Almost the end of the month

 I think I have spent a lot of time this month pondering which snippets of life to blog about... and in the end blogged about nothing.  So a bit of a round up post of all that's happened so far... and lots of photos so a cuppa might be needed to get to the end of this 😆

If you remember last time, Nadia had broken her collarbone... she is almost fully back to her normal self and has an appointment on Tuesday which will hopefully confirm she can resume normal activities.

My main goal for this month was to get my Granny Squares quilt fully stitched... a rainy day has meant that it's too wet to take full length photos while I have quilt holderuppers home.

My second big challenge was to finish the FMQ on Theres a Square In There.  This has been incredibly time consuming and although there are a few spots where the bobbin thread has peeked through on the front... I just don't care!

Yay... and the binding...

I'm now stitching this to the back by hand little bit by little bit.  The backing is the wonderful koi print.

As soon as it was out from under the sewing machine I had my Avalon quilt zooming through for a much quicker linear design.

I am now working on the 2nd quarter.

My other monthly goals have fallen to the wayside.  I did manage to choose fabrics for the next Line Dried section.

I discovered some more plus blocks so unpicked the side sashing, added another row... replaced the sashing and decided this rainbow stripe just finished things off perfectly.  It has since had the top border added 😆

Some new fabrics...

Some new patterns...

A basic shift for woven fabrics...

A basic top for wovens...

A basic dress for knits... 

Look at all these variations!

I finally have the background for the Libs Elliott Orbiter Quilt!

A few more Crossroads blocks to add to the collection.

I love the blues in this print that's in my Avalon quilt.  When I saw this organic solid I thought it was as close a match as i would find.  Although you'll need to watch this space to see what happens to it. 

Some other solid fat quarters made their way home with me...

And a couple of cute prints... because you know... bunnies!

Hop Skip

 My new baby quilt is progressing nicely.  Hop Skip by Cluck Cluck Sew came out last year I think and I put it on my "looks like a good one" list.  I even managed to buy a hard copy of the pattern, and finally decided this would be the best pattern for these fabrics.

This finishes as 39" wide by 50" long so a generous cot size.

A few mixed fat quarters, background for sashing and some yardage for the top and bottom border... all from stash.  Well, or stolen from other current projects.... I'm looking at you white quilters muslin.  I have come to the conclusion you can never have enough white solid fabric 😂

A terribly lit photo and unattractive wrinkling but you get the idea...

Just imagine all the colour variations you could make... fussy cutting images for the centre squares or even substituting some simple piecing.  I think there will be more Hop Skips in my future.

Rounding off October

 I seemed to spend most of the last week of October cutting scraps... finding and auditioning more scraps and then cutting more scraps!

It's really starting to take shape now and I think I have a handle on how the colours need to be placed without laying out the entire quilt... so I've started piecing a few blocks and will lay it out again when there are a few more completed units.  It is quite the process!

In Granny Square news... I've laid out my 14 blocks to see if I could find a pleasing arrangement.  I added some plain floral squares to make 16 blocks... a 4 x 4 layout.

But then couldn't decide if I liked the florals in the corners or the centre?

Having them in the centre helps to spread the blocks around a bit more... and I don't know if my head can cope with another round of block sudoku but I'm also thinking that putting them in the middle is quite disruptive to the flow... so might go back to the original layout.

My husband keeps reminding me that there are new grandbabies due next year and that I had better get cracking...

I chose some soft purples but he wasn't so keen on these for a baby quilt.  The pile grew into this beautiful bundle so I think I'm going to HAVE to make myself something from it.  I'm thinking big moody Ohio Stars... next year...

And last up, the fabrics that met the approved baby quilt list... some lovely bright but not too bright primary colours and a simple baby quilt layout (pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew).  There are twelve log cabin-style  blocks so not too much more to sew.