2015 Finish Along - Q1

Even if I'm not very good at finishing what I planned, I still think Finish Along is fun, so let me show you my list for this quarter. 

1. Poppy cushion: I promised my aunt a cushion and since she left the choice of fabric and style to me, I'm going for needleturn appliqué this time.

This is a bit of an experiment, as I ever only stitched rather wobbly circles onto one block a long time ago and I have no idea if the shapes I used for the poppies aren't too fiddly for this technique but I'm excited to try. I might add a leaf too, and I need to decide if I want to add something more to the background and of course after stitching it and quilting turn it into a cushion.

2. 100 years quilt: I started this more than a year ago, made three blocks with the centre half teal half pink and the "circle" half black half light, but it wasn't really working for me. So I pulled the half apart and I'm thinking about dividing the whole quilt into light with pink and grey and dark with blue and possibly yellow/green.

As the name of the quilt suggests, I won't probably finish it this quarter, but I'm keeping it here to remember to at least make some progress on it.

3. Seascape stole: Rolled over from the previous quarter, this is almost done, so hopefully I'll be showing it off quite soon.

4. Honey cowl for SIL: One more knitting project and I'd like to finish this before winter ends (although with +8C right now it's already too warm for it, but it might get colder in February again)

It's pretty hard to capture the colours, but I'm using two kinds of red in my favourite soft and squishy alpaca.

5. The denim skirt: I can't quite believe I haven't finished this one yet, but hopefully this time. 

So 5 projects it is, let's see how it goes. And now, before it's too late, I'd better link it to:

2014 catching up {the big finish}

I can safely say that quilting-wise the last quarter of 2014 was devoted to this one quilt. But I hope that we can equally safely say it was well worth it.
As always, the most important thing is that the recipient likes it (yay, I'm so happy). But I also really really enjoyed making it.
 

When the quilt top was ready I got this notion that hand quilting would really suit it, and I'm happy I stuck to it. There is something very relaxing in hand quilting.

For the back I chose a text that I knew my friend would laugh at and one that would bring back memories of our Swedish classes. And just to make it a bit more Swedish related (as the text is in Polish), the letters are based on the Sweden's official font.

I did plan the overall look, with the dark centre and white "petals" in the middle, and with dark "petals" on the edges, but I still wanted to keep it a bit random, so I didn't spend too much time on choosing fabric for each block. 

The binding is mainly in solid greys, with a bit of denim blue and a few plaid pieces.

So this is my biggest finish from the 4Q FAL list. Hope you like it, too. 

2014 catching up {the cushioning...}

...OK, maybe just {the cushions}.
Anyway, there are two cushions (or pillows if you prefer) I haven't shown you here yet.

The first one is the one I made for Kasia for our almost Christmas swap.
One side is all about spring (sporting my trusty potted sprouts):

The other side is a calmer winter landscape - with an improv take on trees in deep snow:
 

The second cushion, made from a lovely pattern from Julka's last minute Christmas Sampler
was really a last minute Christmas gift for my Mum:

last minute photo, too

2014 catching up {the swapping}

A long, long time ago, about last spring, there was this happy swap.
You might have read about it on Susan's blog, you might have noticed my happy comments but I'm ashamed you have never seen the photos on my blog.
And I got so lucky with what I received. Pieced with the coolest fabrics I've always wanted to see in person, combined with linen and hand stitching it is just perfect, and as so many of Susan's makes, it is a project that seems so happy and full of joy.
See what I mean:

It resides on the "armless armchair" in my sewing corner. 

2014 catching up {the knitting}

Once upon a time, a long time ago, about last October, I finished the mittens from my 4Q FAL list and even managed to see them in use, so it's high time I showed them to you as well.

 

..................
There is one more knitting project (not from the list this time) I'd like to show you as it was my first try on brioche stitch - a simple cowl.
I wasn't sure how long the cowl should be so I knitted it as a would a shawl:

no, I didn't use those big long needles on the train

and the I stitched the ends together to form a Möbius strip.

It may not look like much, but I wish you could touch it - it's so soft, light and squishy.