Scrap Management

The other day I used a few bits of scraps - the brown HST units at the top of my scrap basket, and some of my longer strips, but there was still a fair amount left, so I cut all the scraps in my basket into squares (ranging in size from 2.5" to 5") and put them away in their little drawers for later...

This was what was left - a few partially assembled pieces, plus some odd bits and bobs too small for squares - the starting point for crumb blocks later, no doubt.

The strip basket was looking better after making those bordered units, but there were still loads of short strips, so another project is on the way for those...

ATC Friday

A few more round robin cards which I have worked on. In both these cases, I was the second person to work on them.  The polar bear cards I really like, though they are perhaps a tiny bit crowded at the end - all I added to them was a cut out paper snowflake. 

These cards are not really my taste at all, but I think the finished card suits the starter, so I feel like I was an effective member of the team working on them.

Time to make more block sets!

Of course, now that I've sewn all my lurking block sets into tops, it's time to start making block sets again!  And the first thing to do is tackle my bag of strips, which was getting pretty full.  

I had a quick look in the scrap basket, which wasn't that full (though it's getting there) and spotted these off cut brown HST units (from the Big Brown O's). I thought they'd make quite a good  centre for some blocks using strips, so that was the direction I went in.  

End result: some scrappy blocks in varying sizes (top picture above) and a somewhat reduced bag of strips (though it still needs work - problem now is that lots of those strips are very short, so they need to be used for a different kind of block...)  The blocks above may take a while to get used up, because they aren't all the same size, so I'll have to be more creative when using them, or mix them with other blocks, or something.

Cross stitch update

Spent my stitching time this week working on this little piece, which is now finished. The original pattern had a piece of felt stitched on for the flower pot, but I just used some nice variegated floss in the right colour. Next week, back to the 13 Colonies, though I am out several nights, so who knows if much stitching will get done anyway...

Big Brown O's

And here we are... the last of the lurking block sets!  The other two (circular flying geese and the birds on blue backgrounds) are waiting for something else - the geese for me to take the paper off the back & make them into a baby quilt for someone special (not going to Linus, that one); the birds are still waiting for inspiration.  I need to decide how to set them to really make the best use of them, and I'm not ready to tackle it.

Of course, what this means is that I now need to clear out my scraps and make some new block sets!  And of course, put borders on all these centres which are now the things lurking...

Non-identical twins

Two tops made from the same set of blocks, but set in different ways, for different effects.  Both will now get borders and be ready for Project Linus. As you can see from my sidebar, I have nearly worked my way through the waiting block sets - only a few to go (and a couple of those, I probably will leave for a while yet, as they are blocks for a different purpose). 

Pieces of 8 - part 2

Here's the other Pieces of 8 top - I mentioned I was going to set it differently. Still a nice block, and a very different effect. 

Pieces of Eight

This is about half of these blocks; the others are a bit paler, whereas these were the brighter of the blocks. I think I'll do the others in a different sort of set, too, rather than this sort of circle. Just a few more to go before that basket is near enough empty!

ATC Friday

These are all cards which I started, and which two other players have then worked on. I love these Alice ones, which started out as below - just a piece from a book text - and they've subsequently been coloured and had what is perhaps the edge of a playing card (or meant to look like one, at least) added at the top. Very cool. I haven't seen the third one finished, but I can imagine...

These shoes were kind of in-your-face to start with, but I like what's been done with them!

And finally, another quite busy, bright design, which has had some real bling added to it.

Black with stripes

Another set of blocks assembled - almost done with the ones I want to get through (not so worried about the circular flying geese or the birds against the blue sky as both of those are sets for things I will keep for myself or as gifts for friends, rather than blocks for stashbusting, which will go to Project Linus tops). Of course, as soon as all the blocks are put together, I'll probably need to attack my scrap basket again, so there will be more!  And all these tops will need borders - or at least most of them will.

Cross Stitch Update

Didn't get as much stitched this week, as I took several evenings to stitch down the binding on Becky's quilt. But there's still progress. Lots of leaves and star shaped flowers to stitch in that outer border, but it won't be too long before I can move on to another quarter of the chart...

Becky's Quilt

Well, now that it's been given to the person it's for, I can show this again (finished, this time) - it actually looks a lot nicer in person - it's that whole purple thing... This is for one of Sarah's best friends - there is a small group of them and they are all always envious of Sarah's quilts when she goes on sleepovers, so we are gradually gifting them with quilts. I should have done it as 18th birthday presents for them all, but didn't think of that until we'd already sorted out Becky's for this year. The others will all be next year, though - all of them have birthdays in a little cluster from the end of January to the middle of March, so no one else is getting one this year!

Newly framed

A trip to Ikea in the half-term holiday means I managed to get a few more cross-stitch pieces into frames - some of my pieces are not standard sizes, which means it's hard to find frames to fit, but for the ones which are, Ikea is a great sources of simple, inexpensive frames. This one is just sitting on a shelf in the front hallway, to make me feel all spring-like when I come inside...

