April and "homeless"

Trying to keep abreast of the various projects on the go while being "homeless" is hard, very hard. The sewing machine is being carried in the back seat of the car but rarely sees the light of day. The projects found in the "sewing bag", a non disposable shopping bag to be exact, are incomplete as are the supplies that were brought to accompany them. The needlework is all about finishing what I have brought in the way of threads and then going on to another, leaving the unfinished in a state of flux. And the knitting is done haphazardly. You see, our home, the RV, is currently in the shop, for what started out as yearly maintenance. We are unable to live in it as we normally do because it is inside the shop, not in the parking area. Thus we are doing car trips and hoteling it, hence the sewing lament.

The numbers game continues and according to the Yahoo group many are forging ahead quite happily. As for me, there is no progress to be reported. And now there are 2 more numbers to work on for April.
-> #4, the  "I Believe in Family" wall hanger - heck, I don't even know where this one is at the moment.
-> #32, not that I have a #32, so it is the last on the list, the Christmas Tree wall hanger. I know where this one is but, unavailable due to living circumstances.
And now, YIKES, the May numbers are out:
-> #9, "Paris in Spring" the backing incorporating the row by row for my friends quilt World Travels
-> #88, and no, I don't have one for #88 so will have to choose one of the previous months selections to work on

And then I also need to work on Christmas Toys and OUR Quilt from February, finish a block from Rainbow Jane from March, and heaven knows what other projects that are on the go, such as the Jinny Beyer Row by Row and the sample for World Travels to name but two.

I did get my Canadian Santa x3 back from the finisher. Not exactly as I had wanted but cute nonetheless. Guess I need to learn how to do this so as to be able to translate my ideas more accurately. (photo) If I want to use them for a Christmas gift, I had better get busy with the American ones now and followed by Mrs. Santa.

Maybe I will get to do better in May. They promise us our RV by the middle of the first week in May....

Aaaaaargh! Update down the road....

UFO/Stashbusters

Sometime ago I joined a Yahoo! group called Stashbusters. I wanted to join their UFO group but discovered that I couldn't amount for my stash - most of it is in storage in Nacogdoches and all I have with me are the UFOs that I had decided to finish while on the road. I can add up the yardage with those but it certainly won't be indicative of the reality of my stash. So I change focus -

I signed up to finish a UFO on bother group instead. I have decided that I will finish Danny's nappie quilt for him. He has mentioned it a couple of times. So I pull it out and the aargh, black fleece that he chose for the backing. At least I won't have to use any batting in it.  This is how it looked when I pulled it out of the stash cupboard.

 This is how it looks full out.

"Stairway to Dreams"

I signed up, uploaded the required photos, pulled out the equipment from the basement, set up the machine, gathered the supplies and ... found another UFO that I decided to finish first.

 

These are the front and back panels for a tote to carry my various supplies for quilting classes that I had made let summer while waiting for my Peace Corps assignment to start. I will need the bag the middle of the month at a RV rally that I am almost positive they will have at least one quilting class at. I had received the squares in a stash exchange that I had participated in while in Panama. So I re-measured, planned, cut, sewed, lined, and finished the bag in a marathon sewing day yesterday while my DH was out exploring various hiking trails. The finished product, lined with a deep pocket to hold rulers in:

I tried to be somewhat liberated with this but found that even when I tried I was rigid and regimented. I have to work on that concept harder and more persistently. 

And then I came across another UFO in the closet. This is for a small wall hanger for the kitchen area of the RV and I just had to finish it. (I wonder if all these finishes will count for the UFO Challenge?)

 This is what I started with: a cross stitched worked in floss and Kreinik blending filament to give it a shiny appearance. The wild print was originally planned for the border but I am thinking it will overpower the motif. So I am planning on making only a 1/2" border and then finding an off-white piece for the rest of the border. I will back and bind with the purple. As of tonight, I am ready to bind it, but that will have to wait until tomorrow as a headache is brewing.

As for my original idea, well, it still sits beside the machine on the chesterfield, looking forlorn and dejected as it waits in line. "Next, I promise." I say but it has a hard time believing me. ha ha