Another list of hopeful finishes!

Doesn't time fly when you have a list of things that you want to finish! Having only managed one finish from my lovely hopeful lists of projects in the last 2 Quarters, I am continuing with the optimism for Q3 of the FAL at She Can Quilt.

 

Yet again top of my list to finish this Quarter is the HST BOM quilt I started at the beginning of last year!

The quilt top was backed, basted and bound at the beginning of the last Quarter and I even started the quilting, but then came to a dead halt. I really would like to get this finished so that I can tackle new projects without any guilt, so this is going to be top of my list.

Next on the list is the embroidered cushion I added last quarter as a small project that could be finished quickly! That didn't quite go to plan :)

As usual the delay in finishing this last quarter was more procrastination on my part, when I decided that I didn't have the perfect fabric to finish this cushion and "had" to order more from the US. The fabrics arrived weeks ago and have been sitting on my table top waiting for something to happen to them, so the time has come to stop the dithering and set to.  If I don't get a move on the embroidery will be celebrating its first birthday :)

More stitching for the third project on my list which has been all over Europe with me on my travels and really deserves to be finished by now.

I have been cross stitching this tea towel since we left Riga last year but, in my defence, only when we have been travelling. The band of stitching you can see above is the second band of two so I really don't have that much left to do on it. We have a couple of trips planned to visit our son and daughter-in-law in Oxfordshire and maybe a longer trip to France, so surely that will be enough time for me to finally get this finished. Fingers crossed!

My final finish for this quarter is not quite as advanced as the teatowel, but has been in progress for longer.

I have two blocks left to complete on this Craftsy BOM (from 2012!). They are both paper-pieced blocks, which is probably why I keep getting them out and then promptly putting them away again! This quilt was originally intended to be a gift for my son and daughter-in-law, and as they are moving back to the North East at the end of next month it would be really nice to have it finished in time for their move.

Well that's my list of hopeful finishes for this quarter, as you can see I am nothing if not optimistic :)

Linking up as ever in hope to

 

Three down, twenty-one to go!

This weekend I decided to forget all of the commitments I have signed myself up for and spend some time working on a project that is just for me. I started my Time for Tea quilt a while ago to make use of a piece of embroidery that had been gathering dust in the cupboard. The first border has been attached for a while and the 2.5" squares for the Friendship Stars I had planned for the second border have been cut for ages too, so this weekend I decided was the right time to make some more progress.

I discovered when I started marking the squares for HST's that I had been too generous in my cutting and had twice as many squares for the triangles as I needed, so I only needed to mark, sew and cut 96 squares! Still, there is a quilt in the Sunday Morning Quilts book that I would like to make sometime that uses leftover triangles, over 500 of them (!), so at least now I have the start of a triangle stash :)

Ignoring the rising heat and then thunderstorms around me, I determinedly ploughed on with the sewing and cutting to produce 72 pieced strips for the blocks.

The fabric is Sunny Happy Skies by Riley Blake and is rightly named, because they are such cheerful fabrics. I had time, just, before the Men's Championship Final at Wimbledon kicked off to get a couple of Friendship Stars sewn up too.

So, progress has been made, but as the title says only 3 down, 21 to go!

Whilst watching Wimbledon my latest project from Made in France, Cross -stitch in Red, white and blue was the particularly apt strawberry pattern. I stitched it on a small hand towel that I bought in a textile factory outlet in Estonia on our last trip there. Fortunately being one colour the pattern was not too complicated as I couldn't have coped with the anxiety of watching Andy Murray's gallant performance and a complex cross-stitch pattern!

Hope you have all had a productive weekend too.

This week's posts on the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop are from

July 10

    Jenelle from Echinops and Aster  

    Julie from Bedsheet in the Kitchen

July 12

    Rebecca from Sew Festive Handmade 

    Marti from 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks

Rebecca has a Christmas in July event going on at the moment, so if you want to be more organised this year (or in my case just organised) be sure to check out her blog! 

 

Linking up to Manic Monday

Foundations, fish and finishes

Well, we are on the home straight now with the Sew Happy QAL, the second last block and boy, was it a pain in the neck! Nothing to do with Jenna's brilliant video instructions, I hasten to add, but if this had come along earlier in the QAL, I think I would have been running for the hills. I have been struggling with this block for the last two days, and I am glad that it is now finished (and far from perfect, unfortunately!). I think this may prove to be my one and only foray into foundation piecing, in fact, I am sure of it.

Part of the problems I had were, I think, due to having to use up scraps of some of the fabrics to make up the block, as this was all that is left of the lovely turquoise fabrics that I started with. So some of the seam allowances were, I think the technical term is "scant", or in my case, "very scant". In some cases they were so scant as to be non-existent, so seam ripping was called for and another attempt made. When I measure this block against previously completed blocks it is about 1/2 inch bigger all round, now I know that is better than being smaller, but isn't this kind of piecing supposed to do away with that kind of problem??

Actually, I think that the fabric I used for the foundation might also have contributed to my problems as, although I starched it before using it, I suspect that there was a bit of stretching going on, which all the ripping and re-sewing probably didn't help! That probably accounts too for one square of the centre square being 1/8" too small. Aaargh!!!

I had dithered about whether to paper-piece this block (and am now wishing I had!) because I am enjoying Katy's FPPFTT so much, but decided that the whole point of this QAL was to learn new skills, so ought to try the foundation piecing. Well, all I can say is that I have now tried it and won't be trying it again any time soon!

