Scrub Stitchin’ - Part 9 - The Final One - What I Worked on

Finally, we are at the end of these posts.

So, what did I work on?

Firstly, I started on the Batik Fish appliqué.  My grand plan was to do a bit each day, so I wouldn’t get sick of it. Well, I worked on them on Wednesday, in amongst lots of chatting and catching up with everyone and having my first ever massage.  (I’ll be doing that again next time if she is there.)

I thought I would have them completed by lunch on Thursday, so kept going.  I underestimated things, and did’t get them finished until late that afternoon.  Here I am working on the very last stitches.

I was one very happy camper to have that job completed.  It won’t take all that long to get the quilt top made, once I have a play on the design curtain.

Next, I worked on the pink Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.  They are always a nice and easy thing to do.  I didn’t need to make any crumb blocks in April.

Then, it was time to start piecing the blocks for the Solid Fat Quarter Quilt.  I had everything cut into strips, and colours paired, so it didn’t take too long to get the blocks made and the next day I had the quilt top completed.  I’m really happy with how it has turned out.

While working on those projects I pieced another twenty pairs for the Bonnie Lass. Quilt as leaders and enders.

The final project I worked on was the Simply Serene Quilt that was one that Chooky and Jo planned for us.  All I did was make the half square triangles.  I needed a design wall for the next bit, and there wouldn’t be time to get the quilt top together.  It was simpler to leave that till I got home and played with my design curtain.

Finally, remember those fabrics and zip that were in our goodies bag.  Well, on Friday afternoon, in among  all the other goings on that day, we were given the instructions on how to make a book pouch, using a new to us zipper insertion technique. Just about everyone had theirs completed on the weekend, which was a first.

There were a few of us left on the Sunday night and we had a lazy tea of leftovers.  It was a nice relaxing way to end the week.   I did get quite a bit of my crochet corner to corner rug worked on.

So lots to show for the weekend, with plenty more to do once I returned home, not much of which has happened.  It will, all in good time.

We had a nice drive home on the Monday, with wonderful scenery, as always.

It was fun to see the new train that will be replacing the XPT doing a trial run near Dubbo.

And we knew we were nearing home when we started to see the autumn colour in the trees.

In conclusion, it was a fabulous time in Baradine with a wonderful group of people and we can’t wait to return for the next event.

October Stitching Update

As you can maybe imagine, I didn’t get a great deal of crafting done during October, seeing as we were busy doing other things.

Here is what I did manage.

I have previously mentioned the Sashiko Bag for the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge.  I was very happy to have that done and it meant that I did at least have one finished project for the month.

I had shared the block I completed early in the month for one of Betty’s group quilts.

Well, I made another one to send down to her for another quilt that has been planned.

In addition, I made two blocks for a group quilt that my Wednesday patchwork quilt are putting together.

While making the blocks I have been adding to the pile of my Bonnie Lass leader and ender blocks.  140 down out of 396.  It is time to get cutting some more.  This is a nice slow bonus project in the background that really is making itself.

I did manage to progress the Christmas redwork stitcheries a little.  They have been good to work on at my stitching mornings.  Nice and mindless.

Finally, I have been slowly working away on my knitted top.  It would have been much quicker if I had just followed the pattern and knitted it flat, but due to the stripes, I made it hard for myself by knitting part of it in the round.  It has also been compounded by me not using the prescribed yarn.  I think (hope) it will all work out.  Anyway, the back is completed and I now just have to knit the two sides of the front v-neck and the ribbing around the armholes and neckline.  It didn’t get completed in October as I’d hoped, but realistically, it shouldn’t take too long to get done.  It doesn’t look much at the moment, but a good blocking at the end should hopefully sort that.

My stats for 15 minutes a day for the last couple of months were:

September = 30/30 (the best for the year)

October = 20/31

Year to Date = 211/273 = 77.29%  

This is way down on last year, but better than nothing.

Spending Some Time With my Sewing Machine

When I look back at what I have done this year, it has become apparent that I have done very little stitching at my sewing machine since Scrub Stitchin’.  It’s time to get back into it.

So, what have I been up to so far this month?

Once we arrived back home from our latest trip to Baradine, my first priority was to make three shadow blocks for Betty’s group quilts.  These were July’s prompt, but this was the first chance I had to make them.  Fortunately, there was no real urgency for them.  The prompt was one to be brownish, one kid’s print and one a favourite print in blues or greens.

The next thing I wanted to work on was the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for this and last month and look at the Chookshed Challenge goal of putting together the Split Nine Patch quilt top.

It was time to bring out the Design Curtain again.  How to lay out the blocks?  I ended up grouping them by colour.  Now, I have just been making two blocks each month for the last three years, not thinking about the layout.  Of course, that has meant that I have six blocks, which make up one and a half big blocks.  To make it bigger I needed to make quite a few more blocks, which I wasn’t really thrilled about doing.  The alternative was that I could use what I had to make a smaller quilt with two blocks left over.  That seemed a much better idea, so no extra blocks were made.

It didn’t take too long to stitch them together.

While I was stitching away, I continued to make some more leader and ender blocks for “Bonnie Lass”.  I had stitched up what I had previously cut out, so it was time to dig into the scrap tubs and cut some more. There are now sufficient to keep me going for a while.  

Meanwhile, while the design curtain was up, I thought I would see what it was looking like and what other fabrics it would need.  This is 60 units and I will need 396, so quite a way to go.  Mmm.  Some brighter, clearer colours are needed, as it looks rather muddy at present.  I now have 110 units stitched, so a quarter of the way there.

Let’s make good use of the design curtain, while it is adding its decorating style to the sitting room.  Why not have a look at those Rainbow Scrap Challenge fish, now that all the blocks have been appliqued?

My plan has always been to make two smaller quilts, rather than one large. So a bit of juggling to work about the best colour distribution.

Next, to add some filler blocks.  I must say that being able to play with the blocks here, rather than the floor or bed, has been a game changer.  It works so very well.  

Then it was time to add the narrow border around them.  I wanted to have them not quite the same.

Today, I have added the border to the Split Nine Patch and the second border to both of the fish quilts.  That blue batik has been in my stash for about twenty years.  I think there is enough for the bindings and then it will be all used, other than some small scraps.  That is a big win in my books.

I’m so pleased to finally have these to the flimsy stage.  Now they have been added to the ever growing “To Be Quilted” pile.

While the design curtain is still hanging in the sitting room I am going to have a play with something else that has been hanging around for too long.

Did I say that I like the design curtain……

May Stitching Progress

It is time to have a look at all that I achieved on the crafting front during May.  You can pop back here to see what my grand wish list consisted of.

Firstly, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks were made.  Easy Peasy.

My Chookshed Challenge was completed.  Yay!

I have now joined in with Betty’s Rainbow Quilters and completed the nominated block for the month.  You received some feature fabric, in this case the batik centre piece and the small teal squares, and make the block following the pattern provided, in the colours requested and return it to Betty to be put into a quilt.  A bit of fun, but not too onerous.  This block is very effective and I look forward to seeing how the quilt comes together in the future.

During my short time at the sewing machine, I have managed to piece a further ten pairs towards the Bonnie Lass leader and ender quilt.  Only a squillion more to go.

I have made good progress on the crochet rug.  This is the first time I have seen it laid out.  As soon as I finish this ball of yarn, I will stop making it any longer and do the decrease rows to fill in the corner.  That will take a further two balls of yarn.  Following that, I will do a few rows of something around it as a simple border.  Watch this space.  I’m eager to get it finished, so Mick can use it and I can work on something else.  

I didn’t make a start on the hexagon panel and I have made no progress on any of the projects that I took to Scrub Stitchin’, and that doesn’t matter in the least. This is supposed to be fun. 

I managed to complete 15 minutes of crafting on 27/31 days.

119/151 days = 78.81%

I only managed to empty one thread spool. That is better than nothing.  I may have something to do with spending very little time at the sewing machine.  Who’d have thought.

Now to think about what to do in June.

Scrub Stitchin’ - Part 4 - What I Worked On

“Stitchin” is a key part of our time at Baradine, however, the amount completed varies considerably between participants.  This year I spent quite a bit of time before the event preparing projects with the intention of being a bit productive.  Of course, I did not expect to get everything done, but to have a variety of projects to work on.

