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!

 

April Row

Hello, hello!

Are you ready for the next row of this Block of the Month? I’m still running behind. I’ve only just finished the February row this morning… I was really stressed out about it for a while but then realised that it’s all good. We sew because we enjoy it and we’ll finish our projects when we finish them. I might be able to catch up this month or I may not. I’m going to try but if I’m still behind at the end of the month then that’s ok with me.

As you can see Olive has been helping me.

Right, without much further ado. Here are the templates for this month’s row:

April 1

April 2

April 3

April 4

Number four are the ‘connectors’ between the other blocks. The whole block was basically too big to fit on one page so I had to add another page to the templates. There are lines to show you where the templates go.

If you have any problems, please let me know and I’ll do my best to solve them.

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

Bright Pink and Orange

I love bright colours and picked bright orange and pink when I started my latest project. It was slow going. More because I didn’t take the time to work on it, than because it was complicated or that I wasn’t sure about it. I loved it from the start and never got to that ‘meh-stage’ that I usually get somewhere in the middle of a project. All in all it took me more than a year.

This project bag has been a blessing as my project was always ready to take to work, so I could sew whenever I had a minute or two.

This piece doesn’t have a name yet, which is highly unusual for me. I usual call my patterns or projects something, even if it is really banal such as ‘The Purple Quilt’ or ‘The Green Cushion’.

On the day I was appliquéing the finished EPP piece onto the background, I was actually wearing an orange t-shirt, pink trousers and my mustard shoes. It did make me laugh and I was wondering if I should turn this into a trend and only work on my various EPP projects when I’m dressed appropriately.

Almost Done

I enjoyed seeing this piece grow. I never plan my pieces in advance but just work in ‘rows’ or small sections, auditioning fabrics. It sometimes happens that I unpick and change fabrics but very seldom and I usually realise it before I’ve sewn on all the pieces.

Olive had to help, of course. This cat is driving me bananas! She’s the cutest, most loveable kitten one could wish for but she does destroy a lot. Together with her ‘brother’ she’s destroyed most of my plants and pots, she chews on all the pencils (I hide them), she finds and kills my woollen socks, hats and scarves (it’s a good thing I have an endless supply as my sister is a very talented and prolific knitter) and sits on every plate or bowl I get out to put food on. I do, however, forgive everything as her face lights up and she runs towards me with the cutest little meow whenever she sees me. She sleeps in my bed and every morning I’m greeted with enthusiasm.

I’ve attached the piece to the background and am now going to turn it into a tote bag. I always end up making cushion covers, but how many cushions do I really need?

The pattern for this piece is part of a very exciting project and will be available at a later stage.