Friday finish - merry and bright

 

I focused this week on finishing Merry and Bright by Tiny Modernist which was a sewalong released at the recent Jingle Ball. All of the tiny details such a the snowflakes take longer to stitch than the larger motifs. I am pleased that I've even put away all of the threads used for the project.

You must be tired of seeing this project, but my Christmas present to myself arrived yesterday - The Green Machine from The Trimming Shop. The next joint project with my daughter is a handbag to display pins on so I needed this to apply magnetic fasteners. So, this weekend's task is to finish the bag. As using magnetic fasteners is a modification to the pattern, I am slightly nervous about ruining the bag by putting the fastener in the wrong position.

WIP Wednesday- merry and bright

Christmas festivities are now over, and the fridge is full of leftovers. In the UK we have a bank holiday for both Christmas day and Boxing Day. So, there hasn't been a lot of stitching and crafting going on, just plenty of food prep.

I started this sewlong (SAL) during the jingle ball at the beginning of December. The pattern is Merry & Bright by Tiny Modernist. Part 5 of the SAL was released a week ago on 20 December.  In the last week, I have finished all of the white border from part 1, parts 2 and 3 were already complete, done a little on part 4 and stitched most of the sleigh and part of the reindeer from part 5.

 I'd like to work on the reindeer this afternoon as that is the largest motif still to be completed. Then there will be mostly smaller floral motifs and snowflakes to add. I now have four days to complete it for my last 2023 finish but my daughter is keen to start on another joint project - a pin bag.

First Christmas project completed

Happy Christmas. The first project chosen by my daughter, Lizzie, for us to work on together was the Sewing Space Station by Arabesque Scissors. We made a few changes and quilted the base as a whole piece and used some of the piece to also make the cargo bag. We also used ribbons for the ties when wrapping it up to take to retreat.

When we were shopping for buttons earlier in the week, I didn't think we needed a third button, as I assumed it was for the pin cushion which I didn't make so I returned for the third time this week so buy a third button for us both and pick up my overlocker.

I am very lucky to have a large stash of Aurifil thread made up of purchases, wins and retreat goody bags. Even then it was quite difficult to find a match for the main panel. I tried to match thread to fabric in most areas.

A lot of preparation does into projects like these but once the fabric was quilted, it came together fairly quickly. I did cut the main panel too short but just adjusted the pocket panel by 1" to match.

I am pleased with the finished product and the Ruby Star Society panel fit just right and is framed well by the pockets, which don't intrude into the owl and branch. I was also able to add another part of the panel into the front pocket too.

Christmas project - Sewing space station

The first of the Christmas joint projects with my daughter is The Sewing Space Station - a pattern by Arabesque Scissors. This was chosen by my daughter. We plundered my box of Ruby Star Society fabrics and changed our minds more than once about our fabric choices.

Lizzie chose her fabrics based on these butterfly prints purchased from A Beautiful Thing at the Festival of Quilts. I mainly have fat quarters so needing bigger quantities is limiting our choices, which isn't necessarily a bad thing!!

I was thrilled to find a Ruby Star Society panel at the bottom of the box. It was purchased as part of a miscellaneous destash and is just the right size. I haven't quilted it as I didn't wat to detract from the gorgeous print. Time now to see if we can finish this project today and perhaps find my mojo.

 

WIP Wednesday - Merry & Bright

 

I started this sewlong (SAL) during the jingle ball at the beginning of December. The pattern is Merry & Bight by Tiny Modernist. My stitch counting is not great, so I have been adding the borders from part1 as I go.

Part 2 was the top right-hand block with these retro baubles, and I completed this block on time. Mainly because part 3 was released a day later than I expected.

Part 3 in the top left is a line of Christmas trees which are not quite complete. I decided to start on part 4 when it was released, and it is a Nordic Santa and has larger blocks of colour to stitch. This was my progress on Sunday.

The final part, part 5, is released today. Now what would have been the most efficient way to proceed? Finish part 2 which is mainly the last tree and some white accents or carry on with part 4? 

Monday make - Twixtmas quilt

The germ of the idea for this quilt started almost four years ago when we were at the princes Elizabeth Hospital in London in January 2020. Who knew at that time that we had got the timing right and would go into Lockdown six weeks later. I spotted a simple design on the tiled floor of the reception, and it has now turned into a quick layer cake or scrap quilt that could be made easily between Christmas and New Year (Twixtmas)

I purchased this layer cake from Sew Hot in their Black Friday sale with the idea of a quick and simple pattern which showed off the fabrics which was quick to cut out.

