Prepping projects

Yesterday and today were annual leave days and I was determined to make good use of the time. I spent time yesterday cutting out the pieces for the appliqued blocks. The leaves for these blocks are quite small and I kept on losing the pieces. I managed to get two blocks stitched and had considered working on them today but I wanted to start prepping projects for the end of this year and into 2027.

When I visited the Festival of Quilts at the beginning of August I bought the book below. It follows the year of flowers. There are 24 embroideries to complete. The book helpfully lists all the embroidery floss needed to complete all of them. I had a couple of skeins of floss identified but I needed to order the others. I decided to order all the floss listed and went to the DMC website. The pattern uses the Mouline Special floss and three colours need two skeins and the rest just one. In total that is 43 skeins. The floss should arrive next week. I'm not planning on starting this project until next year but I like to be organised and make sure I have every thing I need.

All the patterns are printed out on separate pages and there is also a colour photo of each of them. I have the fabric I need to do the embroideries but I will need to use my light box to draw out all of them. The embroideries is just the first stage of the quilt.

 

The second project I started prepping is the lamp shade.

The Instructions are very well written and clear. There are pages that need photocopying to be able to mark the embroidery on the fabric. The embroidery is completed first and then the moths are appliqued later. 

The final istruction explain how to put the lampshade together. The fabric for the moths and the embroidery floss needed is included in the pack. Before I draw out the pattern I need to buy a couple of new fabric pens. I'll stick the pages of pattern together ready and check that it matches the sizes for the finished lampshade. I managed to get the printer to print the patterns at 100%. Cuttting out the fabric for the moths will be a little fiddly as many of the pieces are rather small.

  

I may start this project later this month and then I can make the moths during my Christmas break.

I need to check how many of the arc pieces I've made for the double wedding ring quilt. I keep fitting them in between my other sewing. It seemed like a good idea to get them all made but I want to get on and make some of the rings.

I'm back at work tomorrow and I'm interviewing in the afternoon. Hopefully I have some time tomorrow evening to do some sewing.

Take care

Lyndsey

Round up of October and welcome to November.

The months and seasons seem to be changing very fast. Suddenly we are at the point where friends and family are thinking about Christmas visits and presents. I love visiting family and friends but I find it hard to make the schedule work, especially as last year there was quite a lot of rearranging of dates. This year will be different as younger daughter is now a registered nurse and she will be working a night shift on 23 and 24 December. Never fear, she will enjoy Christmas day. Many years ago when I worked nights I never used to sleep during the day after the last shift and neither does my daughter. I haven't started thinking about menus or presents, except for the cat cushions and that was an easy decision. Somehow Christmas will get organised and we will have a fun family time.So I'm parking Christmas as it will sort itself out and I can think about what I want to achieve during November.

October was a fairly quiet month for sewing. I finished both my quilted jacket,

and my blouse. I am so pleased with these two items of clothing. They fit very nicely and all the seams are properly finished.

On the last day of October I completed 4 blocks for the Red Mansion House quilt. Yesterday I made a start on the remaining 8 blocks. I also need to check my stash for fabric to use for the sashing. The flower pot blocks need to have the leaves added. There are two sets of 4 blocks, 4 with red flowers and 4 with blue flowers. I'll take a pphto when I finish the blocks.

I need to think about what I want to try and achieve this month. Currently we are not going away for a weekend in November but we have a day with our grandchildren next Saturday and later in the month there is a bird watching trip. Oops I forgot that Lucy, younger daughter, and I will be away for the weekend 13th - 15th on a crochet weekend. We wanted to learn more about Tunisian crocheting. We stayed at the hotel last year for a crochet weekend and it has a swimming pool and a spa so we will be making use of both facilities. The food was good and we had a great time. The teacher is the same person from last years event and she was so much fun. We are both really looking forward to it. So not as much time as I thought in November for sewing etc!

Having finished my quilted jacket and the blouse there is a little room in my plans for a new project. I bought this mythical moths lampshade kit a while ago and I want to make a start on it. Everything needed to complete the kit is included. The fabrics for the moths are Liberty Tana Lawn and I love the feel of the fabrics.

I need to get back to my embroidered tablecloth. I will work on this in the evenings this month as I find it very relaxing. I'm working on the final side.

I will leave my weekly sewing day free to complete the current round of the Red Manor House quilt. If I get the round completed in the month then I have a dress I want to make.

I haven't yet restarted knitting the socks. If you remember Twiglet managed to get tangled up with the knitting and pulled all the stitches off. Untangleing Twiglet was difficult because he wriggled so much. He now keeps a wide berth of my knitting bag. 

I will need to make my Christmas cake this month and Stir up Sunday is 22 November, which is the traditional day to make the Christmas pudding. My Christmas cake is traditionally divided into 3 or 4 parts depending on who wants some. This year it will be divided into 4, with a quarter for my brother, my older daughter and a friend. A quarter is plenty for us as only John and I like a traditional Christmas cake.

Ok enough chatting, time to collect my embroidery so I can work on it tonight.

Take care

Lyndsey