A bit of this, a bit of that -

Since my last post I have made good progress on my Foxes caddy and finished it! Yes, the binding was a challenge but I was so close to the finishing line I was determined to get it done.

Annie Unrein's Catch All Caddy

 It's made using Soft and Stable - if you haven't tried this yet, it's something you really should have a play with. It's firm and bags (and caddies) keep their shape but are also very soft and pliable. The caddy has handy pockets for popping bits and pieces in —

I have another finish, this wee vest. It's a small size and quite basic knitting and I was able to knit it all while watching the Royal Wedding last weekend. So I have named it The Royal Vest. The original pattern is called Pebble and can be found *here*.  

It is knitted all in one piece and has an opening at the side and on one shoulder for easy use...ED commented that she liked the way I had done the buttons... I had to laugh and say I couldn't find enough of the same in my button jar so I mixed them all up!

Inspired by my April foray into my Omigosh! quilt (project) I have done a little more of it. I haven't had much need of a leader-ender project lately but when I have, I've worked on this.

I'm finding it very satistying to actually get some units together and think I'll move on to joining up some more 9-patches next.

The MOML is thanking his lucky stars that he succumbed to my nagging yesterday and swept the chimney. He had some perverse thought that we didn't need the fire going until the official beginning of winter - and apparently that's not here yet. Maybe the sight of his wife wrapped in a quilt to eat her breakfast yesterday did the trick as yesterday afternoon he did the job (to be fair, we have had a bit of rain lately and we all know that rain and roof climbing don't mix).

This morning we had the coldest morning so far - in fact the coldest morning in our region in May for 42 years! So a nice cosy fire was perfect.
I know it could be called poor taste for a Northlander (living in the Winterless North) to complain about the cold, but it was and we were :-)

I got this photo of a Tui in the Flame Tree yesterday.... the birds love those orange flowers so we've been hearing lots of Tui song...it's a distinctive sound I really enjoy hearing.

Time to turn on my machine, it's been a bit quiet lately,

happy stitches,

Foxes and an Emu

I've been working on a couple of bigger projects this past week, staying focused and trying not to be distracted by other things calling my name.
I'm making another caddy using Annie Unrein's Catch All Caddy pattern. I've made several of these in the past so it's largely been plain sailing; it's a good pattern, well written and very methodical —
Quilting the Soft and Stable —

Making the handles —

Binding fronts and backets, pockets, side pockets and so on —

Inner pockets —

When I stopped this afternoon this was how far I'd got.

The next step is to sew binding on around the outside. Easily the fiddliest step so deep breathing and slow sewing will be needed to get it finished.

You may have guessed that this is destined to be for baby bits and pieces. Our ED and DIL are both due within the next couple of months so there's been a bit of a focus on things for babies lately :-)

Over the weekend I tested another pattern for Juliet of Tartankiwi.
Meet my Emu!

This fellow is 18" square so a bit of a change from the 6" wrens I've made for her lately. I loved seeing him come together, and it was a relief to see his cheeky face appear on my workbench!
One thing I enjoy about testing (and making) one-off blocks like this is the chance to play and experiment with fabrics and colours I haven't used much. Here I wasn't sure how I was going to treat the fractured background area... I thought it would be good to move away from my usual background fabric choices which are a little more traditional. By choosing this co-ordinated range of grey and whites I was able to achieve something with a different look that I'm happy with.

I also wondered if the eye colour might be a bit too strong but I think it helps give him 'the look' :-)

I'm linking this blogpost up to Stitch, Sew, Snap and Share, hosted this time by Julie. This fortnightly linkup is a chance to share what we're working on and be inspired by others. Do pop over.

And Dione of Clever Chameleon has started up a weekly linkup called Tuesday's Inspiration Colour Party...Dione is full of inspiration herself and now she's giving us the chance to be excited even more via the link-up party.

I'm heading back to my machine to start tackling the binding on my caddy. All going well I'll have a finish by the end of the day!

Happy stitches,

Wrestling Zebras....

...and cuddling Pooh....

I had a chance this past weekend to catch up on some much needed baby gift sewing —
First of all, the zebras....Wrestling was the name of the game when finishing the caddy I started as a class sample and talked about *here*  

The last step of sewing the binding on is a good little challenge; best attempted at the start of the day with a coffee or two inside.

So happy to have it finally done though —

The inside has handy little pockets in it.
We're going to fill this with baby goodies and hope it will be well used.

Such a neat design, the Soft and Stable batting really makes it a quality product. There have already been orders from my household for more of these...!

(EDIT: I've just linked up to Elm Street Quilts for Patty's Bag It event. Click *here* to go and visit and get some more bag inspiration - there are also some great ideas and tutorials for gift making...)

My second baby gift this weekend was this cot panel which I quilted up ... no piecing at all ... to complete this I free motion quilted around the animals and other printed features.

I put some nice soft minky on the back and used cotton:wool batting so it has turned out nice and cuddly.

It's hard to tell from the photo but in the sky I quilted the newborn's name; no arguments over who it was made for!

And I turned the minky to the front to bind it. Quick and easy :-)

Only one scrap was harmed in the making of this quilt! Oops!

I'm looking forward to delivering these baby gifts in person in a couple of weeks time :-)

♥♥♥

Today the wee dog had to take a break from his farm duties.....

...to model YD's latest creation....

...meet the Country Club Golfing Sweater...

...another one for the wardrobe :-)

As you can see there's plenty happening around here... I feel good about my first finishes for AGES but there's still a humungous pile of things I want to get through!

Have a lovely week and happy creating,