Tools to go

I have got so fed up with taking shot after shot of really crappy pictures of my stuff because of the winter gloom that my relish for blogging is suffering - you take the shot, upload, sift, edit and it STILL is so not right that I have recently ordered an Ottlite lamp.  From looking around other blogs and Flickr these seem to be used quite a lot for the 'natural' lighting and colours they produce within a photograph.  So I await the postman eagerly to get on top of my WIPS and swappy stuff before I move on with them.  I have progressed a little more on my That Girl quilt and want to photo it badly. Plus I have loads of Flickr stuff that needs to go on for referencing for swaps.  Oh..........and I have got myself my OWN camera - Mr Neet got so fed with me changing the resolutions and whatnots on our shared camera - and him being TOTALLY 'gadget illiterate' that a solution of a personal camera each came about Yaaaaay - more stress free blogging for me.

Anyhow there is a very good chance I will not post again before Next Year!!  hahahah - so let me wish my readers - if I have any?? a very Happy and Productive and Creative New Year. xxx

Prairie Points and a Bee

This is the finished quilt top complete with Prairie Points.  It is sitting waitng now for me to complete my quilt along top which should happen quite soon now, as the fabric ordered from the US is awaiting me to pick it up from the Post Office. Apologies for the dodgy photos - Arctic weather conditions aren't condusive to brilliant indoor photo shoots.

I have also joined/been accepted to take part in the awesome 3x6 Sampler Quilt Mini Bee over on Flickr.  I say awesome because of the number of participants - there are 25 'beehives' with 6 members in each,  I am in #25 - I think this is because I took the plunge to join right on the point of sign up closure. I look forward to the challenge with great pleasure.

Quilt so far

Here are some pictures of the Pinwheel Baby Quilt so far ( I have actually got the prairie points and outer sashing done now).  This will be quilted when i get the top finished for the That Girl That Quilt quilt-along - I am awaiting fabric from US to arrive to complete it.

Granny mountain becomes a blanket

This is my 'ta-dah!' post for my granny mountain blanket.  It was finished a couple of weeks ago but I didn't get to take any shots of it.  I absolutely love it and it is by far my 'reach for' blanket of choice at present, especially in this Arctic spell we are experiencing here in the the UK at present. I finished it off with a border of 2 rows dc and a picot flourish!

Squares so far

As promised here are the squares so far that I have worked on for the quilt along that I am following over on That Girl - That Quilt blog.  I am now stalled on these as I am waiting for an order from the US for the next fabric.  I have tried my hardest to source this here in the UK but I had no luck at all - sorry UK fabric suppliers - and I was not going to compromise my choice for this project as  a) I want it to be as perfect as I can get it and  b) it does cost a little money to complete, and so any compromise would lead to a unhappy Neet at the end of the project.  I made this US shop as my choice to import the fabric from as they seem very popular in the Quilting World - plus they had my preferred colour of fabric.

In the meantime, whilst waiting, I am making a start on this little project.  I am using it to practise my 'skills' for quilting before attempting any big big projects.  I love, love, LOVE! the concentration and the use of brain juice that is needed to do these projects = totally absorbing.

Nervous and excited

I finally plucked up the courage and organisation to cut the fabric ready for piecing together of my very first proper grown-up quilt.  After unexpectedly finding time alone without Little Neet for a Saturday afternoon, I managed to get stuck in without the distraction of 'Xbox drone'.  I was very nervous, as I really want this to be perfection - if possible, so I paid meticulous attention to everything that was required including getting the sewing machine A1 perfect for the job - which is a first considering I have had it for a gazillion years and this is the most technical thing I have sewn on it!

I even managed to do my 'chain piecing' properly - Woohoo!!!!!

I did finish the first round of my 40 squares, but the light got the better of me on this very dull, dank afternoon, so I will take a piccy of them in all their freshly pressed glory and post tomorrow

Moonstitches' owls

I came across the 'tutowlrial' for these cute little owls whilst trundling around t'Internet and couldn't resist giving them a go.

Scrappy Granny Cushion



This is a cushion that has taken ages to complete.  I wanted to do a granny square design but with a vintage 'scrappy' look.  It is all 100% pure wool with new and thrifted yarns.  When it come to making the finsihed shape I could not get the square shape of the cover - for some reason if  I 5 x 5d it, it was too snug for the cushion pad , but with the 6 x 5 layout it was perfect.  Strange???

Granny mountain

I am finishing up my last crochet project for the foreseeable future - I am itching to go in another crafting direction.  I had the urge to make another granny throw and decided to make it with only yarns from my stash - no purchases.  So with colours-a-plenty for the squares and a deep blue to hold it all together I am making quite a decent sized throw and being 100% wool it is going to be really cosy.  I am using all the little leftover balls, thrifted bits, and even embroidery wool that has appeared along the way, so long as it is pure wool, it is being used up.  Once this is finished I want to tidy away all my yarns good and proper, out of sight, to concentrate on other stuff.  I still have SIX crochet cushion front to complete into cushions, I have all the throws I need, so crochet no more for me.

I'm taking part

Check out the button on the sidebar for the quilt along that I am taking part in.  It is all very exciting and new for me.