After a year of Sunrise hibernation am back in swing. Over the last months finished all the connector blocks. As part of the #wipsbgone2025 challenge organized by Leanne at #devotedquilter I pushed myself to finish the smaller blocks.
To date finished the nine inner connector blocks, twelve outside connector blocks and 4 corner blocks. And the 16 circle blocks
In 2024 I made one quilt .. only .... and love this one a lot.
The quilt pattern is from Alison Glass "Alternative", the fabric is also from one of her lines completed with Kona solids.
In August 2022 I started the Tula Pink Sunrise quilt. To date I have 15 blocks out of the 16 done. This is my slow stitching project as is an EPP project. Going slow is good, but not too slow of course.
I started the last block in December and just don't take the time to finish it. So this month will be when I absolutely need to finalize and get going on the connecting pieces.
A second project to kick-start this month is the Allison Glass Alternative quilt. I bought the pattern in October 2019 and separately had bought a 10" square pack of 100 years Art Theory. To complete the fabric I bought a 10" pack of Kona solids.
Linking up with Anne-Marie over at Stories from the sewing room for my March OMG
For February not much plans were made as I had planned a holiday to the US to see some friends and to go to QuiltCon2024.
I did manage to finish the binding on my Rise Above quilt. The pattern is from Charisma Horton and the indications are quite clear.
The top was finished in 2022 or 2023 .... and realized that this quilt was soooo large ... I had not paid attention to the final size .....
I bought the batting and ordered extra wide backing and prepared the three layers for quilting on my machine. As I was to start I realized that there was no way I could quilt such a large quilt .... a 10 minute discussion with my self followed ... to decide that this top was going to the long arm quilter. I removed all the basting pins, separated the three layers and sent all off to the Netherlands to Stitched in colors.
The quilt just needs a label and will be gifted to my eldest who turns 18 this month. He claimed it as a birthday gift
My January OMG was to finish the top of the Wintervillage quilt.
For the quilting I used @aurifilthread - the color builder Passionflower set. This was a price generously given by Aurifil through @devotedquilter as part of the wips-b-gone2023 challenge.
I had not done a lot of sewing last year and the challenge really made me get back. Winning the beautiful thread was the last push to get this quilt done. This was the first time using Aurifil thread on my machine - I use it already for my EPP handstitching project - it is a charm to work with.
Linking up with Anne-Marie over at Stories from the sewing room.
When the winter village quilt pattern came out - I absolutely wanted to make it .... one day. Hence only bought the pattern as still had lots of other projects waiting to be finalized. Meanwhile I bought fabric, lots of different blues from Andover. And still I did not get started ........
Then in November (2023) I decided to give it a go and in December finished the top. After internal debate and some pictures decided to add the branches and birds to give the top some depth. This weekend finished that as well, assembled the back and ironed the binding. I really enjoy working with this fabric, so soft and the colours are really nice.
My January OMG is to sandwich and quilt the top as well as do the binding.
Linking up with Anne-Marie over at Stories from the sewing room. It feels good to be participating again after a few months of absence.
This summer walking was my priority and some slow stitching on the side. My sewing machine was hardly used (I started making a cotton dress) .... By end July I had over 900 km walking on my counter and this made me feel very proud of myself.
My Sunrise quilt made from Tula Pink progressed slowly. When I started last year August the aim was to make one block a month, there are 16 different center blocks in total. I kept this up more or less until May. In September I told myself that if I wasn't going to make any progress soon this two year project would become a never-ending story which would be a pity as the fabric is really beautiful and a delight to hand stitch.
The June block was finished in August
The July block was almost done and waited quite some time before I finished it
August, September and October blocks were finished in October.
I tried a different method for the September and October blocks: first finish all the triangles and then over three days pieced the center and triangles. The rainy weather sure helped me to make progress.
My November block is started and before Christmas the December block should be finished as well. then I can move to the connecting blocks.
My training for the Nijmeegse Vierdaagse, a.k.a. the walk of the world takes up more and more time as am walking some 60 - 70 km per week. Creativity is taking up less space, or should I say - is given less space. Both are relaxing and mindful activities - each with their own small injuries. Too much hand sewing gives me needle pricks that can be painful. Too much walking gives me blisters and some of them can be pretty painful as well. But the pleasure outweighs the downside clearly ...
This month I finished two Tula Pink Sunrise blocks
April block
May block
Linking up with Patty's OMG over at Elm Street Quilts and co-hosted by Anne-Marie from Stories From the Sewing Room.
The colours of the TP Sunrise quilt are moving to greens and blues and then to purple. Even if there are 16 similar blocks to hand sew, the fact that they are all different colours makes this a pleasant process.
This month the aim is to:
1) finish my April block - almost done
2) finish my May block - made a nice start
3) work on my June block - cutting done
Linking up with Patty's OMG over at Elm Street Quilts and co-hosted by Anne-Marie from Stories From the Sewing Room.
