Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 I can really recommend posting about stalled projects as I am finding that weekly reporting my progress is helping me to maintain progress. My DD stitched these blocks for me when she was recovering from a prolonged and debilitating battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I had bought every DMC thread for her on my first trip to the US in 2010 as they were a third of the price to what I pay here. She madd these as a thank you and a surprise for me but ran out of energy to finish them. Now I'm finishing them as a surprise for her. I thought she made 6 but I can only find 5 so will stitch a replacement.

 I only needed to outline stitch the border flowers and add beads to the February block so that was finished in a night.

I had to stitch the border for this block for April and after a couple of nights stitching it's almost finished too.

Adding the border design adds a lot to their design. I'm enjoying finishing them and want to display them so DD 1 knows how much I appreciate her gift. I'm going to stitch the rest of the fairies too and will probably make them into a wall hanging .
      I'm enjoying stitching them to stay cool rather than wrestling quilts under the machine in this heat, but on the cooler days I'm also finishing off quilts.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday.

 As you can see I am making good progress on my reproduction doll's quilt made from half inch hexagons. I have deviated from the design a bit with my colour choices and I'm pleased with the result.

 It's surprising how quickly it grows when you focus on a UFO of your own. Lol. I have also made some more hexie flowers for my Insanity quilt but have decided to tackle some smaller UFOs at the same time or I nay not get any others finished.
    It's surprising how many little UFOs I have as well, a lot from online block parties or from classes I took. Some of these may be repurposed as smaller projects to get them finished. There's often a good reason why the project stalled. Often due to list interest but also because I didn't have a specific purpose and then ran out of time.

 This was a hexagon block from an online site which was making a hexagon block each month. I think I made the first 2 months and then lost interest as I didn't like the 3rd block. This was the first block and I thought it would make a nice baby quilt to donate.

I have made borders and added hand stitched hexies to the border.  Think the original project was started 6 or 7 years ago and it was uncovered 2 years ago when I started the borders. I'm planning on getting this one finished next.

Hopefully I will have more to share next week.

Hugs, Jan Mac 

More AQA Quilts

 The photos aren't great but were taken quickly to show more AQA tops I finished for our Gift Quilt Program.  The members do a great job making tops and it's great to get them quilted and donated.

It's our meeting today and thankfully the weather is a bit cooler today. I always like delivering finished quilts and clearing more space on the shelves. My stash also comes in handy for bindings and backings when I haven't brought any of the group's fabric to match the tops. Yesterday I added borders to tops, made backings and bindings as well as basting and quilting so I will have more to share soon.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 Look what I found packed away in a box. My eldest DD stitched 5 blocks for me as a Christmas gift but ran out of time to finish the outline and add the decorative beads. I told her that I would finish them for her. They must be at least 12 to 15 years old, or maybe older and they mean a lot as she put a lot of time into stitching them. I think I will either frame them or make a quilted wall hanging.
     I'm excited to have found them again as they deserve to be displayed and enjoyed rather than be stored in a box. I'm going to really enjoy finishing them off and maybe stitching the remaining blocks too as they are a set of 12. They are stitched on 18 count Aida so fairly delicate and the beading adds a nice touch.

This block is finished and I think I must have stitched the outer frame and added beads 7 or 8 years ago. I'm sure that blogging my weekly progress will keep me motivated and get them finished.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday.

 I've decided to regularly post on my progress on finishing my UFOs this year as I found that it was very motivating in completing Jake's Christmas stocking.  I need to get more UFOs finished but I won't start listing them as I don't even know where lots of them are packed away. Instead, as I find them I plan to work on them to a finish. Ì spend so much time finishing other people's UFOs, quilting tops etc and my own get left unfinished .
  This first one was a doll quilt I started in June last year when I attended a quilt study weekend run by Leah Zieber. She designed the pattern based on an antique doll's quilt from her collection. I had completed the first 3 rounds and half of the 4th round when I found it yesterday. The hexagons are half inch and I hope to have more progress to share next week.

The other UFO I found is the Insanity Quilt a design by Rhonda Pearce. I started this in 2014 but stalled with it as at the same time, I started another large hand pieced project, also using half inch hexagons. I even started a Facebook group for other quilters to encourage each other's progress. The other reason this quilt had stalled is because we sold our farm and needed to downsize into a smaller home. Making large quilts seemed less of a priority as they require larger storage space. I've decided to keep stitching and get it finished but I am considering not making it as large as the original design. I have been stitching it on most evenings this week and have made 6 or 7 more large flower hexie shapes as well as stitching about 6 onto the main piece.
   I'm still enjoying stitching the small hexies and will be very happy to cut down on my UFOs. Some were just small pieces, a block or half a top etc. and they may be repurposed but the main achievement will be removing lots of these bits and pieces.
     Thanks for reading dear blogging friends as I am sure that posting about mh progress will help me keep my focus on my own UFO finishes.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Busy Times.

 Despite the hot weather we've been having I have been busy basting tops and getting them finished. This first quilt was made from a set of 7 donated blocks which I added to by making another 5 blocks to make the top large enough. I don't think you can pick the different blocks I added and I'm pleased with the result.

 I finished another QAYG quilt thanks to generous quilters making these lovely blocks.

 This top was donated and is a great I Spy quilt for a child. It's great to have another finished quilt to donate.

These star blocks were donated by quilters from around the world and I am very happy to be able to use up more donated blocks. It was worth melting under the quilts to get more finishes. This last quilt was made from blocks donated by Sue McP.  from Victoria and it looks better in real life than in the photo. We were a bit rushed getting the photos taken. Lol
Hugs, Jan Mac

Quilting Time.

 These 3 tops were made by members of AQA and I quilted them for our Gift Quilt Program. Luckily I pin basted them last week before we had these extremely hot days. I have one more to quilt and then I'm hoping to gef some more basted and ready for quilting when the weather cools over the weekend.

There's another couple of my finished quilts to share very soon. In the meantime I'm doing some hand stitching or reading to avoid the heat.
Hugs, Jan Mac