Cross stitch progress

Amazing how different the piece looks in different light...  Anyway. I have now completed the first three sections of this - I am caught up to what I have received in the post.

Here's how it looked last week:

So you can see there was quite a lot of work done on it - nice to be able to say that about something in my life!

However, I'm now going to put it away for a few weeks (even if I do get another installment of the pattern) while I work on seasonal stuff. I have started one seasonal piece (or rather, picked up where I left off last year, in February, when I tired of winter) - one which just says "winter" and isn't Christmassy, particularly, so I will carry on with that one until it's done. Probably.

I'm nearly finished with the triptych of birds I've been working on (probably only two evenings, possibly even one if I have a long block of stitch time), so I'm going to finish that before I pull out the other seasonal cross-stitch (yes, for those of you who follow this blog regularly, I am talking about my Christmas Nemesis, the Angels).  What I should do before I start on them this year is check to make sure I have all the reds I need before I start.  Maybe I will do that later this week, and really get organised.

I don't expect to finish it this year (there's still a lot of stitching to come) but it would be nice to make some progress, I think.  Of course, who knows what I would do if I ever actually finished them!  I do have several other Christmas patterns knocking about though, so I'm sure I'd find something to fill the space and time...

More granny squares

I'm not getting a huge amount of sewing time, with one thing and another, but I did get a chance to make another granny square or two. I am now up to 7. I think I set aside enough unique squares for about 16, which will make a nice, small baby quilt. Eventually. 

Cup of coffee?

One more coffee cup for the block lotto this month - I had hoped to do a few more, but I ran out of black on black and also of time.  These are fun, though - I might do some more in a different colourway - I like the dark backgrounds, but I might use some of my not-strictly-BOB fabrics to make some for myself.

Cross-stitch update

Making good progress on the third section of this design, although as it happens, I ran out of one of the greens and will have to order more. I only need about 12 inches more, I reckon.  Oh well!

Coffee cups

Over on the block lotto this month, we're doing free-form coffee cups (with some specifications). They don't have to be red, mine just happen to both be. I hope to have time to do a few more before the end of the month as I really like them. 

Granny squares

Lots of people seem to be making granny squares at the moment, so I couldn't resist. I'm trying to use up scraps, though, so there's no theme to mine, just scrappy scrappy scrappy.

Cross-stitch update

This is a nice fast stitching project - which is good, as it has twelve parts to it.  I finished the first part and have moved on to the second, though I haven't got far with that - just the branch and "is t".  But it will come!

Hawaiian Quilt Finish

I know I haven't finished a lot of things recently - or indeed, worked on a lot of things - but here's one thing I have actually done - quilted and bound this little Hawaiian shirt lap quilt, which is soon off to a new home, but I shan't say where...

Cross-stitch update

Not been doing a lot of stitching recently, either cross-stitch or other sewing, but I did manage to make a little progress on the cross-stitch. A few more weeks before I get the seasonal ones out (early December, I think - I usually carry on with them until mid- to late January).

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...