I am excited to see my daughter who arrives home today but I'm also keen to get this pattern finalised and for sale.

Friday finish - mini block sampler

 

It doesn't feel like I've accomplished much this month, but I have now finished the 2023 mini block sampler with Art East Quilting. I planned for the background to be an achromatic gradation from white in the middle to black in the corner. I've reinforced this with a black spotted border - fabric which I purchased in Rennes possibly two years ago.

The fabrics used for the blocks, other than the background, is from my delicious box of Ruby Star Society scraps and fat quarters. I need to start purchasing larger cuts as I only have a navy which I have in any quantity. However, I did have just enough leftovers from the Tiny Frights binding which is a glow in the dark white on a black background. I machine stitched down the binding as I anticipate this might be used as a baby quilt.

I used a piece of Ruby Star 108" wide fabric which is like a sateen for the backing. The pantograph is a Handiquilter baptist fan which I reduced in size as the blocks are only 6" square.

I even remembered to add a cheeky label into the binding.

2024 UFO challenge

Now that I have finished the twelve challenges for 2023, I have dug out some of my UFOs, kits and patterns to compile my 2024 list. The list has a decidedly autumnal theme of charts I didn't stitch in 2023.

They are:

1. Sneakers - a joint project with Lizzie, my daughter which I hated doing but needs finishing or restarting

2. Red heart fabric purchased at Festival of Quilts 2023

3. Pink heart fabric purchased at Festival of Quilts 2023 by my daughter as a birthday present

4. Boo by Hello by Liz Matthews

5. Autumn Squirrel by Barbara Ana

6. October Cottage - I need to finish these even though I hate the fabric

7. September Cottage

8. Dancer by Barbara Ana

9. Halloween Tiny Town

10. Halloween Terrarium

11. Christmas Tiny Town

12. Cast a spell by Hands on Design

Jingle Ball recap

 

The Jingle Ball was a virtual cross stitching event held at the beginning of the month and organised by Lindy Stitches. It was very much designed for North Americans and the main part I could participate in was the stitching rooms, which was fun and the speed dating where you were matched with someone for a five-minute chat. I have linked up with several of the ladies via Instagram.

The event started on the Friday night but not until 11pm GMT so I had a quick look around the shops and downloaded some free charts that designers gifted to attendees. I only purchased two charts, both from Tiny Modernist. The first was Christmas Terrarium, and I already have Halloween Terrarium and then I purchased a mystery SAL, called Merry & Bright. The third clue is being released today and I have finished the first two clues apart from the white borders.

I still have to view some of the meet & greets and we have 30 days to view them, along with the two free classes. I think it's great value for $10 and will sign up for the 2024 event when it's released. I'd hope there will be more of a 24 hour approach in the future to cover all time zones.

Mini block sampler progress

 

The sewalong for the 48 blocks finished almost two weeks ago but I will be honest, and I have dragged my heels with finishing the last block. This was a sewalong with Art East Quilting. I have kept up with stitching one block a week for every block until the last one. I had stitched a block with a white background for the centre block but as there were only 48 and not 49 block patterns released, I inserted a white fabric in the centre and restitched the star with a different background.

The final block had so many small pieces. I would have been better using the blue for the centres and the orange for the points. I had thrown away four blue squares thinking I had cut too many but of course I had cut too few rectangles for the flying geese blocks. Fortunately, it had been raining so I hadn't emptied the waste paper basket!!

I finished the quilt top but decided it needed a small border. The blocks are 6" finished so I opted for a 3" finished border in a white dot on a black background that I purchased in France two years ago. So, it's now ready to be quilted and possibly even bound this weekend.

November 2023 achievements

I feel quite accomplished this month with completing a lot of small projects. Despite our local retreat being cancelled, I did a retreat at home and successfully finished a number of projects, mainly mini quilts.

 1. Quietplay block turned into SCBU mini quilt

2. Perfectly Pieced October 2022  turned into SCBU mini quilt

3. One block of Kona 2024 BOM turned into SCBU mini quilt

4. Spice rack

5. Zeriano giant tote 

6. One mini spilt pouch needs to be bound inside and I plan to make the medium or large size too.

7. Quietplay mini quilt which I pieced at MQC retreat and have made into a cushion

8. Christmas decorations for my son.

9. I picked up two orphan blocks from a recent Guild meeting and they were perfect to make into another SCBU quilt. 

10. 2023 sampler

11. Final Prairie Schooler Santa

A successful month despite the other claims on my time.