Sew,,,,,it's November

Yes, it's November already! I can hardly believe it. Since we turned the clocks back last weekend so much sewing has to be done in artificial light. I hate the dark nights, don't you?
Well looking back on October, it was a very productive month.
I started and finished this jelly roll quilt.

I finished the Swoon blocks and completed the top (quilting will wait until the New Year)

and I knitted these little stockings.

I made my Christmas sewing list, and I've ticked off one project already.

1. Tiny knitted Christmas stockings for a wreath -  finished

2. Christmas bunting - started

3. New Christmas tree skirt

4. Fabric tree decorations

5. A quilted bag

6. Socks

7. A charity quilt - started

I should have been making more Christmas bunting, because I've promised you a tutorial, but I got a bit side tracked, so photos of the bunting are going to wait until I'm nearer to finishing the tutorial. (I need daylight for the photos and it has been in short supply this week!)

Instead I made a start on my charity quilt. It's a scrap busting quilt and I took inspiration from a fellow quilter Sarah at Quilt Candy She is part of our Sewing Bee and I saw some of her wonderful improvisational work when the Bee blocks passed to me from her. Even one of my grown up sons admired her work, and requested a quilt along the same lines.

I bought Quilt Improv by Lu Summers and have been playing with her ideas. If you are thinking of trying some improvisational quilting I totally recommend this book. I am having so much fun, which is why there is no bunting finished yet!!!

It is totally freeing. You don't have to worry whether points are pointy, seams match up or whether your 1/4" seam is accurate. I'm falling in love with my scraps all over again - even the once I didn't like very much.

I started with this lot

I put the white to one side and sorted the rest into large and small scraps and into roughly rectangular and very angular piles. I pressed and sewed and trimmed and so far I have one block of scrappy triangles

 

and 4 blocks of "not quite log cabins".

I love them all, but I have to say the scrappy triangles are my favourites. I just used whichever scrap came to hand, didn't over think the placement and only a couple of times did I reject a piece because the colours jarred. Mostly it was just serendipity.
I'm not sure I'm whether I'm going to mix the log cabins with the wonky triangles in the same quilt yet. I'll decide as I go along - there are more than enough scraps for 2 quilts.

So, if I'm not back next week with some Christmas bunting to show you, I'm happily buried under a pile of scraps!

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts