Licorice Allsorts part 2

Easter felt like my own personal quilt retreat just for me.  I got so much sewing done!

I thought it might take me until the end of April to piece all the blocks for the Licorice Allsorts quilt, but I sewed every day over Easter and they're all finished now.  

I revisited Month 3 and remade one of the blocks, but it's not a lot better than the first time around.  I've made a note on the pattern to cut the pieces bigger if I ever make that block again.  

Now I'm sewing the blocks together and thinking about how I'm going to hand quilt it.  I've just ordered a very pretty backing from a local shop and will show you it when it arrives.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.

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Licorice Allsorts update

I've finished all the hand embroidered blocks for my Licorice Allsorts quilt, so now it's time to start machine piecing the other blocks.  

There's actually one more embroidered block in my cupboard, but how do you fit 10 photos in to a grid!

Here's the first machine pieced block that sits in the centre of the quilt:

It's only 6" finished which is smaller than I imagined.  But I do love these colour combos and am looking forward to making more blocks next week.  

Here's what the finished quilt will look like:

Licorice Allsorts was designed by Wendy Williams and I bought it as a Block of the Month from Material Obsession in Sydney.  I'm so glad I did because I love it.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

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Wool Felt Applique

Firstly - thank you for all the answers to the question I posed last week.  How do you follow blogs in 2022?  I haven't had time to digest all the answers yet, but I will.  

This week I've been busy finishing up this piece so I can take it to Coastal Quilters tomorrow.  

It's something that I started when I came back from Dunedin all inspired by the local's use of woollen fabrics.  The maroons in the centre are from a small bundle of Sue Spargo woollen fabrics, and the borders on the side are flannel that I purchased from Fox's Cottage in Foxton, New Zealand.  

I got radical and chopped up a scarf for the back!! I've never tried anything like this before, but someone at Taupo Quiltmakers guild meeting had chopped up some scarves to make a quilt for a friend, and I thought, "Why not!". The colours work so well with the front of this mini quilt.  

In another first I used my new pounce pad and a stencil to transfer this cable design on to the flannel, and then I hand quilted it with chunky stitches to match the overall rustic feel of this piece.  

I'm really pleased with how it's all turned out.  I'm still painfully slow at developing my own designs, but I just let this piece grow slowly and I'm pleased with how it's ended up.  I suspect it's only finished because I have to take it to a quilt guild tomorrow, but sometimes we need a bit of pressure to get things finished.  

I LOVE that green velvet for the vase, and the pretty pink flower and Kaffe Fassett ribbons.  

This piece is 22' x 22".  I'm not sure if it's a wall hanging, a table mat, or just a teaching sample.  I guess it can be all three things at the moment.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

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Licorice Allsorts

I must have been living under a rock because I didn't realise that Bloglovin is dead! I still get my daily emails updating me on new posts from blogs that I follow, but I didn't realise that everything is frozen in time and we can't select new blogs to follow.  

Follow by email seems to have gone the same way.  So how do you keep up with blogs that you follow? Or do you just keep checking back until there's a new post to read? 

Anyway, on a brighter note, I've finished another two blocks for my Licorice Allsorts quilt designed by Wendy Williams from Australia.

You can probably tell that I'm loving this! Hand stitching and bright colours - it's just my thing.  Here's the previous four months:

There's only three months of hand embroidery to complete and then I need to piece all the other blocks on the sewing machine.  I'm looking forward to that stage too because the blocks are quite different to any I've made before.  

But first I need to get through my work conference in Christchurch today.  Once that's over I'll deserve a break and will be straight into my quilting again. I've missed it.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  What have you been up to this week? Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

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Licorice Allsorts

Material Obsession in Sydney, Australia sent out the last package for the Wendy Williams Licorice Allsorts Block of the Month last week.  

 

So naturally I decided it was time that I actually started stitching this quilt before the next round of Block of the Months get released in July.  

Don't get me wrong - I love this quilt, and I'm very keen to make it, but I just had too many other things on the go at once.  Even I have a limit of how many things I can juggle at the same time. 

I love that this quilt combines hand embroidery with quilting.  Each month there was a motif to embroider, and some blocks to piece on the machine.  It's taken me 3 evenings to embroider the first month's motifs, so I imagine I can do the hand embroidery quite quickly, but some of the machine piecing looks a bit tricky, and I will have to be very careful with the cutting out.  I may even make some test blocks!!

