Advent project - Habitation throw

I finished my habitation throw on 27 December and added a couple of extra mini skeins. It has now been washed and blocked and is ready to be entered into our local eisteddfod. I must start filling in the entry forms for this as they have to be handed in at our next guild meeting with the physical entries being handed in at our February meeting.

My main Christmas present was an evening class to learn to knit a jumper. I have several jumpers started which have stalled so I'm hoping  class will give me the skills and confidence to complete a whole jumper.

I may start a pair of socks for my hubby next as my January knitting project as he has worn his hand knit socks expensively since his op. I bought the wool in a destash so I need to find the wool and work out how many stitches to cast on.

Perfect HST BOM finished

I was thrilled to get this WIP finished in December. I did run out of a couple of fabrics near the end, but I just substituted from the same FQ stack from Moda Fabrics designed by Elizabeth Hartman.

I quilted the quilt on my Handiquilter mid arm using a swirly pattern with stars as the quilt is all about the stars in a grey thread.

I even put a hanging sleeve at the top of my quilt. I didn't have the heart to point out to my quilt model that the quilt was wrongly held. It is now five weeks since his partial knee replacement and the scar is fading quickly. He can drive as it was his left knee an he drives an automatic right hand drive. Today is his first day back at work, but he is coming home for lunch as there won't be enough work to keep him going all day.

December knitting goals

My hubby had a partial knee replacement on 25 November and whilst the knee is doing really well, other bits are showing signs of age so he ended back in hospital fo ive days. This has totally thrown me off my plan and another op is being scheduled for January in Cambridge. I googled and there are at least three fabric shops in Cambridge.

I set myself a few goals for December and I have been keeping up. My advent project of the Habitation throw by Helen Stewart has ben calming and I have started most days, opening my advent calendar, sharing a photograph on Instagram and then sitting down for 90 minutes to knit the yarn into the throw. We are now at day 21 and I am keeping up but think I may need to add at least one mini skin into the mix to finish the project.

I also found the pattern for a bandana cowl on Ravelry which I knit from some stash yarn purchased in Barcelona. It was the correct yardage but I had to finish the pattern about four rows early. It will still be useful for a Midlands cold winter on a motorbike. And I don't think Matt can complain about the colour.

For the traditional Christmas Eve cast on with Danni from Little Bobbins, I plan to cast on socks for my hubby as he has used the previous pair I knit him a lot whilst in hospital.

Scrap bag sampler - sorting your scraps

Do you love a good sewalong but don’t want to commit to another large quilt, spend the £s on a pattern or buy more fabric? Then this is the sewalong for you. We are going to use the scraps that we have accumulated and make small blocks every week to make a panel for a bag. These small blocks are perfect as a leader and ender project and to try out new techniques. Think of it as a spring clean for your scraps.

The sewalong will commence on Friday 10 January, but join us on Instagram today to see how we each organize our scraps (or not).

I have had a simple system for several years which I shared at our Modern Quilt Group. My system was that I stored my scraps by colour in a plastic bag in a basket. I blame Sue (@cotefleurie) who improved on my system by pressing her scraps. Miraculously they take up half the volume when pressed so I had to follow suit. I also have separate baskets for Xmas, Alison Glass, Kona and Tula Pink scraps. For an ongoing project I store all scraps with the project. I am in the process of finishing my HST BOM using an Elizabeth Hartman FQ stack and as they are already together, I am going to use them for this project.

My system was very useful or the recent snowflake sewalong with Modern Handcraft as I could just pick out the bag of turquoise scraps and use my Accuquilt to cut the scraps into squares and triangles.

Designers include: @cotefleurie @getahashtagkim @JustSewSue @lisasew @metroquilter    @picosailors @pippaspatch @quirkyhannah @therunninghare

#scrapbagsampler

December goals

I have found it useful over the last few months to set realistic goals at the beginning of each month and also review the success of goals set for the previous month. This month's plan is:


Quilts
I have two BOM WIPs that I don't want to become UFOs. I only have the December blocks to make and then finish the quilts along with about six customer quilts waiting to be long armed.

Quietplay BOM

Perfect HST BOM

Knitting

I made up my own mini skein advent calendar and I am spending about 90 minutes each day knitting the mini skeins into the Habitation throw by Curious Handmade on Ravelry. It's a nice way to spend some time before the activity of the day. My hubby has some follow up appointments over the next two weeks at our local hospital following a partial knee replacement so I think I will take this project along with me to work on.

Cross stitch

I started a small Xmas cross stitch and making hard work of it, but thirty minutes a day and it might be finished by Christmas.

Any spare time and I would like to knit some socks for my hubby and a cowl for my son for Xmas, but that's possibly not realistic!!

Sunday stash - 1 December 2019

One very modest purchase from a destash this week and my Quilter's Planner 2020 has arrived. The rd spotted fabric is thicker than rgular quilting cotton so I think I'll use it for a bag or cushion back.

I also received the metal sliders missing from a previous order and they are in the bag for the Mr Domestic's cross body bag along with the pattern to work on in 2020. 

Less modest - I have booked for the Modern Quilt Club retreat in May 2020. Last year we were in China so I missed out, but I am now booked and will book my flights this week too. Living on an island you have to book early to get the best price and that is also a bank holiday weekend so it needs to be booked.

Scrap bag sampler coming to this blog in January 2020

Do you love a good sewalong but don’t want to commit to another large quilt, spend the £s on a pattern or buy more fabric? Then this is the sewalong for you. We are going to use the scraps that we have accumulated and make small blocks every week to make a panel for a bag. These small blocks are perfect as a leader and ender project and to try out new techniques. Think of it as a spring clean for your scraps.

You can make a bag of your choice or the bucket bag that @justsewsue has designed for this project which is 8” tall with a diameter of 9.5”. This design needs a panel 30” by 8” (finished) or use your favourite bag pattern and customize it with a patchwork panel. Do you already have some small blocks which are unloved? Incorporate them into your design.

The sewalong will commence on Friday 10 January, but join us on Instagram next Friday to see how we each organize our scraps (or not).

Designers include: @cotefleurie @getahashtagkim @JustSewSue @lisasew @metroquilter    @picosailors @pippaspatch @quirkyhannah @therunninghare

#scrapbagsampler

Homebody socks

I purchased the pack of patterns by Curious Handmade on Ravelry for Knitvent 2019. The first pattern to be released was a shawl for which I didn't have suitable yarn. I tried combining a sport weight and a mohair but it just wasn't knitting up large enough, so I unravelled the project. 

This week pattern 2 is a throw suitable for an advent calendar of mini skeins. I have made up my own yarn advent calendar with two sets of mini skeins from Kate Selene and a destash set of Christmas skeins by Norah George. Then I arranged them in a pleasing rainbow fade and put them into my Opal yarn advent calendar box from a few years ago. The pattern for the throw is printed and ready for 1 December.

Pattern 3 was the homebody socks knit in DK and was exactly what I was hoping for. A cosy pair of socks for cold weekend days or when I'm not planning to leave the house. Too thick to wear with shoes but perfect for staying at home. I couldn't find my new yarn swift to wind up a DK skein so instead crossed my fingers and used a Rowan worsted yarn which worked out beautifully. The thicker yarn makes them a quicker knit than 4 ply or sock yarn.

I need to add my yarn swift to my list of items to find. If I haven't found them by the end of the month, then I have to make a concerted effort to find all of my missing items. This little system works for me as often I come across the items but if I don't then I have to put some effort into finding them. I was looking for a large box but have since remembered the yarn swift was in a slim packet.

WIP Wednesday - Quietplay BOM

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it …..  I have all of the rows and blocks completed so far with just the December blocks to make. I am hoping they're released early so I can finish this in 2019.

I think my choice of fabrics - Alison Glass on a background of Basic Grey grunge in Onyx has worked well. I just wish Alison would include more true reds in her ranges and include a rainbow stripe just for me. :)

November finish 1

Yes, I know this wasn't on my list, but I saw this hat on Instagram and fell in love with the cables. a rifle through my yarn stash and I found Big Bertha by Dirty Water Dye Works from Fig Tree Yarns. I purchased this yarn for a pair of gloves which were unpicked last year.

This is the third beanie that I have knit in the last month.The pattern is the Manel Hat by Lucia Ruiz de Aguirre. I used 3.5mm needles as per the pattern. I also made a cardboard blocker to make the hat look better as all that ribbing and cables, pulls in the hat. I might cut one out of Perspex at our local library on their laser cutter now that I have worked out the dimensions of the blocker. This will be a Christmas present for my daughter Lizzie.

BOM progress - November

I think that I forgot to share with you the October blocks for the Quietplay Block of the Month that I completed at the Modern Quilt Club retreat in October. I am still waiting for my long arm bobbins to arrive and this pattern arrived a few days earlier than epected, so I decided to get the blocks sewn so that I am up to date.

