WIP Wednesday - jingle all the way

I have joined in the sewalong for Jingle All the Way by Kimberbell Designs. Cristin Sohm hosts the videos on Youtube and it slowly take you through the blocks for the project section by section. I though I was about ten blocks behind, but it turns out to be fourteen blocks and two filler blocks!

The first block was Jingle all the way and you can either do the one block for section 1 or two blocks for the whole quilt. The benefit of doing all of the identical blocks is the work on later sections becomes lighter.

Next were two nine patch blocks for which I am using grey rather than black. They were quick to piece and then were quilted on my embroidery machine with a plaid pattern.

The three Le Moyne stars were next which was more of a challenge as my hoop is not quite big enough, but I reduced the quilting design from 8" to 7.75" and removed the basting stitches. I like how these turned out.

Next were two border blocks and time to stitch together section 1. I forgot to put stabilizer on the back of the border fabrics and I can see the difference in how they turned out. However, section 1 is complete and I'm starting to catch up! 

Next should have been five peppermint twists but instead I decided to do the simpler candy cane blocks. Watching the embroidery being done is so hypnotic. I am pleased with my choice of background fabric for these two blocks.

 A new video was released this morning, so I now need to stitch:

Three filler blocks for section 2

Five peppermint twists - one of which I need to complete section 2

Stitch together section 2

I'm not doing too badly given I had only started this project this week.

Monday make - thimble SAL

The Thimbles sewalong with Happy Sew Lucky started a week ago, so when I started sewing the blocks on Saturday, I was already behind. I am combining my Ruby Star stash with Kona solids for the background.

Unfortunately, the first block I sewed was for week 3! Not a good start but i was pleased with my fussy cutting of the word "strawberry".

The week 2 blocks turned out beautifully with records, a tomato, another strawberry, pop, an owl and a skier. Very random!

Yesterday I finished the last of the week 1 blocks too. The blocks look great together so far.

A few months ago, I started tidying up my solids stash and destashed any smaller pieces. I then sorted the remaining solids by colour which made choosing the background fabrics much quicker.

 

Friday finish - Christmas tiny town

 

Christmas Tiny Town by Heart in Hand was the UFO selected for October for our Guild FO Challenge. Fortunately, I had worked on it during September, so I finished it early in the month and it has now been framed.

What to work on next? I have an ultrasound later today after supervising some work at my father's apartment, so a busy day, but I hope to make more progress at the weekend.

WIP Wednesday - bee quilt

 

This is another fabulous quilt made by Gisele, which I quilted with a bee and floral design in medium grey Glide. I am amazed at the variety of yellow bee fabrics used for the pieced hexagon background. Another stunner ready to be returned to its new owner.

Monday Make - medallion quilt

 I have been quite productive over the last few days, but tech seems to be working against me and making progress slower than I had hoped. I loaded a customer quilt on to my long arm last Monday and quilted it yesterday.

All of the floral fabrics were giving off spring vibes as we head into autumn. A central medallion is surrounded by these rectangular floral blocks. The quilt was all hand pieced by our talented friend Gisele and when her stash was sold, this quilt top was purchased by a friend. 

I used Glide thread in the colour bone and the digital pantograph Malachite by Urban Elementz. My next job is to load another customer quilt onto my frame.

Sneakers and September 2024 achievements

I am thrilled to have finished these sneakers purchased from sneaker.eu by my daughter for Christmas 2022. Lizzie finished her sneakers in 2022. My first attempt wasn't successful, so it was added to my Guild UFO challenge for 2024. The Fabric is from Stitch Fabric at the 2024 Festival of Quilts and will become a matching dress.

I unpicked the labels from my first attempt and added it to the tongue. I now need to find a source for shoe laces and wash the shoe laces from my shop bought shoes too.

A stiletto to open up the stitch holes and the big green machine to punch the stitching holes into the fabric uppers and tongues made this project much easier the second time around.

This was my only finish for the month and completed on the last day of the month. I am looking forward to a more productive October.

October 2024 plans

September was a bust, so I need to work on the following still:

Christmas Tiny Town is one of my UFO challenge pieces that I started in August and I did some stitching on during our river cruise. Fingers crossed this is chosen for October as it should be a quick finish and then I can get it framed professionally.

Another small piece that I have started and put to the side is Spring Quaker by Primrose Cottage in a pretty monochromatic lavender thread. 

The Cristin Creates FB group are already on block 7 of the Jingle All the Way quilt so I have some catching up to do. My husband has finished painting the room which contains my long arm and embroidery machine so I should be able to make progress on this. I will use my own choice of fabrics again, but I did purchase the embellishment kit.

I would like to make two versions of the Cassie dress this month. The denim stars fabric is already cut out and I made a toile of the bodice.

The blue and pink floral is prewashed, but I will only cut it out once the denim version is complete.

I also have three customer quilts ready to quilt and I need to catch up on the Karlee Porter Graffiti quilting class. As my husband is away visiting his family for two weeks, in theory, this is all very achievable.