My Japanese lantern box

I bought the book "Rangements a coudre" by Cecile Franconie, as mentioned in my post on the crochet holder. So this is the second project made from this book, and again it is a small project, easy to start and finish. There are still at least 2 things I want to make from this book.

 For the author this box is supposed to hold your thread while knitting. the only problem I could see was that you could not take your project away from the box if the thread was coming out of the lid through a hole. You are stuck with the box until you cut your thread. So I decided to skip the hole in the lid.

 Each face of the box is made with fabric glued on to a solid interfacing, same with the lining. There was a lot of hand sewing to put the parts together, but the result was worth it.

 My only remark about the pattern is that it should tell you to make the lid bigger than the bottom, otherwise it just falls inside. I had to remake a lid slightly bigger so it would close properly.

And finally I have this postcard below, stuck to the wall above my cutting mat. It's a reproduction from the second world war, and there is a reedition of the book of the same name. I just like old things related to sewing, and there are not many in advertisements.

I am not the only one noticing things linked to my hobby in movies, articles, museums, books. I suppose we become a bit obsessed, in a good way.

Pascale

My new green shawl

I'm wearing it at the moment as we switched the heating off. I saw the pattern in a shop in Bovey Tracey, Devon, called "Spin a Yarn" and bought their Kid Mohair Merino from Touch Exclusive in a bright green. It was very easy to knit in Garter Stitch (I had to check and it means all rows in knit stitch. I learned knitting in french so am not always sure when reading patterns in english).

On this project I also taught myself to knit with the thread in my left hand (continental knitting), and not in the right one (english knitting) as I was doing before. After some time to get used to it, I am much faster than with my previous technique.

 I asked DD3 to display it to its advantage in the garden, but the colour is really hard to show. It is deeper, not as pale as on the photo.

I had a plan with another thread to make a complicated shawl. It's not started yet, maybe it's too ambitious. Meanwhile this one was started and finished in a blink.

This green shawl is really good in the evening when I feel colder and don't want to go upstairs find something more consequent. I love it which is the main thing.

Pascale.

Japanese folded purses

A new little project.

We made these in our patchwork group, The Golden Lions, in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The pattern is not mine, in fact I don't know where the lady found it. So I don't know if it is protected and can't give a reference. That's why I will just show you the photos of my project.

 Maybe I can still tell you that you start with 2 squares of fabric, sew them together and turn them right side out. Slip stitch the opening closed. Then it's a question of folding and sewing by hand.
It's a very enjoyable little project, although I find that it is difficult to guess the finished size from the beginning squares.

Maybe I could try with a rectangle, or an hexagon ! with paper first then on fabric. That would be fun.

So thanks for reading me, and if you know the source of this pattern and could drop me a line, I would be very grateful.

Pascale.

Progress on a quilt

I just want to show you that I made some progress on my Dreamcatcher quilt. The design is by Jan Hassard, and it was started a long time ago, like in 2007 ! I can't believe it's been so long.
Anyway this is for DD2 who is 15 now, and has been waiting for her quilt for 4 years. It does show that I prefer small projects really.
So afer a full day spent with my group sewing, and a bit of time at home, I have finished the borders. The next step is to make a backing. As I have a lot of fabric, but no piece that would be big enough to cover that kind of surface, I will piece the backing. My briefing from DD2 is that she wants equal pieces. I wonder what she is worried about...

There are also all the other projects looking at me and saying "me first". And then all the things you find on the internet that make me want to start them, and the books, magazines...I love it.