October Row

I’m so sorry for the delay in posting the October templates. Life is being life.

Here they are:

October 1

October 2

October 3

I’ve been busy crocheting rather than sewing. I’m still hoping to finish this crochet blanket till Christmas. I don’t think I’ll manage but it’s fun to try.

As I have problems with the joints in my fingers (mostly my thumbs but the others are acting up too) I have to modify my crochet hooks. I usually just grab some Fimo clay, make a sausage and stuff my hook in it to give me a better grip. This time I tried to make flowers to decorate my crochet hook. It wasn’t all that successful but I still like it.

Right, I’m off to crochet a few more flowers.

Happy sewing!

August Row

I’m still trying to catch up with my own Block of the Month, which makes me feel slightly bad. Only slightly, though, as I’ve learned that the more pressure I put on my self the less I get done. So my mantra these last couple of years has been ‘I’ll get to it when it’s the right time to do it’ and it’s helped me tremendously with my anxiety.

This little miss is making it slightly more difficult to sew but as she makes my life so much better I don’t really mind.

You’re not here to listen to my psychobabble, I’m sure, so without much further ado here are the August templates:

August 1

August 2

August 3

I normally print out my templates to check the size but my printer sadly refuses to print at the moment. So please let me know if there are any problems with the templates so I can rectify them. They should be fine, I’m probably worrying for nothing.

Happy sewing!

July Row

Hello, hello!

Another month has passed and I’m still working on my March row. As our summer holiday is fast approaching I’m hoping to get more done and will do my utmost to catch up with my sewing.

However, I’ve been naughty and have started a new crochet project. Three friends of mine have asked me to design a flowery crochet blanket. One of the girls saw a beautiful crochet blanket but we couldn’t find a pattern for it so designed a similar one. I’m making mine for my daughter and she’s picked lots of lovely pastel colours:

I’ve made a start and the blanket will look very soft and delicate. I’ll show you my progress in a separate blog post as I’m really pleased with both the design and the wool.

Here are the templates for the July row of the block of the month:

July 1

July 2

July 3

Happy sewing!

June Row

Hello, hello!

Happy to see you here. I’ve no BOM sewing progress to report, meaning I’m still stuck on the March row. I can, however, report that my gorgeous cat Flynn is recovering well. He’s always hungry and slowly putting on weight. He loves to play and run around the flat like a madman again. I’m really happy and I hope he will continue to do well and recover completely.

I have been sewing a little bit. My former boss retired this week and is now off to Norway in her camper van for two months. So my colleague and I decided to buy her some goodies to take with her: a book, a crossword puzzle, mosquito repellent etc. I then made her a big pouch to put everything in.

 

Right, here are the templates for the June row:

June 1

June 2

June 3

Happy sewing!

 

May Row

First of all, I have to apologise for disappearing and not posting the May templates earlier. Work has been very busy but mostly it’s been a difficult time for me as my gorgeous cat Flynn Curlytail is very poorly. As I’m writing this post he is at the animal hospital in Bern. We still don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him but all the options are scary to say the least. He turned three last Friday (the day he was admitted to the hospital) and I really don’t want to lose him. He is the sweetest cat: loving, funny and clumsy. He finds the weirdest places to sleep in and loves his food.

Right, now to get to the templates. Here are the templates for the May row:

May 1

May 2

May 3

Happy sewing!

 

Almost

I’m still running behind on my Block of the Month. Work has been hectic and when I haven’t been working I’ve been sleeping, eating or cleaning. At least that’s what it feels like. I’m almost finished with the February row and I’m looking forward to adding the March row. Which might be some time in April, if I don’t get to do a lot of sewing over the Easter holiday.

 

I was rather worried for a little while as I didn’t like what I’d done but after a few fabric switches, I’m pleased with my first two rows. I’m slowly adding some blue to the pinks, turquoises and greens. The grey and white stripe will be used as a kind of background to let the eye rest between all the different prints and colours. I might use a solid or two but am still on the fence about it. How is your version of this quilt going?

Happy sewing!

