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Kaleidoscope, such  a lovely name for a group of butterflies, although I quite like the alternative name Flutter as well.  I've just put a top together featuring butterfly blocks.  This completion ticks two boxes this month, first for the Chookshed Challenge, as butterflies was on my list for number seven.  Plus, I made the blocks as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, way back in 2022.

I know I've mentioned my former neighbour Dorothy many times.  I received a whole lot of her fabrics when she moved away, including a great pile of her beloved butterfly fabrics.  I ...

 It's been a bit of a rush, but I'm pleased to say that I've finished my Chookshed Challenge this month.  Number 10 was chosen for July, which was my jungle panel quilt.  This panel was donated to me from my elderly neighbour's stash when she went into a rest home.  I received a lot of children's fabrics, and I'm slowly working my way through them, although there are plenty more tucked away.  There was no piecing involved with using this panel, so it was just a matter of smoothing the layers out and pinning ...

I'm so pleased that I have my Chookshed challenge for June completed - especially as  May was a non event for me.  I started with this, all the little blocks embroidered and ready to go.  I really enjoyed stitching these little beauties.

Starting point

This kit also provided a pattern to make a wall hanging, so that is what I decided on.  So I added some red/green/gold sashing and started assembling the blocks.  This was a little tricky as the middle row was a bit too long compared to the outer rows.  So it was unpicked and just ...

 Goodness knows what happened to May as I didn't even get my Chookshed Challenge out at all to work on.  I'm hoping I will do much better this month.  Had a look through the bin to find number 5, which is a set of small Christmas ornaments.  This kit was a gift from my pen-friend Carol several years ago, and inside was a panel of pre-printed Christmas designs.  Some of them required applique pieces and Carol had kindly added felt as necessary for me.

Gift from Carol

I had stitched these lovely little designs a couple of years ...

We were in Texas all last week to attend Grad Girl's thesis defense and then just hang out with her afterwards for a bit of a celebration. Poor girl hasn't had a real vacation in over a year.  The presentation of her work was public, so we were able to attend that. Afterwards we waited in the hallway while she took questions from her committee. 

About mid-morning yesterday I realized it was June 1st.  Along with that came the realization that we'll be half way through the year at the end of the month. I'm hoping that fact jump starts my sewing mojo, because I'm not doing so hot on my goals for 2025. 

I don't have much to show for this week.  My goal was to reacquaint myself with counted cross stitching.  I made a mistake pretty quick on my relearning process and had to unpick a lot of stitches.  But eventually a bit of progress was made.    

I'm ...

It doesn't seem all that long ago that we kicked off 2025, but now it's May. June follows, which means that mid-year isn't that far off.  Do you ever wonder what happened in the sewing room and why you don't have more done?  I could be sewing more, so my plan for May is to maximize my sewing time while still doing the other things that need to get done around the house.

My primary goal for the last couple of years is to make progress on my UFOs. I'm doing well on getting quilts ...

It was a very wet Saturday.  We didn't get the rain that caused flooding in the southern part of the state. But we got enough to make doing anything but hanging out in the sewing room miserable.  So that's pretty much what I did the whole weekend.  Unfortunately, I can't show off all the progress as most of my time was spent making the June blocks for the Guild BOM.  I have to have those ready for the next meeting. I should be able to finish those this afternoon and then get back to the project that ...

The  number for the Chookshed Challenge in April was number 4.  Which was........a baby quilt featuring houses. This was a bonus quilt top stitched during the 2024 Chookshed Challenge.  I made a bigger house quilt and had some left over blocks, just enough to whip up a cot quilt.  The houses were my own design, made from 2.5in strips several years ago, and I also made a few tree blocks as well.

I'm pleased I had prepared the backing and the binding last year when I completed the top, that's always a bonus.  So I found ...

March was a pretty productive month, fingers crossed April is as well.  I did pretty well with my last to do list for March. 

To Do List for 03/25/2025

1.  2025 Guild BOM: Finish May blocks ✔

2.  2025 SAHRR: Trim backing - progress

3.  On Ringo Lake: Make 2 blocks, start quilt assembly ✔

4.  Wild and Goosey: Making blue blocks ✔

5.  Summer Scrap Quilt:  Leaders and enders ✔

Four out of five is definitely not a bad week.  Progress has been slow, but steady.  I'm hoping for more of the same for this week's to do list. 

To ...

It was a pretty low key weekend here. The trees seemed to have greened up overnight. And the spring storms have definitely started up.  Nothing too severe yet, thankfully, as we really need the rain.  

 I'm a bit late posting about my Chookshed Challenge and missed the cut off for number 10 date for February.   This was to stitch up some pencil pouches for donation.  For this project I decided to recycle two Christmas placemats which we used in the caravan, no need for them now.  The placemats were lined so I cut two pouches from each, added red binding, and then they were done.  But...... I had a problem with stitching buttonholes.  Try as I might, I just couldn't get my head around how to achieve this, although it's not as ...

No surprise that February went fast.  I just wasn't ready for how fast it went.  Now that we've moved into March, it's time to post a February PHD report and join the linky party over at P Designs USA.  

There's been no change in my PHD tracking sheet. 

No finishes, but no new starts either.  So not good, but not bad either.  Though I've not had any finishes, there has been progress on several projects.  

To get finishes, backings are needed. I didn't get very far with my plan to move Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze ...

In spite of a weekend of pretty much nothing but stitching time, I still didn't do so well on my to do list for last week.

To Do List for 2/25/2025

1.  2025 SAHRR: Finish borders, 4, 5 and 6 - progress

2.  2025 Guild BOM: Start on April Blocks - no progress

3.  Chocolate Marshmallow: Assemble backing - no progress

4.  Marble Mystery: Finish assembling quilt - progress

5.  Wild and Goosey: Make blue blocks, start sashing yellow ✔

6.  Summer Scrap Quilt: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

It wasn't a bad week, I just had way too much on ...

I wasn't ready for it to be February already.  We've already had a full weekend in this short month, so now it's almost over.  Well maybe not really, but it certainly feels that way.  It will certainly go fast that's for sure.  

The weather was nice this weekend, so I got out and enjoyed it.  So there wasn't as much time in my sewing room as typical. Still there was progress on a few things.  One of which is my version of Marble Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs).  

There's a lot of purple in this ...

The prompt for round #2, half square triangles, can be found at Anja Quilts.  

Not the most original border, but it works OK. I'm ready for prompt #3 coming out on Monday.    

The 2025 SAHRR was also my Chookshed Challenge project for January. My goal was to get the center and first prompt finished.  I've actually finished the second prompt so definitely met my goal for the month.  

The Wheels on the Bus, my Chookshed Challenge for January, is done.  Number 6 was chosen for January, and it was tucked away in this plastic crate, numbered and ready to go.  My number 6 was a rescued duvet cover featuring transportation and I thought it would make a great donation quilt for a boy.

Challenges for the year, all numbered and waiting their turn

The cover needed a red border, I decided.  Once that was done it was all ready for pinning the layers together.  This was achieved one sunny afternoon sitting at the patio table outside in the ...

The middle of January snuck up on me. I had hoped to have my center block picked out and ready to go before the the first 2025 SAHRR kick off post went up. But that didn't happen. I've been contemplating center blocks since 4th quarter last year. I knew the color palette was going to be predominately green, but hadn't picked the fabrics.  Inspiration struck when Grad Girl and I found a beautiful blue and green Batik in the close out section of the local quilt section.

From that we found the bright blue and the darker ...

Here we are half way through the month - let's see how I'm doing on my Chookshed Challenge for January.  The number chosen was 6, Wheels on the Bus whole cloth quilt, a boy's donation quilt .  I'm making this from a rescued duvet cover I found in an Op Shop (thrift store).

Duvet Cover

The first thing I did was to stitch a red border around the edges, that was easily done.  Then find some backing and batting.  The backing I had planned to use was much too small, so I decided to use a single sized ...

 The year 2024 wasn't a bad year, plenty of stitching, quilting and knitting took place.  Social events, club meetings, lunches out, Sew Wot fortnightly get togethers, caravan rally weekends away, and a trip to the South Island to help my son Michael celebrate turning 60.  All this changed of course in late November when my beloved husband Robin passed away unexpectedly.  Such a shock, and I'm still reeling from it.

While clearing out the caravan to prepare it for sale I came across quite a few sets of place mats which I had made over the years.  The ...