winter project link party - November

It is unbelievable, one month has passed since the first winter project link party, hosted by Jennifer. I can honestly that I am not entirely sure what happened to the time since. I must have been travelling at the speed of light, thereby rendering time at my particular position in space irrelevant. Ah well. I have only just finished reading the other linked blog posts, for which I can only apologise.

You may remember that I was procrastinating over a quilting method and pattern for my crazy quilt. It took a while but I made up my mind eventually and have started quilting. It is going to take a while.

I really fancied a meandering running stitch and I even have a template but I couldn't transfer it onto the fabric no matter what marking pen/chalk/pencil used. I didn't fancy drawing free style meanders. I have many creative talents but drawing is not one of them unfortunately. My skill level is that of a five year old (on a good day) and a more or less consistent meander is definitely not something that comes easy to me. I also didn't fancy moving the quilt around continuously while stitching, it is on the bulky side. I decided to stitch chevrons instead. Straight lines are easy. The chevrons are not just any chevrons but chevrons stitched with big fat thread and quite large stitches. I am using Aurifil 12 in cotton. It is almost as thick as standard perle cotton and it is quite smooth and nice to work with. The only thing I don't like about the thread is that it splits if I work with too long a length. Enough thread to work two chevrons is just right. I prefer my quilts to be quilted quite lightly. If you look closely on the top photograph, the lines are diagonally across a three inch block. I like to quilt on my lap, just bunching the layers up, working my way around. I didn't quite have as many safety pins as needed for a quilt that size and they are quite widely spaced, which made it difficult to stitch without puckers in the back. I had to buy a large hoop to keep the fabric layers taut and aligned. Unfortunately, the loop is so big that I have to work on the table. This means that I spend less time working on the quilt than I probably would otherwise. It also makes it more difficult to make really regular stitches but I don't mind that so much. 

I am working on smaller projects and some extra secret ones, too. Sock knitting is happening in the background, a round here and there. I am falling out of love with socks again but I need a few more pairs. I have finished one of a pair and have a skein of bright green yarn for a new pair. Kimberley sent me this yarn all the way from New Zealand. She is owner of the delightful Creative Chaos blog (linking to the yarn giveaway so you can see both blog and yarn colour). Thanks Kimberley. 

My bra sewing adventure also continues, slowly slowly but most of my sewing time is taken up by making long sleeved tops for myself.

What have you been working on? I'll be sure to catch up with all my blog friends to find out. In the meantime, I must get ready for our traditional fireworks night next door. I am feeling a bit grotty and the big gigantic bonfire right next to my fence makes me anxious but the company is worth it and the kids have a ball. James and Alistair always get too close to the fire for my liking. Richard loves it of course, it brings out the cave man in him. I'd have made a terrible cave woman. Unfortunately Richard is suffering the heat in Brazil at the moment... I guess I'll have to make sure the youngsters are save myself for once. Anyway, must go. Have a great bonfire night if you are celebrating!