My Goals For August and Stitching Road Blocks

With the prospect of being at home a bit more this month I feel a greater enthusiasm for setting some goals and achieving them.  Despite it still being a mess, I’m looking forward to playing in the sewing room, and as the weather will hopefully provide a little more warmth towards the end of the month, I hope to be able to sit outside with some hand stitching or knitting.  We’ll see.

So, to start, here are my stitching goals.

ONE MONTHLY GOAL AND CHOOKSHED STITCHER’S GOAL

Once again, these goals will be combined.  Deana has selected the number 3, which is “Laundry Basket Quilts 2023 Spring Mystery Quilt - Progress”.  I’m quite happy for this one to pop up, as it was originally to be my goal last month, but wasn’t portable, so swapped with the EPP hexies.

I am up to the stage of preparing the final border, after a big effort at Scrub Stitchin’ to get all the applique stitched and the four quadrants joined together.  I am planning on making the border from half square triangles.  I have to work out the maths to see what size I will do and if a narrow border is also required. This is a quilt I have enjoyed making and would like to get finished.  Whether it will get quilted this month, who knows.  

My goal is to complete the quilt top.  Anything more is a bonus.

Pop over to Stories From the Sewing Room and Dreamworthy Quilts to see what the others have selected for August.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The nominated colour this month is orange.  I will make my usual split nine patches, as well as a hexy flower.  I’m not quite sure what I will do with my fish this month.  You see, I already have a few orange fish and September’s fish is a set of tropical fish.  I would really like to do one of those in orange.  So, do I just make two fish this month with orange accents, or wait until next month and swap the colours over?  I’m kind of leaning towards the latter. 

BATIK FISH

I will definitely be making my two batik fish, and possibly a couple of extras.

15 MINUTES A DAY

I really hope to get my stats up a bit in August.  My newfound enthusiasm should help here.

My other stitching goals are:

• Work on a donation project - Half Square Triangle Baby Quilt
• Use Monique - I really want to get the little Half Square Triangle Baby Quilt done.  This was supposed to happen in May.
• Knit or crochet something - I would like to finally make a little progress on my plum jumper and my crochet rug.
• Work on a WIP - that is my Batik Fish and the Laundry Basket Mystery Quilt
• Work on a UFO - that is also my Half Square Triangle Baby Quilt - It will really be good to put this one to bed.
• Hand stitching - That little Blue Sampler Stitchery really won’t take much to finish, so that is a goal.  Also, I would like to progress the Natalie Bird Pincushion.  I’d like to restitch the saying and start on the little appliqué. 
• Complete something - Yep, the Half Square Triangle Baby Quilt and the Blue Sampler Stitchery.

My other goals for the month are rather simple.

• Write my Isle of Man blog posts - I really want to get this down before I forget the details.
• Read a book - surely I can manage that this month.
• Try a new recipe - I’ve been rather slack in this department for quite a few months. I have a plan.
• Have a fun day out - I have at least one that I know of.

Now for the road blocks…..  

One of the things that sapped my enthusiasm was hitting a couple of road blocks with my projects.  

Firstly, the little crochet rug, that was going along so swimmingly.  When I crocheted the blocks together the joining came out rather tight and the blocks are not sitting flat.  It looks fine in the photo, but believe me, it isn’t.  As it is acrylic, blocking won’t help, so there is nothing for it but to separate all the blocks and rejoin them by stitching rather than crochet.  The worst bit will be undoing where I wove in all the ends.  Once that bit is done, it will be a very simple process to pull the crochet out.  That may be a job for sitting out in the sun on a nice warm day, or alternatively, for sitting in front of the heater.

The second road block is my Blue Quilt.  When I added the checkerboard border it transpired that the border was just a tad too large.  I gently eased it onto the previous round, but it was fluted.  My grand plan was to then gently ease it back onto the next narrow border, but that didn’t work and it is still fluted.  I need to remove the narrow border, then the checkerboard border.  As the blocks are just one inch finished and it is a checkerboard, I can’t simple remove one block.  I think I will have to separate the appliqué sections from the pieced sections and just trim a smidgeon here and there so that they don’t look too wonky.  It will take time and care, but will be worth it in the end.  I just have to be in the right mood for that one.

The third one I have mentioned before.  My Santa cross stitch ended up out of whack and would look silly, so I have abandoned it.  I may restart him, as he is rather cute.