This month the aim was to catch up on my Sunrise quilt. I am all for slow stitching. However some progress is required to finish the quilt within a time frame of two years. Not sure if this is trying to over-achieve .... for someone who likes machine sewing. But then again I enjoy the slow stitching, well a part from the painful spots if I had sew for a long time. I tried different types of tumbles .. not for me. So slow stitching remains slow process.
This month I finished two blocks and good process on block number 8.
February is done and looking quite orange!
March is out of the way as well moving in to green colours.
April is almost done - and should be done within a few days ....
Linking up with April's OMG over at Elm Street Quilts.
Am behind, not one but two blocks, well three if I include the one month that I skipped last year ... hand-sewing is definitely slow sewing - but there is something special about slowing down and fiddling with needles, thread and cartons.
The February block is almost done
The March block is halfway done
The April block - fabric is cut
My April OMG is to finish (at least) all three blocks ... with a reminder to self that I wanted to sew two blocks in April ... let's see if I manage at least these.
Linking up with Patty's April OMG at Elm Street Quilts.
I love penguins. They are so cute. Years ago I bought a magazine with lots of creative projects, one was a embroidery cushion with penguins .... never got around getting the supplies.
In 2021 I discovered this penguin quilt pattern and I just had to make it. I bought the fabrics, selected some of my stash .. bought some more, changed idea .... and started cutting in October 2021. And then nothing for one year. All the pieces in a plastic box, just waiting. Last year October decided to finish and now so many months later ... finally ... the quilt is done.
I quilted diagonal lines on my sewing machine.
Linking up with Patty's OMG for March at Elm Street Quilts
My creative spells have been a bit on the low side lately and progress on outstanding projects has been limited. I did finish the handbag I started in January. In February I did start my monthly EPP TP Sunrise block - and did not finish it. And no progress at all on my Penguin quilt other than basting.
My March goals are therefore:
1) finish my Penguin quilt - quilting and binding - the penguins are soo cute
2) finish my Feb TP Sunrise block
3) start my March TP Sunrise block - ideally finishing as well
Linking up with Patty's OMG for March
I love a good challenge and on my list of new things to try was making a handbag. Where to start .... I had bought some supplies, just could not get started. There is a French quilt shop that sells quilting fabrics and patterns and other cute things (link). The owner started a sew-a-long and I decided to participate. The bag in question is the switchback from "Made by Annie". A good thing the original pattern in English was part of the package - if I had to rely on the French version I would have never gotten to the end.
The end result is this great colorful bag made from Kaffe Fassett fabric that I will be using a lot. On to the next.
Why make lists and then forget to look at them. I guess that is what happened this month as I deviated from the list I had set at the beginning of the month. Well not fully off-track.
1) Penguin quilt
The top is done and looks sooo cute. Am happy that I plotted on and got it done. I bought a nice bamboo velvety backing so won't need to use batting. Today the heating system was not working so in stead of pinning the two layers together, I tried to see what the problem was and was too cold to work on the floor.
2) Slow stitching
Another block finished of the TP Sunrise quilt. They are lovely colours and the fabric is so nice to work with. Five down, 11 to go. I need to find a way to store the safely so the fabric and stitches do not damage while waiting to become one top.
3) Switchback
My aim this year was to make a handbag. A french quilt store is organizing a-sew-along of the switchback by Annie. A good thing the kit comes with the original pattern - I would have been totally lost otherwise; in English the pattern is challenging enough. Although I should say that as I follow the instructions step-by-step, reading the pattern gets easier. I am a bit behind with the sew-a-long and working my way through week 3 while just before the weekend week 4 was launched. Of course this threw off my other projects on my January list ..... Fabric is Kaffe Fasset - a delight. Actually the fabric was the main reason I decided to participate - a nice way to "meet" new fabrics.
Linking up with Patty at Elm Street quilts' January OMG
And January is here, I don't have fancy lists of UFOs ... I have a notebook in which I scribble. Each year I copy from my previous list what is pending. At the moment I have 16 projects waiting to be finished or started, not only quilting related. And these exclude my recent ideas and projects. Last year I had 11 complete finishes ranging from socks to mini quilts to large quilts. I made 1 quilt top that awaits quilting and binding. So not too bad all in all. This year I do want to be a bit more productive and get some long standing projects out of the way.
My main goals for this month are:
1) Penguin quilt
In 2021 I bought the fabric and pattern and in October I cut the fabric. In 2022 I made the head units. In 2023, this quilt needs to be finalized, starting with the top in January.
2) Slow stitching
My EPP TP Sunrise quilt is making very slow progress, one block a month is more or less my current rhythm, I skipped one month, so somewhere this year will need to make two blocks. I enjoy the process and love working with the bright TP fabrics. Even my fingers are less sore - using a thimble has not been successful so far. Fabrics were cut last month, so mainly sewing this month.
3) Ross Blanket
Three units are waiting - three only - that is an easy goal - finishing the weaving in of all ends would be a huge achievements and nurtures the idea that maybe, maybe, this blanket will actually become a finish and used.
3) Undo a knitted top
I started knitting a top in 2021, finished one panel and is too small. So need to remeasure and frog what I have made so far. As is, the half done project is just lying around in a bag and not of much use.
Linking up with Patty at Elm Street quilts' January OMG
This year went to fast. I did not see Christmas coming. I did buy a tree, my daughter decorated it on her own. And Christmas was there .... and went so quickly that I decided to have a Christmas diner the end of January. And now is the last day of the year and am much better prepared. We made oliebollen this afternoon (Dutch beignets we typically make the last day of the year and eat nothing else). The bird is cooking in the oven, the gravadlax is ready and the guests are coming around 7 PM.
Wishing everyone a "bon bout d'an" and an excellent 2023!!
1) Slow stitching
The fourth block of my TP Sunrise quilt is finished. Am getting better at EPP and still enjoying the slow pace of making blocks.This block looks a bit Christmassy so was a perfect December task
2) Penguin quilt
The head units of the Penguin quilt are done. I was quite frustrated with the little blocks - after some pressing they looked much better. And hey, in real life Penguins are not very symmetrical in any case.
3) Ross Blanket
The weaving in of ends not yet done - three blocks to go - so these should be done in January.
Linking up with Patty's OMG December party over at Elm Street Quilts
December is here, the Christmas tree is bought, ideas were running around .... and 7 days in to the month not sure where to start and what to finish. In October and November I managed to finish a third block of my TP Sunrise EPP quilt
as well as my mini quilt as part of the tqs-white elephants quilt swap, based on my railfence quilt I made in 2020 ...
So for December at least .....
1) Slow stitching
I cut the triangles for block 4 - 6 of my TP Sunrise quilt and at least one block will be done by the end of this month. I keep them in a little playmobil suitcase that is no longer used by my kids ...
2) Penguin quilt
Last year I bought the pattern for Elisabeth Hartman's penguin quilt. I cut the fabric - all little pieces and all ... and then never got around finishing the quilt as was sidetracked by other new projects .... Last month started sewing and managed to get the eye and beak sections done ... not that much progress. So the aim is to work on this quilt and at least get the head sections done .....
In 2017 I started the Ross blanket and somewhere in 2019 finished all block ... and they all ended up in a project bag just waiting. In 2021 I started weaving in ends ... of a few blocks. A few weeks ago decided that if I would not finish this blanket I might as well throw all out ... which would be a real pity of all the work ... so now almost done with weaving in ends ... 5 left out of 40 ... so with a bit of effort and optimizing in-between-time and watching soccer championship .... these blocks might end up being ready for assembly in 2023 .....
Linking up with Patty's one monthly goal for December over at Elm Street Quilts
This month made quite some progress. Maybe because the evenings are colder so less likely to spend hours outside. Also we had quite some rain - quilting and rain are best friends.
1) Feathers quilt
Earlier this year I participated in the Feather sew along organized by Alison Glass. Her team had set up a community board and we had online sessions. I really enjoyed the process and we actually got to meet Alison who participated in the different sessions, explaining the pattern, and cutting, paper piecing, .... this was the first time I actually met the designer of fabric I was using.
Before quilting the layers I wanted to be sure that what I was going to do would work and gave this process quit some time. I knew I wanted to have lines in the grey areas, other than that ......????
In October, decided to give this a go. I used grey thread - charcoal for the top and light grey for the backside. And indeed this was the effect I was looking for.
Light-bulb moment - what if I used variegated thread in the colours of the fabric. Perfect solution, the thread use (Mettler silk finish) is perfect and blends in well. Plus it gives some colour to the grey areas without disturbing the pattern.
2) Slow stitching
Block 2 of the Tula Pink Sunrise quilt is done. I learned a lot from doing the first block - which was my first attempt ever at EPP. The assembly of the block went much easier. For block 1 I had stitched all triangles together before attaching to the center block. For block 2 I worked in groups of triangles. The center carton stayed in place which will help stabilize the block while I work my way through the next 14 blocks plus plus plus ..... For block 3 I aim to learn to make smaller stitches.
3) Sock knitting
My socks are done, waiting for Christmas to wear, or maybe just waiting for cold weather.
Next pair of socks maybe try a new pattern ......always a perfect on the go project.
October projects on my list are
1) Slow stitching
I prepared the triangles for block 2 of the Tula Sunrise quilt and aim to hand sew it this month.
2) Sock knitting
Continue working on sparkle sock number 2 ...... The last few days my focus was on this second sock, finished the heel, turned the heel ..... I have a few inches of knitting left so should be able to wear them at Christmas.
3) Feathers quilt
My feathers top was finished in February. This beauty has to adorn my sofa fast. Last night I ironed the top as well as the backing. Aim is to baste, quilt and bind this month.
Linking up with OMG October over at Elm Street Quilts
