UFO Challenge 2023

I expect to be away or in hospital during the first four months of 2023 so all of my UFOs for the challenge will be cross stitch or hand stitching.

1. Sew Happy cross stitch

2. 2001 Prairie Schooler Santa 

3. Country Cottage Needleworks June Cottage of the Month

4. 2004 Prairie Schooler Santa 

5.  Zic zac Scarf

6. 2010 Prairie Schooler Santa 

7.  Country Cottage Needleworks August Cottage of the Month

8. Sewology BOM

9. 2022 Prairie Schooler Santa 

10.  Country Cottage Needleworks July Cottage of the Month

11. Samhain Dreams by Barbara Ana

12. Dreaming Queen Bee by Barbara Ana

WIP Wednesday - Christmas quilt

 

Christmas is officially over. My son heads back to England today as he has plans for New Year's Eve. My daughter is here until 3 January and our New Year's plans include more stitching. In The UK boxing day is a public holiday and we had an extra bank holiday yesterday as Christmas Day fell on a weekend.

My neck pain has improved, so yesterday I sewed for the first time in ten days. I now have nine blocks  for a Christmas throw as I finished two blocks yesterday. All but the centre present block are from the sewalong with A Quilting Life.

I reduced this block in size to a 12" finished block so that I could add a red border. The fabric for this border is deep stash by Kate Spain.

The centre block of the quilt is a free block from the #Quiltmas range of blocks which I sized up to be an 18" block. I was please to get all of the directional prints going in the right direction.

These blocks have now been put away with backing fabric that my daughter bought for me. Whilst I'd like to finish it:

1. The long arm is loaded with my Sewology BOM which needs two rows unpicked; and

2. My daughter has plans for us to stitch the Bowler Bag by Patterns by Mrs H, for which Lizzie has bought all of the hardware and also a sneaker kit which is our plan for Saturday.

2023 planning

I have been watching a number of Flosstube videos about planning for 2023 and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Stitchers seem to have 100s of patterns, bins, planners and spreadsheets. I thought I'd share my planning for 2023 with just two planners. I anticipate that the first few months of 2023, I will need easy grab and go projects which is where I've concentrated my planning.

I started with my Quilter's Planner which I've used for about five years. I love the projects at a glance pages. On the left I have listed my UFO challenge projects which comprise ten cross stitch patterns, one knitted scarf and quilting and binding a quilt.

I purchased a copy of the Lori Holt Cross Stitch journal which has an index and project page for 50 projects. So far, I am up to 20 projects. The projects are mainly either by Barbara Ana from PNPS magazine, Prairie Schooler Santas or Country Cottage Needleworks monthly cottages.

 

As I've been completing each page, I have been writing down the floss numbers, noting which ones I need to order and noting down if they're in another project. It would be most efficient if I started at project one, but I have pulled out project 14 first as it's not on my UFO challenge list. I've run out of zip folders to put my projects in so that's one thing I need to look for in town later today but I may have to resort to Amazon.

So, I now have 20 project bags stored in a raffia bag ready to grab and go. I have also made good progress on moving my threads to my Pip and Chip floss drops. I've been surprised at how many duplicate flosses I own. I hope to empty one box of DMC threads before Xmas and then move on to finding where are flosses might have been randomly stored. It makes the process of kitting up quicker, as if the floss drop is not in the box, I know it's in another kit and I can find it by reviewing the floss list in the Cross Stitch journal.

It's time now to transfer a few more flosses to the new floss drops. I find that doing a few a day has helped me make progress over the last month. Not much sewing is happening as I've got a painful neck which the physio worked on yesterday, but I can still cross stitch.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and see you next week. 

WIP Wednesday - trick or treat

I am totally feeling sorry for myself as I have tweaked something in my shoulder. Yesterday I tried to cut out one last Christmas block but had to give up. So yesterday, I did absolutely nothing apart from watching Mrs Miracle 1 and 2. How very self-indulgent.

I decided last week to start on this pattern by Barbara Ana Designs as it was kitted up and not on my UFO challenge list for 2023. I have used the called for DMC threads on a Zweigart 32 count even weave in the colour smokey pearl. I have made good progress and am looking forward to finishing it so I can add one more letter to my Sew Happy cross stitch.

I have opened my Kylie and the Machine 2021 advent calendar this morning and I can see me using these labels on everything I make for Lizzie. Lizzie arrived in Jersey last night and we have some charity shop visiting and food shopping planned for today. Perhaps even some sewing.

My Sew Quirky mystery box has been released by customs in Coventry so it might make it to me before Xmas. I have three other small parcels due but only one of those is for a Christmas present. I keep track of my parcels by writing the name of the company on the last page for the current month in my Quilter's Planner and crossing them off as they are received. Any not received are then transferred to the next month. I have a similar process for things that I can't find. I write them down on the same page and if they haven't turned up by the end of the month, then I have to make a concerted effort to search for the item. Usually, the item turns up when you're looking for something else!!

