Happy Tuesday, friends! Life has certainly been busy as of late, how about for you? Josh is graduating next week, my oldest daughter’s birthday is this week, not to mention Mother’s Day, Prom, and an awards ceremony! Whew! I’m tired just reading that sentence!
I’ve managed to finish one more cottage in the Santa’s Village! I actually missed three white stitches at the end of the elf’s hat, so I’ll add those in right away. That’s eleven cottages done and only one to go! I may take a day or two and just stitch to see if I can complete this by the end of the 18th, which is technically the end of Stitch Maynia. However, if I don’t finish it by the 18th I know I will be done before the end of May and that is a win for me!
I’ve also been working on the Road Trip Bag. As of Monday evening I’ve put 20 hours of sewing time in on this already, and I’m hoping to be finished with just a few more hours of time. This pattern is really well written and I’ve enjoyed the process of putting this all together. I sewed the side strip onto the front main panel today. I noticed several skipped stitches, so I am a bit concerned that adding the binding to cover that edge will yield more skipped stitches. If so, I may be hand stitching the binding down. I hand stitched it down on all of the quilted pockets and main panel pieces, so it will match if I decide to go that route.
I hope you all have a wonderful week and are enjoying the days as the weather gets nicer and the evenings stay a little lighter!
This week’s To-Do list:
- Finish Road Trip Bag
- Finish Santa’s Village!!
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Stitch ALL The Things 
Hi Christine,
That bag came together really quickly it seems. I know 20 hours does NOT seem quick to you, but it was only last week that you said you needed to make it. And your village pieces are so darn lovely – I can’t wait to see that project all finished and you enjoying it even if it is a bit out of season. You’re just ready early! ~smile~ Roseanne
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It did come together quicker than I expected! I started working on it on Wednesday, took a day off for Mother’s Day, and will finish it today! 6 days to complete it isn’t bad at all! I’m so excited to be able to take the Village piece off of the scroll rods and see the whole thing laid out with all of the buttons sewn on!
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Your Santa’s Village will be such a beautiful piece when you are finished. I’m so in awe of your bag making abilities too!
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Thank you! I’m really excited to see it all finished!
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It will be an awesome bag when done!
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I hope my daughter loves it!
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I would be tired too with all of that going on! Enjoy the festivities – they only happen once!
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So many things going on, I’m definitely trying to keep up and enjoy it at the same time!!
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That elf is adorable! I’m excited to see the finish! The fabric you chose for the bag is amazing, as usual. 😀
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I am excited to see the finish too! I really only ever see one row at a time, so I can’t wait to see all three rows together!
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Your embroidery is exquisite and your bag is looking great! As for the skipped stitches, the most likely culprit is an old/worn/bent/defective needle. Have you tried switching to a new/larger needle recently? Even if you put in a new needle when you started the bag, if you’re 20 hours into the project by now the skipped stitches could be a little tantrum from your sewing machine, demanding a new needle. 🙂
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Thank you! Oh, yes, an old needle definitely would cause the skipping too! I start every project with a fresh needle, and always a fresh top stitching needle when I get towards the end of the project and I’m sewing through multiple layers. The sewing machine handled this one better than I expected! The only skipping was when the back of the walking foot was resting on 3 layers of soft and stable, 1 layer of fusible fleece, 2 layers of SF101, and 16 layers of fabric (a handle strap, a bound edge, the quilted front panel, quilted pocket panel, the quilted side panel, an internal lined pocket, and binding), and the front of the foot was only on 2 layers of soft and stable and 4 layers of fabric. I decided to hand stitch the binding down, so it was easy to just turn the bag around and sew from the other direction to get those stitches in! I didn’t have to worry about making sure the stitches looked neat and even in this case. Whew!
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I do use a jean jumper to keep that unevenness more “even”, but it still skipped a bit. Easy fix though, so no stress for me. Love that!
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11 cottages? That is an amazing amount of work! It is beautiful!
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Thank you!
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the car bag is coming along great. Looks like lots of work.
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Thank you! I finished it quicker than I expected! Yay!
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Your cross stitch work is lovely – as always! Isn’t hand stitching so soothing to the soul? Your travel bag is amazing with all those pockets and neat fabric!
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Thank you!!
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