More Happy Birthdays and future projects

I have lots of birthdays in June and July, and here are some more presents I've made. We have a cashmere beanie for Aniela, and a lavender bag for Lavinia.

And a very special doll quilt for a very special one year old - Happy Birthday little Sienna! The quilt is inspired by the gorgeous work of Kathleen Tracy.

I have recently become a Kathleen Tracy fan, to the point of purchasing all her books! - including a print-on-demand copy of her out of print 'American Doll Quilts'. I am looking forward to that one arriving in the mail, and then I will have the complete quartet.

I have lately developed a love of a more traditional style of quilting, and Civil War and reproduction fabrics. To me the colours and designs are classic and timeless, and make me feel more connected to the women in the past who quilted and crafted. The close up above shows my first attempt at needle-turn applique and hand quilting. I really loved doing this: siting on the couch with needle and thread and meditatively stitching.

I also made Sienna a doll. The knitted body is an old Jo Sharp pattern, and the clothes are from Hop Skip Jump's Poppy Doll pattern.

Here is a full length shot showing her sweet floral bloomers.

And here is the backing.

This is my next cross-stitch project and I am really enjoying stitching it so far. The linen is a 20 count, so the stitches are nice and large and easy on my eyes! And it is growing very quickly. The pattern is 'Hedgerow Birds' by Blackbird Designs, and I am using the recommended linen and DMC threads - all bar one DMC colour - we'll see how successful the substitution is in the fullness of time! The recommended linen looks a lot more yellow than the photo on the pattern, but I think it will turn out ok. You can see the colour difference in my pics.

This is on the to-do pile. A Quilted Crow designs table runner, using felted wool felt from their beautiful shop.

And another future project - pattern and fabric bundle both bought from the Quilted Crow. The ladies at the Quilted Crow are having their first book published soon by Martingale and are very excited! Such wonderful news! Please go and visit their New Town shop and support these wonderful local talents!

There is a whole world of beautiful things out there - and not nearly enough hours in the day to make them all!