WIP Wednesday - action all over the shop

Have had a busy week and worked on a few different projects

To start with as you will notice my blog has had an update. My favourite technical advisor on all things blog, my daughter Fangirl came over today and revamped my blog. She had just learned how to do a few things and updated her own blog (fangirlstitches.blogspot.com.au) so came over and gave mine an update as well. I've told her she can be in charge of it and do what she likes. (She did explain what she was doing to me but at the time I was tired having just got home from a day at patchwork so it went over my head... sorry sweetheart) Anyway I love the new look! I now have a special page for my OPAM projects as I will only keep my current month's projects on the sidebar.

Fangirl made this composite photo of some of my quilts. Isn't she clever. (yes I know that you can see the photo at the top of this page but its so cool I thought I'd show it to you again)

I've been working on my Teashop Quilt. I laid out my completed blocks as per the pattern I had devised and worked out what blocks I still had to come up with. I have prepped a number of blocks for applique and some blocks I cut fabric from my stash of tea shop related fabrics. I wrote about this in more detail here yesterday. I completed the applique on one block yesterday whilst in a meeting and did a little more on a new one today at patchwork. The design isn't set yet as a friend has suggested I put the tea shop in the centre of the quilt and the stuff around it. I have trialled a few ideas for it (see yesterday's post)

I completed 2 more stitcheries from Christmas Delights whilst at an all day meeting on Saturday. They are all done now - I did 2 of each of the designs and my plan at this stage is to make a mini wall hanging out of one set and Pillows out of the other set to hang off a swag for Christmas.

 

I have been trimming my denim scraps up. I want to reduce the bulk of all the denim I collected for the denim quilt (Jean's Jeans quilt) I made last year. I've made 2 denim bags this week using the top part of the jeans (see Sunday Stash Report) and now I have cut all the scrappy bits into useful units - squares and strips from 1.5" up to 6.5". Not sure what I will do with them but keen to try something.

Today at Patchwork I completed a baby quilt for our Angel Quilt - Quilts of Love for babies born too soon. I was very happy with how it turned out until at the very end I measured it before handing it over to be labelled and realising that I had forgotten to add the 2" border all around and thus it was only 18" square instead of 22". I wasn't going to take the binding off , unpick the quilting and add the border ... so this one is going to be a bit small but hopefully will still be useful.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social, WIPs on Wednesday and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, (links on my side bar!)

WIP Wednesday

Busy week with several finishes as reported yesterday and in my Sunday Stash Report. I did enjoy making those little Minion wall hangings.

 

Today at Patchwork I was able to get 2 quilts pinned. Annie's Quilt is pinned and ready to go. I forgot to take a photo of it laid out and pinned. It looks the same as it did before hand just with lots of pins in it!! Thinking about how I am going to quilt it. Its going to be a combination of stitch in the ditch, echo quilting and stippling. Its such a busy quilt with so many different blocks in it.....

I also got Tardis Tree pinned. I think that I am going to echo quilt around the shape of the tree and then do a little stippling in the rest of it. Its made up of so many little squares I don't want to compete with them too much. I am just not too sure what I am going to do. Might have to wait and see what happens when I start.. that is what I usually do. I will use the variegated white.cream thread I have on the white and a darker blue or grey on the blue parts. Watch this space. I would love to think that I am going to get at least one of them finished to report on in Sunday Stash report but that might be being a little optimistic given I haven't started quilting and I have commitments most of Saturday and Sunday morning.

Here they are, piled up near my machine ready to go. Ready set... oh look squirrel

I started a new project at Patchwork today. We are making Quilts of Love for our local hospital to be used for babies born too early. They only need to be between 20-24" square and don't have batting in them. I am making a log cabin using 1.5" strips. Something has gone a bit skewiff with them and they are a bit out of whack but hoping some judicious trimming at the end will put it to rights. Not sure if I cut the strips a bit wrong or if the 1/4" foot on my machine is a bit out. I am also not that thrilled with the colours but hoping that it will be ok. I am making 9 of the log cabins so it isn't going to take me very long. Hopefully it will work out okay in the end.

This isn't finished - the 2nd bright green fabric and outer blue still to be stitched down. This is just to get an idea of the colours.

I have managed a little hand stitching during the week on my Christmas Delights project... but only a few stitches. I am hoping to get a lot more done at the meetings that I will be attending on Saturday... unless I have the quilting done on one of my projects and am up to stitching down the binding.

