Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 I finished the border for the 5th block that my DD stitched for me and I really like the effect with the borders "framing" the fairies. There are 7 more to stitch to complete the set.

 This is the July block and I'm making good progress on this one now I have found most of my threads and bought those extras I needed.

These are the 5 finished blocks stitched on 18 count Aida as I like the fine stitches but it's easier for me than counting stitches on Linen fabric. My DD mustn't have stitched the "May" block as I haven't found that with the others. I will go back and stitch that soon. In the meantime I am stitching the July block .
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday - 2nd Finish for 2019.

 I'm very happy to have my second UFO finish for the year and feel encouraged to get more of mine finished. 

 This half inch hexagon project was at this stage at the end of January and it was made as a reproduction of an antique doll's quilt.  I have a few half inch UFOs on the list so, although it's a small one, it's great to get another finish.

 As part of my plan to work on larger UFOs I'm also making these half inch hexie flowers for the centre of my Insanity quilt. I started it in 2014 when we traveled to Europe but I foolishly also started another large half inch quilt, La Passion, at the same time and I should have focused on one at a time. I'm also not sure if I will follow the original pattern now with the mosaic border of hexies, so I am going to work on the centre first and then make decisions about the borders as I complete each section.

Here is the light of our lives. I will probably have more time for quilting in a couple of months time when his mum is on maternity leave but we will miss seeing him every day.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Antique Quilt Restoration Finish #1.

 I bought this 16 patch utility quilt a few years ago with the intention of restoring it and as I posted in mid January, I decided it was time for me to not only finish off my UFOs but also work on restoring my antique quilts and quilt tops.

 This top from the late 1800s was in 3 pieces when I bought it and some of the blocks were in poor shape. I took apart the damaged blocks and then joined them together again.

 The other factor that has been delaying my progress with restoring these quilts is whether or not I should hand quilt them. I have quite a few to restore and really I don't think it's practical to hand quilt all of them, especially if it is a utility quilt like this one, as it would most likely have been machine quilted if the quilter had that option. So I decided to machine quilt it in a simple design that was often used at that time. This was an unfinished top and hadn't been quilted and was made from leftover fabric from work shirts and dressmaking, most likely to create bedding for family members or people working for the family.

You can see that blocks have been constructed as fabric became available and all scraps were used, even to the extent of creating fabric by joining light and dark pieces to create squares. I find it interesting to see that some fabrics were used as "light" in some squares and as "dark" when paired with other fabrics.
   Now that it's finished I'm so happy that I decided to restore this top and complete it so it can be displayed instead of in pieces in a cupboard. I have another restoration in progress too and hope to have that finished soon.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

This Week's Finishes.

 Actually these were primarily  this morning's finishes. I quilted one of the tops during the week while Jake slept but I haven't been able to quilt since as he has started to wake if I use the industrial sewing machine.  Instead I pin basted a couple of tops and this morning I quilted those and bound all 3. That left me free this afternoon to work on my UFOs which I hope to have finished soon.

 These 3 tops were all made by AQA members and I quiltedthem for our Gift Quilt Program . That makes 8 quilts finished this month for AQA so I'm planning to work on more of my own finishes now.

I hope to have more to share tomorrow .
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 Of the 5 blocks my DD had stitched I have completed the outlining back stitch on 4 of them and I really like the way the floral border enhances them.

 This is the 5th block update from last week when I started the outlining.

 I had hoped to have finished this block but there is still the dress outline and the "month" left to stitch. Hopefully I will get that completed tonight. At least I have found almost all of my thread supplies and I have started gathering thd thread for the next block .

I started this block when I was getting too tired to back stitch and will proceed with this block throughout the week. Getting cross stitch UFOs finished has been as pleasing as finishing off my quilting UFOs. Hopefully I will have more progress to share next week.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday.

 I'm so pleased that I decided to focus on finishing off my UFOs and blogging about it once a week. Unbelievably this UFO was only at this stage 2 weeks ago and with some steady focus it is now a finished top.

 These are half inch hexagons and I really enjoyed stitching them into a replica of an antique doll quilt. I plan on quilting it and having it finished by next Monday.

 This is the next UFO I'm planning on finishing and it is a quilt for Jake. His Mum wanted a Woodland theme quilt for him with appliqued animals. He already has 2 quilts that I made and one his Mum made but I had really stalled with this one. I was paralyzed by perfection as I had to make up the design myself and I don't feel that I'm very artistic. However I  thought I just need to Do It! Jake will love it regardless and that's what matters.

 I was able to trace a design for the deer and bear but had to free hand draw the owl. I added the owl and tree branches on Thursday on my child-free day, and I still have to add a fox, leaves and birds.

 I wish I had used a contrast fabric for the owl's wings but otherwise I am happy to have moved this project along.

Thanks for stopping by and keeping my UFO progress on track.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekend Fun.

 Posting about finishing my UFOs has meant that I have been working on getting more finishes when I have time, but I will share my progress on UFO Monday. In the meantime I finished off these 3 quilt tops on Thursday as we didn't have Jake here that day.

 These tops were all made by AQA members for our Gift Quilt Program and as I had already pin basted them, it only took a few hours to quilt and bind them. I used my domestic sewing machine to apply the binding and it's walking foot does a much better job than my industrial machine.

 We had Jake stay overnight last night and had a disturbed sleep as he is teething again,  but he is still a delight to spend our time with. He's just left now and I can see a Nanna nap in my very near future. At least his parents had a lovely celebration in the city. I really hope to share another of my UFO finishes very soon too.

Hugs, Jan Mac