I don’t want any of these road blocks to prevent them from being completed.  I feel they are a monkey on my back at the moment.  They won’t beat me, especially as they are mostly nearing the finish line.

By the way, I don’t expect these to be resolved in August.

I know my goals for this month are rather ambitious.  I’m looking forward to trying to achieve them all.

Stitching Wrap up for June

With our trip away, June was another month that had my goals go out the window.

There was no One Monthly Goal.

The Chookshed Stitchers’ Challenge was to make a donation quilt using some left over koala fabric.  That didn’t happen.  It will still be there for another time.

So, what did I do?

I took a bit of stitching away with me and after having completed the redwork stitchery, I pulled out the little Santa counted cross stitch.  A couple of needles full were worked each day……until I discovered that I can’t count. I’d fudged a little bit that I realised wasn’t quite right, but then I worked out that I had stuffed up some counting right at the start, when I was at my stitching morning. (Yes, I know that cross stitch is not something to take to a stitch and chat morning.). Anyway, it looked like Santa would end up with next to no moustache and would look decidedly odd, so I abandoned that project.  I may get out some more fabric and start again, as he is rather cute.  That is a job for another day.

I still had my sampler stitchery to work on, so made a start while sitting waiting for a race to start.  Yep, it was cold, despite supposedly being summer.

I got a little bit done while over there.  However, the last row of the alphabet in the above photo was completed after we returned home.

And that is all I did while we were away.  I was a little disheartened after the cross stitch fail, we were doing other things and then we got COVID (not what we wanted on our holiday), so my 15 minutes a day had a little holiday. 

Since we returned home I have been rather slow in getting back into the groove, initially just fiddling around with bits and pieces.

What I did do, was make the split nine patches for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in pink for May and blue for June.

Then I made a hexy flower in blue for June.

Finally, today, I have completed the fish blocks for May and June, in pink and blue.

I’m happy to at least have the Rainbow Scrap Challenge up to date.  I’m linking up over at So Scrappy.

I haven’t made any progress on the batik fish, but they will still be there for later.

I eventually picked up my knitting and have progressed the lace yoke.  This is being done nice and slowly in the quiet, so that I can concentrate on the pattern.  I still have another ten rows of the lace to go, before things start to get a little simpler.

So, how did I go with my 15 minutes a day for the month?

June = 15/30

Year to date = 166/182

Success Rate = 91.21%. It’s looking a little sad, compared to previous months, but this is not a job, just a bit of fun.  I’m linking up over at Life in Pieces. 

This was a very lean month on the stitching front, but at least I have something to show for it.

A Stitching Update - May

As you can imagine, our little impromptu trip to the UK meant that my stitching goals for the month of May were thrown out the window.  You can see what my goals were back here.

Despite our trip, I was already way behind the eight ball.  I just hadn’t really been feeling very motivated.  Having said that, when I look back through my little diary, I had done lots of little bits and pieces.  This is how I went.

The Chookshed Challenge to quilt the half square triangle baby quilt hadn’t been started.

My One Monthly Goal was to applique all the fish I had prepped, as well as those for May.  It turns out that I had appliquéd all the fish that I had prepped in April, except for their eyes. I just haven’t taken an updated photo.  This is my one from the start of the month.  All I had done towards the May blocks was to print out the pattern.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour of pink wasn’t progressed very far either.  No fish had been made and I had only cut out a couple of fabrics towards the split nine patches.

My granny square rug progressed no further.

So, what did I do?

I did complete the last of the three sashiko panels for the table runner. Now I have to find a suitable fabric for the sashings, border, binding and backing.

As I didn’t seem to have much in the way of hand stitching to take to my two stitching mornings, I made a small start on a counted cross stitch.  It is a little kit that would have come with a magazine or something.

I then decided that I would make some one inch hexy flowers, using RSC colours.  I have no plans on what I will do with them, but they are something to pick up and work on when I am at stitching, or I just want to work on something mindless.  I have prepped a few, using what I have in my small scraps tubs.  I will have to now dive into my other fabrics to cut more.  I have stitched a red and pink flower, so I suppose I did in fact make something towards the RSC for May.

