May 2022 plans

My May plans look a little like my plans for April!! We are away for about half of the month so I need to be realistic about what I can achieve and I also need to prep some projects for Modern Quilt Club retreat at the beginning of June

1. 1986 Prairie Schooler Santa - I've chosen this one to take on holiday again as it's simpler than many in the series. It is also the next one in date order to be done. 

2. UFO challenge - let's hope it's another quick make this month. 

3. One branch of Christmas Tree by Barbara Ana. I completed a third and fourth branch in April, but the depth of the branches is increasing as the number of snowflakes decreases.

4. Eight blocks for Just my type sewalong. I have been cutting out one block a day in preparation.

5. Free block Friday - cut out setting blocks so it' ready to take to the MQC retreat in June.

6. One block a day on my Karlee Porter class from 2021. 

WIP Wednesday - another new project

I should be finishing existing projects but the lure of new fabric and a sewalong proved too strong. I purchased various lines from Ruby Star Society from Olive + Flo Handcraft. Saira will also be the store at the Modern Quilt Club retreat in June so I can top up my fabric if I have miscalculated.

I have purchased the pattern from Pen and Paper and printed it out booklet style. It looks like a well written and clearly presented pattern. There is a clearly laid out schedule and I've started to cut out one block a day as I think the cutting and not the piecing will take the most time.

Monday Make - 2006 Santa

I am so pleased to have this Prairie Schooler Santa stitched as its one of my UFO challenges which means I have six UFOs finished and we're still in April. There's only one small finish left which is the Ugly Sweaters tub which I will take to my June retreat if it isn't called for May.

I'd like to frame the heart this month but need to get some paint first. I'm not sure what colour to choose though, a deep purple or turquoise?

Now that I have all of the charts and the supplies for the other Prairie Schooler Santas, I am going to be more orderly and do them in order, so I will take the Santa with dove on our next trip (in a week's time) as it is a simpler pattern. I didn't stitch on it at all in Nantes. There are 40 patterns released so far including the 2022 chart and I have now stitched 25. 15 more seems achievable this year. I also need to destash those that I have finished.

Sunday stash - Nantes edition

I spent a full day at the exhibition and half a day at a workshop on a scorching day and had stupidly chosen a spot near the window and I was surprised that I didn't end up with a sunburnt neck.  Having unpacked my purchases I am very annoyed that I seem to have left my most used rotary cutter behind. I hope I find it somewhere in my stuff, but will add a new rotary cutter to my Festival of Quilts shopping list.

I was particularly pleased with these frames I purchased for my cross stitch and love that the heart design by Barbara Ana fits so well in the fame, but it will need to be repainted first.

I wanted to do a class with Brigitte Heitland with whose fabric I had made a project for a magazine. The class I wanted to do was on Saturday. by which time we would be home, so instead I bought the book instead from Quiltmania.

I bought some fat quarters from Odile Balliole and a scrap bag to get a small piece of her very expensive velvet border fabric. Ecolaines outside Rennes which we visited on our way to St Malo was a fabulous shop and also stocked her fabrics.

A few bag making supplies, the mesh from Kikikou was a good price.

I thought this dress from Lin ou L'Autre would look good in the navy linen I purchased last year. The linen was too expensive to buy in France.

I did two classes - the first on the Wednesday was with Caroline Oneto and looked at transparency. I thoroughly enjoyed the class despite it being hand pieced.

The organisers were kind enough to let me swap my class with Jessica Wheelahan to the Thursday afternoon. when I arrived at the venue at 1.30pm, the van I wanted to buy my lunch had run out. I ended up being very hot and hungry in the class. That's probably why I didn't spot that I didn't have my rotary cutter. I didn't like the provided fabric for this class so I won't finish it but it was an interesting class and Jess was kind enough to go to the VIP area to see if she could find me a croissant.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and will share some photos of the exhibitions next week. My father has decided that next time we will stay just outside the city so that we can visit other towns. This time we were in the centre of the city and in the pedestrianised area so needed codes to get in and out. So the car stayed put and I used the tram to get to the exhibition.

Friday finish ATW BOM

This was chosen as my JMQG UFO challenge piece for April 2022. It was probably the UFO with the most work to be done. First I had to stitch the Sydney Opera House block on a beautiful background of purple.
 

Then I sashed and added borders of Kona snow. At our meeting last Saturday I spent a couple of hours taking out very small pieces of foundation paper with my tweezers. I had made a couple of errors so had to add a strip into the Lima block and piece some sashing.

I quilted the piece in a couple of hours on Sunday with a digital pantograph called Waves of sand which was quick to stitch. The binding was, I thought, some more Kona Snow but now I think it's a shade darker and is Kona Bone. I bought the backing in the Sew Hot sale so it was ready to go, but I bought more than I needed and brown isn't really my colour, what was I thinking?

Pattern is by Whole Circle Studios and the front is foundation pieced using Kona Cotton.

