Dash of Lime

Don't you find that there is a melancholy reflective vibe about New Year, especially when you have young children and the passing of time is so marked? But today the weather kindly lifted us from those feelings and threw me headlong into 'Remember, next up, Spring is a coming' mode. Now I know it's very premature to think about Spring at this stage in the year with the weather man threatening more snow. But as the sun streamed in the window and my hyacinth buds began to push out their flowers, a pile of zingy lime fabrics I have been collecting for a while suddenly called out to be used.

I have had in my head a quilt made up of Churn Dash blocks all different sizes, I think I saw it done once in a magazine, but I can't recall where or when, but it's been nagging me recently. I've spent the afternoon with the sun on my back through the window playing around on graph paper to make a pattern for a ChurnDash Lime quilt - or A Dash of Lime Quilt as I think it will be called. I've got that new project excitement rush, I'm off to start cutting out!

Warm Hands and Warm Hearts

After I've finished a 'big' project like my stripy blanket (Ok it's not that big but I still need to increase my Kph (knits per hour)), I decided a day of bits and pieces was in order.

Yesterday was a particularly Novemberish type of day here, unrelentingly grey with cold driving rain, boo. It was also Bikeability after school which meant a very cold, and dark, and late school run in the rain. Double boo. There were long faces and cold hands, and problems gripping the brakes on the bikes with slippy gloves on, on the slippery leafy pavements. 'Of course!' I immediately thought! It's a new use for the Ultimate Buggy Glove!http://makedoandmendquilts.blogspot.com/2009/10/ultimate-buggy-gloves.html

So last night I started knitting Little Lady sized buggy gloves, now renamed the Ultimate Buggy and Bike Gloves, of course! Super quick to knit so Warm Hands well on the way.

There was also some more birdy fun (OK, enough with the birds!) as the girls wanted birds for their rooms, here is Baby Buttons Warm Hearty bird garland. Little Ladies are awaiting stuffing when their new owner gets home from school! The hearts are made from 'Blankits',http://www.blankits.net/ little squares of recycled and re purposed wool blankets, dyed and felted. I bought a stack this year at the NEC Quilt Festival and they have been awaiting the perfect project. I'm thinking a Sue Spargo inspired pin cushion could be coming on?

And lastly, my final Warm Heart is a quilt that I made last summer when I was pregnant. I took the little gingerbread people pattern from Quilts!Quilts!!Quilts!!! by McClun and Knowles. They were lovely to hand piece and I loved them, but I was never happy with the centre of mine. In the real pattern they use 9 patch squares, but the contrast was too strong on mine and I felt it looked too busy so I didn't use it in favour of something simpler. Because I wanted it to be OK for a baby boy or a girl ( not knowing which flavour we were getting) I went with the blue to try and cancel out the fact it had all ended up a bit pink. But I was never happy with it, the blue is all a bit too cold and empty. So last night it got a warm hearts makeover with some scraps from the original quilt that we turned out of the bottom of the scraps bin. I know it's not much of a change, but I feel much happier with it now!

Anyway I have cold hands typing at the keyboard and a little Ultimate Bike Glove is waiting to be knitted so better get on.......!

Attacking the UFO's ( Unfinished Objects!)

It's been a very busy few days as my Make Do & Mend quilt kit website has gone totally live so there has been much behind the scenes busying with boxes and tissue paper and ribbons to get my kits all spruced and ready to fly the nest for their new homes!

I am always one for having too many projects on the go at once, but the end of last week saw rather a surge of 'Oohh New Project' excitements so this week I am determined to finish some things.

I blogged last week about my Lizzy House Fabric with the ducks? The perfect project for it had been tantalisingly out of reach, until a eureka moment with some Amy Butler grey fabric made it all make sense. I like this quilt design so much I'm going to start cutting kits as it is a nice simple construction and makes a very graphic modern baby quilt. I'm hand quilting it at the moment with big circles to counteract all the lines, I love it, I hope you do too. Will try and finish it off this week and give it a proper photo shoot!

My knitting is guiltily filling all the non quilty moments. Bored of how pink all my knitting had been after my sudden passion for Debbie Bliss Soft Pink wool ( 1 scarf, 1 blanket, 3 hats ( I had to knit three before I actually made a hat to fit the baby!)) I have embarked on a colourful blanket. It was such fun auditioning wool, it could have been the worlds longest stripy blanket, but I settled on 9 stripes and this is what I ended up with. Yum!

Anyway, better run, have to catch the post office before it closes to send one of my little Quilt Kits off to Australia! What fun!