Poppies for a friend and colleague

A friend and colleague is about to leave our little island home.  She loves poppies.  With this in mind, I made this card for her.

The Growth of a Sunflower

So far, I have made three quilts. The first was a incredibly simple - squares and strips. The second was made from denim and fleece and was a single bed quilt. The latest completed quilt was a quilted table runner for my parents' golden wedding. With each project I have learned mover about quilting and techniques.

For September, I decided to set myself some goals and learn some more skills. On my list are appliqué, hand quilting and free motion quilting. My first attempt at appliqué was on the pumpkin peg bag, and I learned a great deal. After watching tutorials by Jenny of the Missouri Start Quilt Co onYouTube I was inspired to have a go at a Dresden plate block

But, instead of using lots of different fabrics, I wanted to use the design to make a sunflower.

You can buy Dresden rulers in shops and on-line, but I wanted to make it NOW. By using the 30° line on my quilting ruler, I was able to make a Dresden sunflower. Normally, the Dresden pattern calls for 20 'petals'. Using a 30° angle has reduced this to 12 petals on my sunflower.

The yellow petals are made and sewn, and I'm just about to start work on the brown centre of the flower. All of the bits were laid out on the backing fabric, and that is when I realised the background is too dark and too fussy.

The colour balance on this photograph is off. The yellow is a lovely, vibrant yellow, and the greens for leaves and stem are good mid-greens. However, this photograph does make it easy to see that the blue background is too close in saturation to the greens. Something softer and more background-y is required.

A Peg Bag for Jack?

Today's bit of craftiness has come in the form of trying something new. Given the number of crafty things I have done over the years, this is my first attempt at appliqué.

It's not bad for a first go, and I was able to improve on it as I was working on the project. 

A Crafty Day

There are times when a person realises they are engaged in self-sabbotaging behaviour.  Last night I realised I spend far too much time playing on my computer.  I get sucked into playing games and watching television programmes I don't really want to watch.  This is not what I want to do. 

Today has been spent knitting, and sewing.  The knitting is an on-going project.  Below is a Manx chicken pin cushion, and a couple of Christmas decorations.

The Christmas decorations need a little bit of gold cord (for hanging purposes) and a nice bead in the centre.