Re-Starting a Neglected Project: a Woodland Cushion!

If you're anything like me you've got several works-in-progress that are not so much "in progress" as they are "massively neglected and currently shoved in a box or under the bed gathering dust".  

One of the downsides of blogging is that you've got a public record of exactly when you started all those projects that are sitting round your house still not finished. It can be quite embarrassing to realise just how many months and years have past since you first started making X item with huge enthusiasm... doubly so when you re-start a project and have to blog about it again while admitting just how long you've gone without working on it!

Waaaay back in 2012 I bought some yarn for making a new project. About a year later (Sept 2013) I finally bought the knitting pattern I wanted and started knitting: using the Woodsy Association knitting patterns from Tiny Owl Knits (cute wristlets decorated with woodland animals) to make a knitted patchwork cushion for my mum.

Blogging about my plans for the project, I wrote: "I've got no idea how long it'll take me to get the whole cushion made (I have told my mum that this is a present for her "at some point", could be Christmas or her birthday or maybe even Christmas next year!) but I'm really looking forward to seeing it develop and to stitching all those cute little animal faces" 

Aaaaand here it is, May 2015, and I've really not made much progress. Oops. I am a terrible daughter!

I've (finally) bought the missing shade of yarn that was out of stock when I placed my original order in 2012...

... knitted a few "squares" (they're not actually square but that's what I'm calling them in my head so shhh)...

... and (mostly) finished stitching the first pair of animals...

 ... but there's still a long way to go.

So, I'm resolving to get this finished by Christmas 2015 at the very latest so my mama can finally have some woodland cuteness for her sofa. Wish me luck!

Forgotten Fabric: Experiments with Spoonflower

A friend recently reminded me that several years ago I got some fabric printed with Spoonflower and never did anything with it! Or even blogged about it! Oops.

Wanna see what I had printed? (Better late than never, right??)

I didn't have a particular plan in mind for these prints, I was experimenting to see how some of my clearer, brighter product photos would print out on fabric with an eye to maybe making some kits, patches or quick-to-sew ornaments / lavender sachets / etc. As you can see, I got as far as getting some swatches printed and then test-sewing some fabric birds and that was it. Tsk tsk.

I definitely need to think of something to finally use these swatches for!

Getting them out and looking at them has also made me want to try getting some other things printed, especially now Spoonflower offer custom-printing for more than just fabric. Hmm...

An Almost-Quilt

While sorting out a stash of random crafty bits and bobs that have lived in a suitcase under the spare bed for many years, I found a project so old that I'd almost entirely forgotten about it: a half-finished quilt!

I started making this quilt when I first started University about 10 years ago, using whatever cheap fabric I could get my hands on at the time and not really having a clue what I was doing - just cutting up bits of fabric and sewing them together rather haphazardly.

(During my student days I also knitted scarves, started a literary society, formed a baking club in my student hall, and hosted colouring-in sessions & Trivial Pursuit parties. Such wild times! Haha.)

The quilt top is about three-quarters finished (all hand stitched!), but there's still a huge amount of work still left to do.

Plus the fabrics are likely all different fibre blends and some pre-washed and some not (which is probably a disaster waiting to happen) and - perhaps most importantly - I think it's rather hideous so I've not got a huge amount of incentive to finish it.

But the thought of (gasp) just throwing it away makes me shudder, so finished it must be.

I'm thinking perhaps about making it slightly smaller than originally planned (abandoning those un-sewn squares) and maybe using a grass-stain friendly fabric for the backing so I could use it as a picnic blanket??

I've got so many other works-in-progress on the go at the moment that I won't be getting to this one any time soon, but it would be nice to come up with a plan so that I can get stitching when I do have time for it, and not end up with it still stashed in a box somewhere in another 10 years time!

Better Late Than Never... Right?

I have fallen behind with so many projects this autumn thanks to a string of winter bugs and the general chaos of Christmas, and there are many neglected things sitting in my workbox which I'd hoped to have in my shops a month ago. One of these neglected projects got finished yesterday evening when I was out babysitting for a friend: gingerbread men!

They have now been listed over on Etsy and on Folksy too, but I'm not really expecting to sell any at this late date...

They will make cute additions to our tree though, plus I'm planning on adding unsold Christmas ornaments to my own gifts - tied on to the ribbons with the tag, as a sweet little extra for my friends.

Trial and Error

Yesterday I turned my attention to the stash of crafty supplies and projects that are not neatly arranged in my little office, but stowed away under the bed or in the spare room long neglected and gathering dust... I'm going to try to be ruthless and clear a few bits out for the UK Etsy supplies swap group and I'm also determined to try to actually finish some projects! First up: an almost-finished blanket that just needs another 12 squares.
Unfortunately, it's been so long since I knitted any squares for this I'd forgotten what size knitting needles to use and just had to guess. I guessed wrong! Oh well.

I'm really not very good at knitting - sewing has always been much more my thing - and get in an awful muddle whenever I try knitting more than just blanket squares. I knitted some scarves once, but the sort that only a mother would love! Knitting simple squares is incredibly relaxing though, and it's an incredible feeling when you have a whole blanket you made yourself. Here's two I made earlier (now owned by my mother & sister) ... the biggest things I've ever made: