March NewFO

Happy Easter everyone. Today started with losing an hour and an early church service. Here in the UK our clocks went forward last night. For the last couple of weeks we have been 4 hours ahead of EST but we are now back to the usual 5 hours. Anyway on Easter Sunday we always attend the dawn service which this year because of the change in the hour was at 5.45 a.m. so quite a civilised hour. It's always a fun service as it starts outside with the lighting of a fire from which the Easter candle is lit. Some years there is a worry that the priest's robes might catch fire as they get blown towards the flames but this year there was no wind. The service then continues indoors by candle light and slowly the dawn light fills the church which makes it even more special. Following the service we all share a communal breakfast before returning home. 

As well as Easter day today is also the March NewFO day run by Barbara at Cat Patches.  A day to look back through the month and remember the new projects started. The joy of this challenge is that it is about the starts and not the finishes. If you've never visited Cat Patches do pop over as Barbara combines embroidery, quilting, gardening, recipes, cats and lots more in her posts.

This month I started and finished my first mug rugs as part of a mini swap run by Michele at Quilting Gallery. The patterns were provided by Amanda Weatherill at The Patchsmith and they were easy to follow and fun to make.

I also took part in 2 blog hops with Madame Samm from Sew We Quilt. For the Nancy Drew hop I made a quilt. I couldn't finish the top as I wanted the red magnifying glass fabric for the borders and needed to order this. I enjoyed appliquéing the question marks and machine embroidering 'Is this a clue'. This quilt will be my planned finish for April so that it can go to it's new home.

The other hop 'stitch me up' involved embroidery. I wanted to take part in this hop but realsied that i probably wouldn't have the time to finish one of the larger patterns we were given so I picked this cute one and turned it into part of a tray cloth. Unfortunately the finished photo tends to blend the stitching into the background fabric but it does cheer up my boring wooden tray.

My major new start this month was the anniversary quilt for our friends who are celebrating 25 years of marriage in July. I decided to make a swoon quilt and so far I have finished piecing together one block. the block went together very quickly and easily. I have cut out all the fabric needed for the remaining eight blocks and I would like to have the top finished by the end of April. It's strange working with such a large sized block, the block finishes at 24 inches square.

This month I also finished the top of my Holiday quilt. This will now be put away for a little while  so I can decided how I want it quilting and more importantly what fabric to back it with. This was my December 2012 NewFO

As for the rest of today well that is about family time. Our older daughter and boyfriend are joining us for dinner this evening and I have a lamb joint for the main course but I still have no ideas about the vegetarian option (both our daughters are vegetarian)  so I'd better go and get organised and make my final decisions.

I hope you all have a very happy day and that like me you are able to send it with those people most precious to you. A few minutes stitching somewhere in the mix would be the icing on the cake!

Lyndsey