Sunday, 1 June 2008

Been Awhile

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted - a combination of travel and work still being a teensy bit out of control (don't I sound like a broken record...).

But, here is a quick update for you on what I've been up to (of what I can share anyway!).

Firstly, I got a message from Suzanne on the Crazy Exchange that she received the floss tag I sent to her in return for the bourse she sent me earlier this month. I used a La-D-Da freebie for the front, and stitched an 'S' from an A Mon Ami Pierre alphabet on the back - 'S' is perfect as it represents the both of us.



Design: La-D-Da 'Rose' freebie on front, AMAP alphabet 'S' on back
Floss: GAST as charted, with one Le Fil Atalie substitution
Linen: 40ct Georgia Clay by Silkweaver


Next, H gave me the second part of my birthday present this weekend - I know my birthday was now several weeks ago, but he wanted to take me to our local quilting shop and treat me, and unfortunately the shop is only open Mondays to Fridays, making it impossible for me to ever get there (they close before I leave work in London, and the shop is in Oxfordshire!). Rustic Angels is a wonderful little shop about 15 minutes' drive from us, and I had been looking forward to their open day this weekend for a good month at least! I browsed, compared, matched, ooh-ed and ah-ed over their models and samples and displays, and finally chose the following, along with 2 quilting rulers big enough to let me square up the 14" blocks I'm currently making (sorry for the blurry photos - I only realised after I've put all the fabric away!)



I have a quilt in mind for most of this, particularly the blues and creams, which I've decided to call the X-Box quilt and will hopefully be able to start in June. Of course, I should finish the other quilt top first, but you know how it is...

Last night, whilst watching Britain's Got Talent (I am so addicted to these programmes, and frankly H is at least as addicted as me, if not more so!), I stitched a bit on Awake the Dawning Day. Whoop whoop, I'm on to the words! The end is nearly in sight!



And, finally, here is this month's goal review. I didn't do so well against last month's goals as I would have liked, but nevermind, sadly I can't spend every spare waking moment stitching and quilting :)

Stitch, finish and send Suzanne’s return Crazy Exchange - YES! And Suzanne received it
Stitch, finish and send the HOE Freebie exchange - YES! Posted by the deadline
Stitch the SBEBB ABC exchange - YES!
Thursdays – Snowbird SAL – keep stitching Paradigm Lost - YES! Well, most Thursdays, anyway...
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena – stitch at least one ornament - SORT OF - I stitched half a really big one, to be finished in June
Keep stitching the other gift - YES! I finished stitching it, and just need to finish and send it
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day - YES!
Keep stitching Spanish Wine - YES!
Keep stitching the secret project - YES!
Finish at least one thing from the ‘to be finished’ drawer - YES! Ah, that's the thing that I keep forgetting to show you - photos below!
Quilt – start the sashing and corner blocks - NO, but now that I have the new rulers, I can keep going with this
Make a quilted patchwork bag - SORT OF - I cut and sewed together lots of blocks, but haven't yet ordered the walking foot for my machine to quilt the bag - this is the final part of H's birthday present to me.

GOALS FOR JUNE:

SBEBB ABC - finish stitching, finish and send
Fair & Square Round 7 - stitch and send
The other gift - finish and send
Thursdays - Snowbird SAL - keep stitching Paradigm Lost
Christmas ornament mini-SAL with Leena - finish stitching the big ornament from May
Keep stitching Awake the Dawning Day
Keep stitching Spanish Wine
Keep stitching the secret project
Finish at least one thing from the 'to be finished' drawer
Quilt - carry on with Vintage Holiday quilt (sashing and corner blocks)
Quilt - start X-Box quilt
Quilt - finish patchwork bag

Ha ha, I'll be amazed if I manage all that, especially as 2 of my weekends in June are going to be spent at hen weekends in Devon and then Galway! Good to have a stretch challenge ;)

Here are the phtoos of my drawer finish for this month: I finished up the very first Fair & Square sqaures that I received from Sue Wild (no blog) - they are a Just Nan design, and I decided to have a go at a triangular scissors case finish, as instructed so ably by Linda here. I discovered as I was doing the backstitch that it turns out the linen that Sue used was an uneven weave (LOL, that took a bit of headscratching and re-counting before I worked that one out!) so the scissor case isn't 100% symmetrical - part of its charm, I'm sure you'll agree! You can see I used the signature squares to line the inside.






Right, well, I'm amazed you got this far, so thanks for bearing with me :)
Happy stitching!



16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great fabric stash! The thread tag is lovely, as is the scissors pocket - very clever idea for finishing those squares.

Kathy A. said...

With all the other things that occupied your mind this past month I think you did a remarkable job completing as much as you did. Way to go. Love that little scissor case - it is just the sweeetest. I finished page 6 of Paradigm yesterday and was thrilled - the half way point! I am hoping to finish it by the end of the year.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, I have A Rose all stitched up ready to make into a floss ring tag, what a coincidence!! Yours is beautiful!!! Love your triangular scissor case. It looks just perfect! Enjoy your new stash!!

Heather said...

Holy cow! You sure do stay busy, how do you do all of that with your busy schedule?? GO YOU! :D :D

Love the fabric you got, can't wait to see this quilt :)

Daffycat said...

Oh, such nice finishing on your squares! I really like that you used the personalized on to line it...clever!

Love the floss tag you sent to Suzanne; very pretty! And you ADD WIP looks lovely!

Melissa said...

Everything looks great! You've done such a great job.

Stitcher said...

Great finishes, progress and stash

Susimac said...

What a very pretty floss tag and I love all your stash. Lovely finishes too.

Sue said...

All your stitching and finishes look lovely. And those quilting fabrics are gorgeous, makes me want to make a quilt (but I don't quilt) ;)

Nana's Quilts said...

Well, that is impressive, for sure. And what very nice fabric (of course I realize I'm a bit biased on the quilty side) Seems to me that you are continuing to complete loads of things - so I, for one, am impressed.

Cheers,
Marne

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the lovely comment on my tutorial. Your scissor case came out wonderful!

Jennifer said...

What a great job on the scissor case!

staci said...

Your ring tag is gorgeous...hmmm, 'S' would work for me too, LOL!!!

And a lovely scissor case too ;)

Sharon said...

Such a beautiful floss tag and scissor pocket!

Lennu said...

What a lovely post with lots of photos! The floss tag is gorgeous, I love this La-D-Da design. Your fabrics look so yummy and the WIP is just so pretty :) I love the way you finished the scissor case, it's a beauty! Oh by the way, I guess this weekend isn't yet our SAL weekend, as it's only the second whole weekend of the month, isn't it?

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