I think that this feather block might just be my favourite block in the series so far. It is easier than it looks and has just three sections. I love the silver Essex dyed linen that I used for the rachis (yes I had to google the name of the stem of a feather).

I also love the rainbow of flying geese in ths block. I think I should probably have chosen a brighter turquoise for the lettering, but I am not redoing it!

And this is how it looks so far. The top two rows are sewn together and this week I plan to:

1. Stitch rows 2 and 3 together

2. Border the bobbin block

3. Complete row 5

4. Border the LOVE block

5. Stitch rows 5 and 6 together

Then once the December blocks are released, I will be much close to being finished. Can I finish it in 2019, I do hope so. I will have two BOM quilts to finish in December.

To celebrate being up to date, I bought the Christmas Joy wreath by The Crafty Nomad. More about that make next week.

November progress

We are almost half way through November and I set myself the following goals at the end of October:

1. Finish socks in progress - done

2. Finish a second Squad Ghouls cross stitch - hampered by my new glasses not being correct for me, but I have now picked them up along with a pair for close up work, so I should be good to go. This is the one I completed in October.

3. Finish my La Fin du Monde quilt by Libs Elliott - hampered by ordering the wrong size of pre wound bobbins and I am having to wait for the replacements to be delivered. 

I have very nearly finished the background around the heart using a doodle pantograph by Karlee Porter. Then I am going to rewind the quilt and use a different pantograph for the heart itself.

October finish 3

I am really pleased to have started and finished the Snowflake quilt by Modern Handcraft in October. I cut all of the squares and triangles on my accuquilt from my scrap bags initially and then from low volume and turquoise fat quarters. I then packed it up to sew at the Modern Quilt Club retreat in October, where I completed a few blocks.

The blocks are very quick to sew up as I had already sewn all of the HSTs. I soon had it pieced together and ready to quilt. I used a new to me digital pantograph called West Wind in Winter from My Creative Stitches. Abigail of Cut & Alter had used this pantograph on a winter quilt for a customer and I immediately went and purchased along with the chevron design I used on the cushion made at retreat.

I had the perfect backing in stash which I widescreen by Carolyn Friedlander and I also used it for the binding.

Sunday stash - Pink Door Fabrics

It's not often that I have any new stash to share. At retreat I only bought a needle threader for myself and some Pellon for a friend. However I won a $300 voucher for Pink Door Fabrics from Gnomeangel's #100days100blocks sewalong. I was so surprised. I found it quite difficult to spend with no specific projects in mind, but it went a long way and I only had to pay postage.

I have seen a lot of great projects using Guicy Guice's fabrics so I bought 15 different fabric from his ranges. Great basics and great for rainbow projects too.

Then I bought one piece of Tula Pink, the 2019 bundle of V & Co's metallic ombre. I used the first bundle for the Fat Quarter Shop threadology quilt. I also purchased some Christmas fabrics as I love a good Christmas quilt and I was lacking turquoise fabrics in my Christmas stash.

Lastly I purchased a book that I had browsed at Modern Quilt Group, a kit and pattern for the crescent Tote by Noodlehead, an Elizabeth Hartman pattern and some bag bits for a cross body bag. I plan to keep the tote kit to work on at one of the retreats I plan to attend in 2020. It contains the pattern, fabrics, interfacing and bag bits so can easily be packed ready to go.

I am just waiting on some bag sliders which were missed from my original order. I also had a thread order arrive this week, but I ordered the wrong size of pre wound bobbins so my long arm is quiet at the moment which is a shame as I have made great progress quilting my La Fin du Monde quilt  - pattern by Libs Elliott.

October finishes 2

Now for the second knitted beanie for my daughter. In grey. Yarn purchased in Province town at Purl. the yarn is by Juniper Moon Farm in colour 104. 

Before going to Boston and Cape Cod, I contacted Youtuber and dyer, Kristin of Voolenvine Yarns for shop recommendations and she provided a comprehensive list. we would have liked to have a Great Yarn in Chatham but we only stopped for a short while (30 minutes) but I had seen the shop en route to the parking and we just didn't have enough time to get there and browse.

I have knit DK hats previously and I struggled to find hats that I liked in the right yardage. Then I had a flash of inspiration and looked at what people had made in the yarn on Ravelry. Success. The Elm Road hat was perfect. A lot of twisted rib though.

October finishes 1

I am pleased with the progress I am making on my November list of projects, but today I am going to start sharing my October finishes with you.

The first is one of two hats I made for my daughter Lizzie before she went back to England to finish her third year of University. This is to replace a previous knitted beanie with pom pom that I had knit for her.

