WIP Wednesday

I'm still caravanning happily in Northern Queensland. We've been away 2 weeks now and I am losing track of the days.

This last week we have had some days without power and my handwork project has been crocheting. I am making water bottle carriers to be given to guests at the next Kairos outside walk, an activity of the Emmaus movement. I've made 4. Some were a bit weirdly shaped till I got the pattern straight but now I seem to have it sorted. I have to make 12-20 of them so it will keep me busy for a while.

My days with power have been busy!! We moved up here to Wonga Beach on Saturday. Since then I have made the fronts of 4 Christmas stockings. I haven't finished them yet as 2 of them have to have embroidered names added to them and the embroidery is being done by a friend back home so I'll finish them up when I get home. 2 of them I can finish up shortly I hope. 

The other project I have been working on is the strippy quilt based on one of Bonnie Hunter's quilt patterns, String X Quilt Over the last couple of days I have made 60 of the centres of the blocks for this quilt. Between the stockings and the strippy blocks I have actually made a dint in the container of strips that I bought with me!

As of tomorrow we will be moving to an unpowered site up on the Atherton Tablelands for a few days so there won't be any machine sewing for a few days. I plan to sort through the projects that I have with me over that time and get them sorted out properly. I will also trim up the strippy blocks and of course I will work on the crocheting.

Our site seeing has been going beautifully. We have enjoyed lots of walks - through the rainforest and by the moutain streams, visiting waterfalls and over the last 5 days that we have been by the sea we have had at least one long walk along the beaches.

 

WIP Wednesday

Its been another busy week for me working on different projects. I finished off the two quilts that I had been working on last week - Twilter Birds in the Air quilt and my niece's baby's quilt, which I wrote about in this week's Stash Report . I also worked on my Repeat quilt and got it finished off as well. 

Speaking of birds... walking in the botanical gardens Monday I saw two kookaburras that allowed me to get quite close so I could get these photos on my phone.

I have been prepping projects to take away with us next month - well in 8 days time actually. I was given some heat and bond to use and have prepped a couple of zipper purses with it... not sure how it is going to go but I got the stuff ironed on without wrecking my iron, ironing board of the fabric so that is a plus. I have never worked with it before.

Yesterday I worked on a Christmas stocking for my great niece and then today I worked on a 2nd one. My sister asked me to make it for her new granddaughter.  She has stockings for all her immediate family at her place each year and she usually buys commercial ones but decided to ask me to make one for her newest grandchild, with the money to go to Handmade With Love. My biggest hassle is going to be the embroidered name. She wants it done in the same style as the other stockings and I am not sure I can manage that. I was going to get a friend to do it on her embroidery machine but both my friends who have such machines are now away and don't get back till after I go away... so maybe I will have to get it done commercially. I have the front of the two stockings completed now, apart from the name. The backs will be plain. I've made 2 so the baby can have one at home as well.

I saw a gorgeous string block quilt on a blog on my wanderings through blogland last week. It was made to one of Bonnie Hunter's patterns. I fell in love with it and have decided to make it. 

I have cut the 48 bases for the string piecing and will take it away with me to work on. I am not sure who or what it is going to be for but I love it. I have 2 containers with strips already cut that I can use.

There is another project that came up on my Pinterest feed that has also got me excited. It uses doilies hankies. There was no indication as to whose work it was and there was no pattern but it seems simple enough. 

I have a container of doilies and embroideries that I have inherited from a variety of sources including my mum, mother in law and aunty. It will be great to put them to use.  

Today at Patchwork I started to cut up the doilies. I went through the box and sorted out all the ones that were stained or torn or were mass produced ones. I feel easier about cutting up the damaged ones. Not real sure about cutting up the ones that are still "good" even though I have no use for them. (I already have a pile upstairs that are in use)  I trimmed them - to 6.5" square where possible but smaller if necessary. These ones I will mount on some backing fabric to make them big enough.

I like the scrappy sashings in the picture. Once I lay the cut pieces on the design board I will decide on what colours I will use for the sashing and the cornerstones. I do like the scrappy look but will want to keep them to a "family" of colours.

Neither of these projects were on my goals list for this month... but guess that is okay as I have basically accomplished all the goals already.

I am going to have to concentrate this coming week on prepping of projects to take away and tidying up my sewing room. We leave next Thursday for 4.5 weeks. Its going to be fabulous. I won't have electricity to the van the whole time (we plan on free camping a good bit) but when we do I shall be sewing up a storm I know. I had better make sure I have some hand projects to do as well. However my husband knows that I am going to have to have regular access to my sewing machine to keep me happy and sane.

What have you been sewing this week.

Sunday Stash Report - on a Friday

I can write my stash report today as I am going away tomorrow and the machine is not coming so there will be no stitching done in the next 10 days. I did suggest to Fixit Guy that perhaps I would take my sewing machine with me but I got "the Look" My kids know this look. Its sort of "No" "Are you kidding me?" "As if" and a few other things rolled into one. He doesn't say no very often - the look sort of does it.

Anyway... this early report will be it for the next two stash reports.

I have had 2 finishes this week and again NO fabric purchases.

Twist and Disappear.
Its done. I put it under the machine one night and got all the quilting done, including the border. The next day I trimmed it up and machined the binding on front and back. I wrote all about it in Wednesday WIP report. It was good to get it done. I think this is destined for charity. I will take it to the office for Uniting Care when I get back.

Fabric used 4.06m

Gamer Girl's Christmas Stocking
This was one of my July goals. Think it was also April or May's goal too but I got it done. She loves My Little Pony but had none of that fabric, let alone anything Christmassy. I did wonder about making it rather alternative in black and white or something like that but in the end decided to make it so that it matched Kombi Boy's stocking in traditional colours. I couldn't remember how I had made the other one, even with it sitting there. I cut out 2 stocking shapes by tracing around KB's stocking onto some old white sheeting.

I used Kombi Boy's stocking as a pattern

 I cut out some wadding (that I had Frankenbatted) the same shape. Then I sort of paper pieced and quilt as you go onto the fabric and wadding using 1.5" strips of christmas fabric. I had to sort my 1.5" strip scraps to find the Christmas strips first. Whilst I was on the job I thought I would sort the rest of my strips that were jammed into a plastic drawer. I basically sorted them into colour with separate piles for my Australian themed strips and Christmas strips. (this took ages and meant I didn't get any sewing done yesterday)

It was tricky working my way around the corner of the stocking. I had to bring the strips into a point and fan out behind to get them around the corner.

I started at the toe of the stocking. Not sure why

Around the corner and up the leg

Finished

It matches Kombi Boy's stocking. His is the only one that "kicks" to the right. All our stockings kick to the left so Gamer Girl's matches his.

Fabric used .5m

Used this week:                        4.56m
Added this week                        0m

Year to Date Used                     100.58
Year to Date added                     72.27
Net Used                                    28.31