1st SAL.....Peg, Dale and I committed to stitching Anni Downs - A Gardener's Journal in March. I blogged about this on my blog thinking maybe one or 2 others may join us and lots of girls indicated an interest so I decided to start this blog where we can all encourage each other to meet the goals set along the way....March 2010 -March 2011...........
2nd SAL ......well so many of the girls wanted to continue on with another project and some new girls joined us and now approx 91 girls are stitching Natalie Bird's Tis the Season. March to Sept 2011...............
3rd SAL....many girls want to stick with the SAL so now we have moved onto Anni Downs Some Kind of Wonderful - My Favourite Things Quilt.......Oct 2011-Oct 2012.........
Where are we now.....
4th SAL 2013...is numerous smaller projects from the previous 2 books Tis the Season and Some Kind of Wonderful plus some projects from Red Home by Natalie Bird approx 60 ladies stitching together.........
2014 we had the year off..............
5th SAL 2015..........inspired to continue we are doing another quilt project.....Anni Downs newest quilt Natures Journey.....
6th SAL 2017.............A Holly Cottage Christmas by Michelle Ridgway.......once again the pattern is in an affordable book so it is easy for everyone to join in...........and you can raid your stash for the fabrics........or lash out and buy a the whole lot........this SAL will be run by Fiona aka Bubz Rugz and Raewyn........
Chookyblue........

Monday, February 28, 2011

Are you ready?

Wooohoooo...only one sleep to go! Are you all ready to start stitching on our new SAL??

I have to admit, it took me awhile to sign up for this one...I was ummming and ahhhing over colours, and whether I'd have time, and blah blah blah...and then I came across this...

...sweet images from Tilda's Christmas Ideas, and the decision was made in an instant. I have a thing for bright colours and if there's red and pink...all the better!

Most of the fabrics are from Rosalie Quinlan's Sweet Broderie collection, with some red polkadots and other fabrics thrown in for good measure. I'm planning to stitch the blocks in either red or pink too...yummmm!
I'm loving seeing all your piles of fabrics and threads coming together...there are going to be some gorgeous wallhangings come December :)
Let the fun begin...again!
TTFN
Susan (aka Suzitee)

G,C, & H and 5 embroideries to go

Well with inspiration striking and a realisation that I actually only have 5 more stitcheries to do the end is in site...well the stitching end...not the end of sewing those god damn 11/2 inch squares..LOL gost there are so many!!!

so here are todays shares - as I had a day at home, with a nightshift worker that needed some sleep, I snuck into my sewing room and sat in the quiet just humming and sewing....

So needless to say Can I have a G, C and an H please!!!!

I'm Semi Ready

I have the book

I have the threads

and that is as far as I have gotten

oops

luckily I am taking a trip to one of my favourite

LPS tomorrow, so I am sure to come home

with what I need

having confessed my SAL sins, lol

I will be ready to go tomorrow night

(fingers crossed)

and to all those who are still stitching their

Gardeners' Journal

keep going, you can do it

and I am loving seeing all the finished GJ quilts making their

appearances.

Ready to Go ..................

Hi .... I'm joining SAL for the first time.....It has been such fun seeing what everyone has prepared so far..... I have chosen these Christmas fabrics to work with....

and this weekend the stitcheries were drawn.... I'm ready to start stitching.....


Looking forward to reading you all.......
 http://bubzrugz.blogspot.com/

Block G - half done

Well I spent all morning cutting my material for the GJ.  Once that was done, I thought I should piece G block so that I can stitch it.  I have all the floss that the book calls for but I am still unsure if I want to do that are just use one call through out...

Upon my cutting I realized that the fabric is not Fat Quarter but Fat Eights....  So out come some more fabric.

Now for the reveal of my Block G


Shauna

I've started...

I went away on the weekend and thought it would be a good opportunity to start on "Tis the Season". I managed to trace some of the blocks and stitched one.
It is such fun and so easy to stitch in one colour. It meant I could chat easily without checking the pattern too much.
I am going to use my red fabric stash for my borders. I love red and can't resist collecting fat quarters so it will be good to use some up.
Happy stitching,
Sylvia in Australia

one sleep...........

