A Tah -dah! Finally!

Crafting time here seems to be in very short supply nowadays - I was starting to get seriously worried that I wasn't going to finish ANYTHING on my Finish - A - Long list, despite it being fairly modest.

But here is my tree skirt!

That bias binding was definitely a pig to sew on though - for some reason I made it 1.5 inches wide BEFORE I folded it over. I only realised this after I had started attaching it with a 1/4 inch seam and realised it was never going to flip over to the other side fully. Lots of unpicking and then a 1/8 inch seam. I only discovered that that hadn't fully caught both layers of the binding once I started machine stitching the binding. Cue lots more unpicking in various areas and stitching down (and then finding the binding hadn't caught on the back, and more unpicking and restitching). I quite like the very skinny binding:

But I'm never doing it again!

I ought to wash it, especially as I used spray baste, but as the (non quilting) backing fabric and binding did this to my machine:

I'm going to wait until it has been under my Christmas tree once! I'm not convinced that a box of colour catchers would keep the top from turning very pink.

This quilt is full of mistakes - but you know what? I have certainly learnt a lot from all those mistakes, far more than if it had gone right. So although I may have cursed many times whilst making it, I am kind of grateful for it (but only kind of - I am glad it is a get-it-out-once-a-year-and-lie-flat-on-the -floor-covered-in-stuff quilt!)

I also finally finished my Dad's socks

 (They have been washed and shaped, but they look a bit sad  - I can now see why people have sock blockers)

It was a good job too - it was his birthday at the beginning of the week, and I was madly weaving in ends on Saturday morning to make sure I got them in the post on time (I had 12 ends on one sock - not sure how I managed that one). What is really crazy though is that I actually finished them bar the grafting of one toe and weaving in the ends, at the end of January. A pattern seems to be emerging here. Hmmm.

Finally!

I have at last -at long long last - managed to make a decent sourdough loaf.

My starter that I created last April has been pretty much fine - but the loaves I've made have not been. I'd almost given up. They've been very very solid and dense. or spread too flat; but mostly they have stuck badly to whatever I have attempted to prove them in.

As a last ditch attempt I brought my starter back from its sluggish state and trawled the internet (and my cookery book collection). I made the loaf following the recipe in the River Cottage Everyday book, which involves an overnight sponge. I found a genius tip on the net, which is not merely to flour the linen cloth (aka as an old but clean teatowel) but to rub the flour into the cloth and keeping rubbing more flour in until it is full of flour. Then dust flour on top. Result! One not stuck, but not stupidly floury (oh yes I have had one of those, which ended up being baked with a thick flour crust. It was Not A Success) loaf.

It is very nice, but not very sour. Mmm might have to go and do another internet search. I'm on a roll (pun intended)

Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month - March

Last Wednesday I took a day off and had a sewing session with a friend - we're on the march 2012 Blocks of the Month. I would have posted earlier, but we have been going down with a nasty cold virus like a pack of dominoes. I'm only just starting to feel well after nearly a week.

I really enjoyed the string block (I have some pretty skinny strings in there!) - loved the way I didn't have to measure, and actually I decided to not worry if my string s were a bit wonky (they don't look too bad). I haven't foundation pieced anything before and found this simple pattern much easier than I thought it would be.

I've only managed one section of the spiderweb block , but this was even easier. The strings aren't stitched to the foundation fabric after the first seam, so you can get away with not pressing until the end - I particularly liked that! I'm thinking of making a cardboard template though, as the bias edges on the base triangle have definitely stretched a bit.