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.