Can you wait..............
I went to bed last night and woke up to find 4 more posts...............fantastic..........
so much excitement............
Chookyblue..........

Ready Set Go - Gardener's Journal

So today, it looks like my hubby will be outside most of the day bedding our cattle seeing how the snow has stopped falling...  I am not sure how long this will be in the mean time, I will be doing the laundry as my little boy, loves to change his shirts at least 5 times day... and the laundry piles up.

So I showed you earlier the fabric that I will be using for my Quilt and I have gone through it again, and picked the 10 fabrics as per the book, and with the left overs I will have enough for the inner border, outer border and binding.  With that being said, I might even be able to patch the other pieces together for the back.
Charlevoix - Minick & Simpson by Moda
So today, will be cutting all the fabric and then doing Block G, I have traced the Stitchery for this and I just need to do the stitching, but my hoop is too big, for being the smallest one I could find.  I am going to have to piece the blocks so that I can do the stitchery, until I find a smaller hoop.

Shauna

HELP!!!

OK, I am in a little bit of a dilemma.... I have ordered the book 'Tis the Season' and it still has not arrived...so on Tuesday, I am heading into my LQS for a class on applique - which I have never done and am very nervous about - and I was going to pick up my fabric then as I was going to go in yesterday (Saturday) but I really had to get my Raggedy & Friends BOM caught up and I did...I was also hopping that the book would have come before the weekend so that I could make a trip into my LQS but it did not.  I am not sure that My book will be here but Tuesday so I need your help, how much fabric do I need to get for this project.  I see Chookyblue has two bundles of fat quarters that she is picking from, how many different fabrics are in there...  How much muslin is needed as well.  I am really sorry to ask for help on this but once my book comes I really want to get started as I am already behind the 8 ball on this.... Can you tell that I will not be the OVER ACHIEVER on this SAL.

I really feel like such a ham for asking this...Usually I am the over achiever, when I sign up to do something, I am usually done and waiting for others to get their part done...

I hope that some one will be able to help me out.

Shauna

Sunday, February 27, 2011

I'm ready to start SAL 2011

I've been madly tracing a few blocks today
This tin is a perfect size to store them in
Now I think I have a box of Christmas fabrics - somewhere
When I find them I'll add that photo too
Great to see everyone's pics of fabrics you are using.
Ready - Set - Go !!!
(Fiona @ Dragonfly-Crafts - NSW Australia)

A Start to TTS Fabric Choices...

As there are only two more sleeps time until 'Tis The Season time for me to get serious and get ready...a couple of days before Chookyblue announced 'Tis The Season as the next SAL project parcel guy dropped off a squishy parcel that included pieces of a fabric in red and green colourways...fabrics which were included in said squishy parcel "just because"  immediately called out to be included in this project...


Except for the book of course, I want to try to not purchase anything for this project, using fabrics and threads already in the stash (the red and green fabrics had arrived before the announcement so they count as stash)...I found two skeins of Needle Necessities 1301 in the thread boxes - I like the colour combination in this thread and it plays happily with the two fabrics...for the stitchery backgrounds a cream tone on tone with small stars...the little stars seem Christmassy without being too fussy...the other fabrics for the project will reveal themselves in good time...

Happy Stitching...
Annette...
who really must put the borders on GJ and stop procrastinating about it...


All Ready to Go!!!

Hi Everyone,
I’m Jan Q from Molly’s Meanderings, waving.

I’ve chosen my fabrics & threads & I’ve traced off my blocks for March. Of course it was a little tricky with a kitten wanting to sit on the fabric & playing with the pen as I traced. But we got there. :-)

everything

I’ve gone quite colourful with my choices, both fabrics & threads. I’ll probably also make a red & white version. Bright reds.

I’ve enlarged the blocks to 5” rather than 4”. I’m now deciding whether to back the blocks with lightweight pellon or lightweight interfacing.

Looking forward to getting started. :-)

cheers,

Jan
http://mollys-meanderings.blogspot.com/

Fabrics Chosen and Backgrounds Cut

I am ready for this SAL to start.   I have picked out my fabrics and have cut all of my back grounds.    I have decided that I will enlarge each stitchery a little bit, so that my wall hanging is a little larger that the one shown in the book.   

