Sunday Stitchers; UFO Challenge...

This year I'm joining the others in my stitching group as we each tackle our pile of unfinished projects. The idea was that we would each make a list 1- 12 of such projects and then each month a number would be drawn. Then we would work on that number project on our list; as long as some progress was made, there would not be pressure to finish a project within the month.
 For the last year or so, on and off, I've been sorting through the boxes, shelves and cupboards of my sewing room and as I came across UFOs, I would put them in a plastic crate. So this made it easy to make a list...

Before we drew up the list, we had been told that the number for January would be 2, so of course I chose a simple project. It was simply to bind a baby quilt made with flannel squares. It was always intended to be given to Knitting for Brisbane's Needy, but had languished without binding for quite a while. It didn't take long to finish...

The backing was some polar fleece...

And by the end of January it had been despatched to K4BN 'headquarters' 👍 Compared to the stunning work of my fellow Sunday Stitchers, it was a very humble effort but it was a finish and it would benefit someone...good feeling!
The number for February was 12. My #12 was to continue working on a cot quilt, made in EPP and using my Liberty Print stash. Continue??? Lol. That should read START stitching, as before February, it was a pile of hexies cut out and paper basted. At our February SS meet up, I showed my progress...just one corner!

That was the third Sunday of February, but by then the project had me hooked! So any spare moment for the rest of February I worked on this project and last weekend I took another photo of my progress.

After doing the pink stripe, I went back to cutting; this time orangey yellows.

By then though, it was time for March's number, which is #10. And it's another EPP project! 'Use the long hexies in Christmas fabrics to make something'. Very vague isn't it?  Usually at the SS monthly meet ups, I spend some time basting these shapes, but haven't actually turned the shapes into anything...

So hopefully I will have a completed item by the next meet up, but if not completed, it will have been some progress made.

FNSI...

Last night was Friday Night Sew In. One plan was to cut out some hexagons to start another Dilly Bag...

I had a packet of sample Liberty prints that I bought last year from the lovely UK shop, Alice Caroline...

Perfect I thought. And the templates had been put away in the correct spot, so out they came! ( I only use the big Perspex template as this pattern doesn't use the 'papers' method')

But then I remembered that at the Albany Creek Knit and Natter just last Wednesday, I heard that K4BN had already been asked for 1000 mini Christmas stockings by a charity. This was a 'new' charity for us to help, let alone the 6000+ stockings we provided last year, complete with sweets. Hmmm, so maybe I should be thinking about sewing some stockings??? So I printed off the pattern I use for the fabric ones I make...

But you know what? I ended up just knitting for the evening...

A few more rows on the 'blues and black' chevron/ripple throw. Only about 30cm or so till it's long enough. 

Thank you to Wendy for organising FNSI ! Check out the links to other participants here...http://www.sugarlane-designs.com/2016/07/july-signups-for-fnsi.html

Friday Night with Friends...

Last night, being the first Friday of the month, was FNwF...although I should add that due to the number of time zones around the world, it is still Friday night in many places! lol, Cheryll organised this event each month and this time 52 people signed up to join in.

I traced a design for a new stitching project...just a glimpse as once again this is a secret project :-)

And I knitted...yet again a secret project but the recipient doesn't read my blog so I can show more than a glimpse.

Unfortunately my forearms and wrists were a bit troublesome again for some reason when I knitted yesterday afternoon, so during FNwF, I only knitted in 'fits and starts'. Consequently  during the evening I just did 3 colour changes.

So for some of the evening whilst resting my arms, I googled using the iPad and subsequently visited some interesting sites...hmmm...in this case the word 'interesting' probably means sites with the potential for spending money on even more fabrics :-/

I particularly liked this  2011 post from Cabbage Quilts blog where this blogger shares all the sources that she used to build up her Liberty prints stash. I still haven't visited all the sites in her suggestions (and possibly some of the site no longer exist as it is 3 years!) but the ones that I have visited had me 'drooling'. lol. I must be good though and remember that I have signed up for a Westwood Acres Liberty Club for the next 11 months...but those scrapbags at Liberty Charms and Alice Caroline Supply are tempting interesting! 

