The Splendid Sampler: Block 38 and a break......

Here is the latest block I have completed for The Splendid Sampler. It is block 38 which was designed by Pam Vieira McGinnis and it is called 'Vintage Flower Basket'. I loved stitching this block.  I just love the combination of applique and embroidery.  

Things are really starting to get busy here with organising my house move, so I will be taking a little break from blogging and will meet up with you when the move is complete and I am all settled in my new home.

Patchwork Allsorts FB Page

In the meantime, I will post photographs of any bits and pieces I manage to stitch on my Patchwork Allsorts facebook page.  Click on the photo above to visit me there.

TAST Week Forty-Seven: Chained Cross Stitch

This week's stitch for the TAST Challenge hosted by Sharon Boggon at Pin Tangle is called Chained Cross Stitch and, is exactly that.  A cross stitch of which one half of the cross is made using a chain stitch.

It is a really pretty stitch and results in quite a nice, thick braid. Sharon's tutorial for how to work the stitch can be found here.

I added another circle to my sampler using variegated silk thread.

TAST Week Forty-Six: Berry Stitch

This week's stitch for the TAST Challenge hosted by Sharon Boggon at Pin Tangle was another really fun stitch to learn and is called 'Berry Stitch'.

It is a stitch made up of two detached chain stitches one inside the other and, you can find Sharon's tutorial for it here.

I have added another circle to my sampler and stitched my berry stitches using variegated silk thread.

I really love the texture it adds.

The Splendid Sampler: Blocks 34 and 35

Just popping in very quickly to show you my two latest blocks for The Splendid Sampler. The first block to show you is block 34 which was designed by Amy Gibson and is called 'Lemonade'.  This block included some curved seams which I have never attempted before and they were a little fiddly, especially as the fabric pieces were quite small but, I managed to get them stitched and the finished block is a cute lemon.

I didn't have any yellow fabrics that I wanted to use, so I used some green instead and I'm calling mine a lime!

The next block is block 35 and was designed by Kristyne Czepuryk  it is called 'The Wishful Garden'.  

It is a pretty block which features some simple piecing and some lovely embroidery stitches. It was like stitching one of my crazy quilt blocks and I really enjoyed it!

Luckily I have finished just in time again for the release of the next block!

Ups and Downs.....

Sorry it has been a bit quiet here... there has been a lot going on, not least of which is that the landlady of the house we live in has decided that she needs to sell and has served notice on us. This means that we now have to find somewhere else to live and move into in the next two months.  It may mean that is a little quiet on here for a little while on and off as I now have to concentrate my efforts on finding us a new roof over our heads!

However, on a much lighter note, I was also lucky enough to win a blog giveaway recently at Crafty Cat.  Cathy stitches some beautiful projects and I always enjoy visiting her blog.

My prize was a delightful cross stitch pattern together with the fabric and threads to stitch it. It is beautiful and, with an impending move, it may come in very useful when all my sewing items are packed away to have this hand project to stitch.  Thank you Cathy for the beautiful prize!!

Hasenbach Challenge: June Blocks

Today I would like to show you two more blocks that I have completed for the Hasenbach Challenge.   These two stars are the blocks that have been released by Claudia for the month of June.

The first is the 'Wishing Star'.  It uses the same foundation paper piecing technique that all these blocks use and, although I am getting more familiar with the technique, I still find it difficult to get all the pieces to line up well.

The second is the 'Mexican Star'.  Again, foundation paper pieced and, I found this star a little easier to put together than the one above.  I am quite pleased with how they both look and all the stars together are starting to look very pleasing.

Have a lovely weekend! 

TAST Week Forty-Five: Portuguese Border Stitch

I thoroughly enjoyed learning this week's stitch for the TAST Challenge hosted by Sharon Boggon at Pin Tangle. It is called 'Portuguese Border Stitch' and it is worked over a base of straight stitches which gives it a lovely raised look.  You can find Sharon's tutorial for it here.

I added another circle to my sampler using my favourite variegated silk thread and I am very pleased with the results.  This is not a difficult stitch to work but you do have to be very careful to keep your tension even and not pull the base stitches out of alignment.

I definitely think this stitch will be included in a future crazy quilt block!

CQJP Challenge 2016: Finished Blocks: April and May

In case anyone may be thinking that I had forgotten all about my crazy quilt blocks for the CQJP Challenge 2016, you would be wrong.... I haven't forgotten about them but, I have fallen a little behind with them! However, I am pleased to say that I have finished two more blocks, those for April and May.

I forgot to take any 'before' photographs for these two blocks but here are some photographs of them finished.

April......

and a few close ups of the stitching....

Then May's block.....

and a few close ups of the stitching for May....

Now if I can get June's block finished in the next couple of weeks, I will be back on track!

The Splendid Sampler: Blocks 32 and 33

Another week has whizzed past and it is time to catch up with the next blocks from The Splendid Sampler.

Block 32 was designed by Laurie Simpson and is a really cute block which I thoroughly enjoyed stitching.  It features an applique flower and is called 'The Constant Needle'.  I chose to piece together some scraps of background fabric that I had left over from previous blocks to make the background for the applique.  I also added some colonial knots to the centre of the flower.

The next block, block 33 was designed by Pat Sloan and is called 'Selvage Saver'. It was wonderfully quick to put together and a fun way to use up some fabric selvages.  I used some fabric strips as well as a few selvages and I love the finished block.

TAST Week Forty-Four: Plaited and Crossed Feather Stitch

This week's stitch for the TAST Challenge hosted by Sharon Boggon at Pin Tangle  is stitch forty-four, plaited and crossed feather stitch.  These are two different stitches but they are so similar that Sharon has covered them both with one tutorial.  They are based on a straight-sided feather stitch and are a lot of fun to stitch.

I added them to my latest sampler in a large circle.  I wasn't sure how well suited they were to being stitched in a circle but, it seems to have turned out reasonably well.

Plaited Feather Stitch

The base feather stitch for the circle was stitched using two strands of green cotton embroidery floss.  I then added the plaited stitches using pink thread (bottom half of the circle) and the crossed stitches using blue thread (top half of the circle). The pink and blue threads were also two strands of cotton embroidery floss.

Crossed Feather Stitch

The difference between the two stitches is that with the plaited stitches every second stitch is threaded under the base green stitch while the crossed stitches all cross over the top of the base stitches. 

Thank you for visiting and I wish you a lovely weekend! 

The Splendid Sampler: Blocks 30, 31 and Matthew's Block

It is time to catch up with the next blocks I have completed for The Splendid Sampler. This past week there were three blocks as an extra bonus block was released to celebrate Children's Day on 1st June.  I will start with the first block that was released since I last posted about the Splendid Sampler which, is block 30.

Block 30 was designed by Amy Ellis and is called 'Simple Surprises'.  It is a pretty little pieced block and was a lovely, easy block to put together which was nice.  The next block, block 31 was designed by Jenny Reynolds and is called 'Blossoming'.  This block is an embroidered block and I really enjoyed stitching it.

Finally, a bonus block was released to celebrate Children's Day.  It was designed by the son of one of the Splendid Sampler participants and you can read the story behind how the block came about here.  The block is called 'Matthew's Block'.

There were lots of little pieces to put together in this block and my seams aren't terribly straight but, it is a fun block.

Here are all the blocks so far..... now to start on block 32 which was released this morning.... Happy sewing!!