gail pan – Alex Jayne

Tag: gail pan

11
Nov
2014

Christmas progress!

categories: craft

I’ve been working like a busy bee the last few days…

I tracked down another skein of the DMC 115, so I managed to finish the stitching for one of my Christmas presents.

Which meant I could get started on this one! It’s also a Gail Pan design, but this one is stitched in Cottage Garden Threads “Bush Christmas”.

I must say, I love having a local patchwork shop – and Jess over at A Patchwork Quilt is AMAZING. I had the original thread this pattern called for in my stash but I wasn’t feeling it with this particular pattern so I browsed a few of the other CGT colours. If you haven’t checked them out, you seriously should – they’re hand dyed and the colour changes are so subtle, but the best thing is they’re pre cut strands! I messaged Jess on Facebook to see if she had this in stock and she popped it in the mail for me the next day (because I do so many BOMs through her, she had my details on file ;P) and so I was all ready to go.

I also learnt from the previous design that I am pretty awful at freestyle drawing straight lines, so I made sure to use a ruler when tracing this pattern. I think it looks a lot neater.

I also made a start on the Moda Bakery “Trifle Dish” sew along that Jess is doing on FB – there’s a group of us who are sewing this, some with fabrics she has chosen, the rest with their own from their stash. I am remarkably behind – this is month one, and we’re already on month two!

When I went to sew this though, I realised that I’d never actually sewn HST before. I thought I had, but apparently not!? So a few google searches later to get a couple of tips and I had a pile to trim up and sew together.

I think I did okay for my first go! This is block one of five – I haven’t done any of the other cutting but I’m planning on cutting up the rest of the blocks this week and at least putting the pieces into bags so I can get it out of the way.

And despite seeing a few “whoopsies” on the FB group, guess what I promptly did? Argh!!!

All better now! I still need to sew the border on, and give it a press, but I’m pretty proud of myself. The points don’t line up perfectly but I think it’s a decent attempt for my first go, and I’ve picked up a few tips for the next blocks.

I also came across the Farmer’s Wife Quilt. FabricDirect.com.au are doing a sew along – it’s about to go into month 8, so I’m already behind, but seeing as that seems to be the story of my life I messaged Eve to see if I could still join in. I’ve seen so many pictures and blog posts of this around and I love the modern take on this – I need a new BOM/project like I need a hole in the head, but I’ve been really interested to see all the different colour schemes people are using on this, as well as the stories behind the blocks. Plus, it’s going to (hopefully…) be great at skill building, especially as for this QAL it’s starting with the easier piecing and moving up to the more complicated.

I went into Spotlight today to pick up some needles and some template plastic. Turns out they had a 30% sale on fabric. Someone take my credit card away from me, honestly. I picked up these GORGEOUS fabrics though to make a quilt for my nephew – still tossing up a few designs, and I want to see how my interwoven quilt turns out to see if I want to do something like this, or if I want to get a few more different fabrics in, but it’s the first quilt that I’ve decided I want to make without following the exact pattern, so fingers crossed!

Back to some more stitching – with all these projects I’m aiming to do at least some kind of craft each day otherwise I’ll never get anything done!

29
Oct
2014

WIP Wednesday

categories: craft

I swear, things would be finished a lot easier if I didn’t have CDD – Crafting Deficit Disorder!

But, I’ve been working steadily still –

Started a new Gail Pan stitchery which is another Christmas present. I traced this out months ago but finally pulled it out as I realised it’s less than 2 months til Christmas and I really need to get a move on!

I appear to have run out of DMC 115 though – I swear I have one floating around but my craft room is an absolute mess at the moment so I think I may have to duck down to Spotlight to pick one up.

I’ve been making some decent progress on my dachshund cross stitch – the shape is starting to form! The ear is probably just over half done but I’m loving the colours in here and how complex they are.

I am in LOVE with this range – it’s Color Theory by Moda. I went from these….

…to 160 of these! I just need to pick them out in groups of 7, sew them into rows, then sew those rows into a quilt. So far the sewing machine has been working like a charm, so here’s hoping that it works out well! Fingers crossed…

I also have to make a start on another Moda BOM – a lot of the ladies in the FB group have finished Month/Row 1 already and given that Row 2 starts in 3 days, I need to kick my ass into gear!

22
Oct
2014

6 month wrap up!

categories: craft

Oh dear – I’ve just realised it’s been 6 months since I last posted. I have no idea how it got that bad – I’ve still been crafting, and have had the intention to post, but then just kept thinking I’d do it later and then all of a sudden it was October.

Here’s a quick snapshot of what I’ve been working on since my last post, though…

I pulled the Lion Huggable latch hook out of the craft room to try and do it again. I’ve got to say, I’m really not loving this project. I remember why I got rid of it in the first place – I’m at the stage where I need to sew it together and it is driving. me. crazy.

I’m currently stuck trying to sew the ears onto the head and think I may have to pull apart some of the stitching I’ve already done – I’m really hoping though that once I get the head done, the rest of the body won’t be as bad. I need to finish this by Christmas for my nephew, so I’m working to a bit of a deadline. I tell you, it’s a lot easier to work to a deadline when I’m enjoying the project…

I attended Stitches In Time with my mum (hey, remember how last year she took me to one of these and it started my stitching obsession? At least this time I didn’t pick up a new hobby). It was a great day, we got 4 projects and they’re all in Cottage Garden Threads – this was one of the ones designed by Ramona that I have finished. It’s in “Mistletoe”, from memory. I’m dying to start the others, but I need to finish others first.

