It's amazing the effect finishing something, or making noticeable progress on a project can have on your motivation. It took mere minutes to finish this applique dishtowel using my sewing machine, but those few minutes were enough to renew my craft energy. It was like downing a Red Bull lol.
The best part about doing this on the machine instead of by hand is that the back side looks nice too. Not that the back side looks bad when doing it by hand, but you don't get this nice outline like the machine gives. Working on this reminded me that I had purchased some towels to be used for applique for myself when I spied them on clearance several months ago. I did a quick Google search for clip art for chickens and printed a few off that were the right style and size. My applique fabric stash is already out, so now I just need to dig around to find those towels. I will gather all the supplies up in a bag and have it ready for a sewing/quilting project for April. Since they won't take but an afternoon to complete, they should kick start my month off right!
3 puffs completed for yesterday. Doing 3 puffs each day is a bit much, so I am going to alter my game plan for this in April. I'm thinking of making a duplicate stitch puff each day, and sewing 5 puffs together each day.
It was nice to work on the Chrysanthemum mitten again. I'm ready to start the flower so might yet get this done in March. I've got another mitten pattern in my queue that meets the criteria for April (for the Stash Down A to Z group), Daylily mittens. If I get those done, I'll work on "dolls". I have one started that needs finishing, there's a knit along going on that I'll be starting late (if I start at all), and I wanted to make some cute crochet bunnies for C's girls that I never got around to in March. Okay, so the pattern names for those don't qualify for Stash Down, but that's fine with me since I'll be making those mittens first.
I pulled out the Save the Stitches piece again yesterday. I should get the border cross stitches done today, then I just have 4 motifs to finish to get caught up. Of course, the next 2 blocks will probably be released tomorrow, if they aren't available already. I will wait until April to start working on them though. I plan to continue my weekend work on the Siren and the Shipwreck piece in April. Also in April (provided I get the blocks for Save the Stitches done) I plan to finish up a small project I ran across when digging around in my craft area. It's a pattern by The Sweetheart Tree, one of the Teenie Tweenies called Spring Fantasy. Again, something small that should get finished quickly and help keep me motivated.
I visited my local quilt shop yesterday to get some felted wool to use for the Shaker Sewing Set needle book. Now, I've yet to go in there and buy only what I went there for, so of course I came home with several extra goodies.
First up is this fabulous book! I've been wanting to try wool applique for quite some time, and have been drooling over all the projects in the Primitive Quilts magazines. Instead of starting with one of those, I decided to get this book because I can work on this like a block of the month kit. I will be starting this in April after the applique towels and one other project are finished. Each month I will make one of the ten squares. I can get the felted wool each month from the local quilt shop, but I think I might order the cotton fabric from Keepsake Quilting. They have some great Civil War reproduction fabrics that I think will look great for this quilt.
Also picked up a kit to make the cutest little bag. Making this is next in line after the quilt block. I think I have hardware and zippers enough to make a couple more of these. Each one uses just 2 fat quarters, a bit of batting, some interfacing, a zipper, and a D ring and lobster claw clasp. Oh, and a few buttons for embellishment. I think these would make great gifts and nice swap additions.
That one other project I mentioned earlier is the April wall quilt. I've had the pattern for these monthly quilts for about 2 years now, and in December I discovered that the quilt shop here sells fabric packs for them. So much easier than digging around in my stash for the right fabrics. I bought the January pack back in December, but never made it. I even have a spot picked out to hang these, but I need to get them done. I've decided that I am going to make at least one of these each month. I will do them as machine applique like the pattern suggests to make them go quicker, and I will use these to practice my machine quilting. Scary!!
Okay, so now that I've made my list of a bazillion things to work on in April, I'd better get busy and finish up my March projects :-)
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