October Stitching Wrap Up

When I set my goals at the start of the month I took into consideration the fact that we had quite a bit planned for October.  As a result, my goals were rather simple and should have been quite achievable.  Well, maybe, my enthusiasm wasn’t what it usually is and not a real lot was achieved.  Here is what did happen.

ONE MONTHLY GOAL and CHOOKSHED STITCHERS’S CHALLENGE

I made a concerted effort at the start of the month and had these completed fairly quickly.  I blogged about them here.

FISHY BUSINESS

The only other real goal that I set was to catch up my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Fish and my Batik Fish blocks. Nope, nothing was achieved other than printing out October’s pattern.  My head wasn’t in the right space to work on it, as my cutting table seemed to be buried for most of the month.  I’ll explain in a minute.  Needless to say, I now have an even bigger task ahead of me to catch up.  It will happen.

MY WISH LIST

USE MONIQUE

The first item on my wish list was to use Monique to get a few quilts over the finish line, or at least quite a bit closer.  

I posted at the end of September that there was an issue with the thread that was tension related.  

After discussions with the technician, a new improved tension assembly was sent to us.  The result wasn’t any different, so we tried various other things.  I thought it was a bit better, but after doing a bit of quilting on a scrap piece it became evident that it is still not right.  I have not looked at it for a couple of weeks, but went back to it on Wednesday.  I give up!  We will now be travelling to the Southern Highlands for it to get a spa treatment on Monday.  Our plan is to leave on Sunday afternoon and stay overnight in a country pub on the way down, so that we don’t have to leave at sparrow fart and drive through lots of scrub in that roo time.  The technician will do the service on that day, so we can drive home on Monday afternoon/evening.  Fingers crossed that I will finally be able to make some progress on some quilts.

That is why my cutting table has been buried.  I usually have some “stuff” sitting on the long arm table.

DR SEUSS QUILT

I had wished to get the top completed with a couple of borders.  All that I have done is select the fabric for the two borders.  

HEXY FLOWER QUILT

I have made quite a bit of progress on this one.  Realistically, other than the first two goals, this is all I have worked on.  Who’d have thought my go to project would be hand stitching.

I have the first 57 blocks appliquéd.  

I have two of the large 2” hexy flowers appliquéd and one more pieced.  Just five more large flowers to piece and then appliqué. A few more flowers are stitched and, in addition to this photo, I have quite a lot more prepped, ready to just pick up and stitch into flowers.  

I have all the grey background fabrics cut.  I have to piece some of the large grey squares into four patches for the 2” flowers and to use up off cuts, created quite a few small four patches for backgrounds.  That will add a bit more interest to the quilt.  No, this isn’t a a black and white photo.  It just looks very monochromatic on my new cutting mat.

I’m really enjoying the process of this one and was so happy to be able to add some random scrap fabrics into the mix.  The fact that each hexy is appliquéd  onto a separate block means it continues to be a very portable project - perfect for taking to stitching mornings.

15 MINUTES A DAY 

I’m happy to report that I have worked on something every day, despite the Monique issue and consequent  lack of inspiration to work on anything sewing machine or sewing room related.

October = 31/31

Year to date = 281/305

Success rate = 92.13%

So, that is what I achieved this month.  Not as much as I had hoped, but it is what it is.  Now to start thinking about November.

Ticking Some Boxes

As we are now half way through the month it is time to show what I have been up to.

ONE MONTHLY GOAL

My goal was to complete the Sashiko table runner.  

I am happy to report that it is completed.

You may notice that the dragonfly and flower panels have not been included.  They didn’t fit very well.  I then thought to make them into coasters, but they still don’t fit as well as I’d like.  I’m still pondering on how I will use them, but for now, I consider this goal to be ticked off the list.

CHOOKSHED STITCHERS’ CHALLENGE

The next goal to tick off the list was to complete the Anni Downs Christmas redwork stitchery.

Ta da!

This was completed on Sunday.  I did quite a bit while watching the Bathurst 1000 car race on the tele.

It’s funny watching the big race on the tele when you can see Mount Panorama out the window, especially when the F35 fighter jet is doing its fly overs.

There was a short Chookshed Zoom session late that afternoon, so I finished the stitchery while chatting away to the girls.

The other stitching update I have to share is the progress on my hexy flowers.

These thirty blocks are completed.  I’m really happy with how they are looking and now see that I have to add more mid greys to the mix.

