Cross stitch fully finishes

Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying opening my advent calendars from Stich Supply Company and Studio 7T7, I felt I should accomplish something every day. I decided that some of my cross-stitch pieces should be finished and ay frame that I no longer like, will be redonated to a charity shop.

The first of four framed pieces this week designed by Barbara Ana. Some of her designs are available in her Kofi shop Support Barbara Ana designs and some are available from Creative Poppy until they close their doors.

This was a simple framing job as no painting was required. I glued wadding to the mountboard and added the mount.

I love this wintery piece. It has a layer of wadding behind the piece and then is stapled onto the canvas.

This too a little more effort as I painted a few coats of chalky white to the frame and I covered the mount with some fabric from Carolyn Friedlander.

This petite strawberry piece is mounted in a frame from Atelier Bonheur which I purchased at Pour L'Amour du Fils show in Nantes. Perfect for a summer display. I have a heart shaped from the same company but first I need to find all of the pieces!

I have pulled a further six pieces and frames, so I hope I can keep up my momentum. At the weekend, I plan to mend one item and list some other items on Ecycle.

Extra Large Clam Up pouch

I made a large version of the Clam Up pouch - By Annie pattern at retreat in November for this week's sewing with Lizzie over FB Messenger, she wanted to also make a pouch for a Secret Sata gift. Her boss, Lizzie, loves capybaras and my Lizzie had bought this capybara fabric at Festival of Quilts in August. The perfect gift for a capybara lover.

I had sufficient of this Tula Pink fabric left over from the first pouch so decided to make a nesting pair. I quilted an allover 1" grid on point on my Janome atelier 7.

I even remembered to add a little tag to the tabs on the base of the pouch.

Today I plan to progress a cross stitch WIP and I also have an ultrasound and chest X-ray booked. Deep joy.

Trying new things

 

I received an email about an update to the Cleary Carry All Pouch pattern by Minki Kim. I had forgotten that I'd purchased the pattern o thought I would try it out with the new Gray Work by Tula Pink that I'd just received from Sew Hot.

As Seal the Deal is a directional print, I even cut the outside panel in half and put a seam in the bottom before quilting the panel. I used the edge of my walking foot as a guide so it's about a 1/2" grid all over.

I love the stripe for the binding and the leopard print vinyl from Studio 7T7 is a great match along with the random parrot label from Kylie and the Machine 2024 advent calendar. The method used to box the corners was new to me, apart from having used it on a tote bag. I felt this section was glossed over in the YouTube video and instructions, so I did unpick the last bound seams and just did a regular boxed corner. 

Today I am stitching over Facebook Messenger with my daughter Lizzie. We are both making a Clam Up pouch - a By Annie pattern. I have my quilted panel ready to go.

Finally finished

My testing of @sariditty's Waypoint quilt pattern is complete. It will be donated to Quilts for Care leavers in 2026. I used an Ikea plain grey fabric for the backing which was thicker than I would have liked. I used the digital pantograph Malachite by Urban Elementz. Onto finishing my next project.

Retreat shopping

A Beautiful Thing was the in house shop at the recent retreat. I preordered two metres of this Ruby Star Society star print for the border of my Jingle All the Way quilt by Kimberbell Designs.

Lizzie and I used up our whole stock of vinyl in July, so we have been looking for some additions to our vinyl stash. I purchased this leopard print vinyl from studio 7T7 as Emma, the owner was also an attendee at the retreat.

The small Aurifil box is perfect for carrying small spools of thread to retreat for top stitching and the lovely pouch was from a swap and was made by Paula Steele. I also bought some bag charms from Cheshire Designs but in the sewing room repaint, they have been misplaced.

 On the Sunda I heard from British Airways that we were being paid statutory delay compensation for our unplanned diversion to Bucharest in October. I had not expected this and so bought a little Ruby Star Society fabric and some labels from Sarah Hearts which I split with Lizzie.

Waypoint progress

I am still making Waypoint test blocks for @Saraditty. I thought I'd have been finished by now, however I keep making mistakes. I didn't spot that in my original eight blocks, that I had the corner four patch blocks wrongly orientated. Once that was fixed, I thought the end was nigh. 

I put the rows together to find that I had one too many yellow blocks and one too few green blocks. My job for today is to make another green block and finish stitching together the quilt top.

I need to get that one this morning as I have a lunchtime appointment for a Covid booster. I hope I don't have a reaction to this injection as the flu jab knocked me out for two days.

Retreat finish - Santa sack

For my next retreat project, I had filled a Santa sack that I made many years ago with some Christmas fabrics and some IKEA Bitten for the lining

This is a simple pattern of a 12” finished Ohio star for both front and back with a 3” border. I then created a channel at the top of the sack and used a neon pink paracord to close. A simple make.

Retreat finishes - Clam Up Pouch

Last weekend I was away at the Modern Quilt Club retreat in the Leeds area. The second project I worked on was the Clam Up pouch which is a By Annie pattern.

I used a Tula Pink fabric for the outside and a Kona solid for the lining. This is the large size which to me is fairly small. Probably not even big enough to fit a Terry's Chocolate orange.

Retreat finish - SCBU Mini quilt

This block from Me Time Delivered from was my Guild UFO challenge piece for November. I pieced the blocks on my embroidery machine before the retreat. Laid them out and pinned them into three rows ready to stitch together.