These four have now enterred the rotation in the upstairs stairwell - I have too many pieces to show all at once, even discounting the Christmas/winter pieces which come out in December and January.  Which means that I need to swap them around some times. 

Here's the new arrangement, at least for the moment! (Very hard to photograph a stairwell...)

Pink & Purple 16 patches

Another instance of working my way through the block sets in my basket - it's getting closer to empty - which is great, because then I'll be able to justify making some more block sets...

Black and white windows

Another assembled top (or top centre - obviously it might get a border). I am really making a concerted effort to put together all my block sets which have been hanging around before I make more blocks - the only exceptions will be my birds in blue sky blocks, which I'm going to have to plan more what I do with (and possibly buy fabric, depending on what I decide) and the circular flying geese, which I need to take the paper out of, as well. But if I can get down to just those two sets, then I'll let myself make some more block sets - and perhaps join them together as I go along, rather than let them pile up in a silly way (what are the chances?  lol).

ATC Friday

Another two sets of round robin cards, which came to me to finish off. These trees with some autumn leaves got a few more leaves...

And these interesting cards with the key and the rooster washi tape got a pointing hand with another rooster on it. I really liked working with these ones - a bit of a challenge!

...And still more scrappy log cabin centres

I think I'm finally reaching the end of the blocks made with the scrappy log cabin centres - though I'm sure there will be more scrappy log cabins in my future - it's a great way to use up small strips of fabric. Anyway, this set of blocks is together, which is one more to cross off the list. Yay!

Cross Stitch Update

Making some progress, as you can see - the pattern for this piece comes in four parts, which is why I've stopped in such a seemingly odd place - but in order to avoid the whole switching awkwardly back and forth between paper pieces thing, I'll probably go ahead and stitch it one quarter at a time. The border is fairly quick going, though the centre part was fairly dense to stitch. But that's ok - it's not that large. And the bottom half has loads of lettering, which stitches up fairly quickly.

Cross stitch giveaway winners - update

Further to my previous post, I've now posted most of the patterns off - two more UK ones to go in the post today or next week (Julie, I'll give you yours in person next weekend, if we manage to meet up). Three people have not responded with their addresses; I have now left comments on their blogs/messages in their google circles/whatever, so I'm going to give them another week and then open up those patterns to other people who wanted them...  Thanks again everyone for your interest!

Quilted, Ready to bind

This came back from the longarmer a little while ago, and now needs to have binding attached so that it can be finished and given to someone as a gift... Yes, there's a specific person in mind, but I'm not saying who until it's done and given.

Hard to see the quilting on the very busy front, but here's a little glimpse of it...

Blue & Gold

A set of scrappy log cabins, with consistent outside borders - set in a diagonal pattern. Needs a border of course, but at least it's one more block set off the list (which is looking pretty good - I'm keeping it in the sidebar this year, just to keep tabs!).

Lots of little scrappy bits

This one has lots of small pieces - the blocks were made to clear out the strip bag, so some of them are fairly short - not crumb sized, but still not large...Of course, by the time I assembled these blocks into a top, the strip bag is practically full again. 

Giveaway winners

First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment - such a big amount of interest in all these patterns - glad to know the patterns will be going off to good homes and hopefully stitched again, fondly...  No obligations, though - once they leave here, what you do with them is up to you!

Here's what I did to determine who got what.  If only one person wanted a pattern, they got it.  I then crossed that person's name off the lists for the other patterns they had expressed interest in. If that resulted in a single interest, that person got the pattern and I then crossed their name off the other lists... etc.  When all those eliminations were done, I used a random number generator (for the Loose Feathers pattern) or a roll of the dice (for smaller numbers of interested parties) to determine who would get the other patterns. If you see your name below, please email me your address (except Lana, whose pattern I've given in person and Julie, who I hope to see later this month). I'll also try to email you if I have your email address/your comment wasn't "no reply" (which a lot of them were), but if we don't manage to get in touch within a couple of weeks, I might pick a second winner instead.  Patterns will be mailed out sometime within a week or so of when I get your address.

Summer Bird: winner is Sarah. I have your email, will email you!

Singin' in the Blues: winner is Julie (I have your address, don't worry).

Love Snowmen: winner is Lana (no need to contact me).

The Rain Fell: winner is Dolores, I have your email, will email you!

A Day at the Beach: winner is Terri Patillo. Terri, if you are there, please email me your address - yours was one of the comments where I couldn't reply.

Singing in the Spring: winner is Kathy H. I've emailed you. 

Starlight Sampler: winner is Mary Crosset. Mary, if you are there, please email me your address - yours was one of the comments where I couldn't reply.

Garden of Snow: winner is Misha. I've emailed you.

Sheep in the Meadow: winner is Lyndsey. I've emailed you.

Winter Wonderland: winner is Anne B. I've emailed you.

Loose Feathers Seasons: winner is RingWraith. RingWraith,  if you are there, please email me your address - yours was one of the comments where I couldn't reply.

Once again, thanks for all the interest, and to those of you whose names didn't get drawn, don't despair - I'll probably have more patterns to give away before too much longer - probably not so many at once next time!