JoyofQuilting

 Thought I'd give a progress report on the Winter Village Quilt I'm currently working on. It's Called Winter Village by Edyta Sitar The Pattern can be found at  Laundry Basket Quilts but it is also in Edyta's Book  A Season In Blue I started working on this Quilt in April 2024 I made a good start following Edyta's YouTube instructions. But then like the Blackbird Crafter I am got sidetracked by lots of Shiny Little Projects... In between these Beautiful distractions I stitched a few Houses here and there over the months. There were 23 Blue Houses in total. Although I did make a rouge Red One just for the fun of it I have Built all the Houses now. And have made a start on the Quilting. Lots yet to do. Including some Appliqué Branches and Birds. What do you think of it so far?

 Camp Stitching  Last week we Camped for three nights in Pembrey Country Park  South Wales. It was perfect weather for Sitting & Stitching  In between sightseeing. Ours is the Blue Tent on the left. Feathered Friends  We had three regular visitors while we were there. The Pigeon was ringed and very tame. The Robin was quite cheeky and almost came inside our tent a few times! And The Blackbird was collecting food to take back to his nest. We did see Mrs Blackbird too but she was much more wary of us and kept her distance. The Stitching Inspector  Mr Blackbird came to inspect my Stitching. I had just started work on my Bothy Threads  Blackbird. I like to think he approved! Camp Crochet  I alternated between my Bothy Threads Stitching and some Crochet . It's early days for a new Crochet Blanket I'm working on. I'm keeping to cheerful flower colours for the little Granny Squares and will be joining them together with a Grass Green. I'm enjoying wo...

Time To Catch Up Wow! I knew I hadn't blogged for a while but even I was shocked to see it's been almost TWO YEARS! So a Catch Up is called for me thinks 🤔  I haven't been busy. In fact for about Six Months I didn't pick up a Needle or Hook. But I'm back in the saddle and Stitching again  Yay! So I thought today I would step back into Blogging slowly.  I'm going to post some pictures of my Stitchings without too much explanation just to get things rolling again, and give you all a taste of what's been occurring. Above Humphrey The Giraffe Appliquéd onto A Piece of Welsh Wool Blanket  My Little Welsh Sheep. Appliquéd onto wool fabric from an Old Welsh Wool Blanket   Crochet - Beach Walk Blanket Pattern by Marion Mitchel Me and My Wool Felted Crochet Bag Quick Serger Bag Native Indian Bear Outline Stitching  Hope you have enjoyed seeing some of my Stitching.  I'll give you more info on some of these pics in future posts.  But I wonder... Which of m...

 I recently transformed a Wedding Dress into a Memory Bear. When I was ask to do this I did think long and hard about it for a couple of months. In the end I decided I quite fancied the Challenge. I've made plenty of Teddy Bears over the years. BUT never one in Silk. Here is the rather beautiful and elegant Wedding Dress. Classy and understated I'd say. The Pattern It took a while for me to choose a Teddy Pattern. I wanted one that reflected the personality of the Dress. Which in turn I hoped would reflect the personality of the recipient.  So I eventually choose a Classic Jointed Teddy Bear Pattern from  My Fabric Heaven . I chose them because they had a good selection of patterns and I could have the pattern sent to me. They do offer pdf's but on this occasion I wanted to have a physical copy. The Owner I had only met Emma a couple of times, so I can't claim to know her personality very well. But those meetings along with the Wedding Dress gave me a feel f...

Crochet 2021 I learned to Crochet when I was about 13.  I had been knitting for four or five years at that point, I was quite happy knitting,  but when I learnt to Crochet I completely dropped my needles in favour of The Hook.  I think there was something about only having one stitch to contend with at a time that really appealed to me. I also found any shaping to be so straightforward compared to knitting. Now I will concede that the shaping in knitting is more refined. And a knitted jumper wins over a Crochet one most times. But my Crochet interests lay more with household accessories than garment making. Over the years I have experimented with different Crochet makes. But I am at my most happiest making Bags, Shawls, Blankets and Throws. With a touch of Origarumi thrown in if my brain feels like a challenge. A Brief  Pictorial History of My Crochet Endeavours  I have put together a selection of my favourite makes over the last few years. So you can get a feel...

Following on from my  Boro Bag Post  .  I want to talk a little today about Needles, Threads and Fabric for Boro Stitching. Basically to get the best results (and the most stress free Stitching experience) you need to use the best combination of needle and thread for the fabrics you are using. Because, if you use a needle that is too small or big for you fabric and chosen thread your gonna hit problems, and at the very least your work is going to fight you. Basically not so much fun as frustration. So it pays to use the right tools for the job. There are numerous types of Needles and Threads to use when sewing, which basically depend on the fabrics you are stitching and the effect you want to achieve. I could write a blog post on each one. But today I just want to focus a little on Needles, Threads and Fabrics for more traditional Boro Work. You'll probably be pleased to know that Boro is traditionally worked with thicker threads and bigger needles! It's one of the reason...