Liberty...

That's 'Liberty' as in the Liberty shop in London.

Standing outside the iconic store in March this year...

On our trip earlier this year, DH took photos as I flitted from department to department...

To make up for only buying 4 pansy buttons on a visit in 2008, I bought some lovely goodies this year.

I love the Tana Lawn fabrics made by Liberty but they are a bit pricey...the sign in the Liberty store...

Last month, on the spur of the moment I signed up for the Liberty Club of Westwood Acres, an online fabric store. I don't need more fabrics but I was tempted by the idea of getting bundles of 10 lovely Tana Lawn cottons sent to my home monthly for 12 months. There were 3 options of the size of the pieces of fabric and I chose the fat sixteenths...still plenty of fabric to cut charm squares and some hexies.
Last week, my first mail out arrived...and I wasn't disappointed...( shipping from the US is extremely reasonable. Originally I had put my name on a waiting list for the club and it was only a few weeks until I got the invitation to join a new mail out club)

When DH and I visited the Liberty store in March, we looked through all the departments and it was on a lower level that we encountered items that were...shall we say...a bit different to what we would have expected the store to be selling... I did a doubletake when I started to read the labels....DH took a few photos for me...

You may be wondering whether we purchased any of these items????....

The answer is a resounding no...lol!

 But we have the photos to prove what we saw ...

Unfortunately we will never know what actually was in the jars! lol

Friday Night with Friends

This Friday night we are in Liverpool, staying in a hotel called The Penny Lane...and it has a Beatles theme...surprising that isn't it? Lol. 

Most times when I'm travelling I complain about the poor light in the hotel/motel/B&B rooms...which can make it hard to sew. But not this time...

The room has a huge central light and 6 down lights and it's great!

So tonight for FNwF, I brought out those hexagons that I bought at The Liberty Store in London, way back at the beginning of our holiday. I have stitched all the blue ones over paper and have now done some pink ones...but I still have a number of pink ones to go. So using the ones that have been stitched already, I played around with positioning...still no definite idea of how I will finally arrange them, or what I will make...but the cushion idea is still a favourite.

There's still a little pile of the pinks to do...

And I did a few rows on the knitting project I have been working on...I bought yarn in the first week we were here and the idea was that I would knit strips of squares that would eventually be sewn up into a blanket for the needy. A number of ladies in my knitting group make blankets this way and they have my highest admiration...as I have found it so boring, and I haven't even made one strip yet! And yet these ladies make lots of these rugs each year...all garter stitch because it sits flat. 

But I will plod on for now, but may experiment after I've made 1 strip...perhaps pick up stitches along the long edge and change over to circular needles and maybe try some different stitches? 

So here it is; 50 stitches and 50 ridges per square and I bought 5 different colours.

Thank you to Cheryll once again for organising this night which sees people from all around the globe working on various projects and then sharing what they have done. There were 54 of us this month, why not head over to Cheryll's blog and use the Linky widget there to visit some (or all of those) who signed up! http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/fnwf.html You won't be disappointed! :-)

FNSI...

It's early Saturday morning in Australia right now but it's still Friday night here and I'm watching Sport Relief on Telly and doing some EPP. Sport Relief raises money for projects which help children and families both here in UK and also in overseas countries.

Having enough light by which to stitch is always a problem when I travel and I found the best spot to sew was on the bed with the lamp on the wall behind me providing the best light in the room.

 

Back home I had popped a bag of long hexies cut from Christmas fabrics into my luggage and that's what I worked on first tonight...

After perching on the bed for a while, I decided that I would cut out some papers to go with the hexagons that I bought from the Liberty store on Wednesday...

I found some photocopied sheets in my handbag that I had forgotten to get rid of after my recent trip away for Let's Get Stitched...how fortunate; they were perfect to trace off paper hexies.

So now I have 30 papers to match the 30 fabric hexies from the kit I bought. I haven't decided yet what Ibwill make with the Liberty hexagons but a cushion seems like a nice idea :-)

So not a lot done tonight but after walking what seemed like miles today, I guess I'm a bit tired...but we covered a lot of territory and had lots of fun.