Enjoying a sense of peace one stitch at a time
Yippee, I have another finish for the year. One of my goals for this year was to start a new canvaswork project, and because it was so small I managed to finish it as well last night. It’s such a pretty piece to work on, with relatively simple stitches, so it was very relaxing to stitch.
“Color Delights – Seafoam” by Needle Delights Originals / Kathy Rees
Started 22 January 2025 – Finished 15 September 2025
Stitched using kit canvas and threads
xxx
Here are photos of most of my WIPs/UFOs as they stand now, just to keep track of any future progress I make.
A recent Tilda exchange of the Tully Tote Bag by Natalie Bird/The Birdhouse saw me making this version for my partner. It was fun creating for someone with similar colour tastes to me 😉
A bit late, but I finally managed to finish my block 3 version of the Coriander Quilts/Cali & Co mystery quilt-along. Instead of using Cali & Co fabrics I’m using my cool-toned Tilda fabrics from my stash.
I didn’t stitch as much during March other than during the first week or so – I think that seems to be how I naturally work on my crafts now by stitching at the start of the month (as I’m motivated by the Scattergories challenge that’s released on the 1st of every month), then followed by sewing and cardmaking once I’ve finished at least six of the stitching categories.
This month’s Scattergories letters were N and S, so I did approx 100 stitches for each of the categories in the following WIPs:
“Almost Halloween” by The Drawn Thread – I made pretty good headway on it this month as I managed to find prompts in the design for Spiders (Save a spider day – NOT one I personally celebrate!), Spectre (ghost) and Skeleton. Then I decided to just keep working on it to get it finished, as there was so little left to do on it. That means Almost Halloween is my 3rd finish for the year 😀
“Sea view” by Luca-S – this was supposed to be my birthday new start but I totally forgot it was my birthday (!) and then felt too flat to stitch. I managed around 200 stitches in early March then realised I needed to frog about 1/4 of it so it’s currently in the naughty corner … it did give me enough stitches for Shells in Scattergories though.
“Girls Night Out” by Just Another Button Company – I used the thread colour of Sweet potato for Scattergories.
“Supernatural” by Pixel in Stitches – Supernatural TV show was another Scattergories choice.
“2024 Mirabilia retreat mermaid” by Nora Corbett – the only category I used the letter N for, that of Designer name, for Scattergories.
“Three Kings” by Mill Hill/Jim Shore – I actually completed this update back on 10 February, but I forgot to update my blog post, so I’m adding the updated image here now 🙂
I also managed to finish three project bags between 28 February and 3 March.
Which are your favorite three designers?
This is a really hard question to answer, because my tastes are so eclectic. If I had to really choose, though, I’d probably say the following:
While I was on a roll with making project bags I decided to finish making the final one today. As it used the last piece of Pellon in my stash, I’ll need to wait for a while now to make more.
I’m really thrilled that all the 2″ squares came from my Tilda scrap bags, and the only pieces of fabric that came from my stash were for the top and back panels and the lining. I’m so very thrilled with this one, it’s definitely my absolute favourite of them all. I can definitely see me making more of these in the future! This one is a big bigger than the others, which will be more useful for my canvaswork WIPs.
I decided to try a different type of interfacing for this bag as an experiment, and it was an epic fail that I won’t repeat. BUT even with all that, I’m in love with this project bag – I love everything about it: especially the predominantly mint colourway, the smaller patchwork block sizes. This one just makes me happy to look at it! It was great fun rummaging through my vintage Tilda scraps to find coordinating fabrics that worked with the critter panel.
I’ve been wanted to make more project bags for a long time, but the sewing bug totally disappeared after Mum was hospitalised four years ago. It’s back with a vengeance, and I finally made my first ever project bag in this style (I’d previously made a vinyl-fronted bag, but decided it wasn’t my favourite style). And it was a quilt block tutorial of all things that sparked the inspiration!