I was hoping for a quick finish and added a binding by machine on both sides. It was at this stage I realised how many things I hadn't packed - wonder clips, scissors and labels. I'd also left tooth paste behind but Alex came to the rescue.

I am not a lover of green and there was much teasing about how much green I'd used! However, it's complete and ready to donate to our local NICU. I donated seven other mini quilts before going on retreat to try and clear the decks.

Waypoint eight

 

I am still making Waypoint blocks to test @sariditty's new pattern. I have stitched eight blocks and have ten more to stitch at this weekend's retreat.  All of the blocks are now cut out and I have found a potential border print. I need to double check one more time that I have cut the right number of yellow stars and green stars. Then they can be packed way for Saturday's retreat project.

How to get the best out of your long armer

I have had a Handiquilter Avante for more than ten years and here are my top tips for getting th bet out of your longarmer.

1. Your backing should be 4" bigger than your quilt top on all or sides. This gives plenty of room for loading the quilt and using the horizontal clamps to keep the backing smooth. If there is insufficient backing, I will either decline to quilt your project or add borers to make the backing big enough which takes time and cost you money.

I now have the confidence to tell potential customers that I can't help them rather than risk damaging their project or my machine. I learnt that through experience!

2. Quilt tops and backings should be pressed and lightly starched. I advise using trouser hangers to keep the fabric crease free once prepped.

3. Get the best value for money by loading two quilts onto the same backing. By Annie recommends in her bag patterns to quilt more fabric backed with soft and stable so you have ready quilted fabric for more bags. I now use car interlining for the foam layer as it is better value for money

4. Whilst your quilt is being quilted, prepare your binding so it's ready to o once your quilt is quilted.

WIP Wednesday - waypoint

I am making progress on testing the Waypoint pattern for @sariditty. I have raided my stash for low volume background which are paired with yellow and green fabrics for the stars. I have sewn together four blocks and two more are in progress. I have worked out that I need a total of eighteen blocks for a quilt to donate to Quilts for Care Leavers.

I have a further seven blocks cut ready to sew at retreat in ten days' time and need to cut a further five blocks. I have some customer quilts in my queue at the moment so I can cut the blocks whilst my long arm is doing its thing.

Moda Blockheads 6

 

It has been a little windy here and a little difficult to get good photos. However, my Moda Blockheads 6 blocks are now quilted and bound and ready to donate to Quilts for Care Leavers next week. That will make a total of three to donate to Q4CL and I have our mini quilts to drop off to our hospital's NICU tomorrow.

I enjoyed making the blocks and combining the two different sizes of white spot on black fabrics worked. The purple block is too big for me compared with the other blocks, most of which are 9" square.

We have flu jabs today and a customer is dropping of some advent calendar panels and lap quilt for quilting today. Otherwise, I will be concentrating on stitching together some more test bocks for @sariditty.

Waypoint testing

I have made my first test block from the Waypoint pattern by @sariditty which is being released later this year. I am continuing to stash dive with more low volume prints paired with yellow and green fabrics. However, I realise that I have many low volume text prints which are directional and not suitable for this project.

My plan is to cut two blocks each day, stitch one and put the other aside to stitch at retreat in a week's time My long arm is all connected again so we need to add the pole when it's not raining outside and I'll be ready to quilt my Q4CL Moda Blockhead 6 project this weekend.

 

WIP Wednesday - Moda blockheads 6

On of the first thing I planned to do on our return from holiday was to catch up with the Mod Blockhead 6 blocks. I had them printed ready to cut out and stitch. Fortunately, I put the completed blocks on my design board and was amazed to realise that I had enough blocks to make up another Quilts for careleavers quilt with the blocks that were already completed.

I added a 3" border and it is ready to be quilted. My next job is to get my longarm set up properly with the cables plugged in where they are meant to be and put back the poles.  I have a customer bringing some projects on Monday so it would be good to get this quilted first.

Plans for the next few months

I am back after what seems like a long break. We did get away to spend three days in Istanbul with our daughter, but I wasn't well enough to do much on the cruise other than rest, read and eat. Our trip back was eventful with an unplanned stop in Bucharest, so we arrived home a day later than expected. I brought home with a nasty cold which has knocked me out for a week.

I am now planning for the next few months and have started with choosing just five cross stitch projects to work on. All of the other projects have been unkitted and the threads returned to their storage boxes. This will make pulling threads out for future projects much quicker.

Winter Wonderland - kitted up in about five minutes. My first small project to work on.

A honey of a tiny town. One house or tree between projects should result in progress.

Frosty Tiny Town. Again one house between projects should see progress. 

Polar plunge. one and a half units stitched out of six and planned to be a Christmas gift. One unit to be stitched between other projects.

Hello Autumn should be my next project but three of the threads were mixed up with stuff being moved back into the playroom as the floors were refinished whilst we were away on holiday.

Friday finish - book sleeve

Making up this book sleeve was not on my bingo card for this week. I honestly planned for it to be a project for the November Modern Quilt Club retreat. However, I received a phone call from our local hospital on Monday, recommending that I cancel my holiday which starts today. That did not put me in a good mood!

I needed a simple project for my sewing session with my daughter over FB messenger. I cut out most of the pieces on Monday ready to sew, which I did on Tuesday morning. I had already sewn the book block from Me Time Delivered, a few weeks ago.