FINALLY ... Some GJ Progress!!

Yes ...  you read correctly ... I've FINALLY made a bit more progress on my Gardener's Journal quilt. Chookyblue has been cracking the whip of late and since I'm already about three months behind, I decided this last weekend was the time to get stuck in and do a bit more. So ... out came everything I'd done so far ...

OK ... spread it all out ... now ... where was I up to?!?!

Let loose with a rotary cutter, ruler and mat ... cut a few bits, mutter quite a lot about 1 1/2 inch squares (must have a word to Anni about that one day!!) ... scratch the ol' head a bit over which bit goes where and which way to press seams (did I mention I'm not REALLY a patchworker??) ... some whirring of the ol' Husky and ...

Et VOILA!! Block E finished. I just love how the little bits of satin stitching add an extra 'something' to the blocks ... even though stitching those apples nearly sent me round the bend ... a short trip in my case some would say! Tee! Hee! Hee! Do you see there's one GREEN apple in amongst the RED? Just like me ... it had to be a little different to the crowd! :0) Now ... I'd really only planned to finish one block ... you know, show Chooky that I'd made some progress, without stressing myself too much with 1 1/2 inch blocks. But ... well ... I had some more squares already cut and it was warm in my sewing room, so ...

... Block F also got put together ... maybe I was wishing I had a nice comfy spot to sit in the sun with a cool drink and a well-behaved puppy-dog. Hmmm ... winter, so not warm ... Sunday was overcast here, so no sun ... cold weather doesn't really lend itself to a cool drink ... two dogs, neither of whom are well-behaved! SIGH! You can see why I just stayed in my sewing room, can't you! :0) So my sewing achievements for the weekend were ...

Not bad, if I do say so myself. The dark blue border around the Resting In The Garden block was actually supposed to be around The Dovecote ... but I had a bit of a 'Spacewalk, Miss Jane!' moment and picked up the wrong block. OOPS! Ah well ... looks OK and I'm sure in the overall quilt it won't matter. So ... thus far, this is what my quilt is looking like ...

I've laid the blocks out in their order, as best I can with the missing bits, and have also laid out the stitcheries for the remaining blocks. I'm still not finished the Garden Show stitchery in the bottom right corner ... I seem to have a bit of a block with that one, for some reason!! Well ... that and too many other projects, new design ideas and deadlines creeping in to crowd my creative space! :0) I really want to get this quilt finished by the end of the year, though, so I'll just keep plodding along.

Hope your weekend was productive, whatever you got up to. OPAM gals ... thanks so much to all of you who emailed Peg and I with your finish tallies for May .. it really is greatly appreciated! I promise I'm slowly working my way through replying to your emails ... it may take a few days, but I'm getting there! :0)  There were 519 finishes for May - WELL DONE EVERYONE!! And I know a few people were like me and plodding along with some longer-term projects ... which is also great. Remember ... it's not really the tallies that count, it's taking the time out from your busy life to do something you enjoy, to stop and count the stitches, as it were! :0)

And now ... I'm off to find something inspiring to cook for dinner ... when I win lotto, I will be employing a cook, I think, so I can just disappear into the sewing room and not have to think about mundain household chores like what to cook for dinner! :0) Enjoy your week !! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS