Coordinating fours

So I decided to use some more of the bordering fabrics, in larger pieces, to make some coordinating wonky four patches to go with the others - these are themselves 6.5", so they are the same size as the finished other blocks. There are 16 of these, so 36 blocks in total - not sure how I will arrange them when I eventually get around to setting them out and stitching them together, but that's a problem for another day. For the time being, they can go in the block set basket and wait patiently for me to do something with them!

Bordered wonky fours

...and here's the resulting blocks - the centres are various, but mostly in keeping with the colours of the bordering blocks. There are 20 of them - 6 of each of the lighter colours and 8 of the green ones. However, they are quite small (6.5"), so I might need something to go with them!

Wonky prep

Needing to do a little bit of block making in my very busy life, so I pulled out a few larger pieces of fabric to use as bordering prints for some wonky 4 patches. I'm going to use my stash of 5" squares as the blocks for the wonky four patches. Not sure which fabrics, but whatever seems to go with the chose outer fabrics...

Bird is the word

The recent swap I showed being swapped out was to a bird theme - specifically, Bird is the Word - the cards must feature at least one bird and at least one word. These were my contribution to the swap...

Encroaching...

Despite having had some residual sewing and creating to show over the past few days, I haven't done any actual work at my desk/sewing table/workstation in ages - and you can see the stuff gradually encroaching. This is a few birthday presents, some Christmas ornaments collected here and there, a couple of presents which need mailing to my niece in the US and the hostess cards from a recent swap. In addition to all the stuff which is normally on the table, of course!

That time of year...

It's almost December, which means it's time to get out the seasonal cross-stitch pieces. I have one current project which I'm going to work on for the next week, but then, whether I finish it or not, I'm going to switch to seasonal stuff.  These three unfinished pieces will get worked on (and hopefully two of them will get finished - can't finish my angels, of course, or what would I have to complain about every year at Christmas time?)  Who knows, something else might get started as well. I do have one or two seasonal pieces waiting in my stash...

Binding on

This quilt has been around a long time, waiting to have the binding attached. It's not the only one, but at least it's finally been done.  Now I just have to get to the others!  (Plus the two or three I have quilted but with binding attached at all...)

Swapping out

I take part in a lot of swaps for ATCs - from time to time I even host the occasional swap - here's some photos of the swapping out processs. One of the nicest parts of the whole thing is that many of the players send in a hostess card (not required), so instead of the usual 3 or 4, you often get 20 or more to keep...  This swap was on a bird theme.

Scraps & Leftovers

Of course, any good project creates some scraps and leftovers - these are what was left from the blocks I showed yesterday. The left hand pile will go in the scrap basket, the middle into the strips bag and on the right are the pieces large enough to put back into stash - this includes the leftovers of the train border from those two recent tops...

ABC, 123

Something quick and simple to relax me a little in the extremely busy month I've been having (not like it's going to get any better with Christmas coming up, though I will get some holiday time).  A couple of novelty FQs with letters and numbers, and some purple and blue borders, and it's another block set ready to go (well, I've put together a number of them recently, so it's only fair I generate some more, right?)

ATC Friday

Some more ATCs which were round robins - once again, these are cards where I worked on the second round and sent them to a third person to finish off. The finished card is at top

Here's how they were after I made an addition or two, and below is how they started. 

Again, the finished card (above) and the starter below. 

I added the lace.

For some reason, the two other photos of this card are both corrupted and won't show, but you can see the finished product. This is quite an old card coming back to me, but I think I just added the flower.

More train borders

Here's the other top with a train border - I'm sure some little boy will really enjoy this one. Or perhaps a little girl, you never know!

Cross Stitch Update

I've worked a little on this piece, which is a Little Mystery Sampler by Lizzie Kate; now that all three pieces are published and a picture of the finished product has appeared on the internet, I can actually show my work, which is nice... Just going to finish this off, and then get out The Seasonal Stuff - I can't believe it's nearly December. Yikes!

A top with a train border

Another instance of shopping from the Project Linus stash - I took this train themed fabric home from the Linus day ages ago, but it's only recently I've had a chance to use it to border some blocks - I have used it on two different tops (the other one I will show later this week), and there is even still some left to use - though not enough for another border...

Second rail fence top

...and as promised, here's the second (smaller) top made with those rail fence variation blocks. Of course, both will need borders now...

First rail fence top

Some more blocks together - this is only half of this set, which means they'll soon be followed by a second variation on this theme...

Block Set Update

It's been a little while since I updated the status of my basket of block sets - a few additions, but more removals, which is good!

Finished ATCs for Friday

Some more round robin cards which have made their way home to me...  and what they looked like when they left home, for comparison.

Scrappy double four patch centre

Another set of scrappy blocks, together and ready for a border. Moving it from the block basket to the border basket is not quite as satisfying as moving it to the "waiting to go to Linus" basket, but it's a start.

Cross Stitch Update

Finished off this Three Little Words piece, which is remarkable, really, given how busy I've been in the evenings lately - the next week will be even worse!

Another strippy, now bordered

This border works even better than the black one, I think - though it does end up quite busy. 

That crazy totem pole border, again

More of the totem pole fabric as a border. It really works well, despite the unlikelihood!

Some transport novelties

Another set of blocks together and out of the block basket (and into the basket of cetres waiting for borders!). I do have some fabric for this one to be bordered with, though, so perhaps it won't sit there for too long.

Strippy floral

Another top centre, which has now had a border added. This is another of the group of quilts for Project Linus, which use fabric which I've had from the Linus stash, for the border. I think the scraps in the strippy centre are probably all from my stash, though there may be a few bits and pieces left over from previous Linus borders. Hard to remember!

ATC Friday

Another set of ATCs - these are all ones where I was the second person to work on the cards, so I am able to show all three stages - what they looked like when I got them, after I added something and the finished product - that's my favourite to show (though not necessarily to work on).

Purple strings

Another set of blocks which was hanging around, now made into the centre of a top. I used purple strips down the centre of these string blocks to provide a little unity, which I don't always do with strings, but it's fun when it happens. Of course, I like string blocks the other way (completely scrappy) as well...

Cross Stitch Update

Finished the second part of this mystery, and decided to put it away until next autumn. I'll stitch a few small things I'm partly finished with, and then I think it may be time for the other Seasonal things (yes, those ones)...

A few goodies

Last week when I visited Liz, the Project Linus Coordinator, I popped into the local high street (Carshalton Village) to grab a few bits and pieces, and right next to the ATM off the main street, I found a craft shop. Of course I had to go in, as it was obviously fate that led me there (I only went to that cash point, tucked back by the post office because the one in the high street was out of order...).  And even better, everything in the shop was 50 per cent off, as she's closing down her retail premises and going entirely online. Bonus!

Black and pink...the leftovers

I don't know why I'm always surprised at the scrap bag/basket growing so much and needing to be thinned out - every time I do any sort of project, I get scraps generated - like above...

Of course the upside of that is that I get a nice stack of blocks to go along with my scraps: