A long weekend

It's the late May bank holiday weekend so it feels lovely to think we have two more days at home after today. It was warmer today so DH painted another coat of blue on the inside walls of the gazebo and then when I got home from quilting we put a first coat of cream on the underneath of the roof. My arms feel like lead now, it's very tiring painting above your head for any length of time.

Today I was working on my blue and white Bear's Paw quilt and managed to complete seven more blocks.  I am pleased to announce that I finished the 20th and final block today - only 15 years after starting this project.  Looking through the bag of crumpled 15-year-old fabric, it looks like I have already cut out the setting squares and triangles (it's on point) and set aside half square triangles for a border. Looking at the photocopied instructions, apparently the quilt measures 90" x 104" which seems an odd measurement. My mattress is 60" x 80" so the quilt is going to be a bit long - I might scale down the size of the final border. The white fabric is a tone on tone, and the blues are various African indigo prints. Next time I go to quilting I will probably start sewing it together.

On Thursday I started work on my Lace Pillow Tote Bag, cutting 2.5" strips from the haberdashery themed fabrics I bought at Peterborough and adding in some other sewing-themed fabrics from my stash. I've sewn together two panels for the two sides of the bag and have started quilting them by sewing along the strips. I have some quilting-themed lining fabric as well.

Also on Thursday I mocked up the dormer roof for my Victorian dollshouse porch in cardboard until I was satisfied with the fit, then cut it out in wood and glued it on. Obviously it doesn't hide the existing shallow porch on the house but the dormer distracts the eye. The next job is shingling which is going to take a while with all the angles to cut.

Last Sunday my lace friends came over and I finished the Idrija bobbin lace motif that I started in the Idrija class at Peterborough.  It's not perfect but as a first attempt I'm pleased with it.  I'm going to try a bigger but similar pattern for a mat, using a homemade pricking traced from a picture I downloaded from Pinterest.

On the knitting front, commuter knitting has continued to be the Lallybroch socks and at the request of Swooze, here is a picture:

TV knitting has been the Que Sera cardigan, I've done both fronts and am now working on the back.  It doesn't look like much yet because it hasn't been blocked, but it is a diamond lace pattern with moss stitch borders.

I finished the second sleeve of my machine knitted practice t-shirt  in the week and washed, blocked and pressed the pieces ready for seaming and applying the neckline.

It doesn't look like much when it comes off the machine.

Damp pieces pinned out to shape. the row gauge is a bit out.

Looking much sleeker after a steam press

A close up of the picot hem.

Also in the week I finished my Now in a Minute Shawl with wedges knit from six sock yarns chosen from my stash to give a gradient effect. I found these instructions extremely confusing so I don't know if I've done it right or not - other shawls on Ravelry are more of a crescent shape whereas I have ended up with a deformed half circle. I've also got some dubious loose stitches on some of my short rows but that is my faulty tension.  I'm not very pleased with the shape which is a bit awkward to wear but the colours look nice draped around my shoulders.

I've also started a new shawl based on some instructions from the book Victorian Lace Today using a purple blue leicester laceweight yarn I think I got in the swap at SkipNorth a few years ago.  It is supposed to be a fairly straightforward pattern but for some reason I am having terrible trouble getting started, I think perhaps partly because it is knit from the tip up whereas I usually knit triangular shawls from the middle back neck downwards. And also partly because trying to watch TV while simultaneously puzzling out a new lace project is probably not ideal :)

Tomorrow we will be working on the gazebo some more: more painting and applying some silicon sealant to the seams on the roof. At some point this weekend we will visit the antique quilt exhibit at Bramble Patch quilt shop over near Weedon, and perhaps see a film and do some antiqueing. We might even have a BBQ if the weather is nice tomorrow, but apparently it is suppose to rain at some point which is traditional for a bank holiday weekend, lol.

Hope you are enjoying a nice long weekend if you are in the UK , with lots of craft activities.