I’ve been making more flowers from the scraps that came to our patchwork group and today had a big effort as I collected all the flowers I had completed and the backgrounds that had been cut and removed papers and glue basted ready to appliqué them all down.   There is an uneven range of colours here, but that will all come out in the wash as I make the remaining blocks.  It also reinforces the need for more mid grey backgrounds.  Don’t worry, I have plenty in the stash to work with.  Once these are appliquéd, I will have 57 blocks completed.  That is just over half way.  Happy dance!…….But there is still a long way to go. I can cut quite a few more hexies from the scrap bag fabrics, which is a good thing.  I’m also starting to cut some of the big 2 inch hexies. Before I can progress, I need to stitch another block so that I can reuse the templates I have cut out.

Now, for progress on Monique.  The new tension unit turned up.  However, after installation things were still pretty much the same.  To get the tension right (the bottom tension is too tight),  the top tension was so tight it was unravelling the thread.  Oh well, it isn’t a bad thing to have the newer version installed.  We then started to play with the bobbin tension, although it was acting like it should.  We backed it way off and the bobbin thread was still reading as a bit too tight.  We were getting the tension pretty good, but still not quite right and are starting to wonder if the spring in the bobbin case may be the issue.  I then tried using a pre wound bobbin, that doesn’t require the spring, and it is pretty good.  I’m even game enough to have another go at quilting the quilt, rather than just on some scrap fabric. We will try a new bobbin spring soon to see if that makes a difference.  Wish me luck.

In other happenings, Mick participated in a “Rookies Pairs” bowls comp up at Orange. It was on an artificial surface, which they aren’t use to, so took a while to settle in.  They lost their first two games, while winning their last, or as one fellow said “they had one first and two seconds.”  He still had a great day and is enjoying getting more experience and meeting other bowlers.

Our garden is providing a few pops of colour.  Another lovely iris has bloomed.

The bees are loving our edging of ajuga.

We had our first thunder storm of the season last night, giving 10mm of rain.  There were some interesting clouds in the lead up.

Yesterday we spied three little baby blue wrens.  They were all bunched up together in the crepe myrtle, not far from their nest in our back yard.  By the time I fetched my phone, one had moved away.  They are so sweet.  In addition to these, we think there are two more nests in the front yard, in a couple of bottle brushes.  They are rather prolific breeders, often having two lots of babies during the warmer half of the year.  We always enjoy watching these busy little birds flitting around the garden.

And that about wraps up what we have been up to.  This coming week I do hope to have at least one quilt completed (fingers and toes crossed) and maybe even start on my fish blocks (fingers and toes crossed on that one too).

First Week of October

There has been a little bit of stitching and associated tasks each day so far this week.

Firstly, I have made a little start on the Christmas stitchery, mostly done this morning while sitting outside in the warm sunshine.  That is by far the best light for stitchery.

On Wednesday I took my hexy squares along to our patchwork group and got quite a few appliquéd down, with a few more on Friday at my other stitching group.

At the Wednesday group, one of our members brought along a garbage bag full of scraps.  Another lady sorted and trimmed, creating a few piles of usable pieces.  I selected a few that I thought would work well for more hexies, as my obvious scraps have been used up.  At the end of the day, she announced that she was over it and the rest were going in the garbage…..Nooooo!…There may be more that I can use for hexies, as I only need small pieces.  Therefore, on Wednesday afternoon I spend a couple of hours sorting and trimming.  Quite a bit still went in the garbage as they were too small for anything and I ended up with this nice pile that will be very useful.  I have already cut a few of the smaller pieces into hexies.  The pieces that weren’t suitable, either being too small on not colours that will work have been kept as well.  If I don’t use them I know a certain lady that likes to piece with teeny tiny scraps and I will be able to pass them on to her later.

As a result, I now have a new pile of hexies, prepped ready to stitch.  I am now over half way with these, but once they are all stitched into flowers, they will still have to be appliquéd onto their squares.  A long way to go yet.

I have recently come up with a better way to take photos on my cutting mat.  You see, the ceiling lights are behind me and the little light under the shelf is in front of everything, creating shadows.  My solution is to use one of my little portable work lamps.  Too simple.  It should never work, but it does.

Did you happen to notice that I have a new cutting mat.  My old one would be nearly 20 years old and is getting a bit grooved.  The large Fiskars ones were on special at Spotlight, so I treated myself.  I have often looked for them but they never seemed to have them in stock.  This time I looked on line, where it said that yes, they were in stock.  Once I asked the sales assistant, she got one from behind the counter where they are keeping them lying flat.  No wonder I could never find them.  I have still kept my old one for those times I cut backing and batting on the dining table, which has much more room to move around.

A bonus project progression happened on Friday.  One of my lovely stitching friends has been reading my blog and read that I was feeling rather overwhelmed.   Well, she very kindly took pity on me and offered to deconstruct my little crochet rug at our Friday group.  She made a start……but let’s say…..this rug was not going to fall apart.  The joins were crochet, so would easily undo, but I had done a very good job of weaving in my ends.  In the end we both worked on it and got most of it done that morning.  In the afternoon I continued working on it and now I again have a nice pile of blocks ready to join once more, this time by sewing them rather than by crochet, so hopefully they will sit nice and flat.  They are now packed away, to be a job for another day.  I must say, it does feel rather good to have that job behind me and I can’t thank my friend enough.  It was so kind.

In the garden, our potatoes in the tyre have been growing, so today a second tyre was added and some extra soil to build up to nearly the top of the leaves.  They are growing so fast.

We got brave on Thursday and went and bought our vegetable seedlings - tomatoes, zucchini and eggplants, as well as some flower seedlings - dianthus and portulaca.  Of course, now that they are in the ground we are expecting morning temperatures of about 3 or 4 C, so each night they will all be covered, along with the potatoes.  Some look quite ghostly, with frames shrouded in white sheets, while others are just draped with old towels.

Speaking of ghostly apparitions…… it’s a bit freaky walking into our bedroom at the moment, as this is in the corner.  It kind of takes you aback at first, especially at night.  What? Why?  This is my wedding dress.  I have it out, hoping some of the creases in the dress and petticoat will drop over the next couple of weeks.  You see, next year, as part of the bicentenary events for our church, there will be a display of wedding dresses, photos of weddings at the church and christening robes.  I’m going to have mine on display at the church fete in a couple of weeks to promote it and request contributions for the display.

When I look at it, I realise how very tiny I was back then.  “Victoria” our antique dress form has a tiny waste and my dress only just goes around it.  My waste was 23 inches back then and I weighed 52kg.  The back zip is not done up at this stage, as Victoria’s bust is too large.  Fortunately, she is adjustable, so we have to have a play and see if we can get her to fit my dress. When I look at it I marvel at what a beautiful job my Mum did on making this dress, with fine pin tucks and lace.  It was designed to enable me to wear my Grandmother’s cameo brooch.  No, it will not be added for the display.  It has too much sentimental value.  

Now I just have to hunt out my christening dress.  It is packed away somewhere in Mum’s things in our garage.  Wish me luck.

Finally, as today was such a nice day, we decided to go for an outing and have lunch in a country village.  Firstly, to find somewhere that was open for lunch.  We were surprised how many country pubs were closed on the long weekend Monday.  Thank goodness we did a little ring around before heading off.  Plan A was to take “Olga the old girl” sidecar for a run.  Well, that didn’t happen, as she didn’t want to start, and once started, didn’t want to run.  Mick thinks she needs a new battery as well as a little TLC.  We still went for our drive, just in the car.  Lunch was at a nice little cafe at Tarana.  We then took a wobble tour on the way home via some minor gravel roads.  We even found a sweet old timber bridge, which is becoming hard and harder to find.

And that about wraps up the week.

Blue House Sampler Completed

This is a project that I have had a lot of fun with.

It all started with me very quickly tracing off a few stitcheries to take with me to the Isle of Man back in late May and early June.  I made a start while sitting in a church yard beside the race course.  I didn’t get a great deal stitched while over there and then gradually added a few stitches now and then once we returned home.

I finally completed the stitching earlier this month and initially planned to simply add a two inch border of blue fabric, as per the original pattern by Gail Pan.

However, for some reason I can’t remember, I decided that it would be a bit boring and started to wonder what else I could do with the stitchery.  Maybe a bag, or what about a more detailed mini quilt to hang in my sewing room?  That’s when I made a huge mess on the dining table, pulling out vintage trims, laces, various fabrics and had a general play.

At the end of that day I had this vague idea.

The size would be determined by the vintage coat hanger I wished to use as the hanger.  This has been waiting for the right project for many years.

Over the next few days I gradually added bits and pieces, just making it up as I went along. 