The first thing I brought out on Wednesday was my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.  A nice quick and easy way to ease into the retreat.

Next, I started work on the appliqué on the bright fish blocks.  Rather than complete each block, I chose a thread colour and used that on whatever blocks required it.  I did manage to complete one before being ready for a change of project.  After working consistently on an appliqué project last year, I knew that this year I would give myself lots of breaks in this project.  The plan went well, and I just did bits and pieces randomly throughout the retreat.

The next project I started was the Secret Garden Quilt.  I had this cut out and ready to stitch the centre strip into the blocks.  That didn’t take too long.  

I had to wait a while for the design wall, before I could play with the layout, so went back to my fish.

Once a part of the design wall was free, I started yet another project, the One Yard Wonder Quilt.  I worked out the placement of the patches for the panel.

It didn’t take too long to stitch them together and then add the remaining pieces to format the quilt top.  The alphabet fabric, found at a neighbour’s recent destash garage sale, really sets it off.  This was to be a donation quilt, but one of the girls asked if she could buy it, as she has a baby quilt that she needs to make soon.  Yes, she could have it, but no she couldn't buy it.  In the end, she gifted me a charm pack she had that she wouldn’t use.  I think that was more than fair, as she still needs to get the backing and batting, quilt it and bind it, so she will still have made a lot of input into the gift.

The design wall became free, so it was time to play with my Secret Garden blocks.  I was determined not to overthink it and they came together rather quickly.

Once again, it didn’t take too long to get the top together.  This will be another donation quilt.  The turquoise sashing fabric was a “free to a good home” item at last year’s Scrub Stitchin’, so it was great to use it this time.  There isn’t enough of the fabric to do an outer border, so this is as big as it will be.  I still have to decide on a backing and binding fabric.  Hopefully, it will be finished before too long.

Time to play with some more fish….

Then it was time to bring out another project.  This time the “Five and Dime” quilt from the fabric I was recently gifted.  I had just brought strips of the fabrics that I had cut, so stitched them into their sets and cross cut them into their blocks.  Once again, time to play with the layout and not overthink it.  As there were only eight different fabrics there would have to be duplicates in the rows.  I can live with the layout.

This was on Saturday afternoon and I knew that there would not be time to get them all stitched into a quilt top, so packed them up in their rows to complete at home.  Once joined, there will be a narrow and wider border added.  Once again, hopefully soon.

Then it was back to my fish.  I had hoped to get them all done, but the two skeletal ones still have to have their bones stitched down and the eyes have to be done on all of them.  However, overall, I am really pleased to have made such good progress.

In addition to all these, I did start to use my leader and ender pieces I had cut towards my “Bonnie Lass” quilt.  I ended up getting forty pairs joined, which was a good start.  This will be a long term project.

So, all the prep I did before the retreat really paid off, as I did manage to get quite a bit of stitching completed and best of all, there was very little thinking or matching of fiddly seams involved.  The challenge will now be to get them all completed.

I also took along my Chookshed Challenge project, but didn’t make a start on it.  Fingers crossed I still get it done this month.  

A New Leader and Ender Project

When there are lots of things that you should be doing, what do you do instead?

Why, start yet another quilt, of course.  However, this is a bit different to the last few.  

I have really missed having a leader and ender project on the go for the last couple of years, so decided to do something about it.  I’ve had a couple of ideas swimming around in my head, but this was going to take the least effort to bring to fruition.

The pattern is “Bonnie Lass” from Jen Kingwell’s book Quilt Lovely.  

As you can see, there are lots of the same sized pieces that will be perfect as leaders and enders.

I got out a couple of tubs labeled “Small Scraps”, as well as the left overs from when I made my Trail Mix quilt and made a beautiful mess.

After a couple of hours of playing in my happy place, I had 80 sets of blocks ready to go.  Now, that isn’t even a quarter of what is required, but should keep me out of trouble at Scrub Stitchin’ and for a bit longer. When these get low, I will have another cutting session. There is no rush for this, so I will just have them sitting beside my machine and one day I will have a bonus quilt top.

Meanwhile, they are tucked away in their pretty little tin.  From memory, I used this tin when I started the hexies and they outgrew it rather quickly.