This week hasn't been all bad though, I have finally finished a cross-stitch towel that I have been working on since the New Year. I only work on it in the evenings in front of the TV, which is why it has taken so long. The pattern, again, was from the book, Made in France, cross stitch and embroidery in red, white and blue by Agnes Delage-Calvet and is rapidly becoming my favourite source of cross stitch and embroidery inspiration.

 Stitching and watching, or more accurately listening to, the TV is definitely easier when you are only using one colour!

Speaking of fish, I thought you might like to see an example of the fish for sale in the Central Market here in Riga. The market is actually 5 buildings, which were used as aircraft hangers in a previous time, housing a fish market, meat market, vegetable market, bread market and dairy produce market. In the summer the market spills out onto the surrounding area, but only some hardy souls ply their wares outdoors in the winter.

 
The selection of fresh and smoked fish available in the market is extensive, but these fish have always intrigued me. I have never been brave enough to try them but every smoked fish stall has them so they must be popular!

It doesn't seem like a month since I linked up to Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet for the first time, but I am delighted to be linking up again. It was lovely to see what other new, and nearly new bloggers were getting up to.

Progress and Pillows

The temperature here has plummeted in the last 24 hours, which is a great incentive to stay indoors and sew! It is also the beginning of a new month so time to reflect on the deadlines and goals set for January, and I am pleased to find that things are progressing nicely.

The Shades of Green patchwork cushion/pillow that was to be the first in my set of Rainbow Cushions has not only been completed but has been joined by the Fleur Blue cushion I started at the weekend. Shades of Green is also the second of my 12 WIP's  in 2012 to be finished, so I have a really early start on the next one as this is finished on the first of the month! If you are looking for more inspiration for cushions and pillows check out Pam's link party here

Sewing supplies are here in Riga, but not always easy to find especially specific items, so imagine my delight yesterday at finding a supply of quilt basting spray in a small, tucked-away, sewing machine shop. Needless to say I snapped it up along with blue machine embroidery thread and used them both to finish off the blue cushion. Basting spray has been on my "wish list" for a long time as it is something I cannot have sent nor can I bring it back on the plane, as we usually only travel with hand luggage to avoid the long wait at the airports for baggage, so this was indeed a find.

I have a question for those of you who use the spray, is there a limit to how big a quilt you can use this with? I suspect that there is given that it is described as temporary. I have a king-size quilt pieced and waiting to be basted and quilted, and it has been waiting over a year for that to happen, could I use the spray on that to hold it together whilst I use my brand-new microstitch gun, or does that defeat the object of the micro-stitch? Another question too, whilst I am thinking of this will using the microstitch on a wooden floor, mark the floor? All advice gratefully received!

Whilst rummaging around my fabrics looking for blues for the cushion I came across an embroidery that I had completely forgotten about, probably because I didn't have an idea what to do with it once I had finished it. Now, however, I think I might turn it into a lap quilt for my mother, who has just undergone a hip replacement and is also a great tea-drinker!

I have some fabrics with teacups, teapots and cakes and thought I might try using a couple of the blocks from the Sew Happy QAL around the embroidery, as I have really enjoyed making them so far. I have also seen in a French Quilting magazine a teacup block but it is paper-pieced and we haven't got to that yet in QAL!

Starting this might have to wait until next week though as the next block in In Color Order's HST BOM is due this week and I have printed out but not started the 7th block in the Sew Happy QAL. More than halfway in the QAL, what a surprise:)

Work in progress - some faster than others!

Halfway through the month is a good time to reflect on my progress, especially in January when by now apparently most resolutions have been broken. Well my resolutions this year were to

• join a Quiltalong
• start Blogging
• make 12 cushions using 12 different techniques 
• and take part in a sewing swap 

Well I can tick the first two as I am taking part in the Sew Happy QAL and this post is evidence of the second.

For the third I have pieced and quilted this shades of green cushion, but have to admit that it was all done before Christmas and has been sitting waiting for more attention since then. However, I have also bought some green linen fabric that I think will be ideal for a cushion back so will plan to have that done for the end of the month! When I started putting these greens together from my scrap bag I had the idea that I could work my way through the colours of the rainbow for the cushions, which won't take up 12 months I know, but at least gives me a start.

As for the 4th resolution to take part in a sewing swap that is still on the agenda but I have a whole year yet to complete that one so that isn't broken yet!

As well as joining up to the Sew Happy QAL I have also decided to tackle In Color Order's HST BOM quilt, I am nothing if not keen, so a happy hour was spent yesterday wading through my fabric stash to put together some fabrics for the first star. This task would have been a lot easier if my fabrics were in any sort of order but unfortunately they are not, one of these days .... (maybe that should have been one of my resolutions!)

As well as patchwork I have also recently rediscovered my passion for cross stitching, not least due to the birthday present from my son of a copy of "Made in France, cross stitch and embroidery in red, white and blue by Agnes Delage-Calvet. The motifs are lovely and as they are in one colour, very easy to do whilst watching/listening to TV in the evenings. I have already finished one towel in red with her Russian Doll pattern, a teatowel in blue with the teapot pattern, a small purse in red with a wildflower pattern and I am halfway through another towel using four fish charts, and there are plenty more charts that I would like to do!

I think these are not bad beginnings for the year, so hopefully will bode well for the rest of 2012.