Slow Sunday Stitching

 My chipmunk for the Year in the Woods got a lot of stitches put in this past week. Its tail is done and now I’m working on the top of its body and its head. Another week or two should finish this one and then I can start on the next, which is the Skunk. Skunks are nasty critters in real life, but the cross stitched one, found here, is very cute. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

What We’re Working On

 I haven’t done one of these posts in a couple of weeks. Fridays have been nuts here at home lately. We have lots of things we’re working on and lots we’ve finished. So this will be a photo heavy post. Beverly is up to their cottage for a week after ice out. They have to come up to get their dock from where it is stored and bring it to their cottage. While here, she grabbed 3 quilts that needed binding. She has them finished for us now.

The rest of us have been busily working on various projects. Susan is making these blocks to go into an improvisational style sampler. Tammy started working on this 3 yard quilt. Marg started this one originally to make into place mats, but then decided it would do better as a quilt for a child. It is done quilt as you go style. Pat has been working on these blocks. They are almost finished and ready to be trimmed and sewn into the finished quilt. Marg found this partially finished quilt in our cupboard. It had been donated to us like this. She is planning on putting a few more borders on it to bring it up to a usable size. I finished off the Exclamation point quilt. And then started a new one using 8 inch stars., giving a 16 inch finished block. I am planning on it being autumn colours. Each set of light and dark stars uses a fat quarter of light and fat quarter of dark. I have enough cut for 8 blocks, but need 4 more. And here at home I am trying to use up the fabrics that I chose for this years Stay at home round robin. And of course, this type of thing proliferates, because I needed more fabrics. I grabbed a few more that coordinate with the orange floral fabrics. They are all now cut into 2 1/2 inch strips, ready to sew up. We also have finished our group project where each of us were given the same focus fabric and then chose a block from the Quilters Cache website beginning with the initial of our first names. And finally, Janet finished the quilting on this lovely quilt that was also donated to us as a UFO. Whew, that was a lot. But then when I just checked, the last post I did about what we’ve been working on was a month ago, so it makes sense that there would be a lot. I’ll link up to finished, or not, Friday.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 There hasn't been a lot of stitching time this past week. Spring has finally arrived in Muskoka. Added to that, every year on earth day the municipalities here have free compost for those willing to go and shovel it for themselves. We had a new raised bed built last year that never got used since it needed to be filled. So that is what we have been doing since Wednesday. All of our raised beds are now full of wonderful compost and are ready to be planted. But, that has meant that there hasn't been time or energy for much else. The Chipmunk for theYear in the Woods got a little bit done. It now has the beginnings of the stripe down its back. I have a little bit more to do for sowing some seeds for early starts for the garden and then I can get back to spending more time again on the chipmunk. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

 The Chipmunk for the Year in the Woods project has gotten part of its legs and its tummy. The tail will come next. These are just so cute!! 

I think I can call this one about 30% done. It is quite fun to be able to stitch this while at the same time watching the chipmunks outside feasting on the bird seed that drops to the ground. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I’ve gotten a good start on the Chipmunk for my ongoing A Year in the Woods project. The bottom greenery and flowers are done so I can now get a start on the chipmunk itself. It’s such a cute little critter. I am planning on taking it easy today, watching movies and stitching. So I should be able to make good progress on this project this afternoon and evening. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I want to take the opportunity to wish all who celebrate a very happy Resurrection Sunday. 

I wrote last week that I hoped to have the Bear for the Year in the Woods project finished by today. I made that goal with just hours to spare. I finished it last evening and then got a start on gridding the next section for the chipmunk. It is 10 grids across by 14 down. It is time consuming to do, but I have caught so many mistakes by having the grids there that is is more than worth the time and effort to do it.I should be able to finish the gridding today and get a start on this next cute little beastie. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

What We’re Working On

 Last summer we issued a challenge to our Prayers and Squares group members to make a block for a sampler. We gave each member a piece of the same material and then challenged them to choose a block that started with the initial of their first name from the Quilters Cache website. Any size was acceptable. We’ve had the blocks for quite a while now, but the challenge was in putting it together. Marg has been working on that off and on for a few months now. She finally finished the quilting on it yesterday. It is fun and bright and happy and unique. It is getting a dark blue binding. Janet has been working on the quilting on this panel quilt. Here at home I found a bag of triangles that were originally cut using my Go cutter for a quilt I did years ago called Northern Tree Line. There were enough of the triangles left to do a small version of that quilt. It is now finished and layered and waiting for quilting. I’ll link up to finished, or not, Friday.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 My Bear for the Year in the Woods is almost finished. Depending on the amount of time I spend in the evenings over the next week, it might just get finished. Then I can start gridding the next section and start on the Chipmunk. It is so much fun seeing these animals come to life stitch by slow stitch. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

What we are working on

 Our prayers and stares group met yesterday, as usual and we got lots done, but most of it was not stages that lent themselves to pictures. However, Pat finished off 2 beautiful quilts that are now in the needing backings and layering stage. This one was made from a kit that we cut and assembled lat spring. We sometimes get together and choose patterns and fabrics and then cut them up into kits that our members can pull from the cupboard and work on. I suspect we need to schedule another cutting day soon. And this one was from fabrics that Pat herself had at home and put together for us. She wishes it to be used for our fundraising this summer. The colours in it are gorgeous!

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

Stay at Home Round Robin finish

 We finished this quilt yesterday, the day before the finish parade. It got its binding on yesterday and its final picture yesterday as well. The sixth and last prompt for this was “quilters choice” which was a great choice. I had hoped that the final prompt would allow me to add a couple of plain borders for the finish, so that is what I did. It pulled it all together very nicely. I did a simple cross hatch quilting design up to the centre block. But because the centre was a bit off sized compared to the rest, I couldn’t continue the cross hatching without risking a lot of pleats and puckers. So I did a very simple large free motion stipple in the centre. It got finished with a diagonal striped binding. This is such a fun way to spend the long winter days. I’ll link up to the finish parade here

Slow Sunday Stitching

 My slow stitching focus continues to be the Bear for the Year in the Woods. I think I’m probably in the range of 60 percent finished with it. I started in on doing more of the bull rushes on the left hand side just to get a bit of a break from all the brown fur. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

What We’re Working On

 We had lots of finishes yesterday. Marg was the binding queen and managed to get 4 quilts bound. Obviously, we do them entirely by machine. Janet also bound one yesterday, for a total of 5 finishes in one afternoon. Yay us!!! I think I’ve posted pictures of these quilts before, but this is them in their finished glory. I also remembered to get a picture of the garden themed quilt that Tammy has been working on. It is so pretty that we are seriously considering adding this to our fundraising this summer. And here at home I was working on going through our stash of green fabrics and sewed up a bunch of exclamation mark blocks. I laid them out yesterday and started sewing the first batch of them together. There are enough to make 2 quilts. They are going to get white one inch finished sashing in between the rows and a white narrow border and a wider green border to finish them.

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

Card Shuffle Progress

 About a year ago I joined a bi-monthly fabric club that gave a selection of Kona solids. I can’t remember exactly how many were in each bundle, at least 12 perhaps even 15. Anyhow, I decided then that I wanted to do a Judy Martin pattern out of her book Stellar Quilts called Card Shuffle. It’s a variation of the Card Trick block using star points in the blocks. I started this quilt a year ago, after receiving the first fat quarter bundle. I picked up the last bundle a week or so ago. I’d had to put the quilt on hold until I was able to get this bundle, and pick up a few additional colours to give a greater variety. Here’s where it was the last time I worked on it, back in November. Since then, I’ve gotten all the star sections made and have started adding more rows. After I finish that bottom corner there are still some borders to add. Then I can think about getting a backing for it and what I am going to do for quilting. I’ll likely do some very simple straight lines following the piecing. I want the stars and the colours to stand out rather than the quilting.

I’ll link up to Wednesday Wait Loss

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I’ve finished the bottom third of the Bear for The Year in the Woods series and have now moved to working on the middle section. I find it easier to keep track of where I am when I break it down into these sections. And somehow the amount left to stitch doesn’t feel as overwhelming when I can’t see the whole thing. I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then go find something to do, likely quilt related, to take my mind off the amount of snow that continues to come down. I am so past ready for winter to be done! Unfortunately, here in Muskoka, it often lasts well into April. We aren’t reliably frost free until the beginning of June....... sigh......

What We Are Working On

 I missed doing a post last week about our group. I didn’t have a lot of pictures to show and the afternoon was spent layering quilts. We did exactly the same thing yesterday. Between Janet and I, we layered 6 quilts. Our group has obviously been very busy. I actually have pictures to show today. Beverly has been up for a couple of weeks from her home in the States. They left green grass to come to Muskoka for snow and an episode of freezing rain leading to power outages. During her couple of weeks here she took home 4 quilts that needed binding and finished them. Janet has been working on this beautiful controlled scrappy quilt for a while now. Yesterday was its turn to be layered and quilted. It will be bound with the large scale floral that is in the blocks. Marg has been working on samplers lately. I think she is hooked on that style of quilt. She finished this one a few weeks ago and I finally got a picture of it. She already has another one started. I’ll link up to Finished, or not, Friday.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 I’ve been absent from the blogging world for a couple of weeks. I had a case of the crud with a nasty sore throat and just as nasty cough. But all is well now and I can get back to doing things I enjoy rather than vegetating in my recliner. I have gotten lots done on my next animal in The Year in the Woods series, the Bear. This one is a bit different than the others. The texturing is curves rather than the straighter lines on the rest that I’ve done, but I like it just as much. And I just discovered by looking at the picture of the finished piece along side what I’ve done that one of my colours is wrong. So there is some ripping to do on the bottom of one of the feet. It should be a light tan not a dark brown. As Winnie the Pooh would say, “Oh bother!” I must have labeled the floss bobbin wrong.

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

Stay at Home Round Robin, prompt #5

 Last Wednesday’s prompt was “two colours to make anything you like”. That one didn’t take much thinking at all. I wanted something simple and also something in scale with what I’ve already done. That led me to the Simple Blocks library in Electric Quilt 8 where I chose Diagonal Strips to be done in 4 inch finished blocks, the same as the previous borders. I am running low on the colours I picked for this project. Ideally the blocks would have been aqua and orange, but I’m out of the orange, so I did aqua and yellow instead, alternating with aqua and white. It now measures 44 x 60 which is very close to the size I’m aiming for. Depending on what the next prompt is on Wednesday, I may declare this done by adding a couple of plain borders to it. I’ll link up with the rest of the round robin participants here.

Slow Sunday Stitching

 My goal from last week was to finish the stitching on the Ferret from The Year in the Woods and to start o the next set of three critters. I am happy to say that I met that goal. The ferret is finished. And the first section for the next set of three is gridded off and the Bear started. I haven’t much else to share at the moment, so I’ll link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and return to my stitching.