Stringalong 2019 (May)

Not too many to show for the month of May, however 7 is better than 0.

I had thought I might get to 12 . . .oh well...maybe next month

Linking up to Lori here - 

FNSI - May (for real)

I was more than happy to gather with everyone for a FNSI - always plenty of projects to choose from!

I finished off two sets of Birthday gifts for my KQ group - which I can't show yet

...and then I spent time organising my bits for two alphabet books I want to make.  I cut several of the letters which I had already fused and selected some of the fabrics for other blocks.   I have a plastic pocket for each letter so I can keep everything together and hopefully this will make putting it together easy and I won't lose too many pieces..
I am all set for my day at KQ on Sunday....

Big thanks to Wendy for organising us and keeping us on track

I may not be sewing much this week - my daughter is in Brisbane from Saturday Night to Friday afternoon - with my gorgeous little grandson who is growing up too fast already.

There could be a bit of cuddling happening .....

Isn't Piglet cute - made by a friend of my daughter...
this completes her set of Winnie the Pooh characters

Baby Quilt

I have posted a few pictures of this quilt in its various stages but it is finished now and handed over to the owner.

I have made this for one of my work colleagues who became a grandmother for the first time only a month or so earlier than me - sadly for her - her grandchild is in the UK!!!

When discussing colours - she initially suggested "ice pink"....I suggested to her - that it might be easier if she visited a patchwork shop and looked at fabrics - I gave her an idea of how much to buy etc - and notes about the pattern I would be using (I had shown her a few samples) - and I did expect the people running the shop would give her some help - they didn't!!!...but she decided on the fabrics. 
I must admit when I first saw them I was a bit "Oh...mmm....", but the more I worked on it - the more I liked it.   Maybe I will get her to pick fabrics for me ...???

I do hope she and her daughter like it.

May's Crochet Blocks

As Maria couldn't be at Sunday Stitches - I handed these 12 blocks over to the "courier".

Clayton’s FNSI

The Third Friday of the month is usually FNSI - but Wendy had to defer it til next week - (due to a variety of issues).....but that was no reason to not sew.....and the footy was on....so a good reason to escape to my Sewing Space!

I’ve been making this baby quilt for a work colleague.   She is off to London to visit the queen.....no...her daughter, who had a baby a few months ago.   Really I can’t complain about my grandchild being in Townsville compared to that!

So, it was time to finish this one.....I had a bit of quilting to go....then the binding.

It’s done....just the threads to sew in and the hand stitching on the binding.

My Guardian Bobbin Angel was looking after me this time!!!

That is about 30cm of thread left...phew!!!!

See you next Friday for a real FNSI!!!

No FUSS Stitch-a-long - Romancing the Road trip

I had finished the stitcheries for these a while back, so decided it was time to put the block together.   It was pretty quick as I have already cut 1.5", 2.5" and 3.5" strips from each of my fabrics.  It was just a matter of deciding which ones go where and cutting and sewing. 

As you can see - a lot of personalisation in these blocks.  I plan on just 9 blocks (18 stitcheries) and the Postcards will represent places we went on holidays as a family - not a lot so I can keep it small.

FNWF - May

You know how one thing leads to another???

At Baradiine I made a Jelly Roll Race Quilt top.   To cut a long story a bit shorter -KiwiKid  who was sitting near me and I started a bit of a conversation and decided that May FNWF should be a jelly roll challenge.  We both wanted to add a bit to the end of each strip before joining them together (rather than the "normal" 45 degree seam.  So we allowed ourselves to have that done beforehand.  The Start Time was 7.30pm.  I was all set up on Thursday night - ready & raring to go.

mmmm I may have had a little snooze on the lounge and got a late start - but at 8.20 off I went.

If you have made a Jelly Roll Race quilt - you will know that first seam is a killer - well I have to say second time around it didn't seem so bad - maybe because I only recently made one...
The first seam was about an hour - though I had a couple of hiccups, second one 35 minutes, then 20, then 10.  (Mathematically that makes perfect sense)

So here is my top - I didn't iron as I went so that is a job for the weekend.  Overall - pretty happy with that.  It will probably go off as a Charity Quilt.

Sue started on time and finished about 10pm...I started late and finished about 11pm.   

Here is the link to Sue's post.

(A good chance to empty a few bobbins too).

It would have been so easy to snooze, watch TV etc -
so I am very glad we had this challenge - got me moving!

Cheryll has been busy tripping around the place - glad she got back in time to have us all "visiting" (LOL) - go here to link up to the others.

Stringalong 2019 (April)

A quick post to show April's string blocks - another 9 - That brings the total to 38 - I need 88 in all...I am happy for this to be a long term project . . no rush...plenty of other "Must Dos"

Nine is such a nice round number . . . .maybe 12 next month??

Linking up to Lori here - go check out the wonderful projects others are doing. 
(Give it a few days for people to link up)

Final April Finishes (24)

I have a bumper crop of crochet squares this month.  Normally I hand them over to Maria at Sunday Stitchers and use that as my "End of Month" marker - but Maria wasn't there last time, so I've kept them and added a few more since last weekend.

And I have made another two sets of pedal mat, scrap bucket and coaster for more birthday gifts at KQ.  They were gifted last Sunday so I can show them now.

Happy Sewing everyone

Some Finishes in April (7)

I join in with Kris who has continued running OPAM, so am claiming these as April finishes.  I had kept some of them under wrap as they were gifts or were waiting for the "right" time to show them.

Firstly two sets of foot pedal mat, scrap bucket & coaster - for Birthday gifts for members of KQ Girls.

Last year at Baradine - I received a bundle of flannel scraps as a mystery gift.  Never one to shy away from a challenge...LOL....I decided they had to become some sort of a quilt.  The sizes of the bits were quite random, so I cut 2.5" and 4.5" squares and made 4.5" blocks from the 2.5" ones and then set about trying to organise them,...It is probably not as symmetrical as I would like - but I ended up with only one 4.5" square left over.  I found the brown check flannel at a cheap price and - again - probably not my first choice - but it went well enough with the other fabrics.
Voila - a quilt!

 and I also bought this flannel for the back - really love this one!

DD2 loves monkeys so I might keep this one

...in case...one day...maybe...(no pressure Bec!)

Also last year at Baradine we received a kit to make a tote bag - a lovely stitchery of the logo was included and a charm pack...as well as some EPP shapes.   I started off with gluing the EPP shapes at retreat....but upon consideration,decided a tote bag was not really my thing - so I made a zippy pouch, a scrap bucket, a coaster and a pin cushion.   I used some of the fabrics on the back of the zippy pouch.   I still have a number of covered EPP pieces.....they may be sitting around for a while....maybe a needle book????

At Baradine this year - one of my projects was to make a Jelly Roll race quilt.  This jelly roll was gifted to me by a friend, so I thought it was only fair to "pay it forward" and this top will go off to a group who make quilts for charity groups - so a finish in my eyes!

My swap present for this year was a scrap bucket, pin cushion, coaster and a machine foot pedal mat...I do like to repeat myself....LOL

I have also finished a baby quilt for the daughter of a friend.  This pattern is so quick and easy - I can see a few more in my future.....

So, I will count that as 7 finishes so far...

not too bad I think and there will also be a pile of crochet blocks to add after Sunday
HOWEVER, 

none of these are on my SS UFO list...for that I am woefully behind . . .