March Row

Hello, hello

Ready for the March row? I’m not. I’ve started a new job and am continuing in my old on this month so my days are full and I have hardly any sewing time. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish the February blocks this week as I’m excited to start on this new row.

Right, here are the templates:

March 1

March 2

March 3

I really hope you’re enjoying this quilt as much as I am. This is a picture of my January row. I’d love to show you my progress but as that is minimal at the moment I’ll wait till next time.

 

Please let me know if you have any problems downloading the templates. I’ve been asked whether I would consider sending the templates by email. Of course I would. So if you’d like to receive the templates directly in your inbox, send me an email or add a comment to this post and I’ll put you on the list.

Happy sewing!

February Row

Goodness, time flies when you’re having fun. And it goes even faster when you’re organising a BOM and are way behind on your sewing. So much has been happening this last month and sewing has therefore not really been a priority. My gorgeous cat Flynn has been poorly and ended up at the vet’s twice. He’s not eating and for a cat who’s normally a walking stomach that’s really bad. He’ll eat anything and everything, even salad, so to see him turn away from food is disconcerting. He’s only two years old and should be stuffing himself with all the food, play and sleep but at the moment all he does is sleep and feel sorry for himself.

Secondly, I’ve found a new job. I’m moving away from sales and going into an office job. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. I haven’t worked on the computer for quite a while so it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes me to get back on the ‘horse’. Going from a fabric shop into an engineering firm is quite the move. As I’ll be commuting to Berne I will have more time to EPP which will be fun and will hopefully help me get this BOM sewn.

Right, let’s get to it. Here are the links for the February Row:

February 1

February 2

February 3

As always: please let me know if there are any problems with downloading the templates and I’ll do my best to solve the problem.

Olive is the best little nurse. She’s doing her best to look after Flynn, cleaning him and checking on him every now and again. Although she’s also happy to steal his food and oust him from her favourite places…

Happy sewing!

 

January Row

Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a great start to the new year.

Let’s start this block of the month. I’m incredibly excited to get back to English paper piecing. I’ve been neglecting it as I’ve been focussed on the granny square blanket and a cardigan I’m crocheting. I’ve also done a lot of bag and pouch sewing but almost no patchwork or quilting.

Right, here we go:

January 1

January 2

January 3

You need to print out January 1 and January 3 once and January 2 as often as you need to get the width that you’d like. I’m going to print it out eight times which results in a quilt that is 60″ wide. The quilt consists of twelve rows and will end up being 72″ long. You can, of course, make the quilt smaller by making less rows. I might add some squaring up lines to the templates after a few rows.

As you’re printing, make sure you don’t scale the printout. Keep it at 100% and check the little square is 1″x1″.

I can’t wait to start this project and see what you guys make of it. Happy sewing!

Block of the Month 2024

It’s been a while but I’m excited to be back in this little corner of the internet to announce that I’m hosting a free Block of the Month next year. I’ve already talked about it on Instagram but let me tell you all about it here, too.

First, it’s not really a block but a row we’re sewing every month. Here’s the chart of the finished quilt:

 

I realise that it’s not easy to see the quilt properly in this little picture so the link for the chart is here: Chart BOM24

The chart will help you decide whether you want to join in and also make it easier for you if you’re a planner. I’m going to wing it (and probably be envious of everyone who’s planned their quilt in advance) and stick to my technique of choosing my fabrics as I’m sewing.

Every month you get three ‘blocks’ one centre block and two end blocks that square up the quilt.

The width of your quilt depends on how many centre blocks you make. Ten blocks in total give you a quilt that’s 60″ wide. You can of course make it smaller but the length, if you stick with all twelve rows is 72″. If you would like to make your quilt bigger, I can add more rows, but at the moment there are only twelve. Here’s the link to download the rows in the picture above: Chart Pieces BOM24

Every first of the month the blocks will be ready to download here on the blog. If you would like to join in and see what others are making you can check out the hashtag #sharksdinnerbom24 on Instagram. This is where I’ll be posting my progress.

And because you should always end every blog post with a cute picture, here’s one of Olive Nomura Shoulderhopper.

 

Happy sewing! Elisabeth