Tuesday 23 August 2016

Sewing again at last - 365 Challenge updated


It is well over two months since I last blogged - apologies to anyone out there who may have been kind enough to stop by, just to be disappointed. Such a lot has been happening that I am not sure how (or whether) I am going to recap it all, but I will concentrate in this post on what I have managed to do in the past two weeks.

After no sewing at all for two months I managed to get back into my 365 Challenge (see this post) and first of all caught up with a few 'missing' blocks from earlier months. By 'earlier' I mean March and April (!) - I confess I had skipped one or two of the more difficult blocks and needed to go back and fill in the gaps before embarking on the new stuff.


These months were mostly the small (3") blue blocks which will form the first border of the medallion. I now reckon I am up to date and should probably lay out and sew the border together or I could get into a real muddle. I have about a hundred blocks sitting in a box so it's probably time...

Next up though was May: large, ie 6" finished, light blocks which will form the next border of the medallion - here's the link if you'd like to see what I mean.  
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I had made a start on the light blocks before my life was taken over by organising village events and my mum-in-law had a series of health crises.  I had managed to do about half the May blocks so was pretty much on  schedule, when real life got in the way.  I shouldn't grumble, patchwork is a hobby and needs to take second place sometimes. At least fabric doesn't go 'off' and it will still be there waiting for us when other things are less pressing.

So, back to business and I have made progress: May is now complete and I am into June. Here are the blocks I made last night, not yet pressed.  I don't know whether any of you are doing the Challenge but I have found that because the pieces are so small it is usually OK just to finger press the seams as I sew them.  If I had a mini iron set up next to my sewing machine I guess I would use it, but my ironing board is in the next room and I just want to keep sewing...



Once our village fete was over and we had tied up all the loose ends, we had a week's holiday in Cornwall.  I will save our holiday snaps for another post but will share some of the fabric I bought at Cowslip Workshops which I shall use in this quilt. I do love blue...


And I will leave you with a glimpse of my sewing room (aka dining room when we can squeeze on the end of the table). Another good thing about the summer is being able to eat outdoors as I don't have to push my sewing to one side so we can eat!


Thanks for visiting my blog - I shall try not to fall so far behind again.  Hope you make progress this week on all fronts!