January Project Wrap Up

Wow, the First month of 2017 has come to an end ...... already???  I feel like I'm still in the midst of my planning for the year - Guess I'd best get onto that before I blink and its over lol 
Soooooo ...... Wrapping up the projects for January - Oh, and And don't forget that Kris and Peg have just opened the books for OPAM 2017 to keep us all moving along with our various projects! 
I completed a knitted Beannie for daughters partner ready for later this year when winter comes upon us ...... It's rather colourful, but he likes that type of thing - I'll give it to him next time I'm down in Melbourne!






 ..... I got started on the crochet rug which is being made specially for the veranda on our new home up in Maryborough ..... I'm pretty happy with the progress since it's gone from planning and looking for a suitable crochet block and working out my colours to having completed 15 Glacier (Grey), 7 Snow (white) and 5 Wisteria (Mauve) blocks.  According to my little diagram I need a total of 48 blocks and I've yet to work out just which method I plan to use to join them together.  Also I had to try getting more cotton, which I really wanted in a "Slate" type of colour, but being picky I wanted it in either Bendigo or Stylecraft DK since I prefer the drape of these cottons than some of the others I've previously used ........ seems neither of them are keen on a dark

grey cotton colour and in fact I'm very disappointed with the limited colour range that Bendigo has - I hadn't realised that they don't even have a true Red in cotton????  Anyhow by default I've now decided I need to go with the navy colour ...... nocturne (stylecraft) and French Navy (Bendigo) are pretty much identical so I discovered when the orders arrived!  The Rose Pink won't get used in this project - its mostly there so I could see the difference between it and Wisteria in the same photo! 

The signature tablecloth is making progress - I'm so looking forward to using this when we finally get up to Maryborough and I have ladies come to visit and enjoy some sewing and cuppa time!  I was blessed yesterday when another signature hexie turned up in my mail box ........ this one came from Narelle from Pins and Whiskers.  Narelle also hosts "1 Xmas Item a Month"...... Thanks so much Narelle, I'm looking forward to making your hexie into a flower for the tablecloth ....
Here are the flowers thus far ........ I need to work out what colour will be going between them all

Blogging Tablecloth Hexies

Next up .... The Valentines Day swap  (hosted by which I've managed to finish and have posted out today (that will have to wait as it's meant to be a surprise ). 

The "Down the Rabbit Hole" BOM released a surprise pattern for us to make while we waited for the release of the first part of the quilt ........ I had lots of fun making this hussif (a sewing caddy that rests over the arm of your chair) and I think the carrot was a fun addition!  I had a smile on my face the whole time I was making this ...... sew cute!!!!  It also meant I had another "finish" for the month of January - giving me a total of 4 actual finishes (including the secret sewing for the Initial Heart Swap).  The blocks can't be counted as finishes until the full project is completed to prevent those pesky UFO's piling up!

Progress on the January BOM  pattern from  "Hand picked Wardrobe" (see the link on my sidebar) ..... its not quite completed just yet ..... I plan to get this January block finished off later today since I have the day off!  Hooray!!!  I really enjoyed putting this block together and working on the stitching.  Looking forward to the February Block when it gets released later this month - don't forget that Val has been kind enough to make this a Free Block of the Month too!  And that my friends is my stitching round up for January!  I have to say that I'm feeling somewhat pleased with my progress thus far for 2017 - Lets hope it continues lol

Happy Happy, Sewing Time

Wendy hosted FNSI on Friday and I'm truly grateful to her as it really got me into the sewing kind of head space I needed to get going on some things ....  Note the several projects all on the go on the dining room table as I joyfully moved from one to the other depending on what was going on around me .........

 First I finished off the crochet squares in the "Glacier"  colour for our Crocheted Veranda Throw - its now sitting in a plastic tub while I wait on an order from Bendigo yarns, and an order from Deromores (UK) . I would have preferred to use all Bendigo cotton for this project, but unfortunately their colour selection is somewhat limited.

Next on the agenda was to begin doing something with the lovely little Elephanz embroidery..... I had to do it twice when I made a bit of an "oh dear" when I forgot the pen I had not used for such a very long time didn't actually erase when you ironed it ...... nope, apparently I should have wet it!  Oopsie!!   So I got some practice doing a second one!

Moving on, and by now it was Saturday afternoon and I was itching to get back to the sewing ....... so,  as you might have read, I'm taking part in the BOM, "down the rabbit hole " by Sarah Fielke which I had seen on another blog (oh how I wish I could remember who else was doing this and where I saw it???  Is it you?? Whoever it was - a big thankyou as Sarah explains things so well in her videos as well as having the pattern sheets!) .... anyhow, she also includes little surprises as part of the BOM we pay for apparently and sent through a lovely little "Hussif" pattern with video instructions for making it up.  Although it certainly wasn't compulsory, I just couldn't resist when I saw the carrot pincushion in it!  I've still got a tiny bit left to finish it off, it's been such a while since I've done much sewing and I first had to dust out the sewing machine and give it an oil,  but here is a snippet .............

 I'll show you the rest once I get it completed,  which I would have done, if I hadn't been blog hopping on Saturday morning while having breakfast ....... 

Val Laird had a post about a lovely wall embroidery  over 12 mths which she is doing as a freebie (check out my sidebar for the link), and it really spoke to my heart.  It will be a good reminder as I stitch the verses and it  will then make a perfect little wall hanging for our new home!  So since I didn't want to go and buy anything for this one, I had to stash dive in the fabrics I'd unpacked the other day - I really did not want to have to go and undo that box again  (thankfully when I pack boxes I number each one and have a book with the list of the main items in each box) ........ instead I had to undo a different box  (number 26 ), to pull out my cutting mat and ruler lol  ......... Why did I ever think it would be a good idea to pack up the Beehive with all my crafting goodies???  Still, I surely have more than enough to keep me occupied for a while!!!  Naturally I had to get creative with the fabric scraps I had and try to work out how to get the amounts out of what I had ....... this ended up taking way longer than I had ever intended it to take, so I've yet to begin on the actual embroidery yet!  But I do have the pieces all cut now (except for the "cream on cream" ones) and in little plastic sandwich bags!

 

I don't think the sewing smile left my face all weekend!   The table sure has been covered in sewing goodies - Hubby just smiles and nods appropriately......    It's all going to have to get cleared away this week as we have an open house here on Saturday ...... fingers crossed and prayers please for a house sale!
Have a great day everyone!
Hugs,   Sharm