January end

It's drizzling outside, but not enough to even wet the ground.  Just enough to cool things down a bit, to 25C from yesterday's 37C.  I hope we get the winter rain really early this year and lots of it.  Our dams are pretty near to empty and water-saving is just about the only topic of conversation at the moment here in Cape Town.  We are a city of 4 million people and most are worried about what to do when the taps are dry.  I even saw a few business-men, who normally wouldn't frequent the local plastic shop, worriedly buying containers for collecting water.

I have had a good start to 2018, sewing-wise!  On Friday, less than a week after a fun class of Playing with Stripes, I finished piecing together a free-form mash-up of various sized blocks, basically from a 1.5m piece of striped fabric.   Only one wonky bit, which is fixable. Quite happy with this cot-size top.  It's the next to be quilted.

Then finished the Bonnie Hunter Mystery, On Ringo Lake, about 60" x 72".  Well, I count a top to be finished, for now!  Used 32 of the 50 blocks, so will make another small quilt with all the spare parts.  Or I might finish piecing last year's one!   Click here to go and see the final link-up with other mystery participants!

 

And besides making three Block Lotto blocks, the best part of January was sewing along under the driving force of the 2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I think that this is the first month that I have managed to sew all the pre-cut sizes I store, in the colour of the month, Light Blue.  The haul includes:  45 x 3" nine-patches for Jack's Chain (I think this will be a long-term project),  four Squared Away blocks (2018 project - only use pre-cuts!) from Soscrappy.  Other bits sewn were piles of five by 2.5" x 4.5" bricks into graduated monochrome blocks, lots of pairs of light and medium 2" x 3.5" bricks into squares, and a few double 4-patches using 2" and 3.5"" squares (which missed the photo!), about a dozen 2" wonky windmills (also missed the photo) and three wonky nine-patches from the short bits. 

Summer holiday staycation sewing

Some sewing on Bonnie's Mystery.  This was taken lunch time yesterday:  some blocks made, and some layouts that I had thought might be used.

And, I am very happy to write, Sophie has resumed the Block Lotto.  These are my three blocks for January and I enjoyed making them.  They are 9.5" now, to finish at 9". Curiously I initially thought the instructions were complicated, mainly as I did not notice the small white areas in the pattern picture!  But once the pieces were cut the instructions become very clear!