Headed into the craft room this morning to cut up scraps for the string quilt.  Spotted Bee Kind sitting on top of the sewing machine.  The appliqué was finished yesterday.

This is the thread I'll be using to hand quilt the center.

The details.

The pattern booklet was sitting next to it, singing it's siren song.  When it comes to Chook Shed designs...

I just had to make it sew!

Bees are my August theme and home is my  summer one.

So, I started auditioning scrap fabrics.

These are the fabrics I chose.  Now, back to cutting up scraps into strings.

The pinks are cut up and the empty pouch is back where it belongs, ready to go.  These were cut in different widths.  It was only when I started cutting these up that I realized there wasn't a pink bag of strings.  

Next is cutting skinny strings from other pouches to add a bit of variety to the quilt.  All the scraps are pressed, so it's just a matter of zooming into the craft room for five minutes here and there to cut them up.

These are ready to go as Bender blocks.  

I couldn't help myself.  lol. Not sure which one I'm going to make.  Maybe both. 😁

Sixteen string blocks are trimmed and pressed.  

This scrap is probably the oldest.  It's a Debbie Mumm and from 2001!  Better in a quilt, than sitting in a scrap pouch.

Frogged the knitted pumpkin.  There were only a few rows, so it was no biggie.  The tension needs to be tighter, so the stuffing doesn't show through.  Swapped rub for garter stitch, as there are a few rib pumpkins already.  

There's no new progress on the blue jumper, as I keep coming up 2 stitches too short for the start of the sleeve.  60 stitches are cast on, then I lose 2.  It can't be fudged, as it will mess up the lace pattern on the cuff..  I'm blaming the Fairy Frog Mother.  Haha!  

Progress on the 15 minutes a day cross stitch smalls.  I need to get a wriggle on with Happy Halloween.  That's the July project I'm stitching for Cross Stitch Camp, so it'll be stitched on until it's finished.

NEWS FLASH!  An eyewitness account of the struggle between a mystery woman, who we shall call Frida and her alter ego Bitchy Old Broad in Walmart at 7.30am this morning.

BEB: I WANT CANDY!

Frida:  You're not having candy.

Frida (moving quickly from the candy aisle to the yarn aisle):  "How about this yarn?  It's candy colored."

BEB: "I can't eat it!"

Frida: "No, you can't eat yarn, but you can knit a pumpkin with these cute 6 inch needles.  It will be fun." 

BEB (looking suspiciously innocent): "OK.  I'll knit a pumpkin."  Thinks to herself - there's still zucchini bread at home.  I can eat that AND have new yarn!

The moral of the story is you can knit your cake and eat it, too!

Progress on more string blocks.  There's one more under the sewing machine needle.  For the first lot, I  was string piecing three at a time.  That worked pretty well and it felt like they were moving along nicely and I could see my progress.  This time, I string pieced all ten at a time (snipping after two, so I didn't get into a tangled mess).  Never again!  It felt like time stood still.  Which it didn't.  Just felt that way.

So when the junk mail arrived yesterday, I cut part of the Foodlion catalog into 4 1/2 inch squares for some bender blocks. (They're leader and ender blocks, but less of a mouthful to say.)  That way, I can feed through just a couple of the big blocks through, which will be much more manageable.  Plus, there will eventually be a mini string quilt made from the large ones scraps.  Win, win. 😊

There's just a side seam and a sleeve to attach to the oversized jumper.  That should be finished by the end of the weekend.  I enjoy matress stitch, so it doesn't feel like a chore.  After that a quick bath and it will be tucked away until the cold weather.

The grey Fitted Cardigan by Jo Sharp is next.  There's a little more to do with this one, as the button/neck band has to be knit on after the pieces are sewn together.  

The current jumper had a bit of a pause, as I was considering knitting plain sleeves, instead of with lace, as I wasn't sure if I'd get cold with holey sleeves.  After considering all the options, I decided to knit the lace, as if necessary, it can be a cooler weather jumper.  

The lace pattern is fairly simple, but I will still need to pay attention to it.  That means I need to cast on something simple with one or of the yarns from the Santa Sack.....or maybe 3. 😉

 

 

 

The first six string blocks have been sewn,  pressed, trimmed and had the foundation papers removed.  After auditioning a bunch of different layouts, I chose this one.  

I'm using the local weekly newspaper for the foundation, as it's pulpy and tears out really easily.  That makes eight nine inch blocks.  Since the fabric is already cut into strips, it feels like they're zooming along.  An added bonus is being able to just pop into my sewing room, even if it's just for five minutes.

 

I had a rummage through the baggies of what I thought were 2 1/2 inch strips.  Those were just on the outside of the bundles that were rolled up.  There's fabric of all kinds of widths and lengths.  The pic shows just a few of the reds and a rogue purple.  

So, instead of a log cabin, I started a string quilt.  This is the pile of bags that I'm pulling fabric from, next to my sewing chair.  Messy, but fun.

The first two blocks ready to trim.  The middle strips will all be light.

I was in good company.  

