Stitching in October

As well as everything else we have been up to during the month I have actually done a bit of stitching.

First up, I finished knitting the green beanie.  The cable pattern was surprisingly easy, being just one row of pattern, every fourth row.

I really like the way the crown decrease work out.

I was at a bit of a loose end as to what to work on at my Patchwork Group one day, so grabbed a little kit that had come with a magazine ages ago.

I was very pleased to have it completed by the time I went home.  The aqua appealed to me more for the background, with the pink felt being used on the back.  I think it turned out rather well.  Not only that, I’m very pleased to get that kit out of the cupboard.

If I was going to meet my One Monthly Challenge of completing the Rainbow Scrap Quilt I needed to make a start.  Finally, I made the blocks for the month.  Neutral didn’t appeal, so I made lime green.

Here are the split nine  patches.  

Now to start playing with the layout.  Mmmmm.  Nope. By the way, this is not the quilt that was to be completed this month.

A bit better.

Yep, that’s much better…….but I need just as many blocks again to make it a decent size.  Guess what I will be working on for RSC in 2024?

Now to the other quilt.  Firstly the blocks.

Then to play with the layout of that one.  Darn!  I seem to be missing some blocks.  Obviously, I couldn’t count when I planned the quilt. Blast!  Oh well, off to make some more.

Then……

After I had cut them out and made the HST…….I found the other blocks.  Phew!  I could count.  Guess what else I will be working on in RSC in 2024?

After a bit of fiddle fiddling, I came up with this layout.  I think Joey approves.  I had thought about adding a border but in the end decided it doesn’t need one.  At this point I made it into a flimsy, but forgot to take a photo.

Jo put out a request for purple butterfly blocks to make a donation quilt for their local hospital.  Of course I could do that.

Still at a bit of a loose end for something to work on by hand at my stitching group, I actually crocheted a kitchen towel topper.  I haven’t made one of these for a very long time.  Why would I when Mum was churning them out?  Now that she has forgotten how to knit and crochet I have to dust off the crochet hook and make my own.  I just happened to have some crochet cotton and this tea towel from about twenty years ago, so got cracking, just following along from an old worn out one that I had made way back then.  It’s a bit rough around the edges, but that folds to the back so no one sees it.  It will do the trick.  I have a couple more, so that is something I can do once in a while.

A friend has been doing quite a bit of Sashiko recently and she shared a project that I really liked.  Immitation is the greatest form of flattery, right?  So I went shopping.

I have completed the panel.  It has been good to work on at patchwork and stitching mornings and in Zoom.  Now I need to add some borders and turn it into a table runner before Christmas.

Meanwhile, I may have bought another panel at the same time and have made a start on that as well.  It will probably be turned into a wall hanging.  I’m just not sure how as yet.

Talking of Zoom, Chooky has held a couple of impromptu Zoom get togethers during the month.  It’s always nice to catch up with everyone.

In preparation for quilting my RSC quilt, I had to excavate Monique, which was quite a task.  It’s been some time since I have used her, so I thought it would be a good idea to have a little refresher before tackling the larger quilt.

I have a couple of little quilt panels that don’t even really need anything added to them, just to be quilted, so I picked out a Snugglepot and Cuddlepie one and had a play.  

This time I used a different pantograph, which I think suited it well.

I then trimmed it down and added a grey binding by machine.  Another little donation quilt completed.

I had a second version of that panel that I had bought from the remnant bin, as it had been cut crooked.  After trimming it down, I finished it off as well.

When I had a spare afternoon last week, I pulled out a little tub with a quilt that I had cut out at the start of the year and finally pieced the top.  It took all of three hours.  I don’t know why I hadn’t done it sooner.  Another quilt added to the “to be quilted” pile.  The pattern just takes five fat quarters.  These are ones I found in Aldi last year.  I was considering adding a border, but I think the red binding is all it needs.

At this stage, the only thing I hadn’t worked more on was the Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt that was my One Monthly Goal.  I had hoped to have it finished well before the end of the month, but Monique wasn’t playing nice.  I was having trouble winding bobbins and wanted Mick to have a look and see if I was doing something silly.  We finally worked out that the new bobbins I had bought were not fitting on the winder spindle.  It seems that the hole in the centre of the bobbins is a teensy weensy bit smaller that the others I have, despite being the same brand.  As long as I used my old bobbins all was good.  So, yesterday, I finally got it quilted and bound.  Phew!  That was a close call.

This will be another donation quilt.  The panto is the Scrollwork one I have mainly been using.

And the back.

What about my 15 minutes a day?

Not too bad, but I did miss a few days.  Some days I just didn’t feel like stitching. You get that.

I won’t worry about my weekly stat this time, as it is mid week and I haven’t done any others this month.

15 minutes day/October = 26/31 - That’s five days I didn’t do anything, but other days well and truly made up for them.

15 minutes day / 2023 = 285/304

Success rate = 93.75%

I’ll be linking up with So Scrappy, Stories From the Sewing Room and Life in Pieces.  Thanks for the ongoing inspiration.