The Blogger blues

I had a few replies after my last post . Encouraging one and all. Unfortunately after Google's messing about with the settings a few years ago my blog is still not back to normal. These were all persistent commenters as 

• I apparently stand as a "no reply" blogger, while I never was in the past and I haven't changed anything,
• I was mostly unable to reply from my email this week, but could reply to some in the comment section. I apologise to those who heard nothing from me; I hope you now understand.

Has anyone else experienced this situation? If so please let me know how you resolved it. In fact any suggestions about where in the settings I could locate the problem would be very welcome.

In the meantime I've been busy, but not sewing. At the moment I'm working on this month's block for "Do Good Stitches".  It's not difficult but I'm now unpicking seams that are too wide. How did that happen? The annoying thing is that the discrepancy is about 1/16th of an inch, but over six seams that's noticeable. If it was my own quilt I wouldn't bother so much but it's too bad to send to the Queen Bee in this state.

At least, irritating as unpicking seams is, I'm back at the sewing machine, It's a start! 

From seam-ripper land 

Happy sewing

Marly.  

Patchwork jacket, One Monthly Goal

 As I wrote last week, my goal this month is the same as last month's: to finish my patchwork jacket which was started last month. I thought when I started that finishing in one month was too optimistic. It was!

 

 

 

Here is the same photo as in my last post. All I've done since is sew that right-hand strip to the back panel and pin the next one to the left. Here's hoping I can get down to it this weekend. One good thing is that normal summer weather has returned, and perhaps it will raise my my energy levels.

 

I'm linking this post to 

 

 

click here above to see more quilting goals from other quilters.

 

 

Sew happily

Marly 

 

 

 

My one monthly goal for July ...

 ...was to finish my patchwork jacket. At the beginning of the month I posted a photo of the fabric selection. Well, two heatwaves in four weeks have put pay to reaching my goal. The heat is sapping my energy! This is Northern Europe and largely air conditioning free. We can't install a unit because it's forbidden to alter the outside of the building.

 

After that moan about global warming and building restrictions, back to the patchwork jacket.

 

 

This is the back panel with a strip pinned on the right ready to add to the edge of the panel. 

The white you see on the sides is the filling and inside of the jacket. It is made using the quilt-as-you-go technique. There is extra fabric all round just in case the size needs alteration, but the inside was cut to the right size.

 

The front panels are at the same stage as the back, and I still have to start on the sleeves. Once the patches are on the sleeves I can start assembling. and hopefully it will start looking like a jacket.

 

It seems that next month will see the same goal as this.

 

I'm linking this uncompleted goal to: 

 https://www.storiesfromthesewingroom.com/2026/07/july-one-monthly-goal-finish-link-up.html  

Click on the coloured section to see how more diligent quilters have made progress.

 

Sew happily

Marly. 

 

Patchwork Jacket and one monthly goal

 

Elly's own jackets in her shop in Zoetermeer: photo from her website

Yesterday I started something new in a workshop given by Elly Prins Machine Quilting: a patchwork jacket! I wanted to make the main colour terracotta, but I didn't have enough different fabrics with that shade, so I settled for a collection of browns with some terracotta.

I spent most of the morning cutting ten long-quarters into 2.5" strips.  Next into given lengths to be joined, ready for stitching together into long strings.

 

 

 

This was quite a slow process. Elly showed us a useful method for ensuring an even distribution of the fabrics in the finished result.

Now I'm finally sewing; joining all the small pieces from the long quarters, firstly into twos, then into fours and finally into eights.

My one monthly goal is to finish my jacket by the end of the month.

I'm linking this post to https://www.storiesfromthesewingroom.com/2026/07/july-one-monthly-goal.html

  

 

Happy sewing

Marly. 

A fresh start

 Another year has passed and I've hardly looked at my sewing machine. 

I hit a problem with a pattern I was following three years ago and just stuck there, in limbo! The obvious remedy (I now think!) was to sew something else, no matter what: crumb blocks would have been a good answer, there are enough fabric crumbs around here. But, alas, even that seemed too much.

This month's request from the "Do Good Stitches" Comfort Circle (Dutch group) is a pair of Hugs and Kisses blocks. This morning I pressed and cut the necessary pieces:

 

and intend sewing them this afternoon. A nice easy project to get me going again.

I'm linking this to: https://www.storiesfromthesewingroom.com/2026/07/july-one-monthly-goal.

 

1 July 2026  I wrote the above in January last year, but couldn't link up. I hope it works this time, in which case ignore the following sentence.

The next obstacle in blogland is to link up with the above. I've followed the instructions - each time without success.

Secondly someone told me recently that last time I posted I was in no-reply mode. Am I still? Please comment and let me know.

 

And so to sew, 

Keep safe 

and enjoy your creative hobbies.

Marly 

 

Hallo again world!

