A Finished UFO Or A Lost Mind?

I put my heart and my soul into my work and have lost my mind in the process

                                                                                                 Vincent van Gogh

Back in February 2013 I pattern tested this 7" foundation paper pieced heart for Juliet @The Tartankiwi (you can read about it here).

Of course, it's sat in my UFO pile ever since ... but no longer.  I ironed a piece of Pellon fusible fleece to the back of the heart and added a backing with a turned machine bound edge using the same fabulous Philip Jacobs Iris and Peony (Red) fabric that I've used for the heart centre on the front.  Yep those corners aren't perfectly mitred but at least it's finished and useable and I'm starting to think this could be a good mantra for me to live by - certainly if it's not something I'm selling!

I picked the fabric up on a trip to Liberty London - if you've never visited then take a look at the photos in my post here then put it on your Sewer's Bucket List.

Now it's an attractive table topper or wall hanging and could look equally good framed.

So one UFO's finished and unlike van Gogh I've even managed to keep my sanity I think - though my family might beg to differ ;D

Juliet's patterns are available now via her Etsy store and also her Payhip store.  

Here's a look back at the patterns I've previously tested for Juliet.

Click any of the images below to go through to my post about testing that particular pattern:

  

 
 

Disclosure: I do not receive payment from Juliet @TheTartankiwi for testing her patterns, nor do I receive a commission on any patterns sold via her Etsy store or any other sales method.  This post is purely informational and of no direct benefit, monetary or otherwise, to me.

Clicking on an image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)

Disclosure: 

This post contains a Craftsy affiliate banner for which I am paid commission on click-through purchases. Otherwise, no payment or commission is received for click-throughs to shared links; the post is for informational purposes only and all opinions are my own.

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Uncredited reproduction of all content, text and images on this site is prohibited. All content, text and images must be credited to Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD and include a link back to this site.

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Linky Parties This post may be linked to some great Linky Parties, always a great source of inspiration too. If you click through to my 'Fave Linky Parties' page you can see where I like to share my work.

The Colour Purple - Old Age Or Eccentricity?

Be eccentric now.  Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

                                                                                             Regina Brett

Last Thursday I was teaching a class at The City Quilter and one of the students raised the question of why woman over the age of 65 fall in love with the colour purple?  Well I have no answers, and neither did the women in the class, all I know is that my own Mum adores the colour purple, she can't get enough of it so when I saw this cowl on the Black Sheep and Ewe stand at Vogue Knitting Live in Manhattan back in January and spotted that they had it in purple I just knew I had to make it for her.

This 'Flower Cowl' pattern and yarn are available to purchase online at Black Sheep And Ewe.

Today, Sunday, 30 March is Mothering Sunday in England 

- we celebrate our Mother's Day on the 4th Sunday in Lent dating back to the 16th Century.  The rest of the world celebrate Mother's Day on several dates but the majority on the second Sunday in May as introduced by Anna Jarvis of West Virginia, USA in 1908 -

so it was a perfect gift to send off to Mum.  Fortunately Flicky was around last week to model the finished cowl for me.

 

a close up with the 'flowers' included in the yarn.

To be honest I'm disappointed with the finished shawl.  It doesn't look as good on Flicky as it did on the model at Vogue Knitting Live, maybe a different colour or outfit underneath would do it more justice and, now looking at the model I can see we haven't hung it quite the same way, it could look better with the twist off to one side.  Not one of my better projects :(

I guess what matters is whether or not Mum likes it.  I spoke with her tonight and she told me that it's her favourite colour - well who'd have known?!!!  

Something to do with her being over 65 maybe - we still haven't got to the bottom of that one ... thoughts anyone?

Update at 7.11 pm, 31 March 2014

Mum went out in her cowl tonight - she wore it over a three quarter length sleeve round neck purple top and a full length purple skirt.  People stopped her to say how glamourous she looked, friends have tried the cowl on too and now they're keen to get hold of the wool and the pattern now over the pond!  When she got home Mum skyped me so I could see how she looked, she'd read my blog post and knew I was disappointed with the cowl and wanted to tell me how much she loves it.

I asked her if she could take a selfie and send it to me and here it is

She's never taken a selfie before and quickly realised she couldn't stand far enough back from her iPad to get the whole outfit in - she even tried using a spatula to take the pic but to no avail.  After giving us both lots of giggles and scaring me with how much she's looking like my Grandma (her Mum) these days, she's gone to bed now and I've told her to check back here in the morning to see this update.

Enjoy Mum, you look fabulous and I love you so much, Happy Mother's Day xxx

Previously On This Week: 26 March

No words just a few links back to posts from the same week in previous years that are still relevant or might be fun to revisit.

Just click on an image to take you to the original post:

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Will Ye No Come Back Again? Absolutely, Next September!

 

Introducing My Grandson

I've been waiting for what feels like sooooo long to share the news with you, I just want to shout it from the roof tops 

My eldest son Jack and his partner Ana are having a baby and some time around 11 September 2014 my grandson will be taking his first breath.  He's a first grandchild for the grandparents on both sides so there's that extra buzz and thrill for us all.

Here's a pic of Jack and Ana in their pre-baby days

I love that photo - I took it last June when I visited them at their home in Seville, Spain.

We're all very excited and I've already been buying maternity clothes for Ana, wool, knitting patterns, fabrics and baby clothes, books and presents.  I might be thousands of miles away but I still want to play my part!

I'm sure I'll have lots of projects to share with you over the coming months but right now I'm just walking round with a big smile on my face :D

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my side bar :D

Spots Before Your Eyes - April 2014 NYC Metro MQG Block Lotto

The NYC Metro Mod Guild Guild Block Lotto for our next meeting on 5 April is 9 patch polka dot blocks.  (Not sure how to piece and press 9 patches?  Read my easy tutorial here.)

So the idea is that you make as many blocks as you like and take them along to the meeting.  Each block you hand in gives you one entry in the raffle and the raffle winner wins all the blocks brought along by guild members.

I've used the 7 polka dot fabrics that I picked up on my trip to Britex in San Francisco two weeks ago and added a purple that I used in my Sparkle Plenty Quilt and a pink from my Drunkard's Path Quilt.

Blocks can be straight or wonky but have to have 9 polka dot patches and measure 9.5" square unfinished - with a quick bit of maths that's 9 x 3.5" squares.

And there it is ...

Does it look like a lucky Polka Dot block?

I hope so!  I'd love to win that raffle!!!

If you're interested in seeing the Show & Tell from our February NYC Metro Mod Guild meeting here's the link.  You might want to nip over just to take a look at my Show & Tell - a quilt I made for Simon for Christmas but haven't got around to photographing and blogging about yet.  It's a pleated quilt and I was dreading ever having to wash it because I really didn't want to ever have to iron it - but Watson, our new Havanese pup, vomited on it last week and by the time I got home from work Simon had washed and tumbled it absolutely bone dry.  I'm not sure it'll ever be quite the same again and not a photo to show for it :(  I'm going to give it another wash and try ironing it when it's still pretty damp, that's the plan but life keeps being too busy and getting in the way, I'm sure you know how it is!

Can't help loving Watson though, he's such a cutie!!!  Haven't shared too many pics so here's a few and some of Tatty too.

Love them so much I think I can just about let them off a bit of vomit on a quilt.

What about you, do you have vomit stories (or worse!) about your quilts?  Did you love the culprit enough to forgive them too?!!!

And you can click this link to see all of my NYC Mod Quilt Guild Bee Blocks and Challenge Blocks/Quilts.