The pattern is the Tiilda hat by @isangknits in Caron x Pantone purchased by my daughter in Michaels when we were recently in Boston.

WIP Wednesday

I said I would share my plan for WIPs and UFOs with you. I thik I lost my mojo because I was so overwhelmed by projects and plans. Going forward I think I need to chose one quilting WIP, one cross stitch pattern and one knitting WIP to focus on each month. Once they're finished along with customer quilts, I can then work on something else.

So for October I chose the following:

1. snowflake sewalong - this is ready for quilting. Here is a progress shot.

2. I am going to finish one of the Ghoul Squad each month and there are four to complete. One is done and ready for framing. I'm calling this one Mrs Bones.

3. I had a deadline before going on retreat to finish two beanies with pom poms for my daughter. I stalled on this as I couldn't find a pattern that was the same yardage as the yarns Lizzie had purchased. Then I realised that if I searched for the yarn on Ravelry.com I might find inspiration. That worked like a dream and I finished the two hats. I have even knit another for Lizzie for Christmas.

My goals for November are:
1. Finish socks in progress
2. Finish a second Squad Ghouls cross stitch
3. Finish my La Fin du Monde quilt by Libs Elliott

I have two customer quilts to finish at the moment and three more that are ready to be delivered to me. I also want to right up a guide to prepping your quilt for longarming as I have had several quilts where the backing is too small.

If I get those done I will join in a Xmas cushion sewalong by The Crafty Nomad

Mojo Monday

Well I went on retreat taking several projects with me. I had a great time and made progress on al of the projects except one whilst I was away.

1. I prepped lots of reusable make up wipes which I finished when I got home. I stitched all of the squares together whilst on retreat and then what I hadn't finished, I turned and pined at my hotel on the Sunday night. I no longer have any worn or coloured towels, so this project is complete.

2. The retreat project by Jeliquilts was a fun make and I finished the top at the retreat but quilted it at home on my longarm. I love this zig zag quilting pattern which gives great texture. This is the last of this rainbow stripe that I used for the binding.

  I used a rainbow of poppers for the closure of this cushion cover.

3. I put together the four blocks for this mini quilt - pattern by Fat Quarter Shop and added the border, so it was ready to quilt when I was home. Another striped binding finished this project.

4. Lastly I worked on the Snowflake sewalong and I soon had six blocks done and ready to continue this week. I have been home alone sine I returned from the retreat as my husband has been away and left the car at the airport for me to collect as he flew out on the same day as I returned.

I have a plan for tackling my UFOs and WIPs as I go forward. I will share my plan with you on Wednesday.

Snowflake SAL

As the #100days100blocks sew along comes to an end, I have joined in with the Snowflake QAL by ModernHandcraft I am planning to do scrappy turquoise background with low volume scraps for the snowflake. I also plan to cut all of the blocks with my Accuquilt as I need 3" finished squares and HSTs. First I am going to start with my scraps and then move onto FQs in my stash. I can even stash dive for the backing.

The Modern Quilt Club Retreat is coming up in two weeks time, and I think this is the perfect project. There is also a foundation pieced retreat project / cushion and I have all of my fabrics for that project packed and ready to go including wadding and backing. I will probably make up the cushion when I'm home unless I prep the backing of the cushion as I probably don't want to pack my tools for setting the poppers.

Q4 Finish along 2019

1. TQS BOM Sedona Star from Jan 2012. Not yet pieced together but progress was made in 2018.

2. Tula Pink butterfly from October 2017. I need to move a few blocks and then quilt it.

3. My small world from 2016 which is pieced and partly quilted. This was the April project to finish for the APQS UFO challenge

4. Five impossible things

5. La Fin du Monde which I started as a quiltalong late 2018, but the background fabric got lost in the post, so progress stopped.

6. Tate Modern quilt which I need to start drafting again. I had made some templates but some were wrong and I might be able to use a circle ruler instead.

7. HST BOM  - I want to keep up with the blocks each month and finish it in December

8. Tula Pink Hex on the beach - this is the project I was working on for the #the100dayproject so I should make good progress on this during the third quarter.

9. Quietplay BOM 2019. 

10. Hoffman Dream Big Panel - I need to load this and practise my free motion quilting.

11. Snowflake QAL

12. The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery Squad Ghouls.

13. Grey hat 1

14. Grey hat 2.

Can I get down to single figures in 2019? I think so but my big and oldest UFOs won't, I think, get any attention.