 

Monday make - a quilted quilt

 

I have procrastinated about getting this quilt quilted but yesterday I pressed the backing and loaded it onto my long arm. I chose the Christy Dillon pattern Sqaure root E2E to quilt it using Glide thread in the colour Bone. The thread colour was an easy choice as it was still on the machine from my last project, but it suited this project very well.

They say pride comes before a fall and I was two rows away from finishing and I looked up at the back bar of my machine and there were tucks in the backing. AARGGHHH. So, this week's job is not to sew on the binding but instead, I need to unpick two rows and finish quilting this project. My plan is to sew the binding on during the Modern Quilt Club zooms over the coming months or until it's pulled as my monthly UFO challenge piece. Fortunately, the December Zoom isn't until next week.

Details:

Pattern Sewology BOM by Pen and Paper Patterns via a BOM with Modern Quilt Club

Background: Kona Silver

Coloured fabric : an assortment of Ruby Star Society fabrics

Backing: Speckled Dove 108" wide by Ruby Star Society

Friday fabric

 There have been a few deliveries over the last few weeks and a few more to come. I have enjoyed opening my Kylie and the Machine advent calendar. I bought it during a sale earlier thiss year and it is the 2021 calendar, but the labels aren't out of date.

Most months I receive a fabric of the month club from Chromatic Alchemy. I have suspended my membership for six months but love that you can skip a month if the colour doesn't appeal to you. I always skip greens.

I have been using the Quilter's Planner for about five years since I won one in a giveaway. Sew Hot now stock them in the UK.

All I've put in so far are my UFOs for the 2023 UFO challenge that our guild runs. It took a few hours to kit up all of my 12 projects and label them, but it was very worthwhile and I have a few threads that I need to buy today to complete the kits.

One of my 2023 UFOs is to complete the Sewology BOM and I received a speckled grey backing from Sew Hot from their Black Friday sale with 20% off. I need to press this and get my quilt quilted ASAP.

I also purchased this kit from Modern Quilt Club in Lisa's small business Saturday sale. The plan is to have this ready to stitch when I come out of hospital. Something to look forward to.

I have been in the doldrums as we can't plan even a week ahead at the moment so I may have ordered all of the threads, pattern and fabric for this stitch along with @sweetwaterstitcher from Peakside Needleworks,

WIP Wednesday - sew happy

As planned I sewed the Y on sew happy by Lori Holt and also put a few more stitches in the case of the sewing machine and the letter P.

The pattern was a prize from the Modern Quilt Club retreat. I am using all of the called for DMC threads stored on my Pip and Chip floss drops.

 

Monday make - Christmas window

I have just finished stitching this small piece called "Christmas window" by Barbara Ana Designs from the Winter 2022 edition of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine. I used the called for DMC threads and a piece of even weave leftover from the Christmas piece I finished that had been started by Bumblestitches. The fabric is quite thick and not one I like but it was good to use up a scrap.

 The floss drops are from Pip and Chip. I am slowly filling up the floss drops and putting aside the duplicate skeins of DMC.

I am now going to stitch one letter from Sew Happy by Lori Holt.

Friday Finish - Christmas Tree

I finished Christmas Tree by Barbara Ana Designs at the end of November, and it was immediately pressed and delivered to the framer with some wadding to put behind the stitching to make the stitching pop.

I bought the kit for this piece from Nitka Moscow but we can't buy from Rusia at the moment. This is my only Christmas decoration which is up so far as we expected not to be here during December. Plans have changed so flights have been booked for Matt and Lizzie to come back for Christmas.

 

WIP Wednesday - sew happy

 

I have a cunning plan!! I won this Lori Holt cross stitch pattern at the Modern Quilt Club retreat in October.  I have paired the pattern with the called for DMC threads and 32 count Murano from Zweigart. This pattern is larger than any I have previously attempted, and my plan is to do stitch one letter each time I finish another pattern. After finishing the Prairie Schooler Santa, I stitched the exclamation mark and started on the sewing machine.

I am hoping that my plan will keep me interested and the finished piece will gradually come together.

Monday make - 2000 Santa

 

This is the 2000 Prairie Schooler Santa which I completed during Saturday Night Craftalong on Instagram. My next Santa to stitch is 2001 and I only have a total of four more to stitch for a full set. So exciting to be so close to finishing the stitching.

I think I will now tae a break from my Santas and work on a mall piece by Barbara Ana called Christmas Window from Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher winter 2022 issue.

November 2022 finishes

Two retreats in one month seems to have given me more finishes than I had expected. My first finish was this rice bag to help with my dry eyes. There was no way I was paying for one when I could whip one up with pretty fabric and use up some of the inedible brown rice in our store cupboard.

Next was the 1997 Prairie Schooler Santa.

Mini series SAL blocks were turned into a mat for the top of a chest of drawers to match the 2020 project which tops my bedside table.

One of my many Barbara Ana WIPs was Floral Dreams which is now complete and waiting to be framed.

The It's Trashion darling project from the Sew Quirky Mystery box.

Jarrah sweater by Megan Nielsen

I have just finished Christmas Tree by Barbara Ana and have even taken it to the framer.