First job of the day was to give Bailey a bath.  He was not happy about it.  He'll be getting a haircut later today.  Hopefully he won't end up bald this time.   I'm not holding my breathe on that, though.  lol

I couldn't see Bailey's face when I took the pic.  He looks like a right cheeky old bugga with his tongue out.  

Back to 15 minutes a day on some cross stitch projects.  There's a different one for each day of the week. I'm in the mood for a different project every day because....SQUIRREL!  I know you understand.  

The top photo of each design is from the magazine.  The second photo is my progress.

 Sunday's is Floral Gift by Blackbird Designs from JCS Christmas Ornaments 2010 magazine.  I changed the colors. The fabric is a scrap of tea dyed 14 count aida.  This one's a WIP.  The rest are new starts.

Monday's is Spider Sampler by Frony Ritter from JCS Halloween, 2014.  It's my Cross Stitch Camp SAL project for July. The fabric is black 14 count aida.  

Tuesday's is EEK! by Maria Warmke of The Stitcherhood from JCS September/October, 2013 edition.  The fabric is a scrap of 14 count aida I dyed a while ago.  The dye was some leftover gruesome green that I overdyed with either blue or grey.   I've not been able to make a dark green I like....yet, but I do like the way this fabric turned out.  I know I could buy green dye, but that's not as much fun.  

Wednesday's is Spooky Eye Chart by Theresa Curry & Brian Stugelmayer of Needle Bling Designs from JCS (no idea which one).  The fabric is a scrap of 14 count aida that was a different batch of overdyed gruesome green.

Thursday's is Stitching Witch by Maria Warmke of The Stitcherhood from JCS October, 2014.  The fabric is a scrap of 14 count aida.  The color is a happy accident. I'd added a bit of pink to purple, to give it a warm tone.  The purple wouldn't take at all.  So, I tossed a bit of blue in and I like how it turned out.  I'm going to add a "fancy" border. Crested chain stitch is the current contender.  

Friday's is Majestic Cat by Sandra Sullivan of Homespun Elegance from JCS (no idea which one).  The fabric is The orange is DMC ???????? which was thrown into a fairly strong solution of black tea on a plastic bobbin, just to see what would happen.  I like it.

Saturday's is Halloween Night On The Fence by Eileen Gurak of Handblessings from JCS (no idea which one).  The fabric is a scrap of 14 count aida.  I started with just a drop of blue dye, then kept adding a tiny amount until I had a color I liked. 

There's another four larger WIPs I've been stitching on, but that will be another post.

 

One more inch on the body until the sleeves are knitted separately.  The yarn is looking purplish to me, but it's dark blue with subtle colored flecks. 

Mattress stitching the sleeve.   It took about 30 rows to get the hang of it again, as I've not done it for years.  When I started it, I was pulling the yarn to the side, instead of straight down and pulling it with a death grip, as the stitches were sticking through.  Once I started pulling it straight down, all the stitches disappeared.  It's very satisfying making a few matress stitches, giving the yarn a gentle tug and watching them disappear.

 

A teeny post, so I can share my tiny bees.  Melissa (Pinker n Pumpkin Quilting & Stitching) shared this sweet little design on her blog (link on my blogroll).  It was such a fun little stitch.  Thank you, Melissa! 😊

It's stitched on 14 count Rustic aida, with black, white and 728 DMC.  

The first step of making a Frankenjumper is to bring out the big guns.

The second step is to swatch...and most importantly, record the measurements somewhere they won't be thrown away.  Before having a bath....19 stitches over 4 inches on 5.5mm needles.  Nice and drapey.  The color is cocoa and is nothing like in the pic!  

I found a channel on YouTube called Hooked By Robin which I'm finding really helpful.  She explains things really well and includes small details which have lead to a AHA! moments.  These are some of the legs for a crochet octopus with the Premier yarn from the $100 Tree.  There's been a lot of frogging and some are being discarded (looking at you, top right leg! 😅) and it's slow going, but I'm making progress, which makes me happy.

 I love these for storing floss.  This is my second one (the one I have already is full).  They're double sided, which means they hold a lot of floss.  

Zero calorie eye candy.  

Two new cross stitch Halloween starts.  The fabrics are 14 count aida scraps which were part of a late night dyeing session last year.  The dye base was a yucky green overdyed with Grey.  They're perfect for Halloween smalls.  

They're Tuesday and Wednesday's 15 minutes a day stitching projects.  There's 3 more Halloween patterns ready to go for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Sunday and Monday projects are Christmas.  15 minutes a day on small projects adds up and is fun.  More details in my next post. 

Unless there's a power cut, I'm getting in my sewing room today or I may not be responsible for what BEB does!  Haha!  Bailey needs new belly bands  (it's a necessity, not weird modesty...I'll leave it at that!) while some software is downloading to the laptop.  This will be day 3 of trying to install it.  Fingers crossed this will be the day!  Then, back to the Always Be Kind appliqué.

The heavens have opened....and the power has gone off.  I had to say it, didn't I?  lol