Friday finish - 1995 Santa

 I will be glad to finish all of the Santas soon. This was the pattern I meant to stitch this month so I have completed two this month.

I have a horrid sore throat today (not Covid as I've taken three LFTs and a PCR at the hospital on Monday) so I am not going to get much more done this month and my UFO challenge is not going to be completed this month.

WIP Wednesday - retreat prep

 

I returned late last night from London (almost two hours behind schedule) and I've unpacked my hand luggage this morning. The next trip to look forward to is the Modern Quilt Club retreat at the end of October and I have started a little prep. I get the most out of a retreat by prepping all of my fabric and making a kit in its own bag ready to go. 

The first was easy to get ready as it was a kit and pattern from the Sew Quirky mystery box that I've recently received. I've added in a linen background and need to add some steam a seam for the applique and some plastic to make a copy of the pattern to place the pieces accurately.

I have now completed three months of the Sewology BOM so I am up to date. Block 4 is prepped and I will prep some more months ready to take. The blocks are long, so I am best to cut the pieces at home with my 20.5" ruler. We have one more zoom call before retreat for this BOM, so I will probably sew one block then.

These are the fabrics for the cushion for Make Modern Magazine. I need to fine tune and print out the foundation pattern to add to the fabrics. This is due in November.

I do have a bag pattern to stitch too, and it's bagged up ready to go from the last retreat. I may pack it as a backup project if I finish the others.

Monday make - block 2

 

I am now up to date with the Sewology BOM with Modern Quilt Club. The pencil which is block 2 was very quick to make. The only challenge was that it's very long!! I had to piece one of the yellow fabrics but once quilted it will be barely noticeable.

By the time you read this I might have landed at Gatwick Airport for a very last minute appointment. I'm hoping that a friend might be free to do some crafty stuff such as visit Liberty or the Fashion and Textile Museum. I will have to have a talk with myself so that I pace myself.

Sunday stash Cornwall

 

We spent ten days in Cornwall earlier in the month and we visited many sights including the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan. We enjoyed our trip, but I would not want to be in Cornwall during the school holidays as queues must be monstrous.

I have buyer's remorse since not buying this FQ stack from Olive & Flo Handcraft at the May Modern Quilt Club retreat. I managed to find a bundle at The Sewing Studio in Redruth as we travelled from our first hotel in Penzance to our second hotel in Carlyon Bay. I also managed to include a trip to the Seasalt outlet shop where I bought a dress, two tops and a pair of shoes. Very pleased.

We are big fans of Wallace & Gromit so we had to visit Land's End to go to the Aardman "Grand experience" Another grand day out for us. When we went to Truro, I was pleasantly surprised to spot Truro Fabrics very near to the car park. I bought some Jersey and contrasting cuffs for a test stitch but that doesn't seem to be happening now, so I will use the fabric for something else.

Friday finish - block 1 sewology

It is fair to say that whilst I took all of my equipment and fabric with me on holiday with the intention of cutting some blocks out ready to sew, nothing happened. I returned from Cornwall on Tuesday and had a meeting in the afternoon and an early night due to an early start to get to Exeter Airport.

However, on Wednesday I cut out all of the pieces for block 1 and on Thursday I put together the block. My plan now is to spend half an hour every weekday cutting the fabric for blocks with the intention of getting block 2 done before block 3 is released on 15 October.

I am sewing my blocks from stash using Kona silver as the background with assorted Ruby Star Society prints from my stash. The pattern is a little wasteful with the background fabric as you start with a 4.5" strip and then cut it down to cut the next size of strip or square. I am keeping all of the strips to cut from for future blocks.

I think block 2 is the pencil which looks fairly straight forward.

Wednesday WIP - mini series SAL 3

 

This week's blocks are the pineapple and hexagon step.  I am totally confessing that the pineapple is from the last sewalong in 2020 and rather than leaving it languishing in a drawer, I've added it into this year's mix.

As well as using up my scraps of Alison Glass fabrics, I have also wound multiple bobbins wit leftover Decobob thread to use in the bottom of my Janome Atelier 7.

Half of the blocks are now complete. I'm not looking forward to the rainbow block as that has lots of small pieces.

Monday make - 2003 Santa

This is not the Santa I was due to stitch this month, but it’s finished now. I will start the correct pattern next to work on during our holiday.

