OMG July

July is here and so is summer. My list of projects to be finished is slowly getting shorter .... and my list of new projects and ideas is getting longer and longer.

 

My July projects are:

1) Color Jolt qal quilt top

The quilt top was made end of 2020 and basted earlier this year ... and then no more progress. The basted top was waiting and staring at me asking to be finished. 

 

 

 

 

 2) Knitted socks

Both socks are knit and waiting for the final step of closing the toes.

 

3) Destination quilt along

I so not need a new project .... this one is just to difficult to resist. Last year I participated and had so much fun, so the theme of this year .... different surprise destinations each time. Between each block there is a time span of two weeks ... so this should be feasible

 Slice of Pi Quilts, one of the blogs I follow, is one of the organizers/designers

 

4) Sewcialites qal

36 blocks sewn over a period of 36 weeks. Final assembly to be done this month.

Linking up with Patty's July OMG at Elm Street Quilts

June finishes

Halfway the year 2021 and am making a little dent in my projects to be finished - only to get side tracked by new projects, ideas .....

On the knitting front I almost finished a pair of socks, both are done and the only pending is finishing the toes with the kitchener stitch of both socks. Maybe because I don't really like the yarn ... not difficult to knit - just not what I expected. My favourite sock yarn is definitely West Yorkshire Spinners. And I have some yummy colours waiting for me.

I did finish a scarf for my youngest - he choose the colours .... and that was it ... supposedly he was going to learn how to knit himself .... another day/year ....

I started a scarf for the eldest which progresses nicely, no thinking required and can be done in front of the tv  and this is one of those "no-rush" projects. 

On the quilting front my OMG finishes for the month are:

1) Harmony hand pieced quilt

This wall hanging really turned out nice. My daughter wants it for her room, so this will be either a wall hanging or a sort of curtain. I thought of turning this small quilt in to a sewing machine cover, so will need to make a new one for myself.

2) Catching up with the Sewcialites QAL

I was pretty behind and made 10 blocks this month and worked on the lay out. I managed to do more that planned which is always a bonus. Another month will think about the backing and the quilting, although I definitely want to have a finished top next month. For the FMQ part am thinking of maybe straight lines diagonal across and that will look nice with the diagonal lines of the HST.

 

 

 

 

I cut the grey blocks and the grey/yellow HST and played a bit with the lay-out

I think I like the second layout best - so that will be my finish for next month.

Linking up with Patty's June OMG at Elm Street Quilts.

Harmony hand pieced quilt

 Ta da!!!! My first hand sewn project is finished, what an accomplishment. The good part is that I really enjoyed the slow pace of hand sewing. Still quite a few things to learn, such as precision when using the paper templates - or actually - next time make carton templates for more precision.

We had some nice weather over the weekend so I managed to make some nice pictures.

My cherry tree is a good model for quilts.

For the quilting I tried to be a bit more adventurous and used the design to guide the FMQ and not straight lines or a circle. This is still not my thing .... and a good thing I went for the wall hanging size. Although now that the quilt is finished am very pleased with the result.

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts and Kristin Esser at Simple Handmade Everyday. Thank you for the lovely pattern, explanations and motivation.

June OMG

June is here with typical May weather, instable ... rain announced and no rain arrives, just clouds and more clouds, some sun and then some more sun, and then rain .... and wind .... and back to sun and clouds ..... Work-wise still hectic, however I manage not to work many hours over the weekend. The pace of last year was not feasible. We are now well over one year in to the Covid-19 pandemic and still new vaccines to be evaluated.

A good day to get some crafting done.

For June my OMG is

1) Harmony handquilted top

I finished the top and officially have a flimsy future wall-hanging. Basting is done so aim is to finish completely this project. Only to make one over summer most likely in different colours as a "take on holiday project" working towards a quilt. Still not sure what this will be when finished. My daughter needs a curtain ... as a wall-hanging would go as well with her room. As a cushion cover is definitely to large.

2) Sewcialites

I am so behind on this project and have quite some catching up to do. Block 34 just came out (the one but last block) and my block number 27 is only cut .... I have some serious cutting and sewing to do here. aim is to have all blocks caught up. And make the HST blocks. 

Linking up with Patty over at Elm Street Quilts

May finishes: Harmony QAL, flying geese ...

May brought a lot of rain, a lot!! This past weekend was very nice so not a lot of sewing done.Finished altering a pair of pants for my daughter and ironed my top of the Harmony hand piecing QAL. 

My May finishes:

1) Harmony handpieced QAL

Finished my flimsy top of the Harmony quilt. This was one giant learning step in hand piecing as I always stayed as far away as possible from hand sewing. Sometimes there were small things to mend and I would take care of that. But a quilt top .... no way .... I enjoyed this a lot and learned many things. Clearly I need to be more precise on the template cutting, iron my fabric before cutting as with the paper templates flat fabric is even. All in all the top looks nice. Yesterday I basted the top and started thinking about the quilting, straight lines  and triangles seem a good option. Fabric used is Kona, left overs from a quilt I made a few years ago. I thought the top would be good as a cushion cover, but too large, so need to see how to use this once done.

 

2) Geesey Geesey quilt

Forgot how many flying geese units are in this quilt. I made this last year as part of the sew along organized by Stitched in Colors. The fabric is so beautiful (insert name) I was worried to completely mess up the quilt. As this was definitely a project I did not want to have waiting around until I gathered courage, decided to send this to the LAQ. Who else best suited to quilt this than Rachel, the designer. I sent the quilt early May and as always was very pleased with the outcome. After that, cutting the strips for the binding and sewing this on was a matter of a few evenings. Now to decide where in my house my new quilt will be on display. For now Glacon my cat decided it's hers.

 

 Linking up with one monthly goal at Elm Street quilts

Harmony hand piecing qal Rectangle Units

 Slowly I make progress on my slow stitching process. A colleague asked me why I was hand stitching and I said that I enjoyed the slow pace and I am not in a hurry.

Working life is crazy as is - and this pause during the week is exactly what I need. 

This week I finalized the rectangle units, so the wall hanging is almost done. I am still not sure if I make a wall-hanging out of this block or a cushion cover. I used the left overs from a quilt I made for my daughter so this could be a nice add-on to her bedroom.

Over summer I think I will make a new one as this would be a perfect holiday project. 

For one or the other reason my flying geese are smaller than the other units, not sure why. I used the templates: I cut one template and used this with a ruler to cut the white and green triangles. More practices is in order.

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts and Kristin at Simple Handmade Everyday

OMG May

Goal setting is one of my favourite things, and goal setting for my creative projects works. Choosing one or two projects works to get through my list of unfinished or not yet started projects ....

For this month 

1) Finish the flying geese top 

Last year i participated in a sew a long to make a quilt from flying geese. I finished the top and now time to finish. I had sent it to a long arm quilter as the fabric is so beautiful and soft I did not want to mess this up

2) Finish the harmony top

I participate in a sew a long, difference is that this one is hand sewing. I choose to make the wall-hanging format. I might end up making all four blocks over summer as these I can easy take along with me

Linking up with Patty over at Elm Street Quilts for the OMG of May.

April goals and country side walks

 The end of April is here and it rains. We had some very nice days in April and we went for a walk past Sunday. I bought my self a simple watch to track my steps as am not walking enough. There are still days that i don't walk enough, but now I can see how much I did manage to do. With the kids at home I spent quite a few days in the office (special permission as still in pandemic mode) and these are the worst. I am locked up in my little office and definitely don't get a lot of steps done. I do get a lot of work done.

 

We tried a new path close to our house, the kids had already walked there with the school; however for me was a first and I seriously enjoyed this walk. 

 

I never get tired of views on the lake

 

On the creative side there were burst of activity, some days none at all and other days progress. In the end, I managed my goals. Accomplishments are good - especially at the end of the month.

My very very pink skull is finished. Last night I added the binding - and took a picture, Clearly more pictures need to be added (and taken) to show this beauty. I am trying to improve my quilting and looked at many different sites, bought a book, joined an on-line course and still have a lot to learn. I also know that I love quilting with my walking foot and work in (more or less) straight lines. I decided to only outline the pink areas as they are busy enough. To add value to the pink and that the skull stands out more I filled up the negative space. In the grey are I followed the lines of the skull, adding lines and lines, stopping to see what else was needed. The black area is in horizontal and vertical lines. Daylight pictures to follow.

I also made progress on the Harmony quilt. I so enjoy hand sewing, a different mind set and pace for sure. A separate post was written on my progress.

 

Linking with Patty at Elm Street Quilts' April's One Monthly Goal

 

Harmony hand sewing in spring

Hand sewing has never been my thing. For a few years I watched the hand sewing QALs organized by Patty at Elm Street quilts and  Kirsten at Simple.Handmade.Everyday... from a distance. Not having time was one reason not to join, not being a big fan of hand sewing played a mayor role as well. This year I decided to jump in ... and I love it. There is something so soothing about hand sewing!! 

 

And now I am all caught up in the QAL; buying the pattern was the first jump, the biggest jump was to start. And then the realization that I actually like this. I have this little thread catcher I made a few weeks ago. Turns out this is perfect to keep all the notions together so I can carry my hand sewing project all over the house.

The four corner units are done - am making the wallhanging as a first step. Although I might make a cushion. And then who knows, I might try to actually make 4 blocks for a quilt. But that is something for the summer as a holiday project.

 

As part of the slowing down went for a walk this Sunday morning before the rain would come. Spring is here and trees are blossoming everywhere. Definitely one of the advantages of living in the country side.

 Linking up with Patty over at Elm Street Quilts for the 11 April check-in.

 

OMG April - Harmony and more

 

1) Harmony quilt

A small hand stitch project on the side is perfect to unwind. For now, I don’t see myself making any big quilt by hand, that is for sure. For April the aim is to finish the corner units and the individual blocks for the rectangle unit

 

2) Very very pink skull quilt

The top is done, backing sewn together, batting bought and over the weekend I basted the all three layers together. This month I need to absolutely finish the quilt as this will be a gift for a sweet girl turning 30 this month.

 

3) Sewcialites QAL

I managed to catch up with all blocks in March (including the ones from January and February). For this month I want to stay afloat and stay on track.

 

Linking up with Elm Street quilts’  One Monthly Goal. My April OMG is to finish two out of three objectives.