Cross stitch update

Having finished the chilis, and it not being close enough to Christmas to start the seasonal cross-stitches (though they will have to start in a few more weeks), I decided to start this multi-piece project. It's a huge piece which you can (sort of) see all of here.   But I couldn't resist the cute birds. I'm getting it as a monthly project, and at the moment, I have two months' worth and have started the first, so I'm not too far behind yet. I think it will be quite quick to stitch actually, as it doesn't have tons of backstitching and there's lots of open space, both things which I find make the stitching go a lot faster. I love the canvas colour as well!

Finished Chilis

As I suspected, it didn't take long to finish the chili peppers - despite all the shades of red, this was actually easy to stitch (once I got it the right way around, that is).

Green Stars

This isn't actually a completed top, just 9 blocks with green stars in a pink and purple background - another scrap user.  I've not been sewing much lately - too busy - but I do try to do a little bit now and again...

Cross stitch update

After I finished the Hallowe'en cross stitch, I went back to the chili peppers - then realised a few days later I should have gone to the bird design (not that there's a law about it or anything!).  However, I was pretty close to finishing the peppers, so I decided to stick with it - even beyond the usual Wednesday changeover - so that I could finish it completely...

Pink and Purple Rectangles

Here's another baby quilt top - this one for my own stash - once again from that great Judy Laquidara pattern, Peaches and Dreams. I have now used that pattern in three different colourways (none of them the original one, of course). And I will probably use it in more before I'm done - I really like it. 

Roman stripes, of a sort

Still trying to use up those strips - I decided to cut some solid squares (I have almost no solids in my stash, as it happens) and use them as half-foundations to get rid of some more strips.  There are still strips in the bag, but not quite as many as there were...

Something seasonal

Here's the little seasonal cross-stitch I snuck into my cross-stitch rota - I had originally intended to show it at an early stage, but didn't manage to blog it  before it was finished...  I have a pattern for two more of these words, but although I could probably stitch another before Hallowe'en, I won't because I'll save them for another year...

Cross-stitch update

Quite a bit of progress on the chilis this week - more than I thought, actually, as I stopped early so I could work on something seasonal, which I will show soon - perhaps tomorrow.

Little top

Here's another small top using largely strips - I started with two orphan blocks and went round them log cabin fashion with strips of a single fabric (found some more strips - in a bag of binding offcuts!).  It's only small, but should work nicely as a cot quilt for a small baby, etc.

Finished Strippy Top

Doesn't look all that different from last time I posted it, I know, but I added a few more rows just to make the size work better...  Still thinning out the strips a bit, but for the moment, that might be it.

Scrapbuster Squares

This absolutely ancient top (from about 2006, I think) was the result of a swap of 16 patch blocks - 2" squares. I have had it put together for a long time, but it's very big, so it needed to be longarmed. I have to ration what I have longarmed, as unfortunately, I am not made of money. Anyway, it was finally the turn of this beast, and I got it back this week.

It looks great, of course! 

The backing is a large single piece of fabric which I found in a car boot sale for £4. As I intend this quilt to be a car-blanket/picnic quilt I thought it really suited it for a backing. Of course, I still have to bind the quilt...

Cross-stitch update

I seem to be doing more cross-stitch at the moment than other sewing - probably because I am less busy on evenings than at the weekends...  Anyway, making good progress on this third panel - there's quite a lot of stitching on that tree branch, even if it may not seem like it. I'm very keen to get this piece finished, so I can move on to another big, installment piece I have started receiving. It's really sweet and very different. And of course, before long, it will be time for the seasonal pieces to make an appearance!  Which reminds me, I think I have a small Hallowe'en piece or two I should stitch up.  They are only little, though...

Green and Purple Baby Quilt Top

A simple design to try to thin out some the small pieces of hand-dyes I have in my stash - the solid colours are fairly easy to use, but the funkier fabrics can be a bit tricky.  This colour combo makes a nice neutral baby quilt (i.e. neither overtly boy or girl) to have in the stash!

Another strippy top

Actually, this one's not quite done - I want to add another row or two - but I didn't have time to finish it today. And I still have quite a large pile of strips to get through...

Cross stitch update

You can see there's been a fair amount of progress on the peppers this week - it stitches quite quickly when one isn't unpicking the whole thing and starting again!  I can tell that the backstitching will be a little tedious, but I will do it as I go along as much as possible, which will help. It really does accentuate the peppers, though - totally necessary...