Let’s have a bit of a look to see what I used. Firstly, I added the fabric borders.  The floral fabric on the left is one I have had for many years, probably since the 90s, and I just use little bits every now and then.  Initially, I was going keep everything blue, except for the front door, but once I added this fabric it seemed to set the colour scheme for the project.  The stripe at the top is a scrap from my Blue Quilt.  It is actually joined from two pieces and I didn’t do the best stripe match, but decided to leave it.   The large blue piece of fabric is from and end of bolt I purchased for next to nothing at Spotlight shortly after I started quilting, so in the early 2000s.  It has been included in many of my projects over the years and has been so very versatile.

The linen that the sampler is worked on is an offcut from the Vintage Linens Quilt that I made a few years ago.  It even had a hand stitched hem at the bottom, which I left in place.  The pale green huckaback with the white crochet lace edging is the offcut from a hand towel, also used in that quilt.  The final offcut from the vintage linens quilt is the narrow crochet lace across the bottom of the sampler.  It only had about an eighth of an inch beyond the crochet, so I carefully hand stitched it to the linen hem and then did a stitch in the ditch by machine to secure it to the huckaback.  The ric rac is blue and white, which is rather unusual and was found in my stash of bits and pieces.

Decisions, decisions.  At this point I did add the two lace flowers to hide the ends of the narrow lace,  There were just the two flowers and a bit of a stem joining them, so they were perfect.  You can also see that I had added some decorative blanket stitch to the right of the flowers.

I had two pieces of this sweet lace edging and wanted to use one.  I thought it would go OK here, but that tape at the top didn’t look too good.

Maybe cover it with some little hexies?  Nah, it still doesn’t really cover it.

Then I remembered some trims made with a very fine silk ribbon.  There was a green one that may work.  It didn’t, the colour was too grassy green, but there was a very narrow trim with pink flowers.  That did work.  

I kept fiddling and decided that this would be my final layout. 

I thought I would attache the little fabric scraps at the top with decorative stitching, but it didn’t look very good at all, so was removed.  Simple running stitch was all that was required.

Once I had all the trims attached, other than the buttons, it was time to think about quilting it.  I knew I didn’t want a binding, as I wanted to have the lace edging on the bottom.  What to use for a backing?  I have a few vintage damask serviettes, so I selected one of those, opting for the one with the least distinct pattern and the thinnest fabric, as I was going to hand quilt it.  For the batting, I joined a couple of little off cuts.  Here it is, stitched on three sides, ready to trim and turn right side out.

Now it’s starting to take shape.  Thread basted and ready to turn under the bottom hem and then do the quilting and add the buttons.

This really has been a project of using whatever bits and pieces I had to hand, even down to some sewing cotton that has been hanging around for years to thread baste and using scraps of crochet cotton to do the quilting.  The blue was used around the stitchery and the cream for everything else.  The cream one came to me from one of my stitching friends when she was sorting out her mother’s craft supplies.  It’s nice to use it.

Not quite “Ta Da”, but nearly there.  That top right hand corner neeeded something, both to fill the space and to anchor it more for hanging.  But what?  Some boro quilting,  more buttons?  I needed to think on it for a day or so.  I thought about adding a small quote, but everything I came across was too long or I wasn’t fussed.  I didn’t want “Home sweet home” or “Home is where the heart is”.  

In the end I just stitched “Home” and a couple of hearts, taking elements from the sampler and added a border.  It is probably a bit larger than I would have liked, but I wasn’t going to redo it.  If I come up with something better, it won’t take much to remove it.  I also found a little pink bejewelled heart charm, so added that as well.

So, here it is.  Ta Da!

And the back.

Let’s have a little closer look at some of it.  You can kind of see the sweet little floral trim I added to the lace. The tiny hexies were made a year or so ago from scraps from my Splendid Sampler 2 quilt and have just been loose in a little baggie.  I still have a few more and plenty of more scraps.  The hexy flower was made at the same time.  The buttons are just ones I found in my button stash.  The two little blue buttons were just the right colour, so had to be included.

In addition to what I have already shown in the bottom section, the floral braid came from Mum’s stash.  She has some lovely laces and trims.  The buckle was in my bits and bobs.  I seem to collect old buckles.  The “JM” is French laundry tape.  A lady in France used to blog and she was selling it, so I treated myself.  

So, there you have it.  My little stitchery, traced off with no plan, just something to stitch, has ended up having a life of its own and giving me a lot of fun along the way. Added to that, it has even ended up being a sustainable sewing project.  

Fortunately, there was still one spot where I could hang it in my sewing room.  It suits the room rather well.