Finish-a-long 2019 – my list for Q1

I’ve decided to take part in the current Finish-a-Along in an attempt to complete some WIPs and actually use some of fabrics that I got for specific purposes, but have been sat in my stash for too long.

Rather than list all my WIPs for the year in this post, I’ve picked half a dozen projects for this first quarter that are a mix of those that need to be done as soon as possible and those are likely to be a quick and easy project to keep me motivated. I think it unlikely that my long term EPP projects will feature at all as realistically they are not going to be completed this year.

So here are my projects for this quarter:
 

1. Animal quilt.  This is for my great nephew who arrived last summer. The quilt top was completed last autumn, but it has sat waiting to be sandwiched, quilted and bound for several months.
2. BOM quilt.  I completed a series of BOMs last year and managed to get a completed quilt top assembled late in December. My target for this year is to have it as a completed quilt and donated to Project Linus.
3. Siblings Together quilt.  These are left overs from the Leeds MQG Siblings Together block drive in November 2018 which I said I would make into a quilt top to send to Siblings Together for quilting and binding.
4. Pencil skirt.  I picked up this dog tooth check in a destash at Leeds MQG and the plan was to turn it into a simple pull on pencil skirt. I don’t have a pattern in mind - just a centre back seam, a few darts and an elasticated waist, but I keep putting it off as I know I should get out the overlocker for neatening the seams and hem.
5. Felted wool ironing pad.  This hasn’t been in the stash for very long as I only got it as the Harrogate Stitching and Knitting Show last November with a view to making an ironing pad for pressing blocks. I saw some at the show, but they were £20+, so I am hoping that this £5 piece of felted wool will do the job instead.
6. Reusable “plastic” bags.  Again, a recent addition to stash bought with a specific purpose in mind. I got this organza to make lightweight bags to use instead of plastic bags for loose fruit and veg. I just need to decide what type of bag to make (drawstring and/or tie handle) and whether a larger version would be useful for fabric purchases now that bags are no long free at Abakhan.

Well, those are my projects for Q1, hopefully not too many will carry over to Q2.

Linking up with 2019 Q1 Finish-A-Long

(For 2019, I am trialling a version of this website on WordPress to see if it is more mobile-friendly  for commenting and posting. The WordPress version of this post is available here.)

 

New Year, New Site

I’ve been blogging here on Blogspot for nearly six years and I wonder if it is time for a change.

In the early years of the blog it was easy for me to write blog posts on my iPad, but the Blogger app has disappeared from the Apple store and I have struggled to find an alternative app. This has been part of the reason for the frequency of posting becoming monthly updates (and partly because some months there has not been a lot of sewing going on). I have also noticed that it has become more difficult to comment on Blogspot blogs when reading them on a tablet or phone which might account in part for the decline in comments on posts see by me and other bloggers.

I have decided to give WordPress a go and see if that is more mobile friendly. All the content from this site has been imported into WordPress, though I still need to check existing links, find a selection of follow widgets, and I might need to change the layout a bit. I’ve tried to make the two sites look as similar as possible, but my first impressions of the free version of WordPress is that it is not as customisable as Blogspot so I don't think I will be able to make them exactly the same. I am also not sure how annoying the ads will be on the WordPress site, so I will be interested to see what you think.

For the time being I will continue to put the same posts on both sites and will see how it goes it terms of ease of posting and ease of commenting. If you want to take a look at the WordPress version and see how it compares to this, you can find me at sewlittlesay.wordpress.com. Please do take a look at both sites and let me know which works best for you, especially if you now use a tablet or phone for reading blogs.

2018 - a round up

Sewing has had to take a back seat this year, so my list of finishes is not great. I have managed to complete a quilt for Project Linus and have another top ready to quilt in the new year. I wrote a couple of the tutorials for the BOM club and have added two project tutorials to this website and finished various other bits and pieces. There has also been time to learn some new techniques at Leeds MQG (crumb blocks and a triple Drunkard's Path) which I might put to use in 2019.

There has been a bit of garment sewing (but no photos) and a couple of trips to shows which gave me the chance to meet up with online friends, as well as succumbing to the usual shopping opportunities these events offer.

