Round The Colour Wheel At Last!

A big hello to all of you, thank you for visiting once again, and if you are new to this little space then I welcome you and hope you enjoy what you see here!

I could hardly believe my own eyes when I checked up on when I first posted about my 'round the colour wheel' blanket and saw that it was May last year - a whole year ago, but hey, I have been busy with other things! Anyway, a few weeks ago our weather changed and I started to feel a bit cool at night so you know what happened then - my thought was "I could use a nice cosy blanket around my legs" and you know, one thought led to another and to cut a long story short .. .. .. I pulled this lovely bright and warm article out of its hiding spot, wrapped it over my legs and got busy with the hook! I really was determined that before anything else grabbed my attention, this blanket was going to be finished! And so here it is!

You see all those little ends? Yes? Yes, all those have been sewn in and no, I didn't count them but it was a bit of a marathon I can tell you! The border is done in half trebles, having first of all 'straightened the ripples' at top and bottom with a row of double crochet, half trebles, and trebles in the deepest parts of the curves: you can see that in the first pic to the left, below .. .. .. 

I am really happy with this colourful blanket - it measures 54"x52" (137x132cms.) and really is warm and cosy without being heavy. If you are interested you can see more about its beginnings by clicking on the post in my sidebar entitled Round the Colour Wheel. It's a good feeling to know it's now finished because I did feel guilty about it just lying there, and besides, now I know how much leftover yarn I have to play with, for other projects! AND I can cuddle under it on a night whilst working on other projects!

I have been slack with my posts these past few weeks and the blanket has been finished for a wee while now and I've also been busy stitching:

Yep, another quilt - not a big one - this one measures roughly 25"x35" (64x90cms.)

I have to tell you that I don't really plan out these quilts before beginning on them - I pick up fabrics that take my fancy here and there and then when I get them home realise that 'this goes with that and that goes with this' and just start cutting out strips and follow my intuition, hence the sizes turn out to be what they are - I keep going on the piece until I'm satisfied that it's a useful size, then finish it off. Maybe I'm a bit strange, I know it's not the professional way to go about it, but I do love making them!

I have some really helpful and inspirational quilting books that explain how to work out and measure the amount of fabrics required etc. etc., and I have learned a lot from Jenny at Missouri Star Quilt Company with her great videos on YouTube but so far I haven't taken on the pressure of planning out a quilt with specific measurements .. .. .. one of these days I may change but in the meantime I'm happy with my carefree and most enjoyable method! How do you go about your quilt making? Do tell!

Here's a little lavender heart that I stitched - from Christine Leech's book entitled 'Little Sew&Sew' - the author calls it a 'Hanging Heart'. Oh it does smell so nice; the lavender is some home grown that I hung and dried some months ago after gaining inspiration from the lovely Marianne at Ladybird Diaries; do pay her a visit if you don't already know Marianne - her posts are always so lovely, fresh and inspiring!

Do you remember a couple or so posts back I showed you a wall hanging that I'd made for my younger daughter Mel, for her birthday? Many of you were sure that she'd love it .. .. .. 

.. .. ..  are you convinced now? She loved her cake too! 

I'm including this pic of my blue Kosta Boda tea light holder that my daughter Tracy bought me many years ago - I love this delightful thing but playing around with my camera recently (more about the camera next time) I think I really saw into this ornament for the first time .. .. .. 

.. .. ..  and think it's wonderful, all glowing and shimmering! Such a gorgeous blue too, don't you think?

I have so many other finished projects as well as birthday bits and pieces that I want to share with you  but don't want to keep you too long - I understand completely how quickly time passes whilst browsing through blogs - so I'll finish up with a pic from our back garden - this is one of many available varieties of grevillea, but I'm sorry I can't tell you the actual name of it for I don't know it myself!!! Tut tut Joy!

It is very pretty isn't it - ah, mother nature, what beauty she bestows upon us!

Well, I'm beginning to catch up after all the excitement of anniversary and birthdays and really must try to post again soon before I get myself completely lost with projects and pics happening all over the place! I haven't been very diligent with following your lovely blogs either, just looking quickly and leaving messages here and there, now and again; routine is something I really need else my brain becomes scattered all over the place - not literally of course, that would be too messy now, wouldn't it! But I have been missing you all, and then a feeling of separation starts to seep in, which is not good. So I guess what I'm really saying is - I will see you all again soon, take good care of yourselves and enjoy doing whatever helps you be happy!

With my love,

❤Joy xoxo