After an absence of nearly a year and a half my blog is back. 

Where have I been all this time? Nowhere special, just quilting, and knitting and reading a lot at home.

Why couldn't I post for nearly one and a half years? Good question. Firstly, it had disappeared and Google didn't answer my question when  asked how I could access it again. Secondly, when I finally found it I couldn't couldn't post any photos, because Apple had changed the photo format, so that photos taken with my phone are not visible on my computer!

Some things were finished:

Circus Cabin, pattern Rachel Hauser

 

 I still don't have any photos that I can publish; I need to find someone to help convert the Apple photos to jpeg format.

Regardless of technology blips, life goes on.

Sew happily

greetings

Marly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My one monthly goal in July.

Marie Greene launched the pattern for this year's 4-day KAL yesterday. I can tell you now that it will take me more than four days to turn this:

 

into a jumper, albeit with short sleeves.

However I do know that this will be taking a lot of my time over the next four weeks!

As this is a quilting blog I am making my one monthly goal a quilting one. 

Of the four goals I listed in June, I finished the Hemisphere quilt and assembled the 18-patch blocks into a top; the other two are still on the pile!

 

18-patch top for Do Good Stitches

I plan to add the wadding and backing to the 18-patch quilt the Comfort Circle of Do Good Stitches made in March. It would be wonderful if I also manage to quilt, label and bind it. Who knows ..?!

I'm linking this post to

 

Click on the button to see more July goals.

Sew happily!

Marly.

 

A finish at the last minute: Hexagonal Hemispheres

 Just in time to link up with One Monthly Goal:

Hexagonal Hemispheres: pattern by Sheila Christensen, quilted by Elly Prins

 

Sweet batik backing

After all it's a throw!

This was made during a QAL designed and hosted by Sheila Christensen a few years ago. I don't know why it took me so long to finish, because I kept up with the piecing during the QAL, just afterwards I hit a phenomenal dip. Finally, I took it to Elly Prins who quilted it for me.

The fabric in the hexagons, which are all traditionally pieced (no foundation piecing or EPP), came from my stash; the sashing, setting triangles and border fabric is basic fabric from Stof fabric, a Danish company.

I'm linking this post to

Click on the button to see more June goals achieved.

 

Sew happily

Marly.

 

 

One Monthly Goal in June

 My goal for May is was to bind my hemisphere hexagons, but although I wrote the post I forgot to post it!

As I didn't touch any of these projects all month here they are again! This first one remains the priority.

Hemisphere quilt: pattern: @mystery quilter

Also waiting for action are:

• to add hand quilting:

rainbow beads curtain

and

Staying positive: pattern: Brigitte Heitland

•  to assemble:
  

These last are the March blocks from the Comfort Circle of Do Good Stitches. The idea was shamelessly lifted from Cathy, whose prodigious scrap quilts for charity are an inspiration.

There are 30 days, so that means on average one project per week. It should be possible but some tasks require more time than others and I do have other thing to do with my time! I'll give binding the Hemisphere quilt the priority. Here's hoping!

I'm linking this post to

 

Click on the button to see other participants' projects.

Happy sewing

Marly.

One Monthly goal in March

 

 .... was to finish some of the quilts on the "ready to quilt" pile. Well there is only one that is finished!

 

and that's about time too. This was the bee quilt of the blocks made by all the Bee members of the Do. Good Stitches Comfort Circle in March 2022! For some of the group members this was the first time they tried sewing crumbs, so they all did remarkably well. Now I have to find a destination for this Charity quilt.

I'm linking to

Click on the button to see more of March's success stories.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

March's goal ...

... is to make a dent in the pile of tops waiting to be quilted and bound.

There are quite a few:

Only the last one is just a top, the other three are partially quilted and need binding. I doubt if I will get them all finished because I have to tidy my sewing room first; at present I have no space on the table to lay out a quilt!

Wish me luck!

I'm linking up to

Click on the button to see more aspirations for March.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Circus Cabin finished top

 My monthly goal for February was to finish the Circus Cabin top.

This pattern is by Rachel Hauser and was the subject of a sew-along hosted by her in January. 

The top measures 66" square, and is a "throw", but large enough for my bed! I used fabric from my stash, and was scraping the barrel to find enough pieces of solids long enough. 

 

I'm linking to 

Click on the button to see more February goals reached.

 

Happy sewing

Marly.

My One Monthly Goal for February

I didn’t quite reach my goal for January as by the evening of the 31st I had just one more block to make. Spending the morning of 1 February at the sewing machine resulted in the last block being sewn and led to this:

Circus Cabin Quilt pattern by Rachel Hauser @ Stitched in Color

Sixteen 12" log cabin blocks for the Circus Cabin. Next on my sewing agenda is joining these blocks together and adding the pieced border. 

