A Fresh Start!

A new year and a fresh start!

Happy 2025 to you all

If everything goes according to plan I am going to have a fun and busy time sewing up a storm this year!!

Last year failed on so many accounts and it can only get better from here on in 😄

And without dwelling on the negatives I'm going to launch in here with all the good stuff.

I've decided to join the Chookshed Chatterers Challenge again this year. This is hosted by Deanna from Dreamworthy Quilts. Each month Deanna randomly selects a number - and we work on that number from our list.

Many of these projects I have talked about at length before....quite a few are from last year's challenge list which barely got dusted off so I will just make a quick list rather than full on explanations for them all.

I want to make PROGRESS on all of these - finished would be great but I'll be happy with progress -

1. International Sisters

2. Antarctica Quilt

3. Wings and Pretty Things

4. On Williams St

5. Hugs and Kisses Christmas Stitchery

6. 2024 Scrub Stitching project

7. Snowflake Lane 

8. Gingerbread Wallhanging

9. Mod Bear's Paw

10. The Great Scrappy Star Adventure

NUMBER 6 has been drawn as the project to work on this month. Yaay, it's the Sewing Case/Roll by Anni Downs we were given as a kit at Scrub Stitching 2024. I've actually been working on this lately so that's perfect!

See you next time,

Raewyn

Triple Treat

Last December I completed a scrap quilt flimsy - I blogged about it *here*. 

It was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's Triple treat leader-ender challenge. Every year she shares a scrap friendly block pattern and invites followers to sew along with her in creating lots of blocks, using lots of scraps and maybe even making a quilt from them.
These blocks started with four-patches which were then sewn together with larger pieces. 

I used 2" squares rather than 1½" as suggested by Bonnie. I found that they were fun blocks to make - it was very satisfying sewing them all up.

I basted the quilt quite soon after finishing the flimsy (which is quite unusual for me) but it had sat waiting for attention ever since.

Until recently. To be honest, I realised that all my basting pins were tied up in quilts and I had none left for anything else!

I chose to quilt it with a basic meander/large stipple. I haven't quilted a big quilt with meandering before but I decided it would be perfect for a scrap quilt. The fact that I wouldn't have to think much, and that it wouldn't take long to clock up the miles also helped!

I got so excited to finish it that I even started sewing the binding on before I had finished quilting it!

Here it is when I'd first finished it; woohoo, loving it! —

And today I took it out into the wild for its official photo shoot —

A pieced backing —

I couldn't resist taking this photo in amongst the Loquat tree 😃

I have started another Scrappy Leader-Ender quilt. Not one of Bonnie Hunter's challenges, but one I saw at our Scrub Stitching retreat earlier in the year.

It is Bonnie Lass by Jen Kingwell —

Another easy and addictive leader-ender project that doesn't use up nearly enough scraps!!

'til next time,
Happy stitches,

Raewyn

PS Is anyone else having issues (again) with Blogger? All comments are coming through with no-reply email addresses. I tested by commenting on myself and even though it looked like I was properly signed in, my email came up as no-reply. OR is it a setting I've inadvertently changed?

Small Bag Makes

I nearly headed up this post with "Ditto" .....referring to a repeat of my last post, however I won't subject you to that again!

Yes time flies so there is plenty to chat about...

Some of you commented on the wee bags which I showed photos of in that last post so that is what I will start with here —

I had an urge to make some drawstring bags for knitting and crochet projects; just small ones to hold a few skeins of yarn for small projects.

I had a couple of FQs I had been hiding away for this purpose. This was the first bag I made —

I used *this online tutorial* - altered a little as I had fat quarters to play with, not yardage!

And I added a little zipped pocket for stowing away the tools that are always lost at the bottom of a bag!

I made the second bag a few weeks later and had completely forgotten what battings I had used for the body. I had improvised with what I had at home. The second bag doesn't stand quite as well as the first but it will do!

I did improve the zipped pocket though; it's not quite as bulky as the first. Both zips were in my 'zipper bag' and were ones that Mum unpicked from garments years ago. The grey one is from Dad's workpants and I think the red would have been a skirt!
I was impatient to complete the second so instead of purchasing some cord for the drawstring, I used a pair of long shoe laces that had also somehow ended up in my sewing room!!

Family photo - 

(I haven't measured these bags but I see the instructions say they are approximately 10"x6"x5" - not huge but a good size for what I wanted.)

Another bag I made was one for Miss Lily for her birthday.

It turned out pretty cute.

I hadn't made one of these frame bags before but it was very straightforward 😊

The base and main part are made as two complete parts - 

And then hand sewn together. It seems strong enough - time will tell!

The young lady was delighted and set about filling it straight away!

Still arranging things several days later - 

I have some of these —

— needing attention, so I'd best be off.

See you next time,

Raewyn