I started a new cross stitch (because I clearly needed more…) – I’ve been working heaps on this one as the pattern is the spitting image of our late sausage dog who sadly had to be put down a couple of months ago. He was almost 18 so had a fantastic life, but I miss him quite a bit and I’m hoping that this will be a fitting tribute to him. I’ve done quite a bit more of this, so I’m hoping to put a separate post up with some progress shots.

I am…incredibly behind on the Frosted Pumpkin Bakery “Once Upon A Time” cross stitch. I’ve still not finished April – and yes, I’m well aware that it’s almost November! I keep meaning to go back to this but just keep getting distracted by other projects. I really do need to make a move on this one, particularly as I signed up for their 2014 Christmas sampler that starts next month, as well as purchased a few other patterns of theirs – plus I’m sure they’ll put out a 2015 monthly sampler!

I finished the stitching for one of my Christmas presents..

And bought a new sewing machine! I’ve got a ton of projects in mind for this for when I crack it open (hopefully tomorrow!) I bought this from a local sewing store and I’m in love with all of the fancy features that it has!

I finished the stitching for this one, too!

Block #2 of Rosalie Quinlan’s “Simply Blessed” BOM is complete – I am loving the blue/brown colour scheme on this one.

As is block #1! Rosalie’s designs so often feature satin stitch – I’m still not a fan although I’m getting relatively decent at it. They also feature a TON of chain stitch, but I’ve luckily come across a different method of chain stitching which I found a lot easier to do, and it means that I can do it quicker with the added bonus of making the stitches tinier.

I made a bit more progress on my Hogwarts Crest – this is a project I’m going to be stitching forever, at this rate – it’s nearly been 2 years since I started it!

And lastly, I finished Leanne Beasley’s “Enjoy Today”. I haven’t worked out if I’ll frame these or wrap them around canvas as I need to finish the companion “Live Simply” which is sitting in my stash awaiting to be put into my rotation.

What have you all been up to? I promise I’ll be making some more posts soon about specific pieces and more regularly as hopefully that’s going to keep me on my kick of making quite a bit of progress!

30
Dec
2013

One project finished, another to start

categories: craft

I’m proud to say that I have managed to finish the stitchery of my “Love, Hope, Joy, Peace” that I started last month. I’m rather stoked as this is the first stitchery project that I’ve done – and I managed to complete it!

It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of the colonial knots (I’m not sure why I was so scared of them) and I love the finished product.

I just need to finish off the fabric around the edge and do backing, but I plan on finishing that in the new year.

Next up is “Enjoy Today”, part of a set of two that I plan to complete in the first half of the year. I’ve done the iron on transfer so now I just need to start the stitching. I’m heading up to Sydney next week for a few days and am hopeful that I can knock out some whilst I’m away.

Like a lot of Leanne’s designs, I love the colours and I can’t wait to have the finished project. Then I just have to work out – frame it, or put it on a canvas??

23
Nov
2013

And so the stash begins.

categories: craft

I went on a bit of a road trip today, and made my way down to visit Craft Haven in Berwick with a friend to pick up some fabric for a couple of new projects.

Despite having absolutely no idea what I was looking for at the beginning, I’d say it was a very successful trip and I’m hanging out to start work on these projects, but sadly they will have to wait until I finish at least one of my current WIPs.

Fabric for 3 separate projects… love the look of them together!

In the top left – fabric for Gail Pan’s Friendship Daisies bag; top right – fabric and threads for Leanne Beasley’s Enjoy Today & Live Simply companion pieces (I’ve got the pattern for the first, am yet to buy the second, but have bought enough fabric for both so they match), and in the bottom, fabric for Leanne’s Sew, Laugh, Love which I plan on stitching in her colours, but changing out the border fabrics.

If this continues, I’m going to have to find a bigger box to keep my stash…

22
Nov
2013

Another craft addiction? Why not.

categories: craft

As a lot of you know, I’ve been very much into cross stitch for the last couple of years. In typical crafter fashion, I have a number of different projects on the go, because I’m a compulsive starter but not so much a finisher.

Recently though, I joined my mother, who gave me my passion for crafting, at a Christmas Gathering run by Gail Pan and Leanne Beasley. The projects given on the day were stitchery, rather than embroidery, and Gail was extremely patient teaching me the satin stitches and colonial knots that I have now (finally) mastered.

We were given two kits – one from each designer – and I’ve started work on Gail’s design first.

I’m making steady progress on it, and am quite impressed with it as a first timer, but suffice to say I’ve caught the bug and have another type of craft to add to my repertoire. At this point my husband has just stopped commenting when I buy new projects.

Inspired by a lot of the other bloggers out there, I’m going to finally try and post on my blog more often, if only because I’m sure by now my twitter followers are getting sick of all the craft posts, and because going back to see my progress has always been one of my greatest inspirations that yes, it’s a big project, but it’s getting there.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll have the finished stitchery to show off (with the bonus of actually finishing a project!)