Scarves and Squares

The last week has been all about my sister's wedding (well, nearly!). Lots of dress fittings, house guests (bride, groom, another sister), buying of ribbon and doing the finishing jobs on the flower girl dresses. Hemming satin, cut on the bias, is something I don't want to do often! We have still been busy doing a few other things though.

Some projects finished, some hoping to be finished and some just beginning!

Last week Sarah finished her second scarf for her toys - this time it was a pink scarf for her kitten Mittens. Now she and her brother Tom are all set for the cooler months! Sarah has learnt how to cast on and off now so she has helped herself to some wool and begun a third scarf. I think her favourite soft toys (each with an assigned night for which to sleep with her) will eventually all have their own scarf. Looks like my crate of wool scraps will be used up after all!

A few days ago I got busy and spent two evenings putting together my Botany charm squares I had bought from Retromummy. The Winter Olympics on in the background made for good company while sewing - though at no point did Eddie tell me how late it was and to go to bed! The colours and prints are just gorgeous and should make a lovely little quilt for snuggling on the lounge during winter. Now I just have to move on from this pretty stage to the more structural elements of a quilt!

While working on this one, I realised I should really finish a quilt I started last year for Sarah, and begin sewing the squares for a matching one for Alice. This is not an unusual situation for me to be in! The squares for Ali's quilt are all cut and grouped in rows, bundled up in labelled rubber bands. With the cutting done I need to get them sewn up before the rubber bands slip and let 168 2 inch squares become very mixed up! I believe it was actually my mum who, many months ago, laid out all the squares, arranged and then stacked them all in to little bundles.

Apart from the dark pink borders, these quilts are made entirely from my scraps from the clothes I've made Sarah and Alice over the years. They love looking at them and remembering the pyjamas, skirts, nighties, shorts and trousers they wore when they were little. Needless to say, most of this sewing was done before Hannah and Ruby were born! And now it is Hannah and Ruby wearing it all! Only in the last year have I begun to find the time to sew again. This summer I made the girls four sun dresses and seven skirts, so the next wave of Mummy's sewing has begun :-)

The plan is this - I want to finish these scrap quilts for Sarah and Alice for Easter - just in time for when they need a little extra warmth on top of their beds. They'll go very nicely with a few Cadbury Easter eggs, don't you think? I just have to stop being distracted by new projects and spend fewer evenings falling asleep on the couch!