I was searching YouTube tutorials for scrappy quilts and came across potato chip quilts. In one video the maker was showing different styles of the block, including using a focal fabric in the centre of the blocks instead of using two cut fabrics. I’ve had a large panel of Australian critters in Christmas sweaters for a while and had no idea what to do with them, and all of a sudden inspiration struck! I chose the kangaroo on a pink background as my tester block, because I can’t stand pink and it wouldn’t matter if I messed it up 😉
I started with the larger sized fabric cuts, as per the quilt block, but quickly realised that it looks great for larger quilt sizes, but isn’t quite the look I was going for as project bags. For this one I also tried to have a continuous look of the blocks going around the shape, including in the space above the zipper, but that just added extra complexity and I’m not sure it really adds to the overall look – I’m not sure. One thing I’m super happy about, is that I found a great kangaroo zipper pull which suits this little project perfectly! Overall I’m super happy with it, though, and I think adding the darker zipper tape helps to take away the emphasis on the pink colours. I’ll probably end up keeping this one (even with all that pink, yuck) – in some ways it’s a good reminder of my starting point for future bags … 🙂 And what a wonderful way to combine my new adventure in patchwork with something that’s practical and useful while improving my skills! 😀
The start of February was a busy time for me stitching my little heart out. It tailed off, though, and I moved into sewing mode for a while. I’m embracing being out of work for a while and ‘doing all the things’, ie working through all those WIPs and kitted up sewing projects that have been gathering dust for years. It really helps having a dedicated sewing space, something I’ve never had before.
Here’s my progress from February, including the starting point as at 1 February and their current status.
“Mini Sunflowers” by Heaven and Earth Designs – fully finished!
“All you need is love” by Design Works – fully finished!
“Creepy pin cushion” cushion by Shepherd’s Bush, before and after:
“Almost Halloween” by The Drawn Thread, before and after:
“Three Kings” by Mill Hill, before and after:
“Egyptian Garden Mandala” by Chatelaine, before and after:
“2024 Mirabilia Retreat Mermaid” by Nora Corbett, before and after:
“Supernatural” by PixelStitches, before and after:
“Seafoam” (canvaswork) by Needle Delights Originals, before and after:
Stitching
I continued adding a few smaller projects to my WIP list with some more new starts this month. Some Facebook group stitching challenges gave me the excuse to start them. I was aiming to have a bigger new start for my birthday but I totally forgot my birthday and everything that went with it and then lost my stitching mojo temporarily. Oh well, it’ll get started soon and will likely become my focus piece after I finish Three Kings..
Sewing
“What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?“
I originally signed up for the HAED SAL for Jellyworld, but I decided I’d have to dedicate pretty much all my stitching time to that project to meet the deadlines, and after only just returning to stitching after a 4-year hiatus I wanted to focus my energies finishing some older WIPs instead. I did join the WIP Warriors Facebook group at the end of 2024, and they have regular monthly challenges that are really varied – adding the gamification to the stitching has really been motivating to me, and I’ve been stitching regularly every day because of it. Continuing those challenges throughout 2025 will be my only type of SAL I think, because I can work on whatever projects I want to focus on while meeting the challenge commitments.
The only other SAL is a sew-along rather than a stitch-along – I’ve started making the monthly mystery scrappy quilt blocks designed for Cali & Co fabrics by Coriander Quilts. Instead of using the Cali & Co fabrics, I’ve been pulling my Tilda fabrics out that are in cool-tone colours, and loving it so far.
Because I kept my craft goals small this year, and having all that extra spare time to focus on my mental health, I’ve managed to achieve a small number of my goals already, which I’m thrilled with.
Here’s my February/second block for the quilt-along by Coriander Quilts. I’ve realised I’m going to need to create 3-4 of each month’s blocks to have a quilt big enough for a queen-sized bed, so I may have trouble having enough of the Tilda fabrics … I guess time will tell. I have plenty of the teal ones that can be used, but some of the purples and greens etc I only have a fat quarter of each fabric, and I’m likely to need 1/2 yards. I might just have to get a bit creative down the track …
These blocks continue to make me supremely happy – you can’t help but feel that way when you’re with fabric colours that you adore 🙂 I can’t wait for each new block to arrive each month!
I was very unexpectedly given a $50 gift voucher to a quilting shop by a dear friend for my birthday, so I decided to use it towards a Sue Daley rotating cutting mat. It seems I have hundreds of half square triangles in my future with this quilt, and having a rotating mat will hopefully make it a lot quicker to trim down all those blocks! I know I shouldn’t be spending money right now, but I haven’t a small moment of self-indulgence for my birthday month 😉
Feather Stitching 