Friday progress - Ginger’s kitchen bench pillow

 

We had a lovely day in St Malo yesterday, fortunately the weather had cooled down and as we left it was just starting to spot with rain. This morning, I have put together section 1 of the bench pillow. Cristin Sohm makes very detailed videos for each stage and adds her own tweaks and challenges. 

The sewalong is at a much gentler pace than I had expected, and I like the pace now. At the beginning I was keen to do extra blocks whilst I waited for some product to redo the first gingerbread house. I have a few extra blocks made but will now continue with the gentler pace of the sewalong and not sew ahead. I can also work on the Lucky Us pillow too and will buy the tulle today for one of the remaining elements of that project.

St Malo is a walled town and we walked from the ferry terminal. By the time we passed through the border control it was 12.30 local time. Thank you, Brexit, for the longer slower queues in the hot sun. First, we did a spot of shopping in the town, smaller boutiques were closed for lunch, but I purchased a sun hat. There was a 30% discount off the hat with an orange ribbon and full price for the blue ribbon, you can be sure that I purchased the discounted hat and will change the ribbon.

We then decided to look for a restaurant for lunch. It is a touristy place so it is challenging to find something reasonably priced, but we found a set lunch menu which suited all four of us.

We went to the local out of town shopping centre with its large Carrefour supermarket. I may have bought a tray of white nectarines and already eaten two. It was difficult to find a taxi and that was probably due to a German cruise ship visiting the port. That would come back and bite us later as we couldn't get a taxi back to the port. We hopped on the local bus with help from a friendly lady but even with some power walking to the ferry terminal, we cut it very fine.

I will leave you with a picture of the cute Legami display of cute heat erasable pens at the shopping centre. A few may have been purchased!!

WIP Wednesday - Lucky Us

I have started the Lucky Us project by Kimberbell Designs using the Cristin Creates YouTube videos. Once again, I have been choosing fabric from stash, but I am now waiting for specialty Kimberbell leather and glitter applique sheets to move on to the trickier elements. 

I visited my local needlework shop, Rachel's Textiles yesterday and completely forgot that I needed a small amount of tulle. I messaged Rachel and she does stock tulle, so that will have to wait until Friday as she is closed today and I am in St Malo, France for the day tomorrow. I've also misplaced another block that I've finished for the project, but I just can't find it. I will worry about it once all of the other blocks are complete.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday for the shingles vaccine, but Nigel suggested I should also have the pneumonia vaccine too. My arm is so sore. I hope my arm improves by tomorrow as it will be a long and tiring day and the discomfort will not put me in a good mood!

 

Winter mystery cushion finished

Whilst waiting for the Sewalong for the Kimberbell Ginger's Kitchen bench pillow to start over at Cristin Creates Facebook Group, this mystery sewalong was highlighted from two years ago. I finished the central panel and then added borders to all four sizes to make a 19" cushion cover. I simply quilted the borders with almost straight lines!

I added some rhinestones to the centre of the snowflake as I had melted the faux leather in one spot. Lesson learnt. I used my usual snap closure for the back which used the same diamond fabric from Alison Glass as the mall borders.

This project was based on the Lucky Us cushion pattern, which of course I have now started. however once again I need to buy a few supplies to make further progress.

WIP Wednesday - Halloween Tiny Town

Halloween Tiny Town by Heart in Hand was chosen for my Guild's UFO challenge for June. It's not a big piece but for some reason progress has been slow. It is now complete and ready to be framed / finished. I used all of the called for fancy flosses apart from one where I used a DMC but not the one specified.

I have two charity shop purchases that might have worked for mounting the items but one is too small and the other too big. I am considering the side of a wine box, depending on size or just getting it framed professionally. I have another in this series to finish too and one more to stitch.

 

Ginger’s Kitchen bench pillow

The first Youtube video from Cristin Creates for the Sewalong was released last Friday. The pattern is Ginger's Kitchen Bench Pillow by Kimberbell Designs. Even though I didn't have the mylar or glitter applique sheet required for this block, I made some substitutions. The faux leather that I used for the snow worked well but the shiny fabric used for the candy canes had a black backing and didn't work.

Later on Friday afternoon, I had a call from Stitch X Stitch and they had both items ready to send me and they should have been posted on Friday evening. Fingers crossed my order arrives soon and I can redo the Cottage A. I didn't have tan felt either, so I used the back of some pink faux leather which has a tan backing and that substitution worked for me.

I was impatient to make another block, so I decided to use Embrilliance software to stitch two blocks in one hoop. I was very pleased to make it work. Using new software is always a steep learning curve but Google was my friend! I have also picked up lots of tips from Cristin's YouTube videos.

 

This morning there was no new video, so I chose three simple blocks to prep and stitch out. I like how they've turned out. 

Here are my blocks so far. Minus the dodgy cottage which I hope I can stitch up this week. I doubt this project will be finished in June as the videos are released at a steady pace and I will learn more from sewing along rather than rushing ahead.

All of the fabrics are from my stash and so far are a mixture of Sweetwater, Tula Pink and others.

 

Winter mystery cushion

 

Whilst waiting for the Sewalong for the Kimberbell Ginger's Kitchen bench pillow to start over at Cristin Creates Facebook Group, this mystery sewalong was highlighted from two years ago. I was very surprised to find that I had purchased the digital download a few months ago for that cute penguin face.

