August 2019

Boy, did August go by quickly! Our kids were back to school at the beginning of the month and so we returned to the school-year routine. I spent most of my month stitching in August, and my mom and I hosted our second year of the Indy Summer Stitchers retreat. We had a great time hosting 29 stitchers from all over the midwest (and one from Arizona!) for a 3-day weekend of relaxing, laughing, snacking, and of course stitching. We had a great group of women again this year and enjoyed a fabulous show and tell (you can see the show and tell in my Instagram stories - @jenquilter). 

While most of my focus was on stitching this month, I did finish one UFO - I was sewing binding down yesterday, and am happy to show off this quilt, with a name to be determined (the working name has been Santorini houses, as Santorini is the name of the fabric line I used).  I made this quilt several years ago from a pattern on Moda Bake Shop and have known for at least a couple years how I wanted to quilt it. I finally took a deep breath, loaded it on the frame, and quilted in the names of all the streets where I have lived. Each little "neighborhood" has a different street name. I connected them with trees, bushes, or flowers. After auditioning lots of options for the binding, I decided I wanted a nice clean finish, so I made a faced binding. I still need to add the label and hanging sleeve, but I am considering this one finished and I love how it turned out! 


This street got a pine tree because we had a pine tree right outside our front gate when we lived there!
On the stitching front, I finished up Snow White by Little House Needleworks before the retreat. I stitched this project with B5200 on a mystery navy linen that was in my stash. It took me some time to get the fabric and light situated so that I could see reliably. I really like how this looks and also like that it will be a good winter decoration. 

I also finished my monthly Lizzie Kate Flip-It for August and I think it is pretty cute. This took up my first afternoon and evening at retreat. After it was done, then I moved on to three new starts! 


I finished up one of those new starts on Friday night. It is the third Hands On Design Year of Chalk pieces I've finished. I don't know if I will do anymore, but each of the three I've done will help fill in some decorations in the months between big holidays. I have the board that she used on the pattern for finishing, and my goal is to get the three fully finished before the end of the year. 

I also finished up some crochet this month - my second blanket square for the Veteran's Day project at work. It is now at my moms pinned to the blocking board. This one needed a little more work to block nicely, so I hope it will look nice when it dries. The pattern is called Lemon Peel and it was certainly quick and easy to crochet. 

Finally, the reports...stash report didn't move too much this month - I gave my mom some fabric so she could make a cross stitch project bag, and I used a little for my binding.
Fabric added this month: 0 yards
Fabric used this month 1/2 yard
Fabric added year to date: 4 1/2 yards
Fabric used year to date:  32 3/yards
Net fabric used: 28 1/8 yards

I had pretty good success with my crafting days this month - it was tough to get them all in with back-to-school activities, but still a good total: 
Days crafting this month: 21/31 = 68%

As I type this, I have the suitcase open and have started packing - I will be on the road for the next three weeks with just a quick trip home in the middle - I have some stitching and crochet packed and ready to keep me occupied in the hotel and on the plane. Hope you all have a good September! 

Linking up with Kate at Life in Pieces for the 15-minutes a day challenge and 
with Donna at quiltpaintcreate for Sunday stash report


Comments

You had a wonderful month with quilting and stitching! I love your house quilt. I don't quilt so what do you mean by a faced binding. Your stitchers retreat sounded fabulous. I wish your kids the best school year yet. Have a good month of September!
Kate said…
You definitely had a great month of stitching. That navy winter stitchery is beautiful. Sounds like a long month on the road. Safe travels!
Carol said…
Oh, that is the neatest quilt! I have no concept of how you write out the street names, but it looks amazing, Jennifer! And your stitching finishes are darling. I've made the bottom half of the LHN into an ornament--maybe it's time to do the top half, too.

Your trip looks amazing (saw the photos on IG this morning!) and I hope you continue to have some free time to enjoy the sights as well as have positive outcomes with the work portion. Safe travels home :)