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%

Well, That Wasn’t Expected

This morning, at breakfast I was reading the comments on my blog post about my hexy quilt.  

One comment suggested that I could make a design wall using flannelette on a rod, suspended over a door using hooks.  Well, my first reaction was, I wish, but I haven’t got a flat surface suitable.  It’s not as though I haven’t thought of every possibility already.

A design wall is something I’ve coveted for some time, but there is no flat surface in my sewing room and all our wardrobes have sliding doors. It is just something that is not possible.

Well, while sitting at the breakfast table, my eyes fell on our large glass display cabinet in the sitting room, just beside my sewing room and the cogs started ticking over.  It wasn’t long and Mick and I had the tape measure out and decided that it could possibly work.  

A trip was then made to Spotlight. We bought a lightweight curtain rod, some flannelette and some plastic over door hooks.

The start.

The curtain rod was 2 metres long, so two widths of fabric would be perfect, with just a seam up the middle and no need for side hems………..except, when I got it home I discovered the fabric was 60 inches wide, not 42.  Blast!  Now there were side hems to sew, as I still wanted a centre seam for lining things up.

After a bit of work it was ready to hang.  

Ta da!  One design curtain.  It only seemed fitting that the last hexy flower that I appliquéd should be the first placed on it.

Then it was time to play.

All done.

This quilt is a biggie, so one row still ended up on the floor.  I love it.

I don’t think I will have a chance to start sewing the blocks together tomorrow, but now that they aren’t on the floor, I doesn’t matter if they stay there for a couple of days.  The best thing is that my sewing room is right next door to this cabinet.

Once the blocks are all together, I can pack everything up.  There is the minor matter that we can’t open the cabinet doors while curtain rod is hanging there.  Mick joked that he can bring a motorcycle into the sitting room and put it on the coffee table to work on, now that I have encroached on the space.  I know that is the last thing he would want to do.  Also, despite what I said in my last post, he would not mind me having the blocks on the floor, as long as he could get around them.

I’m so grateful for the comment that had me thinking again, as now I have a really useful addition to my toolbox.

Wrapping Up July

It’s time to have a look at what else I managed to get up to during the month of July.

I seem to have been a bit lost with my stitching since coming home from Scrub Stitchin’, back in April.  No real direction and not a great deal of inclination.  Add to that, two trips away and not a great deal has been achieved.  Also, as usual, when my sewing room gets in a mess I feel somewhat overwhelmed by it all, and don’t know where to start.

When looking back at my goals for the month I did so, so.  Some things were a fail, while others were above expectations.

You can see here that my Rainbow Scrap Challenge and One Monthly Goal were both achieved.

I had mentioned that I would be taking my blue stitchery sampler away with me.  I didn’t do any while travelling, but have added a few stitches since we returned home.  I’m not worried, as this is just a little something to work on every now and then.  There is no pressure.

I haven’t touched my knitting.  I have to be in the mood to sit quietly and concentrate for the lace pattern.

I said that my Batik Fish would have to wait until our return.  Well, as we returned a little earlier than expected, that gave me time to devote to them.  On Sunday I traced out May, June and July, as well as made up another two blocks to kind of represent a snapper.

On Monday I selected fabrics and fused the eight blocks down, ready to stitch.

Yesterday, I got stuck in and stitched all of them.  In addition, I hadn’t stitched the eyes on the previous twelve blocks, so I finished them off too.

You will notice that one fish is swimming the wrong way.

There’s always one rebel, isn’t there.  These two blocks were supposed to be the same as the top one.  However, some silly billy traced one back to front.  Not to worry…….until I realised that I had somehow managed to actually trace the head the right way around and it now wouldn’t fit.  Doh!  Fortunately, I had cut this one out first and was able to do a head transplant, and fortunately, the colours still worked.  I had only rough cut out the other head, so I was able to have a fiddle and redesign it to use the fabric.  It turned out surprisingly well and now looks to be a rather happy fish.  I’m amazed how different they now look, just from that one modification.

Here are the first twenty blocks.  I’m so very pleased with how they are turning out.  It is such a good feeling to be back up to date.  I have another sixteen to make to achieve the size that I want.  They look so very different to the bright version I am making. It’s been great fun making use of the various design elements in the batik fabrics.

The other thing that I have worked on is the little Natalie Bird pincushion that I started while overseas, by stitching the little saying. 

One side consists of a panel of half inch hexagons.  The other day I cut them out of tiny scraps that any sane person would throw away and today stitched them together.  

I think my stitchery looks a bit chunky stitched in two strands, so will probably redo it in one strand.  It is only tiny, so won’t take too long.  The other two sides of the pincushion consist of a small house applique and a feature fabric.  I’m looking forward to working more on this, as it is a pattern I have been wanting to make for many years.

As expected, I didn’t use Monique and didn’t work on any donation projects, other than the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.

Surprisingly, I didn’t even read a book.  I thought I may do that while away.

Finally, I’d better report in on my 15 Minutes a Day.  For most of the month I just did a the bare minimum each day, and on some days didn’t do anything.  Hopefully, that will change now that I am back home.

July = 26/31

Year to Date = 192/213

Success Rate = 90.14%

I’m lagging a bit behind last year’s rate of 93.42%, so had better lift my game.  No pressure on myself.  LOL

I’m linking up over at Life in Pieces.

So, that wraps up July.  Hopefully, we will be at home during the next month.  My sewing room is still an absolute mess, but in the last few days I seem to have found some of my stitching enthusiasm.  I’m looking forward to deciding what to work on in August.

Final March Wrap Up of Goals

 I enjoy looking back over the last month and seeing what I managed to do.

My One Monthly Goal was to complete the Moda Love quilt from Scrub Stitchin’ last year, which was done at the last minute.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour was purple, so I made my split nine patch blocks.

Then it was time for the purple fish.

At the same time I prepped my first blocks for the batik fish quilt I am making as well.

The Chookshed Challenge was number 4 and for me a panel quilt.

My knitting or crochet project continued to be the Spiked Granny Square rug.  I completed the coloured section of the 30 squares and then added the final cream round.  That was as far as I thought I would get, but in the end, on the final day of the month I wove in all the loose cream ends.  The squares are now ready to join together, which I am looking forward to doing.

Now to my other stitching goals:

WORK ON A DONATION PROJECT - That is the Teddy Bear Panel Quilt.

USE MONIQUE - Yep, three quilts, which I am pretty happy about.

WORK ON A WIP - Yes, the appliqué on the final border of my blue quilt is done.

WORK ON A UFO - Yes, Moda Love and the Twister Quilt were both completed.

DO SOME HAND STITCHING - There was lots - the appliqué border, hand stitching down two quilt bindings and making this cute little EPP pincushion.

FINISH SOMETHING - There were four finishes, three quilts and the pincushion.

I'm not participating in PHD, but am pleased to report that I have now completed five UFOs for the year and that other than the ongoing fish quilts, everything I have started this year has been finished.  Fingers crossed I can keep on this trajectory.

15 MINUTES A DAY - Yes, I managed to work on something for at least 15 minutes every day of the month.

March = 31/31

Year to date = 91/91

Success rate = 100%

I’m going to link up over at Life in Pieces.

Now to the other goals for the month:

READ A BOOK - I have already told you about three books I read, but at the last minute I listened to an audio book. This is the fourth book in the Thursday Murder Club series and I really enjoy them, especially as an audio book.  I do hope there continues to me more in this series. Not only do I binge read, I also binge listen.  I started it half way through the binding of the Moda Love quilt and wish I had started it earlier, as it really makes the binding go much quicker.  It is while listening to the book that I ended up weaving in the ends of the crochet squares.  

TRY A NEW RECIPE - Yes, the zucchini chips.

GO AWAY WITH THE CARAVAN - No.  Our new little truck has not arrived yet, but I’m crossing everything that it will be here this week, so we can take it to Baradine for its maiden voyage.

HAVE A FUN DAY OUT - Yes, there were a few of these, which we always enjoy.

I have removed a motorcycle ride from my monthly goals, as they just weren’t happening, but that was a bonus for the month, despite our little incident.

It has been a good month and now I am looking forward to the next one.

Posting on the 29th of February

 That is something that we don’t get to do every year.

Once again my month has been rather productive on the sewing front. I achieved my goals as well as a few other bits and bobs.

To recap, my Chookshed Stitchers’ Challenge was my first priority for the month and was completed in plenty of time.

My next priority was to complete “Betty” from the Just Two Charm Pack Quilts stitch along.  This was my One Monthly Goal. The aim was to have the top completed by 1 March.  I was pleased to have it quilted and bound as well.

My Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks were made- here and here.

My other goals were:

Work on a donation project.  All the above projects fit that bill.

Use Monique.  She worked her magic on both the above quilts.

Knit or Crochet Something.  

When I didn’t feel like doing a great deal I worked on my spiked granny squares.  Just four squares this month, but all progress is good progress, right?  I now have twenty five completed.  I think I will make five more and then crochet a cream round on each and join them together.  That should be large enough.  I have other things I want to work on, so I want to get this one out of the way.

Work on a WIP

My Blue Quilt always meets that goal.  I added the next narrow border and have now prepped the final border.  All the half dresdens are glue basted in place, ready for me to hand appliqué.  That will be a good project to work on during my stitching mornings.

Work on a UFO

I haven’t worked on my Laundry Basket Quilts Spring Mystery for a while and this is another one I would really like to get finished, so I can start something else.  

This is where I was up to at the start of the month.  Okay, it’s actually been sitting like this since July last year.  There are four quadrants like this.

During February I have prepared all the vines, leaves and berries to be machine appliquéd.  It look rather better doesn’t it.  My plan is to do the appliqué at Scrub Stitchin’.

Do some hand stitching.

I have made some progress on my latest Sashiko project.  It will eventually be a table runner.  The flowers and dragonflies are done and I have started on the first of three panels.  There is no hurry to make this one, so it will probably be put on the back burner while I work on the Blue Quilt border.

Complete something.

Well, the two quilts tick that box, but wait, there is more……

Going Down a Rabbit Hole - Literally

This was not on my radar at the start of the month, but how could I resist?  I saw a photo of an Easter bunny bag and decided to make some.  You see, our Patchwork and Bag Making Group are going to have a stand at the Bathurst Heritage Trades Trail in the middle of March and we can sell bits and bobs.  That is just a couple of weeks before Easter, so I thought these may be appropriate.

As usual, everything is from stash.  I didn’t have a real lot of suitable fabrics for the main bags, but these will do. It was fun choosing the fabrics for the ears.  

Ta da!  Aren’t they cute.  I hope someone else thinks so and gives them a home.

Oh, and I may have cut out some fabric for a Mystery Stitch Along “Octagon and Square” hosted by Stitching Notes and Nordic Crafter.  These two ladies make the most delightful projects, using gorgeous fabrics.  I found this pretty fat quarter in my stash and it will work nicely for fussy cutting.

My improvised window was very helpful.

I’m not going to start stitching it yet, as it may be a good project to use for demonstrating at the Heritage Trades Trail.

So much for finishing things and not starting more.  However, of the seven projects I have started this year five are already completed.  I have also completed three UFOs and worked on another five, so that is not too bad. (Yes, I’m keeping tally to try to keep me on track.)

As you can probably gather, I have managed to maintain my 15 minutes of crafting each day, and loving it. I'll be linking up over at Life in Pieces.

February = 29/29

Year to date = 60/60

Success rate = 100%

An ongoing aim is to tidy up my sewing room.  That is one big fat massive fail this month.  Oh my!  It is such a mess.  I really will have to have a major tidy up before I can start anything for March.  Wish me luck.