WIP Wednesday

 

I have been working on part 4 of Paris, Je t’aime by Pride & Joy Quilting. I am surprised at my progress and I have all parts of the piece foundation pieced apart from one, so I need to prep the appliqué pieces next.

I was going to pin my fabrics to my design wall to free up space next to my sewing machine but instead I’ve laid them out on the window sill which is to the left of my sewing machine. I’m not worried about sun damage as I will put away the fabrics until February soon.

I still need to find pins and the kit pack from Nantes. I can then use the leftover fabric from the Nantes fabric first.

Project planning

 

I have started prepping my Paris, Je T'Aime by Verushka Karate as my fabric arrived during the week along with the starch. I have started by printing out the instructions and putting them in a folder. I printed out the foundation papers on speciality paper which I have grouped in the folder by section.

I tried the starch powder for the first time and made a BIG mess! The fabric was as stiff as cardboard, so I had to wash the fabrics and use spray starch. I have labelled all of the fabrics and have started sewing section 4. I need to find the kit for La Vie en Rose as I know that I have some of the same fabrics. I can then use up some of the smaller pieces for this project.

Frosty Tiny Town

I have completed Frosty Tiny Town by Heart in Hand on 32 count opal evenweave in the color Rai. It just needs a press and then I can take it to the framer. I like the framer's simple system - drop it off on a Monday (for example) and pick it up a week later.

I have now made a small start on A Honey of a tiny town.

 

2026 project - Paris - Je t'aime

Paris - Je t'aime by Verushka Karate had previously caught my eye as it would go perfectly with my Nantes cushion. I took a class with Verushka in Nantes in 2024 or 2023. I saw on Instagram that my friend Pippa, received the kit at Christmas, which spurred me on to commit to this project. I have purchased, downloaded and printed the pattern. I now need to put it into a folder to keep some sort of order to the project. I then ordered all of the fabrics except one. I may have some of that fabric in the kit for the cushion. I also ordered some liquid starch as Verushka starches her fabric and hangs them to drip dry and they are beautifully crisp. I have some of the Moda Bella in Christmas red that Verushka had starched for the Nantes show and she didn't want to take anything home with her, so shared her leftovers.

Looking forward to 2026

I have just forwarded a list of twelve projects to Jersey Modern Quilt Group to participate in the 2026 UFO challenge. I finished ten out of twelve projects in 2025.

Part 1 of the Barbara Ana sew along and this is as far as I got in 2025.

Numbers 2 to 4 are the other three seasons. No doubt winter will be chosen before any of the others.

I planned to work on number 5 - Frosty Tiny Town over Xmas but not a stitch was placed in the piece.

Newly purchased fabric purchased last week at Guthrie and Ghani. It is waiting to be washed.

More fabric from Guthrie and Ghani!

Number 8 is the many thimble blocks I've made in the sewalong with Happy Sew Lucky. If only I knew where I'd put them!

Fabric purchased in 2021 from Rosenbergs on a three hour visit with Lizzie.

Jingle all the way has lots of embellishments to add along with a border.

One of many kits from Sew Quirky which is too cute not to make.

Another Sew Quirky pattern which will probably be made into a cushion for Lizzie.

I also have a longer term project that I'll share with you on Friday.

Happy Christmas

 

Last minute finish

 

We are spending Christmas in the UK with our children. We will spend two days in Leeds and then move to the Midlands to Matthew's home. I am sure Matthew will have even fewer decorations up than we have, so I have made some placemats. This is a Kimberbell embroidery pattern, stitched on my Janome embroidery machine and then made bigger with 4" rectangles on each side, quilted and then bound.

WIP Wednesday - Frosty Tiny Town

I have been working slowly but steadily on Frosty Tiny town by Heart in Hand. Today will be the last day that I'll work on it until I have finished a cross stitch ornament for Lizzie. I have worked to the far right of the pattern and then to the far left, I am now working on finishing each motif working from left to right. So far, I have the first house and tree complete.

 

Christmas plans

New traditions are being started in 2025, and we are travelling to the UK to spend Christmas with Matt and Lizzie. First of all, we're travelling to Leeds to visit Lizzie's new home and then we are staying near Stratford upon Avon. Christmas day will be at Matt's home in Coventry and all we've been asked to provide is pate. I envisioned having to take roasting trays and serving dishes in our checked luggage but apparently that is covered.

Lizzie and I usually tackle a joint project at Christmas, but this year's project is very simple. Rosie Taylors Crafts recently posted a video of easy scrappy pom poms. My pom pom makers are packed and I have started cutting 1/4" strips from selvedges.  You can find Rosie's video here.

We are planning a side trip to Guthrie and Ghani on Tuesday or Wednesday but haven't shared that with the boys, yet!

Cross stitch fully finishes II

I started off the month with great plans to fully finish lots of cross stitch pieces. I didn't quite fulfil my potential. My first finish by Barbara Ana was a quick finish as I purchased a 6" hoop butt at Stitch Festiva earlier in the year.

 

It worked perfectly and has joined my seasonal decor.

Again, this was a quick finish once y crushed walnut shells arrived from Amazon. It is by Primrose Cottage Stitches. Yesterday I tried and failed spectacularly to finish a Christmas ornament for Lizzie. However, I picked up oil paint from the store and not acrylic paint. Apparently, oil paint can take a year to cure! It won't be finished for this Christmas.

WIP Wednesday

I finished Winter Wonderland last week, so it was time to choose another cross stitch WIP. This is Frosty Tiny Town by Heart in Hand. I had part stitched two houses. I have now stitched to the far right of the pattern. Today I will work to the left with the three trees. Once I have worked to the far left, I will start finishing the motifs from left to right. 

Monday Make - Winter Wonderland

I finished stitching winter Wonderland by Lindsey weight for Primrose Cottage at the weekend. This is a free pattern from Primrose Cottage for signing up to their newsletter here. I have ordered crushed walnut shells from Amazon to fill the piece but the weather has been stormy, so boats have been cancelled for the past three days. Our mail (and food) comes in on the boat so I may have to be patient.

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.