January 2025 progress on slow stitching projects

I have three projects for 2025 that I am working on slowly throughout the year:

The woven stars foundation paper pieced blocks;

Jingle all the way sewalong; and

The Ruby Star Society anniversary quilt.

There are 42 sheets in the Fat Quarter Shop Foundation paper pad, and I stitched two more blocks yesterday bringing the total so far to twenty completed scrappy blocks.

I have caught up on the sewalong for Jingle All the Way by Kimberbell Designs and we have now completed nine out of the thirteen sections and there will be embellishments to stitch and add to complete. I hope to finish this during February as I added the Pumpkins and Potions to my Guild's UFO challenge and I definitely need to make some progress before that project is drawn.

I was planning to stitch ten blocks of the Ruby Star tenth anniversary quilt each month. There are five different blocks, and I completed all twenty of block one in January and six of block two. The other sixteen of block two are already cut and ready to sew. I will continue to cut out the blocks at our monthly Guild meeting as that worked well for me in January.

I have made a positive start to 2025 on these larger projects which has been very satisfying.

WIP Wednesday - Jingle all the Way

  

I was so delighted to get my Janome Atelier 7 back on Monday from being repaired in the UK. I even put away my smaller machine last night and set the Atelier 7 up. I also pinned some of the blocks, ready for some sewing on Tuesday. I am so very nearly up to date, but I have made a filler block in Block 4, 2" too small so I will make another filler block when we work on section 8. Otherwise, I am finished with sections 1 to 7.

Section 9 needed just one narrow filler block, so I stitched it along with other fillers. we have lots of blocks for future sections already complete so for section 8, we already have four embroidered blocks which are also on my design wall.

Aren't the gingerbread men in the snow globes just the cutest? Time to put away this project until the video for the next section is released.

Monday Make - Pear and Partridge

 

I am still without my Janome Atelier 7, which should hopefully be delivered today, so I focused on finishing a cross-stitch piece last weekend. This is Pear and Partridge by Pigeon Coop Designs. A small piece but there was a lot of unpicking!! 

I am lucky that my local needlework Store - Rachel's Textiles is open on a Sunday and had a 5" embroidery hoop.  I ironed some interfacing onto the back of the piece and put it in the frame, then I gathered the excess linen on the reverse. I don't like leaving the back of my work for all to see how messy I am, so I used a circle of Decovil light ironed onto a Christmassy fabric and then pressed under the edge. The circle of fabric was then glued to the back of the hoop to give a neat finish.

The plan for this week is to work on my Ruby and Ralph cross stitch, finish at least one more cross stitch piece and stitch together sections 1 to 7 of Jingle all the Way.

Friday finish - booklet pouch

 

I have had the pattern for The Booklet Pouch by Aneela Hoey for some time and I kit it up for the November Modern Quit Club Retreat, however I needed the correct zippers including a separating zipper. I ordered some from Sew Hot but the colour choice was very limited. When I was in London in January, I bought matching 10" red zips from MacCulloch and Wallis. I was ready to make my case or so I thought.

I used Tula Pink's Tabby Road collection together with a more recent rainbow houndstooth. I think I need to buy more of that fabric. I also needed double sided heavyweight interfacing which wasn't available in Jersey, so I improvised with Steam a Seam light ironed onto some Decovil light. I will try the recommended interfacing next time but my solution did work satisfactorily.

On the outside of the case, I fussy cut two cats for the front and back of the pouch and then pieced them together. Although I am not a rodent lover, I do love the selvedge that I added to the pouch, and I even remembered to add a label to the outside.

I now need to focus on two cross stitch pieces that I wanted to work on this month. I also hope that my Janome Atelier 7 arrives back from being fixed today so that I can piece together some machine embroidered blocks from Jingle all the way.

WIP Wednesday - Jingle all the way

During December I fell behind with the Jingle All the Way sewalong on Cristin Creates Facebook and Youtube channel. Last week Cristin released the first video for 2025 with the small flying geese blocks which I cut out and pieced straight away.

I then felt enthusiastic again about the project and hooped up two berry blocks which I had abandoned in December. Fortunately, I had marked the edge of the hoop on the stabiliser so I was able to accurately reload the blocks into the hoop. I was so pleased s I thought I'd have to start again.

Then I moved onto the third berry block and the Dec. 25th block. I put them in one hoop but stitched them one at a time.

Full of enthusiasm and having found that I had bought the embellishment kit, I stitched the gingerbread men snow globes. So cute. I am now up to date with all the embroidered and pieced block, just some filler blocks to quilt some of which, if not all will need a double hooping. Eek.

Monday make - Cassie dress

This is the Cassie dress - pattern by Emporia Fabric. You would be forgiven for thinking that you've seen this dress before as I sewed everything apart from the hems at the November Modern Quilt Club retreat in November and it has taken a further two months to getting around to doing the sleeve and dress hems. I under stitched the neckline as instructed but it didn't lie flat, so I have now top stitched it.

I bought both the pattern and fabric at Festival of Quilts in 2023, so it's good to have it finished and ready for the summer.

 

Friday finish - Frankie top

 

I am pleased with how this Frankie top by Tilly and the Buttons using fabric from Guthrie and Ghani has turned out. Great length and fit. My daughter, Lizzie, decided we'd have a sewing social using FB Messenger video. Then she threw in that we had to provide three projects, and the other person would decide which project we'd work on. Lizzie made a new lunch bag.

I even managed to remember to add a label to the seam from my Kylie and the Machine 2024 advent calendar. I plan to wear this either with jeans or under my denim pinafore dress.

 

WIP Wednesday - woven stars

Whilst waiting to have a stitching social over Facebook messenger with my daughter on Saturday, I decided to stitch two more of the woven star blocks. My plan in 2025 is to make four of these blocks a month and focus more on other projects. 

I am using the 6" Woven Star quilt block foundation papers from Fat Quarter Shop using a variety of Ruby Star cream on cream fabrics for the background and a bundle of First Light also by Ruby Star Society for Moda Fabrics for the stars. There are 42 sheets of foundation papers in the book and I have made fourteen so far. I'm not sure how many I will make in total but four per month will mean I will have stitched the whole pad by the end of August.

Monday Make - Perfectly pieced May 2024

My Guild UFO challenge project for Jaanuary 2025 is the Perfectly Pieced design for May 2024 from Me Time delivered. Having decided on the colours I wanted to use, I dove into my stash and picked out fabrics from Guicy Guice, Camille Roskelley, Alison Gass and Tula Pink on a white spot on a black background. All of the 4" blocks are pieced on my Janome embroidery machine and the individual blocks stitched together on my Janome sewing machine. Unfortunately, my Atelier 7 has been returned to the manufacturer for repair, and I hope it is returned soon.

I used the fast feather pantograph again to quilt the panel which was trimmed down to 18.5" as it is destined to be an incubator quilt for SCBU. I found two trips of the red and white stripe already cut, so just needed to cut one more strip. It matches perfectly with the red that I used for the piecing.

I even remembered to add a Kylie and the Machine label to the back from my 2024 advent calendar and the backing was already loaded on my long arm from the previous quilt I finished in 2025.

Christmas start

 

I started Partridge & Pear by Pigeon Coop Designs before Christmas. Even I admit that this is a very underwhelming photo. You can definitely see the trouble I've been having with my counting and the multiple areas I've unpicked.

I usually start in the middle of the design and work to the edges, however I am reconsidering that method and thinking that it is easier to double check my counting by starting from either the top or bottom. Probably the top would be better. I plan to keep on working on this project and then move on to Ruby & Ralph.

WIP Wednesday - January UFO challenge

 

My January 2025 Guild UFO challenge is to use the May 2024 Perfectly Pieced files from Me Time Delivered. I subscribe to the digital only monthly package rather than receiving a kit including fabric. You are also allowed to skip a month if you prefer. 

I wanted to pay with the colours of this block and make an 18" square mini quilt for SCBU to cover an incubator. I started with one of the projects to make a tote bag which was 4 x 4 blocks and piecing 4" blocks would give a 16" finished panel. I planned the colours and my first attempt would have resulted in a mostly green panel and I am not a lover of green. Back to the drawing board and I added in pink and purple to the plan. I then shopped my stash and I was pleased to use the orange Bonnie & Camille Fabric as that was in a scrap pack from Sew Hot in our Jersey retreat goody bag. I would have preferred a dark blue background but I have yardage of the black spot so chose that.

I cut out the necessary pieces and stitched the pieces on my embroidery machine. Then I pieced them into a panel and added a 3" border. One of the points is a bit iffy, but the top is now finished. I am going to wat to quilt it as I have suitable backing already loaded from another project and would like to quilt another project alongside this project for efficiency.

This afternoon I plan to sit in front of the fire, catch up on some Youtube and cross stitch on a project.

Ruby Star tenth anniversary quilt

 

I have had this panel since the first printing along with the pattern and all of the fabric and it has sat on my desk. The parcel has now been opened, and I am planning my own block of the month using the pattern as written. There are one hundred blocks, and I think a steady pace of ten blocks per month, should result in a finished quilt by next Christmas. I also plan to cut out the next month's blocks at our Guild meeting on the third Saturday of each month.

I stitched the first block up last weekend and finished all 18 of them. A good start.

I am away in London today, but tomorrow I will focus on my January Guild UFO challenge.

Friday finish - Fraction quilt

My first finish of 2025! The Fraction Quilt by Lou Orth made from Kona solids from stash on a Ruby star starry background. The binding is a stripe by quietplay. I use Glide in the colour bone for the quilting and a digital pantograph called Fast Feathers.

I think I'll make a start on the Ruby Star anniversary quilt today and cut out the first block of which we have to make twenty.

Happy New Year

 

Our Guild UFO challenge has been picked for January 2025 and it's number 4. I think I will play around with the colours of this block and make a mini quilt for SCBU.

I have also listed some of my sewing UFOs and cross stitch patterns / kits / UFOs and numbered them 1 to 12, so number 4 from those lists are also planned to be worked on this month.

I plan to use these Tula Pink prints to make a booklet pouch (pattern by Aneela Hoey), I just needed the right sized zipper and the rest was already kitted up.

The timing of this project is perfect for Valentine's Day in February. I have already stitched up Ruby and made a start on Ralph.