Scraptastic Tuesday and WIP's

Sewing has been a great distraction for me in the last few weeks. My niece's funeral was a week ago and that was obviously a very difficult time. Emotionally, I feel like I've been put through a wringer but it must be so much worse for her parents, siblings and of course her partner. Carlton, her son, can't express his feelings in the same way, but he isn't 'right' and will need a lot of help.
So I'm going to talk about my sewing which has helped me through all this.
Firstly, I started to quilt my red + and x quilt.

 I got about three quarters of the way through and ran out of thread-arghh!! It was a freebie variegated Fantastico thread from Cottonpatch, that they gave me when I was on a quilting course there.Unfortunately, it did not have a number on it that corresponded to any of the numbers on the Superior Threads website. I ordered what I thought was a match  from Cottonpatch but sadly it wasn't right. However, Liz  came to my rescue and arranged for someone who was going to Houston ( jealous, moi?) to see if they could pick me up a match. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This has put paid to any more quilting until the thread arrives.

Instead of quilting, I decided to use up my blue scraps from my Medallion quilt to make another top. I had made tons of 4 patch blocks that I was going to use as a border but didn't like them in the end. I only had to make a few more to make this top:

I've been debating whether to make it any bigger ( it's 4ft x5ft) but I really can't be bothered, I want to move on to something else.
I also quickly ran up this pegbag for Madlen.

I used this tutorial but changed the opening ( using the opening on a box of Kleenex tissues as the template). The DS fabric ( deco weight ) was in a bundle of scraps that were given to me by the lovely Claudia at FQR 2013.

Since the clocks have gone back ( something I hate: why can't we just stay in British Summertime) ,I've also been working on a draught excluder for my French Doors. I started this about 2 years ago and it's been half finished in the cupboard ever since. Mr Hare has been making comments about how he'll have to make one, a not so veiled hint! I've made the inner bolster, just have to insert a zip and ends into this:

 

 

I bought a ruby red bundle of gorgeous Oakshott cottons for my Red + and x quilt and I used some of  what was left to make this bolster ( so I'm assuming this counts as a scrap buster!)

 



Next, I'm going to move onto a table runner and place mats, again for Madlen. I'm still trying to firm up the design but I think I've got it sorted out.

Linking up to Leanne and Nicky for Scraptastic Tuesday.

The post I never thought I'd make

Yesterday was Mr Hare's 60th birthday. His secretaries gave him a beautiful cake and card. I had booked a table for a very fancy restaurant and we were going with my BIL and SIL plus some friends.
I had to cancel it because last Tuesday  my BIL and SIL'S daughter committed suicide. She was only 21 and leaves behind a partner and their 3 year old son. She had been struggling with mental illness and had obviously planned the whole thing.
The whole family is devastated and I can't put into words how dreadful it all is. My MIL who is 90 is beside herself because she was extremely close to Angharad and she is also worried about the effects on her son. She quite rightly thinks he with never recover from it. Like a lot of men, both my BIL and my husband have withdrawn into themselves and won't talk about it, whereas my MIL and SIL have found it helps to talk. Everyone is concerned about Dan ( Angharad's partner) and Carlton who is too young to understand. None of us have been able to sleep at night.
The funeral has been delayed because of the post mortem and later there will be an inquest. It's obvious that she was very badly let down by the mental health services but of course nothing will ever bring her back, so there is not much point dwelling on it.

FAL Final Quarter

I didn't do well in Q3, and I don't suppose I'll be much better in Q4 with a holiday and Christmas coming up rapidly. So, I've curtailed my list and hope I can get some of it done!

1) Red + and X cross quilt.

 

I finally managed to sew the blocks together. Being bee blocks they were of variable size, so I had to trim them to 10 inches . I also had to discard a few, hence the dodgy lime green centre middle right. I just couldn't bear to make another block. So, just got to quilt and bind it!

 

 

2) Blue medallion quilt

 

This has gone from this

 

 

To this

 

 

Again just got to quilt and bind it. The wadding has now arrived, so I have no excuse. These two quilts are Christmas presents, so I do need to get on with them.

 

3) Geese all round quilt.

 

 

These blocks have been hanging around for 18 months. I need to get this finished for Christmas again. I want to give it to my niece Eleri who has just started at Queen's medical school, Belfast.

 

4) Triangle Quilt.

 

 

I definitely need to finish this one. It's only small, but I'm being very nervous about straight line quilting on the longarm. I need to get my big girl pants on and just do it!

 

5)Table runner and place mats.

 

 

 

These are a new addition to my list, but Madlen needs them for her table in London. Should be quick and easy ( the triumph of optimism over sense!)

 

6) Aeroplane bag.

 







I started this in June , made a mistake and have left it ever since ( one of the straps is twisted) . I also do not have bag feet or any of the other bits for the bottom.

Of course there are loads of other WIP's that I could add but that would be at best foolish, at worst moving into the realms of fantasy.

Scrap Vomit Ta- Da

Yet another quick post so that I get another finish in this quarters FAL with Katy before the deadline. I have failed miserably this quarter, but c'est la vie! I've only managed 2 out of eight finishes.
I had loads of strips left over from various trip around the world bee blocks and quilts I had previously made, so I decided to use them up to make a scrap vomit ( such a terrible name for a quilt!!). Anyway, it didn't take too long to make up into a quilt top and used up loads of scraps, so win, win. It has taken me a lot longer to pull my finger out and quilt and bind it though.

I used the same pink spot on the back as my pink/aqua QATW quilt and bound it with  plain Kona pepper as I had run out of the charcoal sketch I had used in the quilt.

I'm giving this quilt to my BF's older daughter. My pink/ aqua QATW is going to her sister so they will have similar but not the same quilts.

 

 

Quilt Stats

 

Quilt measures: 70 x 70 inches

 

Front: A blocks made with scraps, B blocks made with Sketch in pink, aqua and charcoal

 

Back: Pink spot on spot extra wide quilt fabric from Robert Kaufman

 

Binding: Kona pepper

 

Quilted with So Fine in white

 

My original list for this quarter is here.