Wow, here we are at the start of the last month of the year! November was a busy month for me with a change in jobs at work (same company, new position) which meant finishing up the old job while starting to learn the new one. As I closed my computer last week, I am pretty close to fully transitioned and looking forward to some new challenges. Activities this month included an evening at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Spongebob musical at the local high school, a very soggy day of hiking at Turkey Run State Park, and a nice visit with family for Thanksgiving. In between all these activities, you know I found time to stitch and sew. I've been spending a bit more time working on quilts the last month which I am really enjoying.
My quilting projects in November include a quilt finish. This Carpenter's Star quilt was started at my retreat in October 2022 and I didn't know at the time what I'd do with it. I had the kit from my friend Lois' stash and it was a nice one to work on at retreat. You can see the picture of fabric ready to sew and a finished top in this post. I decided late last year that I would finish it for one of my nephews but I didn't get around to making the back for months, then it took even longer to get it on the frame for quilting. The good news is that once I loaded it, I finished the quilting in a week. I used a Poinsettia and Holly leaf pantograph pattern in a light neutral thread on the top and a thin gold thread in the bobbin. I added the binding and label yesterday so it would be a finish for November. I am really happy with the finish and look forward to gifting this one.
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| A snowy picture of the finished Carpenter's Star on the last day of November |
The other quilting project I worked on in November is my Reindeer Xing quilt. I had to make a few more tree blocks and then laid it out on the basement floor and had my daughter's help to get the colors balanced. I started to sew the blocks together and it is in rows now ready to become a finished top in December.
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| Additional grey tree blocks |
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| Blocks being assembled into rows |
On the stitching side, I have one finish to share, a smaller piece I started in October. Mad for Plaid Autumn is the second season that I've stitched and I not only finished the stitching, but I also fully finished it!
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| Autumn design from Mad for Plaid |
I also finished the other piece I've stitched from the series, Spring. You can see this one attached with a magnet to a wooden shelf from Chantelle's 141. I painted mine dark blue and really like how it turned out. I am excited now to stitch up the winter and summer pieces from this pattern.
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| Spring from Mad for Plaid on a Chantelle's 141 shelf |
My last fully finished piece for the month is one of the ornaments I stitched earlier this year - Truly Endless Knot II by Ink Circles was in the 2015 Just Cross-stitch Christmas Ornaments issue and I updated the colors to be bright. I finished it as an ornament with some rickrack from Lady Dot Creates. It was a fun finish.
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| Truly Endless Knot II finished as an ornament |
With a little bit of fabric used in my quilting projects, I've topped the amount of fabric used last year so I should wind up with a good number by the end of the year. I am hoping to get one more quilt finished, so would use a little more for the binding (the back is already counted). I also have some fabric to cut for a mystery quilt so that I can get started on the clues for that one. Let's hope I can finish the year with more than 30 yards used.
Stash report with Donna at quiltpaintcreate:
Fabric used this month: 2 yards
Fabric added year to date: 21 1/8 yards
Fabric used year to date: 29 yards
Net fabric used: 7 7/8 yards
Stitching time report with Kate at Life in Pieces - 24/30 days with at least 15 minutes of crafting = 80%
Project completion tracking:
Quilting projects - 1 fully finished, 0 started = 7 quilts waiting to be finished
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