12 Things in 2019 - January Progress

I'm pleased to be able to report some progress on two of my 12 Things projects.

Firstly No. 8, the Keep It Simple Shawl, after a somewhat tricky start due to unfamiliar terms and fiddliness I am now over half way through this and definitely on the home straight. It has taken me this long to figure out the method of the little lace section which means I can now knit without having to check the instructions every row. No idea why it's taken me this long but there you go.

It's going to need a good blocking but I like the way it's going.

I've also managed to do a bit more on No. 12, the Sparkle Punch Quilt.

This post is an update on the 12 Things in 2019 challenge started by Judy and Denise, full details and my list of 12 can be found HERE.

Got my sew-jo back!

I quite often have a Friday evening to myself for crafting but for the last few months I have only been knitting as I haven't been able to feel awake enough or raise much enthusiasm for my sewing even though I have a variety of projects to work on. This Friday I decided to start sewing earlier in the day to see if I could beat this and I'm pleased to say it worked.

I finished piecing the top of a baby quilt. I tried pressing the seams in alternating directions to butt the seams together rather than pin them and it worked, or at least well enough to satisfy me.

Then I worked on the Sparkle Punch quilt for a bit. And finally I got on with some knitting.

It was a very productive evening and I enjoyed sewing again.

Pondering

During the post Xmas sales I got hooked on fabrics with bird prints.

I'm not sure why as real life birds mostly scare me. Anyway the reason for the pondering is that I would like to make these into something quilted, fussy cutting to focus on the images but I can't decide on the design. I'm leaning towards EPP but I do have another EPP project, a millefiori quilt, ready to start. But other than a vague preference towards EPP and trying for a single bird on any pieces with birds on I'm still a little stumped. All suggestions gratefully received.

And while I continue pondering I might just have a look to see if there are anymore bird prints I like!

The Sewing Cabinet

We've changed the room I sew in into more of a living room and therefore my white IKEA desk and table no longer go.

Luckily this wasn't a spur of the moment change and thought was put into how my sewing stuff could still stay in the room.

Eventually we found a solid wood Horn cabinet on eBay close enough for us to collect.

Luckily it's fitted nicely into an alcove when not in use. The drawers give plenty of storage for all my WIPs including a knitting project.

And it opens out into a useful sewing station with all my notions to hand and space to spread out what I'm working on. All in all I think it's a good swap for the IKEA desk, all I have to do now is find a taller chair, or maybe invest in an insert so my machine is level with the table top, so my working height is correct.