Over the rainbow

I woke so early this morning that I was sitting up in bed drinking tea well before 7am. There had been some rain overnight but the sun came out and I spotted the most glorious rainbow. I grabbed my husband's phone quickly and took two photos; one through the bedroom window and the other through the study window to catch both ends of the rainbow. The photo does not do the colours justice but it was spectacular.

Such an uplifting start to the day.

My English Country Garden appliqué quilt was so near completion yesterday that I left everything in the kitchen overnight. I don't have a dedicated sewing room so use the kitchen table for my machine and the centre island for cutting fabric and assembling the blocks.  The top came together fairly quickly although the pieced cornerstones and flying geese meant there were lots of points to match along the way.

I hope you will not mind a few photos. I am really pleased with the finished top.

Mike is hiding behind the last photo!

I used fabrics from my stash for the flowers on pieced blocks using Lynette Anderson's range of fabrics called Bread and Butter. Some of the flowers are hand turned appliqué, some using fusible with machine appliqué. A few flowers are embellished with very simple embroidery mainly blanket stitch, chain stitch and a few French knots. I would love to improve my embroidery skills one day.
The border fabric is the new blender range called Bumbleberries from Lewis & Irene- they do a huge range of colours in this blender so I think it will become a favourite.

Thank you Kerry for giving up your time to design this lovely pattern. It has been a pleasure to work on it. Details of the pattern can be found by clicking the link in the side bar.

Also thank you to new visitors to my blog. I have really enjoyed your comments recently.

Catherine

I'll be linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? and TGIFF tomorrow (well, it is a finished top!) and Esther Aliu's WOW (Wips on Wednesday) next week with this post. All links are in the side bar. I know how much comments mean so please take a peek at these parties if you have the time and give some encouragement if you like what you see.

Miscellany

Lots of bits and bobs to talk about today.

As you probably know, my love for yarn, like fabric, knows no bounds.

I have started a new cardi for myself and I'm taking part in a KAL (that is a knit-a-long for the non knitters amongst you)- the Alana-along KAL on the 2 Knit-chicks Podcast discussion board on Ravelry. The KAL is based on the patterns designed by Alana Dakos. I chose "Entangled Vines" from her book Botanical Knits. The KAL is running from Feb 1st -April 1st 2015. It is great fun posting photos of our progress so there is still plenty of time to join the group and cast on. I had finished the hat too quickly (Oak Trail featured here) and love her patterns so much I wanted to do something else. She is the designer of the Playful Stripes and Wee Wildflower cards I knitted for my grandchildren too.

So, progress so far.

Sleeve and shoulder detail

The wool is Bergere de France Magic+, a 80% wool/acrylic mix in the "Fonte" colour. It is a grayish brown and if I were to take a guess I would call it Nutmeg. Whatever, it is a useful color that will go with lots of tops/dresses until the weather warms up. In all honesty I did go to my LYS looking for something more Spring-like. 

 I am knitting on 24cm Chiaogoo fixed double point needles (4.5). The yarn is easy to use, does not split and I think will be pretty hard wearing. The design is knit from the neck down which I have done once before in a child's cardigan. It needed quite a bit of concentration to start with to follow the twisted cables and motifs on the sleeves but the chart and written instructions were very detailed.  I have now divided at the underarms and the rest of the body is in stocking stitch so ideal for watching TV and knitting. The sleeves will be picked up and knit on DPNS.

I'm so keen to knit this cardi quickly that I took it to the hairdressers, so......
just for a laugh....

I have been trying to catch up with my English Country Garden BOM and have now almost made 9 of the 10 patterns released. Here are the latest blocks.

The pansy is cut out and prepared for some hand sewing on Tuesday 17th. My lovely Honey Bees are coming to lunch and I will be able to host the day more easily if I stick to the hand sewing. There may be 6 or 7 of us so I'm hoping the large Victorian boardroom table in the conservatory plus the kitchen island and table will be enough room for sewing machines and cutting boards.

Now for a photo of a stocking-filler present that my husband bought for me at Christmas.

It is a vintage thimble case made of cockle shells. The stripes are a pretty greenish colour.  I am not sure if this has been added or is natural. Mike thinks it may be Victorian. The thimble which was included is nothing special but does fit me. I think it is so sweet.

This week I'm linking to Wool on Sundays, Needle and Thread Thursday and Yarn-along. All links in the right side column.

Have a fun week.

Catherine