Post finish tidy up

I will admit that usually I am very lazy when I finish a project an the remains of the project remain strewn around my work space. I don't know what came over me when I finished A Quilty Little Xmas, but I tidied up!

I started with my basket of Christmas fabrics and donated many of the scraps to a friend who loves improv. An overflowing basket and two bags of scraps were sorted to half a basket with a part jelly roll cut for a small throw. Perhaps this might become a retreat project. I just need to add a background to the bag. I have also added some Halloween fabrics to the basket and rehomed my low volume fabrics to its own basket.

I also got out all of my Glide threads that I own as well as the ones used in A Quilty Little Xmas and sorted them by colour. Even the bobbins I'd wound for the Easter event last year were tidied away with the correct colour spool. I just need to reorder the colour Linen as its running low.

I had planned to throw away scraps of iron on interfacing, but they came in very useful to glue large scraps of light interfacing together when I finished the bolt of interfacing but still had some blocks to stitch.

A good start to tidying my space, even if I'm the only person who would be able to spot an improvement.

Apple mini quilt

This was meant to be a pallet cleanser after finishing a Quilty Christmas. However, I caused myself more challenges than I planned and the project took longer to complete than I expected. My mistakes included taking my eye off the embroidery machine and then the foot became trapped under the wadding. I also took out a square from the embroidery hoop thinking that it was complete, but it wasn’t, I still had the embroidery of the pips and stalk to do. I managed to get it back on the machine but not quite in the right place. I now know how to reposition the design which would have led to a more accurate finish block.

My mistakes also meant that I ran out of interfacing! My local needlework store was open, but I wanted to purchase another complete bolt of this interfacing. I managed to use scraps of iron on interfacing to glue sufficient numbers of pieces together to make four more blocks. Now I have absolutely no light interfacing left.

Quilty Little Christmas

 

Number 11 was selected for this month's Guild UFO challenge. Fortunately, I had worked steadily on stitching the blocks from the A Quilty Little Christmas by Kimberbell.  I decided to make the four small projects into one ladder quilt. I added embroidered blocks from Jingle All the Way and Cup of Cheer which are also Kimberbell projects.

I love the little details on the project and love how the quilting lines on this star block line up with the V. I couldn't have planned it better had I tried.

The quilt ladder is now on order as it has become available on Amazon UK. I am thrilled to have this finished. Time to put away fabrics etc and tidy my sace.

Friday finish - Q4CL

This pretty pastel work in progress was on offer at a Monday group meeting earlier in the year. As no one else wanted it, I decided to see if I could make it into a quilt to donate to Quilts for Careleavers (Q4CL). It was constructed of 5" pastel squares with a 5" border on two sides.

The original quilt was square, so I got out my trusty tape measure and started to see how to approach the project.  I removed two rows to bring the width of the quilt down to 10 squares deep and I removed the borders. Unpicking is so boring! I was delighted however to find that the two rows could be added to the bottom of the quilt to bring it up to the required height (70").

I didn't have any pastel backings in my stash, so I pieced together two butterfly fabrics that had been donated by Hantex Fabrics for backings for charity quilts. I cut the two 5" border strips into 2.5" strips which was perfect for the binding which I machine stitched down.

 

September plans

I finished more in August than I had expected. My hemoglobin is under better control, so I am not so tired. Nick is away for ten days in September so what can I achieve?

My UFO challenge for September is to make a ladder quilt from the blocks for this project. Fortunately, I have already made good progress with the blocks, and I now need to come up with a firm plan to add more blocks. I have made some extra blocks but without a clear plan.

Side by side with this project I'll work on plus blocks from stash and also the Moda Blockheads 6.

My priority for garment sewing should be the Florence dress by Merchant & Mills. However I have two simple projects cut out ready to overlock, so I will start with some scrappy pyjama shorts and then a Chicacheetah top.

I haven't made much cross-stitch progress, but I plan to work on the Winter Quaker by Primrose Cottage. If I finish that I will work on Frosty Tiny Town by Heart in hand.

Dressmaking pattern tidy up

 

Next on my tidying up schedule was my paper patterns as I had one on the floor that had been printed locally but I was never going to make. Firstly I ordered a triple magazine rack, little did I know that it had to be constructed before use!

I gathered my pattern, books and storage envelopes and have culled a few patterns that I will not make again. Then they all fitted into the magazine holder and are now in my cupboard. I definitely need to sort out my Jersey fabrics soon as I have so much more than I realised and much of that is also on the floor.