Happy Scrappiness

My top is finished! At least I think so. I left out 15 leaping bunnies on the sashings and some small wool appliques from around the quilt.

 

 

 

I was surprised how fun and easy it was to applique the wool fabric on the blocks. I have done a fair amount of applique by hand using cotton fabrics and a heat and bond material, and especially when there are many layers, getting the needle through was difficult. This worked like a dream!

 

All the fabrics in this quilt are from my stash except for the dark brown squares of the sashings. Most fabrics are also recycled, plaid and other shirts from the family and the almost last bits of my grandmother's grey and pink floral summer dress. The stitcheries are on quilting fabrics in cream and white. I had only some suitable wool scraps at home and so I  bought the wool felt I needed from Raspberry Rabbits, not only because their name was so suitable for this quilt but also because they delivered something to me earlier and I was very pleased with it.

 

Kaaren of The Painted Quilt who designed this quilt, has had an operation and is recovering from it in hospital. Maybe you would like to pop in at her blog and wish her well?

There was some rain in the morning but in the afternoon the clouds were gone and I could have a photo shoot outdoors.  But who is there on the lawn?

 

I zoom my camera like a paparazzi and reveal the secret: Mr. K getting a finishing touch for tomorrow's Finnish Championships, of course.

 

 

Can you see the bumble bee in this flower? The air is full of humming and buzzing, and this bee had yellow pollen all over its furry back. Bees and wasps and all other insects are having a feast with the flowers and fallen apples and last raspberries.

 

Have a very nice weekend!



Happy Scrappy Last Row

Here it is, the last row of the Happy Scrappy Spring quilt:

 

 

Before joining the rows I will add some wool applique on the blocks. How exciting, I haven't really done that before, just a little wool candle mat some years ago. This quilt has five rows with stitcheries, and pieced sashings and borders.

A couple of days ago Mr. K. called me out with my camera. There was the biggest caterpillar we have ever seen:

 

It was moving really fast, climbing up the concrete border of our paved area ...

 

... having difficulties to decide which side to go to.

I found a name for this caterpillar too, Cossus cossus, and the Finnish name means tree destroyer. It just made me think of a fun children's book about the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I used to read it to the children when I was au pairing as a student, and then later to my own children. Books with holes are such fun.

A new finish

 The Row-Along quilt of The Bee in My Bonnet is now officially finished with machine quilting and scrappy bindings. There was an almost sunny moment between rain showers yesterday so I tried how my rattan chair would feel on the new terrace. You can see the yellow leaves on the floor - the Autumn is trying to come already!

I stitched wavy lines between the blocks and free shapes on and around the pictures on this quilt.

 

Our summer apples are ripe, but there will be no apple sauce cooking this year.

 

 

My basket will remain empty!

 

I'm almost pleased with my stitching ideas, as the flowers look like flowers and the leaves and apples look like leaves and apples on the reverse.

 

The photo makes the borders look all blurry, but they are of a very pretty red and white checkered fabric and the corners are mitred.

 

 

I'm glad to have completed a project, and now I can concentrate on the two other quilts I'm working on, and maybe start a knitting as a TV project.

 

This and that ..

...which means I haven't finished anything to show you but wanted to let you know I'm still here. Mr. K has finished something:

 

 

This is our new pergola/patio/terrace - I'll be happy to hear what it should be called. Our new outdoors coffee place with no roof, half walls on three sides, and a trellis for future parthenocissus or other creepers. Last Saturday we celebrated the opening of this space with most of our sisters and brothers and all our children, and their spouses. The weather was hot and sunny, and this was definitely the place to get the most sun and warmth. It was very nice to be gathered "just because".

 

My Summer flowers enjoy this warmer than usual weather. Six weeks ago they looked like this. The begonias (pink, on both sides of the Blacke-Eyed Susanna) are hiding under the other flowers now.

 

And while you looked at that post with the flower box you saw the quilt in process. It was finished a while ago, but last week I finally made the label and this week I took the Peek-a-Boo Street quilt to the nursing home where Mr. K's father lived his last years. The staff was surprised and happy to get the quilt, comfortable size for someone sitting in a wheelchair.

 

I promised to make other quilts for them in the future. I think it makes more sense than sending them to the other side of the world. I just didn't know this need excisted so close to home. A perfect address for quilts I want to make but have no space for!

 

The other day we heard a humming sound and saw something very black flying in the living room. It couldn't be a bumble bee! It was like a heavily loaded cargo aeroplane compared to a passenger plane. It bumped into the window and left a black mark, and I think it fainted and died. I swept under the sofa and found this:

 

A mini chimney sweeper! It was indeed a bumble bee that had come down the chimney and past the dampers, and it was covered in soot and therefore could not fly properly.

 

Knitted graffiti revisited:

 

 

My piece has stretched and it has been moved to the other end of the rail, and now I can touch it every time I come from the train and cross the street right here.

 

Other pieces have also moved a little, but no real damage seems to be done. I even comeared these with my old photos and I think nothing has been removed - or added after I added mine.

 

So, what is the newest red and white  building in our yard?