Lone star salsa

I have been participating in the #greatbritishquilter daily challenge on Instagram. Towards the end zone f last week, we were challenged to reveal our oldest UFO. finishing our oldest UFO is also the challenge I set four the Jersey Modern Quilt Guild too. This UFO dates back to 2010 as it was started in a workshop with Jan Krentz during the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.

This project has languished as I didn't like the freezer paper method for the foundation piecing method demonstrated. All of the diamonds were complete, blocked and trimmed.

I gritted my teeth and decided to work on it at the Jersey Me de n Quilt Guild meeting on Saturday and I completed five more of the rocket blocks. Nothing sewn together yet.

Here it is now. The rocket blocks are complete and one count rent is sewn on. I made a mistake and printed the company energy black cost the wrong size so I reprinted the pattern, unpicked the incorrect blocks to reuse the fabric and have six of the twelve foundation pieced units complete. I am enthusiastic to get this finished by Sunday.

I also did a quick calculation and have sufficient client of the navy fossil fern to add a narrow border and binding. Happy dance.

August UFO

My UFO to work on was It's a small world by Jen Kingwell published by Quiltmania. I did leave it very late in the month to restart it, but I went to the Festival of Quilts for a few days at the beginning of the month, and if I am honest, I have been avoiding this project. 

Bank holiday crafting finish

I surprised myself yesterday by finshing my new project - the haunted birdhouse by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. 

I also added a frame of a purple ghostly fabric from my scrap bags and inserted it into a 5" frame. I now realise I have a number of other stitcheries that need framing so will add them to my 2019 UFO list.

And I added wadding behind the Stitchery before adding the borders and added four layers of a stiff pellon behind the Stitchery. Then I glued down the purple fabric and ironed a circle of felt onto the Pellon.

I now realise it's a little off square, but what haunted house isn't a little wonky and run down? Now yo continue with my August UFO.

Bank holiday crafting

Tomorrow is the last bank holiday in the UK, until Christmas Day. Whilst I have made good progress  on my August UFO, I decided that it would be a fun idea to start a small project yesterday. It is a small cross stitch pattern called Haunted Birdhouse by The Frosted Pumpkin.

Instagram is to blame as this new Halloween pattern popped up on my feed. Before heading to the supermarket, I quickly bought and downloaded the pattern. I printed the colour key and added the pattern to my Kindle downloads. I then pulled out a small thread box, added a pair of snips, needle and sourced the necessary threads form my stash. I had to substitute for several colours by referring to the project photo.

I have a plan to finish this over the long weekend by stitching out the black frame first, then today, I will do all of the white areas, then finish everything else tomorrow. I do one section of white and then a section of colour.

You can see that the black of the border is complete and I have made good progress on the tree house. Today I will finish the border and white sections.

Holiday prep

I am headed to the Festival of Quilts on Thursday but this year, I am staying in the city centre, as this was a last minute booking and the NEC hotels were silly prices. I regret having paid for a hold suitcase but it's booked and paid for so I will shop until I drop.

I always take a project with me to work on, even if it's just on the plane or at the airport. I bought some wool got my birthday last week from Dragon Hill Studios. I am using the metropolitan stripe colourway and divided it into two balls. I hoped that the cake started at the beginning of the grey stripe so wound off about 40 grams until I got to the end of a pink stripe. I then cut the yarn and wound it back into a ball so the yarn started with grey.

It's true that a striped yarn almost knits itself as you just want to get to the end of another stripe. I have knit a third stripe today and need to putting it away or it will be finished before Thursday.

I am just under an inch away from the heel turn. I think I will do the heel turn at my quilt group on Wednesday morning and then put it in my hand luggage.

July UFO - Christmas on gingerbread lane

I am so pleased to have finished all of my cross stitch UFOs and this is the last one by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

This is how this project looked just a few months ago. I now have lots of Christmas projects complete and ready to decorate the house in December.

This was my July UFO project for the APQS challenge, August's number will be revealed tomorrow. All f my remaining UFOs have quite a lot of work to be done to complete them.

Sweet bee socks

When I saw this pattern on the Sew Sweet Violet podcast, I wanted to make them for my beekeeper friend, Jane. Jokes of the Sew Sweet Violet podcast is also running a rainbow along on her Ravelry group,nwhy not make a rainbow version of the pattern? The 40 ends I had to sew in would, you'd think, be a good enough reason! I pulled out an unnamed skein of grey by Kate Selene along with the leftovers of the Mind the Gap colourway by Trailing Clouds.

They are finished and now soaking before being blocked and a few days late for her birthday, but she has hinted that I should gift her a pair of handmade socks, so they should be well received.

July UFO is so nearly done

I have finished the third building and have just two characters to complete. And it's only 22 July.

I am a little bit nervous to see what number is chosen next month as most of the remaining UFOs have a lot of work that needs to be done. Also some up drawn numbers have already been finished so I will work on other UFOs that weren't finished in the correct month. Even though we are only just over half way through the year, I am writing a list of UFOs and new projects ready for 2019.