My goal for this month to finish this top, and maybe I'll get started on quilting it too.

I'm linking to

 

Click on the button to see what others are aiming to sew this month.

Happy sewing

Marly.

 

A new year: a new month: a new goal

My goal for January is to sew the top of Circus Cabin Quilt designed and hosted by Rachel Hauser. 

So far I have just made a fabric selection:

The throw size quilt uses 29 different fabrics in 2" wide strips . I have more in the photo than I really need, but I shall make a finer selection as I go along. My scraps are mainly very small pieces and I found it difficult to find enough of any one fabric to cut the strips from. In my drawer of 2" strips I only found one that is long enough. As I mostly buy FQs I shall be cutting 2" strips from new fabric.

Now to get cutting! It's going to be steady sewing this month to put this top together!

I'm linking to:

 Click on the button to see more goals for this month.

Happy sewing

Marly.

December goal reached!

 My one monthly goal for December was to finish knitting this cardigan:

 

The wool is Drops DK merino and isn't quite black, but anthracite. The pattern is "Seaside pleated cardigan" by Marie Greene at Oliveknits.com from her book "Seamless sweaters in two weeks". 

It has taken me considerably longer than two weeks to make; I knitted sweaters for grandchildren, and several pairs of socks in the meantime. My own cardigan got shelved. Now finally finished in time for the next really cold spell.

I'm linking up to:

 Click op de badge for more December finishes.

A happy New Year to you all

Happy sewing

Marly.

December OMG: cardigan

Not a sewing goal this month, but knitting; I'm hoping to finish this cardigan by the end of the month. As I usually only knit in the evenings I may just manage it.

The Seashore Cardigan (pattern by Marie Greene in "Seamless Sweaters in 2 weeks") looks close to completion, but appearances can be deceptive. I'm now knitting the last part, the front band, of this edge-to-edge cardigan. This is however an unusually wide band at 8.75cm (3.5") wide and I have done only 3cm (1.25"). It's slow going as there are some 330 stitches on the needle. The cuffs have turned out too wide, so I've decided to unpick them and knit them again on a smaller needle.

I started knitting this more than a year ago, hoping to wear it last winter. However two sweaters for my then three-year-old twin grandchildren intervened. Several pairs of socks later I've decided it's about time this was on my back, instead of on the needles!

I'm linking to:

Happy handworking

Marly

The hexagons are a finished top!

It's not only a top; I've already taken it to the long-armer, Elly Prins. This is the first time I've asked someone else to do the quilting for me. Unfortunately it won't be back until in the New Year.

I made this quilt during the online QAL with Sheila Christensen from July 2020. All the hexagons are traditionally pieced; no FPP or EPP in sight! The fabrics in the hexagons all came from my stash, and the background fabric is a basic from Stof of Denmark in yellow/gold on cream. 

I needed a push to get the rows sewn together, and the borders on, but within a week it was a top. The push came from the end of year "finishfeestje" (finish party) hosted by Deveney. 

 

Happy sewing

Marly.

Staying Positive is finished!

My latest finish, "Staying Positive", from Brigitte Heitland's "Pluses Quilt" pattern is ready to go! This was my OMG for November.

This quilt was made during the Pluses Quilts QAL earlier this year. I quilted it myself on one of Elly Prins's long-arm machines at the end of October. This is the throw size, but as you can see in the photo above, it's almost large enough for a double bed.

This was my first time using a long arm machine and, although my result is far from perfect, I'm satisfied with it, and I learnt a lot that day.

The fabrics in the pluses are from my stash, and the background fabric and binding is Kona "Storm".

I'm linking to Elm Street Quilts for the One Monthly Goal link up.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Hexagons resurrected

 After more than 2 years I've taken my hexagons out of storage and done some work on them.

These were made in the Hemisphere Quiltalong designed and hosted by Sheila Christensen through the autumn of 2020. All fabrics are from stash.

The pieces were already joined into 10 rows of half-hexagons and at the beginning of this week I joined the rows into pairs, and yesterday joined rows together: rows 1 & 2 are joined, 3, 4, 5 & 6 and 7, 8, 9 & 10. It took a lot of pinning, matching the points, but most of them so far are spot on! This afternoon I hope to finish joining the centre of the top. Then I'll be cutting and attaching the borders.

It feels so good to be working on this again.

I'm linking to:

Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

 

Wendy's Quilts and More 

Happy sewing

Marly.

One November goal

 My monthly goal for November is to trim and bind my Pluses throw: "Staying Positive". I made this last month during a QAL with Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic; it's one of her patterns.

I quilted it during a long-arm quilting lesson with Elly Prins a week or so ago. At her suggestion I used a meander motif, and I left the pluses unquilted. I'm considering doing some straight line hand quilting in them, but haven't made up my mind yet. What do you think?

I'm linking up to One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.

Happy sewing

Marly.