Cristin gives very detailed instructions on Youtube as well as a cutting guide for each block. This project was intended as a stash buster and that's exactly what I've done. I had picked out fabrics for the bench pillow and used those along with others from stash including some oldie but goodies from Alison Glass, Sweetwater, Tula Pink, Aneela Hoey, Kate Spain and more. I have realised that whilst I have lots of low volume fabrics I am missing white on white fabrics so I will add that to my Festival of Quilts shopping list.

The double pinwheel block is from another collection called Lucky Us. I think this pillow needs to go on my 2025 UFO challenge list. I was pleased that I chose to use triangles instead of rectangles to piece the large triangles as I was able to get the wording the right way up on all of the blades.

Cristin issues small challenges for each block and the challenge for the snowflake block was to not use cotton for the snowflake block - instead I used some faux leather from a Sew Quirky mystery box.

The panel is now ready to turn into a cushion. Instead of purchasing new quilting designs, I used some basic designs and I particularly like the clamshells on the four patch block on the top row.

The first video for the Ginger's Kitchen bench pillow was released a few hours ago and I have assembled my materials. I don't have light tan felt or mylar so I have made some substitutions. I am using the reverse of some pink cork instead of felt and some shiny fabric from Sew Quirky instead of mylar. I used the same fabric for the skate blades on the penguin in the Winter cushion.

Wrist wraps

 

When I asked my daughter what she wanted for her birthday (28 June), I hadn't anticipated that she'd request a pair of wrist wraps. I knew that I had this Ruby Star canvas somewhere and it w in my box of Ruby Star Society fabric. However, the instructions from The Artisan Life here, were quite clear that the fabric had to be prewashed. That delayed the project a little.

I then had to buy some twill tape. Even though Lizzie's birthday is weeks away, my husband saw her and our son, Matt last weekend. I wanted to stitch them up before Nick left last Thursday. The instructions are very clear and I didn't make a template, I drew the lines for the pointed end direct on to the fabric and inserted the twill tape into a seam. This also made turning the wraps quicker.

They aren't a very photogenic make, but I hope she will like the strawberry fabric. I thought I could pop them into a tin that I'd acquired in a destash but of course, the tin wasn't deep enough! I also included a key ring purchased in St Malo which was a fund raiser for a blood charity and some dinosaur labels from The Specky Seamstress. All wrapped up in recycled tissue paper.

Monday Make - Snap Happy

I am delighted with the quilt I've made using the pattern Snap Happy by Pen and Paper Patterns. I used all Ruby Star fabrics except for the background which is by The Tattooed Quilter.

The digital pantograph is a favourite of mine and is Circuits B2B by Anne Bright. I used the last of my spool of King Tut by Superior Threads in the colour granite.

The backing and binding are also by Ruby Star Society which I purchased in Sew Hot's recent bank holiday sale. I like that the binding is almost a stripe and picks up the blues and turquoise from the quilt top.

Friday finish - improv triangles

I acquired the block which is about 30” square and the red polka dot on white in a local destash last week. My long arm has been less than cooperative on our customer quilt so I have taken the quilt off the machine to unpick it. I tested the tension with this small piece and of course it stitched beautifully. 

I machine bound the little quilt which will be donated to our local neo natal unit.

The temptation is to load another quilt and make some progress before the long arm leaves for servicing. Fingers crossed.

May 2024 finishes

We had a five day trip to the neighboring island of Guernsey in May and I did some cross stitch when we were there. Once again, I've tried to focus on one project at a time, but to be honest I have been avoiding unpicking a quilt so that's why I have been productive this month.

2024 Collector's Heart is complete and framed. My husband was tasked with painting a charity shop frame for me with blackboard paint.

La Vie en Rose Nantes by Pride and Joy Quilting was pieced last month so I quilted it this month.

Bee Farm by Erin Elizabeth Designs is also finished and waiting to be framed.

 

I finished the KATM scissor case and Lori holt's design board for a Guild make and take.

Mave skirt by True Bias

I completed one of these Quilter's Totes last month and I finished the third version in May.

The Zip and Grip pouch is finished and I did not enjoy the process. It was another project chosen by Lizzie and like the unfinished sneakers, it was a struggle to get the enthusiasm up to finish it.

My Guild UFO challenge for May was number 12, cast a spell by Hands on Design.

June 2024 plans

My husband is away for two weeks in the UK during June, so I have big plans! He is also taking my long arm to be serviced so I will concentrate on handwork and planning to quilt my Snap Happy on his return.

I really need to bite the bullet and restart my sneakers. My daughter finished hers 18 months ago.

Ginger's kitchen bench pillow is a new start but there is a sewalong with videos in June, so I plan to start and finish this month. I need to follow up some products I've enquired about but not had a reply. Fabrics are picked and I will use the thread colours that I already have. Pillow inners need to be ordered from Ikea to be delivered to my husband!

Snap Happy by Pen and Paper Designs is pieced but needs to be quilted and bound. Backing and binding has arrived.

I have started this small piece now that I have the Blooming Crocus thread.

Another small piece which I should be able to finish this month which is on my Guild UFO list.

Number 9 was chosen for our Guild UFO challenge piece for this month which is not a big stitch.

I will definitely be working on all of the small projects this month whilst my long arm is being serviced. To summarise I will focus on the following:

1. Sneakers

2. Ginger's kitchen bench pillow

3. Snap Happy

4. Spring Quaker

5. Boo

6. Halloween tiny town