WIP Wednesday

I have had a really slow week. I haven't put up any posts all week. I have been sick for over a week with a fatigue that I feel is related to my bout of Barmah Forest virus a few years ago.

Anyway I have done a little sewing but not as much as I had hoped.

This week I have made great progress on the Elephant Parade Quilt. I had to make a few extra blocks to go with the blocks from the Elephant Parade stitch along that I was involved with at the beginning of the year. I chose to use pinwheels... I love pinwheels to fill in some of the spaces and some strips of bright fabric. I also used up some blue and white half square triangles to make flying geese. It was like a patchwork jigsaw puzzle - I kept making blocks to fit the spaces

For the borders I used first simple 3" squares in white, dark and light grey greens for the inner border and then wide orange with pinwheels in the corners. 

I pieced the backing using large squares of the inner border fabric and stips of 3" squares. The green squares had come in a bundle I purchased from Ebay years ago when I started quilting. I really liked the way it turned out. I used the remaining orange fabric from the range borders along the bottom of the quilt to make it large enough. Originally I had planned to slash the quilt and insert it else where but I really liked the look of the large squares and the strips of smaller squares and felt that an orange slash would look wrong so I used it to be the base of the blocks. Not sure I really liked it but it won't be as big once I trim the quilt after its quilted so trying not to worry about it too much

Today at Patchwork I got it pinned and hopefully I will get it quilted tomorrow and then binding on so I can give it to the little boy it is for on Friday night.

I have done a couple of projects for friends this week. A friend had asked for some advice on the quilting on a project she had underway for her twin grand daughters. She had done some in the ditch quilting but was concerned that it wasn't enough to hold the project together and I agreed that it wasn't enough and said that I would do a little extra quilting for her since she didn't know how to use her "pogo stick" foot and I wasn't feeling well enough to explain. I got it done easily for her yesterday.

Then another friend asked if I could help her complete a project she had underway which involved sewing men's ties around the neckline of t shirts. She had them all pinned but her machine wasn't working properly so I sewed them on for her - which took only half an hour.

Today I got busy sewing another casserole cover - a gift for someone for Christmas. Unlike the first one I made, this one took me about 2 hours from start to finish. I still have to put the handles in. I have a few more to make before Christmas including one for myself. I really do want one but everyone I make is for someone else.



I found a stitchery amongst my projects to work on whilst I have spent so much time in bed. It was good to have something else to work on now I have finished sewing my whole hexies. Still have those half ones to make though. Must work on them.