I had hoped to make a start on knitting a jumper using some wool I purchased at an op shop in Yeppoon last year.  The pattern I have chosen is Salty Air Sweater, which is knit in the round, from the top down and has a lace work yoke.  I haven’t knitted a jumper for maybe 30 years, have never knitted an entire jumper in the round, (I have knitted a fair isle circular yoke many years ago), let alone from the top down and haven’t done much lace work.  The pattern has lot of terms I am unfamiliar with, so this will be a great learning exercise.  Thank goodness for YouTube tutorials.

I treated myself to some interchangeable circular needles, rather than buying multiple ones for this project.  I looked on line and to my surprise and delight, our local craft store had the ones I wanted in stock and a heck of a lot cheaper than those on line.  I hopped straight in the car and went and bought them and they only had one set, so I’m one very happy little Vegemite.

I did manage to make a start……..twice……. You know they say to be very careful not to twist the cast on row when knitting in the round, well I only noticed that I had indeed twisted it after I had knitted a few rows.  Blast!!!  Second time around I checked, had Mick check and then double checked and managed to get it right.

I am currently halfway through the lacework yoke.  It is going well, so far.  (For once, the photo is showing the true colour of this wool, normally it is photographing as more like a brown.)  I am taking my time and really concentrating on what I am doing.  Once the yoke is finished it will be a good project to take to my stitching mornings.  I’m looking forward to getting back into it, but first I will need to do another YouTube refresher on some of the terms.

I knew that I would want some stitching to take away with my, but it needed to be compact and mindless.  Previously, I have taken redwork and that seems to be a good option, but what to take?  I started looking through some of my books and ended up prepping three projects.

Firstly, the stitching on a small pincushion by Natalie Bird that has been on my wish list for many a year.  

It didn’t take long to get it stitched while waiting in airports etc.

The next project is a Gail Pan bag.

I managed to get it stitched while on the Isle of Man, some of it sitting beside the race course, waiting for proceedings to start.  I can’t say that this was a project that was on my radar, but it will be a nice addition to my bag collection, once I make it.

Finally, another Gail Pan project, from the same book.  This wasn’t started in May. Once again, not a project that was on my radar, but it is definitely one that I like and will be happy to have made.

One other thing I did in May was finally donate the quilts that I had been making for that purpose.  I have previously donated to Ronald McDonald House in Orange, but this time wanted to donate closer to home.  I approached the local organisation that looks after foster children, but they said “Thanks, but no thanks, they have plenty already”.  I then approached Wattle Tree House who support victims of domestic violence and they were more than happy to accept them, as they were currently putting together packages to give people who needed support.  I think I will donate to them again in the future.

So, it seems that despite a trip to Canberra and travelling to the UK, I did in fact achieve quite a bit, although nothing was completed.

How did I go with my 15 minutes a day?  Surprisingly, I only missed one day, the day after we had been on the go for 41 hours.  I’ll excuse myself for that.

May = 30/31

Year to date = 151/152

Success rate = 99.34%

Overall, I’m very happy with what I achieved in the month, despite not ticking everything off the list.  Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter one way or the other.  I’ll get them done at some stage.

Looking Back at 2023

Here we are at the end of another year and time to look back over the last twelve months, which has been our first complete calendar year of not working.

It has been interesting to read over my post at the start of the year with my wishes for the twelve months ahead.  Let's see how I went with my goals from back then.

A big feature on how I achieve things is to set some goals each month and join in a couple of challenges.

I participated in One Monthly Goal again and was delighted to reach my goal every month.  Some were very simple, but the idea is to make it achievable.

I enjoyed the Rainbow Scrap Challenge again and made two different blocks each month.

I completed the black and white quilt using half square triangles.

The split nine patch blocks will be ongoing in 2024.

I also completed the 1930s butterfly quilt from 2022 RSC, which I was very happy about.

2023 saw me join in the 15 Minutes a Day challenge for the first time.  This worked so well for me.  It gave the push to do at least a little something each day, even when I didn't really feel enthused.  Here are my final stats:

15 minutes a day/2023 = 341/365

Success Rate = 93.42%

I'm really pleased with that.  The success rate is so much better than I anticipated.  It just goes to show that accountability works for me.

It is nice for stitching to be social.  The girls I have met online through my blog, via Zoom and in person are a truly wonderful group.

Scrub Stitchin' was super special this year, as we were joined by seven ladies, and in some cases their husbands, from all over the world.  To actually meet them in person was so nice. We also had some ladies attend from further afield in Australia and met them for the first time, which was equally special.

Our Chookshed Stitchers Zoom days are always a wonderful time.  We chat, laugh, solve the problems of the world and even get some stitching done on occasions.

This year I also wanted to join a local stitching group, now that I had the time.  I signed up for the U3A "Stitch and Chat" group at the start of the year and then very shortly after, a new group "Bathurst/Orange Patchwork and Bag Making" was formed, so I joined that as well.  Now, I head off to my stitching mornings on Wednesdays and Fridays.  They are both lovely groups to be a part of.  One advantage of these groups is that I am doing much more hand stitching, as it is too difficult to lug a sewing machine along.

This year I completed 48 projects.  I can't quite believe that.  Many are small, but it just goes to show what you can do when you have the time.

I had said at the start of the year that I would like to finish my Make it Blue Quilt.  That didn't happen, but I did make good progress.  Just two more borders to add.  My initial aim was for it to be a two year project.  I started it in June 2022, so I still have six months to go.

I finally started to use Monique, my Grace Q'nique 14+ quilting machine.  I have mainly quilted small donation quilts, but have done a couple of larger ones.  They have all been edge to edge pantographs, but I am gradually gaining confidence.

I mentioned at the start of the year that I needed to finish off some UFOs, as they were starting to build up again.  That is still the case.  I didn't get many finished. Quite a few of those just require quilting, which I am still trying to get to.  There is still a definite lack of confidence.  I will get there.

Talking of donation quilts, I took six quilts, a crochet rug and few other things I had made to Ronald McDonald House during the year and am working on another pile to donate fairly soon.

I specifically mentioned that I wanted to complete my kitten cross stitch.  I did make a start early in the year, but that petered out. The last time I did anything was in January.  It is really hard on the eyes, with the pale colours and really slubby, difficult fabric.  It requires too much concentration to take to stitching mornings and also requires good light.  It has waited this long to be finished, so a little longer won’t matter.  I won’t beat myself up about it.

I also mentioned a new leader and ender project.  I did start, but it also petered out.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

Knitting and crochet were on my wish list and I did work on some projects.  They are great to take to stitching mornings. I have rediscovered the joy of knitting.

Kits also were mentioned.  I did complete two bookmark kits.  Better than nothing, I suppose.

I started the Laundry Basket Spring Mystery Quilt and a crochet rug, which are still ongoing, but didn't create too many additional UFOs or WIPs, which is a positive.

So, what else did we get up to during the year?

We didn't travel as much as we expected.  Our trip to New Zealand in February was cancelled at the last minute, but we aren't too devastated about it.  

We took a quick trip to visit friends in Queensland in March.

April saw us have Lou and Tony visit and us all travel to Scrub Stitchin' at Baradine.  Sadly, the dreaded COVID attended as well.  

May took us to Nyngan and then down to Lake Cargelligo for a few days.

In June, we went to Nelson Bay to see the whales.

August saw us head off on our main trip, travelling to the Mundi Mundi Bash at Silverton.

We then kept on our way to South Australia to the Flinders Ranges.

And then to the Eyre Peninsula.  It was a wonderful trip, as we weren't rushed and had a good look around the places we visited.

We also took the van over to Gulgong for their swap meet, when the ute came home on the tilt tray.

Actually, now that I look back, we went away more than I realised.

We had plenty of fun days out, attending both Quilt Shows in Sydney.

There were loads of open gardens in the spring, as well as plenty of events attended in our more local area.

We continued to experiment with more new recipes and I read quite a few books, but not as many as I wished.

Sadly, my intention to be more active and get some organising happening at home seemed to fall by the wayside.

Motorcycling has not featured at all, with us only getting on a bike twice in the year.  As this is not nearly as big a part of our lives these days, Mick has sold "Snubby" the silver sidecar and her camper trailer.  They have both gone to separate homes in Victoria.  We are getting updates on Snubby, which is really nice.

Mick has a new toy and project, being "Rosie" the 1990 Suzuki Sierra.  He has been having a great time sprucing her up and kitting her out in preparation for a planned trip to Cape York in 2024.

We both started to learn to play lawn bowls at the start of the year.  I decided after a while that it wasn't for me, but Mick has really taken to it.  

So, that pretty much wraps up the year of 2023.  It has been a good year for us, as we settle into our "new normal".  It’s been fun looking back over the last twelve months.  Now it will be time to look forward to 2024.