears.

Just recently we were asked to test the first border. It is made up of the same sort of lightening bolt used in the face, simplified. These were also foundation pieced. We cut templates for them, and they went together like a dream.

I didn't take many photos this time but you can just make out the blocks in the photo below, where I am joining them to the centre  —

Mr (or Mrs) Flash Cat almost looks too green in the photo below, but here he (or she) is, with the border one blocks attached. The cornerstones may be changed once the next border goes on; they seem a little light here but I'll wait and see how things look before I change anything.

I'm looking forward to my next adventure with this!!

It seems a bit of a last minute add-on at the end of this post but I really want to also include my One Monthly Goal here so that I can link it up with Patty of Elm Street Quilts.

Last month's unfinished goal was to quilt and finish a baby quilt I'm working on. I really need to get this done so am listing it again!!

Now that (officially) we're falling into autumn (hehe, get it?) there are some babies who might appreciate their quilts!

EDIT - I'm just popping back to link up to Dione at Clever Chameleon in her regular link-up where we get to share what's getting us excited in our sewing room these days. You can visit the link-up *here*.

'til next time,

happy stitches,