I am getting excited about starting this one.

2 sleeps..............

Only 2 more sleeps...........
Chookyblue

Ok, I changed my mind (so soon!)

Hi everyone!

I've been drooling over your posts so I elected to do a little shopping.  Instead of going with the Moda Marble (as I mentioned earlier), I've decided to go this route:


I'm loving the stars, and I already tried a test run - it needled just fine.

Can't wait for Tuesday!

Elisa in snowy, Ferndale MI

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Ready to Go


So i have joined in the 2011 Tis The Season Stitch A Long.... in an effort not to fall behind today i traced March's Blocks.
The Fabric i am using is Lumiere De Noel by French General fabrics, so im already to go and cant wait to see everybody elses works in progress :)

I have my fabric now

Finally i had time to go through my stash and find some fabrics for tis the season stitchery.
I am looking forward to starting now i will try and cut out tomorrow.
cheers shez

Blocks E and F



These 2 blocks have been a long time coming ... sort of lost my momentum there somewhere along the way.
I can safely say im sick of sewing 1.2 inch squares but besides that i really enjoy the piecing of these blocks :) I still have a little stitching on Block F but am going to get right on to that after this blog post .....
So that leaves me with Blocks B,D,H and I to go and 2 days left until the new Stitch-a-long starts , oh well i tried and am determined to get this finished soon .

GJ Progress...

Done!  Well, all the blocks that is...the last four blocks constructed over the 24 hours since lunchtime yesterday...so Chooky, can I have my remaining letters please?...yay!...happy dancing!!!!



I have abandoned the whole little applique hearts arrangement, they do nothing for me and I'm happy enough with just a  large block of one of the more patterned fabrics in that space.

Now this afternoon I need to wash the border fabrics, which should dry quickly enough today to be ironed and dealt with tonight...hope to be back sooner rather than later with a completed top...

Happy Stitching
Annette @ Jindi's Cottage

Still here....

Hi girls, just thought I would drop a line and let you know that I am still here, and stitching slowly along. I know I won't make my deadline of completion, but I am happy to say I have joined a little stitching group on a Monday night so am working away on my GJ quilt.
But Chooky has emailed me a few times and I did say that the new project was fantastic and however i will not be making the quilt i enjoyed the distraction and will make a few of the smaller items from the book...and here is one that was completed last month to share...I have switched up the stitcheries to ones that i loved.
 My favourite part of this project was the prairie points...gosh i forgot how much i love the simple effect of them.

....thanks for looking and happy stitching.

3 sleeps...........

Woops missed yesterday..........but I see one of the girls mentioned it in her post........thanks.........
it is wonderful seeing all your posts of fabric choices and seeing such excitement with everyone getting ready to start.....
..........it is thru the involvement of all SAL members that makes a SAL group work so thankyou.
If you haven't posted here yet jump in and put one up.................no point sitting in the background that is not what it is about...........
3 sleeps
GJ girls keep stitching if you're not finished................
Chookyblue...........

I received my pattern!

I ordered my pattern from Treasured Threads, I have ordered from Shannon many times and have always received great customer service. She carries many patterns from Australian designers and very inexpensive compared to some other places. Now to pick out the fabrics and start stitching!! Well, I have to finish Gardeners Journal first, maybe, heck who cares, add another project to the basket, a very big basket.

Image

I hope you are having a great day and will find a little stitching time, it is good for the soul!!

Jennifer

Friday, February 25, 2011

What's an HB pencil?

Hello,

I cut out my background squares tonight and am ready to trace. The directions say to use a tan marker or an HB pencil. Well, I don't have a tan marker, but what's an HB pencil? If I don't have one, I'll just use a plain ordinary pencil. Is there any reason that would be a bad idea? Won't do any thing until tomorrow anyway. It's almost midnight here and I think it will go better with daylight.
Diann

Hello From Perth, Western Australia

Hi, I am Tracee from Perth (the WA one) and so happy to be joining my first SAL & with a new blog to go with it. After many fabric choices and changes I have decided to go with a red & white colourscheme.


I need some advice though - I'm still not sure about the red & white spot so what do you fabric connoisseurs think? Right, wrong or just OK???


