April 2018 Goals

I belong to several (18) facebook groups. Most of them are quilting groups.

 One of them is for the 1718 Coverlet that was made in 1718 a mere 300 years ago. There is a bit of a stir going on in the UK commemorating this amazing needlework which is the oldest known quilt in existence in the UK. I started mine on a whim 3 years ago after visiting my sister in England just as the pattern book was released. There have been numerous posting on the facebook group of completed and wannabes. I did not add this to my 12 ufos in 2018 but I think I might just do that.
Actually, I was looking for a blog post that had "gold" in it for Val's Tuesday Archives and this popped up.
 I have no intentions of trying to complete the thing this year or next, but I did pull the box out and revisited some of the completed blocks. I count 16. It appears that I took time to organize fabrics and cut out some freezer paper templates for the first 3 rows.

The RSC colour for April is yellow and gold. So, I decided it was time for Bright Jane to come out to play since winter is over. These are the yellow blocks I did not make last year. No idea how many I will make this year. Just in case, I pre-washed some more background and cut lots more strips and squares so I am ready.

 In the meantime, I am packing my bags to go to the Shipshewana Retreat  next week. I have been looking forward to this all winter when I get to play with my quilting friends for a whole week. Well, almost. We leave here early Tues morning and return the following Monday. It is a 7 hour drive each way. I am driving. I will buy chocolate to munch on. I have only 3 project boxes packed and ready to go. There will be 2 others with me and my stuff in my car so I am planning to go light.

1. I will be doing some more foundation piecing for my Morrell. I had all the fabric strips cut and the foundation papers cut and ready to go a few months ago. So I only had to put them in a project box. I have new insights to Broderie Perse applique, both by hand and machine. Some of these blocks will have flowers and birds stitched down with a narrow blanket stitch by machine. 

2. My Bernina is in for servicing before I start the machine applique on the Huguenot Friendship Quilt. I hope it gets back in time.

 I bought this on impulse (no surprise) when I saw an ad pop up on facebook. (I really need to stay away from there.)

This is a pre-fused kit and I have all 36 blocks arranged and pressed onto background squares. I am considering using a simple straight stitch with silk thread to match. I will test it out on some scraps first.

3. I have many strips cut to make up all the sashing and cornerstones for Dear Daughter. This is the newest block of the month from sentimentalstitches. 

This will be my hand stitching project for this month. The April blocks have been released and I have them all prepped and ready to hand applique. None of those in the picture are stitched down yet. 

My one-monthly-goal for April will be to make all the sashing and corner stone units for Dear Daughter AND complete the hand applique on the first 8 blocks. This should be doable since I have quite a few prepped already and will be Slow Sunday Stitching for a few minutes before all the grand children come for a sleepover at the FARM. There is no school on Monday and there will be no me time for the rest of the week.

Blessings,
Chris