Sewing Machine Cover

I have a hard cover for my beloved machine, but rarely use it at home. It tends to sit inside my trolley bag ready to cover the machine in transit to class!

So I needed something that was easy to throw over the machine and keep the dust at bay!
Picked up this cute fabric on special..... am very happy with the way it looks, really brightens up the room.

Natures Journey April blocks!

Here's April, I actually finished on 1st May!

I made a few adaptions - decided on some more hexies and hearts for the smaller blocks.
I have paper pieced hexies before, but this was my first attempt with diamonds.
Looking at the pattern, was unsure about the dragonfly, but it has actually turned out to be one of my favourites! Great seeing everyone's progress over on the SAL blog.

SAL March finished!

Obviously a little late for the March deadline, but finished now!

Some Progress...

As you can see I have made some progress on my Natures Journey blocks for March, but alas, not enough! Have completed the blanket stitch borders but have quite a bit of applique to go.

The plan is to be back on schedule by the end of April!

Pincushion

This pincushion is from a design by Jenny of Elefantz . Jenny has some beautiful designs and a lovely blog, some great tutorials too. Big thanks to Jenny.
I have used Jenny's pattern for the stitchery, but have added a row of decorative machine stitching at the top and bottom of the design. Just used a regular poly thread. Must admit, I have not utilised the fancy stitches on my machine a lot, and am pleased with the result. Definitely plan to play with those a bit more in the future.
Again, although I changed it a little Jenny's pincushion has the pocket for the scissors. Wonderful idea that I am finding very handy.
I used a DMC varigated thread for my hand stitching.

Natures Journey February Blocks

Here are Februarys blocks finished, the first month of our Stitch a Long! I have really enjoyed stitching these. Stitching by hand is one of my favourite things, and I do love blanket stitch applique too.

Although I have bought some fabrics, one of the nice things about this quilt is that the small appliques mean you can use scraps of fabric too. Its fun to be able to incorporate lots of different fabrics.

OPAM 2015

I am joining in OPAM 2015 (for those that don't know, that is One Project A Month). A big thanks to the wonderful ladies hosting, Peg from "Happy in Quilting" and Kris from "Tag Along Teddies".
They both have amazing blogs that are well worth a visit!
Will be wonderful to join with other stitchers, and as I tend to be good at getting ideas for projects and maybe even starting them.... I am not always so great at finishing them. Hopefully this will be just the motivation I need.