There was a late addition to the fabric stash - I won some gorgeous Japanese style fabrics just before Christmas in a giveaway from P&Q Magazine on Instagram.

I've also inherited a couple of sewing items - a Victorian style cotton reel stand that used to belong to my Grandma and a Bernina Minimatic sewing machine that was my Mum's. The bobbin stand has been put to use, but I'm now keeping an eye out in charity shops for wooden cotton reels to display on it. Unfortunately, the Bernina will need some attention before I can use it as it will sew a few stitches and then the needle stops going up and down, but I'm hoping this will be fixable.

I hoping for more sewing time in 2019 and first on my list is finishing a quilt for a great nephew who appeared in the summer and is still waiting for his quilt (though I don't think he minds).

A flurry of finishes

My sew-jo seems to have returned and there has been quite a bit of sewing going on in December. First is one of those annoying secret sewing projects that I can't show as it was made for a Secret Santa swap that has been delayed to January.

Moving quickly onto things I can show, I've been working my way through a Block of the Month this year and December's BOM was a 3D Santa. I decided to scale down the pattern and make a tree decoration sized Santa (standard sized visiting cat shown for scale).


Fortunately, I had a spare block from one of the other months and so I was able to use this to complete a quilt top that will probably go to Project Linus. There have been a variety of blocks, but using a limited number of fabrics and adding a narrow dark border to the blocks has brought the various patterns together.

Back in February, I started a FPP challenge for 2018 and I managed to get this completed with a day or two to spare. The original challenge was for the curved pattern, but I made an additional panel using a simplified straight line design and then used the two panels to make a bag for my quilting rulers. I used fusible Bosal R foam to give the bag some structure, but it doesn't want to stay fused so I might try to unfuse it to give a more even effect with the quilting.


After this flurry of activity, I think I need some time tidying up my sewing stuff which seems to have taken over the kitchen table.

Show Time

There’s a bit more to report on the stitching front this month – still no major sewing, but I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things.

The cross stitch design I was working on last month was finished a few weeks ago and made into a card. There was bit of artistic license with the design, but it was recognisable as their new house.


Last week saw my first trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate for four years. Previously I had gone on a coach trip, but these have not been running for the past few years. However, train times have improved and it now only takes a couple of hours to get to Harrogate, very similar to going Birmingham for Festival of Quilts. A friend had got a couple of complimentary tickets, but these were not valid on the Saturday so I took a day of work and we went on the Friday instead.

Friday was “Black Friday” and it was lovely to miss out on all the sell, sell, sell messages from large retailers and spend the time looking at what independent traders had to offer. The show didn’t seem too busy and it was easy to get to the stands to have a look around. I didn’t particularly need anything, but of course that didn’t stop me buying some things.

I got some spare bobbins for my machine, some bag making bits, a few Christmas cards, and a half price back issue of a magazine that I had contemplated buying when it came out just for the free gift. I recently inherited a Victorian thread stand and I have been on the lookout for some wooden reels to display on it. I didn’t expect to find any at the show, but to my surprise a couple of stands had some so I was able to get a few of those. I’ve seen pressing/cutting mat combos and want to make a travel sized one to take to Leeds MQG, so I was pleased to spot some wool felt that should be ideal for the pressing side of the mat. Quilting Antics had scrap rolls of tweed and after much rummaging in the basket, I chose just one (though I was tempted by several others). I’m not sure what I will do with this, but I’m thinking some type bag might be possible.

My final show purchase was a Shaker style box made by Keith Shorrock. There were several different designs of boxes and pin cushions, but I picked an oval box (long enough to hold a small pair of scissors) which came with an insert for you to add your own design to the lid. I’m not sure what I will add to the lid, but I’m wondering about some Liberty patchwork to make a padded top to use as a pin cushion.

No trip to the Harrogate show would be complete without a trip to Betty’s, and after we had seen all we wanted to see at the show, we went and joined a very short queue and enjoyed a sit down, a cup of tea and a cake before heading home. As would be expected, a couple of cakes also headed home with me.