Only four more sleeps & as you can see I haven't traced my stitcheries yet, but it's on this weekends 'to do' list, unfortunately behind the dreaded cleaning.....


Happy stitching
Tracee xx

Hello from Canada

Hi Everyone,

I'm really excited to be a part of the stitch-a-long.  I'm afraid I couldn't wait until March and have already stitched the first block and working on the second :0)


Thanks for letting me be a part of the group.
Pat

I forgot...

I forgot to post and show you this last week, it has been hanging in my  kitchen since I finished it the other Friday evening, during the Friday Night Sew in,

 This is the tiny corner that is my dining area, not so sure that it looks that great here, I might pop it in the bedroom, ..maybe... but then it wouldn't be seen by so many people

hmm think about that, thanks Chookyblue for the hoozle on, this has been sittiing in my to-do-list, and now it is done!!
Now to think about what to use for "tis the season...

Ready to go.......

Hi Everyone!

I am really excited to start stitching with you all this year! Seems like I really only get a chance to hand stitch lately, and by participating with you all, I will get the motivation to actually get it done lol!

I have all my stitcheries traced out ready to go, and fabrics chosen:


I really like the 'original'.... Something a bit different for Xmas - Red and Pink! So, I chose fabrics similar. And, looking at what others have chosen, WOW, you girls have chosen some beautiful fabrics..... They will all look wonderful!
Thanks Chookyblue for allowing me to participate xx
x Sarah

My Book Came!!!

I am so excited about starting this stitch along.   My book came and I am getting ready to prepare my first couple of backgrounds.     I am new to this group, but I love redwork, and blue work and hand embroidery in general.
I wanted to share my latest stitchery.   I am quilting this one for my grandson's birthday, but I did each of the flying machines in a different color blue and used various blues in the blocks.   I am very pleased with the way it turned out.






Thanks for welcoming me to this group.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Here we go again!

Under the leadership of the always motivating Chookyblue & the Stitchalong group, I completed my Gardeners Journal quilt...after it languishing in my basket for FAR toooo long! I was happy to have the support of like minded stitchers and it has been great to watch everyone's progress.  In March we will start Tis the Season by Natalie Bird. Great little festive stitcheries...a kind friend sent me the book & I am keen to get stitching! Just need to sort out thread colors now.
I may not do them all & I have plans for my setting, but I found some funky fabric with a Christmas theme... I think it will add a bit of zing to Christmas this year! 
Cardygirl xx

Still Stitching...

I think I can, I think I can......


Here's my choice for the next project. It started with a Moda scrap bag of Adoring and then a sale at my local shop. I worked out that I can do all the parts around the stitcheries with the strips - so it will be quite scrappy. I bought two different pieces for the main border - red and green and I won't decide which one I am going to use until the end. The stripe will be for the bindings.
The threads are Cottage Garden threads in the colour Plum Pudding. I hope it all works out.

I will be a bit behind

Hi everyone !!!
I am Anne and comes from Norway. I am so excited to be a part of this SAL, but I just ordered the book earlier this week so my book won't be here for another couple of weeks, so I will be a bit behind.

Anne

5 sleeps............

Hi girls...............we have another new blogger in the group......
5 SLEEPS

Chookyblue
EDIT Added
welcome to Marg @  Country Sewer who also started a new blog............

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The excitement is building....

Hi everyone. I'm one of the new girls who joined up to do 'Tis the Season-Diann from the USA. I've never participated in a stitch along before, but it seems like any project is more fun when there's someone to share it with. I'm really happy to be doing this one with all of you.

I've got my book and I've finally chosen my fabrics. The background is white on white with a pebbly look. My quilt will be more scrappy than some. All the fabrics have come from my stash , but I may need to purchase some for the borders. At least that's not an immediate concern.


It's hard to decide which color floss. Here are the ones I'm considering. Any thoughts? In case you can't read the numbers, they are 304, 150, 326, 321, and 498, going from left to right. I'm going to look again in the morning in daylight. In the photograph some of them look a lot more pink than they do in person.

Its Quilted!!


Decision Time: Which fabric do you think looks best for binding? Or should I go to Joann's and pick out something new...originally, I thought I had enough of the narrow border to use for binding but that isn't the case.
Personally, I like the darker one best.