A Set of Kansas Troubles...

Over the past week I've revisited the table runner from this post, stopped procrastinating and sucked up the fact that in order to get the binding strip onto the quilt I had to finish quilting  it...

My machine quilting still sucks but at least it is done and it fits the coffee table nicely which is a bonus...

The three pieces, table runner, placemat, coaster, done and washed, I like it when quilts crinkle up when washed...

Happy Stitching...

Nature's Journey - Part 1 - Tick!

Amazingly for me, the blocks set for February in the Nature's Journey Stitch-A-Long are done...ticked off with days to spare! wahoo!!...

Not sure about the basket handle but I'll revisit if I can't live with it when the time comes...my applique is kinda wonky anyway so maybe it will get lost in the end with the rest of the wonkiness...

Happy Stitching...

Annette @ Jindi's Cottage

A Cushiony Finish...

Something that has been waiting around for ages to be put together finally got its turn today...a hand sewing cushion...

Nothing great and wonderous but done and dusted so the piece of foam (a $3 scrap bin off cut at Clark Rubber picked up months and months ago) is finally off the shelf and the fabric pieces no longer gathering dust on the cutting table...and something for OPAM for February and it isn't even the last day of the month!!!

Now I've an oops...I've been remiss and forgot to mention squishy mail...uploaded the photos and that was as far as it went...love the basket wrapping paper...

I was the lucky winner of some fabric from Thimblestich...

Pretty huh, it looks kinda blue in the photo but it is more green and I never seem to have greens in the stash when I want some so very welcome indeed...Thank you Susan...

Happy Stitching...

NJ - It's A Start...

The 2015 Stitch-A-Long project, Nature's Journey, is underway...background fabrics collected while jaunting around the place Summer Schooling washed and ironed (yes I'm a pre-washer)...sorted and resorted, until...six cream fabrics in the box...

A session preparing templates, except the centre panel, then moving on to applique pieces fabric selection...

from the scrap bin! looking for civil war/1800's reproduction fabrics/colours...the reproduction stash box made it quite clear of involvement in the project when it comes to the border squares and triangles...I just love playing in the scrap bin, there are all sorts of "donated" treasures in there...floss colours to be determined by the applique block winning fabric...definitely going with scrappy!

Progress so far...one finished, one almost there, and preparation underway...

Yes, I've changed the construction and embroidery stitch...you get that...

Happy Stitching...

Welsh Medallion Top...Done!...

Two weeks since coming home from the trip including Summer School and the Welsh Medallion Quilt started at Summer School is a completed top...I wasn't at all happy with the fabric I'd used in the corners of the triangle border while I was away, so I unpicked the corners and replaced with a happier choice...because I mucked about with measurements to resize the quilt, the borders of on-point squares weren't quite long enough so I used strips on each end to extend, they worked to create half frames for the corner squares (the fabric in the outside corner squares looks blue but it really is cream, it is the lighting inside)...

I didn't want it as big as Karen's original quilt so I sized it down...not very well, it still measures 80 1/2 inches!...mind you that is a whole foot and a bit smaller than Karen's 93 1/2 inches!!! As I don't have anyone to help hold things up for photo taking I've had to employ a couch and the coffee table just to be able to almost spread it out for a picture (it is way too windy for an outdoor photo shoot)...

How to quilt it is way too much like rushing things for now so it has gone to join its mates in the Quilt Top Cupboard and think about how it would like to be finished...one day...

Next!

Happy Stitching...

A 2012 Start...A 2015 Top...

Some Kind of Wonderful...the 2012 Stitch-A-Long project that very much stalled into Not-Stitching-Along...is finally a completed top...

I'm not sure what is going on with the top border, whether it has stretched and needs to come off and have another go or it just needs a good iron (which isn't going to happen anytime soon so worry about that when the time comes)...anyway...ta dah...the little pieces of white paper are where buttons will go instead of the pattern's applique and I also chose to omit the stitched words on the top border...can't be following a pattern to the letter now!!

Happy Stitching...

A Finish...Just Not Crafty...

A finish of the non-crafty kind but it is fabric at least...way back I bought fabric to make a skirt, left it in the bag for later, so out of sight meant out of mind...finally at the end of December the bag was unearthed and the skirt actually made...except for finishing the hem...I have always hand sewn hems, always, for ever and ever since dinosaurs roamed the earth...but this fabric, being cheap from Spotty as I wanted something to test the pattern, isn't really hand stitched hem friendly so I had to give in and machine it...P-faff's tension cracked the grumpies and didn't play nice which wasn't at all helpful...but finally it is a finish and with a month of summer still to go, the fact that we have minimums in single digits and are barely making maximums of 20 and it feels like autumn sliding into winter is a technicality, maybe summer has just gone on holiday and will be making a return appearance before December (please, a little sunshine would be lovely)...

 You Sew Girl by Nicole Mallaliu A-Line Skirt

(I'm not that skinny *sigh*, it is folded over for the picture

and the hem is even, it's not hanging straight either!)

A start to OPAM for 2015...even if it is of the non-patchworky/quilty/crafty kind..

Hope your stitchy year is off to a good start!

Happy Stitching...