What Have I Started?

Or perhaps the question is more "what path have Chooky, Fiona and Jeanette set me on?"  These lovely ladies have been blogging about their super progress on UFO's and as I had already been thinking of at least getting my UFO's to the finished flimsy stage, this was the push I needed.

Now I don't have a designated 'sewing space' as such ... it's more like a stash in this spare bedroom and a stash in the other spare bedroom ... and then there's the stash in the front (dumping area for anything that doesn't have a home) room.  So I'm sure there is still more to find but I've already chosen 2 quilts to work on.

The first and least work required was a mystery quilt using 1 plain jelly roll and 1 print jelly roll.  All I need to do is finish the border and have already been playing with this this morning and found fabrics to cut strips from.

It was begun in a workshop and I found progress pics in my WISPs tab up there at the top of my blog ... will have to dig deep to find it's birth year. At what point does a wisp become a ufo?

Second quilt is "Because I Said So" by Therese Hylton .  February 2012 was when I finished the last block and was ready to join all the blocks and add the borders. I have never even had it all laid out to photograph although I do have pics of each block in the BISS BOM tab also at the top of my blog. (Time to clean out the tabs too)

I've been working on this one today and have it in 4 large pieces now. First pic ever ... I still love it so why did I never get back to it?

Other finished quilts waiting to be quilting are shown in ... yes ... another tab up there at the top ... funnily enough named 'Awaiting Quilting'.  If I haven't bored you enough by now then you might like to take a glimpse in the UFO's tab ... too many projects to show pics here ... in fact this exercise of baring all the projects I have hidden away unfinished is quite daunting and a little, even a lot scary.

Who else is game to bare the deepest corner of their unfinished projects?

Some Sewing Progress

As I try to get into a new routine the desire to sew has been somewhat lacking and the heat doesn't help!

Finally I turned the machine on and joined the last 2 blocks of the 'Because I Said So' BOM. I'm guessing that this month being the last will contain the border fabrics and I can start joining all the blocks together. It was easier to leave them as blocks for storage.

Tuesday evening I dug out the pieces of my 'Calendar Quilt' which was sewn through 2009...my designated UFO to make progress on this month. The last 4 months needed the name embroidered and the last 3 months required joining. I have the sashing fabric reading for cutting ... just deciding which width to go with. The strips are 10" wide and 92" long so it's already very long and narrow. I thought maybe 6" sashing between the strips and a 3" border all the way round would give the quilt a finish of 64" x 98"? Your ideas on strip width would be most appreciated. I'm sure there's some rule of ratio out there that would help.

I've also started the embroidery on my next TTS block and the quilting on my brother's quilt is done! Just need to sew the binding on except the power went off this morning and has not long come back on so that's next on my agenda today.

We've also been receiving lots of rain .. the gardens and lawn have gone crazy and wouldn't you know the mower broke down. Lucky I took this photo before a recent storm because the heavy rain has knocked most of the blossoms off since.

Binding time ... Happy Sewing

Where Did That Week Go?

Actually I do know what happened ... a heatwave!  No energy and no desire to sew ... just trying to find somewhere to cool down and only doing those jobs that had to be done. Thankfully by Friday a cool change had moved in and now the rain has arrived. Nothing nicer than a wet Sunday spent indoors sewing and preping.

I did manage some prep work on 'Tis The Season' cutting all the border strips and have squares of the white spot fabric ready to trace for the embroideries. The borders are sewn on my 'Stitching Round the Block' ... just need to do the finishing touch. I was beginning to feel like nothing would be crossed off my January list of goals but I'm a little more focused now.

Saturday I did some stitching on block 16 of 'Because I Said So' while sitting by the window enjoying a cool breeze. Yesterday the stitching was finished and the sewing portion completed.

Then it was on to tracing blocks 17 and 18 of the BOM and a start on my Christmas Item for January. Throw in some GST ... sadly not the Generous Sewing Time sort but the bookwork version ... and finally I felt like I'd made some progress.

Just to finish off a productive day a quick fruit cake was in and out of the oven in a short time ready for packing in lunches today. I came across a link on Fiona's blog which led me to Bev's blog where she shared the recipe and it's now my go to recipe if I need something in a hurry. Thanks for sharing ladies.

More bookwork today and I really must get another quilt onto the frame ... I keep putting that job off.

Quilty Wishes for a lovely week.

FNSI Results

Managed to get a few stitches done last night for Friday Night Sew-In after a long day in town.  I  almost finished the applique  and did the final little bit this morning. I've just now had a moment to cut the 2 1/2" squares and sew them to complete the block.

Month 9 ~ Block 15 ~ "Because I Said So"

Thankyou so much to Heidi and Bobbi for hosting this wonderful get together on a Friday night.  I do hope there will be more to come in 2012.

Festive Wishes

BOM Report

A lovely surprise from Paula for December. Both blocks 11 and 12 of 'Home Sweet Home' so that we could finish the project to coincide with the year's end.

Thankyou Paula for this sweet little BOM. I've enjoyed each month and they were quick to stitch ... here they are all in line waiting sashings etc. January finish?

Progressing along is month 9 - block 15 of 'Because I Said So'. The applique pieces have been added and I'm busy blanket stitching. The thread colour didn't want to photograph well, this saying is 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'.

Wishing all a Happy Christmas

Goals for October Half-time Update

So far so good ... I've managed to cross a few things off the list of goals for October.

 

Month 6 of Because I Said So BOM

Month 7 of Because I Said So BOM

Letter 'H' of Home Sweet Home BOM

SSCS gifts made and wrapped

(these will also be for 1 Xmas Item)

Quilting done on UFO Citrus quilt

Quilting done on brother's quilt

Finish half knitted scarf

1" Hexi Flowers for Inchy Swap

GST for the quarter

 

The GST and SSCS are in progress and I've even prepared Month 7 of my BOM ready for stitching. Maybe having a list of goals is working? How do you keep yourself motivated? 

 

In my garden today I found ... Double Delight.

 

Finished Ahead of Time

I can't believe that I've actually managed to keep up with the 'Because I Said So' BOM. Here is Month 5 Block 9 all finished and I'm now awaiting the next parcel. Of course we all know how time can run away on us so no guarantee that I will stay ahead of the game but I'll do my best.

I've also finished the stitchery for another Christmas Bon Bon from Hatched and Patched. Hopefully I can get at least 2 made for August's One Xmas Item ... I'm aiming to give one for each of the ladies in my family at Christmas time.

Lastly here are the two hexie flowers which have arrived safe and sound at Kristina's house in USA for the July swap. The August flowers are on their way to Croatia and would you believe I forgot to take a photo of them.

I have BIG sewing plans for today .... May you find time for sewing this weekend.

Monday's Show and Tell

Just a couple of little things to share on this fine and cool Monday.

A little bit of sewing this morning to join the 2 1/2" squares to each block. The first is block no. 7 ...

and block no. 8 of 'Because I Said So' BOM.

Block 9 is in progress and then I shall have caught up unless the next package arrives before completion.

These two little July flowers arrived safely in the USA to blossom in Kristina's garden.

If you head over to Sandy's blog you can link to see what other bloggers have shared.

W...W...Windy Wednesday

Today has been a lovely day ... cold, blustery winds howling outside while I've been inside with the fire going ... lovely for sewing.

First I finally managed a way around my downloading issues, traced off this tweety little 'W' and finished the stitching in no time. This makes me half way through Paula's 'Home Sweet Home' BOM.

Next in line were 34 little pieces of fabric which needed cutting into 2 1/2" squares. 17 have been sewn to block 6 of  'Because I Said So' and the remainder will be sewn to blocks 7 and 8.

It's UFO Thursday tomorrow if I've got my days correct ... so I'll be working on the final step of my Log Cabin. Hope you have some sewing planned too! (There is some housework also being done.)

Sunday Sewing

'Because I Said So' BOM

Month 3 ~ Block 5

With the bookwork out of the way for the last quarter, out came the sewing machine after lunch. The stitchery was already done, and I was able to blanket stitch some of the hearts at patchwork so Friday I finished off the remaining hearts.  Today all I had to do was machine it all together ... using lots of pins and patience and I'm pretty happy with how my points meet.

Month 4 contains blocks 6, 7 and 8. I have the stitching done on 6 and 7 and 8 is prepared ready to work on tonight.

Happy Sewing



First Finish for July

Out came the sewing machine this morning and I finished off this block for Month 2 Block 3 of 'Because I Said So' BOM.  "If the wind changes your face will stay like that" ... yep I used that one on my kids too.

FNSI Results + Because I Said So

Wednesday was our groups patchwork day and I managed to get most of this block done with a little finishing off the next day at home.This is block 4 of the 'Because I Said So' BOM and along with block 3 which is almost completed they make up Month 2 of the BOM. Of course I'm behind already as Month 3 came last month and Month 4 arrived last week too. Confused? I think I am :) Oh well ... I'm enjoying it!

I was staying at my parents home Friday night so it was a good opportunity to brush up on my knitting and crochet skills.

First I started knitting a new scarf using 'Ping Pong' wool ... not sure if I'm happy with the effect but that could be to do with my skill level.

Then I moved onto some crochet. I think I'll always be a 'beginner' but once I get going it starts to grow ever so slowly. I must confess that mum did the first 4 rows to see how the colours went together and I've continued on from there ... a future knee rug.

Hope your Friday Night was crafty.

Flowers in the Mail

Look what I found growing in my mailbox.


Geniene was most generous and sent extra blooms after she'd had a mishap with her hexie flowers. A funny story involving a load of washing although I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time.
Thankyou so much Geniene. They go perfectly in my garden and the butterfly centre is a special treat.

Yesterday was my local patchwork day and oh boy did my elbow give me curry last night from stitching this block. The deep heat was also good for the sinus :)


Try as I might my UFO's remain as is. I have laid one out on a bed ready to work on so just maybe I'll have some progress to share soon.

April Catch-up

Computer issues continue to plague me so I am applying much patience and taking it very slowly. Just when I think I can comment on blogs or reply to your lovely comments there's another bump in the road. "Something" keeps throwing in extra spacing between paragraphs too so please excuse any gaps. :)

As well as the two 1/2" hexie flowers that I have previously posted about, I have a third almost complete. My May and June Inchy Swap flowers are finished and ready to be posted off although I might hang onto the June flowers for a little bit.

The first month of my "Because I Said So" BOM arrived and I'm very happy to report that both blocks are finished. I took it with me to our group patchwork day and sewed the fabric blocks ready to attach to the stitcheries.

Thankyou to those who kindly provided their thoughts on stitching before or after the blocks are joined. I've decided to complete the stitcheries first and then join the blocks. It's a little hard to see but I'm using a light purple for the stitchery and love the fabrics that have been provided with the BOM.

Month 2 has arrived so my plan is to complete blocks 3 and 4 by the end of May.

Block 1

Block 2

Blocks 1 and 2 for Month 1 are now safetly rolled in my block keeper and I'm ready to trace the stitcheries for Month 2.

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Round 10 of our SAHRobin was to either embelish some more or ... quilt ready for adding further embelish such as beads, buttons etc.

I couldn't decide how to quilt the blue piece so I left it and quilted the tan piece first. Last week after much thought I kep it simple and stitched in the ditch around certain blocks.

For the tan piece I first quilted some straight lines to form a diamond pattern but didn't like the look of straight lines everywhere so .... some unsewing was performed. Then I decided it was a good time for some free motion quilting practice and used the applique hearts and embroidered flowers for a vine design.

A close-up of the hearts and flowers vine free motion quilting.

We've been having April Showers almost every day this month and there's a chill in the breeze lately ... time to make sure the woodbox is full.

My 3 B's

Grrrrrr! I'm having all sorts of trouble with my spacing in here ... can anyone help? B for Brutus Don't you love it when something happens without being planned? I've been stitching away on Brutus now for about 12 months and after 2 Brutus finishes in March I never imagined this last block would be finished so soon ... but here he is ... number 8 of 10 blocks as I didn't stitch them in order. Some may notice that I've changed him a little and left the ring of flowers off and added a square border. This was to make him the same size as an earlier block. Today I've cut sashing strips ready to add a floral border to each block. Then I'll have another think about the next step. B for Book

I've noticed a couple of other bloggers have also received their blog books ... mine arrived in the mail Friday. It's so great to sit down and browse through your very own memories in print ... highly recommended.

B is for BOM

I've always loved the idea of receiving a package in the mail with fabric and instructions for x number of months to create a quilt. So I took the plunge and Friday my first month's installment arrived. Now the question is ... will I keep up? ;-)

Off to add some sashings to Brutus.