Been planning quite an elaborate Christmas present for my mum. She really likes koi carp and I spotted this Kona Bay Japanese print at last year's Festival of Quilts; so I just had to have it.
I'd seen something at the show with a similar print in; which was banner shaped with diamond blocks surrounding it. Thought I'd do something similar but I've got a bit of a penchant for Cathedral block windows. Lynne Edwards has released a new book Cathedral Window Quilts: The Classic Folded Technique and a Wealth of Variations
It's a really beautiful book and she goes into detail on all the different ways of making Cathedral Windows plus other types of folded blocks too. What I found quite useful was the machine piecing section which I put into practice making the wallhanging. I must say it was a little fiddly at times but think it turned out well. One of the tricky parts for me was the free motion quilting on the picture.
I used Perfect Pallete fabric for the main background & the windows are from a charm pack of Kona Bay fabrics. Finally finished it just in time for Christmas. This is my Japanese Window Wallhanging.
Just taken up knitting again after my first attempt ( which involved the knitting being thrown across the room after dropping a stitch and not being able to fix it). This time is different; think I've got the hang of it.
I was inspired by a friend of mine after seeing a knitting magazine of hers. It was Let's Knit and they had a whole section on socks; the idea of double pointed needles was a bit daunting but I just had to have a go. I went next day to buy it and you get a free pack of dpn with the magazine.
Got some Regia 4
ply sock yarn and by the end of the weekend I had knitted my first pair of socks (one or two hiccups along the way - picking up the stitches was a bit haphazard).
I love the self-patterning yarn so easy to make but the finished sock looks super. The pattern came free with the yarn. My fiancee, Jim, really liked them too so I went and got 6ply Regia yarn and made him a pair. I'll post a photo of them later when I can get him to model them.