WIP Wednesday - Prairie Schooler Santas

 

I didn’t quite finish the 2006 Santa with his treadle sewing machine before we left for our trip to France. However I have left it at home and swapped it for the 1986 Santa who is much simpler with his dove. I now have all of the patterns since 1984 including the neon thread for the 2022 chart.

I now need to sort through my patterns that I've already stitched and list them on a Stash Unload group on Facebook.

Monday make - stardust cushion

A few months ago I sent my daughter a photo of a David Bowie cushion with David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust incarnation. Lizzie's reply was that it was nice but she'd just like the thunder bolt. So I duly designed the thunderbolt in EQ8 and it has sat around for a while.

I raided my stash for suitable fabrics and was pleased with the orange stars and turquoise and black speckles on an Essex Linen metallic background in the colour Fog. I wasn't so thrilled when I realised I'd made a rookie error and forgotten to print the foundation pattern as a mirror image.

I decided to finish it and quilted it using a grey Glide thread in a chevron pattern. The back of the cushion is closed with press studs which pick up the stars from the orange fabric. I will make another in the correct orientation but that might be kept for a retreat project.

Friday finish - 1999 Prairie School Santa

If my maths is correct, this is the 24th Prairie Schooler Santa that I have finished stitching. I have 15 more to stitch and I also need to purchase the 2022 pattern. I need to be more systematic in my stitching. I have the 2006 pattern on my UFO challenge list so I think that will be next and I've also packed the 1986 Santa for our trip to France next week as it's a simpler Santa and has large blocks of colour to stitch.

So my plan going forward is:

1. 2006 Santa

2. 1986 Santa

3. Order 2022 Santa and source the neon floss (on order)

4. 1989 Santa which completes those from the 1980s

5. Work out which patterns I need to complete the series - that took only a few minutes and I'm just missing 2001 (on order)

6. Sell those patterns I've finished with on Stash Unload.

WIP Wednesday - Karlee Porter Class

I am working slowly through the Free Motion Frenzy class videos with Karlee Porter. Don't forget to enrol in Karlee's final class of 2022 which is happening in July. Karlee keeps the class Facebook group open so long as someone is working on the class. That is great as it finished in 2021 and I'm still working on class 1 of 4.

 

I have finished all of the flying geese and have started on the Half Square triangles. I can now do straight horizontal and vertical lines but diagonal lines need a lot of practice.

I will have to take this off my machine to quilt my ATW BOM before the end of the month but I should finish this is May, even allowing for holidays.

Monday Make - Sydney Opera House

It took me longer than I expected to stitch the final block in the 2022 Block of the Month from Whole Circle Studio. I have spent two mornings sewing piecing this.

This project is my April UFO challenge project. I plan to piece the top together on Good Friday and I will then be able to gauge how much more background I need for sashing and order it for delivery whilst we are in France.

 I am consistently quilting at least one block a day on my Karlee Porter printed panel but it will have to come off my machine to quilt my BOM before the end of the month.

Friday finish - 1999 Prairie Schooler Santa

 

This has been almost finished since March and it’s taken me a week to finish the gingerbread men and house. 

I have started my next Santa which is from 1988 but I also need to select one of the simpler Santas to take to France on Easter Monday.

WIP Wednesday - a new start

 

I know, I know, I should finish my WIPs first but there are very few of Barbara Ana's recent patterns that I don't like. This pattern is in two parts released on 1 and 15 April from Creative Poppy. The called for fabric is 25 count but I' using 28 count so it will be slightly smaller than the original.

I stitched on this on Saturday and Sunday and I am just waiting on the DMC rayon yellow to complete part 1. I've never used the rayon and didn't know it existed until last week. I had assumed it was a metallic but the rayon will give a lovely shine to the piece.

I have also loaded my Karlee Porter class sample on my long arm and have done all of the stitching in the ditch. I am now starting at the beginning with flying geese and stitching at least one block a day.

March 2022 achievements

I knew March was going to be busy but I under estimated how exhausting the Eisteddfod would be, so not as many completed projects in March, but progress nonetheless. I completed the following:

1. UFO challenge - this should have been a quick make  but it took me longer than anticipated as I didn't have the necessary mesh.

2. Christmas wishes by Little Dove Designs

3. Feathers by Alison Glass

4. 1984 Prairie Schooler Santa

Friday feather finish

 

This has been ready to quilt for a while now, but I had been dithering about how to quilt it. Nothing new there! I loaded the quilt last weekend and looked in my files for a feather pattern and found the fast feather which would be quilted in strips. Perfect.

I had made the quilt top using a Kona Bone background from stash and most of my rainbow stripes had white or navy backgrounds. Fortunately I had enough of a Robert Kaufman stripe left to bind the whole quilt. I made the biding 1.75" wide which was a slow stitch so I should use a 2" binding in future.

I bought the pink Alison Glass fabric at Gather Here in Boston. It was an end of bolt at $3 per yard. Needless to say, I took the remainder of the bolt. There is still two yards left.

Pattern - feathers by Alison Glass

Background - Kona Bone

Patterned fabrics - Alison Glass various collections

Quilting thread - Superior thread King Tut in desert wind