I decided that I needed a new project bag to store my blocks for this quilt in, so I whipped this one up using a very interesting fat quarter I bought at Stitch Witches in Dunedin. 

It's got Soft and Stable in it so it will keep my blocks nice and flat.  Each time I make a bag I try to use a different quilting design, so this time I did a variation of a equilateral triangle design in Jacquie Gering's book, Walk 2.0.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.

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Smøyg

 My Smøyg is finished and framed and hanging on the wall.  

The framer suggested that we put a hint of red in the framing, and I'm really happy that we did.

It's hard to get a good photo because it's more than a metre (or yard) long. But here's some close ups from before it was framed.

 

Smøyg is stitched up and down the fabric rather than across the fabric like most other forms of embroidery.  There's a lot of counting involved, and being off by one hole upsets the whole design.  

I bought the Smøyg book and kit for this table runner from Yvette Stanton of Vetty Creations at the Sydney Quilt Show in 2018.  I didn't start stitching until March 2019, and then I worked on it on and off until I finished it in October 2021.  I actually had it hanging on the wall before Christmas 2021, but it's taken me a while to blog about it.  

I enjoyed using all of the different types of threads and seeing the patterns emerge.  It was also interesting to read about the history of this type of embroidery.  Yvette always does a lot of research for her books, and she included instructions for left and right handed stitchers in this book. 

I have another little Smøyg kit from the book in my stash, and I might get on to that one day soon. 

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

 

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My Embroidery priorities for 2022

My love of cross stitch was rekindled in 2021, so I thought I should write a list of my embroidery priorities for 2022.  

My mum's Holiday Wreath

My first goal is a big one - #12in22ornamentstitchalong

Carol from Stitching Dreams blog and @caroling55 on Instagram, has put out a challenge to stitch 12 ornaments in 2022 - She's using the hashtag #12in22ornamentstitchalong

I think I might just join in and then I'll have a lovely little basket of ornaments in time for Christmas 2022.  I checked my linen stash and I've got tonnes of linen in all sorts of colours. I've also got a wide range of DMC threads, so I just need a few patterns and I'll be off.  

Some of my current WIPs could count for the 12 in 22 challenge because they are Christmas themed. 

Here's what I already have in progress:

1. Twelve days of Christmas by Liz Mathews

I received the first three of these patterns for Christmas and I'm going to make some of the little trees - not all twelve, just some. The finished stitching is about 10" high on 28 count linen. I bought my patterns from Stitch Witches in NZ - just message them on Facebook if you're interested. 

2. Christmas Village by Victoria Sampler

This one is quite close to finished now, and should easily be finished in 2022. 

3. Holiday Wreath by Laura J Perin

Each year when I see my mum's Holiday Wreath, I come home determined to finish mine.  I think 2022 is the year that I should finally make it happen.  I know what my problem is - the defining feature of this piece is the velvet bow at the top, but I have to finish all the more boring stuff before I get to stitch the bow.  

4. Gingerbread Flower Shop

2022 will be the year I finish this one too. 

5. Pandemic by Long Dog Sampler

I should be able to finish this one by Easter I think.  But I have left the back stitching until the end, so that could take another week or two.  

6. Shades of Indigo by Northern Expressions Needlework

This was my new start on 1 Jan 2021, but I wasn't happy with one of the colours I'd chosen, so I set it aside.  On 1 Jan 2022 I pulled out the stitching I didn't like, and re-did it in a new colour. I love the new colour so I'm up and running again. 

So that's six WIPS before I even start looking around for new things to stitch for the #12in22ornamentstitchalong

Thank goodness I asked my mum to finish knitting my cardigan for me! I don't have time for quilting, embroidery and knitting.  

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Smoyg

I've made a lot of progress on my Smoyg embroidery this year, and the end is now in sight.  

The top half:

The bottom half:

There's just two and a half blocks to finish now.  The big black ones (which get a bit boring), and the diamond one just below half way - which shouldn't take long at all.  

I love the multicoloured blocks, but the black and white blocks look very effective too.  I love it all - especially when viewed from a distance.  

I've really enjoyed working on this sampler, and I'll be sad when it's finished.  But I have Yvette Stanton's book and I could make something else with all the left over threads.  

So that's what I've been up to this week.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  What have you been up to this week? Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

  

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