June Stitching Wishes

Time to think about what I would like to achieve during the month of June.  Much will be the same as usual.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The colour for June has been announced to be orange. I will make my usual two split nine patch blocks.

CHOOKSHED CHALLENGE

The number selected this time is Number 5.  For me that is the Sew Together Bag.  I had to have a think to see if I will make it this month, or once again swap things round.  I think I will, as it has been on my wish list for about ten years and I have had the fabric for two years.  I have made a couple previously, as gifts, but not one for me.

Since the beginning of the year, I have found the missing fabric and Lou kindly provided me with the pattern, as I have still not located mine, which is annoying, as it has my hand written notes with it.  But, in reality, I do have everything I need to make the thing……oh, I may need to buy a few zips.  The fabrics I have chosen are the same Tilda range as the dilly bag kit that we received at Scrub Stitchin’ in 2023 and the fabric basket I made at the beginning of this year.  Anyone would think that I like it.  Also, previous Sew Together Bags that I have made have featured several diffferent fabrics.  At this stage, I have only two.  I may add more.  I did buy more of the range when we went to Scrub Stitchin’ this year.  However, they are earmarked for a By Annie bag. All very matchy, matchy.

I really want to get a wriggle on with the crochet blanket.  

Now that I am ready to start the decrease rows it should really zoom along……I hope.  Then to do a few rounds of something as a border.  It would be nice if Mick could actually use it when watching the footy.

What else?  I really don’t know.  

Maybe try to progress the projects I took to Scrub Stitchin’.  There has been no progress since I came home.

Perhaps, I will get the rest of the appliqué completed on the bright fish quilts.  All that is needed is the grey of the fish skeletons (there are two) and all their eyes.  It would be nice to get them moving along.  

And maybe the Five and Dime quilt that I started at Baradine.  

And the hexies are waiting patiently to be stitched into a panel.

Who knows?  Time will tell.

Chookshed Challenge #8 Is Complete

Can you believe it.  I actually completed a Chookshed Challenge project within the month!

I did not expect to get this project completed in May, but we did not expect to be back home after only about a week away.  Let’s recap.  You can read my initial post here. 

So, this was the kit I was working with.

As I explained at the time, I replaced the embroidered centre hexagons with vintage doiley pieces.  Despite saying I would include a yellow fabric, it was too strong.  In the end I made the three EPP motifs the same.

The kit used two different background fabrics for the blocks.  They were from fabric that was cut at ten inches square.  I felt that an extra half inch would give the motifs just a smidge more room to breathe, so would use something else.  I have a box of fabric labeled “Pretty”, so I was hoping to find something suitable in there, and I did.

This super soft green on cream was ideal.

I also wasn’t too fussed on the border fabric.  It was a bit too lolly pink I felt.  Therefore I auditioned a few options, all with the striped binding fabric that came in the kit.  

This is what came with the kit.  When I look at it now, it would have been fine.

This fabric was one of the fabrics that came with the kit and was to be the background for one of the blocks.  I liked it, but then realised that it was directional and that wouldn’t work.

I found this one in the Pretty box.  Mmm, that’s OK.  Still a bit too pink.

Let’s try something else from the Pretty box.  Maybe a bit to green.

Now, what if you refold the fabric, which has large florals?  That’s better.  

Next to look for some batting.  I knew I didn’t have sufficient iron on batting, but maybe I could make some frankenbatting that would work, and also use up of some of those small bits.  

It worked….just.  Mum would be proud of my frugality.  She was always careful with fabric usage.  If ever she used a commercial pattern, she would lay it out at home before purchasing fabric and inevitably found that you didn’t need as much as the pattern recommended.

I found a backing fabric in the Pretty box that would work but I’m not that fussed on.  You won’t see it, so a great way to use it up.

So, here it is.  All finished on the 29th of May.  

And the back.

I am so very pleased to tick this one off the list.  It is very “pretty”.  In the end, the only fabrics I used from the kit are the pink and blue in the EPP and the binding, but I am happy with the fabric choices I ended up making.  The other fabrics from the kit have now been added to the “Pretty” box for use in the future.

I am linking up with Deana.  Pop over to see what the other girls achieved.

Now, we just need to have a nice afternoon tea with pretty cups and saucers.

Stitching Wishes for May

I’m starting to sound like a cracked record, as once again, I won’t have a great deal of stitching time. This time it is because we will be away for much of the month.  Let’s see what I hope to achieve.

First up is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  This month’s colour is green.  The split nine patches shouldn’t take too long.

Now, for the Chookshed Challenge…..

The number drawn is Number 8.  The goal for that number is to make a quilt from the split nine patches that I have been making for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I had already decided early in the year that I need another year’s worth of RSC blocks to get to a decent size.  Hence, it has to be late in the year that I work on this one.

Therefore, for the fourth time this year I need to swap things around.  Hand stitching will be the go.

The project I have settled on is the Tilly’s Tea Party table runner.  This was initially the project for February, but was swapped out then.  The delay was the stitchery on the centre hexies.  This is a kit from a stitching day that never ended up happening due to Covid.  When I opened it up earlier this year, the printed stitchery design has actually faded to a level that you can’t follow it and I can’t be bothered to retrace it.  It was suggested to me that I could possibly use vintage doiley embroideries for the centres.  Now, I liked that idea.

This afternoon I had a little hunt and found a piece that would work.  The motifs fit nicely and are a suitable colour.  It has quite a few small holes in it, so I have no hesitation in cutting it up.  None of the holes are anywhere that will affect the areas I plan to use.  It is currently soaking in some Oxyclean to get it all nice and fresh and hopefully remove a couple of marks.

One of the fabrics in the kit looked a bit wishy washy next to the embroidery, so I switched it out for the yellow.  Other than that, I think this will work.  It is something I can prep and then take away with me.  All I intend to get done is the EPP motifs.  The rest will have to wait till we return home, so I am not aiming to get it finished in May.  If that happens, it will be a super bonus.

The hexies that I basted last month are currently all packed up in a pile.  I think I will lay them out again, in a similar fashion to the above photo and stitch them into that shaped panel.  Then I plan to join it into a ring and make it into a panel around the base of a tote bag.  I’ll just need to add two more hexies.  I think I can manage that……all subject to change, of course.

Other than that, I just want to work on my crochet blanket. That will keep me out of trouble for quite a while……if I can find more of the yarn on our travels.

I really don’t anticipate that I will manage to complete all of these wishes, but I at least want to have them prepped and packed into my sewing basket that lives under the seat in the caravan.  There would be nothing worse than running out of projects…..as if.

I’m going to link up over at Deana’s.  Pop over and see what other Chookshed Challenge projects are going to be worked on this month. 

End of April Stitching Summary

April was a bit of a varied month when it comes to my stitching.  At Scrub Stitchin’ I was very productive, but for the rest of the month there wasn’t a great deal to show. Quite a bit of what I am going to share are duplicates of earlier posts.

Let’s start with the finishes.

Happiness is Stitching a Hexie Flower picture.

EPP Coathanger, which was actually completed in March, but not shared until gifted.

Knitted cardigan.

One Yard Wonder Quilt Top. I know this isn’t actually a finish, but I have finished my contribution to it.

Next,  the starts….. there were quite a few of those.

Bonnie Lass leader and ender project.

One inch hexies for something for the Chookshed Challenge.

And one I haven’t shared as yet.  I have started a crochet blanket.  This was due to the fact that I didn’t really have any hand work to play with, so it was something I could quickly start.  This is my first corner to corner blanket and it is proving to be a bit of a yarn guzzler, but I love the texture.  I’ve used one full large ball and half a small ball of yarn and it still isn’t to full width.  This was initially to be a donation project, but Mick likes it, so I guess it is his.

I have four balls of the yarn and will definitely need at least another four.  I can’t get any more in town, so will keep my eye out while travelling later this month, or if that fails, I can get some on line, but that’s no fun.  I also have some other random grey balls of yarn, so can mix them in with the large balls.

And finally, the ongoing progress on some projects.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks were made.

At Scrub Stitchin’ I made the Secret Garden quilt top.

Also the blocks and worked out the layout of the Five and Dime Quilt.

The Appliqué Fish are progressing nicely. 

I have not progressed any of the above projects since we have returned home.

After Scrub Stitchin’, Lou and I both went along  to my Patchwork Group.  While there I completed the stitching of my Sashiko panel.  I’ve still no idea what I will make with it.

I joined in with a Zoom session while working on my crochet.  It was a lovely day, so I was able to sit outside.

When you look at all that, it seems a lot, but not a real lot happened on most of the projects.  I probably shouldn’t start any new projects for a little while, but get some of these finished.  Let’s see what May brings.

Oh, and I nearly forgot…,

I emptied three thread spools.  Not much, but better than nothing.

And, I managed to do 15 minutes on 23 days.  Some of those were for many hours, but it is the days that count.  Not bad, considering everything else that was going on.

April = 23/30

Year to date = 92/120

Statistics = 76.67%

Chookshed Challenge End of April

As expected, I have no finished project to share this month.

Today is the last day of the month, so this morning I finally at least made a start.  There is nothing like a deadline to kick me into gear.

I now have my 68 one inch hexies glue basted.  Sorry about the lighting.  It is all showing a bit more yellow than in real lift.

I now know about how big a panel I can make.  The next thing is to actually decide what to use them on.  It will be a good portable project, whatever I decide. Watch this space.  

I’m going to link up over at Deana’s blog, so pop over and see what the other girls achieved this month.

Chookshed Challenge - Not Much Progress Report

Remember at the start of the month I switched projects for the Chookshed Challenge to make things easier for me in a busy month? Oh, and because I couldn’t find the pattern to go with the fabric.  (Lou has now provided me with another copy of that pattern, so at least I now have the makings.  Thanks so much Lou.)

This is what I settled on and I even took it along to Scrub Stitchin’ with the hope to make a start.  Obviously, that didn’t happen.  Well, looking at the pattern photo, I realised that the fabrics would not be ideal, as quite a few had prints that weren’t a consistent colour over the whole charm square, and the pattern effect would be somewhat lost.

Time to have a rethink and come up with an alternate pattern idea for a table runner using the fabrics.  This is what I found.  I figured I could just do a couple of rows of this quilt pattern and it would work.

Then I had a better look at some of the charm “squares”…..and found that they weren’t, by quite a bit.  Blast!  That takes care of either of those patterns.  

Time to rethink once again. I want to use up those charm squares. They were in our project pack at Girls Day in the Country back in 2013, and our project didn’t require them to be cut into squares, so it wasn’t an issue back then.

Therefore, I figured I need to also do something that doesn’t require squares…. Ta da!  You can make four one inch hexies from a charm square.  There are 68 roughly cut hexies there, ready to glue baste and then do something with.  Probably not a table runner, but who knows. Also, the variations in the fabrics works really well now that they will be hexies.  

All I know is that whatever I make, it won’t be finished in April, but I at least want to have them basted.  My new plan is to have them made into something by the end of the year.  I really would like to have all the Challenge projects done by then.

Wish me luck and I will check in at the end of the month.