What We’re Working On

 We had a few finishes yesterday at Prayers and Squares. And in between layering quilts I was able to lay out some finished blocks to start in on getting the top done. The basket quilt I’ve been working on got its borders. And it was layered as well. Janet has been working on a Carpenters Star quilt for the past couple of months. She says she is done with doing triangles for a long time. But it is lovely and worth it. This one was layered as well. And then the blocks I was talking about are the log cabin blocks I was working on at home a while back. I have no place to lay them out here at home, so we move a room divider and covered it with a flannel sheet and converted it into a design wall. I managed to sew 2 rows together yesterday. I’m hoping to get the last 4 rows done in the next week or 2.

I’ll link up to finish, or not, Friday.

Card Shuffle Progress.

 I worked on my Judy Martin design Card Shuffle, from her book Stellar Quilts, this past weekend. I got quite a big chunk of it done. It is almost halfway finished. I might put it aside for a bit and wait for my next batch of Kona cottons from the subscription I’m in. My lovely husband acted as quilt holder. I’ve run out of floor space to lay it out. I need a greater variety of colours, so this one is going back into the waiting box. I have lots of greens and lots of blues, but I don’t want too many repeats in it. I can see from looking at it that it could use more red. And I have a rust and gold set aside for it as well. Until I get the new colours, I may get out my paper pieced Circle of Friends this coming weekend and start the quilting. 

I’ll link up to Wednesday Wait loss

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I tried to stay focused this past week and work on getting my octagons finished. It is almost there. Just one more corner to add and it can be sewn together and put aside. I’m not 100% sure what I am going to tackle next. I should get out something that is already started and continue with finishing things. However, there is a squirrel that is loudly calling my name. It will use half hexagons and graduated colours. I have lots of Kona solids to use up that would work wonderfully with it. I also found some acrylic templates that I made back when we had our laser cutter. So I can hand piece them rather than needing to get papers for them. It’s a pattern called Inner City, found here. I’ll make a definitive decision about what I am going to do sometime this week. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

What We’re Working On

 Another productive day was spent yesterday at our Prayers and Squares group. We were all concentrating so hard that it was even uncharacteristically quiet in the room, aside from the hum of the sewing machines. Barbara finished the charm quilt she’s been working on. She is planning a skinny border in brown to completely finish it. Tammy has been working on sampler blocks from a kit. We finally laid out the finished blocks for a picture. The original design for these blocks was a queen sized quilt. We will be making 2 lap quilts from them. I finally finished sewing together the basket blocks that I’ve been working on during some of our Thursday sewing times. They will be getting a couple of borders. I brought it home with me in hopes of getting them sewn on sometime this week. Here at home this past week I finished the blue flying geese pinwheel blocks and got them sewn together and 2 borders added. It needed a third border in a dark blue, which I didn’t have here. We found one in the P&S fabric stash at the church and Elizabeth sewed it on. It may get layered next week. And finally, and best of all, we have 15 out of 16 blocks of Northern Wilderness Renewed finished. We will be heading out on a shopping trip next week to get the fabric for backing and sashing.

I’ll link up to finished, or not, Friday

Quilts in waiting

 Back on Sunday I mentioned that I have been working on a project of my own and that I would write about it later this week. Life always slows down for us come the colder weather months, as it does for most people, I suppose. The quieter times, especially on the weekends has allowed  me to designate Saturdays and Sundays for my own projects. I have been signed up for a local quilt store’s Kona Solids fat quarters bundle subscription that comes every other month. I decided to use it for a Judy Martin design called Card Shuffle from her book Stellar Quilts. I have said many times in the past that I love her designs. There are at least 2, perhaps 3 out of this book that I want to do. I am making a twin sized for my own use. I managed to make a few more units for it and then did some fabric choice pairings for the next couple of rows. I love the way this is looking so far. Stay tuned for further progress on this. I also have a personal foundation pieced project that I worked on through 2024 as a block of the month. It was sponsored by carol Doak on her facebook page and is called Circle of Friends. It got put into time out as I pondered how to quilt it and how to put it together. Those plans are taking shape. I just need to get some batting for it and I can start it on its way to being a finish. It hasn’t been out of its box for a photo shoot since about a year ago now. I will have to update the photo. I have more than 12 blocks done now, some of which may end up pieced into the back somehow, yet to be determined. I have a layout for it all figured out and it will be done quilt as you go style. I may try out some free motion continuous curves on it, something I have yt to try on my domestic sewing machine. It is times like this that I miss my long arm machine. This will also be a stay tuned for more project.

I found a new to me blog with a Wednesday link up party that I will link this, and further personal quilt projects to, called Wednesday Wait Loss, which is rather appropriate for 2 quilts that have been waiting their turns. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

 My hand stitching project is going very slowly, which is the whole point behind slow stitching. Take it slow and easy. I had plans to work on it last evening, but I cancelled those plans after working on a very intense machine piecing project for most of the day. I’ll do a separate post about that. Right now I try and post twice a week, once here about slow stitching and another on Fridays about our Prayers and Squares group. I’m thinking of adding in another post during the week about my personal quilting projects, perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday. Anyway, the second of my four octagon blocks is almost finished. However, sitting here looking at the picture, I’m wondering if I need to make 4 complete blocks. What if I do three octagon blocks across and three down? I think I just might like that idea. That would finish this off at a nice size and also give me the opportunity to move onto something else. Yep, decision made, three by three it is. 

I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

What We Are Working On

 Another wonderful afternoon was passed at our Prayers and Squares group yesterday. And we got lots done. We finished three more blocks for our fundraiser for next year. Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to get pictures of them. Marg finished this green sampler she’s been working on for the last month or so. It came in a kit with all the instructions for the blocks. The kits included the fabrics which were already cut. This is the third kit like this we’ve had donated to us. I’ve never seem them before. Marcia had finished the piecing on this quilt a few weeks ago. This is the leftover blocks from another kit that would have originally made a queen sized quilt. We got 2 quilts out of the one kit. She finished the quilting on it and Susan put a label and the ties into it yesterday. The ties are the physical representation of the prayers that are said for the recipients of the quilt. We pray for the recipients and tie a knot. The next 2 quilts also got labels and ties. Marg finished this wolf quilt back in the spring. And Elizabeth did this heart themed quilt. She used the quilt as you go technique to finish it. We’ve all been working on sampler blocks for a group quilt. We all chose a block whose name begins with the first letter of our first names from the Quilters Cache web site. We all used the same focus fabric. No specifics were given about the size of the blocks. It will be a fun challenge to put it together. Here at home I have finished the flying Geese pinwheel blocks. Hopefully today I will make progress on getting them sewn together and the borders started.

I’ll link up to finished, or not, Friday