A Quick Little Make

When we go travelling I like to take a simple, no fuss project to work on.  What I have found to work best for me is to take a stitchery that just uses one colour.  

I usually take my project and a separate little pouch with my needle, scissors etc, but the one thing that annoys me is that I end up with little snippets of thread that just get put in the pouch and end up making a mess.  I thought it was time to come up with a solution.  

Plan A was to make a little sewing hussaf style kit, but I thought I could come up with something even more compact. What I have made is very simple and extremely compact.  It should work just fine.

Enter my latest little needle book, finishing at just 3” high and 2 1/2” wide.  The hardest part was choosing the fabric.

There are two pages sewn in.  When you open the first there are my needles.  

Flip to the third and there are a few pins.

Turn to the inside of the back cover and I have popped in a tiny zip lock bag with three thimble dots.  I really like using these of late.  Once you have started using one, you can just stick it onto something and then use over and over again.  Hence, the plastic bag. The “in use” dots can get stuck onto the front to use again.

The best bit is the middle spread.  This is where I can lay my snippets of thread while stitching away.  When the needle book is closed they are contained…. I hope.  Too simple……it should work.  I know, simple things amuse simple minds.

I haven’t worried about a closure.  It will stay closed once it is in my project bag.

This is my new travel set up.  My stitching projects each have their own zip lock bag holding the stitchery and thread.  All I need to go with them is my little needle book, my tiny scissors and my embroidery hoop.  The hoop is another thing that I have only just started using and am finding works surprisingly well.  Who’s have thought. LOL

So there is everything is nice and compact, packed into my funky Queenie pouch ready to take on future trips.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Quilt Finished

My main wish for this month was to have one of the  Rainbow Scrap Challenge Quilts completed.  I’m happy to report that I have achieved my wish.

The quickest and easiest to work on was the Black and White Potato Chip Quilt.

This quilt was started back in January this year, so I am very happy that it won’t be carried over to next year.  I made five blocks each month.

I decided that a swirly pantograph would suit it well.

The sad thing to happen while quilting this quilt was that my super glide foot broke on Elly May.  They are renowned for doing this and I did take all the recommended precautions, but to no avail.  I don’t think I will purchase another, if it could break as well.

The big decision for the quilt was to choose a backing.  To my delight, on a recent trip up to Orange I came across something suitable.

Wait for it…..

Oh my!   Does’t it make an impact.  It is a doona cover from Ikea that I found in the Salvos op shop.  The best thing is that I still have the other side, which is the same, to use on a future quilt.  I think I will make the exact same pattern again next year.

This quilt will be donated.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements - 64" high x 47" wide

Pattern - Inspiration from a photo seen on Pinterest.

Fabrics - Stash.  

Quilting Design - Swirling Wide e2e by Leah Day for QCT6

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing and Binding - Ikea doona cover found at Salvos op shop in Orange.

Thread - Glide - Steel Blue

I’m linking up with So Scrappy.  Pop over and see what the others have created.

Yay! A Finish

This should have been a really quick, easy project, but it ended up taking a little longer than expected. I have made this pattern before with no issues, so I don’t know what was going on this time.

Firstly, I couldn’t count my rows and my mock cables were a bit wonky.  Note to self, keep it simple when at a stitching day and you I am talking.  Who’d have thought.

Then, I dropped a heap of stitches, so decided to rip it back and start again.  That way, I could fix my previous boo boo.

All went fine, until I realised that the two 50g balls of wool would probably not be enough.  8 Ply wool isn’t all the same thickness these days and the Cleckheaton Country Naturals is more like an Aran weight and only has 96m to a ball.  Of course, I had bought the last two balls at the shop and there was no more in Bathurst.  Fortunately, I was able to get an extra ball at Spotty in Orange.  It didn’t matter in the least about the dye lot for this project.

I distinctly dislike using double pointed needles, as I never know how to comfortably hold then, but with much cursing, dropping stitches etc, I finally got it finished.  

It looked like I would run out of that second ball of wool with only a row or two to go.  However, look how much was left.  Of course, if I hadn’t bought the extra ball of wool I would definitely have run out.

Anyway, it is finished and I love it.  The fluffy pom pom suits it nicely.  Now, it is ready to keep my ears toasty warm on our next big adventure.

The Radiation Bus Morning Tea

The Radiation Bus is a service run by Bathurst Community Transport to take patients from Bathurst to Orange to receive their cancer radiation treatment.  It runs five days a week and is a free service to the patients.  However, it receives absolutely no government funding, relying solely on community donations.

To assist with that, a group of ladies hold a morning tea in September to raise funds.  This year was the third time it has been held.  I attended the first event as a guest and then gave a helping hand last year.  This has carried over to this year as well.

The morning tea is held in a beautiful old hall, kindly provided rent free.  Last year 110 people attended, which was too many for the space.  It was decided that this year it would be held over two days, being the Tuesday and Thursday of the same week.

On the Monday we went in and got the hall all set up and then went home to bake.  Several people contributed plates of food towards the event.

We had ninety people attend on the Tuesday.  In addition to a lovey home baked morning tea there were lucky dips, a monster raffle and a trading table.  A representative from Community Transport informed everyone about the various services that they provide.

One lady supplied some bowl cosies for the trading table and they all sold on the Tuesday, so that afternoon, after we had cleaned up and had everything set up to go again on the Thursday, I went out to Spotty and bought the cotton batting suitable for use in the microwave to make some more.  With some judicious cutting and piecing of the scraps there was enough to make eight cosies.  I completed four to take along.  The other four are half done.  I was over stitching those very thick seams by then.  Anyway, three sold and the fourth has gone to the Hospital Auxiliary Shop to be sold.

We had another seventy people attend the Thursday event, so it was definitely worth expanding to the two days.   I think everyone enjoyed themselves and if anyone went home hungry it was their own fault.  We even sold containers of leftovers to add more funds to the coffers.

It was a lovely event to be a part of, to all do our little bit to keep this vital service going.

Stitching Round Up for September

As I have previously mentioned, not a great deal of stitching took place in September.  There was too much else going on.  All good things, I may add.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The first thing I stitched was the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.

Completed just in time for the last Saturday of the month.

Then it was the Betty Block. 

The next item to go through the sewing machine was a spur of the moment make.  I made four bowl cosies and have another four half made.  

These were to sell on a trading table at the Radiation Bus morning tea.  More on that later.

MAIN MONTHLY GOAL

Finally, my one monthly wish was to complete the little Aeroplane Quilt.   I’m so happy with how this one turned out.  I think it is one of my favourites.  

USE ELLY MAY

Elly May did get used to quilt the Aeroplane Quilt.

CROCHET

In addition, I completed a further three crocheted squares.  Not a great result, but better than none.

KNITTING

My alpaca jumper is still on pause.  I have to psyche myself up to work out how to proceed with it and this wasn’t the month for it.

I did start my new oatmeal beanie……twice….  I made a boo boo first time around, so ripped it back and started again.  It should be finished, but it is close.  I’m up to shaping the crown.  I had bought two 50g balls of wool and as I was working away I realised that it would not be enough.  Add to that, I had bought the last two balls in the shop where I purchased it.  Fortunately, I was able to buy another ball at Spotlight.  I’m presuming it is not the same dye lot, but that doesn’t matter in the least for this.  

15 MINUTES A DAY

September = 22/30

YTD - 223/273 = 81.68%

And that’s about all I did, other than a little secret stitching, which I can’t share as yet.

Here’s hoping next month is somewhat more productive.  I think I will at least have a bit more time on my hands.

Aeroplane Quilt - In By the Skin of My Teeth

My Main Monthly Wish for September was to complete the little Aeroplane Quilt I pieced at Baradine.  I didn’t think that I would get it done, due to a very busy month, but we got there in the end.

This little quilt had its beginning when I purchased a cute pattern from the Sewing Basket stall for $1 at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Show at Darling Harbour in July.  

When it came to thinking about what to take to Baradine to work on in August this came to mind.  To actually make a pattern straight after buying it is quite a novel idea.  Anyway, I traced all the appliqué pieces onto Heat and Bond Lite at one of my patchwork days, cut them out at the next and then spend an entire day choosing fabrics, fusing and cutting out the appliqué shapes and cutting out the rest of the quilt.  It was all ready to go at Baradine.

Appliqué is a great mindless task to work on in a group and these shapes were generally nice and easy to stitch around, other than those small stars.  

The piecing of the top was completed while I was up there. 

I knew it would only take a day to get it quilted and bound, but yesterday was the first free day that I had.  

A simple loopy quilting design was all that was needed and suited the pattern.

It was lovely to be able to have the door open to the outside and see the crab apple in full bloom while working away.

Everything went nice and smoothly and we now have a very cute little quilt.

This quilt will be donated.  

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -55" high x 44" wide

Pattern - Sky Dreams by The Country Quilter.  This is a pattern from 2001.

Fabrics - Stash.  

Quilting Design - Loop Meander e2e by QCT6

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing and Binding - Left over wideback from Spotlight

Thread - Glide - Cool Mint

The Batik Fish Quilt

I started to make this quilt back in March 2024.  As you can see, it had quite a few pauses during its evolution.

In 2024 Angie Padilla had a Block of the Month featuring bright fish that I had started making.  I thought it would be fun to make another using more muted colours for Mick.  Spotty had fat quarter bundles of batiks so I bought a couple on special.  

I had fun playing with the patterns within the fabrics to make the fish appliques. To add more interest to the quilt I decided to self draft some fish blocks.  Using some pictures from the interweb as a starting point, I worked out a few.

Mick took this photo of me in the lead up to Scrub Stitchin’ that year as I was selecting the thread colours to take with me to stitch the applique on my first blocks.

Another batch.

At this stage it seems to have had a pause, as other shiny things took precedence.

It doesn’t seem to have come out again until July 2024, when I made some more blocks.

Oops, I made a boo boo on prepping one of these.  They were both supposed to be facing the left, but I accidentally made one face right.  Some judicious tweaking of the head made it look OK and is now one of my favourite blocks.  And, of course, there always has to be one going against the flow.

A progress shot at that stage.

Then another pause.

I finally completed the bright fish quilts in March 2026, so it would be time to get back to the Batik Fish.

Stitching down appliqué is the perfect project for Scrub Stitchin’, so I prepped the final blocks to take with me in April 2026.  

I love the way they come to life once the eye is added.

Mick had insisted that there be an angler fish included, so I had some fun devising a block that wasn’t too gruesome, but also not too cutesy.  I think I reached the happy balance.  I must say those teeth were the devil to stitch down.

Anyway, here I am stitching the last section of the last fish block at Scrub Stitchin’ earlier this year.  It was a relief to get them all done.

 In August this year I finally made a push to get it finished.  Making it my Main Monthly Goal helped.

The Design Curtain was used to work out a layout and then I stitched the blocks together.  I was considering that to be done for the top.

Mick, however, had other ideas.  He insisted that it would look a lot better with borders.  OK.  It is his quilt, so off I went to see what suitable fabric I could find.  Fortunately, our local quilt store has quite a selection of batik fabrics and two that worked were selected.  I must admit, Mick was right.  Just don’t tell him I said so.  LOL

Next, to select a backing.  I went out to Spotty to see what suitable wide backs they had, but none worked.  To my surprise, there was a batik that would work.  Not only that, it was one of the designs included in the fat quarter bundles I had purchased……and was on special.  It was meant to be.

Then it was time to get it loaded on Elly May and quilt it with the water design that I had used on the bright fish quilts.

It was completed in time to take to Baradine for An August Escape.

The size ended up larger than I had expected, so it will be added to the rotation on our bed.

I’m really happy with how it turned out, and more importantly, Mick loves it.  

This also means that I have completed twelve UFOs this year, which was my goal.  Any more will be a bonus.  Fingers crossed that will be the case.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -78" high x 65" wide

Pattern - Fishy Business by Angie Padilla.  I added some self drafted fish.

Fabrics - Batik fat quarters from Spotlight plus extra fabrics that suited it from stash.  

Quilting Design - Waterflow by Leah Day for QCT6

Batting - Bamboo/Cotton

Backing - Batik from Spotlight

Thread - Glide - Cool Mint