A Year of Projects (week 1)

A Year of Projects (or YOP for short) starts here with my first post.

This is with a group I recently joined on Ravelry here.

There will hopefully be a new post about this once a week as I try to complete and tick off the projects on my TO-DO list between July 2016 and June 2017.

I have some projects lined up that need to be started or completed in a particular month - like the International Freeform Fiberart Challenge that starts January 1st. and ends May 1st. and is a very important project for me every year.

My TO-DO Lists

Crochet - 

A freeform piece for a national arts festival here in NZ.

Lots of baby items for a craft table at our local Child & Baby Expo.

Two afghan blankets.

Mandala Madness CAL WIP needs the last 3 weeks of instructions to complete it.

Down by the Seashore CAL WIP

Knitting - 

One afghan blanket.

Various other items not decided yet. 

Embroidery - 

Hand embroidered seam treatments and embellishment on my Crazy Quilt Colour Journal.

2 x Cross-stitch miniature rugs.

Various other items as my mind introduces them to me.

Patchwork & Quilting - 

Finish my Butterfly Crazy Quilt.

Complete the backing and hanging for my Snorkeling wall-hanging, possibly for the arts festival.

Mug rugs, table mats, bags, and lap quilts for a craft stall.

Other items as the mood takes me.

Art - 

Practice more flower sketches and paintings.

Pen and ink drawings, possibly for arts festival.

Other Crafts - 

Sculpture.
Needle felting.

Soft-sculpture sewing.

Calligraphy.

Weaving.

Spinning.

Tatting.

Bobbin Lace.

Christmas presents - 

this list will be detailed later in the year when I have decided what to make and for who.

Other projects -

Get my craft room designed, sorted and unpacked (after it has been in storage for over a year while we had a touring holiday of North Island).

Now with a large garden to upkeep - plant lots of wildflowers and colourful borders. 

Keep the roses tidy. 

On-going planting and harvesting my new vegie plots.

Well.....    I think that's enough to keep me busy for a year, don't you?

New Year - New Beginnings - New CQJP

  Welcome to the year of change.  

This will be the year that hubby and I finally move into 'real' retirement. I may already be unofficially retired, but it's about time that Tony gets to enjoy more of life without having to work on the farm etc. He's worked hard all his life to provide everything that our family needs, and I know that, for myself and our four kidsies, we really appreciate all he has done for us.

His unselfish sacrifices have been made for the love and well-being of the family group, and now it's time for the family group to make some sacrifices for him. It may include spending a little bit of their inheritance (haha), but hey, he earned it in the first place, so I think he's entitled to enjoy a bit of it to help him retire and do what he wants, for a change.

I think he might have trouble relaxing though because he's not the sort of person who can sit around and do nothing. 

Always 'tinkering' with something.

  CQJP 2015  

My goal for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project for 2015 is to stitch one block a month as per the guideline/requirements.

The fabrics that I shall be using this year for my Crazy Quilt blocks will all be neutrals and whites, with some of the neutrals being my hand-dyed fabrics.

And, because I am expecting to be 'on-the-road' (or at least in the caravan) for most of the year, I am putting some limitations on what I can do, such as:

Embroidery threads will be the predominant form of embellishing.

Each block will have a different colour scheme (I'm hoping this will add interest in the finished quilt).

I will not be following the colour wheel, but will jump to whatever colour appeals at the time.

Beads, sequins & charms will not be used, as I wont be able to travel very well with them.

(I may add beads etc. in one go, at the very end, after ALL the 12 blocks have been made).

Crochet lace or embellishing will be made specifically for each block.

There will be no main overall theme for the blocks.

I will be experimenting more with patterns and the build up of combination seam treatments.

The blocks will be entirely hand-stitched, which includes the piecing of the naked blocks.

My first naked block - January

And the first bit of seam embellishing has begun.

This block is (obviously) going to be a RED colour scheme.

The dark fabrics here are not as dark in real life as they show in the photo.

2014 - Plans - Ideas - Goals - Dreams

Hi everyone, I'm back from my hols, and raring to stitch.

Plans, Ideas, Goals & Dreams

This year I am going to make another crazy quilt.

It will differ from my last one in a few ways; colour, style, theme, and process.

My colour scheme this year is going to be from 
purple through pinks, reds, oranges, yellows and golds 
and will probably include some black, white and neutrals too.

The style will be slightly traditional in its overall look but probably will not be labelled traditional, and may even be classed as contemporary. 

Perhaps "rustic" or "naive" might fit what I have in mind for it.

Those of you who know me well will know that Free Form Stitching will play a big part in the crazy quilt too.

As for the theme - it will be  Straight From The Heart 

with a hint of love, 

so hearts, flowers, birds, doves, music,

names, monograms, poems, quotes & symbols,

will be included in the embroidery and embellishing, hopefully without too much gush or frills.

THE PROCESS of creating the Crazy Quilt (bed quilt) 

will be a different way of working for me. 

I have thought, long and hard, about what other commitments I have this year, and how I am going to get my stitching fix when I am travelling back and forth to Hawkes Bay with the house moving process (which we anticipate will take us most of the year to sort out).

So I have planned a crazy quilt that I can create in small pieces each week (small enough to keep in my handbag) and then, hopefully once a month, attach each small piece to a bed-sized whole-cloth backing fabric.

Oh, a couple of other things about these small  STITCHERIES  - 
They will be of irregular shapes and sizes as befits a crazy quilt. 
The background fabric will have to fit into a 6" embroidery hoop. 
The motifs & symbols etc. will be stitched all over them before being attached to the backing, butting up against the straight edge of the next Stitchery. 
Straight running stitch will be used to attach the Stitcheries to the backing. 
Raw edges will be showing.

This is what I have managed so far over the last two weeks while we were in Hawkes Bay.

I started with a heart that I appliqued with blanket stitch to a dusky pink velvet base fabric, then hand stitched a meander over the heart, and added some raised circles in pink.

I crocheted a couple of flower shapes. 

Then added the heart outline, latticework, another crochet shape, buttons, beads and French Knots etc.

Week One complete. 

Week Two started with another heart, but a braid one this time.

Then came a swirly thing in pink and black, and another latticework pattern that was inspired and developed from the pattern on the fabric.

A random bit of crocheting created the appliqued purple piece.

Then came some Lazy Daisy flowers to fill the empty space on the right.

Both of these stitcheries are about 5 inches square. I will cut them in different shapes with 3, 4, 5, or 6 sides, depending on what shape is needed to fit all the Stitcheries onto my backing fabric.

I anticipate making at least one small Stitchery each week, sometimes more than one if I have time. This means that I will have something to show each week, hopefully.

And I will have a goal of attaching a months worth of Stitcheries to the backing for a 

 monthly reveal , 

and to show how the quilt is progressing.

Other projects for the year include:

The annual challenge for a Freeform Fiberart work - theme this year is One Colour, 

Deadline = 1 May.

Edit and create the official book for the above challenge. 

Deadline = 1 June.

Learn how to tat.

Make crocheted garments and publish more patterns for my Etsy shop and Ravelry.

De-clutter the house to make it presentable to prospective purchasers.

I think I have a busy year ahead.