March makes

I didn't think I'd finished as much as I wanted in March but perhaps I achieved more than I realised.  I will be carrying forward the April cottage to my April to do list.

So what did I finish?

1. Plaidish quilt from from UFO challenge list even though it hasn't yet been picked

2. Fraktal cushion

3. Lima / Machu Picchu block for ATW BOM

4. Part 5 of Frosted Pumpkin Christmas wreath

5. March a year of celebrations

6. Book cushion - another UFO challenge project

7. March UFO - Bonnie & Camille stars.

8. Improv coin purse.

9. Summer sampler turns 10 blocks 

10. 2014 Prairie Schooler Santa

Tomorrow April's challenge project will be chosen and I'm hoping it's one I've already completed.

Bonnie & Camille stars

Today is the one year anniversary of Jersey going into total lockdown. Some had already been advised to self isolate due to risk. Who would have thought a year of staying at home and I'm still finishing my WIPS. 

This was my March UFO for our group challenge so I have got it finished just in time. I'm going to put my feet up today and cross stitch the day away.

WIP Wednesday - Machu Picchu

Sewing this block, took me back to my trip to Peru in May 2004. Wow, so long ago. I won the trip through The Daily Telegraph and we had a fabulous time in Lima, Arequipa, Cusco and Machu Picchu.

 

I wasn't going to sew this block in green and brown, they are just not my colours so again I dived into the Kona solids leftover from my Tattoo quilt.

Machu Picchu is very green and brown, but the colours of the country and the clothes of the inhabitants are so bright. We were so lucky to visit Peru and the tour was so extensive. There was civil unrest at the time but we were unaware of it until we left Cusco and were asked to be up earlier. However it was farmers protesting and they are used to getting up early, so the road was already blockaded and our coach had to continue down dirt tracks.

That was block 3 for the Trip around the world Block of the month with Whole circle studio and I am keeping up to date.

Now I need to get a wiggle on with three cross stitch projects I'd like to complete this month and just a week until the end of the month. What to work on first? Prairie Schooler Santa, March a year of celebrations (definitely the smallest piece) or April cottage? Probably the smallest project first o I at least complete one project.

Monday make - Christmas wreath month 5

 

I can't believe we're half way through this stitch along and I'm keeping up. 

Pattern - Christmas wreath by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Fabric - Picture this Plus in Bashful  - a very pale pink from The Homemakery.

Threads - DMC as called for in the pattern

Today I'm going to quilt my Bonnie & Camille stars and stitch on my smallest cross stitch WIP, if I have any time between lunch and cad playing commitments. We can now go into each others homes so we are making the most of it, just in case this situation worsens again. My 93 year old father had his second jab yesterday so we're moving forward and he can now go to bowls and the gym!!

Freebie Friday - Summer Sampler turns 10

 

I realise it's not summer yet, but Faith, Lee and Katie are celebrating ten years of the summer sewalong with a free sewalong. Sign up to the email and you will get the links to tutorials and instructions sent direct to your in box every Wednesday.

I am using my leftover scraps and Fat Quarters from a Fat Quarter stack by Elizabeth Hartman paired with some tone on tones from stash. 

This week's block is called "star" and is probably my favourite block so far. It's foundation pieced with just three pieces in each eighth. I do appear to be running out of scraps of neutrals in my stash so may have to buy some more or tidy my craft room and some may appear!!

Tonight month 5 of the Christmas wreath by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery will be released so my plan for the weekend is to stitch on that project to keep up to date and share it with you next Friday.

WIP Wednesday - Bonnie & Camille stars

 

This month's WIP is my Bonnie & Camille stars which was a leader and ender project in 2020 which I just stopped working on. Those pieces are so small. The blocks are 12" finished so each square or half square triangle finishes at 1.5". Having finished a few other projects, I couldn't ignore this one as we're half way through the month already. I laid the blocks out on a bed and worked out how many more blocks I needed to make to start putting the quilt top together. 

Two more blocks to make, so I then took the easy route of which colourway did I have the most HSTs already prepped. On Monday I finished piecing the blocks and yesterday I cut the setting triangles, ready to piece together the top today. I plan to prepare the binding tomorrow, quilt it on Monday and trim and bind on Tuesday. Then next week I can work on the cross stitch projects I want to finish this month

If I finish this on Tuesday then I'll have a week to focus on all of the other projects I'd like to finish this month. Not sure if that's realistic, but I will give it a go.

Monday make - Fraktal cushion

 

Last week I shared with you the cushion panel made from leftover HSTs from my Fraktal quilt. It only took about an hour this morning to cut the backing for the cushion, add some rainbow poppers, trim and turn. I even had a cushion inner ready.

I have had extra ca snaps on my Nantes shopping list for a year but having tidied up the caddy containing my poppers this morning, I think I have sufficient. If we make it to Pour l'Amour du Fils at the end of September, I will just purchase some with designs on them. Famous last words!!

I must remember to pass on my few half square triangles on to a friend who also did the Fraktal sewalong. I used some of the pink fabric for two other projects in an attempt to reduce my scraps too. I hope that Modern Quilt Club launch another sewalong kit in the near future. I thoroughly enjoyed both the quilt and the Zoom catch up sessions.

Now I have no excuse to not work on my Bonnie & Camille stars this week as it's my March UFO and needs to be finished.

Friday Finish - plaidish

 

The Plaidish quilt is a free pattern available here.  This was on my UFO / WIP list for 2021 as I had realised how many black and white / green and low volume fabrics I had in stash. I have definitely used up quite a lot of the green pile and my friends know that green is not a colour that I gravitate towards.

This pattern is a satisfying pattern comprised of squares and rectangles. I was happy with how my quilt top came out. I had bought the backing from Sew Hot in one of their sales at the end of 2020. I still have sufficient left for another small quilt and lots of binding.

I was determined to find a binding in my stash too and Instagram friends voted for the black and white stripe by Riley Blake. I had just enough yardage left, so that's more fabric out of my stash.

I used a neutral thread and a boxy pantograph called Circuits by Anne Bright to quilt my project and I am pleased with how it turned out.

This weekend I plan to finish my HST Fraktal leftover panel into a cushion before putting a concerted effort into finishing my March UFO next.

WIP Wednesday - Zick Zack scarf

I thought I'd shared this project with you which I started two weeks ago. It is using the ZickZack scarf pattern on Ravelry. It pairs a hand dyed yarn cake of striped blues from Dragon Hill Studios with two 50g balls of yarn from Regia by Arne and Carlos. 

Progress will not be fast. I have scheduled myself to knit eight rows a day and that is working for me so far. I will put more work into this project when I have finished knitting my dish cloths. I have knit fourteen so far and have yarn for about another dozen. The plan is to finish these by the end of March.

Monday make - HST cushion

 

There were a lot of bonus HSTs from making flying geese units for the Fraktal quilt. They had been mainly pressed but not trimmed. Fortuitously I saw a post from Coffee ring studios linking to a 2019 blog post with lots of blocks made with HSTs. I chose this striking pattern and trimmed my blocks. I had almost enough HSTs but my heart sank at the thought of needing to make more. Fortunately I found a few more further down the bag of scraps.

I am disappointed not to have made it into a cushion yet, but it is quilted ready to go. I have felt under the weather the last ten days, so haven't achieved as much as I would have wanted. I am hoping to start afresh today and the priorities this week are:

1. Quilt customer quilt with thick minky backing
2. Finish 2014 Prairie Schooler Santa which needs about an hour of back stitching
3. Finish this cushion
4. Quilt Plaidish quilt
5. Keep on knitting some more dish cloths. That's all I felt up to doing this past weekend so I have about a dozen ready to gift / use. I am knitting one plain one and then a multi one as the cone of multi should make about 14 cloths.

Freebie Friday - wash cloths

When we were in Boston late in 2019, I bought some Sugar n Cream cotton yarn for dishcloths in Michaels and Joanns. I added to this stash with a cone (14oz) of red white and black from a friend's destash. The colours turned out to be red white and blue, but they will make nice gifts.

I had a go at making two dish cloths and I just wasn't happy with them so they have sat with the yarn at the bottom of my yarn stash. This week I saw a friend (@surfseasew) post a photo of her dish cloths on Instagram and that ignited my interest. I found the free pattern on Ravelry - Gramma's second favourite dish cloth and I knit a test cloth. Then I cast on another. What if I knit one cloth a day for March?

They are perfect TV knitting and I have now knit six dish cloths. I think I have sufficient yarn to knit over 25 cloths which I hope to finish this month. I am thinking a gift of eight cloths would be appreciated - one a day and one whilst the others are in the wash? The red ones are mine and the blue cloths are for my daughter. let's see how I get on.

WIP Wednesday - March plans

I achieved quite a lot in February, so what are my plans for March as we get to the end of Quarter 1 of the 2021 Finishalong?

1. The March UFO for our group challenge is number 10 - Bonnie and Camille stars. I need to get this out of the cupboard and formulate a plan of how many more blocks I want to make first.

2. March mini for A Year of Celebrations (kitted up)

3. April monthly cottage from a Country Cottage Needleworks. Also kitted up and I have made a small start.

4. March block for Around the World BOM

5. Month 5 of Christmas Wreath by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

6. #Summersamplerturns10 sewalong blocks to make. Two have been released and made, so I should have four to make this month as they are released weekly.

The optional extras will probably include:

7. By Annie travel bag. I will at least quilt the fabrics ready to piece but I need to source the contrasting fabric which is 108" Basic Grey in eggplant. I have some but not enough.

8. Plaidish quilt for which I need some wadding to be delivered. I had ordered a bolt but then I was advised that the carriage was £110+ so I looked for another supplier.

February makes

Well the highlight of February was we both got our Covid vaccinations but will have to wait for ten weeks for the second dose. Our daughter also came back from Aberdeen as nothing was open and she wanted some company so once again we spent ten days in self isolation.

1. The February UFO for our group challenge was a foundation pieced unicorn block by @quietplay and was a nice quick finish which freed me to work on other projects during the month.

2. Having finished the cushion, I stitched the 2002 Prairie Schooler Santa whilst also quilting three customer quilts.

3. Minimalist wallet by Noodlehead which was my UFO 8 for our Group challenge and hasn't yet been picked.

4. A little Valentine decoration - pattern from Clover & Violet

5. Fraktal quilt. I now need to tackle the half square triangles left over from this project.

6. Hel's Belles WI bag

7. Advent rainbow cushion

8. February mini for A Year of Celebrations. March is kitted up ready to go.

9. February block for Around the World BOM

10. Month 4 of Christmas Wreath by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

11. Arrow shawl by Drops designs

12. March monthly cottage from Country Cottage Needleworks.