Project Shush

This is a baby blanket for a friend at work, whose baby is due imminently.  Well, yesterday, actually.  Although rather unsympathetically, I'm hoping it doesn't arrive for another three or four days as the Browne review into student fees and financing is due to report on Tuesday and life would be everso much easier if the new baby's daddy was at work, helping me to do the modelling.  Oh yes, I've got my prioirities all straight, let me tell you!

The blanket is a lovely mix of fibres.  The white is bamboo derived polyester - reflects the light beautifully and is lovely and soft, but a bit of a bugger to work, if I'm honest - the yarn splits far too easily.  The green is a mix of cashmere, merino and silk.  Not the most practical fibres for a baby blanket, perhaps, but it's washable will be lovely and warm...  All double knit, crocheted with a number 4, beech wood hook, if you're interested...

New Hair!

It's purpler than the photo shows, and for some reason (I think they think they're being kind) the children are unable to take a photo which includes my chin!

The cunning thing about this hair is that if I have the parting on the right (as pictured), it's purple on top, but if I put the parting on the left (where it normally lives) it's brown with just some purpley bits showing through - kind of night and day...!

More holiday crafty goodness.  Here's how the babette blanket is shaping up (these progress photos have mostly been on Twitter until now...) and my doesn't it go well with the rug???

And here's one where the Quilt Inspector has crept in:

He doesn't quite get crochet.  He tried to join in once, by chewing all my lovely wooden hooks.  All he got was a severely smacked nose  (I was rather disappointed he didn't get spinters, I must admit!)

Work in progress

So, the red quilt is coming on leaps and bounds, thanks to my new sewing machine...

This is the finished quilt top:

It's all based on log cabin blocks, with some traditional blocks in the centre, some offset log cabins in the centre of each row, and some corner blocks at each corner.  The sashing is (surprise, surprise!) Amy Butler chrysanthemum fabric. 

I'm particularly pleased with this corner block (top right corner in the photo above):

The piece at the bottom of the picture is  just a slice through log cabin corners - I like the 'plaited' effect it gives.

The offsets were simply done randomly and, again, some of them have worked out nicely:

The back uses up some left over log cabins from making the centre block, and a piece of modern (polyester) kimono I picked up at the Festival of Quilts:

The plain red was hand dyed with Jacquard Procion MX in Carmine Red, mixed with Omega Dyrect Poppy.

Here's a detail of the kimono:

Because life isn't particularly restful at the moment - and to compensate for so much red in the bedroom - I free machine embroidered an Om at the top of the kimono...

I traced the image onto a piece of sulky Solvy, and used the needle as a felt tip to colour it in, with a couple of layers of nappy liner behind to stabilise.  It's worked well, although because of the circular nature of it, it has ruckled the fabric a fair bit.  I'd have got on better if I'd used a hoop.  Must get a hoop!

Anyway, all that remains to do now is to make the backing bigger - more plain red - perhaps add some velvet to the head and foot end of the front, and put it all together... so not much work there, then!

Holiday snaps

Well, I was going to upload pictures of a lovely day spent at Lincoln cathedral with Mum and the kids, but it's such a ball ache to upload large numbers of pictures to Blogger that, instead, I shall send you to the Flickr page where I've uploaded the pictures, and commented on them. 

Holidays

Well, here we are in Lincoln, the kids, the dogs and I.  On our jolly holidays.  Only for 3 days because - well, you know - there'd be little point in reckless extravagance or unlimited enjoyment!

I have been playing with needles.  The cathartic potential of stabbing things for hours and hours, and coming out of it with a beautiful result, has recently occurred to me.  So I've been needle felting.  This is my first attempt at 'flying solo' - not a bad thing, but it could have done with a little more thinking through before hand - the design would have been better on the diagonal and the whole thing would be more useful if it were a little bit bigger.  As it is, it's an iPhone cover...

I've also been to the Festival of Quilts which was stunningly beautiful.  Some really inspiring work, there.  My particular favourites were an incredibly intricate mosaic quilt of a woman draped in a red fabric.  She was made up of tiny (3/4cm?) mosaic squares, each individually stitched on - presumably must have been bonded with something first, but it's not evident what, as all the edges were free... just a stunning piece of work!  And then the phoenix quilt, which was a beautiful blend of colour and technical skill.  The feathers are so beautifully quilted, and the tail and wings have little fiery trails of embroidery spinning out of them.  I came away feeling inspired and inadequate, in equal parts!  But, I bought a new sewing machine, so perhaps the inspiration will win out...!

And now we're at Mum's, eating and walking and doing not much.  In fact, I should go and chivvy the troops out of bed.  We're going to take a quick tour of the cathedral this morning, before bundling into the car and heading home for a visit from Dad and stepmother, tomorrow.

Obviously, I haven't died.  I'd have told you anything that exciting!  I am just, as ever, ill disciplined...

Where to start?  Hasn't the weather been glorious?!

It's been a busy time; I'm planning a restructure of two of my teams at work, which will begin next week, so large chunks of time have been spent thinking about team structures and roles and individuals and pulling together a business plan and a communication plan.  But that's there, or thereabouts, now.  The senior officers' team had a very useful awayday in Buckinghamshire recently.  Well, two days, divided by a really good meal and a wine tasting.  Was nice to spend some time with the rest of them, and I'm finally beginning to feel that I can offer my opinion without worrying whether I'm just being collossally stupid!

This morning, joy of joys, I'm off to Coventry for a speed awareness course.  Which will, I'm sure, be a useful and informative way to spend 4 hours, and not at all an extremely onerous way of avoiding points on my licence.  I question the wisdom of opting for this, actually, since I've just sold my car and aim to make do with the train and the bike for as long as I possibly can... but there you are.  There's probably a principle at stake somewhere.