March OMG: Traffic on Safari Progress!

In March my OMG was to just get organized ... to pick up a project that I couldn't call a UFO because, well, I had never started it! I really just wanted to look at the pattern, look at all the fabric I had bought, and figure out what all the pieces were for. 

Here's where I started the month:

Having my kitchen table back as a workspace meant I was able to spread out, get organized, cut strips, and even start stitching strips. In fact, I am thrilled to report that all my blocks are actually cut!

It will come as no surprise that my OMG for next month will be to lay out the blocks... but I'll save that for another day. I'm really happy to have some some quilting during National Quilt Month! (Which, I know for a lot of OMGers, is every month...)

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts and Stories from the Sewing Room with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see how everyone did in their March projects on the Finish Party page! Or choose an OMG project of your own and join us in April. 

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - March Finish Link-up

Delphian Cornflower Stitch-a-Long, part 3

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's been three weeks since our last check in... but I'm happy to say that I have a lot done. In fact, it's happy dance time!

Here's where I was last time, working on a traditional cross stitch pattern in a gorgeous kit from Avlea Folk Embroidery. 

And here's where I am now -- I just finished all the stitching!

I love this pattern, and the fabric, too:

I'm not sure how I'll finish it, but I think I will turn it into a pillow for a good friend. I think it will match her new couch! 

Now, what's next, I hear you asking. Well, first I want to make sure this stitching gets made into something, rather than go into the "stitched but not finished" box in the basement. 

Then I want to work on a project that I tore out of a stitching magazine in December 2000. No, that's not a typo. I tore out this pattern and had it in a folder for more than two decades. Last year I bought the fabric (which is, in real life, a midnight rather than a royal blue) and made sure I had all the floss.  

My plan is to stitch this and then put it into a cushion cover that I can put over my existing cushions come Christmas time. I like the idea that I'm finally going to work on a project that I have thought about since 2000. 

And speaking of projects, don't forget to check out the amazing projects my fellow stitchers are working on -- I love seeing what they're working on! Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, Cindy, and Mary Margaret.

13x13 March edition

My friend Suzanne chose the February project, Glowing Pumpkin from the Mill Hill "Painted Pumpkins" ornament series. A nice contrast with the colorful Persian Pumpkin kit I made in January, Glowing Pumpkin is classic black and orange:

I liked that so much that I've chosen another black and orange ornament, Enchanted Moon: 

It's fun to have a different shape, having done a lot of pumpkins so far. 

As usual, I'll check back in on April 13 to share my finished piece, as well as my next project. Maybe I'll even go nutty next month and do a different sort of project! Of course, I really do love these little Mill Hill kits. 

Delphian Cornflower Stitch-a-Long, part 2

Hi everyone! This is the odd case where it feels like I can't believe it has ONLY been three weeks since our last check-in. In the interim I started a new job that -- even though it makes my brain tired every night because I'm learning so many new things -- I really like. It's my first time starting a new gig fully remote so I'm trying to spend extra time with my new teammates; in my first week I had 11 hours of 1:1 meetings, plus a couple of group meetings. For an introvert like me, that has also been exhausting, but I know that relationships matter, possibly more so in a remote working environment! 

Last time I had chosen my next project: a traditional cross stitch pattern in a gorgeous kit from Avlea Folk Embroidery. 

As I said then, the materials are a joy to stitch. I have struggled with evenweave in the past, but this is an absolute dream. 

I thought with the new job I would have less time to stitch, but I forgot that I was taking three days off in my second week (!!!) on a quiet getaway with my husband for his birthday. We spent three nights in a deluxe cabin at Cama Beach Resort on beautiful Saratoga Passage in Puget Sound. "Deluxe" means "you get your own bathroom and shower", but the little cabins are pretty rustic, if very cozy. In the summer they are booked months in advance, but mid-week in the late winter, it's super quiet. Apart from the windstorm, of course. 

It was so cold that we spent most of the time with the heater turned up high, watching the shore and listening to audiobooks while I stitched. As such, well, I got quite a bit done: 

There's more red and coral highlights in the blue flowers, plus gold and light green accents on the greenery left to stitch. It's such a delight to get into a rhythm with the repeating patterns -- you know, like when you are knitting or crocheting and you "get" the pattern and don't need to follow along so closely? 

I already want to make something else of hers, though I don't know what. And, of course, I'm trying not to acquire MORE things to stitch... But perhaps I'll reward myself with another one of her kits (or a pattern and some ground cloth) if I keep moving forward on all the other projects I want to complete this year!

And speaking of all the other projects, don't forget to check out the amazing projects my fellow stitchers are working on -- I love seeing what they're working on! Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, Cindy, and Mary Margaret.

March OMG: Traffic on Safari

In January 2020, while traveling for a 5K, I stopped in at a local quilt shop. I don't let myself do that all that often as I could spend the rest of my life quilting and probably not get through the fabric in my stash. But I thought I would go in, pick up a fat quarter or two, and head out. 

An hour later I walked out with fabric for a queen-size quilt. 

I fell in love with Moda Fabrics "Safari Life" fabric collection -- now difficult to find online. The lions and giraffes make me smile and reminded me of our time in Africa. So I bought two jelly roll packs and some other fabric to make up the 51 strips I needed, plus more dark fabric for contrast, and a bunch of green fabric that I thought would look great instead of the white background. 

And then? Then it went into the basement. 

When I transitioned to full-time work from home I took over the kitchen table as my desk. For several months, I never even put away my desk at weekends -- so I lost the space I would normally use for crafting. 

Weirdly, it took getting laid off in December and starting a new, permanently remote job in February for me to carve out an office space in my basement. As a result, I now can work on crafts at my kitchen table again! 

My OMG for February is to look at all the strips and fabric and figure out just what I wanted to do where. There are a couple of extra pieces that I purchased that I don't remember why. Then I'll cut out the narrow background strips, the background sashing, and even the binding strips, as well as the strips from the larger cuts. If I get really crazy, I'll stitch the background/dark contrast strip sets and maybe even the colorful strip sets. I mean, it is National Quilt Month and all that. 

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts and Stories from the Sewing Room; you can see all the monthly projects on the March Link-up Page.

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal March Link-up