Friday 30 April 2021

Stitching Progress for April

I know I say it every month, but I don't know where the time has gone.  I do know that I have been more productive than in the last couple of months.

So, it is time to do a check in with my month's goals.

1.    ONE MONTHLY GOAL.

This was to complete the Vintage Linens Quilt.  Quite achievable, as all I had to do was add the binding.

Ta da!  All completed.  The last stitches were added at Scrub Stitchin'.

I'm super happy to have this quilt finished.  It is so different from what I usually create, being so soft, but I do really love it.  I'm linking up over at Elm Street Quilts.  The encouragement really helps.

2.        WOOFA CHALLENGE

Cheryll encourages us to make progress on a UFO or start working on one of those kits or patterns that we have saved for "one day".  This month I was determined to finally finish my Scrub Stitchin' Bag from three years ago, after several false starts.
Another success.  Woo Hoo!  Now I will have to decide what to work on next month.

3.    CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

I didn't achieve a great deal, but today I did at least finish off the two blocks I started last month.  Better than nothing.

4.    ONE PROJECT A MONTH

Well, I must say I am happy to add a couple of more items to the above ones.
Firstly, I made four little butterfly fridge magnets while at Scrub Stitchin'.

Then, well, actually this came first, I made a cute little zippy purse.  This was for the "Make it, Bake it or Fake it" swap we had at Scrub Stitchin'. 
 I was running out of time and had little idea what to make, when I had a brainwave and dived into my "Spare Parts" bag from my Block Heads quilt.  
Some tiny HST and flying geese, with left over sashing fabric turned into a cute little bag.  I then remembered that I had purchased some little "Handmade" tags, and even found them stashed somewhere safe.
The only suitable zip on hand was grey, which I thought would be a bit drab, so added some contrasting tabs to the ends for a pop of colour.  Finish it off with a pretty lining and ribbon on the zip and it was done.  I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.

5.    BLUE JOCELYN PROUST QUILT

I finally made a start on this quilt.  
I made twenty of the forty blocks required.  There are five of each print.  I have since made another five blocks, so only fifteen more to go.  I'm happy with that.  

Considering all the other things we have been doing, I'm pleased with my progress. Thank goodness for Scrub Stitchin', both for giving me the time and inspiration to get things done.

Now I have to work out what to work on next month.

Thursday 29 April 2021

Scrub Stitchin' 2021

I can't believe it is three weeks today since we set off on our journey to Baradine for Scrub Stitchin'.  

Yes, "We", as Mick came along for the ride too, travelling with our trusty caravan.  While we ladies stitched, he ventured off with Mr Chooky to do farm related stuff.

I didn't take a lot of random photos over the weekend, as I was too busy chatting, stitching, eating, some more chatting, checking out what everyone else was up to, but not taking photos, chatting, a bit more stitching............You get the picture.

As usual, we had a themed dinner. This time on the Friday night.
This year the theme was "Little Girl's Birthday Party", as Annette and Miss Jules were celebrating a milestone birthday.
Here we all are, dressed in our finest party girl outfits.
Our dinner was so nutritious - popcorn, lollies, fairy bread, twisties, devon wrapped around mashed potato...........all those things we only ever ate at childhood birthday parties.  It was a great fun evening.

On Saturday we had show and tell. 

Miss Jules started things off.
The colours are beautiful on this quilt.
A fun quilt she made at a workshop.

Next were mine.
My Rainbow Scrap Challenge Plus Quilt from a couple of years ago.
Splendid Sampler 2 - still only a top.
Trail Mix
My Vintage Linens Quilt.  I hand stitched down the binding on Thursday night at Baradine.  So pleased to finally have this finished.
Block Heads 3 - all done and dusted.

Then Brenda.
She recently won a prize at the show with the above quilt.
We were quite taken with the simple, yet effective butterfly border.
This yo-yo coverlet was made by her mother, started in the late 1940s.  Some of the stitching holding the yo-yos together is coming apart, so Brenda is restitching it.  Such a lovely piece.

Next was Jenny.
She purchased the kit for this quilt while in America.  So effective.
Foxley Village is such a lovely quilt.

Next was Mary.
Mary made this quilt using the charm patch she was given at the last Scrub Stitchin' with some extra yardage added for borders.
She does such lovely hand embroidery.

It was nice to see a version of Field Journal, which is a block a month from Cottage Garden Threads.  They are so beautiful bordered in the Liberty fabrics.

Next was Annette's.
She considered herself a cheat, as she didn't make this quilt. It is a hand quilted Amish quilt and was purchased at a garage sale for $150.00.  We were all a tad jealous. Such a beautiful quilt.  

Sue was next with her Old Time Kaleidoscope quilt.   
We have been watching the progress of this quilt on her blog over recent months.  It is all hand pieced.  So nice to see it for real.

Georgina didn't think her quilts were worth showing.  We begged to differ.
This gorgeous creation is all hand pieced.  I really take my hat off to her.
This was a challenge from her daughter, Kylie, to use her ugly fabrics.  It turned out to be a really striking quilt.
Another Scrappy quilt.
I liked this one.  It uses all florals.  Mainly those dated ones that many of us have deep in the stash.  It was an effective way to use them.

Next was Denise.
This little hanger, which has a verse about motherhood features some fabrics from her children's childhood clothing.  Such a special piece.

And finally, Sally.
She is another of those patient ladies that hand pieces.  This is a lovely soft version of a Jen Kingwell pattern.  She was working on another of her patterns in much brighter fabrics during the weekend, once again, hand piecing.

Now to the creations that were made or finalised on the weekend.
Lynda made a fun jelly roll race quilt top.
Sue made lots of foundation paper pieced log cabin blocks and then added them as a border to this quilt.  After the photo was taken, it was noticed that one block was around the wrong way, so some unpicking and resewing fixed that fairly quickly.
Lynda was very happy to finally have completed the quilt top on Nature's Journey from a Chookyblue Stitchalong from a few years back.  I love seeing the different versions of this quilt.
Tina is always super productive.  She made this entire quilt top and then quilted it on the weekend. She puts me to shame.
Her daughter Harriet is just as bad, having made this complete quilt top in the weekend as well.  I just loved the fabrics she used, all in reproduction 1930s.  

So, what did I achieve?

As I said previously, I finished stitching down the binding on the Vintage linens quilt.
I made some butterfly fridge magnets.  I do enjoy making these.  They are so cute.

The main project I worked on was making blocks for my newest project, the Jocelyn Proust blue quilt.  I need to make forty blocks for the top.  I managed to complete twenty and started on another five.  (There are five of each print.) A teacher's report card would say "Janice can do better and needs to apply herself to her task, rather than talking all the time". However, this was not a school class, so it didn't matter how much I achieved or how much I talked.

The weekend came to a close all too soon, as we left fairly early on the Sunday morning to travel home.  There was a road closure between Baradine and Coonabarabran, so we took the scenic route home via Coonamble, Gilgandra and Dubbo.  Nothing like a bit of variety.
We always enjoy seeing the painted silos and water towers.  The one at Coonamble is so nice and bright.
We stopped for fish and chips for lunch at Wellington and came across this painting of Wellington Caves on the side of a shop.  The colours match the Coonamble one rather nicely.

It was so good to catch up with all the girls again.  They are all such a nice bunch to hang out with.  We have to thank Chooky so much for making it all possible and look forward to gathering again in a year's time.

Sunday 25 April 2021

Lest We Forget

ANZAC Day returned somewhat to the usual format this year.  However, in Bathurst, the public were not invited to some of the services.  We usually attend the Dawn Service, but it was reserved for current and former serving personnel.  The public were only invited to the main service, which had a very large attendance.
We chose to once again commemorate the day at our letter box, together with some of our neighbours.  It was rather chilly, with a frost on the ground.
I wore the miniatures of my Dad's medals with pride.
Our new neighbours over the road installed a tribute, which was very impressive.  Hopefully, next year we will be able to attend the Dawn Service in the time honoured manor.