April 2020 Roundup

 Wow, hard to believe it's been over a month since I posted here. I've fallen way behind on blog posting and reading, but I've still been busy stitching and quilting! April was a really good month. I had lots of time for stitching and quilting, got my second vaccine, and got in lots of nice walks as the weather started to warm up (well, most days...we did have a crazy spring snow in the middle of the month!). 

I stitched away on existing and new projects and have two finishes and three FFOs to share with you. 

I finished stitching on Be Kind, one part of a larger Tiny Modernist pattern. This was a fun and quilt little pattern and I love the color shading on it. One lady did point out that I missed an x in the bottom right corner of the chart and I sure did - will have to remember to fix that before I FFO this project. I stitched this on black Aida (14 or 16 count) with the called for DMC threads.

Next up was my April ornament - I had fun with some new, variegated DMC thread. I enjoyed working with it, but I am a little disappointed with how the white disappeared into the fabric - it actually stands out a little better in the picture here than it does in real life. I think I may have to play a bit - perhaps backstitching or doing a stitch over the white ones would work to make this stand out better. It doesn't show in the picture, but this is stitched on a lovely linen with sparkles in it. I also stitched this one with my new ball-tip needle and I love it - such a minor difference on the needle, but it grabs the linen so well when you're stitching - I highly recommend trying one. 

I also found myself with a good afternoon in the quilt room and did a little FFO'ing. I finished up Ski Bum - from the Lizzie Kate pattern Winter Crazy. I enjoyed another finish in this box and added the snowflakes to give a little more interest. 

I also FFO'ed two more months from the Lizzie Kate flip-its, so now I have 5 of the 12 ready for display. 

On the quilting side, I worked most of the month on a baby quilt that I am making for my aunt to give her great nephews (twins) - this is the first of two, a rag quilt pattern called Goodnight Moon from McCall's Quick Quilts, Mar 2008. I went a little off-pattern for the first one after I saw the horse fabric, as my aunt tells me the parents love everything country. This was a quilt-as-you-go project, so I just had to do the cutting once I finished sewing. I also got started on the second quilt, which will be in blues and golds. 

Quilt front

Quilt back

I think that's about it for April. I did load another UFO onto my frame for quilting, but never did get to it in the month of April....but it has since been quilted, so you'll see that one soon. 

Here are the official reports for the month of April: 

Stash Report - linking up with Donna at quiltpaintcreate: 

Fabric added this month: 1.5 yards (for the blue/gold baby quilt)
Fabric used this month: 5 3/4 yards (all for the baby quilts)
Fabric added year to date: 9 1/4 yards
Fabric used year to date: 20 1/8 yards
Net fabric used: 10 7/8 yards

Stitching time report - linking up with Kate at Life-in-Pieces: 

I had 28 of 30 days with at least 15 minutes of stitching or sewing time - 93%

Hope you had a nice April and have had a nice start to May as well. I am getting ready for my spring quilt retreat in Shipshewana that starts later this week and I can't wait - I am looking forward to both the time off work and the quilting time with friends. I am sure I will have lots to share after that!