Back to cross stitching

My quilting has come to a temporary standstill, as the September Quilt shop class was cancelled due to lack of numbers (school holidays), and I was going to pin the backing and wadding on two quilt tops that night.  Hopefully I will do that and more in two weeks time when the next class is scheduled.  Much easier to do it there on their big tables instead of messing around here at home.

I've been focussing on catching up with some embroidery and cross stitch UFOs, and am very pleased with myself for getting so much done on these baby Lorikeets.  I've had the kit for years, it is only a small picture, but so many colours are in it and on 18ct aida too, so after I did a small bit when I first got the kit, I put it aside for something easier at the time :-(

I have been very tempted to drop it at the opshop, but it was one of the Challenge projects on the Home Makers Forum this year, and after doing a bit more work on it, I decided it was worth keeping, so this is where I am at now.  Only the branch, birds feet and tails to go.

September finishes, October plans.

The two bird quilts that I made last month (kookaburras and parrots) were greatly admired at the Avicultural meeting last week.  I took them to show the ladies who are in charge of the Xmas raffle to see if they would like one of them.   They loved the parrots quilt and were a tad disappointed when I said that I loved it too much to part with it now, but they said they would be very happy with the kookaburra quilt instead.  I have some more Aussie bird fabric now, and will make another quilt top to show the ladies at the next meeting, and if they like that, they can have it instead of the kookaburras, which I would probably donate to Liscombe House aged care, where I sent all my quilts last year.

The quilt top with the opshop stitchings has now had the title added, but I am going to add a small border before adding wadding and backing, and binding in black.

For a long time I have admired photos of a small wall hanging, seen in craft magazines, but I was never able to locate a pattern.  A few weeks ago I was in an opshop, rummaging around in a box on the floor, which was full of all kinds of patterns and kits.  Lo and behold, there was the unopened kit for the wall hanging I've been looking for all those years!  Original price on the packet was $19.50, I got it for $1.90 :-)
Despite all the other projects waiting to be done, I couldn't wait to make up this little kit, and I finished it last night.

Our UFO monthly challenge on the Home Makers forum has indeed been challenging to all the participants, but I  think I speak for all of us when I say what fun it has been to rediscover all those forgotten discarded projects, and either finish them off or at least made headway on them.
I have finished several of mine, others are works in progress, and two were not even worked on because life got in the way, but that's okay.  We are doing the challenge again next year, so those projects that are still UFOs will probably be on next year's list.

I had a photo of this quilt a few posts ago, but it was draped across the couch and the light was bad, so I thought it was worthwhile posting a better photo of it.  Another quilt destined for Liscombe House, but reluctantly, as I've fallen in love with this one!