Fangirl bought me back a lovely little stack of embroidered blocks that my sister Joy had done using the BOM designed by my sister in law Christine (of Bluebirds and Bumblebees) Joy had made them 7 years ago when the patterns were first released but hadn't gotten around to making them into a quilt and she offered them to me. Of course I said yes and she sent them to me via Fangirl. Now I am contemplating what pattern to use with them and who it will be for. (A reminder that Christine has listed her patterns on Etsy. The January block is free... for this month at least. Go check it out here

Now I am anxiously awaiting the release of the next pattern in the POD on Fandom In Stitches. I am getting rather hooked on paper piecing it seems.

I have joined a new challenge group. Its called One Project A Month - OPAM.

You commit to trying to complete one project each month (of any of the fibre arts) It can be a new project that month or it can be a UFO or a slow project. Each month you report in what you have completed. And they encourage you to have a side bar with your completed projects for that month.  I have added the list of my completed projects for this month to my side bar. I don't think it actually starts till February but I thought I'd add my projects already. It looks rather impressive cause I have made so many little projects this month. If you are interested in joining in you have to sign up by February 1st so hurry!

  

Stash Report on Monday

I am late again this week with my stash report. Yesterday was crazy!

Its coming up to Christmas... we all know that can be a crazy time of year. Yesterday Fixit Guy was worship leader at church so we went up early. After church we had our usual cuppa and lots of chatting with our friends there. Then I went shopping. We had invited a few friends over for a bbq tea and I needed to get some supplies. I did some sewing in the afternoon after I had got back from shopping and then our visitors arrived. One had cancelled but Fangirl and Bek, our other daughter came over. We put together a gingerbread house kit and the girls made the most gorgeous Minion Christmas decorations. After a yummy bbq dinner followed by the TimTam ice-cream I'd made when I got home from shopping the girls were about to go home when they remembered that Queensland was due to have a prime view of a meteor shower. So we sat out on the lawn and stared into the sky. Didn't see much and then checked on the web and found out that the best time to see it was in a couple more hours so we gave up. But it was lovely sitting out there, enjoying the warm summer air.

Today Fixit Guy and I were determined to get back into our routine of walking the dogs in the morning and getting the house work done on Monday morning. He also had a massage appointment at 9 and a dental appointment at 10.40. I had a hair dressing appointment at 10.30 so we were on a pretty tight timeline. Things were going pretty well though. He got most of the vacuuming done before he went out leaving me to get the floors mopped. We have a steam mop which I love... usually... but today of course it played up. I started but it was obviously not working properly. I even had a go at pulling it a part to clean the steam vent but couldn't work out how to do it. He had a go at fixing it when he got home and I managed to get the rest of the mopping done but it was still not working properly.

This afternoon we even managed a second dog walk (they are ecstatic we are back on track) and then not long after 6 our boy Kombi Boy and his partner Gamer Girl arrived home from Brisbane for Christmas. They will be staying with her family for a few days till more of her family arrive and then they will come over to us. They will be having dinner with us till then though cause her dad is working nights so not home to have it with!! It was great to have them here with us for another bbq dinner tonight. (we ate leftovers. I had over catered the day before! )

So one way and another I haven't had a chance to get to writing this blog update. Actually there is another reason. Today a gunman took hostages in a busy Sydney coffee shop. The story has gripped our country and it is hard to really think of anything else as we all hope and pray for a good outcome. I am also very proud of the general Australian public who has overwhelmingly reached out to our Muslim Australians to let them know that we don't blame them. #i'llridewithyou is the number 1 trending hashtag - a message to muslim's who may be worried about travelling on public transport for fear of back lash from others.

Anyway finally getting to write it. Had to update my excel spreadsheet cause... yay I have had some finishes this week.

I have made 3 table runners using the Easy Christmas Table Runner by Rachel Godfrey of sewtodaycleantomorrow.blogspot.com.au One was for Fangirl - a Christmas one to decorate her new table. I showed it in my WIP Wednesday post but here it is again

Fangirl's Christmas Runner

Another is a present for someone who sometimes reads my blog so not spoilers here and the 3rd was for a present swap I was involved with. I can't show a picture of it at the moment as I can't download the photos from my camera as the cord is in the room where Fixit Guy is asleep. I want to get this posted.

I also have made two quilts for a project that our patchwork group has taken on. We have been asked to make some little quilts to be used with babies born too early. The quilts are 23" square and don't have batting in them. I have managed to make 2 this week using light blue and white fabric from my stash. I used a mixture pinwheels and nine patches in one and just pinwheels in the other. I am really happy with how they worked out


  


So
Used this week:                               5.71m

Added since last report                 o.0m

Year to Date Used                       139.03m
Year to Date added                       93.47m
Net Used                                          45.56m