 

Friday finishes

 

Not my work. Prior to going on holiday, I had four quilts come in to be quilted. This one is an eclectic mix of fabrics, mainly Art Gallery Fabrics from retreat goody bags. The busy floral sashing pulls it all together.

An autumnal courthouse steps quilt, which is half done as the maker needs to add more backing fabric.

A pretty brown and duck egg blue quit with hexagons in the centre.

The maker of this quilt didn't want intense quilting, so I used Malachite by Urban Elementz. I'm hoping that some of these quilts will soon be bound and on their way to their new owners.

Wednesday WIP - mini series SAL 2

I forgot to tell you last week that you can find all of the details of the sewalong at Alison Glass' website

The next two blocks are courthouse steps and diamond side step.

And the size of the blocks is 4" finished.

They're looking good together and I'm still using scraps of the Alison Glass patterned fabrics. 

Monday Make - Angela Pingel discount code

 

I shared this quilt that I made using Angela Pingel's new Double Crossed pattern. I thought it was a very well written pattern with beautiful photography. Angela has now released this pattern and you can now get a 20% discount on all of her patterns at Angela Pingel's website when you use my affiliate discount code - 

APBA-SUB20

Fabric Friday - Sewology SAL

I did warn you that I'd fallen down the sewalong rabbit hole. well in for a penny in for a pound. I have also joined Modern Quit Club's  Talk about indecisive, I only made a decision one minute before the first of the monthly Zoom calls was about to start.

I am going to use my Ruby Star Society stash on a background of Kona silver. My background fabric arrived just before we left for our holiday to Cornwall so I stashed it along with my cutting mat and rotary cutter. That reminds me, I need to add some rulers to my hand luggage. I printed the pattern at home and added a plastic cover, then it was bound using my Bind It All tool.

I hope to get some of the blocks cut whilst we are away. The first two would be great as I am already behind, and I think month 2 starts on 15 September.

Wednesday WIP - mini series SAL

I have slipped down the Sewalong rabbit hole again and joined the #miniseriessal2022 with Alison Glass. My fabric choices are the same as the original SAL - Oakshott silver shot cotton as a background and Alison Glass scraps.

The next thing to decide was which Janome foot to use. I eventually decided on F2 as it has good visibility.

As we are going to Cornwall I decided to get a head start on the sewalong. I started with the tringle log cabin and have used Aurifil 80 weight thread to keep bulk out of the itty bitty seams.

Next was the log cabin block. The four new patterns come later in the sewalong. I have scheduled into my Todoist app to work for one hour a day on this sewalong Some blocks may take two days but some have fewer pieces.

I am loving the Sew Quirky ruler which came in the recent mystery box. I have a plan to make a table topper with these blocks but that is a long way off.

August 2022 achievements

 As expected finishes were few this month but we had a fabulous trip to The Festival of Quilts.

My first finish was the 1993 Prairie Schooler Santa. It'll be so exciting once I've finished all of the patterns from the 90s. I have three more to complete from the 90s, four from 2000s, one from 2020s and 2022. So just nine in all. I have decided I will only buy future year if I really like them.

My August 2022 challenge for my group was Light by Barbara Ana Designs which is quite a big piece and took longer than expected.

Monday Make - Light

This was my August UFO for Jersey Modern Quilt Group challenge for August. My first challenge was t find it. Of course when found, it was in plain sight on the corner of my desk.

 

I only finished stitching this on 30 August and pressed and framed it the following day. I picked up the frame for £1 at a local charity shop - Acorn Enterprises where my daughter and I visited on her last day in Jersey. She found a black and white striped jacket for Halloweeen as she has a Beetlejuice outfit in progress.

I learnt that I really need to check that I have sufficient fabric margin around the whole piece before starting. This is held in place with glue and staples!!

Fabric: Picture this Plus Crystal 28 count in the colour coastal from The Homemakery

Threads: DMC called for in the pattern

Pattern: Light by Barbara Ana Designs - free from Instagram profile

Friday finish - Havana Quilt

This is the first time I have used a precut quilt kit and it was fun. I was short one triangle which was replaced quickly. No leftovers and no mess from cutting to clear up.

It is quilted with a classic Baptist Fan motif and I think it looks great. I purchased the wide backing from Sew Hot in one of their 20% off promotions. 

The kit uses Tula Pink solids and was put together by Modern Quilt Club and the pattern is by Paula Steel.