September was a good crafting month .... and not yet finished ... am on a roll.
I finally finished my quilt - binding and all.
With new energy finished the quilting and the binding three evenings later.
Linking up with September OMG from Elm Street quilts.
The weather this week is so good and am enjoying the nice temperatures - not too hot and not too cold in the evenings either so we can still eat outside.
Over lunch spent some 15 minutes cutting branches and was contemplating if I should go back to my blog after two months. Either going back or not all ???? Not going back lost!. Part of the blogging pleasure is boosting myself to finish projects, and to get more ideas for which I have absolutely no time. Only to be sidetracked for more projects calling to me.
Some finishes are in order and these are mostly my July goals.
1) Color Jolt QAL quilt top
I made some progress and FMQ-ed straight lines across and in the length. Next step decide how to quilt the blocks. Am thinking diagonal lines across, maybe in pink. If I would go for white the thread would stand out to much on the red fabric. Red thread would stand out too much on the white sashing. Or maybe I zig-zag across the rows, or in each block.
2) Knitted socks
Both socks are knit and still waiting for the final step. They will be useful this winter, even if I am completely not happy with the result so far.
3) Swap
I love swaps, just don't always have enough time to participate. Making something for someone else is so nice, even if you don't know who the other person is. The challenge is definitely part of this. I have made several things this year - things I would otherwise not have tried. Am now working on an autumn inspired cushion cover. As this is a surprise for my secret partner (or actually I am the secret partner) no pictures until the project is send . Autumn colours for sure.
Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for the September OMG. Hopefully this month I will finish a few projects.
Not sure what happened to summer. One day she arrived .... only to pay a short visit or so it felt. Not much crafting happened ... all weekends were busy. We managed to go see my family in July so two weekends out, took a week off so another two weekends gone. The ever optimist, I brought some knitting work with me that I started last year, frogged the whole lot and re-started. Not much progress as we were camping and did not have electricity. Looking at the stars was more fun then trying to knit, clearly.
In June I finished all the blocks of my sewcialites blocks and started assembly.
Only to take it out partially in July as one block (the same one each time) had a way of its own and played rebel.
So that was my July project ... just waiting to be written about.
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
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:
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.
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 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 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
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
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.
